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LB won't open after auto Dolphin update


Go to solution Solved by AstroBob,

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Updated to the latest LB release. I was prompted toupdate my Dolphin version to the latest one, which I did. Upon restarting, LB crashes during the plugin startup step. I checked Dolphin, which wasn't updated, updated it normally, but even then, the error persists.

Before updating Dolphin:

Access to the path '\\?\E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Plugins\Dolphin' is denied.

App:     LaunchBox
Version: 13.15
Theme:   Big Details
Type:    System.IO.IOException
Site:    Void PreparePluginsForLoad(System.String)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.PreparePluginsForLoad(String folderLocation)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.Program.Main(String[] args)

Recent Log:

   10:04:31 PM Exception

After updating Dolphin:

Access to the path '\\?\E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Plugins\Dolphin' is denied.

App:     LaunchBox
Version: 13.15
Theme:   Big Details
Type:    System.IO.IOException
Site:    Void PreparePluginsForLoad(System.String)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.PreparePluginsForLoad(String folderLocation)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.Program.Main(String[] args)

Recent Log:

   10:14:54 PM Exception

Didn't see anything regarding this error in the forums, so here's my report. Any way I could uncrash the installation?

Cheers

 

 

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I tried opening LB in BigBox mode, no cookie, as expected. Worth a try.

Access to the path '\\?\E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Plugins\Dolphin' is denied.

App:     Big Box
Version: 13.15
Theme:   RetroFresh
Type:    System.IO.IOException
Site:    Void PreparePluginsForLoad(System.String)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.PreparePluginsForLoad(String folderLocation)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.App.WriteObserver(Object )
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.BigBoxProgram.Main()

Recent Log:

   11:05:46 PM Exception

Also, I noticed my plugins/Dolphin folder doesn't contain any json file, differently from the others. Not sure it was like this before, but there you go.

 

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Hey @strigoimare, this sounds similar to an issue I saw that we were discussing here: 

However, over there we were seeing the issue when opening Big Box via LaunchBox, but opening the Big Box exe directly was working fine. Whereas you say in your report that it's actually LaunchBox that is crashing, is that right?

The reason the error persists after updating Dolphin manually is that I believe the problematic file is related to Dolphin plugin for LaunchBox (which is what is used to manage the installation, and is separate from Dolphin itself ).

However, for me though, if I went to the plugin manager and clicked the `repair` option, the error went away. Does that work for you? Keep me posted!

Edited by bob_the_blob2
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Hey @bob_the_blob2, thanks for mentioning that post. Yeah, looks similar to what I am experiencing, but I cannot open LB at all, since it crashes during the startup screen, in the plugin step. I tried opening up Big box directly from its executable, same result. 

 

As such, I couldn't reach the Plugin Manager at all, unfortunately. I tried checking for faulty plugin files in the root folder, but the Dolphin folder is empty, so nothing to force-delete there.

I'm out of ideas right now. 

Thanks,

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4 hours ago, strigoimare said:

I cannot open LB at all

Try going to /LaunchBox/Updates/ and reinstall LaunchBox using the latest updater.  (should be LaunchBox-13.15-Setup.exe)  

When selecting the folder to reinstall in, select the root folder LaunchBox is in.  in your case:  E:\Google Drive\Emulation\    The installer will add LaunchBox\ to the path.  i.e. Make sure it's not installing/updating to   E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\LaunchBox\

Your saved data and imported games will remain when doing the update.

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Do what Joe states, if that doesn't work navigate to \\LaunchBox\Data\Settings.xml and open it in a text editor. In the bottom of the file look for a <PluginChange> tag. If it's there remove it and save the file. Then attempt to open LaunchBox.

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Posted (edited)

Thanks, I'll test that in a couple hours and I'll post here the results.

EDIT: Yeah, reinstalling from the update file didn't help, same behavior.

Access to the path '\\?\E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Plugins\Dolphin' is denied.

App:     LaunchBox
Version: 13.15
Theme:   Big Details
Type:    System.IO.IOException
Site:    Void PreparePluginsForLoad(System.String)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.PreparePluginsForLoad(String folderLocation)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.Program.Main(String[] args)

Recent Log:

   2:56:44 PM Exception

EDIT2: Found this string at the Settings xml. So I should delete this whole entry, correct?

