Connection issues and crashes - Please read

[matthew]

There are a number of users reporting connection issues and crashes when using Game Jackal. These include :-

1. Game Jackal reporting a connection error when the manager is started.
2. Game Jackal reporting an exception when a profile is activated.

We believe the changes introduced in versions 4.0.2.5 and 4.0.2.6 could be responsible for a number of these issues. Therefore we recommend that you install the attached update.

1. Close the Game Jackal Manager if running.
2. Download the attached file.
3. Stop the Game Jackal service. You do this by selecting the Windows start menu -> SlySoft -> Game Jackal v4 -> Stop Service.
4. Unzip the downloaded files to the Game Jackal folder (i.e. "C:\Program Files\SlySoft\Game Jackal v4" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\SlySoft\Game Jackal v4" for x64 machines). Overwriting the existing files.
5. Right-click the file "Server Update.cmd" and select "Run as Administrator".

This update will change the running server and manager to those located in the installation directory (i.e. under Program Files). This update will also clean any files no longer in use.

If you are still experiencing issues, please check the following :-

• The Game Jackal service is running. To do this click on Administrative Tools, and click on Services. Find the Game Jackal service and ensure it is running. If it is not running, select "Start service" from the Game Jackal start menu.
• For the purposes of testing, disable all firewall(s) and test again.
• Run the Game Jackal Diagnostics tool. Doing this will at least check and determine if there is another application listening on the required port(s).

 

[andre_v_r]

v4.2.0.6 won't start

Hi I upgraded to the latest version and now my sims 3 profile won't start. I get a message about access violation.
Please help as I am going into Sims withdrawal and it's pretty ugly!
I attach a screenshot showing error message and server log files.
I am using vista and have been using gamejackal for this since around 7 months - never had any problem until now.
I tried completely uninstalling rebooting and reinstalling - all to no avail.

Symptoms: first I get a message about the server not running, so I manually restart the server service. Then I click on the profile again and get a message about access violation.

Thanks and best regards

 

[otscomm]

getting the access violation after upgrading

Upgraded to the latest Game Jackal Version and get the Access Violation message. I installed the new server.exe and still get the same message. I have attached the server log file.

 

[matthew]

Hi I upgraded to the latest version and now my sims 3 profile won't start. I get a message about access violation.
Please help as I am going into Sims withdrawal and it's pretty ugly!
I attach a screenshot showing error message and server log files.
I am using vista and have been using gamejackal for this since around 7 months - never had any problem until now.
I tried completely uninstalling rebooting and reinstalling - all to no avail.

Symptoms: first I get a message about the server not running, so I manually restart the server service. Then I click on the profile again and get a message about access violation.

Thanks and best regards

Upgraded to the latest Game Jackal Version and get the Access Violation message. I installed the new server.exe and still get the same message. I have attached the server log file.

The new server was not installed correctly (both of the logs posted indicate the old server was still installed). I have updated the instructions and the attachment to make it easier to install. You will know if installed correctly, as the second line of the log will be "v4.0.2.6a" (not v4.0.2.6).

 

[andre_v_r]

error starting Installer.exe

it says
Game Jackal installer.
error copying file 'manager.exe' ... please reinstall the application.
thanks and best regards

 

[Heruka]

GameJackal no longer works after installing most recent update

After installing the latest update, GameJackal no longer works.

The error it gives me is:

"Unable to start the Game Jackal server. Please contact support."

Previously the program worked perfectly.

I then uninstalled Game Jackal and re-installed it. This time Game Jackal started up correctly, but when I wanted to run a profile, it reported an read exception error.

I then uninstalled and re-installed Game Jackal again using the server update file provided by Matthew. Now I get the "Unable to start the Game Jackal server. Please contact support" error again. In other words, the patch doesn't work.

Can anyone help?

I've attached my logs.

 

[mimamue]

Same for me...

The same issue that HERUKA experiences is happening for me:

Both during the diagnostic tool, running a profile or creating a new profile, I always receive the following message:

"Unable to start the Game Jackal server. Please contact support."

The diagnostic tool even abends and hangs after this message, I had to purge it with the task manager.

Uninstalled 4.0.2.6, re-installed, applied the patch 4.0.2.6a, still everything with the same error.

The Server.gjlog file is completely useless, because it will NOT be written after the above error!

So I will now uninstall 4.0.2.6a and go back to the stable 4.0.2.5

P.S. maybe the attached "Manager Bug Report.txt" helps, at least this one was written...

 

[mimamue]

Oh great.... even going back to 4.0.2.5 doesn't work, I still receive the message

"Unable to start the Game Jackal server. Please contact support."

Neither logfile nor error message is written upon this abend.

There must be some files left over after uninstallation which spoil a new installation... so currently I'm not able to run GameJackal at all

 

[Heruka]

Nothing works anymore

Same here. Tried re-installing the old version. Nothing works anymore. Very frustrating.

 

[Ambrosius]

Hmmm, man i haven't had a computer crash on me so much since i had Win98.
Well the start of my problem was when i uninstalled V3 while V4 was there. Didn't realise that they run in-line (i was tidying up). Nothing worked and now i have nothing.
Anyway just a quick run down
Loaded 4.0.2.6 added the server updated zip.
Adding new a profile (starting all over again) to V4, on start up the game flicked back to the desktop repeatedly.
Try to add a second profile, i crash out after my computer locked up. After restarting my computer i load a second profile (repeated flicking). started the game, ok
shutdown the game and start another only to have it crash out again.
It would seem that GJ doesn't like running more than one instance per restart.
I have uninstalled GJ until this problem is sorted, I cant be bothered with the frustration and the crashing out. I really can't believe that this was tested before release, such fundamental errors.
GJ is a great product and I look forward to the days of old

 

[Q_Division]

Minamue, Heruka,

I have / had the same problem (I was trying to fix a different problem, it's in a different thread and in doing so triggered this one). I have finally (after several hours) got 4.0.2.5 running, however none of my old profiles work (which I think is why it took so long as I kept tyring them), it only appears to run with new ones. It may be that the profiles some how keep track of version info and therefore it's now looking for a server (i.e. 4.0.2.6 / 4.0.2.6a) that doesn't exist, have you tried creating a new profile?

