First TCC instantiation after reboot does not work.

[fishman@panix.com]

This is a continuing problem for several years. The first time I try to start TCC after a reboot, it fails with no disk drive shown and the only thing that I can do is kill the instantiation and retry which works fine. I only use TCC so I have no idea what happens with TC. I have complained repeatedly in the past and you always said that you could not duplicate it. What do I have to do to prove to you that this is a real problem???

Harvey

 

[rconn]

Since this problem is apparently unique to your system, the only way I could reproduce it would be if I had your system.

There are two things you can try to debug startup problems:

1) Start TCC with the /I option. This will prevent TCC from loading TCMD.INI, TCSTART, and any plugins. If TCC works with /I, then the problem is with your configuration. You can then try the various /Ix options to narrow it down.

2) If TCC still fails with /I, try starting TCC with the /... option. This will display a series of popup messageboxes that show what TCC is doing during initialization. If you document all of the messageboxes you see (and their contents) I can get a better understanding of how far TCC is getting.

 

[fishman@panix.com]

Thanks. It looks like it might be my 4START.CMD file (this is a carry-over from 4DOS)

@echo off
prompt `%@lower[%_disk]`:$g
path=%path%;c:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin;c:\bin;c:\epsilon\bin;c:\c700\bin;c:\ztw;d:\jlblink\bltools;c:\bat;d:\nethack;c:\Borland\Bcc55;
alias /r c:\4nt10\alias1.doc
f:\tclock\clock64.exe
set cdpath=0
set pathext=.exe;.btm;.bat;.cmd;.vbs;.js;.ws;.rex;.rexx;.pl;.rb;.py;.tcl;.pdf

set .pdf = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"



rem set vcscfg=c:\bin\vcs.cfg
rem set bixprn=0
rem set bldir=d:\jlblink


It looks fairly straight-forward other than the prompt line. I am not sure where I got that from or what it means, but the intent is to be the '>' followed by the current drive name in lower case followed by a space. I tried Help prompt but I found that I cannot seem to print that page. I get 'Page 1 of 1' at the top followed by a blank page with the file name and the date at the bottom. Is there a simpler syntax to show the desired prompt. And why can't I print the help page?

Harvey

 

[Kachupp]

prompt $p$g

 

[vefatica]

prompt $p$g

$p$g$s will give you the trailing space, too.

 

[fishman@panix.com]

Adding $s or $s$s does not seem to make any difference. I haven't actually tried a reboot yet as that takes about 15 minutes.

Harvey

 

[Charles G]

Why does a reboot take about 15 minutes?

 

[TEA-Time]

The batch file will wait for whatever f:\tclock\clock64.exe is to exit before continuing. If clock64.exe stays running and you close the "stuck" TCC and run it again, f:\tclock\clock64.exe may just fall though that time since it's already running and the batch file will be able to finish. Use "start f:\tclock\clock64.exe" (without the quotes) to run it without making the batch file wait.

prompt `%@lower[%_disk]`:$g would be the lower case version (%@lower) of the drive letter (%_disk), a colon (:), and then the > character ($g), and there is no space specified. So your prompt should look like "c:>" (without the quotes). If you're seeing otherwise, such as with the space you mentioned, perhaps it's being defined again somewhere else.

 

[fishman@panix.com]

I am not really sure, but a LOT of programs load at boot time. It is a custom built machine by Thinkmate with dual Zeons, 64 GB of RAM, and about 50 TB of disk. I mostly reboot only on Patch Tuesday when I have a new version of Windows requiring a reboot. In any case, the prompt was not the problem. I bit the bullet and rebooted but the problem still occurred. I guess that I have to find another problem.

Harvey

 

[fishman@panix.com]

tclock is an enhancement to the taskbar clock that runs forever. It is an old,old program that I have been using for circa 20 years. Do a Google search on it for more information.

