The EIK is Dead!

[Phoenixx]

The 'EIK' is dead, but the 'VIP' is born,...the EasyInstallKit is herewith officially renamed to 'Visual Install Pack'!
And its not only a namechange, there are also some serious changes under the hood, mostly to make it smaller in size and of course to fix remaining bugs.


ChangeLog EIK 4.0 to VIP 1.0:
--------------------------------------
Name changed to Visual Install Pack (short: VIP).
VPLauncher removed.
NVRAMs removed except a few GTB ones.
Font 'mssong' removed, that sucker was 2.5MB alone!
Descriptions updated.
Disclaimer updated.
EULAs of VP and VPM (MAME) merged into one file to be shown (and accepted) at the beginning of the installation.
PreInstall-ReadMe added to describe the installing process for absolute beginners.
VIP now also creates a shortcut to PinballNirvana in the startmenu and on the desktop.
Installer now comes in a RAR archive to lower download size.
It is on my other server now so the URL has changed as well.


Bugs fixed:
User data could not be accessed.
Install path could not be changed in some cases.

ToDo:
Fix the problem where doubleclicking .vpt files does not result in the table to start nor to load into the editor although .vpt files are registered with VP.
(The solution is already known to me,...it will be correct in the next version.)


IMO there are no bugs left this time,...i tested it thoroughly several times and it worked abolutely perfect each single time.
If you notice anything that i didnt see please let me know a.s.a.p. so i can fix it.


Regards,
Phoenixx

P.S.,...
The description here at PN is to be updated within the next few days as well.

 

[Phoenixx]

To the maintainers of this site:

Please remove the defective EIK 4.0 from this site a.s.a.p. and replace it with the new and working VIP 1.0 to prevent more users from having a non-working install.
It seems like the one hosted here at PN is even still the one where the path still defaults to D: (a user at VPF told me this yesterday after downloading it from here) and this version is even older than the 4.0 which has been released shortly after tiltjlp told me about the paths thing.

In case i can do this myself anyhow just let me know how and i will gladly do it and take care of it myself alltogether from now on so that the downloadsection here will always offer the latest version to the users.

Thank You.

 

[PacDude]

Yeah, upload it to the essential files area for starters so it can be validated.

 

[Phoenixx]

I would, but how?

I never uploaded anything here myself and i have no clue where to go and what to do,...

 

[Phoenixx]

O.K., i think i found it,...

Its not exactly obvious where to go for uploading files but i think i ended up at the right place anyway somehow,...

Its currently uploading,...if i did anything right it should be up in a few minutes,...

 

[Phoenixx]

Seems like i spoke too soon,...

I tried it 4 times now and always ended up with a 404 after half of the file has been upped,...there is just no coming through,...

Probably a filesize thing again,...maybe someone can grant me some kind of 'master-access' to that area so that im not under any restrictions anymore,...
Currently i am also not able to upload .exe files because of these restrictions, which would become a problem as well if the VIP should become an .exe again at some point in the future,...good thing that it is a RAR at the moment,...


In case i already have some kind of master-access due to my moderator status please let me know how to make use of it and i will handle future VIP uploads myself whenever a new version will be released,...

Thanks,...

 

[tiltjlp]

Phoenixx, I have removed your EIK4. If you send me your new VIP kit to me at [email protected], I will add it to the site.

As for any other files uploaded recently, they have been lost for reasons unknown to me. Since Jon is still working on the site after the site was lost, a few things might be going haywire. Jon is planning to update the forum software also. which we hope goes smoothly. As of now, the following is how members should add files to the site.

Click on Downloads

Click on Add Download

You will be taken to another page with a form to fill out as prompted.

Fill in the name of the program you are uploading.

On the File Link line, browse for and locate the file you want to upload.

Next, choose the category for your file. Note that Future Pinball, Visual Pinball, and Visual PinMAME are Headings and not actual categories. All categories are under those 3 headings.

Next fill in a description of the table or file you are uploading.

Then fill in the authors name, e-mail if you want, version # of the file you are uploading, and link to your homepage if wanted.

Clink on Add This File and wait as file uploads.

Important note:

If you are uploading a table, you will also need to upload a 2nd zip file. This should contain 2 screen shots of the table you are uploading, in jpg format. One should be 640x480 and the other 150x113, or as close as possible to those sizes. These are used as the thumbnail and larger SS shown with your file for downloading. These are currently uploaded manually by Admin. Hopefully before long SS will be able to be attached to uploads.

It would be appreaciated if table files are no longer attached to forum posts, and are only uploaded as explained above. It might be a good idea to keep your fingers crossed while uploading files, right now it seems we could use all the help we can get. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.

John

 

[JonPurpleHaze]

Thanks for the update Phoenixx!

I've added the VP Install Kit to the downloads, I have the program set to disallow .exe files so that was probably the problem. Please let us know when it is updated and/or upload the new version and let us know about description changes.

Thanks for working on this John!

Jon

 

[Phoenixx]

Thanks John,

But instead of sending it, couldnt you simply download it from my sig and put it up here?
For you it makes no difference whether you download it from my sig or via your mail application after i sent it, but for me it would mean i dont need to upload it one more time,...

