Flare v10 - Crashes

[sdcinvan]

I regret to report experiencing two crashes. The first one occurred prior to the patch, the second occurred after the patch.

The first crash occurred yesterday. I am unsure if it is related but it occurred shortly after I closed the PDF preview window. Incidentally, the PDF preview itself crashed (non-fatal).

_Flare v10-Crash01-after PDF preview.png

Excerpts from Windows system reporting:

Code: Select all

Flare v10 crash - just after preview PDF (and error)
1026, 1000, 1001

Application: Flare.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
Stack:
   at System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.PopupRoot.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size)
   at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure(System.Windows.Size)
---truncated


 System 
  - Provider 
   [ Name]  .NET Runtime 
  - EventID 1026 
   [ Qualifiers]  0 
   Level 2 
   Task 0 
   Keywords 0x80000000000000 
 
TimeCreated 
   [ SystemTime]  2014-03-07T01:02:27.000000000Z 
   EventRecordID 25279 
   Channel Application 
   Computer shawn-PC 
   Security 
- EventData 
   Application: Flare.exe Framework Version: v4.0.30319 Description: The process was terminated due to an 

unhandled exception. Exception Info: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException Stack: at 

System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.PopupRoot.MeasureOverride(System.Windows.Size) at 

System.Windows.FrameworkElement.MeasureCore(System.Windows.Size) at System.Windows.UIElement.Measure

(System.Windows.Size) at System.Windows.ContextLayoutManager.UpdateLayout() 


*************

Faulting application name: Flare.exe, version: 10.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x5310d4d0
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.18229, time stamp: 0x51fb1116
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x0000c41f
Faulting process id: 0xd10
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf39499d462eb5
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare V10\Flare.app\Flare.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\syswow64\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: 273ef66a-a594-11e3-b2b6-005056c00008


 System 
  - Provider 
   [ Name]  Application Error 
   - EventID 1000 
   [ Qualifiers]  0 
    Level 2 
    Task 100 
    Keywords 0x80000000000000 
   - TimeCreated 
   [ SystemTime]  2014-03-07T01:02:29.000000000Z 
    EventRecordID 25280 
    Channel Application 
    Computer shawn-PC 
    Security 
 
- EventData 
   Flare.exe 
   10.0.0.0 
   5310d4d0 
   KERNELBASE.dll 
   6.1.7601.18229 
   51fb1116 
   e0434352 
   0000c41f 
   d10 
   01cf39499d462eb5 
   C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare V10\Flare.app\Flare.exe 
   C:\Windows\syswow64\KERNELBASE.dll 
   273ef66a-a594-11e3-b2b6-005056c00008 


**************************

System 
  - Provider 
   [ Name]  Windows Error Reporting 
   - EventID 1001 
   [ Qualifiers]  0 
    Level 4 
    Task 0 
    Keywords 0x80000000000000 
   - TimeCreated 
   [ SystemTime]  2014-03-07T01:02:49.000000000Z 
    EventRecordID 25281 
    Channel Application 
    Computer shawn-PC 
    Security 
 
- EventData 
   17743135 
   22 
   CLR20r3 
   Not available 
   0 
   flare.exe 
   10.0.0.0 
   5310d4d0 
   mscorlib 
   4.0.30319.18444 
   52717edc 
   3e6a 
   4 
   PSZQOADHX1U5ZAHBHOHGHLDGIY4QIXHX 
    
   C:\Users\shawn\AppData\Local\Temp\WERD05E.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml 
   C:\Users\shawn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive

\AppCrash_flare.exe_71b324d99a97bc45b0e8de9df23379530345d_0ea31ead 
    
   0 
   273ef66a-a594-11e3-b2b6-005056c00008 
   0 

Fault bucket 17743135, type 22
Event Name: CLR20r3
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: flare.exe
P2: 10.0.0.0
P3: 5310d4d0
P4: mscorlib
P5: 4.0.30319.18444
P6: 52717edc
P7: 3e6a
P8: 4
P9: PSZQOADHX1U5ZAHBHOHGHLDGIY4QIXHX
P10: 

Attached files:
C:\Users\shawn\AppData\Local\Temp\WERD05E.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml

These files may be available here:
C:\Users\shawn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive

\AppCrash_flare.exe_71b324d99a97bc45b0e8de9df23379530345d_0ea31ead

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 273ef66a-a594-11e3-b2b6-005056c00008
Report Status: 0

The second crash occurred this morning. Different circumstances and different error message.
This time, the crash occurred while I was resizing an image in the XML editor. This was different because the error message was something new. It was a larger error message generated by Flare and included the buttons, Details, Save, Send Report, and Don't Send. A very nice idea but perhaps poorly implemented because when Flare crashed (and disappeared), it also took with it this message and the options. I would have liked to have sent a report.

