54 replies to this topic

[ChitownWillie]

Anybody have problems with Generalized Biffing and WeiDU 24700?

 

My game is crashing at the very beginning of BG1 when Imoen runs across the screen to join.

[Gwendolyne]

I asked wisp for help because I don't know which new WeiDU feature might cause this.

[Avallach]

I am having a similar issue, except it's with BG2 (non Enhanced Edition).
 
Even after trying both biffing options, the game immediately crashes after the first loading screen, when the intro (with Irenicus zapping you) is supposed to play.
 
No error message, nothing. Just straight to desktop. The baldur.err crash log is also completely empty as well.
 
When I unistall generalized biffing, the game proceeds normally, but it's unfortunately very laggy and unplayable. :/
 
Enclosing my WEIDU and biff debug, in case it helps.
 
EDIT: Weirdly enough, it does not crash when I start ToB, leading me to believe it has something to do with biffing a file specific to the first area in BG2?

 

EDIT2: Ah, I managed to narrow it down to Infinite Animations causing the crash in combination with generalized biffing. Will bring the issue there.

Attached Files

•  WeiDU.log   34.08K   222 downloads
•  SETUP-GENERALIZED_BIFFING.DEBUG   4.61MB   511 downloads

Edited by Avallach, 16 October 2020 - 03:57 PM.

[Azaghal]

Hello and good evening,

 

I finally finished my BGT multimod install without the use of any modmanager, just following the installation advice from the BigWorldProject v19.2. And it works! But the game lags massively as soon as Sarevok's ambush starts. So I decided to use the Generalized Biffing v2.6 on top. But when I do so - no matter whether I use the light biffing or the complete biffing variant - the game crashes as soon as I leave the character creation or try to load a save. The debug-log gives no hint as the biffing obviously installed successfully. Uninstalling it avoids the CTD but the lag returns. Baldur.err is empty. There is another error-log created after the crash together with a file named crash.dmp, but it does not help me.

 

Maybe you are able to?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Azaghal

 

Attached Files

•  SETUP-GENERALIZED_BIFFING.DEBUG   2.31MB   150 downloads
•  ERRORLOG.TXT   69.63K   93 downloads

[jastey]

Azaghal: make sure you install the mod with weidu v249. I think it shipps with v247 itself, which is unfortunate, because v247 is causing issues with this mod.

[ALIEN]

Actually, v249 still contain the bug, you can use v246 to solve this problem.

[Azaghal]

So it's WeiDU again. The version used with installation was 249. I will gladly use v246 as ALIEN recommended, but I don't know how.

How do you force the use of an older version?

 

I'm sorry for this very basic question. I already asked it someplace else (attempting to go the opposite way and use a newer version), but the answers did not satisfy.

 

I truly appreciate your help!

 

Azaghal

[ALIEN]

Remove all weidu "setup-<modname>.exe files, have only one "setup-generalized_biffing.exe" as weidu 246 inside game directory. Then you can reinstall it.

[Azaghal]

Hm, sounds easy enough. But doesn't work. The mod still installs with v249. Do the altered files chitin.key, dialog.tlk or bgmain.exe have the newer version incorporated? There ist no set-...-exe file besides the one for Generalized Biffing left in the BGII-SoA folder. Even freshly unpacked the mod. Deleted tobexloader.exe and weidu.exe. No success.

 

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

 

Azaghal

[jastey]

If all setup-modname.exes and also a weidu.exe are removed from the folder, then there should be no auto-update happening if you copy in a weidu.exe v246 and rename it to setup-generalized_biffing.exe.

 

I didn't know this issue is not solved in v249.

[Azaghal]

Great, that worked. It's now doing the biffy thing. Takes a while. I will report, if the problem is solved.

 

Thanks

 

Azaghal

[Azaghal]

Success! Looking very good so far. Lag is gone. No CTD.

 

Evil stand aside! Going for some serious butt-kicking!

 

Thanks everyone for help.

 

Azaghal

[Azaghal]

Hello helpful Spellholdians,

 

okay, this one is odd. I had to do a step-by-step reinstall of my BGT Megamod because I ruined my stable installation (the one from post 67 onwards) deep in SoA due to a stupid mistake.

