Signal Panel Not Visible After Installing Roisdorf Update

[pblanksb]

I have run Roisdorf with downloaded update on my old XP PC and my Windows 7 32-bit laptop without any problems, and I am in the process of migrating my sims to a new Windows 7 64-bit PC.

Every sim I have transferred so far has worked perfectly, but I have just migrated Roisdorf over and I've hit a problem. It works fine with my original downloaded version (V.3.0.0.8) but when I download the update and then start a new sim there is no Signal Panel image visible on the screen, just the empty Signal Panel window. I uninstalled the sim then reinstalled the original download and the panel is visible again, but after downloading the sim update again the panel image is gone. Has anybody else encountered this problem? Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards,

Phil.

[TjoeTjoe]

Phil,

did you already try resetting your workspace. This option can be found under Settings.

If this does not help, there is an other option to resolve, but I do not have access to check this in detail right now. It is something under your "My Documents\AppData\Roaming\Local\SIgnalsoft and then a folder with Roisdorf****

Delete that Roisdorf*** folder to get rid of old stored application data that might interfere with the latest version of in this case Roisdorf

Erwin

[pblanksb]

Hi Erwin,

Thank you for such a quick reply.

I have reset the workspace as you suggested but this didn't resolve the problem. I have never had to use the workspace reset button when downloading any other sim update, on either my new PC or my old one.

In 'My Documents' I do not have a file thread starting with 'App Data'. I have done a search for 'Roisdorf' and Roisdorf*** and no file thread/structure exists.

I have found another problem too, using the original download and the downloaded update. Despite checking the 'Remember sizes and positions' box in 'Workspace', the sim will not remember the Signal Panel size and position, I have to resize it every time I open it. The sim does remember the sizes and positions of other boxes though, such as 'Train Information'. It has been tricky to set up with most of the sims but I got there in the end, but it just will not remember the panel size and position in Roisdorf. (I am spreading the sim over two monitors to give me plenty of workspace).

Regards,

Phil.

[PeteEHAM]

^{Maybe a stupid question but did you install om W7 with administrator rights?}

^{The "app data" folder is a hidden folder and located under users -> your name -> app data (out of my head)}

[DevonFrosch]

Hi,

AppData and it's subfolders are in C:\Users\<your username>\AppData . It's hidden, but you can access it in Windows Explorer by entering %appdata% in the navigation bar (with the % on both sides), then you'll be redirected to .../AppData/Roaming.

I've got a folder named "C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\SIGNALSOFT_Rail_Consultan" containing folders for every simulation

The stars * mean that there are more characters following the "Roisdorf", in this case some random numbers...

DevonFrosch

[TjoeTjoe]

AppData and it's subfolders are in C:\Users\<your username>\AppData . It's hidden, but you can access it in Windows Explorer by entering %appdata% in the navigation bar (with the % on both sides), then you'll be redirected to .../AppData/Roaming.

I've got a folder named "C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\SIGNALSOFT_Rail_Consultan" containing folders for every simulation

Yep. That's the folder structure I meant to refer to. And I forgot about the fact that AppData might be hidden. Thanks.

[pblanksb]

Thank you for all your suggestions and help trying to locate the 'appdata' folder.

I wasn't installing with administrator rights, but I didn't install any of the other sims with administrator rights and they all work fine. Roisdorf works fine from the original download .exe (V3.0.0.8) but not when I download the update.

I did a search and found the appdata folder, but my Signalsoft folders aren't there. They are in C:\Users\user\My Documents\Signalsoft, which is where they defaulted to on installation. They defaulted to this location on my old XP PC too.

I deleted the Roisdorf folder, uninstalled the sim, amended my user settings to administrator, turned off firewall and antivirus and reinstalled. Sadly it's the same as before. I get a panel image on the original install of V3.0.0.8, but not when I download the update. And it will not remember the size and position of the panel window (V3.0.0.8) despite having 'Remember sizes and positions' box in 'Workspace' checked, I have to resize it every time I open the sim. It does, however, remember the sizes/positions of the other windows I have open all the time.

I guess I'll just have to live with the original rather than updated version of Roisdorf for now.

Thanks again for all of your help.

Regards,

Phil.

[TjoeTjoe]

Phil,

under XP the path is:

C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\SIGNALSOFT_Rail_Consultan\Roisdorf.exe_Url_*

under Windows7

C:\Users\Erwin\AppData\Local\SIGNALSOFT_Rail_Consultan\Roisdorf.exe_Url_*

If this folder is not visible, then you must change the view in the Explorer to show "hidden files and folders"

Those folders are there for sure. No doubt about that.

