User:Wumbo/Troubleshooting

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Q: I get an error that a component couldn't be downloaded while installing Flashpoint! How do I fix this?

A: Wait a couple minutes and then retry the download. If the error reappears, it is possible that the component server is either overloaded or down for maintenance; in that case, you can download a zipped copy of Flashpoint from the download page.


Q: When I try to update Flashpoint, I see one of the following error messages:

  • "The component list could not be downloaded! Verify that your internet connection is working."
  • "Metadata update requires a newer Launcher version, but the software update is not currently available."

A: Flashpoint Manager sometimes has trouble connecting to the internet because it uses an outdated library. If the rest of Flashpoint is working fine, you can update Flashpoint's components using the command line tool fpm instead. Follow these steps:

  1. Close Flashpoint if it is open.
  2. Open File Explorer and navigate to the Manager folder within your Flashpoint folder.
  3. Type cmd into File Explorer's path bar, replacing the existing text. Then press Enter.
  4. In the Command Prompt window that opens, type fpm update and press Enter.
  5. Type y and press Enter to confirm that you want to update. Wait for the update to complete before reopening Flashpoint.


Q: Why doesn't my old version of Flashpoint Infinity work anymore? I can't download games or logos/screenshots.

A: Due to SSL certificate issues outside of our control, old versions of Flashpoint Infinity (10.0 and below) do not work anymore. You will need to update to the latest version of Flashpoint.


Q: I'm using Flashpoint Infinity, launching games always shows a blank white screen, and no logos and screenshots are loading! How do I fix this?

A: Follow each of these steps and check to see if Flashpoint works properly after each one. If it still shows a white screen, try the next step.

  1. Follow the antivirus interference steps to prevent an antivirus such as Avast or AVG from interfering with Flashpoint.
  2. If Flashpoint still doesn't work, your router probably has internet filtering software installed that is blocking our Infinity server. A common one is McAfee Secure Home Platform; here is how to disable it.
  3. If Flashpoint still doesn't work, you might be experiencing a different problem. Refer to the other troubleshooting entries on this page.

Programs like VRCX may use the same default port that Flashpoint does. In this situation, make sure the other program is closed so that the port is available for Flashpoint to use.


Q: After I updated to the latest Flashpoint Ultimate using the updater, no games are working! Is there a fix?

A: Follow the steps below to fix the problem:

  1. Download this file.
  2. Replace the existing file in Flashpoint's Server folder with the file that you downloaded.


Q: When I double-click Flashpoint.exe, nothing happens! What can I do?

A: When you open Flashpoint Launcher, a bug may occur that prevents it from showing the window. If this happens, open Windows Task Manager, click the Details tab, and look for any process named Flashpoint.exe. Then click "End Process", and double-click Flashpoint.exe again to see if it starts normally.

If the issue persists, or if the Launcher doesn't open after the first time you started it, close all Flashpoint processes again, then look for a 0 KB preferences.json file in the same location as the Start Flashpoint shortcut. If it is 0 KB, delete the file. Once done, launch Flashpoint using the Start Flashpoint shortcut. This will remake the file based on .preferences.defaults.json, and it should now open normally. Note: If you previously changed some settings on the Config tab, you will have to set them again.

The problem can also be caused by a port conflict between Flashpoint and another application. Restarting your computer is the easiest way to fix the problem. Or if you have a program that uses Hyper-V (such as Windows Subsystem for Linux/Android), you can try adding port 12001 to the excluded port range by following these instructions. If you haven't heard of Hyper-V before, this solution probably doesn't apply to you.


Q: When I launch Flashpoint, I get an error saying that ffmpeg.dll was not found! How do I fix this?

A: If you have the Avira antivirus installed, add an exception to your Flashpoint folder.

To restore the missing ffmpeg.dll file, follow these steps:

  1. Open Flashpoint Manager by navigating to the Manager folder in the Flashpoint directory and launching FlashpointManager.exe.
  2. Go to the Update Components tab and click the "Install updates" button if there are any pending updates. If the launcher was one of the pending updates, you do not need to follow the remaining steps.
  3. Go to the Settings tab and click the "Check for missing files" button. The manager will then scan for missing files and display any components that need redownloading; the launcher should be one of them.
  4. Click the "Redownload components" button to redownload the launcher component, and with it the missing ffmpeg.dll file.


Q: I extracted Flashpoint into my Downloads folder, but now I can't find it! Where is my Flashpoint folder?