Now I started again from scratch using BigWorld install order version 19.2 (WeiDU log attached) and encountered the following problem twice already:

After installing all selected mods but before generalized biffing, I started the game and all worked fine (well, except for the lag that was to be expected). So I biffed using the little trick with WeiDu ver246 (see Jastey's post Nr. 73 above). Biffing went smoothly but when I start the game afterwards it crashes immediately with an assertion failure Chsound.cpp in line 4905. This is a known problem when your SONGLIST.2DA has more than 100 entries. I swear I did nothing to this songlist!! The unbiffed game is my witness. By the way: The solution mentioned in the cited thread is not working for me. Cutting out the surplus songs from the list does prevent the assertion failure but the game crashes anway seconds later than before.

What irritates me most is the fact that the only real difference to the previous mod selection that worked fine is the addition of the Infinity Animations mod. But that's a graphic only enhancement mod AFAIK, not touching the songlist, isn't it?

 

So maybe you can help?

 

Thank you!

 

Azaghal

 

P.S.: Had a look at the WeiDu log for the first time when attaching it. Lots of question marks in there. Don't know what that means, but during the installations there were no error messages and the unbiffed game worked fine (at least for the Candlekeep section and the first landscape).

 

EDIT: I just saw that Avallach (post nr. 66) had a similar problem with Generalized Biffing and IA. Will have a look if he receive help over at the IA section.

Attached Files

•  WeiDU.log   70.05K   72 downloads

Edited by Azaghal, 15 September 2022 - 10:34 AM.

[skellytz]

Had a look at the WeiDu log for the first time when attaching it. Lots of question marks in there. Don't know what that means, but during the installations there were no error messages

Can you explain exactly how you reinstalled everything? Was it a new clean BG2 directory with all mods freshly extracted? Which WeiDU installers did you use at which point of the installation? The question-marked mods didn't install correctly most likely due to messing with installer versions. See this report here.

Edited by skellytz, 15 September 2022 - 01:40 PM.

[Azaghal]

Yep, clean install from scratch. Using the WeiDu versions packed with the mods. ToBex comes first with v246 (or v247?). Very few mods later (2 or 3 IIRC) there's one with v249 which autoupdates the following mods, so the very major part of the installation is using the newest version.

 

Have been looking at Avallach's report in the IA section (post nr. 9 and following). Obviously the problem (the crashes, not the question marks) is still around and does indeed come from the combination of IA v5 and GenBiffing. Will try to confirm by installing without IA. And will have a look at your recommendation, skellytz.Thanks for that.

 

Good night

 

Azaghal

[skellytz]

Obviously the problem (the crashes, not the question marks) is still around and does indeed come from the combination of IA v5 and GenBiffing. Will try to confirm by installing without IA. And will have a look at your recommendation, skellytz.Thanks for that.

I've just done a little test the way I always installed IA before:

 

1. Windows 10 Control Panel -> Language -> Change date, time, or number formats -> Administrative -> Change system locale for non-Unicode programs to English (United States) -> restart PC

 

I set the locale manually; I don't trust any registry patches through IA setup dating back to Windows XP. Changing the locale is of course a problem if you need to work with legacy non-Unicode programs (or old databases) in languages that don't include CP1252 and will have to remember to switch it back after gaming sessions.

 

2. Download the latest WeiDU (currently v249). Put weidu.exe in the BG2 directory and rename it to setup-weidu.exe for auto-patching

 

3. Install the mods:

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // BG2 Fixpack - Core Fixes: v13
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #1000 // BG2 Fixpack - Game Text Update -> GTU Light (by Wisp): v13
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #3 // BETA Core Fixes (please check the readme!): v13
~BGT/BGT.TP2~ #0 #0 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Core: v1.21
~SETUP-BGTMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #2 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Music -> Full Baldur's Gate/Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal Music (WARNING: patches BGMain.exe)
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Infinity Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Moinesse's Avatars for IA -> All relevant non-joinables: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #9000 // Fix Areas -> Creature References: v5
~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ #0 #1 // Generalized Biffing -> Biff all files (recommended by the Big World Dudes): v2.6

I'm using Moinesse's Avatars to test if IA or GB installed with WeiDU v249 mess up the CP1252 characters used in the animation prefixes. Phlydia in Candlekeep gets patched to one of Moinesse's animations, so starting a new BG1 game should crash in this area.

