Hardware & Devices

3-Feb-09 11:29

Is anyone else having problems with Vista printer drivers and there .Net application? My program hangs when the print preview control is initialised. If I try to catch the problem in a catch{} try block it often fails with a memory error at the next line of code.

I am assuming the users buy a new PC, Vista installed, and then hook up to there trusty network or locally attached 5 year old printers. I can't reproduce these problems at home so I am a bit lost.

I found this link which explains where some of the problems may start:

[^]

Thanks

Stuart

dadashri4-Feb-09 2:56

dadashri

4-Feb-09 2:56

new PC, Vista installed, and then hook up to there trusty network or locally attached 5 year old printers. you 2gb ram use

st144-Feb-09 9:58

4-Feb-09 9:58

Yes the PC has3.5 gb of ram. The printer causing problems is an HP and the drivers are uptodate.

OS Version: 6.0.6001.65536 Service Pack 1 Workstation x86
.NET Framework version: 2.0.50727.3074 x86
Processor: 2x "AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3800+" @ ~2004MHz (DEP, SSE, SSE2, SSE3)
Physical memory: 3453 MB

I've asked the user to try Paint.Net

Stuart

#realJSOP9-Feb-09 6:10

#realJSOP

9-Feb-09 6:10

Write a simple program that doesn't do anything but display the print preview form, and send it to the user. If THAT program crashes, it's on the user's end. If it doesn't, you've got faulty code that is probably somehow connected to what you're printing. I assume you know that the same code that prints is also the code used to provide the previewed printout.

"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

st149-Feb-09 10:19

9-Feb-09 10:19

Thanks John. Thats a good idea. One user has installed pdfcreator and now can print to pdf and then on to their printer but still can't print directly from my app. I have a smaller app that use an RTF control that supports printing so I'll send them a copy for testing.

The error messages I get when my program crashes point to memory corruption by the driver. Here is one example:

Exception details:
System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
at System.Drawing.SafeNativeMethods.PrintDlg(PRINTDLGX86 lppd)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.GetOutputPort()
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.FastDeviceCapabilities(Int16 capability, IntPtr pointerToBuffer, Int32 defaultValue, String printerName)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings.Get_PaperSizes()
at System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings.PaperSizeFromMode(DEVMODE mode)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings.GetPaperSize(IntPtr modeHandle)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings.GetBounds(IntPtr modeHandle)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrintController.CreatePrintPageEvent(PageSettings pageSettings)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrintController.PrintLoop(PrintDocument document)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrintController.Print(PrintDocument document)
at System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.Print()
at System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewControl.ComputePreview()

Here is what happened when I tried to cath the error in a Try Catch block. In the Catch I am trying to display the exception contents in a MessageBox )

Exception details:
System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
at System.RuntimeTypeHandle.ConstructName(Boolean nameSpace, Boolean fullInst, Boolean assembly)
at System.RuntimeType.RuntimeTypeCache.ConstructName(String& name, Boolean nameSpace, Boolean fullinst, Boolean assembly)
at System.RuntimeType.get_Name()
at System.Diagnostics.StackTrace.ToString(TraceFormat traceFormat)
at System.Environment.GetStackTrace(Exception e, Boolean needFileInfo)
at System.Exception.get_StackTrace()
at System.Exception.ToString()
at DrawTools.Startup.Main(String[] args)

Thanks

Stuart

#realJSOP9-Feb-09 11:23

#realJSOP

9-Feb-09 11:23

Make sure their OS and their .Net framework is fully patched up. Oh yeah, and make sure they're using the latest OS-compatible video drivers.

st141-May-09 16:06

Hardware Configuartion to run SAP on Windows PC

1-May-09 16:06

From: Member 4312265

I'm am having the exact same problem with printing. Same two errors and everything. Did you find a solution?

Christian

Christian,

I have not made any progress. I can't reproduce the problem here and so I'm relying on my users. PDFCREATOR gets them out of trouble. (use it as the default printer, it creates a pdf an then you can print the pdf fine.)

Do you have the problem on a development PC ? If so I could send you a test program and we could work on this together. Things I have tried:

Make sure .net and OS are fully patched.
Remove all code optimisation from my release build.
Place all print functions in TRY blocks to prevent the program from chrashing.

regards

Stuart

PS You can download my application at http://www.mapsoft.com.au (miniCAD V5)

Arijit Manna29-Jan-09 20:11

Arijit Manna

29-Jan-09 20:11

I wish to install SAP in a frash system for learning purpose. In addition to SAP, Visual Studio 2005/2008, SQL Server 2005/2008 and other commonly used application programs will also be installed.

Please suggest me the optimum configuration required so that all of the above can run SMOOTHLY.

Most sites give the minimum configuration for SAP but it dosn't run smoothly.

I will appreciate any help in this regard. Blush | :O

Best Wishes ....... ARIJIT

##~ To believe something true without evidence or in spite of evidence is called faith -- and many consider it a great virtue. ^&&

Sending 5-bit Baudot Over Serial

ricecake29-Jan-09 12:29

ricecake

29-Jan-09 12:29

Can anybody help me in implementing a method to send 5-bit Baudot codes over a serial port?

