Archive Problem

[pngcan]

Hi Friends
Well my adventure game GQ2 is finally done - reworked, refined, rewritten, corrected and I am ready to upload it to Aminet. But before I do I wanted to test it one more time. So I unpacked the archive I made with Packmaster and it won't load. "File Missing" message. The game is big for an Amiga - about 17mb, it packed (LHA) to a little over 9mb
The loader file (iconx) only has 2 commands, they are
assign GQ2: ""
gq2.grac2 gracplayer2
The 1st is the assign of course so you can play it from wherever you unpacked it to, and the 2nd is the game executable (gq2.grac2) calling the GRAC2 file to execute it (gracplayer2) So it has to be either of those 2 files, but they are both there. if it was an assign issue the GRAC2 error "SCREEN NOT OPEN" would appear, so it looks like it is not finding the gq2.grac2 file.
But it is there. I even copied the original gq2.grac2 file and the original gracplayer2 files from the original folder to the unpacked folder and it still won't load "File Missing" I just don't get it. Archiving/unarchiving shouldn't change anything right? I even checked/matched the unpacked folder to the originl folder in DOpus and everything is there, sizes correct etc.
I was hopeful I could finally upload the final complete game but it seems I can't archive it.
Is it possible that archiving such a large folder of files causes corruption?
One thing I am noticing is I cannot select the Information in the menu to look at the 2 files. even though it is a hidden file you should still see its Information. I can't in the unpacked version for either file. Any Ideas friends? Thanks in advance.

[daxb]

Use LHA form command line and LZX or ZIP to check if something goes wrong while (de-) packing. Or do a byte to byte compare from your original and the de-packed data. You can also check the maxtransfer problem but it seems unlikely.

[pngcan]

Originally Posted by daxb

Use LHA form command line and LZX or ZIP to check if something goes wrong while (de-) packing. Or do a byte to byte compare from your original and the de-packed data. You can also check the maxtransfer problem but it seems unlikely.

Yes, of course, good advise Daxb. Thank you. I'll do an update after

[pngcan]

Okay, so following daxb's advise it soon became apparent that the archive was fine, no problem with the packed file. The problem was in the unpacked file not all files (and there are 396 of them in the game) completely unpacked. How could that be? Well I discovered it was in the programs I used. I packed the game using Packmaster. Then the next day unpacked it with the unarc program that comes with OS3.9. Even though I am using OS3.2.1, I left the amidock with its programs on the workbench because I have my go to programs on the doc. When I pack and unpack using Packmaster - no problem everything works as it should. When I pack with Packmaster and then unpack with unarc, I get the "File Missing" message every time. (I tried it 3 times to make sure) Go Figure. What puzzles me is Packmaster & Unarc are just front end Gui's to make it easier to use. The real work is done by the same program LHA in each GUI. So I can't understand why LHA works differently in the 2 programs. Oh Well, at least it is working. Off to upload the game to Aminet.

[thomas]

Did you install Boingbag 1 for OS 3.9? Without it UnArc cannot handle file names with space characters properly.

[indigolemon]

Swap UnArc for Avalanche: http://aminet.net/package/util/arc/avalanche

[thomas]

This wouldn't help because the error is not in UnArc itstelf but in XAD which is used by Avalanche, too.

[pngcan]

Originally Posted by thomas

Did you install Boingbag 1 for OS 3.9? Without it UnArc cannot handle file names with space characters properly.

You know Thomas, I'm not sure if I did. I can't remember doing it, I went from a 4gb to 16gb CFHD last year and reloaded everything including the 3.9OS, then I installed the 3.2.1 roms and OS a couple of months after. That may very well be it. Thank you Thomas, I will load it tonight just in case and try it again with UnArc to see.

[thomas]

Originally Posted by pngcan

I will load it tonight just in case and try it again with UnArc to see.

That's not a good idea. You have to install them in chronological order, first 3.9, then the Boingbags and 3.2 last. By installing a 3.9 Boingbag over 3.2 you will downgrade many components, probably making your system unusable. Or at least you will have a mixture of versions which will give unpredictable results at best.

[pngcan]

Yes , I thought the same thing after I posted Thomas. I installed 3.2 over 3.9 so I don't want to mess that up, it has been very stable other than a couple of issues with add ons like Magic Menu which I have since corrected. I have decided to remove UnArc from my doc and placed Packmaster in its place. I am using Sven Ottemans most recent 2011 '020+ LHA so all is well now. Thanks again for your expertise, it has always been helpful as I make my way back to the Amiga after all these years.

[malko]

Did you try with the official LHA ?
Do you have the same problem?

[indigolemon]

Originally Posted by thomas

This wouldn't help because the error is not in UnArc itstelf but in XAD which is used by Avalanche, too.

Ah! That makes sense. Do you know if it would it be enough to update the xadmaster library itself then?