A: If your Downloads folder is grouped by date, you'll need to scroll down to the "Earlier this year" or "A long time ago" section to find your Flashpoint folder. This is because Flashpoint's files were packed into the installer "a long time ago", so they appear on your computer as being from that date, even though the installer file itself was downloaded to your computer recently.


Q: I accidentally deleted a game/animation from Flashpoint! How can I reset it?

A: Follow the steps below:

  1. Delete the flashpoint.sqlite file from the Data folder. Warning: this will erase all saved play time.
  2. Open preferences.json, at the bottom, replace the value in latestUpdateTime with "1970-01-01", save the changes.
  3. Open Flashpoint and Update metadata, downloading a completely fresh database.


Q: Why can't I see the games' logos/screenshots?

A: Switch to the Grid viewing mode using the drop-down menu at the bottom-right corner of the launcher window. Flashpoint Infinity does not display them by default for perfomance reasons.


Q: Why won't my Ultimate torrent work?

A: You will need a torrent client such as qBittorrent to open the .torrent file. The .torrent file tells your torrent client how to download Flashpoint Ultimate.

Do not use the torrent from Archive.org! Because of the size of Flashpoint Ultimate, Archive.org will not seed its torrent. Instead, use the torrent link on FlashpointArchive.org.


Q: I'm curating in Flashpoint, and launching my curations shows a blank white screen. What do I do?

A: This issue may be caused by your file system not supporting symlinks, which are enabled by default in Flashpoint. To fix this, switch off the "Symlink Curation Content Folder" option on the Curate or Config tab. This issue may arise if you're using Flashpoint on an external device such as a USB or portable hard drive. Keep in mind turning off symlink will disallow you from using the MAD4FP curation tool.


Q: I filled out tags for my curation, but after I exported it, I noticed that the tags are missing! Why did this happen?

A: To add a tag to your curation, first type it into the Tags box, then select it by either clicking it, or pressing the Tab key and hitting Enter when the tag is highlighted. If you type a tag without selecting it, it will not be added to your curation!


Q: Most games are working, but when I try to open a specific game, I get an error like one of these:

  • "The file __ is not a Director file."
  • "Error launching Unity Player: bad file length"
  • "Failed to initialize player's 3D settings"
  • A stuck loading bar
  • Partially loaded images, missing elements on a page or in a game, or other problems indicating file corruption

A: If you are using Flashpoint Infinity, it's very likely that Flashpoint Router failed to download a complete file. To solve the problem, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the game that you are trying to play, then click "Open Game in Explorer" ("Open File Location" in Flashpoint 11.1 and older).
  2. This will open a folder; delete all of the files there.
  3. Clear the cache by following these steps.
  4. Try launching the game again.

If the problem persists, try updating Flashpoint Router. If that doesn't help, refer to the other troubleshooting entries on this page.


Q: How do I update Flashpoint Router?

A: Follow these steps:

  1. Download this file: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FlashpointProject/Flashpoint-Router/master/router.php
  2. Place the downloaded file in the Legacy folder of your Flashpoint folder, overwriting the original router.php file.


Q: I am playing a 3DVIA Player webgame and the audio is loud and distorted, how do I fix it?

A: Your computer has an issue with MP3 playback caused by the LAV Audio codec. Follow the steps below to fix the problem:

  1. Find LAV Audio in the Start Menu and open it. This will open the LAV Audio Configuration window.
  2. In the LAV Audio Configuration window, under Output Formats, uncheck 24-bit Integer, 32-bit Integer, and 32-bit Floating point.
  3. Click OK to save the settings and close the LAV Audio Configuration window.

If you don't see a LAV Audio shortcut in your Start Menu, you may need to re-run the LAV Filters installer.


Q: Games are not working, and an error like this one appears constantly in the Launcher's logs: 

Server exited with code 3221225781

A: First, make sure that you have installed all of the latest Windows Updates. Next, install the Microsoft .NET Framework and the Visual C++ 2015 x86 Redistributable. When you install the Visual C++ Redistributable, make sure to install the x86 version, even if you're on a 64-bit machine!


Q: When I open Flashpoint all I get is a black/grey screen. What should I do?

A: If your computer has an older graphics card, it may not support the launcher's hardware acceleration. To get around this, disable hardware acceleration by following these steps:

  1. In your main Flashpoint folder, select the Start Flashpoint shortcut by clicking it once.
  2. Press Alt + Enter to bring up its properties window.
  3. In the Target field, add a space at the very end of the field followed by --disable-gpu.
  4. Click OK
  5. Launch Flashpoint by double-clicking the Start Flashpoint shortcut.

