SpeedCrunch.exe is not a valid Win32 application (0.11 RC3)

[Former user]

Originally reported on Google Code with ID 463

Hi,

I installed SpeedCrunch RC3 for Windows without problem, but when I launch it, Windows
show me an error message stating that "SpeedCrunch.exe is not a valid Win32 application"
(this is a translation, the original message is in my locale). I checked the SHA1 sum,
and the download was not corrupted. I even unpacked the executable using upx, but the
problem still exists.

My computer runs on Windows XP x86 (up to date), and the 0.11 alpha version works.
I tried to reply in the appropriate thread (https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/speedcrunch/WHYxowPZNwI),
but Google did not allow me to do so :/

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-02 22:20:42

[Former user]

After some digging, I believe the issue is related to the fact that the RC3 version
has been built for a Windows version higher than XP (because the application icon is
in PNG format, which is only supported since Windows Vista).

Is it a deliberate choice ? If so, please let me note that XP is still used on 30%
of desktop computers, and excluding them from the next SpeedCrunch releases sounds
a bit odd to me. If not, please rebuilt the RC3 version for Windows XP and above.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-02 22:26:23

[Former user]

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-01-03 01:38:19

[Former user]

Hi. thanks for catching this. We intend to support XP, and will fix this issue before
release. This was simply the first time where I built SpeedCrunch on Win8 rather than
on XP and violà, it immediately breaks... The icon is indeed a good place to start
investigating.

Reported by alessandro.portale on 2014-01-03 06:34:18 - Status changed: Accepted

[Former user]

Mystery solved. Until recently, I used Visual C++ 2010 for building SpeedCrunch. This
time I used 2012 and it turns out that Visual C++ 2012 does not create XP-compatible
builds out-of-the box!

See http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2012/10/08/10357555.aspx for details.

I'll simply switch back to 2010.

Reported by alessandro.portale on 2014-01-03 15:28:06

[Former user]

Thanks for having looked into it. From the link you gave, it seems to be possible to
target Windows XP with VS2012, so maybe you don't need to switch back to VS2010.

In order to check if the resulting executable will work on XP, you can use the Dumpbin
tool which comes with VS, and check that the "subsystem version" header is set to 4.0
(or 5.1, but not 6.0) using the following command line:
  Dumpbin /headers SpeedCrunch.exe

Of course, I'm also available to confirm that the next build works on XP experimentally
if needed.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-03 17:14:06

[Former user]

Since I had 2010 installed, rebuilding Qt seemed quicker than trying to tweak the 2012
installation as suggested in the article. Since I am building exclusively in the command
line (via nmake/jom), I would need to first find out how to change the subsystem version
there.

Anyways, can you re-test with the attached SpeedCrunch?

Reported by alessandro.portale on 2014-01-03 23:39:12

<hr> * Attachment: SpeedCrunch-0.11.exe

[Former user]

...Just noticed that Dumpbin reports Subsystem version 5.01. Sigh.

Reported by alessandro.portale on 2014-01-03 23:43:35

[Former user]

...although 5.1 (which most likely is meant by 5.01) seems to be XP.

Reported by alessandro.portale on 2014-01-03 23:45:42

[Former user]

The attached executable works for me on XP ! Thanks :)

There's probably no need to support subsystem version bellow 5.1, as 5.0 is Windows
2000, and 4.0 is Windows NT 4.0. None of them are widely used: http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-03 23:52:24

[Former user]

There's still a little glitch with the application icon: it doesn't show in the start
menu nor on the desktop nor in the explorer (the default application icon is shown
instead, see the screenshot). It is shown correctly when the application run though,
in the task bar and on the application window.

I checked the resources that the exe contains (with FileAlyzer), and the icon is sill
in PNG format, so Windows XP cannot use it. I guess you need to convert it to the ICO
format, and add it to the resources, maybe without removing the PNG icon so that it
looks better in Vista+.

But anyway, this does not block the application in any way, so it's not really important
:)

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-05 02:08:07

<hr> * Attachment: SpeedCrunch_iconbug.png<br>

[Former user]

(BTW, is the forum locked or something like that ? Because I still can not join it or
reply in the RC3 thread).

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-05 02:11:49

[Former user]

It's the first time I hear about issues joining the forum. I'll investigate.