Harvey

 

[vefatica]

As TEA-Time said, It could be waiting for clock64.exe to terminate. Try

start f:\tclock\clock64.exe

 

[vefatica]

From the help:

TCC always waits for applications that are run from transient shells (with a /C), or from batch files before continuing with subsequent commands in the batch file. To start an application from a transient shell or a batch file and continue without waiting for the application to finish, use the START command (without the /WAIT switch).

 

[TEA-Time]

tclock is an enhancement to the taskbar clock that runs forever. It is an old,old program that I have been using for circa 20 years. Do a Google search on it for more information.

Harvey

Aha, then I bet that's the culprit. I would take that line out of your 4START.CMD file completely and create a shortcut to it in Windows' Startup menu since it needs to be started with Windows and really has nothing to do with any sort of command prompt.

 

[fishman@panix.com]

O.K. Here is the content of the latest 4START.CMD file

@echo off
rem prompt `%@lower[%_disk]`:$g

prompt $p$g
path=%path%;c:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin;c:\bin;c:\epsilon\bin;c:\c700\bin;c:\ztw;d:\jlblink\bltools;c:\bat;d:\nethack;c:\Borland\Bcc55;
alias /r c:\4nt10\alias1.doc
start f:\tclock\clock64.exe
set cdpath=0
set pathext=.exe;.btm;.bat;.cmd;.vbs;.js;.ws;.rex;.rexx;.pl;.rb;.py;.tcl;.pdf

set .pdf = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"



rem set vcscfg=c:\bin\vcs.cfg
rem set bixprn=0
rem set bldir=d:\jlblink


and here is the content of alias1.doc

e*psilon=c:\epsilon\bin\epsilonc.exe
d*psilon=d:\eps1305w\bin\epsilonc.exe
mv=move
rm=`del`
ztw=ztw64
+-=fishman@panix.com
panix=`telnet panix5.panix.com`

and th problem is still occurring

 

[vefatica]

Did you ever add "/is" to the shortcut's target? That will prevent 4start.cmd from running and possibly verify that it is the problem.

You could also put some stuff in 4start.cmd to see if it hangs (and where) or finishes.

@echo off
echo 1
rem prompt `%@lower[%_disk]`:$g
echo 2
prompt $p$g
echo 3
path=%path%;c:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin;c:\bin;c:\epsilon\bin;c:\c700\bin;c:\ztw;d:\jlblink\bltools;c:\bat;d:\nethack;c:\Borland\Bcc55;
echo 4
alias /r c:\4nt10\alias1.doc
echo 5
start f:\tclock\clock64.exe
echo 6
set cdpath=0
echo 7
set pathext=.exe;.btm;.bat;.cmd;.vbs;.js;.ws;.rex;.rexx;.pl;.rb;.py;.tcl;.pdf
echo 8
set .pdf = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"
echo 9


rem set vcscfg=c:\bin\vcs.cfg
rem set bixprn=0
rem set bldir=d:\jlblink
echo 10

 

[fishman@panix.com]

O.K. tclock is now in the Windows Startup; the current 4START.CMD is

@echo off
rem prompt `%@lower[%_disk]`:$g

prompt $p$g
path=%path%;c:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin;c:\bin;c:\epsilon\bin;c:\c700\bin;c:\ztw;d:\jlblink\bltools;c:\bat;d:\nethack;c:\Borland\Bcc55;
alias /r c:\4nt10\alias1.doc
rem start f:\tclock\clock64.exe
set cdpath=0
set pathext=.exe;.btm;.bat;.cmd;.vbs;.js;.ws;.rex;.rexx;.pl;.rb;.py;.tcl;.pdf

set .pdf = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"

