Interesting Sudden DoomBuilder2 Crash on Startup.

I'm pretty sure this isn't a bug with the program, but I really don't have anything else to call it. Thanks for reading, by the way. ^^, I have a strange error with DoomBuilder2. It doesn't happen (yet...) for DB1.

Basically, I was on version 1072 several months ago, and was using it just fine. Then I downloaded Aeons of Death, (Bloody amazing...) and tried importing it into Doom Builder 2 to see if I could build with it. Obviously I was, and still am, quite the newbie.

So I was just fiddling around with it, importing, looking at the wall of error messages, and I didn't really get a crash, I don't think. But there was a certain point of usual importing / analyzing activity where it just wouldn't open at all anymore. As in, starting the program gives this error message with a "Send to Microsoft" style error box. This occurs immediately on doubleclicking the icon for Doom Builder 2.

EventType : clr20r3     P1 : builder.exe     P2 : 2.0.1.1157     P3 : 4a59cebc
P4 : system.drawing     P5 : 2.0.0.0     P6 : 4889dec2     P7 : 7af     P8 : 6c
P9 : system.argumentexception     

Doom Builder 2.0 startup
Application path: C:/GAMES/Doom Builder 2
Temporary path: C:\Documents and Settings\LOL\Local Settings\Temp\
Local settings path: C:\Documents and Settings\LOL\Local Settings\Application Data\Doom Builder
Command-line arguments: 0
Loading program configuration...
Local user program configuration is missing!
New program configuration copied for local user
Program configuration is outdated, new configuration will be copied for local user
Starting action manager...
Binding static action methods for class General...
Loading main interface window...

I have attempted a -complete- uninstall using Revo Uninstaller, which searches for all traces of a program, including in the registry. Deleted all of the registry keys as well. I'm not sure what else there is that I can do to reset anything, as even the registry keys are gone, as well as the files in Local Settings. As far as I'm concerned, I install the latest version on a totally Doom Builder 2-free environment, and it still crashes on startup. Strange.




Oh. Also, a note for any local Mods, The two top-most links within This stickied thread are dead at the moment.

I know what you mean but not the solution. I have winXP service pack 2, and I downloaded doombuilder and it crashes when I click on the icon. My computer meets the system requirements, so I don't know whats wrong.

Do you have .NET Framework and the SlimDX End User Runtime installed on your computer?

Sadly, yes, both are installed. :( I just reinstalled them just to be sure, with the same result as before. Thanks for the links though. :)


The computer definitely meets the requirements. Thing is, again, it used to work just fine. I'm really not at all sure what suddenly made it cease working. It's like waking up without any arms, but without any trace of a scar either. No idea what the hell happened. Nothing was changed to make it not work.

Have you recently installed any new software (especiialy anti-viruses and stuff like that) or changed any hardware, no matter how trivial?

ShadowTiger said:

Sadly, yes, both are installed. :( I just reinstalled them just to be sure, with the same result as before. Thanks for the links though. :)

I knew you would have, the question was meant for 22Alpha22. I should have made that clearer.

While it mightn't do any better than a re-install - did you try repairing .NET (through Add/Remove Programs)?

I did. :-/ Reinstalled SlimDX as well, with August's version.

I'm incredibly bewildered. I didn't install any additional hardware, certainly, nor software. I was only messing around with Aeons of Death. It didn't like all the errors it was getting, and refused to open again. It's not like it refers to it from elsewhere and vice versa.

I completely uninstalled it and removed all files and registry entries and references to it from everywhere else, but it still won't open. It's incredible; like some sort of demonic force is preventing me from opening Doom Builder 2, but not Doom Builder 1. O_O' DB1 works just fine, as far as I can tell.

Have you tried a system restore to before dB2 decided to stop working?

Thanks for the thought, but that's a bit drastic. On this computer, it's the equivalent of "Oh, you can't get the nailpolish off? Have you considered amputating your arm and replacing it with a cybernetic one?" Don't even have a restore point.

Not that I haven't considered it. >.>

I wonder what the error message actually means.

EventType : clr20r3     P1 : builder.exe     P2 : 2.0.1.1157     P3 : 4a59cebc
P4 : system.drawing     P5 : 2.0.0.0     P6 : 4889dec2     P7 : 7af     P8 : 6c
P9 : system.argumentexception     

According to my research (the blind leading the blind)...

clr20r3 is just a event message showing that there is an unhandled exception in your application

The causes are many and various, including (oddly enough) the event log being full. That's one you might like to check.

Meh - once again I'm not communicating effectively. Wrong log file. Try Administrative Tools/Event Viewer (in Control Panel if you haven't added them to the Start menu) and see if any of the log files there are full - most likely the System log. Even then I wouldn't expect problems unless event overwriting is disabled, though this is Windows we're talking about. At worst you might have to clear (and save) the log then see if that makes a difference.

Wow, I'd never even known that area existed! Cool. :P

I cleared out the logs. The Application and System logs were at 512 KB apiece, with a tremendously long list. I cleared them out.

DoomBuilder2 still wouldn't start though. :-/ Same sort of windows bug that occurred earlier.

I do appreciate the help, more than I can say. ^^,

I was having this same issue. Doom Builder 2 was working just fine and then after months of not using it I went to start it up and it would instantly crash. I wasn't even getting a log file. The problem did turn out to be SlimDX. Apparently, you must install the March 2009 version, the August one will not work. I uninstalled the August 2009 version and installed the March one and DB2 started working perfectly again.

Thanks for the tip. :) I would have suspected it'd be that.

It's strange though, because I uninstall -everything- via RevoUninstaller, which gets every trace and file of what you uninstall. I uninstall SlimDX August '09, SlimDX March '09, DoomBuilder 2, and DoomBuilder 1. I basically uninstalled everything aside from the .NET framework 3.5.

I completely delete my entire DoomBuilder + DoomBuilder2 folder, and have everything related to it uninstalled. (Except for the .NET Framework 3.5) I download the SlimDX '09, and the DoomBuilder2 version 1.157. Everything is fresh so far. It's like I never uninstalled anything.

Then I install the builder2_setup_1157.exe. It installs a copy of SlimDX (March '09) with it. It always had. There was not a copy of SlimDX installed at all at that point. I try DB2, and it crashes. Same as always. Then I uninstall just the SlimDX and install the one you linked to. Still crashes.

I'm quite stumped at this point, really. I wonder if it's a virus or a rootkit. ... Yeah, right. L_L' Heheh, wow.

When I was diagnosing the problem I was having, I did so by hitting the "Debug" button on the Microsoft Report dialog that popped up. When it asks which dev environment you want to load it in, it also says specifically which error you are getting. In my case it was "System.IOException FileNotFound" or something along those lines. Now, I happen to have Visual Studio installed so I was able to open it in VS and get the exact version number of the missing SlimDX file (which corresponded to the March '09 version). Whether or not you have VS installed, hit debug and see what the error message is.

Thank you for the tip. :)

I found out what the error was. It was REALLY strange. I mean an error that you would not believe would actually happen.

Check it out. Near the bottom of the page. Apparently, the "arial.ttf" font (Such a common font...) was being corrupted over time by other programs writing to it, and DoomBuilder2 couldn't read it because it was expecting another kind of font.

So I dragged it out of the fonts folder and back in, and bam, it worked. I was definitely not expecting this.


Kinda makes me wonder what it's going to do to the console font, Lucida.

That is weird. Sounds like a file-locking issue, with some application claiming exclusive access to the font. Nice to know the issue's been resolved.