 

[mimamue]

Have you tried creating a new profile?

Yes, while trying to create a new profile with right mouse-click ("Convert to GameJackal v4 profile") I receive the - meanwhile well known - error message "Unable to start the Game Jackal server. Please contact support."

Even when I try just to start GameJackal with the link "Game Jackal v4" from the Start Menue, I receive that error message as well, so GJ is completely unusable now.

 

[Q_Division]

Sorry to hear that Minamue.

Not sure what OS you are running, however under 7 (which is what I am) and presumably under Vista aswell the Server actually lives under C:\ProgramData\{*}. In my case I had several versions under different obscure folder names, which the unistaller doesn't seem to remove. You may want to check and remove them before reinstalling it may help. This was one of many things I tried yesterday. I hope you can get something going.

 

[mimamue]

Hmmm... I really thought this might be the solution, because I found not less than 4 directories under C:\ProgramData\{*} containing the Manager.exe, the Server.exe, the GJL.dll and the ServiceManager.exe, all from my attempts to re-install GJ (By the way: I'm still running XP).

But even after deleting these directories after de-installation and re-starting the PC, a re-installation of 4.0.2.5 still brings our lovely error message, so there must still be another SECRET which is not removed after de-installation.

So well, GJ is still unusable...

 

[Q_Division]

Was hoping that would fix it. I did also remove and change some stuff from the registry, however the installers seem odd in what they add and remove. Hope we get a solution soon (as all my old profiles still don't work, so mine is only a temporary fix anyway). If you do start tweaking the registry, just a friendly reminder to back it up first. Hope you solve it.

 

[mimamue]

Hi Q_Division,

thanks a lot for your help, but it's un-be-lie-va-ble...

I deinstalled GameJackal, aborted the still running(!) task "Manager.exe", deleted the directory you mentioned before on C:\ProgramData\{*} which contained "Manager.exe", "Service.exe" and all that stuff, then I restarted the PC.

After this I used CCleaner to clean some remaining Registry Entries, and after this I even did the following manual Registry clean-up:
- delete all keys and contents (apart from MRU or MUI cache entries) containing "jackal". Especially an entry for the GameJackal Server was hard to remove from the registry, I had to change the authority of that key to "full access", to be finally allowed to remove this.
- delete all keys and contents containing "gjlog".

To be honest, I was SO damned sure that keeping all this in mind should fix the problem!

But after reinstalling my old version 4.0.2.5 (which was definitely working to create and run some new profiles before my update to 4.0.2.6!) I still receive that message telling me that I am "Unable to start the Game Jackal server. Please contact support." :bang: :bang: :bang:

 

[mimamue]

Hi again,

strange.... this time I tried it with 4.0.2.3, but the rest of it was exactly like in my detailed description before.

But now the difference is: this version is running!!! The GJ server was able to start, I was able to create a new profile, I was even able to run profiles created with 4.0.2.5.

I am really worried about updating even to 4.0.2.5 now, like I used to say "never touch a running system", especially in this case

I guess next time I'll wait with my update until there are no further errors posted in this forum :rock:

Cheers & a nice evening to all,
Michael

 

[matthew]

it says
Game Jackal installer.
error copying file 'manager.exe' ... please reinstall the application.
thanks and best regards

Did you have Game Jackal running? It needs to be shutdown.

 

[mimamue]

Did you have Game Jackal running? It needs to be shutdown.

If "not shutting down" GameJackal (Manager.exe sometimes still runs in multiple instances, although the last run pretended that GJ has been deactivated) causes so heavy problems, why does the installer not just check if GameJackal is still running and tells you (if it doesn't shutdown GJ itself...) to shut GameJackal down before an update

 

[Heruka]

There are a number of users reporting connection issues and crashes when using Game Jackal. These include :-

1. Game Jackal reporting a connection error when the manager is started.
2. Game Jackal reporting an exception when a profile is activated.

We believe the changes introduced in versions 4.0.2.5 and 4.0.2.6 could be responsible for a number of these issues. Therefore we recommend that you install the attached update.

1. Close the Game Jackal Manager if running.
2. Download the attached file.
3. Stop the Game Jackal service. You do this by selecting the Windows start menu -> SlySoft -> Game Jackal v4 -> Stop Service.
4. Unzip the downloaded files to the Game Jackal folder (i.e. "C:\Program Files\SlySoft\Game Jackal v4" or "C:\Program Files (x86)\SlySoft\Game Jackal v4" for x64 machines). Overwriting the existing files.
5. Right-click the file "Server Update.cmd" and select "Run as Administrator".

This update will change the running server and manager to those located in the installation directory (i.e. under Program Files). This update will also clean any files no longer in use.

If you are still experiencing issues, please check the following :-

• The Game Jackal service is running. To do this click on Administrative Tools, and click on Services. Find the Game Jackal service and ensure it is running. If it is not running, select "Start service" from the Game Jackal start menu.
• For the purposes of testing, disable all firewall(s) and test again.
• Run the Game Jackal Diagnostics tool. Doing this will at least check and determine if there is another application listening on the required port(s).

Hello!
This solution works perfectly!
Thank you very much!!!
Cheers,
Mark