_Flare v10-Crash02-during png resize.png

Excerpts from Windows system reporting:

Code: Select all

Flare v10 crash - during a png resize
1026, 1000, 1001

Application: Flare.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
Stack:
   at System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHRInternal(Int32, IntPtr)
   at System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(Int32, IntPtr)
   at MS.Internal.Text.TextInterface.Native.Util.ConvertHresultToException(Int32)
-- truncated

System 
  - Provider 
   [ Name]  .NET Runtime 
  - EventID 1026 
   [ Qualifiers]  0 
   Level 2 
   Task 0 
   Keywords 0x80000000000000 
  - TimeCreated 
   [ SystemTime]  2014-03-07T19:11:31.000000000Z 
   EventRecordID 25333 
   Channel Application 
   Computer shawn-PC 
   Security 

- EventData 
   Application: Flare.exe Framework Version: v4.0.30319 Description: The process was terminated due to an 

unhandled exception. Exception Info: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException Stack: at 

System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHRInternal(Int32, IntPtr) at 

System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ThrowExceptionForHR(Int32, IntPtr) at 

MS.Internal.Text.TextInterface.Native.Util.ConvertHresultToException 
---truncated


*********

Faulting application name: Flare.exe, version: 10.0.1.0, time stamp: 0x5317b986
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.18229, time stamp: 0x51fb1116
Exception code: 0xe0434352
Fault offset: 0x0000c41f
Faulting process id: 0x145c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cf3a1d07be727c
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare V10\Flare.app\Flare.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\syswow64\KERNELBASE.dll
Report Id: 4a03c95a-a62c-11e3-b2b6-005056c00008

System 
  - Provider 
   [ Name]  Application Error 
   - EventID 1000 
   [ Qualifiers]  0 
   Level 2 
   Task 100 
   Keywords 0x80000000000000 
  - TimeCreated 
  [ SystemTime]  2014-03-07T19:11:31.000000000Z 
   EventRecordID 25334 
   Channel Application 
   Computer shawn-PC 
   Security 

- EventData 
   Flare.exe 
   10.0.1.0 
   5317b986 
   KERNELBASE.dll 
   6.1.7601.18229 
   51fb1116 
   e0434352 
   0000c41f 
   145c 
   01cf3a1d07be727c 
   C:\Program Files (x86)\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare V10\Flare.app\Flare.exe 
   C:\Windows\syswow64\KERNELBASE.dll 
   4a03c95a-a62c-11e3-b2b6-005056c00008 

[RamonS]

Did you report this to MadCap? You may get a quicker and more useful response from them than from the forum.

[helen]

Mine's crashing about 50% of the time when I try and build various projects. I get a nice red X on the screen. I've sent all the error reports to MadCap. I've reverted to Flare 9.0 for now, I'm not feeling the love for version 10.

[sdcinvan]

Did you report this to MadCap? You may get a quicker and more useful response from them than from the forum.

Almost no point. Because each crash was a one-off and cannot be replicated... although the crashes are likely related (same error reporting). In the past, MadCap reps ask for a copy of my project and report back that they cannot find a problem. This is understandable because the errors only occur after working on a project for several hours... a support rep cannot duplicate that.

Although the crashes are rare (maybe one crash every two days) and I don't lose much (never more than a paragraph or two), I still consider these crashes a concern because Flare is the only Windows application that crashes. In fact, I cannot recall a single crash of any of my 50 or so commonly used Windows apps in over a year! Oh...wait, Adobe InDesign had a bug that caused it to crash on every first time (per day) start up; but Adobe fixed that within two months.

The reason for posting these two errors in the forum is to learn if anyone else is experiencing similar crashes.

[RamonS]

Firefox crashes multiple times a day on me as does IE11. Craptivate crashed so often that it took ten times longer than needed to get anything done. There are plenty of Windows apps that crash and burn. That aside, I strongly suggest that you report the problems. If they do not get a constant reminder that something is amiss expecting a fix is wishful thinking. Did you try working on a different system for a while? Maybe it is an environmental issue.

[ToddPh]

Shawn,

I'm not sure this is relevant or not, but do you shut down Flare every night when you quit? How often (if ever) do you restart Windpws?

I've had a hunch for a while now that Flare accumulates issues the longer you leave it running, and I suspect it may be related more to .NET than anything MadCap developers did. If you don't normally reboot Windows, you might try a clean restart and see if it takes longer to encounter another crash. I would also suggest opening a command prompt and running an fdisk /f on each drive before the reboot to make sure everything is ok in the file system.

