SteamLauncher

[JedExodus]

Hey @Krovash I'm no expert, however when moving my LB install to a new Hard Drive I encountered a similar issue. Going in to manage emulators showed that the path was pointing to the SteamLauncher exe and not the emulator. I deleted the folder for the Plugin altogether, changed the emulator paths back to what they should be and put a clean install of the Plugin back in place, all working without issue now.

So maybe a fresh install of the plugin (deleting the SteamLauncher folder and all in it) and a check of emulator paths if you haven't done so already is worth a look. If no luck try enabling the logging feature to post here so @Lahma can have a look when he has a chance. He's a sound lad and no doubt when he sees your post will get you back on track

Cheers!

Edited July 1, 2019 by JedExodus

[Lahma]

On 6/29/2019 at 10:44 AM, Krovash said:

Hello, first of all thanks for making this amazing plug in, i've been using it for a while now and it was working great, but it broke recently.

It seems that as soon as you've introduced the new version that gets rid of the need to use the "Launch with Steam" option, the plugin stopped working for me.

I've downloaded the recent version as i understand some Steam compatibility issues were present.....and it still doesn't work.

The only way how i can make it work is if i disable this new automatic mode and just launch the games using the "Launch with Steam" option.
So here's what actually happens when i try to launch a game with the latest version of the plugin: i start the game and i get a standard windows loading ring animation for about a second and that's it, nothing happens after that.
I've noticed an interesting thing though, if i launch the SteamLauncherProxy manually and then try to launch the game from LaunchBox, it actually works, but instead of launching the game, it launches the emulator, but steam detects it as an actual game being played, displaying the correct name.
Is there anything that can be done to solve this?

@Krovash, sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I've been out of town for work and just got home. I suspect the problem you're having can be solved very easily with a little bit of careful troubleshooting. Let me start by saying that using the old context menu option "Launch via Steam" is deprecated and no longer supported. Its functionality is still present and while I'm sure it still technically works, there is simply no longer any valid reason to use it as the new "automatic mode" (as you called it) is easier, more extensible (works with non-default emulators), and MUCH more technically adept. The legacy context menu option will probably be removed entirely on the next update. So, with that being said, we clearly need to get the new launching method working for you, and I would be happy to help you troubleshoot the problem.

Most issues can be resolved by carefully reading the notes and instructions present on the download page so it might be worth looking over that info again just to make sure you didn't miss anything. For example, is your plugin installed in the correct location ("LaunchBox\Plugins\SteamLauncher\SteamLauncher.dll") along with all of the other files that come in the rar file? I suggest that you first try completely deleting your SteamLauncher directory and then reinstalling the newest version of the plugin by exactly following the install instructions.

Another very common issue (despite very explicit warnings about it on the plugin download page) is people having multiple copies of the plugin present in the LaunchBox directory. This happens often when people are updating to a newer version and want to backup their old version. Instead of moving their old SteamLauncher directory to another directory on their hard drive (such as the desktop), they instead rename their old "SteamLauncher" directory to "SteamLauncher.OLD", they move the "SteamLauncher" directory into their root LaunchBox directory, they move it into another folder they've created such as "LaunchBox\Plugins.OLD\SteamLauncher", or they simply rename their old "SteamLauncher.dll" to something else such as "SteamLauncher.OLD.dll". Simply stated, if you simultaneously have 2 copies of the plugin dll ANYWHERE within the LaunchBox directory structure (inside of the "LaunchBox" root directory or any of its subdirectories), the plugin will NOT work and you will have VERY strange problems. 

If the new launching method still isn't working for you after trying all of the above, you'll need to turn on debug logging so that the plugin can output info to a text file for troubleshooting purposes. There are clear, easy-to-follow instructions on the plugin download page that explain how to do this (look under the section titled 'Debug Logs'). Although you are free to post your debug log in this thread (don't directly copy/paste it into the thread.. instead use https://pastebin.com), it will probably be much quicker and easier for me to help you directly through Steam chat. At the top of the plugin download page I've provided instructions for how to contact me on Steam. Shoot me a friend request and as soon as I see it, I will respond, and hopefully we can get your problem sorted out in a jiffy. 

