Gamebase 1.3: 7-zip failed to unpack archive!

[minamoto kobayashi]

Well ... after MANY hours of trying everything, I have discovered that the frontend and the database must be installed in c:\unit! Any other units return the same 7zip error! In unit c:\ I have created a folder named PROGS and inside it a folder called Gamebase. I have put EXTRAS, SIDS, GAMES and SCREENSHOTS in another unit, and everything now works fine!
Thanks anyway for the help !

Only the last question: in 1.2 version the Longplay files runs directly thru a Mediaplayer, because they was in .avi format.
Gamebase 1.3 search for the same files in .RAR format, and I think that this is very stupid and useless, because the size is almost the same, and when I select a longplay, the program open the file thru a WinRAR window, but not run it. Then I must doubleclick the .avi longplay file inside the archive and finally the video play thru window mediaplayer. There is a possibility to simplify the procedure?

Cheers.

Richard.

[minamoto kobayashi]

Solved also the second problem. I have created for each supported game a new extras menu called "Longplay" (I have deleted any preconfigured one), and pointed directly to the each uncompressed .avi file ...

[minamoto kobayashi]

I have created a new completed version of Gamebase 64 with everything needed ready preconfigured (emus, players, sids, games, extras, screenshots, longplays and so on). This version doesn't need any kind of installation. It's enough to depack the archive to c:\ and doubleclick a register key ... all done! The emulator is ready to work at his best! I wish to know if I can post it in a dedicated newsgroup and/or any service hosting like Megaupload, Hotfile, Fileserve, and post the link directly here, without broke any rule, copyright or netiquette.
Please let me know.

Richard.

[amypond1702]

i got tue same promble an nothings helps...before creators spring u9date it works finr

[Anach]

I have the exact same error message. Initially I had everything installed in d:\Games\GameBase, but after reading this thread I reinstalled everything to C:\GameBase, and double-checked my paths with the guide and this thread. Everything appears to be installed as instructed, and the program displays everything correctly, and even with running as Admin, I cannot launch anything due to the 7zip error.

[.mad.]

Everything appears to be installed as instructed... I cannot launch anything due to the 7zip error.

Hi,
There must be a typo in one of your settings (ini files) or folders.
probably from when you moved the install location???.
if you show (or upload) all your setup files, i am sure we can get it working for you.

first job is to check full paths and folders in these three files.
and make sure the files are at those locations.

these are only examples, as i do not know the gamebase version you are using.
c:\gamebase\gamebase.ini

Code: Select all

[Startup]
VersionCheck=0
SendUsageStats=0
[Paths]
GBGame=C:\GBGame\

C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\emulators.ini

Code: Select all

[Emulators]
1=WinVICE v3.1 x86
2=

[WinVICE v3.1 x86]
UseShortFilenames=1
SupportedTypes=D64;T64;TAP;PRG;G64;D80;D81
EmulatorPathFile=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Emulators\WinVICE-3.1-x86\x64.exe
ScriptFile=WinVICE30.txt
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Emulators\WinVICE-3.1-x86\vice.ini

C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\paths.ini

Code: Select all

[Games]
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games
2=
[Pictures]
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Screenshots
2=
[Extras]
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Extras
2=
[Misc]
Music=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\C64Music

[Anach]

Everything appears to be installed as instructed... I cannot launch anything due to the 7zip error.

Hi,
There must be a typo in one of your settings (ini files) or folders.
probably from when you moved the install location???.
if you show (or upload) all your setup files, i am sure we can get it working for you.

first job is to check full paths and folders in these three files.
and make sure the files are at those locations.

these are only examples, as i do not know the gamebase version you are using.
c:\gamebase\gamebase.ini

Code: Select all

[Startup]
VersionCheck=0
SendUsageStats=0
[Paths]
GBGame=C:\GBGame\

C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\emulators.ini

Code: Select all

[Emulators]
1=WinVICE v3.1 x86
2=

[WinVICE v3.1 x86]
UseShortFilenames=1
SupportedTypes=D64;T64;TAP;PRG;G64;D80;D81
EmulatorPathFile=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Emulators\WinVICE-3.1-x86\x64.exe
ScriptFile=WinVICE30.txt
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Emulators\WinVICE-3.1-x86\vice.ini

C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\paths.ini

Code: Select all

[Games]
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games
2=
[Pictures]
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Screenshots
2=
[Extras]
1=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\Extras
2=
[Misc]
Music=C:\GameBase\GBC_v15\C64Music

Thanks for the reply and the assistance. I'm using v15. I completely uninstalled when I moved locations, to make sure I wasn't re-using any configuration files. During setup, I used the GUI to configure all paths by browsing to the folder locations and never touched the ini files directly. Upon checking the ini files once again, I can confirm that my paths are all the same as yours, except I also have a path for photos under misc, my "2=" lines were above the "1=", and the emulators.ini was using a lowercase drive designation, all of which was set by the GUI upon configuration, but I changed them to match yours, just-in-case. Still no luck. I am running Windows 10, UAC disabled.

