Caution Windows update issue/DOF not initializing

[bushav]

Good morning

 

I am having trouble getting PinballX to work with my DOF/addressable LED's.  I had DOF  working in PinballX and then over the last few weeks it became intermittent and now doesn't work.   You can see from the logs that it is not initializing and it is aborting.  I stayed up all night trying different things.  I have replaced the dll for the Direct Output PinballX .  I have cleared the registry etc. and yet I can not get it to initialize.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I am at wits end.  

log.txt [SETTINGS].log DirectOutput.log

[Mike_da_Spike]

Did you setup the plugin correctly and also the pinball x dof settings ?

Not at the cab, but was something with all of that

[bushav]

When I test the plug in using the PinballX P;ugIn Mangager it say everyhing is OK. I'm not sure what you mean by Pinball X DOF settings.  I have the file GlobalConfig_PinballX in the DOF config folder and I have the PinballX PlugIndll in the DOF config folder and the Pinball X folder.

 

I am sure it is something simple as it has worked before and the log is plainly saying 

12:43:32.00  2/13/2020:  Loaded Plugin:"DirectOutput PinballX Plugin" Version 1 By Swisslizard
12:43:32.15  2/13/2020:  PlugIn Did not initialize. Disabling PlugIn

Maybe you have an idea.  Im open to suggestions.

PinballY is working.  I just installed it today to see if it would use DOF.  However, it really jacked up the media import and I like PinballX better.  I just got to get the DOF working or else my lights don't work when I launch from PinballX

 

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Did you added lately something to DOF? I see in your log file access denied to com3. Do you have teensy and a real dmd ?

[bushav]

I found a Pinballx backup from 1/9/2020.  Its log shows that the PinballX DOF plug in initialized correctly.  I traded the PinballX files with that backup (4.03) and it still did not initialize the plug in so the problem is not with the PinballX revision.  It is I suspect with the plug in target.  What exactly is the plug in doing when PinballX launches?  Does it just point to the dll in the DOF folder?

[bushav]

Whew!  After a solid day of work I have it all working.  After discovering that as late as January 9th Pinball X was using DOF, I just restored my computer from the January 9th restore point.  I had made a restore point and a hard drive backup on January 9th.  Lucky for me!  After the restore PinballX is using DOF and addressable light strips as it should.  Tables are opening with DOF and addressable lights perfectly.  

This all began with the "project of the week" which was installing speaker lights which were my first RGB's in the cab.  I think when I installed the Teensy software I must of screwed something up with PinballX or created a conflict.  Once I restored back to the 9th I would up with a flashed Teensy and no Teensy software on the C drive so there are no C drive files to conflict with anything in regards to the Teensy setup.  Just a guess but it is the only significant changes I can think of since January 9th.  

This twelve hours of troubleshooting gave me a sore back and the opportunity to see how PinballY works.  I think they are too similar to warrant moving away from PinballX.  I really like this front end, I am comfortable with it and the support is great.  I have it tweaked just right with toppers and color DMD videos, loading GIF's etc.  

Thanks for trying to help me today.  I'm taking a break from innovating and going to play some pinball after a nap!

Lane

[Mike_da_Spike]

Could it be related to this ?

 

[bushav]

Good morning 

I want to bring the communities attention to an issue that may pop up. Some of you are aware my PinballX quit cooperating with DOFLinx/DOF this week. I’ve spent an ungodly amount of time getting it working again. Here is what I have discovered. Let me preface the description by admitting I should have had Windows update turned OFF!

The symptoms are no feedback devices working in PinballX but they do work perfectly when tables launched outside of PinballX or when launched with another front end.  Positive confirmation is the PinballX log stating “Swiss Lizard DOFLinx plugin failed to initialize - plugin stopped”

I tried many repairs up to moving PinballX off the computer and performing a new install. I grabbed fresh plug in dlls. I tried running earlier versions of PinballX etc.....

If I restored my hard drive to a January 9 restore point everything works great. I discovered 5 Windows updates between January 9 and present day. 2 are systems updates and 3 are security updates. I let Windows reinstall the updates and PinballX had the previous issue. I did a manual uninstall of the five updates and PinballX reverted to working great. 

My concern is that this issue will affect others. Especially users who install PinballX going forward and get frustrated without knowing why. I suppose everyone on the forum is smarter than myself and already turned off updates but new users may come along with new computers that have the update and are prone to same error. 

I wish I could tell you guys which of the five updates is the culprit but now that it is working and updates are turned off I hate to open the can of worms.  I checked for blocked files and could find no obvious ones but somehow one of those updates is screwing things up with the plug in for DOFLinx/DOF. The plugin tester will still find DOFLinx framework and say everything is OK. 

 

[bushav]

Facebook forums this morning reporting Windows update 1909 is causing PinballX to behave erratically. Caution everyone!

[Mike_da_Spike]

Not sure why, but I'm eunning windows 1909 with latear security uodate and PBX with DOF is still running. Also fx3 and all other emulators are running

[Draco1962]

Definitely would help Tom to know what updates were breaking your stuff and seeing it with your pinballx.ini and log.txt files. 

If it isnt happening for everyone, then much more difficult for him or anyone else to troubleshoot.

[bushav]

Windows 10 update issue

 

Issue explained in above topic

[Draco1962]

Again, it is affecting some, not all, and not all in the same way. Knowing the specific updates and updated files are of potentially more use than linking to a similar issue.

[joyrider3774]

@bushav is it the 1909 windows 10 update or some specific KBXXXX update. If it's a specific update that you can remove tell us the KBXXXX nr by going to control panel selecting programs & features -> view installed updates. Or if it's just 1909 specify that as well.

 

[bushav]

I turned the updater back on and let it install the updates.  I removed them one by one with the uninstaller, testing after each uninstall.  It is Update for Microsoft Windows KB4486153 that is causing the problems.  As soon it is removed everything reverts to normal operations.  Along with the DOF plugin issue it seems to cause PinballX to give a black screen while loading table.  Not the entire time of loading but it is delaying the loading video and loading GIF a few seconds.  You think PinballX is going to crash and then the loading video starts playing.  Not the normal smooth transition.

Sorry this analysis took a few days. Most of my previous posts were from the Beach and not near the cabinet.  I worked on the cabinet until early early Saturday morning and then we headed to the beach for the weekend.  Stayed up until 1 this morning getting the info to help you guys diagnose.  I'm good now that I know where the problem is.

In the above picture it looks like the computer that the image came off of has not downloaded update KB4486153.  So maybe Microsoft meters the updates like Apple does.  That could explain why not everyone is being affected as of today.

[Draco1962]

Looks like KB4486153 is an update for Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 on Windows 10 version 1709, Windows 10 version 1803, Windows 10 version 1809 and Windows Server 2019. 

Hopefully that will give Tom a place to start to see if there is any conflict with current code. Thanks for providing the update info!