SS2Tool v6 Beta Test

[674420d345a9fdarklord]

Well wine support is needed, as GOG's Mac version is just SS in a wine wrapper.

[674420d345d8adarklord]

I was getting the same problem as remyabel in wineskin, so i tried the last version you sent him.  It got a little further to "receiving incremental file list" till rsync crashed

Unhandled exception: page fault on write access to 0x00000004 in 32-bit code (0x610644cd).
Register dump:
 CS:001b SS:0023 DS:0023 ES:0023 FS:1007 GS:000f
 EIP:610644cd ESP:00675e30 EBP:00675e58 EFLAGS:00010206(  R- --  I   - -P- )
 EAX:00000000 EBX:612ae7c8 ECX:00675e30 EDX:ffffffff
 ESI:00000000 EDI:00000002
Stack dump:
0x00675e30:  000000e4 00000002 00000001 00000002
0x00675e40:  00675ea0 61188db0 00000002 00000002
0x00675e50:  00000002 61188db0 00676031 61096334
0x00675e60:  612ae7c8 00000002 00675fe0 6116dbd9
0x00675e70:  00000002 00000000 00000001 00000004
0x00675e80:  00000000 00000002 00675ea0 610d57f5
0200: sel=1007 base=7ffc0000 limit=00000fff 32-bit rw-
Backtrace:
=>0 0x610644cd in cygwin1 (+0x644cd) (0x00675e58)
  1 0x61096334 in cygwin1 (+0x96333) (0x00676031)
  2 0x610d57f5 in cygwin1 (+0xd57f4) (0x00676031)
0x610644cd: orl   $32,0x4(%eax)
Modules:
Module   Address         Debug info   Name (7 modules)
PE     400000-  480000   Deferred        rsync
PE   407a0000-407a4000   Deferred        ws2_32
PE   52700000-527fc000   Deferred        cygiconv-2
PE   61000000-614b0000   Dwarf           cygwin1
PE   66a90000-66ab1000   Deferred        cyggcc_s-1
PE   7b810000-7b866000   Deferred        kernel32
PE   7bc10000-7bc14000   Deferred        ntdll
Threads:
process  tid      prio (all id:s are in hex)

[674420d3462bbremyabel]

I was getting the same problem as remyabel in wineskin, so i tried the last version you sent him.  It got a little further to "receiving incremental file list" till rsync crashed

I don't expect it to work in Wine and I hold even less expectations (with no disrespect) that Koyla will make a working Wine version. The solution that worked for me as discussed in a PM is:

* Install via PlayOnLinux using the GOG setup.
* Copy the installation to a thumb drive.
* Copy the installation from the thumb drive to a windows desktop and run the original (in the first post attachment) SSTool 6.0.0.5 Beta.
* Copy the folder back onto the thumb drive, removing the original.
* Don't run the game via PlayOnLinux, instead run via Wine directly from the patched installation.

The problem with this is that you'll be using your system's Wine rather than the PlayOnLinux one. I've tried compiling 1.6.2 from source but I haven't had any success, I believe it's more work than it's worth. I do get crashes but I'm uncertain what causes these crashes so I don't really care anymore.

Edit:

Try the following steps to run it via PlayOnLinux's virtual drive rather than your system wine:

* Highlight System Shock 2.
* click on configure.
* click on the miscellaneous tab.
* Run an .exe file in this virtual drive and run Shock2.exe from your patched installation, NOT the one installed in the virtual drive.

The mods should be applied so it's not necessary to run it through Blue's Mod Manager, since BMM doesn't seem to work in 1.6.2. Hopefully it'll reduce the amount of crashing.


[playonlinux.png expired]

[674420d3463fddarklord]

I don't believe play on linux is an option for OSX users.  And thankfully due to wineskin, wine is already compiled for us, or at least setup in such a way where it will compile easily if you follow the instructions.

Thing is, there is a version of the game sold by G.O.G put in a wine wrapper.  sstools5.1 worked fine.  I don't think he'd want to leave anyone in the dust if he could help it.