[.mad.]

when you get the 7z error.
are the game files (D64) in this folder.
C:\GBGame\0

--------------------
*EDIT
just read this on 7z page...
Apparently there is a fault in how 7-Zip works. It requests internet access from the firewall (e.g. Private Firewall 7.0) when it extracts. Once a user (rightfully) denies internet access, 7-Zip will fail on a few select files ("ERROR: Can not open output file" which doesn't tell you too much), while other files pass extraction.

Go to the firewall, allow 7-Zip internet access (even though I don't want to), and it will function again.

This is not anti-virus related (I have no anti-virus).
This is not permission related (got ownership on everything + "Run as Admin" on everything).
---------
https://sourceforge.net/p/sevenzip/disc ... /af3f2cdb/
------------------------------------

if you have 7z installed, uninstall it.
the portable 7z.exe in the gamebase dir should work ok.

7z v16.02D with gemus.dll for gamebase.
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fi ... 4944436251

reported version working in win10 on the problem page.
7z v16.03 with gemus.dll for gamebase.
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fi ... 5399454373

if the problem still exists after that. please upload your setup to tinyupload.
so i can take a look rather than trying to guess.
gamebase install folder - all ini and dll files
gb64_v15 with emulator folder - all ini files

[Anach]

I've seen this suggested a few times, and I realize you are just copy pasting and doing your best to help, but I find it distressing that people are told to remove their installed 7zip. Installed 7zip has no effect the portable 7zip included in the GameBase pack, or anywhere else. Not only that, but people might be using 7zip for other things than extracting GameBase. No one should be suggesting to remove the installed 7zip. It would only be an issue if GameBase is using the system installed 7zip version rather than its own, which shouldn't be the case.

The Windows anniversary issue isn't related to the firewall at all, as the portable command line 7zip doesn't require any internet access, and never asks for internet access. The problem was an unsigned driver in versions prior to 1603 (2016). Adding it to the firewall is pointless, but updating to 1603 should fix any issues related to that certificate in later versions of Windows 10, but unfortunately doesn't change my problem.

Again, I know you're just copy pasting, and trying to help, but this is all incorrect advice to be giving people, and may leave people worried about having 7zip installed on their system.

That aside, I appreciate the help, and have uploaded my configuration. However, tinyupload keeps timing out, so I have uploaded to dropbox, which should be ad pop-up free and uses https. Let me know if dropbox doesn't work for you. Keep in mind that I have reinstalled it once again, to a new location, so the paths are going to be different from the earlier tests. This is a total of 3 times I've gone through the install and configuration with a clean slate, trying to make sure I didn't miss anything along the way, and following the included instructions while doing so.

Cheers.

[.mad.]

yes! those are all suggestions... things to try.
as i have NEVER seen that 7z error.

it would only take a min to reinstall 7z, to check if that is causing a confict or not.
so no big deal.

anyway on to the problem.
i appreciate the upload, but it does not help if you reinstalled at c:\gamebase\.
as the error log shows this path d:\game tools\gamebase\temp\0\.

this is what i get in my working gemus log...

Running 7-Zip [C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe /c C:\GameBase\7z.exe x "BOUNDER1_01052_01.zip" -y -r -o"C:\GBGame\0\"]

this is yours...
Running 7-Zip [C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c D:\GAMETO~1\GameBase\7z.exe x "G-ZONE_16938_02.zip" -y -r -o"D:\Game Tools\GameBase\Temp\0\"]
--------------------------------------------------
Unpacker failed with error [7-Zip failed to unpack archive D:\Game Tools\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games\g2\G-ZONE_16938_02.zip to D:\Game Tools\GameBase\Temp\0]

so in that example the paths are 100% the problem.

when your rezip path is...
c:\gbgame\

and install is
c:\gamebase\

right click on gbregrun.exe - run as admin
and do the same with gamebase.exe

then tell me what unpack error the gemus.log shows.

