No problems here; everything looking great. Works just as it should.

Yes, iespell is not part of IE. It's a free plugin.

Firefox has spellcheck built in.

hello very good screen saver. no problem here with a 7600GS - XP - 1280*1024 - 110 fps - 1 screen - dual core X2 no problem with the fishes scroll is a bit slow using arrow... perhaps it could be quicker ? but no bugs for me proc at 25% max, often at 12 % have some other programmes , antivirus, etc... no collision... well, installer and screensaver works good for this system ...

Just thought I would add,all runs fine, as I would expect,SS and installer on XP Pro/Home/Vista/and last but not least W7.

(I just love running beta's on beta's):)

OK on XP Pro SP3 GForce 6600

Works great here.
laptop
XP Pro SP3

Installed with no problems on my HP pavilion ze5300.
Is there a way for the screen saver to be disabled or turned off when the monitor powers down?

Works fine here also!

XP Media Edition, SP3
AMD Athlon 64 dual core
G Force 7350 LE (128 mb)
1 GB RAM

Michael

The F1-F4 buttons are not functional on my desktop, running Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller. This is the same Intel graphics chip that had the problem with the Beta 7a where it "blew up" the crystal back on 11-19-08. My laptop running NVIDIA GeForce2 Go, the buttons are fully functional and did not have the crystal problem back in November. Both the Beta8k and the installer version react the same on both computers. There is also less "blurriness" on the laptop with the side to side movement.

Happy to hear of the future starfish mobility and the additional light control.

Problems here...Vista 32 Ultimate. All betas have worked successfully until the last two beta 8's...the install appears to run correctly, but fails when I ask for it to be assigned as a screen-saver "MarineAquarium3 Beta8 has stopped working"...same error message I've been getting on the last two beta's. I can run MA3, all versions, from the task bar, and in the windowed mode...but no screen saver function, and the L key is inop, where I could successfully change the logo before...now nothing.

I've removed all traces of MA3, along with 2 and 2.6 (they were still there and working) with add/remove programs (programs and features in Vista), and removed all references to MarineScreen, Serene, etc., in System 32. I THINK I've cleaned everything, emptied recycle bin...shutdown...reboot...attempted to install MA3...same problem "MarineAquarium3 Beta8 has stopped working", but I can still run it from taskbar in windowed mode OK.

Suggestions??
John

This is an awesome feature! Excellent idea! Give that man a raise! I remember back in the day when one would walk into a computer store and MA was on all the displays. Now, with this feature, MA3 will be on all the displays. Great free advertising!

Super! Once Joe the plumber gets home from seeing MA3 on all the displays at the computer store, first thing he'll do is download MA3, install, watch for a few seconds, then try and add more fish! Bingo! A sale is made.

I ran it in a Sandbox under XP (sp3) and it doesn't seem to have done anything untoward or installed any odd files. Plus it worked! (It took the 22 fish I had before and distributed them amongst the top row of the fish chooser, so got 3-4 of each.)

P.S. can I also recommend Sandboxie for non-destructively testing installers and such like (I paid for it, so can have a separate sandbox for each install attempt, but the free one is great too). This also means I can compare it with the non-installer version on the same system (which is how I know I had 22 fish there and how they were distributed).

John

P.P.S. it seems to use Windows Protected Storage to store the password. It also installs for All Users without asking, which is fine by me, as it seems the settings like playlist go into the current user - I'm not sure about the fish list though? - I'm out of lunchtime to look).

It did seem to spark some life (i.e. execution cycles) out of TSVNcache (TortoiseSVN cache) for some reason, but I'm not sure why. (I can tell this as it happened in the Sandbox.) I think this only happened on the install, not when it was run.

John

Got a chance to download and install it this morning. Ran the MA3 Remove utility to clear out the registry, then installed on a XP Pro SP3 and a 32 bit Vista Business SP1 systems.

Everything worked well. Both installations initially come up with the Stats display turned off, both allow setting the timing sleep value and remember it through the next startup, both allow switching the logo to a user supplied one (saved in the appropriate folder) but neither one remembers the new logo and returns to the default MA3 logo on next startup (I assume this is the default setting for the non-registered version). The purple gorgonia still does not move when the display is spread across all 3 monitors but I expected that. Uninstallation worked properly on both systems.

No problems and all functions working correctly on both of my systems

Dell 8300
Intel 3.0 Pentium 4/HT
Win XP Pro
Nvidia GForce FX 5200

and

Dell Inspiron 9300 Notebook
Intel 1.6 Pentium M
Win XP Pro
ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300

Keep up the good work!!