and here is tcmd.ini

[4NT]
AutoCancel=No
AutoCDD=Yes
AutoRun=Yes
BatchAliases=Yes
BatchEcho=Yes
CMDExtensions=No
CopyPrompt=No
DelayedExpansion=No
DelGlobalQuery=Yes
DirJunctions=Yes
DuplicateBugs=Yes
EverythingSearch=No
ExecWait=No
HistLogOn=No
LocalAliases=No
LocalDirHistory=Yes
LocalFunctions=No
LocalHistory=Yes
LogAll=No
LogOn=No
LogErrors=No
Lua=Yes
MouseWheel=No
NoClobber=No
PathExt=No
Perl=No
PowerShell=No
Python=No
RecycleBin=No
Rexx=No
Ruby=No
SettingChange=No
SHChangeNotify=No
Tcl=No
UnicodeOutput=Yes
UnixPaths=No
UpdateTitle=Yes
UTF8=No
WebHelp=No
Win32SFNSearch=Yes
Wow64FsRedirection=Yes
ZoneId=0
ANSI=No
CDDWinLeft=7
CDDWinTop=7
CDDWinWidth=1776
CDDWinHeight=440
PopupWinHeight=500
PopupWinTop=10
PopupWinLeft=40
PopupWinWidth=600
SyntaxColors=No
WindowHeight=0
WindowState=Standard
WindowWidth=0
WindowX=0
WindowY=0
Transparency=255
InactiveTransparency=255
AppendToDir=Yes
CompleteAliases=Yes
CompleteHiddenFiles=Yes
CompleteHiddenDirs=Yes
CompleteInternals=No
CompletePaths=Yes
CompletePercents=Yes
CursorIns=100
CursorOver=15
DirHistory=6144
DirHistoryOnEntry=No
EditMode=Overstrike
FuzzyCD=3
HistMin=0
History=22528
HistCase=No
HistCopy=No
HistDups=Off
HistMove=No
HistWrap=Yes
ServerCompletion=Local
TreePath="c:\ProgramData\JP Software"
AmPm=No
BeepFreq=440
BeepLength=2
CommandSep=&
DecimalChar=Auto
DescriptionMax=512
NTFSDescriptions=No
Descriptions=Yes
EscapeChar=^
EvalMax=10
EvalMin=0
ExpandPseudovariables=No
ParameterChar=$
RegularExpressions=Perl
TabStops=8
ThousandsChar=Auto
ProxyPort=80
FirewallType=None
FirewallPort=1080
PassiveFTP=Yes
FTPTimeout=180
HTTPTimeout=180
TFTPTimeout=180
MailPort=25
MailSSL=No
RLocalPort=0
SHLocalPort=0
SSHPort=22
SSLStartMode=0
SSLPort=0
[Keys]
AddFile=F10
AliasExpand=Ctrl-W
Argument0=Ctrl-0
Argument1=Ctrl-1
Argument2=Ctrl-2
Argument3=Ctrl-3
Argument4=Ctrl-4
Argument5=Ctrl-5
Argument6=Ctrl-6
Argument7=Ctrl-7
Argument8=Ctrl-8
Argument9=Ctrl-9
ArgLeft=Alt-Shift-Left
ArgRight=Alt-Shift-Right
Backspace=Backspace Ctrl-H
BeginLine=Home
CommandDialog=Alt-F2
CommandEscape=Alt-255
ConsoleHeightMax=Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Down
ConsoleHeightMin=Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Up
ConsoleWidthMax=Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Right
ConsoleWidthMin=Ctrl-Alt-Shift-Left
Copy=Ctrl-Y
Del=Del
DelArgLeft=Ctrl-Alt-L Ctrl-Alt-Left
DelArgRight=Ctrl-Alt-R Ctrl-Alt-Right
DelHistory=Ctrl-D
DelToBeginning=Ctrl-Home
DelToEnd=Ctrl-End
DelWordLeft=Ctrl-L Ctrl-Backspace
DelWordRight=Ctrl-R Ctrl-Del
DirectoryCompletion=Shift-F6
