Strangely Specific Problem Causing Module Editor to Freeze

I am having no issues starting Vassal, opening modules or even playing them. However, within the module editor, I am unable to load files from my computer because when the editor opens a window to search local directories it freezes shortly thereafter (for instance, when adding a new board or piece image). This happens when both creating a new module from scratch or editing a preexisting module and I end up having to kill it within the task manager every time. I am not sure how or why this began. I have edited and created modules on this machine before, although not within the last month-and-a-half. Nothing else on my computer appears to be in any way affected and it has only ever been Vassal that freezes up.

The active windows in the editor are rendered completely unresponsive when this happens, however the module manager window is usually unaffected.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled both Vassal and Java including trying older/previous versions. I have also gone so far as to delete the Vassal folder in the appdata/roaming directory and subsequently doing a clean install of both programs. The problem reoccurs like clockwork, and it seems like scrolling within the window is what triggers it.

I am attaching a text file of the error log which will hopefully shed some light on this strange issue.

My info:

  • Acer Inspire E 15
  • Windows 10
  • Intel Core i5-7200U 2.5 GHz
  • 8 GB
  • Nvidia GeForce 940MX
  • Vassal 3.2.17
  • Java Vers 8 Update 144
  • This is not a module-specific problem.

Thanks very much for any help you can provide!

UPDATE: Apparently this doesn’t merely affect the module editor. It seems whenever I try to load something from a local directory, Vassal freezes the window, even while in the module manager (Open Module command) or within a module (Load From File command).

Thus spake snake74:

UPDATE: Apparently this doesn’t merely affect the module editor. It
seems whenever I try to load something from a local directory, Vassal
freezes the window, even while in the module manager (Open Module
command) or within a module (Load From File command).

Does this happen before the file dialog closes?


J.

J.

The file dialog doesn’t close. It simply freezes after either switching one or two directories or scrolling for a second or two. Both it and the active Vassal window become completely unresponsive. Other windows are OK, including any other Vassal windows from which no load command was initiated.

The frozen windows have to be killed from within the task manager.

Thus spake snake74:

The file dialog doesn’t close. It simply freezes after either switching
one or two directories or scrolling for a second or two. Both it and
the active Vassal window become completely unresponsive. Other windows
are OK, including any other Vassal windows from which no load command
was initiated.

I suspected this would be the case. It’s most likely a bug in Java’s
file dialog. There’s not much we can do about it ourselves. You might
want to try a different version of Java.


J.

I am at a loss. I’ve downgraded all the way to Java 7 U151 and the problem still persists! Vassal had no problems with load or save dialogs on Windows 10 with Java 8 U131 as recently as June. Now no change in Java version seems to cause any positive effect at all.

This is extremely frustrating as I can no longer build modules or save games in progress on my current system.

SOLUTION!!! While wandering through some other message boards, I discovered that my problem was more common than I realized. I saw the exact same issue described in more than one place by more than one person. Apparently it stems from Windows 10 Creators Update causing errors in Java that don’t necessarily affect every system the same way.

In my case the freezing dialog problem was fixed by downloading an early-access build from jdk.java.net, namely JRE 8 U152 b05, a beta version which corrects this particular bug.

Everything is once again working just fine!!

Thus spake snake74:

SOLUTION!!! While wandering through some other message boards, I
discovered that my problem was more common than I realized. I saw the
exact same issue described in more than one place by more than one
person. Apparently it stems from Windows 10 Creators Update causing
errors in Java that don’t necessarily affect every system the same way.

In my case the freezing dialog problem was fixed by downloading an
early-access build from jdk.java.net, namely JRE 8 U152 b05, a beta
version which corrects this particular bug.

Everything is once again working just fine!!

Can you point us to some of the things you read? I’d like to get a sense
of the cause of the problem—more than just knowing that it’s something
to do with a bug in the file dialog.


J.

The most important thing to see, I think, came from this site for JOSM (Java OpenStreetMap Editor) which seems to have had a problem very similar to my recent experience with Vassal:

josm.openstreetmap.de/ticket/14821

It refers to the file chooser crashing on a system with Win 10 Creators Update. The suggestion to use JRE 8 U152 also refers to the specific bug which is discussed here: bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8180379. The bug is fixed in U152.

I’ve never been a big one for using beta versions of anything, but since I don’t use a browser which employs a Java plugin, any security concerns in this build are probably negligible. It certainly has gotten Vassal back up and running 100%.