PCL Win32 System Exception

[swschafer]

Greetings,

I have been using PI for several months now without any problems.  However, recently I started getting error messages (PCL Win32 Sytem Exceptions) whenever I try to close an image. 
The error messages go something like this:

PCL Win32 System Exception

At address 0000000061F8410F with exception code C0000005:
Access violation: invalid memory read operation at address FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

The machine is a 6 core AMD Phenom running Win7 64-bit.  RAM is maxed out at 16 GB.  Nothing has changed since I began using PI several months ago, except for the usual PI updates.  The error codes don't occur with other programs.  I uninstalled and reinstalled PI tonight, but the problem persists.

Does anybody have any ideas as to the problem or cure?  Has anybody else experienced these error codes?

Thanks,

Scott Schafer

[terry0905]

Scott,

Yes, a few up us have reported this occurring and in my case it happens on Win7 in both 32 and 64-bit flavours. I don't understand why more people aren't having this issue as it has occurred on 3 machines for me - or to be more specific, I don't own a PC on which it doesn't occur. It doesn't happen on a MacBook, but I guess that is no surprise given the error!

Cheers

Terry

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Scott and Terry,

As I said before, we are unable to reproduce this problem on our machines. If we cannot reproduce it, we cannot understand and fix it.

We need some working 'pattern', or a sequence of operations that lead to the problem more or less consistently. Many times a given problem or bug is tied to some particular type of image data, in which case we need a sample of those data.

If the problem always happens when trying to close images, then we already have something to start with. It could be something related to image windows, which indeed is weird. I'll make some intensive tests on Windows as soon as I can.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

[georg.viehoever]

I have been using PI for several months now without any problems.  However, recently I started getting error messages (PCL Win32 Sytem Exceptions) whenever I try to close an image. 
....

Did you change anything in the hardware of your machine? Add RAM, add new graphics card? Did you do a RAM test for your system? Enter "ram" into your Start menu, and let Windows do its RAM test.
Georg

[swschafer]

Hi Juan, Terry, Georg, and anybody else who might be interested,

Sorry for the delayed response.  I have been tied up with my job and finally got to troubleshoot tonight.  The problem has been resolved!  I first installed PixInsight on another computer with fairly similar hardware and identical operating system (Win7 x64) but with different applications and software. PixInsight worked perfectly on this computer.  Therefore, PixInsight was innocent and my original computer used for image processing was the problem.  I suspected a software conflict.  To find the culprit, I opened "processes" under Task Manager and began to shut down any possible programs that might cause a problem.  I would then reopen PI to see whether or not the problem was resolved.  The software program that was conflicting with PI is called Roboform (a great program which I love but now must delete because I love PI more!).  I deleted Roboform and now PI works perfectly!  As I like Roboform so much, I'm installing it on my other computer which is not used for image processing. Terry, you might try this method on your computer.  I first suspected my antivirus software, but shutting that down didn't solve the problem.  But I kept on looking and finally stumbled upon the conflicting software.

Hope this helps someone,

Scott

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Scott,

I am absolutely glad to read this. As you have said, I encourage all users currently experiencing these or similar problems to investigate other applications that may be causing conflicts. If you don't mind, I am going to make this thread sticky for future reference.

Thank you for help.

[terry0905]

Hi all,

Sorry for being a bit slow to reply but I've been a bit busy. However, I too use Roboform and never even thought that it could be the culprit, but closing it down certainly gets rid of the Win32 errors, so thanks for figuring out what it was.

Cheers

Terry

[Albert van Duin]

Hi,

The same happened to me. I get these errors when closing images in PI using 64bit Win7Ultimate with quad-core processor and 4GB of RAM. When I read the name Roboform in this thread, I immediately knew this program was the culprit!
Thanks for sharing this information!

However you do not need to delete Roboform, just switch it off when using Pixinsight.
Right click on the Roboform  icon in the tray with running programs (the little ^ icon in the lower right of the task bar) and choose "switch off". It will start up again after you restart your computer.

regards,

Albert van Duin
http://astropix.nl

[Jim_]

I've gotten the same error message and then the program closes.
I just now happened again.
Two images were opened at the same time...I was doing an dynamic alignment.
Went to execute and the error message popped up and the software closed.
I have got to remember to backup my images while working on them   

[Jim_]

Should add:
Win 7 Home Premium, 64 bit.
Asus machine w/Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz
16 gig ram

[georg.viehoever]

I've gotten the same error message and then the program closes.
...

Which version of PI? 1.8RC1 is kind of experimental...

[Jim_]

It is R1.8RC1.

Just letting the right people know about it.
Like I said...I have GOT to learn to save   

[astroedo]

I have the same problem but only opening A few (NOT ALL) Hubble Space Telescope fits files.

This is the log in the process console:

-------------------------------------------
Reading 1 image(s):
C:/Users/Edoardo/Desktop/HUBBLE/HLADATA-TRICROMIA/hst_06276_03_wfpc2_f555w_pc/hst_06276_03_wfpc2_f555w_pc_sci.fits
Image 2/2:
Reading FITS: 32-bit floating point, 1 channel(s), 850x850 pixels: done
Rescaling sample values to [0.00000000e+000,1.00000000e+000]: done
<* failed *>
*** PCL Win32 System Exception: At address 000000013F7AEAA8 with exception code C0000005 :
Access violation: invalid memory read operation at address 0000000000000000
-----------------------------------------
PI 1.8 RC3
ASUS LAPTOP
Windows 7 64 bit
4 GB RAM

I never tried before opening these files so i cannot say if it worked with PI 1.7

If can be interesting i can upload the FIT file that causes the problem.

Bye Edoardo

[johnc3457]

I get the same error when using PI 1.8.  PI 1.7 does not cause the error. The editing graphic box freezes and will not let you continue editing. This happens when you re-size the box by adjusting the corners or sides. The error happens ....then if you move the box you get a strobed box and your edit is lost. PI 1.7 on the same computer does not do this. System is Intel Dual Core Quad, 8 G ram, Graphics is ATI Radeon HD 4600 1Gig DDR3 memory. PI 1.8 will not load on my other desktop running Windows XP 64 bit OS, but PI 1.7 runs perfectly.

[johnc3457]

On my computer this problem was linked to a Trojan virus, Alureon rootkit 64bit, and its related offspring generated each time Win7 rebooted. This Trojan prevents Windows Update from loading security updates. If you try to download virus detection software it will hijack your browser and send you to a similar looking site that will not allow downloads. Additional toolbars are added to your browser and the automatic IP address suggestions send you back to the hijacked site. AVS, McAfee and other programs try to remove it but it replicates as soon as it is deleted. Windows Defender will work if you can download it, but the virus causes a reboot if you try to use a text address in your browser. Get the numerical IP address to get to the download site then download and run the program in Safe mode to remove. PI 1.8 now runs great. Hope this helps.