DirWinOpen=Ctrl-PgUp Ctrl-PgDn F6
EndHistory=Ctrl-E
EndLine=End
EraseLine=Esc
ExecLine=Enter Ctrl-M
FileBrowse=F5
FolderBrowse=Alt-F5
FontMax=Ctrl-Plus
FontMin=Ctrl-Minus
Help=F1
HelpWord=Ctrl-F1
HistWinOpen=PgUp PgDn
Ins=Ins
LastHistory=F3
Left=Left
LFNToggle=Ctrl-A
LineToEnd=Ctrl-Enter
MoveConsoleDown=Alt-Win-Down
MoveConsoleUp=Alt-Win-Up
MoveConsoleLeft=Alt-Win-Left
MoveConsoleRight=Alt-Win-Right
NextDirHistory=Shift-PgDn
NextFile=Tab F9
NextHistory=Down
OriginalFile=Alt-F9
ParentDirectory=Ctrl-Shift-Up
Paste=Ctrl-V Shift-Ins
PATHCompletion=Ctrl-F6
PopFile=F7 Ctrl-Tab
PopupWinDel=Ctrl-D
PopupWinEdit=Ctrl-Enter
PopupWinEditWin=Ctrl-E
PopupWinSelect=Enter
PrevArgument=Ctrl-B
PrevFile=F8 Shift-Tab
PrevDirHistory=Shift-PgUp
PrevHistory=Up
PrintHistory=Ctrl-P
Redo=Ctrl-Shift-Y
Regex=Ctrl-F7
RepeatArgument=Shift-F12
RepeatFile=F12
Right=Right
SaveHistory=Ctrl-K
SelectFromHome=Shift-Home
SelectLeft=Shift-Left
SelectRight=Shift-Right
SelectToEnd=Shift-End
SelectWordLeft=Ctrl-Shift-Left
SelectWordRight=Ctrl-Shift-Right
SingleStep=Ctrl-F5
Undo=Ctrl-Shift-Z
VariableExpand=Ctrl-X
VariableExpandWord=Ctrl-Shift-X
WordLeft=Ctrl-Left
WordRight=Ctrl-Right
ListBack=B Ctrl-PgUp
ListClipboard=Ctrl-B
ListContinue=C Ctrl-PgDn
ListDelete=Del
ListDown=Down
ListEdit=E
ListEnd=End
ListExit=Esc
ListFind=F
ListFindPrevious=Ctrl-N
ListFindRegex=R
ListFindRegexReverse=Ctrl-R
ListFindReverse=Ctrl-F
ListGoto=G
ListHex=X
ListHelp=F1
ListHexSpace=S
ListHighBit=H
ListHome=Home
ListInfo=I
ListLeft=Left
ListNext=N
ListNumber=L
ListOpen=O
ListPageDown=PgDn Space
ListPageLeft=Ctrl-Left
ListPageRight=Ctrl-Right
ListPageUp=PgUp
ListPrint=P
ListRefresh=F5
ListRight=Right
ListSave=Ins
ListTabSize=Tab
ListUnicode=U
ListUp=Up
ListWrap=W
CPopupWinDel=Ctrl-D
CPopupWinDown=Down
CPopupWinEdit=Ctrl-Enter
CPopupWinEditWin=Ctrl-E
CPopupWinEnd=End Ctrl-PgDn
CPopupWinExit=Esc
CPopupWinHelp=F1
CPopupWinHome=Home Ctrl-PgUp
CPopupWinLeft=Left
CPopupWinPgDn=PgDn
CPopupWinPgUp=PgUp
CPopupWinReset=BS
CPopupWinRight=Right
CPopupWinSelect=Enter
CPopupWinUp=Up


and still no joy. I lose that first instantiation.

Harvey

 

[vefatica]

After reading about CDPATH (in version 25's help), setting it to 0 doesn't make sense.

If you really have spaces around "=" when you set .PDF, it probably won't work correctly.

Are you really using version 10 of the product?

 

[TEA-Time]

I too am curious how you narrowed it down to "might be" 4START.CMD.

You could also put some stuff in 4start.cmd to see if it hangs (and where) or finishes.

Or you could REM out @echo off and see the actual commands.