Kevin_P86
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So just today, after importing a hold I apparantly already had and didn't realize it until after (the process of importing, etc seemed to work fine - it didn't even warn me like it usually does), I closed and re-opened DROD only to have my holds list completely empty. Even while connected to CaravelNet, there weren't even any listed in the lighter gray as if I didn't have them yet.

The following line was listed a few times in drod.err:

Assertion error in line 229 of C:\Caravel\DROD17\DRODLib\DbLevels.cpp: "!"Bad level ID.""

All of my .dat files seem to be an appropriate size, so it doesn't appear like any data was lost.

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[Last edited by Kevin_P86 at 08-15-2006 05:25 AM]

Kevin_P86
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Just in case more information is needed / helpful:

I tried importing a .hold which was the same version as one I already had, and it knew I had it. I then tried importing a .hold which was a newer version of one I already had, and it knew that as well. It proceded to import after I told it to overwrite the existing version, and completed the import successfully. However, the holds list was still empty.

It may also be relevant that I tried importing the recently posted Proximity Mines 2 hold, which successfully imported before this happened, and I played several rooms in it. However, when I tried to import it this time, the message was "ERROR: File Corrupted".

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Elfstone
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Kevin, my commiserations!
I have been through a similar sort of experience in the last few days, I have lost all my Holds, and although the cause was different in my case, it may be that some of the advice/suggestions I have been given by the (wonderfully helpful) people on this site, may be of use to you.

This is the thread (3 pages now)

<http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=11523&page=0>

Elfstone.

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Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

Kevin_P86
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I don't mean to seem rude, but until this is taken care of I cannot play any holds except the one that I was playing at the time this problem occurred. I would appreciated any suggestions or advice.

Edit: I have changed the subject, as it was rather uninformative. Maybe it'll get more attention now...

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[Last edited by Kevin_P86 at 08-15-2006 05:26 AM]

michthro
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hmmm..The best advice I can give is to first of all back up those .dats and put them in a very safe place. (I'm pretty sure you know what you're doing, but if not, don't do anything without asking.) Then reinstall so that you can at least play until the problem is sorted out. I'm going to be looking at exactly how the .dats work and so on sometime soon, in order to help Elfstone with her lost progress. If your problem isn't fixed by then, I'll see if I can help, but hopefully someone with the ready knowledge will come along before then.

NiroZ
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michthro wrote:
hmmm..The best advice I can give is to first of all back up those .dats and put them in a very safe place. (I'm pretty sure you know what you're doing, but if not, don't do anything without asking.) Then reinstall so that you can at least play until the problem is sorted out. I'm going to be looking at exactly how the .dats work and so on sometime soon, in order to help Elfstone with her lost progress. If your problem isn't fixed by then, I'll see if I can help, but hopefully someone with the ready knowledge will come along before then.

If your really nervious about leaving an importaint file behind, just copy the whole DROD directory to a safe place.

Kevin_P86
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Thanks - I have backed up my 4 .dat files, and my .player file which it let me export.

I certainly don't remember deleting the setup file, but for whatever reason it seems to be gone (it's not in the folder I saved it to, and searching my computer for "*jtrh*.exe" returns only a temporary download of "DRODJtRHPatch8.exe" (version 2.0.8) that for whatever reason was never deleted). Therefore, I can't reinstall without somehow obtaining a copy of it. I found the e-mail from BMT Micro regarding my order (I ordered it through Twilight Games), but the download link is more than a year expired, and there doesn't seem to be any way to renew it without contacting them (which I could do if required, but that'd take a few days at least).

Like I said - it seems all the data is still there somehow, however I'm slightly worried that something important got corrupted...

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michthro
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You should be able to download the full installer from the downloads page. (They're near the bottom.) If you're sure those .dats are backed up, you may want to try reinstalling the game, redownloading your holds, then importing that player you just exported. Could be that everything is in there.

Kevin_P86
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michthro wrote:
redownloading your holds

Yeesh - I had downloaded all of the CaravelNet holds (except those which were possibly uploaded in the last few days), and several from the Architecture board that were never uploaded. Would it matter if I tried to import my player without all of the holds I had progress in present?

