Java null pointer error on startup

[Bear]

I started receiving a null pointer error when I tried to start Sage on my HTPC (running Win 2000 SP3). As a result, Sage dumped out. In the process of trying to track down this problem, my OS drive and one of the other drives on my HTPC became corrupted. I scrubbed both drives and reinstalled Windows and the core subset of my HTPC applications (Sage, NVDVD, FFDShow, etc.). When I loaded the OS, I patched Windows to service pack 4 thinking it might have been some miscellaneous error. I am now still receiving a null pointer error when I try to start Sage. Does anyone have any ideas?

Later,
Bill

[Bear]

Bump

[carlgar]

Sounds like it could be an unsupported PVR card. Is it listed in the system requirements ? If so, you should provide as information as you can about your hardware setup. You might also attach the Sage Dump.
I would be surprised if SageTV corrupted your drive. I encountered a corrupted drive while using sage, but found out that my drivers were not up to date.

[Bear]

It's not a hardware issue, nor is it an old driver issue. I had Sage running for about three weeks before getting the null pointer error. The drivers were the latest ones available off of the manufacturers' websites. Please note: I am not blaming Sage for corrupting the hard drive. I'm sure it was an issue with the Microsoft installer application, but that is largely tangential. The issue is the java null pointer error. It was appearing when I had SP3 (but only after a while), and now it is appearing with SP4. My guess is that one of the patches in SP4 (that I had installed individually pre-corruption) is not playing nice with the java runtime. Is anyone else running W2K-SP4 and Sage successfully?


My hardware: PVR-250, nForce2, Athlon XP 2400+, 512MB of memory, m-Audio Revo, etc.

Later,
Bill

[mlbdude]

You have tried a fresh install of Sage?

[Bear]

I'm not sure I understand the question. The OS/Apps drive was scrubbed, so this is, essentially, a clean install. I have uninstalled and re-installed both 1.4 and 2.0 beta twice now since I had the OS installed.

Here's the rundown:
1) I originally had Sage 1.4 working just fine on W2K-SP3
2) Started getting a java error - null pointer
3) Tried to bug hunt - ended up corrupting the OS/Apps and one other drive (I believe it was the fault of another applications uninstall routine...)
4) Scrubbed both corrupt drives, reinstalled Windows 2000 - patched it to SP4
5) Installed Sage 1.4 - no go (same error as before)
6) Installed Sage 2.0 beta - no go
7) Uninstalled all Sage apps
8) Reinstalled 1.4 - still getting the error
9) Updated the java runtime - looking at the software install control panel, it looks like Sage's version of the JRE and the one from Sun are both on my machine (i.e. not an update...)
10) Uninstalled Sage, reinstalled 1.4 - still no go

And that leaves me where I am today.

Later,
Bill

[ErsatzTom]

Would it be possible for you to make sure that the sage jre is the only one on your system or do you need it for other things? Just to eliminate that possibility...

t

[Bear]

I'm in the process of doing another install, so I'll make sure it's completely clear, too. I take it that you guys have SP4 with no problems?

Later,
Bill

[ErsatzTom]

I do. SP4 has been the only os/patch level that I've tested Sage with.

t

[Bear]

Got it working! Thanks for the encouragement. It seems that it was a conflict between eitherr or both of the new S*, FFDShow (the version I was using) and Sage. BTW, the errant program was S*, so install that POS at your own risk.

Off to rebuild my favorites...

[SpaceFuzz]

I've just started getting this message, too. Don't know why. I'm on the 15-day trial (currently day 10 or 11). I've narrowed it down to a corrupt WIZ.BIN file. If I rename my WIZ.BIN to xWIZ.BIN, then run SAGETV.EXE, it will successfully recreate a WIZ.BIN (without all my Favorites and channel names, etc) and load Sage TV. However, having my REAL WIZ.BIN (with the important stuff) in place, the Sage splash screen says "Object DB is loading file..." and I get an error "An Exception Occurred in Java: java.lang.NullPointerException." Any idea how to salvage my favorites, channels, recordings, etc.?

[Bear]

Actually the problem is back for me. I uninstalled NVDVD (which I uses as the audio and video filters), and it cratered. I uninstalled Sage, reinstalled Sage, and it still craters. I manually deleted the configuration files, but I might have left the WIZ file alone. I'll try that next weekend (off on a business trip now...).

Later,
Bill