Installing PrimoCache Server crashes rainmeter

[Moonchild]

I just installed PrimoCache Server, and run into the immediate issue that it crashes Rainmeter on startup which I use for essential health monitoring.
Is this a known issue? Are there any workarounds?

OS: Server 2008 R2
PrimoCache v4.2.0 (Server edition)
Rainmeter 4.5.10 (also tried 4.5.8)

Rainmeter 3.3.3 seems to start without crashing but it's too old and doesn't work with the skins I use for it, displaying gibberish lua strings.

I had no problem using regular Primocache alongside Rainmeter on a Windows 10 workstation, nor running rainmeter alongside any other software.
I tried gathering crash information but attaching a JIT debugger didn't really help as it continued to show running while the appcrash window was up.

[Active Colors]

I just installed PrimoCache Server, and run into the immediate issue that it crashes Rainmeter on startup which I use for essential health monitoring.
Is this a known issue? Are there any workarounds?

OS: Server 2008 R2
PrimoCache v4.2.0 (Server edition)
Rainmeter 4.5.10 (also tried 4.5.8)

Rainmeter 3.3.3 seems to start without crashing but it's too old and doesn't work with the skins I use for it, displaying gibberish lua strings.

I had no problem using regular Primocache alongside Rainmeter on a Windows 10 workstation, nor running rainmeter alongside any other software.
I tried gathering crash information but attaching a JIT debugger didn't really help as it continued to show running while the appcrash window was up.

I have no experience with Primocache and would be hesitant installing such a software on my machine.
Meanwhile, can you check if your problem happens with no skins running at all?
1. Save your current Layout.
2. Unload ALL your skins.
3. Restart Rainmeter.
4. Restart your PC. Does it crash?

[Moonchild]

I have no experience with Primocache and would be hesitant installing such a software on my machine.

I've had no issues with it other than this problem -- i also have it on good authority (does one of the core developers of Windows count? I think it does.) that this is, in fact, good software. I'm not sure why you'd be hesitant to install it; it clearly does a good job at what it's designed for and has a pretty long track record.

Meanwhile, can you check if your problem happens with no skins running at all?
1. Save your current Layout.
2. Unload ALL your skins.
3. Restart Rainmeter.

OK, how would I do that if I can't do anything in the program because it's a crash-on-launch?

[Moonchild]

I figured it out.
Without any skins active it doesn't crash -- so i started a process of elimination.

I normally use the "gadgets" skin set and it seems the "Network Meter Pro" skin is what makes Rainmeter crash when PrimoCache is active. The other alternative ("Network Meter") works without an issue. Of course this was a bit of a pain to find out but... would this then be a problem with the particular skin? I'd of course think that an error in a skin shouldn't make the entire application crash, but I don't know the internals of Rainmeter or how skins actually work in it. Any idea what the root cause is?

For the time being I can use the less detailed version of network meter.

[Active Colors]

I figured it out.
Without any skins active it doesn't crash -- so i started a process of elimination.

I normally use the "gadgets" skin set and it seems the "Network Meter Pro" skin is what makes Rainmeter crash when PrimoCache is active. The other alternative ("Network Meter") works without an issue. Of course this was a bit of a pain to find out but... would this then be a problem with the particular skin? I'd of course think that an error in a skin shouldn't make the entire application crash, but I don't know the internals of Rainmeter or how skins actually work in it. Any idea what the root cause is?

For the time being I can use the less detailed version of network meter.

Bingo! That's what I thought. So, you are using these Gadgets by SilverAzide? https://forum.rainmeter.net/viewtopic.php?t=20699
I din't know any other skin or suit that would match your description.
Meanwhile I can only recommend to:
• update the skin/suit to the latest version.
• check its all instructions and dependencies which you can see in that link. particularly notice the note about Network Meter Pro "Note: Requires installation of a Windows service (included)".

[Moonchild]

Yeah that's the skin -- although I didn't download it from the forum here. I have absolutely no clue what version it is as it doesn't seem to mention that anywhere?
I'll try updating to the latest...

EDIT: Oh damn. Now the non-pro network meter crashes it... So.. updating effectively broke my setup completely.

[Active Colors]

Yeah that's the skin -- although I didn't download it from the forum here. I have absolutely no clue what version it is as it doesn't seem to mention that anywhere?
I'll try updating to the latest...

EDIT: Oh damn. Now the non-pro network meter crashes it... So.. updating effectively broke my setup completely.

All right, so it looks that we (actually you) have narrowed it down to some specifics and now we have something to work with.
Also, SilverAzide who is the author of these Gadgets is present on this forum. He might appear at some point and give more details.
While we don't know yet what exactly the problem is, we have these details which will help us to figure it out:

• • It is something related to the "Network Meter Pro".
  • And specifically, it is something that was NOT been present in the version of "Network Meter" which you were using but WAS added to the more recent version.