 

The game doesn't crash and the animation shows up properly. So, to me it doesn't seem like GB causes the problems you described. Perhaps the codepage registry patch fails in your setup. Try setting it manually prior to installation through the Windows Control Panel.

[Azaghal]

@ skellytz

There are a few similarities in the thread you hinted at. But the major points are different in my case: I do a clean install (full install, patches, editing baldur.ini, test-start the game), then extract the mods from their download archives to the game folder (BGII-SoA). Before installing the mods I make a complete backup copy of the game folder on the same harddisk under the same OS. If anything goes wrong during installation I fully delete the entire game folder and rename the backup folder in BGII-SoA. Then I start the whole mod-installation process all over again. No tinkering with installing/uninstalling mods over completed or biffed installations like in the thread.

 

I came upon one more interesting thing: By chance I kept the WeiDu.log of my installation before I started biffing. As mentioned above I started playing the modded but unbiffed game out of sheer curiosity and it worked (but lagged). Now here is its WeiDu.log. Clean as an elven arse. No question marks. So I really wonder what Gen Biffing did to my installation?

 

Greetings

Azaghal

[skellytz]

 By chance I kept the WeiDu.log of my installation before I started biffing. As mentioned above I started playing the modded but unbiffed game out of sheer curiosity and it worked (but lagged). Now here is its WeiDu.log. Clean as an elven arse. No question marks. So I really wonder what Gen Biffing did to my installation?

All right, so that means the installation of the mods went fine, but later on you must have accidentally run an outdated WeiDU installer.

 

I got similar test results. All mods were installed with the latest WeiDU 249. Then I removed all the setup files and placed a mod with an outdated WeiDU 237 (for example Widescreen) and then installed that. Here's the log, which probably looks familiar to you (question marks in BG2FP and BGT):

 

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // ?????? -> : ???
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #1000 // ?????? -> : ???
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #3 // ?????? -> : ???
~BGT/BGT.TP2~ #0 #0 // ?????? -> : ???
~SETUP-BGTMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #2 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Music -> Full Baldur's Gate/Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal Music (WARNING: patches BGMain.exe)
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Infinity Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #25 // Humanoid Animation Fixes: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #210 // Cambion/Isair Animation -> All cambions: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #260 // Alu-Fiend/Madae Animation -> All alu-fiends: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #480 // Svirfneblin Animations -> Animations only: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #500 // More Base Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #600 // More Icewind Dale II Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Moinesse's Avatars for IA -> All relevant non-joinables: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #9000 // Fix Areas -> Creature References: v5
~WIDESCREEN/WIDESCREEN.TP2~ #0 #0 // Widescreen Mod -> for the original Infinity Engine (CHOOSE THIS!): Widescreen Mod v3.07

 

Infinity Animations and Generalized Biffing

I also did some more testing with the Infinity Animations and Generalized Biffing combination. I've tested the crashes of various animations by installing Generalized Biffing with WeiDU 246 and 249 along with Windows non-Unicode language manually set to English (United States) through the Control Panel as I explained earlier. All the other mods were installed with WeiDU 249. Here's the test setup:

 

// Log of Currently Installed WeiDU Mods
// The top of the file is the 'oldest' mod
// ~TP2_File~ #language_number #component_number // [Subcomponent Name -> ] Component Name [ : Version]
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #0 // BG2 Fixpack - Core Fixes: v13
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #1000 // BG2 Fixpack - Game Text Update -> GTU Light (by Wisp): v13
~BG2FIXPACK/SETUP-BG2FIXPACK.TP2~ #0 #3 // BETA Core Fixes (please check the readme!): v13
~BGT/BGT.TP2~ #0 #0 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Core: v1.21
~SETUP-BGTMUSIC.TP2~ #0 #2 // Baldur's Gate Trilogy - Music -> Full Baldur's Gate/Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal Music (WARNING: patches BGMain.exe)
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #0 // Infinity Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #25 // Humanoid Animation Fixes: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #210 // Cambion/Isair Animation -> All cambions: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #260 // Alu-Fiend/Madae Animation -> All alu-fiends: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #480 // Svirfneblin Animations -> Animations only: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #500 // More Base Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #600 // More Icewind Dale II Animations: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #7030 // Moinesse's Avatars for IA -> All relevant non-joinables: v5
~INFINITYANIMATIONS/SETUP-INFINITYANIMATIONS.TP2~ #0 #9000 // Fix Areas -> Creature References: v5
~GENERALIZED_BIFFING/GENERALIZED_BIFFING.TP2~ #0 #1 // Generalized Biffing -> Biff all files (recommended by the Big World Dudes): v2.6