[674420d346699remyabel]

I don't believe play on linux is an option for OSX users.  And thankfully due to wineskin, wine is already compiled for us, or at least setup in such a way where it will compile easily if you follow the instructions.

Thing is, there is a version of the game sold by G.O.G put in a wine wrapper.  sstools5.1 worked fine.  I don't think he'd want to leave anyone in the dust if he could help it.

True, if SSTool was open source (unsure if it is) there might be a chance of a port.

[674420d346889voodoo47]

it is afaik, TG tool and T2 tool are based on ss2tool sources.

[674420d346a29Kolya]

The previous versions of SS2Tool were open source. SS2Tool 6+ won't be, for security reasons.
And by "security" I don't mean some sinister plot, but to protect this site so we can continue to serve as many System Shock fans as possible.

EDIT: However, I might look into that MinGW port again. Someone told me that it indeed uses a different syntax to identify the local directory. I wouldn't be overly optimistic though. Chances are high that this is an understandably underdeveloped part of Wine, causing the issues.

[674420d346bcbMirrorman95]

I tried using 6.0.0.5 on my game, but it got stuck trying to download the exclude list:

SS2Tool 6.0.0.5
SS2Tool: Latest version
AVI: 90/1504399
CRF: 23/308031
MIS: 722/1353779
Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010) is installed
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Runtime is installed
Output folder: Y:\Library\Application Support\Steam\SteamApps\common\SS2\System Shock 2
Extract: 7za.exe
Assuming English game
Downloading exclude list
     19 [main] rsync 91 sig_send: wait for sig_complete event failed, signal -13, rc 258, Win32 error 0

It also totally screwed up my folder structure.

[674420d346d63Therendil]

I'm checking here to see if a problem I encountered under SSTool v5.3 is being addressed in v6 (or is even a known issue.)

I tried to install SS2 on a system running Linux Mint 17.1 "Rebecca" using Wine 1.62. SSTool ran, and had the correct installation path listed BUT the 'next' button was grayed out. I clicked Browse and got the native Linux file tree. I didn't try digging down through that to see if I could find where "Drive C:" was hidden.

I have added SSTool v5.3 to the Wine Application Database with the results of my testing. I want to see this fixed. There also seem to be a perception among Wine users (based on the existing entry in the App DB and from forum posts) that SSTool is something to used only after struggling through fire and water to install SS2 'normally.' The latest version of SSTool mentioned was v.4.4, so they are behind the times there.

As I said in my Wine submission, I am a tester, not a coder. I want to help get this fixed, but that will happen only if others are able to figure out the issue and fix it.

-= Bill =-

[674420d346e6aKolya]

SS2Tool will reject any game location under "Program Files" (or under the "Windows" folder for that matter), since these are restricted environments in which the game cannot function correctly. This seems to be the problem you're running into.

[674420d347143Therendil]

SS2Tool will reject any game location under "Program Files" (or under the "Windows" folder for that matter), since these are restricted environments in which the game cannot function correctly. This seems to be the problem you're running into.

Hmm. Hadn't thought of that. Not an issue under WinXP, but a known big deal for Vista and beyond. I should have remembered that because I always configure such systems to have C:\Games and C:\Utils to bypass the MS BS. That's the way I have SS2 installed on my Win7 desktop system. I may have sidetracked myself because I have Wine set to the default of WinXP emulation.

I will try again with the SHOCK folder at the root of the emulated C: drive and see how that works.

I will also try the v6 beta on my Win7 system. This is a very exciting development. You're actually creating an SS2 content delivery network.

-= Bill =-

[674420d34726dTherendil]

Well, you were right. When I moved the SSHOCK folder to the root of the emulated Drive C: and ran SSTool again, it worked just fine. I ran the game enough to verify that I could start a new game.

Since my submission to the Wine AppDB is still under review, I have sent an email confirming the fix and asking that the information be integrated into the DB entry.