And thanks for the explanation,...seems like i have been to the right place but the file is probably just too large to be successfully uploaded via that form,...
Like i said, if you want me to take care of the updates myself in the future just remove the restrictions for me as necessairy and tell me how i have to do it,...i wont mess around with anything else here if its none of my biz,...

Thanks.

 

[Phoenixx]

Oh,...Jon,...you replied while i was typing,...

So you say you have an .exe now?
That cant be the right one then, because the VIP 1.0 is a RAR file,...

Or was that just a typo?

 

[JonPurpleHaze]

Oh,...Jon,...you replied while i was typing,...

So you say you have an .exe now?
That cant be the right one then, because the VIP 1.0 is a RAR file,...

Or was that just a typo?

I used the upload function and uploaded the rar file from your sig, the original EIK would not upload (via the web) due to it being an .exe file. There is no problem with the filesize.

Jon

 

[Phoenixx]

Ah,...O.K.,...i understand,...:)

But one thing; id like to change the short description there to tell people what it is rather than what has changed,...can i do this somehow?

If i cant, and someone can do this for me, this would be my text:

Automatic Installer for a complete VisualPinball & VisualPinMAME setup.
Very easy to use, installs in seconds with just a few mouseclicks.
Contains all misc. files needed (like VBS, Fonts, Samples, etc.) and installs them into the right directories automatically.
Only Tables and ROMs are needed additionally.

Thank You.

 

[tiltjlp]

Seems like everything has been worked out by Jon. As for me downloading from your link, for some reason I don't see your link correctly, so I can't DL from it. I also don't see avatars here, or attachments at the FP forums. I have no idea why that is, but I'm not going to do a reformat and reinstall since everything else seems to function properly.

I'll change the text for you Phoenixx.

John

 

[Phoenixx]

John, i guess its probably just a misconfiguration in your browser if you cant see some graphics,...
No need to reformat/reinstall because of this, all that you have to do is to check/alter these settings,...

You can try the following:
In the tab-row in your browser click Extras/Internetoptions and in the new window click the 'Enhanced' tab.
(I think its called 'Enhanced' in US windows,...in any case its that tab where a lot of browsing options are in a long list with a lot of checkboxes, etc.,...)
Now try clicking the RESTORE button (or whatever it is labeled in english) at the bottom right, then close the browser, reboot, and see if its better now that way,...

If not check through these settings manually and look if you see any obvious option(s) there which might be responsible for the behavior that you describe,...
I would tell you which, but i cant, because its all labeled differently here in my german version, so i had to guess all the lables and that isnt really helpful either, IMO,...

Alternatively ask someone else who is familiar with the US version of windows,...there is a fix for almost everything (and for this in any case) so you certainly dont have to live with something if it annoys you,...you just have to take some action,...:)

(Too bad that you dont live just around the corner,...i bet i had it working in 3 minutes if i was able to have a look myself,...)


And thanks for changing the text,..:)

 

[PacDude]

Why would it make no difference to us if we had to get it from you signature? I don't know of any way to directly transfer a file from your signature to Pinball Nirvana. I'd have to download it first and then re-upload it to Pinball Nirvana so that would mean I have to do the upload. I'd like to see people be able to upload their own tables and related files so we don't have to do all that extra work. Maybe Shiva could shed some light on how he had Shivasite allow users to directly upload photos with their tables. Apparently, that is not a default function of these forums (hence the zip request with the screenshots).

 

[tiltjlp]

Keep in mind that shiva allowed tables as attachments. As soon as Jon upgrades the forum software, he should be able to hack the uploader module so that SS can be uploaded with the file.

Right now, I validate the majority of uploads, at least when everything is working as it should, and I've done it enough it's not that big a deal for me. The second zip with the SS is simply a way of saving me the trouble of downloading the table and making the SS myself.

John

 

[PacDude]

So now the file areas are in place, authors can start uploading their tables here in the alphabetical sections and John will validate them.

 

[tiltjlp]

John, i guess its probably just a misconfiguration in your browser if you cant see some graphics,...
No need to reformat/reinstall because of this, all that you have to do is to check/alter these settings,...

You can try the following:
In the tab-row in your browser click Extras/Internetoptions and in the new window click the 'Enhanced' tab.
(I think its called 'Enhanced' in US windows,...in any case its that tab where a lot of browsing options are in a long list with a lot of checkboxes, etc.,...)
Now try clicking the RESTORE button (or whatever it is labeled in english) at the bottom right, then close the browser, reboot, and see if its better now that way,...

If not check through these settings manually and look if you see any obvious option(s) there which might be responsible for the behavior that you describe,...
I would tell you which, but i cant, because its all labeled differently here in my german version, so i had to guess all the lables and that isnt really helpful either, IMO,...

Alternatively ask someone else who is familiar with the US version of windows,...there is a fix for almost everything (and for this in any case) so you certainly dont have to live with something if it annoys you,...you just have to take some action,...:)

(Too bad that you dont live just around the corner,...i bet i had it working in 3 minutes if i was able to have a look myself,...)


And thanks for changing the text,..:)

There's an apartment open in my building Yogi, if you want to move to southeastern Ohio. Part of my problem is that I use Opera as my browser, and so far I haven't found the right settings probably. I keep trying every so often but so far no luck.

John