<PluginChange>
    <PluginName>Dolphin</PluginName>
    <SourceFilePath>E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Metadata\Temp\98160847-184d-46b0-baab-538d8c4f4ed0</SourceFilePath>
    <ManifestJson>{
  "PluginId": "21b02f6a-9c69-49e0-9767-2d341a7bed25",
  "UserId": 249566,
  "Name": "Dolphin",
  "Developer": "Unbroken Software LLC",
  "Brief": "Provides Dolphin emulator support",
  "Description": "Provides functionality to allow Dolphin to be automatically installed and updated within LaunchBox",
  "Requirements": null,
  "Credits": "Many thanks to the developers of Dolphin!",
  "OperatingSystemFamily": "Windows",
  "InstalledVersion": "1.2",
  "SourceCodeUrl": "",
  "SupportUrl": "",
  "HomePageUrl": "",
  "TipJarUrl": "",
  "Tags": null
}</ManifestJson>
  </PluginChange>

EDIT3: OK, removed this string block, and I still get an error, but now for the MAME plugin. Very weird.

Access to the path '\\?\E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Plugins\MAME' is denied.

App:     LaunchBox
Version: 13.15
Theme:   Big Details
Type:    System.IO.IOException
Site:    Void PreparePluginsForLoad(System.String)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.PreparePluginsForLoad(String folderLocation)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.Program.Main(String[] args)

Recent Log:

   3:16:39 PM Exception

Edited by strigoimare
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@strigoimare Yeah, remove the entire section, all of them that exist. Is the E drive a physical drive or just a logical drive linked to your google drive? That error indicates that there are characters in the path that don't belong and given what you're showing was in the settings file I'm curious how they are getting into the error message.

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@C-Beats Yep, removed it all, and I still get the same error, for a MAME plugin, as per my last edit in the message above. No more <PluginChange> strings in that xml.

That E: drive is a physical drive indeed, a big removable drive with a stable E attribution I've been using for the last couple years. Thanks for the assistance.

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Posted (edited)

Out of desperation, I tried reinstalling the .14 build, and that did the job. I was able to complete the plugin startup. Everything was normal, all was as I had left it.

Then, I tried reinstalling the latest patch once more. Much to my surprise, this installation doesn't recognize my lifetime license, and it displays a vanilla installation without any of my ROMS. It is now detecting my Storefront games. All my playlists, etc, nothing is being displayed. At this stage, I am afraid of even touching the thing.

image.thumb.png.5462ff569c92d941d7a8a1c15acd03a5.png

EDIT: lol, I closed it and reopened with the desktop shortcut, it proceeded to reinstall 13.15 and now I cannot reopen it again, same Dolphin plugin error as before. I will try to reinstall .14 again and won't touch this version ever again.

image.thumb.png.49f442d2a4892a1ca05eb686a07990dc.png

EDIT 2: Yeah, .14 works fine. Hopefully this is addressed in .16

image.thumb.png.97d8df345206af78fb81c60dae47a97b.png

EDIT3: Once I closed the above session, trying to reopen Launchbox prompts me to reinstall .15. When I cancelled it, the update ended, but now the .exes do not work anymore. No error message, nothing, the process simply doesn't get executed. Nothing in my Task Manager regarding it.

Well, back to my Steam Deck.

Edited by strigoimare
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  • Solution

Hey @strigoimare sorry to hear this has been such a pain for you. Let's see if we can try and get this update loop unstuck for you

While I can't say for certain, based on the behaviour you're seeing, it's possible that when you attempted to re-install LaunchBox, the root folder wasn't selected, which would result in the extra LaunchBox directory Joe mentioned (`E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\LaunchBox\`). The reason I say that is because you mentioned after re-installing LaunchBox it wasn't recognising your license information. Can you double-check if that is the case?

