389 Crashiness?

[PHK]

Since installing 389, I have been experiencing random app crashes; much more than previous versions. The only common denominator so far seems to be in files greater than 100Mb but not necessarily with a large number of pages. There does not seem to be a particular action that is triggering this and it is all on one computer. No recovery file is created. Has something changed?

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi, PHK

is it crashing or hanging?

We want to investigate and will need dumps made, but whether to do a crash dump or memory/process dump depends on the answer to that question.

To answer the question, if you have the Windows Task Manager open and the Editor visible, when the event happens does it remain in the task manager (hang https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgeba ... estigation) or dissapear? (crash https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgeba ... estigation)

[PHK]

I just had a Crash!

I was editing some Bookmarks and, fearing a possible crash, I tried to save the file [ctrl-S] to preserve what I had already done. I had done no manipulations of the file pages or content; only added and edited Bookmarks. It crashed when saving. Here is the file Properties.

image.png

I am uncertain as to how to generate a crash dump.

[PHK]

P. S. Only PDF-XCE crashed; not the entire Windows environment.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi, PHK

if it is crashing then this is the process needed to create a crash dump: https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgeba ... estigation

The resulting file will be too large for email, please drop it here: https://files.tracker-software.support/ ... Nnd6TcFy9k

[PHK]

I have sent 9 or 10 dump files.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

These all appear to be "mini" crash dumps which do not contain the full information required to troubleshoot. If you use the "hands off method" shown in the Article Paul sent, the registry files we provide will configure the correct type of dumps to be recorded automatically. then you merely need to reproduce the issue once, and send us that single dump file.

https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgeba ... off-method

Kind regards,

[PHK]

When I run that file, I get this:

image.png

which doesn't look good to me.

Thoughts?

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

Please try to extract the file from inside the zip and out of your temp folders. Then if it still does not run - are you on a managed device where your access to writing to the registry is limited?

Kind regards,
Stefan

[PHK]

Is this

image.png

not the correct extracted file to run?

When I do run it, I get this warning message (which precedes the one above)

image(1).png

No, I am not on a managed device: it is entirely stand-alone.

Should the file have a "publisher"?

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

It looks like Windows is blocking the registry file. These are not intended to be "signed" in any way, they are essentially just a text file with an extension that says "install this here". If anyone wants to check what changes will be made, they can open the *.reg file with a text editor before running it.

In this case, what you need to do is open the properties of the file, and check the "unblock" box you see here:

image.png

After that, the key should be allowed to run (though you will likely still see a prompt to the effect of asking "are you sure?").

Once that key is properly imported, reproduce the error again, and a much larger dump file should be generated.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Hello, PHK

It looks like Windows is blocking the registry file. These are not intended to be "signed" in any way, they are essentially just a text file with an extension that says "install this here". If anyone wants to check what changes will be made, they can open the *.reg file with a text editor before running it.

In this case, what you need to do is open the properties of the file, and check the "unblock" box you see here:
image.png
After that, the key should be allowed to run (though you will likely still see a prompt to the effect of asking "are you sure?").

Once that key is properly imported, reproduce the error again, and a much larger dump file should be generated.

Kind regards,

I unblocked as you suggested but then I got this sequence:

image.png

So, now what am I doing wrong?

The app has become very unstable. I cannot do virtually anything without it crashing.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

If the change is still being blocked in this way, it would likely indicate that your current user account cannot be granted elevated permissions to make registry edits. You will need to log in as an administrator user account specifically to make this change.

As for the general stability of the software, so far you are the only user reporting such crashing issues which I know of, we (and the Dev team) are quite confident that it is something else, specific to your device, which is what these logs will hopefully help us find. Another option for you is to try systematically disabling all non-windows background utilities, any overlays, monitors, gaming anti-cheat systems, etc. and see if after disabling a certain one, the crashing stops.

I should also mention that there was a known issue with a recent windows update (for Win11 devices) which could cause application crashes and even full system BSOD and GSOD events to occur with startling frequency. If you have recently installed windows updates (as of about a week ago) you may want to go check again now, and ensure that you are fully up to date. Microsoft has since taken down the offending update and put up a replacement to revert the changes it made for any affected users. While your case here sounds too app specific to be related, there is always a chance.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

...
If the change is still being blocked in this way, it would likely indicate that your current user account cannot be granted elevated permissions to make registry edits. You will need to log in as an administrator user account specifically to make this change.

I am a little fuzzy on how to do that and it is a bit late in the working day for me, so I might not tackle that immediately.

As for the general stability of the software, so far you are the only user reporting such crashing issues

on one level, I am glad to hear that. Also, I am not completely surprised.

which I know of, we (and the Dev team) are quite confident that it is something else, specific to your device, which is what these logs will hopefully help us find.

That is a task for another day for me.

Another option for you is to try systematically disabling all non-windows background utilities, any overlays, monitors, gaming anti-cheat systems, etc. and see if after disabling a certain one, the crashing stops.

These issues have been occurring even though I've not got a lot of apps running in the background. Task Manager shows about 90-95 Background Processes running which would be very difficult to sort through. Otherwise, I am running no overlays (whatever those are), one monitor (the same one for years), no gaming or anti-cheat systems. I do not believe I made any changes to this device for quite a while, certainly not in the last week when I've been experiencing these problems.

