Macromedia Director 6.0 Player 1Gb Virtual Memory Bug

[flyinghaggis]

Since we've started buying PC's with 1Gb RAM we've run into a bug with Macromedia Director 6.0 where it complains that it cannot run because it requires at least 3Mb of Virtual Memory.

It appears to be a problem with the way that director reads the virtual memory setting on an XP PC as you can resolve the problem by changing the initial virtual memory size to less than 1GB or over 3Gb but I'm not keen to do this on all of the PC's in school as we're concerned it could affect performance and potentially cause issues with other software. I've found the registry key to do this if anyone needs if though.

Does anyone know if there's any way to fix this problem other than playing about with the Virtual Memory settings on PC's.

[markcuk]

hi

 

could i have the reg key

 

i have software that requires me to change the value of virtual memory

 

thanks

 

mark

[Geoff]

Have Macromedia not issued a patch?

[flyinghaggis]

The Key's in:-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

Value = C:\pagefile.sys 1536 3072

 

If you change the initial 1536 to 3072, so both values are the same, this will allow director 6.0 programs to run (requires a reboot to take effect) but I'm not sure if there are any possible consequences to doing this (other than wasting disk space). I'd hoped there would be a better way of fixing the problem as I'm not keen on the idea of changing virtual memory settings on nearly 100 PC's just to fix a bug with a couple of old pieces of software.

Specifically I was wondering if there was anyway of updating a Director 6.0 based program to a newer version (which would presumably fix the bug)? I'm guessing there's probably no way to modify a director app without the source code/files but I'm not familiar with director so hoped there might be a way to do it!

The main problem application is Business@work by the SQA. I've sent them an email but haven't got a response as to whether they can provide a more up to date version though.

[ZeroHour]

Have Macromedia not issued a patch?

Its the type of bug where they tell you to redo your project in a newer director.

[flyinghaggis]

The main problem application is Business@work by the SQA. I've sent them an email but haven't got a response as to whether they can provide a more up to date version though.

 

They've just sent us the latest version of the software which has turned out to be exactly the same as the 5 year old version we're having probems with

[darcourt]

I have written a fix for the Business Manager at work software, which works on XP SP2.

 

It basically uses XP's Compatibility system to "pretend" to the application that the workstation only has 400Mb of memory. You can leave your overall swap space setting as it was - and avoid the performance hit.

 

This adds fixes for both the Player and Admin software. The exe needs to be run on each workstation once, after the Business Manager software is installed.

 

any questions, just ask.

bmplayer.exe

[noabody]

I just fixed the same problem for an older copy of the Rosetta Stone language software using Director 6. What you need to look up is Application Compatibility fix and globalmemorystatuslie. Here is a link to the Microsoft technet article:

 

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/6932a9cf-a25c-4844-8f18-0e741120e3301033.mspx?mfr=true

 

I use an older copy of the Application Compatibility Toolkit (version 3). I build a fix in the form of "programname".sdb. The fix file can then be easily installed on any Windows XP computer using the command:

 

sdbinst "programname".sdb .

 

The whole thing is very complicated but relatively easy once you get the hang of it. A little research can payoff to build a simple fix that can be deployed to an entire campus or workgroup.

[Eddy51]

We hit the same bug installing an old HP1100 scanner/printer onto an new machine (2010). I think the old Marcomedia installer simply looked at the "number" in the virtual memory box, and not the actual memory available.

 

Originally in Win98 etc. the HDD virtual memory was box defined in kB and not MB. So the fix is simple using the "custom" settings for virtual memory. Enter 4000 MB (yes - a bit excess but you can reverse it afterwards) as your initial memory using the "Custom" setting" (e.g set at say 4000 min and 5000 max).

 

This installs fine, except that the programme then appears to hang right at the end of the installation (it's not hung). Hitting cntrl/alt/delete will release the computer from this "apparent" hang.

[gerardsweeney]

If you mean the old "needs 3Mb of memory" thing, then there's a way to fix it without modifying the PC..

 

Here y'go:

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/educational-software/19605-really-old-projector-macomedia-program.html#post427051

 

Takes about 2 mins assuming the Director file follows the same format (which dozens in our assorted schools seem to do)

 

Regards,

Gerard