So, now we need to find out the version that you were using before updating:

1. Find the original version on your computer. You can search it with gadgets*.rmskin query.
2. And after you find the file you will notice that the name includes the version as well. I have several ones like this:

Capture.PNG

3. Post the version here. You can install it meanwhile to make sure if it does not crash for you.




If you somehow don't have the original .rmskin file you can find your original skin in @Backup folder. You will need to replace the new version with the one from the @Backup folder. How to do it:

1. Navigate to @Backup folder and copy the original Gadgets skin suit you had before:

• • Go to tray > click right mouse button on Rainmeter icon > "Skins "> "Open Folder".
  • In the opened folder you will see at the top the folder @Backup.
  • Inside of the @Backup folder you will see Gadgets that you had before. Copy the Gadgets folder.
  • I also suggest making for now another copy of this folder somewhere on your computer just in case.

2. Manually delete the new version:

• • Just go one folder up from the @Backup folder and you will be in the Skins directory with all your skins installed.
  • Find there Gadgets and delete it.
  • Paste the earlier copied Gadgets from the @Backup folder into the Skins folder

3. Then you need to re-index the installed skins to see the new Gadgets:

• • Go to tray > click right mouse button on Rainmeter icon > "Refresh All"

4. And now you can find out the version:

• • Load one of the skins from the Gadgets suit, for example the Network Meter.
  • Click right mouse button on this skin > "Manage Skin" > check the version field like here:

Capture.PNG

[Moonchild]

Thanks for the detailed information.

With your help I have restored the backup of the skin (it was installed "on the fly" so the .rmskin installer was never actually saved to a permanent location). I'm very happy that you make automatic backups in the program for these kinds of situations!
I was using version 4.1.1 (and am using that again now so I have network stats). Confirmed it's SilverAzide's as the name is mentioned in the manage skin window.

Version 7.2.0 also seems to have another issue in my particular setup as compared to 4.1.1 it doesn't display half my processor threads, but that's kind of off-topic here (although SilverAzide probably should be made aware of that, as well) so all in all that attempt was 2 steps back

[Active Colors]

Glad you were able to restore the original version!

While I was comparing the versions I have just realized that I forgot to ask you to do some other things and I need you to do them now while I am analyzing the files.

First of all, install the newest version again.
The the are two things we need to check:


1. Run Rainmeter with Admin privilege:
• Exit Rainmeter completely > find Rainmeter.exe or any link you are using to launch Rainmeter > click right mouse button > "Run as administrator"
• Does it crash?
○ if no - bingo!
○ if yes - follow step 2.


2. Run Rainmeter in Debug mode.
• Open "Manage" window in Rainmeter > go to "Settings" tab > put check marks next to "Debug mode" and "Log to file".
• Run Network Meter.
• Make Rainmeter crash
• Now Rainmeter will now record what is happening during the crash in the Rainmeter.log file.
• Find the log file:
○ if you are using standard installation the Rainmeter.log file is in C:\Users\%your_name%\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter\Rainmeter.log
○ if you are using portable installation then the Rainmeter.log file is in your portable Rainmeter folder.
• Attach the log file to your message.


3. Additionally, your computer version could be useful to know:
• Go to tray > find Rainmeter icon > click right mouse button on it > "About" > go to tab "Version" > click on the button "Copy to clipboard".
• Paste here what you have just copied.


4. Plus other hardware information could be helpful too:
if you are on Windows 10:
• open Settings > System > About > under the “Windows specifications” section, click the "Copy" button > paste the information here.
if you are on Windows 7:
• press Win+R > paste control /name Microsoft.System > screenshot this information:

Capture.PNG

[Moonchild]

1. Still crashes. No surprise as I'm using this as an administrator. For the purpose of this post I'm continuing on the system's Administrator account to rule out as much as possible.

2. Log attached. It doesn't seem to contain much information about the actual crash but you might be able to extract more information.
(34 network adapters? really? -- also, lots of log spew from all cpu meter probably the cause of the bad display)

3.

Code: Select all

Rainmeter 4.5.10.3597 (64-bit)
Language: English (1033)
Build time: 2022-02-01  7:17:04
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise 64-bit (build 7601) Service Pack 1 - English (1033)
Path: C:\Program Files\Rainmeter\
SkinPath: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins\
SettingsPath: C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter\
IniFile: C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter\Rainmeter.ini

4. I already posted some details in my original post but here is a more complete overview:
System: HP DL380 G6 server.
CPU: 2x Xeon L5640 (6c/12t each for a total of 24t - AllCPU meter 7.2.0 only sees 12; 4.1.1 sees all of them)
RAM: 60 GB DDR3 (triple channel)
Storage: 1 RAID array using hardware RAID. 1 backup drive in single drive mode.
System has 4 physical ethernet ports; I'm using only one, with a fixed LAN IP.
I normally run headless and use RDP to connect. I have one drive mapped through the RDP protocol to be able to easily exchange data.