hi,

I followed the post at here and here on my friend's PC, I nstalled XNA Redist 3.1, .net framework 2, 3.5, used DirectX Web Installer to download and install 10mg but I still get that same message that it can't run the game.

What else should I do?

ٍEDIT
I checked, his d3dx9_32.dll file is same version as mine.

Hard to help you without the error message.

Eckish:

Hard to help you without the error message.

It's the "<MyGame> has had an error and needed to close. Send an error report." error message.

Make sure your friend's PC has enough RAM/Video RAM to run your game.

Noogy:

Make sure your friend's PC has enough RAM/Video RAM to run your game.

He has a Nvidia 9400 GT, so no problem with that.

I even changed my code in program.cs to catch any exception but it didn't catch any (or else it would create an .txt file with the exception code within it).

: ( Please help.

1- How can I know if my game uses .Net 3.5 features? I want to know if I need to install it on those machines or not.
2- How can I know which versions of .net is installed on a machine? (before downloading and trying to install them of course)
3- How can I know which windows service pack I am on?
4- When I told him to download .net framework 2.0 SP1, he couldn't install it and it had this error message:

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?8d3b57bc60.jpg



he downloaded it two times but it's the same error every time. Why is that? I suspect he doesn't have .net framework 2.0 and that's the problem.
Does he need .net framework 2.0 before installing Sp1 over it?

His system is a Win Xp and I donno which service pack he is on.

1) Right click your game project in Visual Studio and hit Properties. On the Application tab it will tell you what your Target Framework is. That's what your friend needs to install.
2) I believe they show up in the Add/Remove Programs window.
3) Not sure.
4) Can't see what the error is. I went to the link but it doesn't show the image any bigger. But yes, I'm pretty sure you need .NET 2.0 before installing .NET 2.0 SP1, but I could be wrong.

Have you looked at this thread and tried using the Publish feature of Visual Studio? It should create an installer for you that will handle prerequisites, assuming he has the required service pack for XP.

1. Nick covered it
2. Nick covered it

3. You can find your service pack level listed under the System info window.  There a few shortcuts to get there based on which versions of windows you have, but they all have it under the control panel.  Open control panel and double click the "System" option.   The window varies from windows version to windows version, but somewhere in there you should have a listing that describes your operating system.  If you have a service pack installed, the latest one will be listed with the OS info.  If there is no service pack installed, nothing about service packs will be listed.

4.  That error message isn't very descriptive (not your fault) and you have the important pieces of information about what he is trying to download covered up in that shot.  So, it is hard to determine what could be going wrong.  If it is just the service pack, then yes, he would need to install the original .net framework 2.0 before installing it.

You don't need to do all that manually, though.  I would recommend running Microsoft Update (something you should do anyways).  The .net frameworks tend to get listed in the optional downloads section if they aren't installed (if they are, the service packs and patches will appear in the critical downloads).  So, make sure you sift through the optional downloads and get your system up to date with regard to .net and windows service packs.

EDIT: You may need to run the updater more than once with some reboots in order to get everything caught up.

On a side note, I had a lot of issues getting that screen shot to finally load.  I don't know if that site is having issue currently or if it always that slow, but I would recommend something else for your next screenshot upload.  Imageshack for example.

test84:

2- How can I know which versions of .net is installed on a machine? (before downloading and trying to install them of course)

It was previously suggested that you use Add/Remove Programs to check this.  That isn't the best approach though because some versions of Windows include a version of the .NET Framework as an OS component, and in those cases, it won't appear in Add/Remove Programs.  I'd suggest using Scott Hanselman's site for a quick .NET Framework version inventory on your system - http://www.smallestdotnet.com/.  That only tells you the latest version though, so for other versions you can use something like the sample application that I wrote and posted on my blog.

test84:

4- When I told him to download .net framework 2.0 SP1, he couldn't install it and it had this error message:

I'd suggest trying to install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 instead - it will install .NET 2.0 SP2 and 3.0 SP2 for you behind the scenes as well.  If that also fails, please use this tool to gather log files, then post the logs to a file server (such as http://skydrive.live.com/) and reply here with a link so we can take a further look.  Note that there is also a forum specifically dedicated to .NET Framework setup issues that might be useful to you here as well.

test84:

Does he need .net framework 2.0 before installing Sp1 over it?

No, you don't need to install the original version of the .NET Framework 2.0 before installing any 2.0 service packs.  The 2.0 service packs are slipstream re-releases that include the original bits plus all of the changes from the service pack in a single installer package.

Thanks!

hi,

1-Thanks for replies, we installed and uninstalled alot of .net frameworks tonight, and lastly we did the 3.5 Sp1, it didn't help.
2- I changed my project to .net framework 2 level and compiled it then, didn't help.
3- He ran that software you mentioned and here is the vslog.cab file he uploaded:
 http://www.multiupload.com/OVYQVL6NHN
(it's uploaded to 10 different servers)

It's very frustrating, I'm doing this with two different guys and none of them can run my game.

I've never used MultiUpload before - are the exact same logs available at all of those links?  I looked at the ones on the MediaFire link, and they show that the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1 are all installed successfully, so it doesn't look like the error in your game would be caused by the .NET Framework being missing.

Can you confirm that you've also installed the correct version of the XNA Framework Redistributable for your game on these systems?  Have you been able to run it on other systems, or do you see the same problem on all systems you've tried this on so far?  Does a simple Hello World game work and/or a Hello World WinForms application work on the affected systems?