-= Bill =-

[674420d347572Therendil]

Hey, thanks for testing. Like previous SS2Tool versions it ends with the Triop chime (which one may not hear if speakers are off) and then self-closes. I did this because it's fast but if others find this confusing (please comment) I'll change it, no problem.

I tend to run with sound off for local reasons. I recognize the Triop chime as a signal that everything worked, but I agree that a visual signal is required. It doesn't have to be complicated. Perhaps display the Triop logo for a few seconds with a message like "Operation successful" and then self-close. Unless I have missed something, you should be able to do this along with the logo chime without too much fuss.

-= Bill =-

[674420d347672Kolya]

I already changed that for the beta. I'm not 100% sure if it's in the version available for download above, but I think so.

[674420d347813Therendil]

Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. I'll be trying the beta as soon as I get a chance.

In the meantime, SS2 seems to be running well enough under Wine 1.62 on Linux Mint 17.1. I've got a game started and I've made it past all the training and the intro sequences to the first 'base camp' with the four upgrade units. Cut scenes play properly, etc. Subjectively, it feels a little slower than it did running natively under WinXP, but it's playable.

-= Bill =-

[674420d347917System Shocked]

Just noticed that both download links have expired - is v6.XXX no longer being developed?

[674420d347a25Kolya]

Actually development has been going on, albeit slowly. I hope to release a new beta next weekend.

[674420d347b69Kolya]

I spent several Saturdays fighting with rsync and Windows now. First part of the problem was that rsync comes from the Unix world and therefore expects Unix file permissions on its password file, even when on Windows. I found a workaround for that two weeks ago by piping the file into rsync. Second part was an obscure Windows bug that produced the infamous "Input line is too long" message and requires the complete command to be wrapped in double quotes before handed to cmd.exe.

[674420d347cf6Kolya]

I uploaded a new beta version.

Changes:
+better security when syncing with the server
+game_screen_size = desktop res (on clean install)
+german check after sync, download translation and unpack to DMM (on clean install)

Known problems
- starting the tool may take several seconds, since it does an online version check before its window appears
- going back from the component selection screen to the installation method screen and selecting "clean install" when "update" was selected before still only does update, components are not changed

//Minor update: The tool now starts up with a message informing the user of the online version check to prevent them from starting the program multiple times.

[674420d347e1dKolya]

Thanks everyone, release is here.
You can post problems either here or in the Helpdesk forum.

[674420d34930dvoodoo47]

same old problem, not seeing my internet connection. lets hope it's really just the combination of winXP and some weirdness on the connection.

[674420d3494b4voodoo47]

finally had some time to build a win7 test machine, and yeah, everything works properly there. as I have previously tried 3 different xp machines on two different internet connections, and all had the same problem, it should be pretty safe to conclude that 6.x is not compatible with xp anymore (or rather, its way of checking the network connectivity isn't). anyone running xp (and maybe vista) is welcome to check - confirming the minimum OS requirements would be nice.

not a big deal as the lid on xp's coffin is almost completely closed now, but lets not take 5.x offline just yet - little bit of backward compatibility won't hurt.

[674420d34991eOlfred]

Just did a test on XP Mode for Windows 7 and also get the SendRequest Error.

What do you do to check for the internet connection?

EDIT:
OK, strange happenings. (Using Internet Explorer 6) I can access any other website, but I can't access systemshock.org with it.

Something is blocking out Windows XP perhaps? Oo

EDIT2:
Installed Firefox on XP Mode. No problem accessing the website.

So I would deduct that something is blocking out the usual "standard connection routine" Windows XP uses. And whatever you use in SS2Tool is using the same connection routine as Internet Explorer (which uses the Windows XP internet connect routine as any tool which doesn't have a dedicated one and just uses the one from Windows).

[674420d349a41voodoo47]

probably - because while 5.x works on xp, the files are downloaded from the secondary mirror (TTLG), as trying to get them from systemshock.org always fails.