Cannot open Vassal any more ...

After enjoying Vassal for years it now will not start on my laptop (Windows 7; 64 bit, Intel i7-4650 CPU @ 1.70GHz 2.30GHz; 8.00GB RAM; Intel HD graphics 5000). I’ve updated Java (ver. 8, update 131) and uninstalled/reinstalled Vassal-3.2.17-windows more times than I can count. The icons for both the installer and for Vassal.exe now have the blue/yellow “user account control” shield on them which wasn’t there when Vassal worked just fine. I’ve also cleaned my registry to no avail. Searching for anything on my hard drive with"vassal" in the name yielded a report.wer file that has the following text in it:

Version=1
EventType=PCA2
EventTime=131375742060887463
Consent=1
UploadTime=131375742061043463
ReportIdentifier=d349e466-297d-11e7-bc44-7c7a91d01fb9
Response.BucketId=10
Response.BucketTable=5
Response.type=4
Sig[0].Name=Problem Signature 01
Sig[0].Value=VASSAL.exe
Sig[1].Name=Problem Signature 02
Sig[1].Value=3.2.17.0
Sig[2].Name=Problem Signature 03
Sig[2].Value=VASSAL
Sig[3].Name=Problem Signature 04
Sig[3].Value=VASSAL
Sig[4].Name=Problem Signature 05
Sig[4].Value=Ȁ΃
Sig[5].Name=Problem Signature 06
Sig[5].Value=200
Sig[6].Name=Problem Signature 07
Sig[6].Value=-1
DynamicSig[1].Name=OS Version
DynamicSig[1].Value=6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.4
DynamicSig[2].Name=Locale ID
DynamicSig[2].Value=1033
State[0].Key=Transport.DoneStage1
State[0].Value=1
State[1].Key=DataRequest
State[1].Value=Bucket=10/nBucketTable=5/nResponse=1/nEvent_Kinshu=2592000/nEvent_Throttle=2592000/n
FriendlyEventName=Program Compatibility
ConsentKey=PCA2
AppName=VASSAL
AppPath=C:\Program Files\VASSAL-3.2.17\VASSAL.exe

Hopefully this will unveil the cause of my frustration…

Thanks in advance,
Curt

The automatic Java update has been the source of issues for the past year or so. I’ve gotten to the point that whenever I get notice of a Java update, I do it manually, like this:

Go to your Control Panel and delete Java.
Go to the Java website and download and install the latest version.

Let us know if that fixes the issue.

Java uninstalled & reinstalled. No difference.

While Java was “missing” I tried Vassal.exe and received an error message saying Java was necessary for Vassal to run. Now it’s back to no action & no error message when I try to start Vassal…

Sorry, that’s the extent of my “technical knowledge”.
I’m sure someone else will make other suggestions.

Please look here and follow the steps indicated:

vassalengine.org/wiki/VASSAL_Does_Not_Start

What do you find when you do that?

I find only 1 installation of Java (see above). When I explore C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\VASSAL I find an empty folder.

Thus spake crozzelle:

I find only 1 installation of Java (see above). When I explore
C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\VASSAL I find an empty folder.

Have you checked that you have 64-bit Java installed instead of 32-bit?

How did you check that you have only one version of Java installed?

Have you checked whether Java works?


J.

I previously installed 64 bit Java & just now tested it using the online verification app at Java.com. It says I have no out of date versions installed and that my current version is the “recommended” one. There is no error message from Java when I try to open Vassal.

Thus spake crozzelle:

I previously installed 64 bit Java & just now tested it using the online
verification app at Java.com. It says I have no out of date versions
installed and that my current version is the “recommended” one. There
is no error message from Java when I try to open Vassal.

  1. Have you checked that you have 64-bit Java installed instead of 32-bit?
  2. How did you check that you have only one version of Java installed?
  3. Have you checked whether Java works?

For 1 and 2, the way to check that is in “Install/Remove Programs” in
the Windows Control Panel.

For 3, please follow the instructions in the “Check whether Java works”
section (vassalengine.org/wiki/VASSAL … Java_works) and post the output here.


J.

I have now tried both 32 bit & 64 bit Java. Following your instructions: No other versions appear in the list of installed programs; Checking it with the Cmd line yields the appropriate responses. I still have an empty folder where the error log should be … and Vassal still does not open or report any error when I try to start it.

Thus spake crozzelle:

I have now tried both 32 bit & 64 bit Java.

You should not have 32-bit Java installed. If you do, uninstall it.

Following your
instructions: No other versions appear in the list of installed
programs; Checking it with the Cmd line yields the appropriate
responses. I still have an empty folder where the error log should be
… and Vassal still does not open or report any error when I try to
start it.

The next thing to check is whether you can start VASSAL manually.

At a command prompt, run:

java -classpath path/to/lib/Vengine.jar VASSAL.launch.ModuleManager

where you replace “path/to/” with the path to “lib/Vengine.jar”, which
you will find where you installed VASSAL.

What happens when you do that?


J.

After returning to 64 bit Java I found Vengine.jar in 2 places on my hard drive so I tried the command on both and got the same answer each time. Here’s what I got in the black box:

Error: Could not find or load main class classpath.

Thus spake crozzelle:

After returning to 64 bit Java I found Vengine.jar in 2 places on my
hard drive so I tried the command on both and got the same answer each
time. Here’s what I got in the black box:

Error: Could not find or load main class classpath.

That means you got the path wrong.

Show me the command prompt, the command you typed, and the result.


J.

The command prompt is C:\Users\cjroz

This time I typed: java -classpath Program Files/Vassal-3.2.17/lib/Vengine.jar

The response was: Error: Could not find or load main class Files.Vassal-3.2.17.lib.Vengine.jar

Thus spake crozzelle:

The command prompt is C:\Users\cjroz

This time I typed: java -classpath Program
Files/Vassal-3.2.17/lib/Vengine.jar

The response was: Error: Could not find or load main class
Files.Vassal-3.2.17.lib.Vengine.jar

Is Vengine.jar in C:\Users\cjroz\Program Files\Vassal-3.2.17\lib?


J.

Vengine.jar is found in C:\Program Files\Vassal-3.2.17\lib

Do I need to change my command prompt to C:\ before entering the command? If so, how do I do that?

Thus spake crozzelle:

Vengine.jar is found in C:\Program Files\Vassal-3.2.17\lib

This is the path you need for the argument to “-classpath”. The
full command should be:’

java -classpath C:\Program Files\Vassal-3.2.17\lib VASSAL.launch.ModuleManager
You might need double quotes around the path, as it contains spaces.

Do I need to change my command prompt to C:\ before entering the
command? If so, how do I do that?

No, but the way to change directory is with “cd”.


J.

Thanks for your patience with me on this problem. I’ve decided to do a fresh install of Windows 7 to see if that fixes it. If not, I will be back.

Thus spake crozzelle:

Thanks for your patience with me on this problem. I’ve decided to do a
fresh install of Windows 7 to see if that fixes it. If not, I will be
back.

That’s a huge waste of time. If you try what I suggested last, we’ll
see what’s wrong.


J.

IT support was not supportive so my laptop did not get Windows re-installed after all. Below is a screen capture of what you requested…

[attachment=1]JavaError.JPG[/attachment]

Below is the part that wouldn’t fit in the window on my screen.

[attachment=0]JavaError2.JPG[/attachment]