Rick - The fact that the purple Gorgonia is not moving is quite disturbing. I thought I had that one fixed.

What is the expected behavior of the MA3 installer, when doing an "upgrade" on a system that has MA2.6 running?

In particular, what should I expect the installer to do if I have 2 or 3 logos, and have changed various settings for the crystal, clock, and bubbles?

Also, is the installer expected to "upgrade" MA2.6 to MA3 (overwriting 2.6), or leave 2.6 unchanged, or is that behavior expected to be an option?

[Yes, I understand that some of that isn't "done yet" in MA3]

I would like to do a full test of the above, on XP and Vista-32, but I only want to do it once - it's a PITA to make sure a system is in the "virgin" state.

I presume that you're not just hunting for a "it works", without me knowing what is expected to work (and what is expected to not work). So, knowing the "expected behavior" of the installer is important.

If I recall correctly, you did fix the first bug with that. This particular one only occurs when I have MA3 spread across all 3 monitors (total screen width of 4240). Here's the original posting:

https://www.feldoncentral.com/forums...38&postcount=5

As I stated in that thread, I wasn't too worried about it. I suspect it is just a peculiarity with this particular setup since it does work properly under a couple of different configurations. Especially since I seem to be the only one seeing it and I believe there is at least one other triple monitor setup in here.

You should not expect ANY logos or settings to come over.

MA3:

1. uses a totally new registry branch
2. uses a different folder for data/logos/playlist
3. handles lighting differently
4. adds tank scrolling
5. will eventually allow the bubble column to be moved
6. does not currently support more than 1 logo (and must have a certain filename)
7. will probably handle clock/calendar differently
8. uses a different keycode than 2.6

Thus there is really no point for the MA3 installer to try to "import" settings from MA2.6.

MA2.6 has 1 tank setup with 7 fish, no music playlist, and none of the features above, so really it takes less than 30 seconds to setup MA3 to have the same settings as MA2.6.

P.S. Since using PNG logos was an undocumented feature of MA2.6, I do not expect those logos to be moved automatically to the new folder, but maybe that will be something that the installer does?

Morgan is correct - MA3 has no relationship to any previous program. It does not overwrite or alter any other program. It has different capabilities and higher system requirements.

Rick - could you try the version without the installer at http://www.fish-byte.com/MA3Beta.zip?

The version with the installer is Edgar's version of the code, while the one without the installer is my version. They SHOULD be the same, but I put in very specific code to make sure the gorgonia movement got translated to all render units, and I want to make sure those changes didn't get lost in transit between me and Edgar.

By the way, these are both marked Beta8k, but you can tell the difference by the fact that mine comes up with the Statistics text showing, while Edgar's does not.

You know, there is one flaw in this latest "testfish" version. It's too good! There are so many fish swimming around, panning back and forth, music, a starfish, etc... that typing testfish once in awhile doesn't seem such a bad idea to save $20 bucks. I really think you have to trim it down a little more before release. Perhaps just 3 fish. 3 fish in that huge tank would make people want to add some more, and for just $20 bucks, that's reasonable.

At first, I tried limiting the number of fish, but it introduced so many crashing bugs that I gave up on it. There were many instances where the program expected a certain portion of memory to be allocated for fish objects, but in the non-registered version it wouldn't be because of limiting the number of fish.

I guarantee that we will get email from people who still don't feel like they are getting enough in the free version. "I have to type in "testfish" every time I want to change the settings? Outrageous!" :)

I tried it and got the same results. While testing it though, I found that it's not just the gorgonia on that screen now. It appears to have also lost the fans motion on that particular screen when I have it set to "render the same on all screens". Since it's the far right screen, I normally never see the fans on it and may not have noticed it before (though I could have sworn the fans worked on it before). As before, as soon as I turn off the display on the NVidia card driving the leftmost monitor, the motion on the rightmost monitor (ATI 9550 secondary) works perfectly. Or if I switch to windowed mode it works perfectly. Or if I turn off the 9550 primary (center) monitor it works perfectly. Its just when I have all 3 turned on that the problem arises.

My current setup:


NVidia FX5200........ATI 9550 Primary.......ATI 9550 Secondary
..1280x1024...............1280x1024............... ..1680x1050
.......#2..........................#0............. ...............#1

OK, at least it makes a little more sense that the Sea Fan motion reacts the same as the Gorgonia. It's still a mystery why there would be no movement on that render unit, but at least it's not a case right out of the Twilight Zone.

I appreciate your efforts on this, Rick.

I'm a bit confused by your answer. First you say not to expect anything, and then you ask if logos will be moved. I think that's one of the things I asked, hoping for an authoritative answer.