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-01-05 03:05:23

[Former user]

Thanks.
The exact issue is that when try to join the forum, I get an error message saying "You
do not have permission to join this forum." (see screenshot). And the "Reply" buttons
in the threads disappear as soon as I log in.
I've never used Google groups/forums in the past, so I don't know if this is a problem
with my account or with the forum.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-05 03:58:03

<hr> * Attachment: SpeedCrunch_forumissue.png<br>

[Former user]

Can you retry with this version?
The icon had indeed PNG compression which may not be supported on WinXP. This attached
package has an applicatino icon without compression.

Reported by alessandro.portale on 2014-01-19 23:56:45

<hr> * Attachment: SpeedCrunch-0.11.exe

[Former user]

With the new version, the icon shows up everywhere on XP now. Bug fixed :)

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-21 21:01:02

[Former user]

Great to know, thanks! Since you're on XP, could you let me know what is the latest
available version of Internet Explorer on that platform? I'm finishing the new website
and don't have a means to test on IE versions prior to 10.

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-01-21 22:46:29 - Status changed: Fixed - Labels added: Type-Defect, OpSys-Windows, Milestone-0.11

[Former user]

IE8 is the highest version of IE which can run on Windows XP. I can compare the output
of the new website between IE8 and Chrome/Firefox if you need it.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-01-22 12:35:02

[Former user]

It is impossible to rewrite the website just for IE8. Also, there's http://windows.microsoft.com/eos
so I won't bother at all :)

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-01-29 09:02:32

[Former user]

Hi Tey, I've just fixed the forum. You should now be able to ask for joining. Let me
know otherwise.

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-01-30 07:37:18

[Former user]

Thanks, I've been able to join the forum.

As for IE8, maybe you could show a message to users of old IE versions, because the
new website version definitely doesn't work with IE8 (and there're still many people
stuck on XP). For instance, there is a ready to use (and customizable) script at http://www.browser-update.org/
which does that pretty well.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-02-02 03:45:26

[Former user]

@Tey: Thanks for the tip on browser-update. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get it to
work. But I rolled my own simplified thing and it seems to work great when it comes
to IE version detection and user notification. Are you able to tell me what is the
lowest version of IE that is able to properly display the new website? Also, I know
that IE11 is available for Windows 7, but what about Vista? Thanks

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-02-24 00:50:15

[Former user]

Thanks for the warning message, but maybe you could add a suggestion so that the users
of old IE versions switch to an alternative browser (Firefox, Chrome, Opera, etc.).

Anyway, I found a way to make the website work for IE8 (and above) users:
1/ Move the copyrights line after the DOCTYPE line. If the document does not start
with the DOCTYPE line, IE8/9 believes it is broken, and renders it in quirk mode. The
HTML validator pointed that out (http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=speedcrunch.org).
2/ Add a static background color to the CSS before the gradient one, so that browsers
that do not support gradients still show a background (the gradient color will erase
the background color in browsers that support gradient).
I attached a patch which do both. The result on IE8/9 is not as pretty as you designed
it, but at least, it is functional.

As for the minimum version of IE:
* The highest IE version for XP is IE8, and the website does not work properly without
the 2 modifications above. Gradient colors, rounded borders and background animations
are not supported.
* The highest IE version for Vista is IE9, and the website does not work properly without
the 2 modifications above. Gradient colors and background animations are not supported.
* The highest IE version for Win7/8 is IE11, and the website works properly without
the 2 modifications above. All the features seem to be supported.

I cannot test with IE10, as I do not own a computer with it.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-02-24 18:48:21

<hr> * Attachment: ie8.patch

[Former user]

I attached some screenshots so that you can see how the website renders on IE8/9 with
and without the modifications.

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-02-24 19:09:09

<hr> * Attachment: ie9_nochanges.png<br> * Attachment: ie8.png<br> * Attachment: ie9.png<br>

[Former user]

Amazing work, Tey, can't thank you enough. Please confirm it's working on your side
now. BTW, you can create pull requests for the website: https://github.com/speedcrunch/www

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2014-02-24 21:13:28

[Former user]

Thanks, the website now works properly on both IE8 and IE9. I'll use the github repository
if there's more issues to discuss about the website (but there's none so far).

Reported by [e-mail] on 2014-02-25 17:57:00