How to report a bug

    AndyP

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    Reporting issues is now handled in the Bug-Tracker.


    Signup, and verify your e-mail-address,
    this is all you need before being able to use it.

    There is a detailed entry on
    How to report a bug
    maintained and updated in the tracker itself.


    It is still possible to create threads in the Game Support forum,
    but its recommended to use the tracker, as the required fields there are helping to validate reports easier.

    Any new report is hidden from public until validated by us.
    This means you have a save way to transmit blueprints,
    client- and server-logs without having to worry about others stealing your work,
    or getting knowledge about your computer or server.
    You can also use this to report any exploit you encounter there, we will make sure its hidden from public until its fixed.

    Thanks for reading.

    - The Testers
     
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    AndyP

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    Fix for Intel-Video-Cards:

    CodeBridge said:
    Intel(R) HD Graphics Family [Full Fix!]
    I stopped playing this game many months ago, due to a horrible bug that crahsed my game at 100% Loading.
    Java's auto-updater is trash, so here's a full tutorial to get your system up to date. NOTE: I use a 64 bit machine, and as such, this tutorial is designed to fix problems on those types of machines. I am also using Intel HD 4000 Graphics. Higher or lower versions might not be helped by this fix.
    1: Press the WindowsKey+R
    2: Type dxdiag
    3: Use the information under the Display tab to fill out the next bit.
    Updating your Intel drivers: Go to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx and enter in your info using the drop-down options.Click "Find." Select your Operating System and choose "Drivers" as your download type. Scroll down and click the link to the top-most driver.
    Once the intel driver is downloaded, run the .exe and let install. Restart your computer when it prompts you to.
    After that-
    Downloading Java: For some reason, Java spits out their 32 bit version when you use their update detection. Go to https://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp and select the right Java for you.
    Download it much like you did for your intel drivers. Make sure to un-check the AskToolbar junk.
    Try running StarMade.
    If it didn't work, I'm not expert, but I'll try to help you.
     

    AndyP

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    Fix for: "No text displayed in game"

    FrostByteGER said:
    Alright guys, for those that
    Alright guys, for those who have this bug, just update your graphics driver to the newest BETA version.
    I have a XFX AMD RADEON HD6870 and after updating to the newest catalyst 14.2 driver, it worked.
    Unfortunately, I don't know if that bug occures on Nvidia graphic cards too. If so, try the same just with the Nvidia drivers. In addition to this, everybody should update to Java 7 Update 51!
    Thanks to Caumen for the solution :)
     

    AndyP

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    Fix for: No Sound [LINUX]

    der_scheme said:
    [Linux] No Sound (dev solution inside)
    Description:
    The game doesn't make a sound on Linux. This is a known problem, the workarounds are also known.
    Workaround:
    People suggested moving the appropriate libraries from the /path/to/StarMade/native/linux directory to somewhere below /usr/lib. I don't like that. However, calling the game like follows will enable sound:
    $ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/path/to/StarMade/native/linux:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"
    $ java -jar StarMade-Starter.jar
     
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    Doomsider

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    You can also report bugs from headless server with java -jar CrashAndBugReport.jar youremail@server

    Schema has mentioned java dumps may also be helpful. If you have jstack installed you can run one with jstack $PID >> threaddump.log on a Linux box. Be sure to runs this while the bug is occuring and send it to Andy.
     

    AndyP

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    You can also report bugs from headless server with java -jar CrashAndBugReport.jar youremail@server

    Schema has mentioned java dumps may also be helpful. If you have jstack installed you can run one with jstack $PID >> threaddump.log on a Linux box. Be sure to runs this while the bug is occuring and send it to Andy.
    Yes this surely helps in case Starmade freezes for no reason and wont recover either.
    This helps the most on dedicated servers that seem to run (producing messages in log), but dont respond to any connection attempts, or got messed up in any other way. For example disconnected plexdoors (only one opening one block at a time), docking ALWAYS failing, AI madly firing at invisible targets. Those are indicators for lockups, and should be threaddumped to see what happened.

    Full stackdumps/heapdumps are normally too big to be transferred easily, they should only be created in cases you get messages about a server running out of memory (for no obvious reason).

    (Heapdump: jmap -heap:format=b <pid>)


    - Andy
     

    NeonSturm

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    Once I updated and It didn't changed from NeonSturm-mix to Default, but erased that custom directory in data.
    I did not get a missing-file error, but a null pointer error instead.

