Multiple Campaigns Corrupted

[JohnBoySlim]

Hello,

A few weeks ago, I experienced a "Script Execution Error [string "CoreRPG:scripts/manager_dualua"]" error that resulted in the right side of my character screen going blank for my Curse of Strahd campaign. Fortuntaely, this was rectified by using an older db.xml.

Today, I have experienced the same issue for my Tyranny of Dragons campaign. This time, doing this does not help. Additionally, my Curse of Strahd is missing all PC character sheets. It does not show any of the maps I added, and I cannot add them again because it still senses the maps as having been added.


At a bit of a loss as it seems using FGU means I'm at threat at losing campaign progress at a moment's notice, and I run multiple campaigns each week.

[Zacchaeus]

Hello,

A few weeks ago, I experienced a "Script Execution Error [string "CoreRPG:scripts/manager_dualua"]" error that resulted in the right side of my character screen going blank for my Curse of Strahd campaign. Fortuntaely, this was rectified by using an older db.xml.

Today, I have experienced the same issue for my Tyranny of Dragons campaign. This time, doing this does not help. Additionally, my Curse of Strahd is missing all PC character sheets. It does not show any of the maps I added, and I cannot add them again because it still senses the maps as having been added.


At a bit of a loss as it seems using FGU means I'm at threat at losing campaign progress at a moment's notice, and I run multiple campaigns each week.

Are you using any extensions? Does this happen in a new campaign without extensions?

[Trenloe]

Are you using any active sync/backup applications on your FG data (DropBox, Google Drive, Box, etc.)?

[Nylanfs]

I know you've stated before that no cloud or sync programs are running in previous posts. But Microsoft might be to blame. They are trying to get OneDrive in all Windows machines, and OneDrive is installed as an integral part of Office. So it "could" be running in the background and you never know it. And one of the things it tries to automatically backup is the User Settings, Documents, Pictures, etc.

Where is your FG data directory at on your machine?

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2376883/attention-microsoft-activates-this-feature-in-windows-11-without-asking-you.html

Edit: Further anecdotes

This one sounds almost exactly like what you are describing.
https://www.reddit.com/r/onedrive/comments/1g1dy3w/onedrive_overwriting_files_with_older_versions/

https://www.reddit.com/r/onedrive/comments/1f5nbsu/activated_onedrive_by_a_mistake_now_my_life_is/

[Trenloe]

@JohnBoySlim - sorry, I didn't realize we'd previously discussed data issues.

Your continued issues indicate there is a problem with Fantasy Grounds saving your FG data locally on your computer's hard drive. This could be caused by data sync applications preventing correct saving, FG being closed incorrectly, access rights locally.

Some things to check in future - after you cleanly exit Fantasy Grounds at the end of your session, go to the <FG app data>\campaigns\<your campaign name> directory on your computer and ensure that the db.xml file has been saved correctly - it should have a similar size to the previous db.session file.

For example, the screenshot below shows a campaign that I used yesterday - when I exited FG, the files highlighted were saves (October 22nd, 6:07pm). #1 is the db.xml file (the FG campaign database with all of the data - PCs, story, image metadata, etc.), this is 9,071KB. The previous file #2, db.session.20241022.xml, is of a similar size - so this can be seen as correctly saving the campaign data. If you've done a lot of additional work, then db.xml will be larger than the previous db.session file.

This might seem like a pain to do, but I think it's a good check to do immediately after exiting Fantasy Grounds cleanly, as it may help give an idea where the issue is occurring.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=62427

[Nylanfs]

Also, hasn't there been some issues with just clicking the X in the upper right to close FGU instead of right clicking and selecting exiting? That wouldn't be related to the OTHER campaigns getting corrupted though.

[Trenloe]

Also, hasn't there been some issues with just clicking the X in the upper right to close FGU instead of right clicking and selecting exiting? That wouldn't be related to the OTHER campaigns getting corrupted though.
This was for FG Classic, and only for the Windows emulator package that ran on MAC/Linux - so using the X to close out the emulator package essentially force closed the whole environment FG was running in and so FG Classic didn't close down and didn't save data. This is not an issue with FG Unity as there are dedicated applications for each OS and closing the application should close out correctly, not force close.

[JohnBoySlim]

I've been moving the last few weeks and haven't been able to sit down and set this up. I am pretty technologically inept, overall.

[JohnBoySlim]

So overall, I just need to back-up my data that can mysteriously get lost and corrupted. (No extensions are being used at this point in time).

(Did a hard drive health check - no errors were found).

@Trenloe I can keep on top of that, see if there's a pattern. Unsure at this point in time.

