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Topic: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin. (Read 5867 times) previous topic - next topic

Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Being fairly proficient with Linux, I placed my ST directory and contents elsewhere (Hence, consider it a clean system).  All files were downloaded from SourceForge. 
I unpacked the latest simulinux (ie. 102.2.2) so that I have a ~/simutrans directory with contents.  Also unpacked pak64, pak128Britian, and pak128 (1.6.4) files, with confirmed destination directories of ~/simutrans/pak64, pak128Britian, and pak128.  Unpacked the ST source (102.2.2) and compiled it for my machine, afterward moving it to the ST directory. 
Both pak64 and pak128Britain both work well, and considered it a successful installation of a clean system.

Irregardless of using the command-line switch or the pak selection menu, pak128 fails to start after nearly 90% of the loading bar, with the following:
FATAL ERROR: alles_geladen()
12skin_besch_t-object WindowSkin not found.
....etc, etc, etc about redownloading the pak (this is the second time I've downloaded the file, just to be sure of this problem)....

I'm guessing this is a problem with the GUI.*.pak files.  If this isn't a problem with the nightlies, perhaps the SourceForge files need an update?

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #1 –
There should be a skin directory where pak64 takes its skin from. If the pak128 directory is next to it it should work.

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #2 –
(posting conflict with Prissi...)
(I can't test with Linux, but I guess that I found the reason:)

menu.WindowSkin.pak is part of the core distribution (in simutrans/skin), not the pak-set. Same goes for translations and maybe some other files. Compiling ST alone will not provide you with these files. Please take those files from an official core distribution (or a complete archive from the nightly builds).

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #3 –
Look for folder skins.src in source code. Default skin is part of the core, like fonts.

My projects... Tools for messing with Simutrans graphics. Graphic archive - templates and some other stuff for painters. Development logs for most recent information on what is going on. And of course pak128!

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #4 –
Slight update:  I had thought that the pak64 was working, when apparently it isn't.  Hence both pak64 and pak128 are affected. 

VS:  I'm only seeing simutrans being compiled into an executable, no other pak files are generated.  If it is a part of core, why is ST complaining that it can't load it from a pakset?

whoami:  I realize that solely compiling the executable would not give me those files, which is why I first unpacked the simulinux zip file then unpacked the pak64 and pak128 zip files.  For someone attempting to use ST for the first time, this should be enough to be sufficient.  (I have not updated my linux distro recently and do not have glibc-2.6.3 available, hence the necessity of compiling the ST source for myself.)  I have two issues; what needs to be done for it to work for me, and is this a problem for anyone trying ST for the first time.

prissi:  Within pak64, I am not seeing any skin subdirectory.  At best I am only seeing 4 menu.*.pak files.  Within pak128, I am seeing only GUI.64.pak and GUI.128.pak, also without any skin subdirectory.  Within the simulinux zip file, there is no skin subdirectory nor files.  Could it be that this was overlooked somehow, and didn't get put into the appropriate place?

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #5 –
In the ST source you should see the directory /trunk/simutrans/skin
There you find a file named: menu.WindowSkin.pak

If you compile ST by your own then you have to copy the executable to the /trunk/simutrans/ subdirectory. And then copy the whole /trunk/simutrans directory.

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #6 –
[Disclaimer:  the following text can be understood with two different meanings, please excuse the unintentional arrogant-sounding approach.]

You might want to re-read what steps I had taken.  I wrote them to be explicit enough to give the best understanding of what was done and what was observed.  No offense, but it might also be good to re-check what you thought was correct before commenting, just in case something had an unintentional change.

I checked the ST source zips, from 102.2.2, 102.2.1, 100., 99.17, and even 99.12, of which none of them ever has had a skin subdirectory under the trunk/simutrans directory.  Since the steps I had taken for all those versions prior to 102.2.1 had worked, I doubt that the skin subdirectory was ever in the ST source tree, but rather in the pak sources.  
In such case, then this is a problem with the pak sets (pak64 and pak128, since pak128.Britain actually did work).  I can not confirm this, because I have never downloaded the pakset sources, and neither would someone that was attempting to use ST for the first time that might be unfamiliar with compiling from source files.  Other than my compiling the ST executable source, this should be no different than someone setting up ST for the first time, with the precompiled files.  

So, my question still remains:  Are the pak64 and pak128 zip files on SourceForge broken, having a problem specifically with the menu.WindowSkin.pak file?