I'm not really on the trail of anything specific here, these are just part of my normal troubleshooting toolbox as I start to narrow down the issue. You may have already ruled these things out.

[sdcinvan]

Firefox crashes multiple times a day on me as does IE11. Craptivate crashed so often that it took ten times longer than needed to get anything done. There are plenty of Windows apps that crash and burn. That aside, I strongly suggest that you report the problems. If they do not get a constant reminder that something is amiss expecting a fix is wishful thinking. Did you try working on a different system for a while? Maybe it is an environmental issue.

Okay, perhaps my "flare is the only app that crashes" was a bit unfair. That is, I use it about 75% more than any other app... Also, because of the huge diversity in how our environments are setup, everyone has different experiences. For instance, Captive v6 was rock solid for me, when I was using it about 80% of the day about a year ago. Captivate versions prior of v5.5... were pretty frustratingly unstable; that was a chief reason why Adobe re-wrote the entire tool in v5.

IE? Who the heck uses IE?

But, FireFox can be rather crashy... so... remembering that, I was inaccurate in my claim that Flare is the 'only' crashy app.

[sdcinvan]

Shawn,

I'm not sure this is relevant or not, but do you shut down Flare every night when you quit? How often (if ever) do you restart Windpws?

I shut down Flare every evening... actually, several times a day (because I am convinced there are still some memory leaks). Flare has been running for about 2 hours now and has currently allocated 500MB of RAM. Continuous use on the same project, by the end of the day, it should be higher. I'll check back later. (edit: a few hours later - Flare peaked to 670MB and then crashed again!)

I restart Windows about once a week.

I've had a hunch for a while now that Flare accumulates issues the longer you leave it running, and I suspect it may be related more to .NET than anything MadCap developers did.

I agree with both statements.

[sdcinvan]

Another crash today. So far, I am experiencing one crash per day.

This time Flare crashed at the moment of double-clicking to open a chapter in the Content Explorer.

_Flare v10-Crash03-double-clicked to open chapter.png

I am currently uncertain if it is useful information although each crash occurs at the moment of something different, the error reporting is always identical... that is:
It is a .net framework error that starts with a Event ID of 1026, followed by 1000.
Application: Flare.exe
Framework Version: v4.0.30319
Description: The process was terminated due to an unhandled exception.
Exception Info: System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException
Faulting application name: Flare.exe, version: 10.0.1.0, time stamp: 0x5317b986
Faulting module name: KERNELBASE.dll, version: 6.1.7601.18229, time stamp: 0x51fb1116

[sdcinvan]

I have submitted these crashes (with complete Windows event logs) to technical support.

Question: Is anyone else experiencing v10 Flare crashes?

[CATERAF]

Yup, I'm in the crashing boat.
Flare can crash 10+ times in a day (depending on what I'm doing and how much I'm using Flare). Recently I've been having issues renaming files and I get the 'submit crash report' to Flare window. Not sure who gets to handle all the crash reports but I'm keeping them busy! I also get crashes where no 'send crash report' error comes up (i.e., I get the semi-transparent white screen and 'not responding' appears in the title bar).

I had lots of problems with Flare V9 crashing and updated to Flare V10 in the hope that it would help. Alas, it's still crashing as much as ever (though I suspect it's for different issues). Now I just backup Flare constantly just-in-case. I'm also someone who saves constantly (due to losing work through software crashes in the past) so I don't tend to lose much work. It's more an inconvenience or I get a lot of broken links (hence the backups are needed). I'm thankful I have workarounds even though it would be good if I didn't have to use them.

I'm sure there is/are memory leak(s) in the software based on discussions I've had with our IT department. The IT manager looked at one of my error reports this morning (for the error '> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: Error creating window handle') and said that WIndows cannot create more windows than 1000 (though I don't know what that means -- I don't have 1000 windows open so it must be behind-the-scenes). The IT Manager's first guess was that Flare has a memory leak and has run out of resources. I also get the 'out of memory' error when building in Flare so that's not good either.

All in all, it crashes a lot but I do love Flare's capabilities and the responsiveness of Madcap's Tech Support is good. That said, I've got at least 3 cases open at the moment that they haven't been able to solve yet.. I'm hoping for the best!

[Robotman]

Although we haven't officially moved over to Flare v10, I am running it quite a bit to do some testing and I've noticed Flare more than v9 ever did (running Windows 8.1 - 64-bit). I'll come across 2-4 crashes per day on my desktop. Unfortunately I can't automatically send error messages as we're tied down tight with regards to external sites (although, yes, I could probably send the xml error file through).