Plugin Download Page:

 

[Lahma]

8 minutes ago, JedExodus said:

Hey @Krovash I'm no expert, however when moving my LB install to a new Hard Drive I encountered a similar issue. Going in to manage emulators showed that the path was pointing to the SteamLauncher exe and not the emulator. I deleted the folder for the Plugin altogether, changed the emulator paths back to what they should be and put a clean install of the Plugin back in place, all working without issue now.

So maybe a fresh install of the plugin (deleting the SteamLauncher folder and all in it) and a check of emulator paths if you haven't done so already is worth a look. If no luck try enabling the logging feature to post here so @Lahma can have a look when he has a chance. He's a sound lad and no doubt when he sees your post will get you back on track

Cheers!

As always, I appreciate you offering up your help @JedExodus. A bit coincidental I was unknowingly replying at almost the exact same time you were. I suspect that your short, concise piece of advice might end up being more valuable than my long rambling post. Hopefully one of our posts can help @Krovash figure out what the problem is. 

[JedExodus]

Very kind mate. It's easy to be concise when you don't really know what you're talking about!

[Krovash]

I've completely removed the steam launcher directory and replaced it, checked emulator paths and they are correct, doesn't help, i still get the same problem.
I've also ran through the LB directory to see if i might've left a copy of the previous version of the plugin and that is not the case, so i really have no idea why it doesn't work.
I've sent lahma a friend request on steam, hopefully we'll find out what causes the problem.

[Lahma]

31 minutes ago, Krovash said:

I've completely removed the steam launcher directory and replaced it, checked emulator paths and they are correct, doesn't help, i still get the same problem.
I've also ran through the LB directory to see if i might've left a copy of the previous version of the plugin and that is not the case, so i really have no idea why it doesn't work.
I've sent lahma a friend request on steam, hopefully we'll find out what causes the problem.

No worries, we will get it resolved. Damn Steam chat... It just randomly signs you out of chat with no good reason and it stays logged out until you eventually realize its signed out (which in my case could be days) and manually hit the button to sign back in... Back to the topic at hand, I'm on Steam and I am not seeing a new friend request. Maybe double check that you actually sent it? Is your Steam alias the same as your forum name?

[Krovash]

I've sent the invite a second time, should work this time.

[Lahma]

I just wanted to note here that we did resolve the problems that @Krovash was having (or rather he resolved the problem while we were trying to troubleshoot the issue). Turns out the issue was Acronis True Image 2019 (Build 17750). It has a feature called "Acronis Active Protection" which was preventing "SteamLauncherProxy.exe" from being able to start. As soon as he disabled it, the plugin started working.

[Krovash]

You forgot to mention that Acronis Active Protection is a form of ransomware protection. No idea why it blocked your plugin though.
Anyway, the idea is, if the plugin doesn't launch for you, try disabling your antivirus (if you use anything other than windows defender) or any other form of protection you might have which is not microsoft-made. It might just help.

[JedExodus]

Hey @Lahma unfortunately it seems to be broken for me (not sure when it happened or if there's been a Steam update) Launching games is fine, but in BigBox closing them presents problems as focus is not returned correctly to BB. I may have to tab to the Game Over screen from BB or it'll be on the desktop or in a browser window I had open before launching. Doesn't seem to be linked to any one emulator (tested using Retroarch and PCSX2)

Everything works grand when running without SteamLauncher in my testing. Is anyone else experiencing the same?

Edited July 25, 2019 by JedExodus

[Lahma]

18 hours ago, JedExodus said:

Hey @Lahma unfortunately it seems to be broken for me (not sure when it happened or if there's been a Steam update) Launching games is fine, but in BigBox closing them presents problems as focus is not returned correctly to BB. I may have to tab to the Game Over screen from BB or it'll be on the desktop or in a browser window I had open before launching. Doesn't seem to be linked to any one emulator (tested using Retroarch and PCSX2)

Everything works grand when running without SteamLauncher in my testing. Is anyone else experiencing the same?