    If you are experienced, you can look into the first log-file after info.log/txt

    But it is somewhat annoying that nearly everything has to be a null pointer exception and that you can't copy&paste the error dialogue.
     
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    Please help!
    I keep crashing when I try to play
    Here's what happens:
    I can open the launcher,
    I can press Start
    I can press OK on the final launcher stage thing (lol)
    It will load then... close ;(
    Help?
    Driver is up to date,
    Java is up to date,
    Config on lowest... ?
    And this, ladies and gents, is how you don't do it.

    In case you're being serious, you should read the OP, and afterwards open your own thread. This thread is not the place for this.
     
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    Launcher throws connect timeout exception on error report submission.
    (V0.1421)
     

    AndyP

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    yelby

    read this

    Dencel
    create a separate thread and make sure you read this topic carefully, as this is not enough to work with, sorry.

    - Andy
     
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    Version: v0.1421; build 20140404_194643; LauncherVersion: 9
    I am playing completely unmodded, and have not accessed any servers at all.
    The bug just continuously states that the server is not responding for 5 seconds even though I am still able to fly around and salvage items. It lags however when I try to build and I have no clue why.

    I am running a Windows 8.1 OS with Intel Graphics family built-in. I have 8 gigs of RAM and I'm pretty sure I have enough processing power not to be normally getting this error.

    If more PC specs are needed, or a recording of the problem please let me know. I've been dying to play the new Starmade and just really want to enjoy myself without having to worry about these kinds of problems interfering.
     

    AndyP

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    GeneralEagleEye
    Please create a new folder with predictable game state and try to play for a while, (not more than 5-10 minutes)
    in case it does NOT happen again, you most likely created one of the few big performance killers, like having a few large ships in 'range' to each other and trigger thousands of collision detections or anything including gravity (large ships near planet)
    or any other bigger thing affecting your system.
    I can offer to look into it, please delete all files in /logs directory for this, start the game, go ingame, let the message show up a while (around 5-10 minutes) then quit the game.
    Zip the logs directory and send it to me via conversation. Will give a hint and/or idea why your game lags in case it is a common issue.

    - Andy
     
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    AndyP

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    First post updated.

    (Yes, this is a *bump*, and for this major change it is legitimate.)

    - Andy
     
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    First post updated.

    (Yes, this is a *bump*, and for this major change it is legitimate.)

    - Andy
    So with that tracker thing, do I have to resubmit the bug you were helping me with in PMs there?
     

    AndyP

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    Nope, everything already handled by conversation or thread here, will be continued.
    I'll create a new issue once it is clearly worked out why it happens or how. =)
    Or refer to the tracker to create a new issue regarding this.

    - Andy
     
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    Nope, everything already handled by conversation or thread here, will be continued.
    I'll create a new issue once it is clearly worked out why it happens or how. =)
    Or refer to the tracker to create a new issue regarding this.

    - Andy
    ok then.
     

    therimmer96

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    While I can respect that the bug tracker is efficient and gets the job done, I think it's really annoying that you have to use it every time you want to tell someone about a bug. I have tried to simply "pass on the word" to other testers about these bugs but all that happens is they get pissed off and tell me to "use the tracker".
    Well the tracker mind you is a pain in the butt for me; half the time I report bugs that are happening right before my very eyes, my report gets rejected as untrue (and I DO check for duplicate reports)! This is bullcrap.

    And I guarantee you that around 80% of people on Starmade who actually want to report a bug arent even able to because they dont want to spend a whole hour of their day just writing a report to a bug tracker.
    There are literally dozens of major bugs out there that people on different hardware and software setups are getting that they can't get fixed because the devs either delete their reports, tell them "you cant talk about bugs here" or they cant figure out how to use the tracker. And then don't even get me started on the troublesome issues regarding packaging log files in ZIPs just to get them on the tracker.

    I think its rather insulting and counter-productive that people are being told they can only report bugs through the bug tracker.

    There needs to be a much easier and more universal way of doing this that doesnt require people to bang their head on a desk in frustration. The old reporting tool built into the launcher worked just fine for that task.
     
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    AndyP

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    While I can respect that the bug tracker is efficient and gets the job done, I think it's really annoying that you have to use it every time you want to tell someone about a bug. I have tried to simply "pass on the word" to other testers about these bugs but all that happens is they get pissed off and tell me to "use the tracker"..
    You tried really hard to get all of us pissed off,
    but at least all bugs were processed,
    in case you sent them to a tester, or me directly.
    We always offered to write the bug-reports in case you do not want to.