Regardless, let's get you onto a 13.14 version that isn't auto-updating and we can see how to tackle the rest from there, can you try the following:

  • Go into your Updates folder and delete the 13.15 setup file.
  • Run the 13.14 setup file, but make sure the install location path is  E:\Google Drive\Emulation\. Remember that the installer will add LaunchBox\ to your path for you automatically if you uses the "Browse" button to set a path, but if you type the full path out then it won't.
  • Once you're at the end of the setup process LaunchBox will open automatically, you'll then need to go to Tools > Options > General > Updates, and uncheck "Automatically Download Updates In The Background" and "Beta Releases", but leave on the "Check for Updates", which only notifies you of future updates, but doesn't download anything.
  • Finally, close LaunchBox, and check the Updates folder, since LaunchBox may have downloaded the 13.15 installer file in the background again before turning the "Automatically Download Updates In The Background" preference off. If so just delete that again.

That should hopefully get you back to a stable 13.14 version. Let us know how you go on and we'll take it from there.

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Posted (edited)

Appreciate the reply, @AstroBob

Regarding the folder path, I made sure I did not install over the last one in order to avoid the scenario you are describing. So it must be something else, I believe. 

I will try reinstalling 13.14 later on when I get home and I will edit this reply with the results. 

EDIT: Yep, that did work, as expected. I had forgotten that I could disable auto-updates, doh.

Closed and reopened, all is good. Only gripe is that I cannot close the update prompt on the bottom-right. Clicking on the X does not close it, it has to time out. Appreciate the help.

image.thumb.png.07ba4fb7cd3f806bd62e50af73641c61.png

Cheers,

Edited by strigoimare
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  • 1 month later...

@AstroBob

A bit of necromancy: tried the new 13.16 version to see if the issues above were fixed, and nope, looks like this is a persistent issue. Is there any way to simply disable the Dolphin plugin, somehow? Thanks

Access to the path '\\?\E:\Google Drive\Emulation\LaunchBox\Plugins\Dolphin' is denied.

App:     LaunchBox
Version: 13.16
Theme:   Big Details
Type:    System.IO.IOException
Site:    Void PreparePluginsForLoad(System.String)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Root.PreparePluginsForLoad(String folderLocation)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Desktop.Program.Main(String[] args)

Recent Log:

   10:11:44 PM Exception

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@strigoimare thanks for the update there and sorry to hear you're still experiencing this issue. We're at a bit of a loss here as we haven't seen other reports of this specific issue since the release of 13.16.

That said, the main difference I'm seeing between your build and other cases is that your hosting the build on a Google Drive location. While I'm sure it's worked well for you in the past, hosting LaunchBox builds on cloud storage directories can have all sorts of issues when it comes to the syncing service applying incorrect locks on specific files.

It would be great to run a few tests to rule out if this might be causing access problems to the Dolphin plugin. If your build is small enough could you try: 

- Copying your LaunchBox folder to a directory that isn't on Google Drive
- Deleting the Dolphin plugin directory
- Open LaunchBox and test to see if you get the same access issues

I realise that may not be possible if the build is large, in which case you don't need to copy the games, images, movies & manuals directories.

It would be great to see if that works as it will help us narrow this down further. Let us know how you get on

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On 9/20/2024 at 4:27 AM, AstroBob said:

@strigoimare thanks for the update there and sorry to hear you're still experiencing this issue. We're at a bit of a loss here as we haven't seen other reports of this specific issue since the release of 13.16.

That said, the main difference I'm seeing between your build and other cases is that your hosting the build on a Google Drive location. While I'm sure it's worked well for you in the past, hosting LaunchBox builds on cloud storage directories can have all sorts of issues when it comes to the syncing service applying incorrect locks on specific files.

It would be great to run a few tests to rule out if this might be causing access problems to the Dolphin plugin. If your build is small enough could you try: 

- Copying your LaunchBox folder to a directory that isn't on Google Drive
- Deleting the Dolphin plugin directory
- Open LaunchBox and test to see if you get the same access issues

I realise that may not be possible if the build is large, in which case you don't need to copy the games, images, movies & manuals directories.

It would be great to see if that works as it will help us narrow this down further. Let us know how you get on

Thanks for the reply and sorry for the delay.

Yeah, this suggestion wouldn't apply to me tidily, since this a huge build that is also accessed by other software and hardware. Staying cloud-based is crucial, especially to sync save states across different devices for the family, and was the selling point for Launchbox back when I bought the license. I will wait to see if the next few patches sort it out somehow, and if not I'll have to find an alternative.

If you think of something, please ping me. Appreciate your assistance.

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