[Anach]

Changing location again changes nothing. I've already had it installed on c:\gamebase and used c:\gbgame last attempt. If you look at the log, you can see this:

Code: Select all

Running 7-Zip [C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c D:\GAMETO~1\GameBase\7z.exe x "G-ZONE_16938_02.zip" -y -r -o"D:\Game Tools\GameBase\Temp\0\"]

I get this error:

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\System32>cmd.exe /c D:\GAMETO~1\GameBase\7z.exe x "G-ZONE_16938_02.zip" -y -r -o"D:\Game Tools\GameBase\Temp\0\"

7-Zip [32] 16.03 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-09-28

Scanning the drive for archives:

ERROR: The system cannot find the file specified.
G-ZONE_16938_02.zip



System ERROR:
The system cannot find the file specified.

So the problem is that it's not finding the archive with a recursive search of sub directories. If I change the command to include the path, then it extracts fine.

Code: Select all

cmd.exe /c D:\GAMETO~1\GameBase\7z.exe x "D:\Game Tools\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games\g
2\G-ZONE_16938_02.zip" -y -o"D:\Game Tools\GameBase\Temp\0\"

7-Zip [32] 16.03 : Copyright (c) 1999-2016 Igor Pavlov : 2016-09-28

Scanning the drive for archives:
1 file, 20953 bytes (21 KiB)

Extracting archive: D:\Game Tools\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games\g2\G-ZONE_16938_02.zip
--
Path = D:\Game Tools\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games\g2\G-ZONE_16938_02.zip
Type = zip
Physical Size = 20953

Everything is Ok

Files: 2
Size:       23670
Compressed: 20953

From what I can see, there's no search path specified for the -r switch specified, but I was unable to get that to work either way. So I think this is a problem with how you pass the extract command to zip from the application itself. It needs to send the path to the archive.

*edit
Actually, while that fixes it for manual extraction, the log does show it's finding the path, but it still isnt extracting. I missed this bit.

Code: Select all

    Unpacker failed with error [7-Zip failed to unpack archive D:\Game Tools\GameBase\GBC_v15\Games\h\HAAKON3_22336_01.zip to D:\Game Tools\GameBase\Temp\0]
Bye!

So not thats another wild goose chase. I'm still of the belief it's something to do with how the command is being sent, because it does work manually, so it's not a permission issue, and the paths are correct.

[orsa99]

I've got the same problem on the win10 64bit. I re-installed in root c (c:\gamebase) but the problem persist. It works first, i think at some upgrades of win 10 in conflict with 7-zip. What do you do now? Soon a new gamebase update?

[Anach]

Did a little more testing. I noticed I get the exact same error in the log if I delete the 7z.exe and 7z.dll from the GB directory. So maybe it's simply not finding the 7z.exe. It's definitely an application bug, because as shown above, I can do it all manually through the command line, using the same commands as shown in the log, and it works fine, so there is no permission issue, or 7z.exe issue.

[.mad.]

you say you installed at c:\gamebase\
but all the error logs shows different.

it might be the [space] in the first folder.
as the search path it is not in "quotes" like the output game path is.

if you point blank refuse to put gamebase at c:\gamebase for testing purposes.
try this
d:\gamebase\
and rezip at the ROOT of the drive.
d:\gbgame\
**not from inside the gamebase install or "game tools" folder.

It is only the GameBase install and rezip folder that need moving.
Not the contents of the Gamebases.
all emulators, screens, games, extras, music can be anywhere you like.

The rezip folder contents get deleted before unzipping a new game.
All unzipping code and paths are hard coded into the frontend, and can not be changed without editing and recompiling the source code.

you have to remember GameBase is an old program now.
written in visual basic 6 to work on BASIC XP 32bit machines.
I know it had problems working when Win7 was released.
which was solved by moving the install from "program files" to "gamebase".

I know a few people who have it working on win10
maybe they can help by telling you there install location or windows update /security settings?
good luck!

[Anach]

I already stated a couple times that this was my third install of Gamebase and the previous installs were at c:\GameBase, with the C:\GBGames for the temp path, but the exact same issues occurred. Originally I had it set up with C:\GameBase and the emulators and such on my D:\Game Tools, but got the error above. So I decided to move the whole install to C:\GameBase, and got the exact same error. Then I thought it made no difference where it was, it gave me the same error each time, so I left the third install on D:\Game Tools\ and haven't yet wanted to move it again, just to repeat my first two tests. Instead, I'd prefer to focus on the cause of the issue, which doesn't appear to be location related.

The reason it would likely have had issues in program files for Win7, is due to the changes made to permissions (uac) and DEP on program files. Which is why you should never install your games to program files (even Steam games).

In Win10, I't running UAC turned off, with and without Admin permissions, in the three different directories and two differnet drives.

Do these people that have it working on Win10 have x86 or x64 versions of Windows? As you say, it could be simply down to an update, Compatibility modes, Windows build number, or any number of things, but so far, path hasn't made a difference for me.