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coppro
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Kevin_P86 wrote:

michthro wrote:
redownloading your holds

Yeesh - I had downloaded all of the CaravelNet holds (except those which were possibly uploaded in the last few days), and several from the Architecture board that were never uploaded. Would it matter if I tried to import my player without all of the holds I had progress in present?

Yes, you won't get your progress back if you do.

Kevin_P86
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Yes, I just found that out...

However, the new install forces me to either create a new player, or import an existing player before I can do anything (for example, download other holds). So if I import my player at that point, only my progress for JtRH will be restored, right?

As a side note, the holds list is back in this new version...!

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[Last edited by Kevin_P86 at 08-17-2006 12:48 AM]

Kevin_P86
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Ok, just for fun I tried copying my backed-up .dat files into this new install, and the same empty holds list problem exists, so the problem is certainly in one or more of the .dat files...

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coppro
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Kevin_P86 wrote:
Yes, I just found that out...

However, the new install forces me to either create a new player, or import an existing player before I can do anything (for example, download other holds). So if I import my player at that point, only my progress for JtRH will be restored, right?

As a side note, the holds list is back in this new version...!

I suggest importing, as you can then reimport later.

Hikari
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What I always do in that situation is create a new player, download all the holds, then delete the new player and import my old one. Works perfectly every time

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mrimer
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Yes, the problem you're experiencing is in your old .dat files. I don't know what issue is corrupting people's .dats, however. Two of you have reported losing information after importing a hold, so I'll start from there. I'll get to the bottom of this before 2.0.15 is officially released.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

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[Last edited by mrimer at 08-17-2006 01:20 AM]

coppro
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mrimer wrote:
Yes, the problem you're experiencing is in your old .dat files. I don't know what issue is corrupting people's .dats, however. Two of you have reported losing information after importing a hold, so I'll start from there. I'll get to the bottom of this before 2.0.15 is officially released.

Both reported having downloaded Someone Else's Proximity Mines 2 hold when this happened. (I think)

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[Last edited by coppro at 08-17-2006 01:21 AM]

Kevin_P86
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And for the record, I imported my player into the new install, re-downloaded all of the CaravelNet holds (finally!!), deleted my player, and re-imported it. My progress seems to be restored fine, except the holds that I didn't redownload yet, but I'm not too worried about those. I guess I should be thankful that I am able to download them in game...!

I still have the old .dat files in case anyone wants to see what went wrong with them, but for now, it seems to be ok.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

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Kevin_P86
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coppro wrote:

mrimer wrote:
Yes, the problem you're experiencing is in your old .dat files. I don't know what issue is corrupting people's .dats, however. Two of you have reported losing information after importing a hold, so I'll start from there. I'll get to the bottom of this before 2.0.15 is officially released.

Both reported having downloaded Someone Else's Proximity Mines 2 hold when this happened. (I think)

Yes, it was shortly after downloading that hold when this problem occurred. That doesn't necessarily mean that that hold is problematic, but I suppose its possible.

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Stefan
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Ok, so now my holds list has gone *poof* on me as well. I can't say for sure what caused it, or exactly when it happened (it almost seems to have happened between sessions, or during shutdown of the program), but the last hold I played (and imported) was The Underground Civilisation. The reason for my data loss/corruption may be something else though, because at about the same time this happened, my FAT32 partition became read-only for some reason (this has happened a few times before (however, the last time was over half a year ago), but without any data loss). DROD was the only program accessing the mount point at that time (this has been the case every time it has happened). Also, I checked the disk afterwards (with CHKDSK using WinXP) and the drod2_0.dat file gave an "incorrect filesize reported" (or something similar) error (CHKDSK fixed it, but that didn't improve matters).

I was running Linux DROD (2.0.14.1, I think, although the version number at the title screen is 2.0.14) with my dats on a shared FAT32 partition.

I can send you my dats (later today or on Sunday) if you want to take a look.

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mrimer
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I have a theory that the disappearing hold list problem may be repaired. I'm going to post a fix today that people may download and run which should correct .dats from DROD installations using the 2.0.15(rev4+) patch where the holds list has disappeared, and possibly other data badness. If you still have .dats around that suffer from this condition, stay tuned.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.