[sdcinvan]

Unfortunately I can't automatically send error messages as we're tied down tight with regards to external sites (although, yes, I could probably send the xml error file through).

The new send crash to MadCap (via Internet) is nice but MadCap needs to go another step and offer an export crash dump to file, for people such as yourself.

[sdcinvan]

Yup, I'm in the crashing boat.
Flare can crash 10+ times in a day (depending on what I'm doing and how much I'm using Flare). Recently I've been having issues renaming files and I get the 'submit crash report' to Flare window. Not sure who gets to handle all the crash reports but I'm keeping them busy! I also get crashes where no 'send crash report' error comes up (i.e., I get the semi-transparent white screen and 'not responding' appears in the title bar).

I had lots of problems with Flare V9 crashing and updated to Flare V10 in the hope that it would help. Alas, it's still crashing as much as ever (though I suspect it's for different issues). Now I just backup Flare constantly just-in-case. I'm also someone who saves constantly (due to losing work through software crashes in the past) so I don't tend to lose much work. It's more an inconvenience or I get a lot of broken links (hence the backups are needed). I'm thankful I have workarounds even though it would be good if I didn't have to use them.

I'm sure there is/are memory leak(s) in the software based on discussions I've had with our IT department. The IT manager looked at one of my error reports this morning (for the error '> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: Error creating window handle') and said that WIndows cannot create more windows than 1000 (though I don't know what that means -- I don't have 1000 windows open so it must be behind-the-scenes). The IT Manager's first guess was that Flare has a memory leak and has run out of resources. I also get the 'out of memory' error when building in Flare so that's not good either.

All in all, it crashes a lot but I do love Flare's capabilities and the responsiveness of Madcap's Tech Support is good. That said, I've got at least 3 cases open at the moment that they haven't been able to solve yet.. I'm hoping for the best!

Interesting, I have not seen that error when Flare crashes. My Flare v10.x crashes were always associated with the DOT NET framework.

Please keep us posted on the status of your cases. I am interested in knowing how they are resolved.

[NorthEast]

I'm getting a steady number of crashes in v10, it's been a while (v7?) since it was this bad.

Some are reproducible, e.g. the new skin editor.

[sdcinvan]

I'm getting a steady number of crashes in v10, it's been a while (v7?) since it was this bad.

Some are reproducible, e.g. the new skin editor.

It is frustrating that it appears that there are no commonalities (besides it being Flare) in the type of errors we are all seeing.

For me, 100% of the errors are connected to the DOT.NET framework. I haven't encountered any issues with the skin editor but I have logged less than 3 hours in this part of Flare.

I used to experience a LOT of crashes when switching between the XML editor and the Text editor. When I switched to a split screen configuration, the crashes vanished BUT now I experience these constant "lock outs" where I cannot type anything into the editor (either one) but I can do anything else such as navigate through the editors or pull up menus, save, etc. Bloody annoying! I wonder if this strange behavior is somehow related to the crashes I used to experience?

[rjn572]

I'm getting 15+ crashes a day using V10 on one particular topic. It usually occurs when I go from the Text Editor tab to the XML Editor tab.
I'm working in Layout (Print) view for pdf output.
The culprit seems to be a fairly large topic (60 A4 pages) with floating graphics - I haven't experienced many (if any) crashes on smaller sections

I just make sure I "Save" every 10 minutes but this is not ideal.

[ToddPh]

Were I still in my past life supporting Windows, and hearing these reports, I would be thinking that there must be a commonality outside of Flare. Not letting the Flare devs off the hook, exactly, but I think there might be some other factor causing the issues. The usual suspects I would start keeping track of would be video drivers, Windows Update status (ie, have you installed all of the latest updates), antivirus program in use, and so on.

Another line of thought I would try to rule out is file corruption. If it were me troubleshooting these issues, I would try running a chkdsk /f on the system drive (and the drive where Flare is installed, if different).

If none of that led to a profitable line of troubleshooting, I would want to try reproducing the problem on a clean, fresh install of Windows and Flare with as few other programs installed as possible.

Just some thoughts, I hope they give some help. Otherwise, please ignore me and I'll go away.

[SteveS]

Were I still in my past life supporting Windows, and hearing these reports, I would be thinking that there must be a commonality outside of Flare. Not letting the Flare devs off the hook, exactly, but I think there might be some other factor causing the issues. The usual suspects I would start keeping track of would be video drivers, Windows Update status (ie, have you installed all of the latest updates), antivirus program in use, and so on.

Another line of thought I would try to rule out is file corruption. If it were me troubleshooting these issues, I would try running a chkdsk /f on the system drive (and the drive where Flare is installed, if different).

