Weird problems today

[doseyclwn]

So I'm running a bi-weekly Tomb of Annihilation game. Partway through the game, my players start not being able to see the map. It was in mask mode, partially uncovered, but they couldn't see it. So I disconnected, rebooted my pc, and then the campaign wouldn't show up. I copied it, renamed it, and neither campaign would show up when I hit "load campaign", as it in I couldn't load it and it wasn't listed. This is the error I got . . .

Database Error: A XML parse error occurred processing file campaigns/Doseytomb of Annihilation/campaign.xml - Error on line 0: Error document empty.
Database Error: A XML parse error occurred processing file campaigns/ToA Doseyclwn/campaign.xml - Error on line 0: Error document empty.

The first line of each campaign.xml was the word NULL repeated over and over. I sure as hell didn't do that. I transferred the file to another pc with the software on it. Same thing. And yes, I just updated. I can find the files, I just can't load them.

Any ideas?

[Trenloe]

Are you running any cloud sync or backup software on your FG data?

To (hopefully) fix the errors, create a new campaign of the same ruleset type and then copy campaign.xml from the new campaign to the ones with the error.

[doseyclwn]

How could the original have changed in the first place, though.

[Trenloe]

How could the original have changed in the first place, though.
Are you running any cloud sync or backup software on your FG data?

[doseyclwn]

I run dropbox, but it's not hooked in automatically with the FG software. And it's not a new campaign, either.

[Trenloe]

And it's not a new campaign, either.
That won't make a difference.


I run dropbox, but it's not hooked in automatically with the FG software.
There's no automatic integration with FG, unless you point DropBox at the FG data, or store the FG data in a DropBox synced directory. Are you doing this?

If you're not using DropBox to store FG data, then it is another cause. My next thoughts:
1) Are you using the normal FantasyGrounds.exe application or the experimental FantasyGrounds_x64.exe application? I ask this because you mentioned issues with masking.
2) What operating system are you running on?
3) FG might have been running out of memory (again, based off the issue you had just before you rebooted). I see you're running Tomb of Annihilation - have you added any maps to your campaign from outside of FG - like a high-resolution map of Chult or similar? How many tokens do you have in your shared tokens directory? How many other modules do you have open?

[doseyclwn]

1) Are you using the normal FantasyGrounds.exe application or the experimental FantasyGrounds_x64.exe application? I ask this because you mentioned issues with masking.
It's the normal FantasyGrounds.exe (x86) v w.3.6 Ultimate

2) What operating system are you running on?
Windows 10. I'd kinda been wondering if that was the issue.

3) FG might have been running out of memory (again, based off the issue you had just before you rebooted). I see you're running Tomb of Annihilation - have you added any maps to your campaign from outside of FG - like a high-resolution map of Chult or similar? How many tokens do you have in your shared tokens directory? How many other modules do you have open? I don't have any extra tokens loaded. I do have a few extra map modules loaded, but none of them were in use. I was using one of the maps that came with it.


A few questions . . .

1) Does Windows 7 run FG better than Windows 10?

2) Does the amount of Ram make much difference? I have 8gb of Ram. I've got another computer that has a slower processor but has 16gb of ram.

I'm just fixated on the fact that it looks like something rewrote the campaign.xml Data. Not sure what's up with that.

[damned]

Windows 10 pretty much runs most things better than Windows 7

FG can only use 3.2gb (approx) of RAM so anything over 6GB is irrelevant to FG.

Obviously something did overwrite your file. Trenloe is trying to narrow down the things that might have based on what you have shared.

[donpaulo]

This thread is why the FG community is solid !

good stuff guys

[doseyclwn]

This thread is why the FG community is solid !

good stuff guys

I agree. One of the best things about this software and this community!

[Trenloe]

This really sounds like your session of FG got overloaded and even though you managed to exit OK, it corrupted the data files - hopefully only campaign.xml.

When you are next gaming with the same campaign, keep windows task manager open and monitor how much memory FantasyGrounds.exe is using - especially if/when you start to experience map issues like the ones you described, or other unusual behaviour. If FantasyGrounds.exe is using more than 3GB of RAM, then close some modules that you have open. Don't run FG with more than 3GB of RAM usage - weird things can and will happen!