Given this seems to be a local device issue, perhaps further discussion is not appropriate for this Forum. Is there a more private way?

I should also mention that there was a known issue with a recent windows update (for Win11 devices) which could cause application crashes and even full system BSOD and GSOD events to occur with startling frequency. If you have recently installed windows updates (as of about a week ago) you may want to go check again now, and ensure that you are fully up to date. Microsoft has since taken down the offending update and put up a replacement to revert the changes it made for any affected users. While your case here sounds too app specific to be related, there is always a chance.

I have looked at the available Windows updates (it initially said I was all up to date, but there were four app-related updates available (NVidia and a few others) that did not seem to have any potential for interfering in the functioning of PDF-XCE. Regardless, I took those updates.

I appreciate the time and effort you guys are committing to helping me on this and I am sure we can get it solved. Thank you.

[PHK]

Well, the first document I worked on after the above, a 7-page document, crashed without creating a recovery file after about 15 actions such as creating Guidelines, Splitting the pages, deleting some dead acreage, and Merging down to one page. That worked OK but when I tried to add some new Guidelines, it crashed. Unfortunately, all changes I made were lost.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

Recovery would likely only kick in if the file has been used for 5+ minutes (the default timer) since the first change was recorded. if only 15 actions were taken before the crash, there likely isn't any data in the recovery file, if a file was even created.

Regardless of that, the more important part here is the crash dump itself. Did that work out?

You also asked about moving this to a more private form. If you would like, you can send us an email with a link to this topic, but it could be helpful to see the solution at the end, just in case someone else comes along and has the same issue in the future.

Kind regards,

[Vasyl - PDF-XChange]

Hi PHK.

Can you provide us a sequence of steps that may increase the chance of reproducing that crash?

Thanks.

[PHK]

I have sent a crash dump file.

The sequence of pre-crash steps included creating Guidelines (up to four per page), splitting the pages using the Split Pages by Guidelines tool, merging the pages vertically into three pages and then merging those three pages horizontally into one final page or sheet. Then, I added some more vertical and horizontal Guidelines in preparation for graying-out blank areas of the sheet using the Polygon tool. It crashes before I can deploy the Polygon tool.

I hope this helps your understanding of what the problem is.

[PHK]

Here are the screenshots of the steps.

Pre-Crash Actions.pdf

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Thanks, PHK

hopefully this and the new dump make the difference. I am sure the guys will let us know.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi again PHK.

How reliably do you think you can reproduce the crash? If you think you can reproduce it on demand we are thinking a remote session with a developer and a "debug version" is in order.

The thing with that is we would need to connect remotely and trigger the crash. It won't work for us to be sitting around for hours unable to see the event.

What do you think? Can you trigger the crash for us and are yo amenable to a remote session to investigate what is going on?

[PHK]

...
How reliably do you think you can reproduce the crash?

Pretty damned reproducable.

If you think you can reproduce it on demand we are thinking a remote session with a developer and a "debug version" is in order.

The thing with that is we would need to connect remotely and trigger the crash. It won't work for us to be sitting around for hours unable to see the event.

What do you think?

I can do that.

Can you trigger the crash for us and are yo amenable to a remote session to investigate what is going on?

Yes.

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi, PHK

awesome.

We use typically Ultraviewer (https://ultraviewer.net) for this. Sometimes we use "AnyDesk" https://anydesk.com/en .

We need you to set that up, Ultraviewer willlet you run it without installing.

Once you have it running please email us the ID and password and we will connect. support@pdf-xchange.com

We will then connect and investigate.

[PHK]

Can we do this October 3 afternoon EDT?

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi, PHK

you bet!

3.00 EDT is 12.00 noon Pacific time (we are on the West Coast of Canada). The devs will be standing by waiting for you to email the credentials to support@pdf-xchange.com.

cheers

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi again PHK.

We may not need a remote session! We believe we have resolved the issue and would ask you to test it.

I have sent you an email with a link to the Editor executable and a DLL. If you replace the ones currently in the install folder (make a backup copy first to be prudent) it should resolve the crash.

Details are in the email. We are very keen to hear if it helps.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

Paul has sent out an email to you a while ago which has some important items in it we need to confirm before we can commit the changes for the next release. On the off chance that you check the forums before you email, I thought we should post here as well letting you know.

If you can check that and get back to us when you have a moment, it would be muchly appreciated!

Kind regards,

[PHK]

I am in touch with Paul off-forum.

We hope that we can track this problem down with a solution for release soon.

A wrap-up advisory will be posted here when available.

[Stefan - PDF-XChange]

Hello PHK,

Thanks for the update!
I am sure that Paul will also update this topic once the case is resolved so that anyone else reading here can find the resolution info!

Kind regards,
Stefan

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi all,

for the benefit of anyone following this, the test PHK were doing are included in 10.4.2.390.

It seems to have resolved the issue. I am sure we will hear from PHK if the issue reoccurs.

[PHK]

...
I am sure we will hear from PHK if the issue reoccurs.

You can bank on that.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]