If none of that led to a profitable line of troubleshooting, I would want to try reproducing the problem on a clean, fresh install of Windows and Flare with as few other programs installed as possible.

Just some thoughts, I hope they give some help. Otherwise, please ignore me and I'll go away.

I'd add source control to my investigation...

[rjn572]

I'm talking about Flare crashing, not my PC, which is fully patched/updated and has no issues running any other software.

[ToddPh]

In any troubleshooting scenario, you need to address simple questions:

1. Has it ever worked correctly?

2. When did it change?

3. What else happened around that time?

I have taken support calls in past years where some customer is all worked up about numerous unrelated issues (the shopping list syndrome) and I would reach the point where I needed to refocus both the customer and myself by asking "has it ever worked before?" Your approach to fixing the issue is vastly different based on the answer to this one. If you are having problems with Flare 10 crashing, but Flare 9 ran great, you can list that as "sort of" and note that the older version didn't have the same crashes.

When did it change? It started crashing right after I upgrade to version 10, or maybe a week later, or a month. If the problem started immediately after the upgrade, you either have an incompatibility with hardware or software, or the program is crap. I can already hear some members of this forum answering "crap!" but I also know that most of us aren't having the problems with crashing.

What else happened around that time? I used to love this question when doing phone support. "Well, I also installed the new super secret beta of Tank Obliterator 4 for the Mac using a freeware emulator..." If the problems started after Flare 10 was installed, meaning it ran fine for a while but then began having issues, ask yourself what other changes happened around the time that the crashes started. It's possible that some other program was installed that is causing a conflict, even a driver that was updated around that time. I have several biases about hardware brands that were developed after driver issues like this.

If none of this helps, and Flare is still crashing, I highly recommend talking to MadCap support directly rather than being frustrated here. And then come back here and share what you learned so we all get better.

Hope this rambling helps someone.

[sdcinvan]

I'm getting 15+ crashes a day using V10 on one particular topic. It usually occurs when I go from the Text Editor tab to the XML Editor tab.
I'm working in Layout (Print) view for pdf output.
The culprit seems to be a fairly large topic (60 A4 pages) with floating graphics - I haven't experienced many (if any) crashes on smaller sections

I just make sure I "Save" every 10 minutes but this is not ideal.

I was experiencing the same or similar problem. My solution was to change to a split TEXT/XML editor screen. I haven't experienced one of those XML/TEXT screen switch crashes since.

[doc_guy]

When troubleshooting a Flare project, I make a copy of my current project and I start working in that project by taking out half of the files. If it stops crashing, then I know it is in the files I deleted. I make a new copy of the original and I delete the OTHER half of the files, and verify that Flare still crashes. I keep cutting down files by half until I can isolate the file that is causing the trouble.

If I think it is a specific file, I copy that file into a new Flare project and see if it still crashes.

I had a project a month ago that was causing Page Layouts to not display background colors of decoration frames. It turns out that I had a corrupt style sheet file (that I wasn't using) that was causing the problem. Deleting that file from my project made everything work again.

60 pages for a topic is a really long topic. My longest topics now are fewer than 20 pages (US Letter), and I'm likely going to refactor my project to break them up into separate topics.

You should watch your memory and processor to see how Flare is affecting your hardware. (Press CTRL + Shift + Esc and then look at the different tabs to see how different programs are affecting your hardware.)

[sdcinvan]

When troubleshooting a Flare project, I make a copy of my current project and I start working in that project by taking out half of the files. If it stops crashing, then I know it is in the files I deleted. I make a new copy of the original and I delete the OTHER half of the files, and verify that Flare still crashes. I keep cutting down files by half until I can isolate the file that is causing the trouble.

If I think it is a specific file, I copy that file into a new Flare project and see if it still crashes.

I had a project a month ago that was causing Page Layouts to not display background colors of decoration frames. It turns out that I had a corrupt style sheet file (that I wasn't using) that was causing the problem. Deleting that file from my project made everything work again.

60 pages for a topic is a really long topic. My longest topics now are fewer than 20 pages (US Letter), and I'm likely going to refactor my project to break them up into separate topics.

You should watch your memory and processor to see how Flare is affecting your hardware. (Press CTRL + Shift + Esc and then look at the different tabs to see how different programs are affecting your hardware.)

Excellent advice Paul.

[Psider]

I was experiencing the same or similar problem. My solution was to change to a split TEXT/XML editor screen. I haven't experienced one of those XML/TEXT screen switch crashes since.

I've noticed there's a fix in 10.2 for a memory leak when switching between Text/XML editors. Hopefully that will improve things.