I have an application that must communicate with a piece of hardware that sends 5-bit Baudot data, so I am building a simulator to run on a different computer to send the same format data to our receiving PC for testing. The simulator is written in C# using .NET 2.0, so I am utilizing the System.IO.Ports.Serial interface.

I can send and receive the data as 8-bit with no problems at all.

The receiving PC has a serial card that does support 5-bit communications. In the implementation, I tried manually doing the encoding to Baudot and sending it as 8-bit using the trick given here: http://graffiti.virgin.net/ljmayes.mal/baud/baud.htm[^] (bitwise OR'ing each character with 0xE0 to set the 3 MSBs to 1, which should simulate sending multiple stop bits). However, on the receiving end, when I set it to 5 bits, I just get a bunch of boxes in the terminal output, and when I set it to 8 bits, I get gibberish characters.

I'm not sure if I need to set the encoding to UTF8 or ASCII, or if it even makes a difference since I am using the SerialPort.Write() method that takes in a Byte[], offset, and length. I have tried setting it to both ways and it didn't work.

Has anybody done anything like this before, or has any ideas on how to implement it?

Thanks.

--
Marcus Kwok

Re: Sending 5-bit Baudot Over Serial

Jonathan Davies30-Jan-09 0:04

Jonathan Davies

30-Jan-09 0:04

Though I've no experience of Baudot, I'd recommend you use a port monitoring program e.g. Portmon to obtain a lot more information about whats happening at the port. Though you currently see: "boxes in the terminal output ...gibberish characters"; It just might be the case that you can glean some information from the values of these characters when viewed in hex. Being able to see the way received/sent bytes are grouped and port control codes helps a great deal as well.

Re: Sending 5-bit Baudot Over Serial

ricecake30-Jan-09 3:57

ricecake

30-Jan-09 3:57

Thanks for the tip. I looked at the PortMon tool and it looks like it might be very helpful in diagnosing what is going on. If I manage to get it working, I will post here for the archives.

--
Marcus Kwok

Re: Sending 5-bit Baudot Over Serial

ricecake4-Feb-09 7:30

ricecake

4-Feb-09 7:30

Thanks for the PortMon tip, using the tool I was able to see that the machine was receiving what I had expected. It appeared that the values were being received properly, but then I found out that the software was expecting the data to be encoded differently than what I thought had to be sent. I also suspect that the terminal program only recognized ASCII encoding and not Baudot, so it was not able to decode the message into plain text.

Thanks for your help. It seems that the ultimate solution to my problem is application-specific.

--
Marcus Kwok

External H.D. Problem

scorp_scorp28-Jan-09 0:22

28-Jan-09 0:22

Dear All,
I have a 500G WD external hard disk. When i plug it in my PC or other PC's, the pc detect it, i goto mycomputer , i can see the drive and i can access it by double click or right click open. below is the problems:
- I cant paste any thing on it
- I cant create any file or folder on it
- I cannt access the HD through the run command
- If i goto computer management and check Disk Managment the HD does not appear.

In other words as if its not pluged.

Any help.

Jörgen Andersson28-Jan-09 1:15

Jörgen Andersson

28-Jan-09 1:15

Has it worked before or not?
Can you read the files on it?

scorp_scorp28-Jan-09 1:29

28-Jan-09 1:29

Yeah it was working before. and no , i have no files on it .

Some people telling me its the board Confused | :confused:

Jörgen Andersson28-Jan-09 1:34

Jörgen Andersson

28-Jan-09 1:34

Sounds like the security settings are messed up.
Check the access rights on it.

Alternatively, reformat it if it's anyway empty.

scorp_scorp28-Jan-09 1:42

28-Jan-09 1:42

How to check the rights Confused | :confused:

Regarding formating , i tried it, but when i right click - format , nothing happens.

Jörgen Andersson28-Jan-09 1:58

Jörgen Andersson

28-Jan-09 1:58

Open windows explorer, rightclick on the drive and select properties, select the security tab.
If there is no security tab, open the tools menu and select "folder options", then select the view tab. Untick "Use simple file sharing".

scorp_scorp28-Jan-09 2:06

28-Jan-09 2:06

same result. Nothing changed.

But thanks for your follow up dude. I think it is damaged Cry | :((

Nanda_MR28-Jan-09 23:13

Nanda_MR

28-Jan-09 23:13

May be connection problem.
My MP3 Player giving same above problem in my computer.it will lose d connection then connect frequently.

Michael Martin16-Feb-09 22:01

Michael Martin

16-Feb-09 22:01

Have you tried booting a Linux Boot Disk (ie Knoppix) to see if that can write or copy anything to the drive. It would at the least see if the problem is Windows specific, such as security permissions. If that doesn't work it would point more to the HDD.

Michael Martin
Australia

"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004