Hey @JedExodus, I haven't heard about problems from anyone else yet, but I will try to investigate the issues you are having sometime today if I can. I have a bit of a busy day, but hopefully I should have a bit of free time tonight. I will let you know what I find out. By the way, have you checked your global LaunchBox/BigBox startup/shutdown screen settings? One frequent issue I have is that every time LaunchBox updates, my startup/shutdown/pause screen settings get reset. Then again, I almost never use BigBox, so it is entirely likely that a problem with BigBox specifically could easily escape my notice. I'll let you know what I find out.

[JedExodus]

25 minutes ago, Lahma said:

Hey @JedExodus, I haven't heard about problems from anyone else yet, but I will try to investigate the issues you are having sometime today if I can. I have a bit of a busy day, but hopefully I should have a bit of free time tonight. I will let you know what I find out. By the way, have you checked your global LaunchBox/BigBox startup/shutdown screen settings? One frequent issue I have is that every time LaunchBox updates, my startup/shutdown/pause screen settings get reset. Then again, I almost never use BigBox, so it is entirely likely that a problem with BigBox specifically could easily escape my notice. I'll let you know what I find out.

Thank you v much. It could well be a software conflict for me. The programs I suspect are MSI Afterburner and Touchmote. Moreso Touchmote than Afterburner. As the problem is intermittent testing is a slow task but will try some more this evening and get back to you if I learn anything. 

 

Thanks for all the hard work!

[Lahma]

1 minute ago, JedExodus said:

Thank you v much. It could well be a software conflict for me. The programs I suspect are MSI Afterburner and Touchmote. Moreso Touchmote than Afterburner. As the problem is intermittent testing is a slow task but will try some more this evening and get back to you if I learn anything. 

 

Thanks for all the hard work!

I'm running the most recent release of MSI Afterburner/RIVA Tuner, so I doubt that is part of the problem. I don't use Touchmote, so I'm not sure on that one. It is kind of strange that you are seeing problems with BigBox only... The launch process with the plugin is essentially identical between LaunchBox and BigBox, so I'm trying to think of what could cause issues with only one and not the other...

[JedExodus]

On 7/26/2019 at 3:53 PM, Lahma said:

I'm running the most recent release of MSI Afterburner/RIVA Tuner, so I doubt that is part of the problem. I don't use Touchmote, so I'm not sure on that one. It is kind of strange that you are seeing problems with BigBox only... The launch process with the plugin is essentially identical between LaunchBox and BigBox, so I'm trying to think of what could cause issues with only one and not the other...

 

Heya, thanks for your input. Didn't get testing last night (started work at 6am this morning so was early doors for me)  but done some checking today and found that disabling the startup screens fixed the issue for me. It may not be SteamLauncher at all in this case and maybe an issue specifically for my software setup that was introduced in version 9.10. Apologies for the libel and slander Plugin still kicks arse

[Lahma]

13 hours ago, JedExodus said:

 

Heya, thanks for your input. Didn't get testing last night (started work at 6am this morning so was early doors for me)  but done some checking today and found that disabling the startup screens fixed the issue for me. It may not be SteamLauncher at all in this case and maybe an issue specifically for my software setup that was introduced in version 9.10. Apologies for the libel and slander Plugin still kicks arse

Lol, no worries man. It is entirely possible that it is a problem with the plugin. I've unfortunately been too busy to look at it yet, but I will let you know what I found out as soon as I get a chance.

[HTPCei]

On 7/25/2019 at 9:09 PM, JedExodus said:

Hey @Lahma unfortunately it seems to be broken for me (not sure when it happened or if there's been a Steam update) Launching games is fine, but in BigBox closing them presents problems as focus is not returned correctly to BB. I may have to tab to the Game Over screen from BB or it'll be on the desktop or in a browser window I had open before launching. Doesn't seem to be linked to any one emulator (tested using Retroarch and PCSX2)

Everything works grand when running without SteamLauncher in my testing. Is anyone else experiencing the same?