One quote from another thread (which may or may not be current thinking):
"The final version will have a playlist of logos, with full paths. " (Jim)

There was some discussion of registry keys, etc., too.

I suspect that anybody who buys an "upgrade" from MA2.6 to MA3, will have an expectation that applicable "stuff" from MA2.6 would be applied to MA3. As you point out, that's not necessarily simple. In fact, it might be necessary to just do a "New Install", and tell people that no settings (or logos) are going to be moved. That's one alternative - sure to mildly annoy some folks.

Anyhow, that's why I asked - to get an authoritative answer (when available) as to ALL OF WHAT the installer is supposed to do (and not do). With that, it's possible to test whether it does what it's supposed to do.

Without that information, all anybody can say is "it worked for me right now". That's valuable information, of course.

Which brings up one other question: What happens when those folks who have used the Beta8k installer version, try to run the NEXT installer?

Finally (and pardon the long post) - somebody should, of course, test the uninstaller that comes with Beta8k Installer (I presume) to make sure that it does what it is supposed to do. Whatever that is.

Regarding Logos, MA3 does not check for, import, or know about the existance of MA2.6 logos. MA2.6 had a way of creating fairly rough-looking 2-color logos. MA3 only uses full-color PNG graphics. The relative sizes are also different.

I think the NVidia and ATI mixed is causing the problem
I don't have a mixed system here to test to see how best to fix it.

Jim, do we want try to fix this?
The only fix for this is to create all the resource individually without copying. Make one common calculation and apply the calculation to each display.
The copying assumes compatible cards and drivers.

I think it will be slower and more complicated to do.

For now, no.

Works fine for me! Windows XP SP2.

Looks great too!
Louise

Works great on Win XP SP2 :|

Edit: "weese237" beat me to the post by seconds :lol:

Officially.

But unofficially, as I'm sure you know, I have been promoting and encouraging people to create full-color PNG logos for years now. Ever since I discovered the hidden functionality. And these PNG logos created for 2.6 work perfectly in MA3.

There are logos at my website, and a How To Guide to create them.

Again, I'll see exactly how the Logo Picker interface is implemented in MA3 and decide how to update the website to deal with that.

The old logos will probably be slightly too large for MA3, spilling off the edge of the crystal if they get too close to the edge. The interface will contain resizing and positioning tools.

OK, that answers one of the 7-or-so questions that I asked. The installer won't "import" logos from 2.6 into 3.0.

Now, given the location of the MA2.6 logos - what happens to them when MA3 is installed? [The answer is obvious if the MA3 installer doesn't "deinstall" or "upgrade" MA2.6, === otherwise, this is the "leftover files not being removed" issue]

I tested out all 21 logos I offer for download here. Only 4 of them need some slight adjustment to fit. The other 17 logos look fantastic as-is with no modifications necessary for MA3. I have always designed logos with a safe border on all 4 sides of about 10% width and my tutorial contains the same suggestion.

Dale - I'm not avoiding installer questions. I've never dealt with one, so I simply don't know. Someone at Prolific is doing the installer.

Morgan - It's good that you suggested the border. The reason that I mentioned it was that some of the logos posted by Forum member looked like they were dangerously close to the edge of the texture. I can see how they'd want to use every available pixel, but MA3 is much less forgiving about that than MA2.6 was (until the resizing interface is in place).

No problems with the installer on my Vista Ultimate 64-bit machine or my laptop with Windows 7 Beta installed. I did have to delete the previous beta from Windows 7 before the installer version would work.

Jim:
MA3 works fine on my Vista 64, Asus P5E3 Premium, Radeon 4870 system. Both corals move, S, M and all F keys work. The L key which used to change the logo lighting does not work.

After using the installer I had to right click the desktop icon and choose 'install' to get it to appear in the screensaver list and be self launching. The desktop icon however launched it without problem.

Oddly the new Settings included my old playlists; a surprise. (I have to say though, that I cannot find better music than what you have provided).

I notice that MA3 resides in C:\Windows\SysWOW64 whereas DA is installed merely in C:\Windows. Of no consequence to me if not to you :)

-----

Feldon; thanks for info on logos. I notice that one of your groups is mostly religous in nature. What's the possiblity that you could add one like those attached to your list? Just wondering. btw, do I just insert the pic in the MA3 folder, or is there some other method of install? Thanks....

Installer works and looks fine on both systems. The only "problem" is for beta testers, the beta file should be removed before installing. i needed to uninstall remove beta files and reinstall (without problems).

Worked fine on my 3 machines. WinXP SP3 WinME and WIn98SE. Runs great with the Voodoo 5 5500AGP. :)