@Nylanfs It doesn't sound the same - the data being lost isn't just to an earlier point, but pretty selective (e.g., I may have an NPC still in the campaign that I made after the PC sheets were made. I go to import a map but can't as it registers as already being imported - however, it fails to show up when I search for it).

I've been considering uninstalling FGU from my c-drive and moving it to my more spacious D-Drive. Currently backed up everything on google drive. Going to do that and see what happens.

[Trenloe]

So overall, I just need to back-up my data that can mysteriously get lost and corrupted.
If something's stopping the data getting saved to the hard drive correctly then a backup won't help.



Currently backed up everything on google drive.
Is this for your C drive which includes FG data? If so, what process are you using for this backup to Google drive? Manual copy/upload or an active Google Drive process that syncs data to the cloud?

[JohnBoySlim]

Currently manually.

And it's not a case of "new information isn't being saved", but "old information is lost". It's not a complete wipe as I may still have certain things like items or NPCS saved, but characters and access to maps lost (it's not even every PC as one was able to be imported from one of the corrupted campaigns).

I'm backing it up to have everything on standby. It hasn't happened every time I logged in, about two or three weeks apart, I think.

[Nylanfs]

That's just really odd.

There's a link in my sig that automates the backup process. But that won't necessarily help if you open it and your campaign info is missing because it will backup a bad copy.

[JohnBoySlim]

Still will make use of it for next time - thanks!

[Trenloe]

And it's not a case of "new information isn't being saved", but "old information is lost". It's not a complete wipe as I may still have certain things like items or NPCS saved, but characters and access to maps lost (it's not even every PC as one was able to be imported from one of the corrupted campaigns).
Are you manually applying a backup when you have issues? Are you reverting to a previous db.session file in the campaign directory? Old information shouldn't be lost from the campaign unless you are reverting the campaign db.xml file with a different one.

When the GM exits the campaign, FG saves all of the current campaign data into a single db.xml file. If new information is being saved, then also information is also being saved - unless there's an issue saving in general and you're having to revert to a different db.xml file.

Sorry if you've been over this before, but I'm not sure exactly what your current situation is - are you getting errors when launching a campaign and do you then apply a previous db.xml file? Or does the campaign load fine, but you notice missing data? If so, is it all a single type of data (story entries, NPCs, items, etc.) or is it a piece of data here and there? We need to identify exactly what is happening, so please provide an example scenario of a recent issue.

[JohnBoySlim]

I've attempted to manually apply a backup when I have issues. In this most recent event, this has not restored the lost information. When I loaded in, the main issue is that all character sheets from the campaigns I mentioned above were missing (The Curse of Strahd game is one I play weekly, and I've had those character sheets for over a year). There were there one week, and then gone the next. Reverting to a previous db.session failed to rectify this. (Before I did this, I attempted to go to a different campaign and import these characters, but they did not show up).

The maps I imported are also missing - some a week ago and others far longer. If I attempt to import the same map, then FGU will "skip" the import process as it detects is as already being in the campaign. So I either have to use different maps, or start a new campaign and upload the maps there.

So to be clear, I have LOST old information WITHOUT reverting the campaign db.xml file (e.g., maps and character sheets) - I only attempted to revert AFTER this issue occur.

In either case, I can load the campaign - nothing prevents me from doing that.

[Trenloe]

What you're describing suggests FG is still having issues saving campaign data. When exiting a campaign in future, please do the checks I mentioned in post #5 to verify if the campaign data has been saved.

[JohnBoySlim]

Yeah, I'm doing that now. But what I don't understand is:

Session 1: Character sheets are there.

Session 2: Use save for session 1, character sheets are there.

Session 3: Character sheets are gone, even when using the db.xml for sessions 1 or two.

[Trenloe]

Yeah, I'm doing that now. But what I don't understand is:

Session 1: Character sheets are there.

Session 2: Use save for session 1, character sheets are there.

Session 3: Character sheets are gone, even when using the db.xml for sessions 1 or two.
The db.session files aren't created for each session of FG - there is a maximum of one db.session file created per day - the filename contains the date.

You should be able to see from the size of the db file if it's going to contain characters or not. If you're copying a file that's 200KB or less, then it's unlikely to contain any character data. So be aware of the size of the files you're using to create the db.xml file. Are you making a complete backup copy of the campaign directory and copying from there? Or are you renaming within the same directory and effectively removing the session file? Please provide a screenshot of all the files in the campaign directory, similar to the example I provided in post #5 - showing file details, then please provide an example of what you're doing referencing these files.