[Edit]  Is the skin subdirectory generated from the ST source?  In which case the ST source makefile might be broken for linux, sdl-mixer....

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #7 –
The source actually means the SVN. It may be that the script building the zip is broken. You can just create a skin directory next to font/music/... and put the menu.WindowSkin.pak from any binary executable there.

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #8 –
Ok, step by step... so that we can finally agree on something!

1) get the source for program (I got mine as svn checkout)
2) there are some *.cc and other files - for me, they are in folder called trunk; let's call this place "trunk" for now
3) in the very same folder (trunk) should be a folder "skins.src" with two files that are sources for default skin
4) also, in trunk, there is folder "simutrans" with other files needed by program as-is; there should also be trunk/simutrans/skin/menu.WindowSkin.pak which is the skin already compiled
5) when running, the program's starting folder should contain the contents of trunk/simutrans, including the skin folder and the one file inside

You say downloads from sourceforge fail you as some paksets can't be loaded because of missing skins. Then, there must have been clearly some error in communication before release. I thought that the skin file will be part of core distribution and paksets can only override that.

Historically all pak files were part of pakset, so the message is probably still unchanged (and correct in 99.9% cases - skin is only 1 object). Having skin in core is still new, and we're still catching up. Simutrans does move at a slower pace than some other communities... So a feature younger than two [pakset] releases can still cause much chaos :P


edit: I realized you haven't been told yet how to actually fix the problem for you ;D Find the skin file (menu.WindowSkin.pak) in pakset that works (ideally 64) and copy it to pakset that doesn't - or even better, to the program's skin folder (located as said above).

My projects... Tools for messing with Simutrans graphics. Graphic archive - templates and some other stuff for painters. Development logs for most recent information on what is going on. And of course pak128!

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #9 –
Sorry, I got busy and didn't realize that I had not responded. 

Prissi:  So you are suggesting placing a skin subfolder within the simutrans subfolder of the source directory, and moving a menu.WindowSkin.pak file from a previous version into it?  However this would be detrimental to a new user, not having had prior installations from which to grab that file, and not all dissatisfied users bother with returning to the forums for help.

VS:  Before (and after) compiling, there is no skins.src folder in the "trunk" folder.  Within the simutrans subfolder of the source folder, there is no skin subdirectory.  Also, at what point in your instructions there did you compile?  Besides this, where are the instructions that mention moving these other files (besides the executable) to the installation directory?
I totally understand when a change in method requires a small readjustment period, especially when something moves into a core system.  My concern now is why this was not caught just prior to making 102.2.2 and ****ociated paksets available, when tested on a clean system?

I'm ****uming this is still a bug that needs bug spray.  ;)

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #10 –
Quote
VS:  Before (and after) compiling, there is no skins.src folder in the "trunk" folder.  Within the simutrans subfolder of the source folder, there is no skin subdirectory.  Also, at what point in your instructions there did you compile?
That sounds strange. These folders are in the source code's svn (which is not at sourceforge)

trunk/skin.rc (with png/dat files)
trunk/simutrans/skin (with some pak file)

Also the 102.2.2 files at sourceforge contain this skin folder  ???

Edit: I took the 102.2.2 files (simuwin102-2-2.zip and pak128-1.4.6--102.2.zip) and it .... simply works. Maybe somebody changed somthing since your first post.
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and maggikraut.

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #11 –
Dwachs:  A small reminder that I don't have access to a computer onto which I can place an SVN client, only to download files, hence I use sourceforge for my downloads of the source.  I had downloaded simulinux-102-2-2.zip and simutrans-src-102-2-2.zip from the All Files/simutrans/102.2.2/ folder there, and pak128-1.4.6--102.2.zip from the pak128/pak128 for 102-2-2 folder also there.

I will re-download these files again, also making sure that I have a clean installation directory on my linux computer, and then try all my steps once more.

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #12 –
Well. Then it's clear that the source release is buggy to some extent.

My projects... Tools for messing with Simutrans graphics. Graphic archive - templates and some other stuff for painters. Development logs for most recent information on what is going on. And of course pak128!
 

Re: Unable to start r1.4.6 from a clean reinstall, needs WindowSkin.

Reply #13 –
oh yes, the src-zip does not contain any skin specific folders.

@Trainmith: you can download the latest trunk source code (as zip) at the github mirror of the svn repository:

http://github.com/aburch/simutrans/archives/master
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and maggikraut.