Also, I think you have tried this already, but just to confirm, have you added the exception handling that Nick described in this forum post?  You mentioned logging to a text file, which is different than what Nick describes, so I wanted to ask just in case.

Thanks!

Aaron Stebner:

I've never used MultiUpload before - are the exact same logs available at all of those links?  I looked at the ones on the MediaFire link, and they show that the .NET Framework 2.0 SP2, 3.0 SP2 and 3.5 SP1 are all installed successfully, so it doesn't look like the error in your game would be caused by the .NET Framework being missing.

All the files from MultiUpload are identical and that's the beauty of it, it uploades to multiple hosts (good for people like me with slow connections)
I'm starting to guess that problem is not with .net framework being there or not since I tried like 20 different configs of .net frameworks tonight with two different guys.

Aaron Stebner:

Can you confirm that you've also installed the correct version of the XNA Framework Redistributable for your game on these systems?  Have you been able to run it on other systems, or do you see the same problem on all systems you've tried this on so far?  Does a simple Hello World game work and/or a Hello World WinForms application work on the affected systems?

They have XNA Redist 3.1 (by project says I'm using XNA 3.0 but I remember updating to 3.1).
I game this game to two different guys and none of them could run it and I tried installing .net frameworks with both of them.
I never tried a simple hello world or something but I will if you say so.

Aaron Stebner:

Also, I think you have tried this already, but just to confirm, have you added the exception handling that Nick described in this forum post?  You mentioned logging to a text file, which is different than what Nick describes, so I wanted to ask just in case.

I did, my code is same as his and I added to write that to a log.txt. It never reached that exception since it never created any text file or they never saw any error dialog instead of that evil "don't send" one.

Aaron Stebner:

Thanks!

Thank you!

test84:

They have XNA Redist 3.1 (by project says I'm using XNA 3.0 but I remember updating to 3.1).

Where in your project does it say that you're using XNA 3.0?  Have you tried installing the XNA Framework Redistributable 3.0 on your users' systems yet just in case?

Do you have a copy of your game that you could provide a link to here so I could try it out as well just to see if it will work for me?

Thanks!

Aaron Stebner:

test84:

They have XNA Redist 3.1 (by project says I'm using XNA 3.0 but I remember updating to 3.1).

Where in your project does it say that you're using XNA 3.0?  Have you tried installing the XNA Framework Redistributable 3.0 on your users' systems yet just in case?

When I select my solution in Project Explorer, on the properties it says XNA Framework Version : v3.0

Aaron Stebner:

Do you have a copy of your game that you could provide a link to here so I could try it out as well just to see if it will work for me?

Sorry I don't have but I gave the same folder that no one was able to run to a fellow XNA developer (whom has Visual Studio and XNA Framework fully installed) and he could run it with no problem

Aaron Stebner:

Thanks!

Thanks for consistent efforts.

test84:

When I select my solution in Project Explorer, on the properties it says XNA Framework Version : v3.0

This means that your game is targeting 3.0, not 3.1  If you have your project configured that way, you will need to install the XNA Framework Redistributable 3.0 on users' systems in order to run it.  Alternatively, you can right-click on your project in the VS Solution Explorer, choose Upgrade Solution... and upgrade it to 3.1.

test84:

Sorry I don't have but I gave the same folder that no one was able to run to a fellow XNA developer (whom has Visual Studio and XNA Framework fully installed) and he could run it with no problem

On the system where your game worked correctly, did the developer have only the XNA Framework Redistributable installed, or did they have all of XNA Game Studio installed?  There is a difference between those 2 scenarios.  It is possible to use some features in your game (notably, GamerServices) that will not work if you only have the XNA Framework Redistributable installed, but that will work if you have the full XNA Game Studio product installed.  There is some information about this scenario in this topic in the XNA Game Studio documentation.

Thanks!

The problem is solved this evening.

The problem was, my code was being compiled via XNA 3.0 but I gave people XNA 3.1 Redist.
I have two questions:

A) Why XNA Redist 3.1 doesn't have support for XNA 3.0?!
B) Since the users has both .net framework and XNA Framework installed, why they don't just show a message saying something?

And one more question, since most people here have slow connections, is there an alternative of installing .net framework 3.5 sp1 offline instead of the web installer?

test84:

A) Why XNA Redist 3.1 doesn't have support for XNA 3.0?!

There is already a separate redistributable for 3.0, and all versions of the XNA Framework Redistributable are designed to install and co-exist side-by-side on the same computer, to be serviced independently if needed, etc.  A game can only target one version of the XNA Framework, so it is up to the developer to create an installer that delivers the matching redistributable to users' systems.

test84:

B) Since the users has both .net framework and XNA Framework installed, why they don't just show a message saying something?

It is up to the game to do this.  Rather than locking all developers into one experience with this type of error case, a game can customize this experience to meet their own needs in the installer and/or at runtime.

test84:

And one more question, since most people here have slow connections, is there an alternative of installing .net framework 3.5 sp1 offline instead of the web installer?

The web installer is designed to support low bandwidth scenarios.  It will inventory the user's system and only download the components that are detected as missing and required based on what OS type they are running.  The full installer is designed for offline scenarios (such as a CD/DVD-based installer).  If you want to try to minimize the size, the best option would probably be to change your Visual Studio project settings so your game targets the .NET Framework 2.0 instead of 3.5 and then have your users install 2.0 instead since it is much smaller than 3.5.  You can find information about how to change the .NET Framework version that you are targeting in an XNA Framework-based Windows game in this blog post.

Thanks!