Generalized Biffing with WeiDU 246

- All animation BAM files from the override folder are biffed (success)

 

- New BG1 game: no crash in Candlekeep (success)

 

- New BG2 game: no crash in Irenicus's Dungeon (success)

 

- Move to area Waukeen's Promenade: no crash (success)

 

- Spawn test creatures with animations from Infinity Animations IWD2 pack (eg half-dragon, abishai white, death tyrant): no crash (success)

 

 

Generalized Biffing with WeiDU 249

- The animation BAM files with these CP1252 characters aren't recognized properly during the setup and are left in the override (failure)

 

- New BG1 game: no crash in Candlekeep, because Phlydia's new animation from Moinesse's pack uses the BAM files with the characters above which weren't biffed and are still in the override (this explains why the game didn't crash in the previous test)

 

- The animation BAM files with these CP1252 characters are moved from the override but biffed incorrectly (failure)

 

- New BG2 game: crash in Irenicus's Dungeon because some creatures are patched to use Infinity Animations BAM files using the CP1252 characters above (failure)

 

- Move to area Waukeen's Promenade: no crash, but there aren't any creatures here with new animations in my test mod selection

 

- Spawn test creatures with animations from Infinity Animations IWD2 pack (eg half-dragon, abishai white, death tyrant): crash because of the incorrectly biffed BAM files with non-Unicode characters listed above (failure)

 

Conclusion

Generalized Biffing isn't inherently the cause of the crashes; it's the character codepage bug present in WeiDU 247, 248 and currently 249.

 

Another cause of the crashes and/or Infinity Animations installation errors is the incorrect Windows non-Unicode language setting. Infinity Animations requires CP1252 which is included by default in Windows languages such as English, German, French and Spanish. It isn't included in eg Eastern European languages. The codepage registry patch applied during the installation of Infinity Animations apparently fails for many Windows 10 users, and the language setting must be changed manually in the Control Panel.

 

If you want to play with Infinity Animations and Generalized Biffing

1. Windows 10 Control Panel -> Language -> Change date, time, or number formats -> Administrative -> Change system locale for non-Unicode programs -> If it's set to any language that doesn't include the required codepage, change it to English (United States) -> restart PC

 

Note: system locale for non-Unicode programs is not to be confused with Windows interface language; you can still have Windows in your local language.

 

2. Download the latest WeiDU (currently v249). Put weidu.exe in the clean, freshly-installed BG2 directory and rename it to setup-weidu.exe for auto-updating of all the setup files

 

3. Extract and install all mods you want (except Generalized Biffing!) with the latest WeiDU

 

4. Remove all setup-modname.exe and setup-weidu.exe files from the game directory

 

5. Extract Generalized Biffing into the game directory, but don't install it

 

6. Download WeiDU 246

 

7. Rename weidu.exe from the package to setup-generalized_biffing.exe and put it in the game directory overwriting the existing one

 

8. Install Generalized Biffing with WeiDU 246

 

If you ever change the non-Unicode language setting back to your local language which doesn't support CP1252, the game will crash. This is the biggest problem with Infinity Animations v5; the new version (v6) will finally remove this limitation (still a work in progress).

 

Edit: The latest version of Generalized Biffing (v2.9 +) supports non-ASCII filenames and can be safely installed with IA!

Edited by skellytz, 14 November 2024 - 11:10 AM.

[Salk]

Great investigative work there, skellytz.

Cheers! 

[jastey]

Thank you indeed. Link to this post added to the GB support thread.

Edited by skellytz, 30 October 2022 - 04:27 PM.