    Well the tracker mind you is a pain in the butt for me; half the time I report bugs that are happening right before my very eyes, my report gets rejected as untrue (and I DO check for duplicate reports)! This is bullcrap.
    Please add a few examples for this.
    Yes there is no use for duplicate reports,
    nor bugs that you cannot reproduce or at least provide a log or screenshot to give us at least a chance to find it.

    I can gladly say:

    'Docking broken, please fix'

    Is no longer a valid report, without any hint what exactly fails.
    We do not have the amount of testers to process this as general request, and tell all:

    "Try out docking, something is broken, we do not know what exactly, but it has to be broken!"

    And a few questions about the whereabouts of that incident aren't a real problem.


    And I guarantee you that around 80% of people on Starmade who actually want to report a bug arent even able to because they dont want to spend a whole hour of their day just writing a report to a bug tracker.
    You are talking for 80% of the people?
    Wow. I do not want to comment this part.
    But there are enough people that showed up reporting issues,
    yes we cannot guarantee it gets processed in 24 hours, or fixed in a fixed amount of time.
    But we really try hard to process every report with respect and try to figure out what happened.
    Feel free to point out an example where this was not done. (Except duplicate reports, for obvious reasons we cant do anything about them, same was for multiple threads covering the same bug in the old forum, remember that mess? 12 threads about crashes at 100% and one solution)


    There are literally dozens of major bugs out there that people on different hardware and software setups are getting that they can't get fixed because the devs either delete their reports, tell them "you cant talk about bugs here" or they cant figure out how to use the tracker. And then don't even get me started on the troublesome issues regarding packaging log files in ZIPs just to get them on the tracker.
    Fact one:
    We currently have:
    14 New issues, (not validated),
    26 Needing feedback from a user, developer or other tester,
    26 Open (need ingame confirmation to happen like described),
    67 in Queue waiting to be fixed,
    4 that cannot be fixed right now,
    45 resolved ones, they got coded, but not confirmed to be fixed yet,
    141 closed that got coded, and confirmed to be fixed.
    Also we rejected 66 issues. (Most of them were duplicates, were intentional behavior, or just didn't show up)

    Fact two:
    We have only deleted issue 2 and 3, as they were testing issues.
    All others are still present in the system, searchable and open for further comments to reopen or adjust them if needed. (Even rejected ones!)

    Fact three:
    Yes, hardware specific ones, are hard to narrow down, but we successfully requested feedback on some of them, and got them fixed after a fairly long run. (For example: Preview orientation ghost)

    Fact four:
    A zip attachment with logs is unwanted for us, as every single person working with that issue, has to download the zip, unpack and search through the files.
    This is also described as part of the validation process in our 'testers-guide'.
    And having a log at the hand to see the exact error-message and being able to share this quickly is not bad too.
    (Its just few clicks while creating a report, you can even write the report while the upload is in progress.)

    I think its rather insulting and counter-productive that people are being told they can only report bugs through the bug tracker.

    There needs to be a much easier and more universal way of doing this that doesnt require people to bang their head on a desk in frustration. The old reporting tool built into the launcher worked just fine for that task.
    A small fact about the old tool you may not have known:

    It sent the report via mail to schema.

    There was a large inbox with hundreds of bugs per day.
    Books full of logs, blueprints and all the other cool stuff, and a description like:

    'Crashed'

    or on good days:

    'Happened while flying around'

    Or the client didn't have java installed, any badly outdated drivers and many thing that could have been fixed by reading the most basic tips.

    Push the large unfiltered pile of stuff to schema, make him read all the stuff and leave not a single minute per day to fix things, or implement new features, this is not an option!

    Do you really think this attempt to install a firewall is that bad?
    Freeing up time for the rather few developers is efficient in any way you judge it.

    We are currently forming a tester-team to process all the stuff faster, and reach a state where incoming reports do not get piled up, and rather get processed quickly.
    The tracker is now online for about 6 weeks, and we have nearly 400 issues registered, and only 5-10 volunteers helping. (since today a 6th tester, and another 10 people in trial to learn this)
    No one gets paid for this.
    We all do this to improve the game we like,
    to relieve schema from the messy pile of reports.
    As this is currently the only thing we can do to help and speed up the development.

    - Andy
     
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