Note that this change only affects the launcher itself, and shouldn't have any impact on its performance.


Q: Launching games never does anything, and a message like this appears on Flashpoint's Logs tab: 

[Game name] failed to start, spawn [path] ENOENT

A: To launch games, Flashpoint must be able to access the Command Prompt. Follow these steps to check this:

  1. Press Windows+R to open the Run box.
  2. Copy and paste the path from the message (between spawn and ENOENT) into the box, then press Enter.

A Command Prompt window should open. If it does not open, follow the steps below to fix the problem. If it does open, skip the below steps.

  1. Press Windows+R to open the Run box again.
  2. Type/paste sysdm.cpl into the box and press Enter.
  3. Click the "Advanced" tab, then click the "Environment Variables" button.
  4. Under System Variables, double-click the ComSpec variable to edit it.
  5. Change the variable value to %SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe and click OK.
  6. Click OK again to exit out of the dialog boxes that are still open.

If the problem persists, Flashpoint may be missing necessary software to launch games. The path to the software will be listed in a line of the log starting with applicationPath. Here is an example: 

applicationPath: "FPSoftware\Flash\flashplayer_32_sa.exe",

Open your Flashpoint folder and check whether the file path exists. If it does not, it may have been deleted by antivirus; see Troubleshooting Antivirus Interference. If all else fails, try re-installing Flashpoint.


Q: Flash games are just showing a black/grey/white screen, but I can still hear the game's audio. How do I fix this?

A: Recent versions of the AMD Adrenalin graphics driver (22.5.2 and later) cause Flash content to only display a black/grey/white screen, while the audio still works and the content can still be interacted with.

If you have an AMD Radeon RX 6000 series or later GPU and are using the Adrenalin graphics driver, you'll need to either roll back your driver to 22.5.1 or older, or disable hardware acceleration in Flash Player to fix the visuals.

To roll back your driver:

  1. Open the Start menu, then type Device Manager and click the first result.
  2. Click the arrow next to "Display adapters" to reveal your graphics driver.
  3. Right click on the item that pops up, then click Properties.
  4. Select the Driver tab, then click "Roll Back Driver."
  5. Click "Yes" to confirm the rollback, then click "Yes" again to restart your computer.

If you don't want to or can't roll back your driver, you can instead disable hardware acceleration in Flash Player:

  1. Open the Command Prompt as an Administrator by following these steps.
  2. Paste in the following command, then press Enter:
mkdir "%WINDIR%\SysWow64\Macromed\Flash" 2>NUL & echo;&echo;DisableHardwareAcceleration = 1 >> "%WINDIR%\SysWow64\Macromed\Flash\mms.cfg"

Note that disabling hardware acceleration may significantly reduce the framerate of some 3D Flash games. (Other Flash games should not be affected.)

On Linux, you need to create a file in the virtual C: drive set up by wine. Go into /home/USERNAME/.wine/dosdevices/c:/windows/syswow64/, create a directory named Macromed (without "...ia", it's not a typo), create another directory in it named Flash and finally, create file mms.cfg in this directory. Paste the following text into this file: 

DisableHardwareAcceleration = 1

Flash content should now start displaying video normally, even without need to restart Flashpoint.


Q: I'm trying to play a Flash game such as Poptropica, Steppenwolf or Drakens värld in Flashpoint Navigator or Basilisk, but the Adobe Flash plugin is crashing, or the keyboard controls aren't working! Is there a fix?

A: On some computers, Flash Player does not obey the browser's Protected Mode setting, so it must be set in the system's Flash Player configuration instead. Follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Command Prompt as an Administrator by following these steps.
  2. Paste in the following command, then press Enter:
mkdir "%WINDIR%\SysWow64\Macromed\Flash" 2>NUL & echo;&echo;ProtectedMode = 0 >> "%WINDIR%\SysWow64\Macromed\Flash\mms.cfg"


Q: Poptropica was working, but now it's endlessly refreshing instead of letting me get into the game! What can I do?

A: Try copying and pasting one of these URLs into Flashpoint Navigator's address bar:

  • http://www.poptropica.com/base.php?room=FlashpointStart
  • http://www.poptropica.com/base.php?room=City2&island=Early

This should break you out of the loop and allow you to continue playing.

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