I think I've been having this issue too, I thought it was something to do with my dual-monitor setup. I'll do some testing in a few hours and let you guys know if I find anything relevant. @JedExodus are you using dual-monitors too?

Edited August 3, 2019 by HTPCei

[Lahma]

23 minutes ago, HTPCei said:

I think I've been having this issue too, I thought it was something to do with my dual-monitor setup. I'll do some testing in a few hours and let you guys know if I find anything relevant. @JedExodus are you using dual-monitors too?

I run a triple monitor setup and I have occasionally noticed a very strange behavior where LaunchBox will move its "blackout" window over to my left side monitor post-launch (as opposed to my center monitor where LaunchBox is at). It only happens occasionally and it doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason. The strange thing is, this can't be caused directly by the plugin as it doesn't implement any type of function that would move this window... Seeing as I only use LaunchBox with my plugin enabled, I wouldn't know whether this happens without my plugin enabled or not (although I suspect it doesn't). If this does only happen with the plugin enabled, then there is something strange going on in regards to some type of interaction between LaunchBox and the plugin, as I can assure you that my plugin is definitely not directly moving this window between monitors. Perhaps this behavior is totally unrelated to what you guys are talking about though... I just thought I would mention it since it sounds like it could be somehow related. Honestly, its surprising to me that I got the startup/shutdown screens to work with the plugin as well as they have been (I've literally spent probably more time dealing with these window-related and/or startup/shutdown screen issues than the time spent on development of the entire plugin)... There are just so many conflicting things going on between the plugin and LaunchBox (it is doing everything it can to manage window focus and window switching while I'm trying to negate what its doing to handle it in the plugin)... and that is only one side of the coin... The other big issue is all of the different full screen, borderless full screen, hybrid full screen, etc modes that any given game or emulator can be using and the truly strange implications those can have when calling standard Windows API functions to manage their windows.

[HTPCei]

I think last time I tested (my setup is changing constantly btw, so makes it harder to pin things down) everything worked fine when I used a single-monitor setup. Plugin, startup/shutdown, pause screens, steam overlay,.. since then I've been messing with displayfusion a bit (I suspect certain taskbar settings might affect which target monitor is used etc), as well as altering the setup by switching back to dual-monitor. The plugin itself seems to be working great when theres nothing else to "confuse" it.., thanks again!

[Lahma]

22 hours ago, HTPCei said:

I think last time I tested (my setup is changing constantly btw, so makes it harder to pin things down) everything worked fine when I used a single-monitor setup. Plugin, startup/shutdown, pause screens, steam overlay,.. since then I've been messing with displayfusion a bit (I suspect certain taskbar settings might affect which target monitor is used etc), as well as altering the setup by switching back to dual-monitor. The plugin itself seems to be working great when theres nothing else to "confuse" it.., thanks again!

`I am an ardent DisplayFusion user so that could be related to the issue I was describing as well.

[Lahma]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:35 AM, JedExodus said:

 

Heya, thanks for your input. Didn't get testing last night (started work at 6am this morning so was early doors for me)  but done some checking today and found that disabling the startup screens fixed the issue for me. It may not be SteamLauncher at all in this case and maybe an issue specifically for my software setup that was introduced in version 9.10. Apologies for the libel and slander Plugin still kicks arse

So I did some testing with LaunchBox and BigBox @JedExodus and unfortunately I'm not able to reproduce the problem you were experiencing. I have startup/shutdown/pause screens enabled with default settings. I tried a bunch of different emulators+rom combinations, as well as PC games, with both LaunchBox and BigBox, and in all cases, the startup and shutdown screens were working exactly as intended (no weird behavior with shutdown screen being out of place in window order and such). Have you had a chance to mess around with the problem any more (outside of just disabling startup screens)? One thing to be aware of is that every time LaunchBox updates, for some strange reason it completely resets your startup/shutdown/pause screen settings... This has already caused me problems on multiple occasions, so if you started having problems immediately after updating LaunchBox, it could definitely be related to that. FYI, here are my startup/shutdown/pause screen settings (although I'm pretty sure these are just the default values):