The folders you are referring to are the common folders for storing sim data in, as well as custom timetables and so on

Erwin

[pblanksb]

Hi Erwin,

Many thanks, I've cracked it! I had found 'AppData' and made its contents visible (Local and Roaming) but hadn't made their contents visible so couldn't see the 'Signalsoft' folder within. I deleted the 'Roisdorf' folder and uninstalled the sim, then installed the latest version (V3.2.0.8) again and everything is working fine. It still puzzles me how this sim gave me trouble when all of the others installed ok, but maybe it is just one of those things.

Many thanks again to you (and everyone who offered possible solutions) for helping me sort this problem out.

Regards,

Phil.

[PeteEHAM]

Phil,

In my opinion you allways have to install with administrator rights or things could be messed up. Another thing is UAC (user account control), this can also mess up with installations.

I have my UAC off and allways install with administrator rights, no problems here....

[DevonFrosch]

The UAC is a feature so you don't have to be an administrator all the time and still let setups run as priviliged code. With UAC switched on, there's no need to install a setup as administrator explititly. But that might be a thing of believe :-)

Greetings,
DevonFrosch
Win7 user with UAC switched on and working programms :-)

[pblanksb]

I always turn Firewall and Antivirus off when I install programs, but now I'll always make sure I turn UAC off as well, and then turn these features back on when installations are complete.

We all learn something new every day.

Thanks again folks.

Phil.

[PeteEHAM]

I always turn Firewall and Antivirus off when I install programs, but now I'll always make sure I turn UAC off as well, and then turn these features back on when installations are complete.

We all learn something new every day.

Thanks again folks.

Phil.

Best thing you can do!

[TjoeTjoe]

The reason why the update gave some troubles might have been due to the fact that some settings, stored in that folders, have changed in the sense of data structure. Normally these changes do not lead to issues, unless you have missed some updates in between. In your case there was quite a version difference, v3.0.x.x and v3.2.x.x

[DevonFrosch]

A few words about UAC:

The UAC was designed to let "normal" users (in terms of user permissions) install and run programs with administrator privileges. You'll get a message every time a program wants to run as an administrator, so in case some maleware wants to run as an administrator, you'll notice it (unlike on XP or with UAC switched off). Additionally if you accidentally start a setup, you can prevent it from running straight away :-)

On Windows Vista, when UAC was new, it used to show up far too often, so lots of people gave advice to switch UAC off. With Windows 7, this has been resolved, so it's more reasonable to let it switched on as an additional layer of security, except for cases when it's known to cause problems (e.g. for a few very old programs).

In this case it's not causing the problem => it's saver to let UAC switched on :-)

Greetings,

DevonFrosch

[PeteEHAM]

A few words about UAC:

The UAC was designed to let "normal" users (in terms of user permissions) install and run programs with administrator privileges. You'll get a message every time a program wants to run as an administrator, so in case some maleware wants to run as an administrator, you'll notice it (unlike on XP or with UAC switched off). Additionally if you accidentally start a setup, you can prevent it from running straight away :-)

On Windows Vista, when UAC was new, it used to show up far too often, so lots of people gave advice to switch UAC off. With Windows 7, this has been resolved, so it's more reasonable to let it switched on as an additional layer of security, except for cases when it's known to cause problems (e.g. for a few very old programs).

In this case it's not causing the problem => it's saver to let UAC switched on :-)

Greetings,

DevonFrosch

Then we disagree....

Apart of being a signal box simmer I'm also a dedicated flight simmer. For flight sim (and W7) the advice is to put UAC off and to put the main flightsim program out of the program files folder just because of UAC. Also the advice is to install with administrator rights, otherwise you will get into trouble. Now I'm talking about Flight Simulator X, a reasonable "old" program, but even for the "newer" X Plane the advice is not any different (X Plane will install on your desktop by default).

Yes, I tried it once to install a signalsoft simulation with UAC on and without selecting administrator rights and I ran into problems inmediately. I can't say it was signalsoft, but it was very very strange that when I reinstalled the simulation with UAC off and selecting administrator rights my problems were gone.

That's the main reason why I switch UAC off permanently. Apart of that I can say I have a very good virus scanner and internet protector, so in case of any malware my protector will show an alarm.