Will Fontographer install into Vista? 64-bit Vista?

[Gene]

We need to buy a new computer. Will the latest Fontographer update install into Vista? How about 64-bit Vista? We got FOG installed in XP by installing in Safe Mode, but it still uses 100% CPU when it runs. Does the upgrade solve that? If necessary we can run Microsoft Virtual PC, install XP (or even something older) in Virtual PC, and run FOG in that environment. However, it would be great if we could run all our software in Vista.

Thanks,
Gene

P.S. Greetings, Der Fontmeister! I knew you were no longer homeless, but I have not visited you in your new home. Nice! Best wishes to you, Jim, with many happy upgrades.

[Der FontMeister (FontLab)]

Gene,

God to hear you a e still kicking...

The RAM issue is on the list of things to be addressed. Macromedia had a philosophy in all their products that they wold take 100% of the CPU until the CPU is requested by another app.

It should not cause any issues but is disconcerting...

Jimmy G.

[Ayli]

Hi all, my first post.

I have not used Fontographer for some time and would like to know if the application will be upgraded to run on XP or Vista any time soon? I've read on the website that it was considered in 2006?

I have to run Fontographer on XP by always changing my computer's memory configuration, which is not fun.

[hdevogt]

Received a new PC using XP.  When starting Fontographer, it says, "Could not initializa the program, because there is not enough memory available to run.  Code= -30202.  My version of Fontographer is 4.1.5 for the PC.

From this stream, my conclusion is that this is due to the fact that Fontographer won't run on XP, correct.

Production problems at work require Fontographer.  No Windows 2000 PCs to be found at work or home. 

If Fontographer isn't available, what program would you recommend?  I need to create fonts for PC, Unix and MAC.    It would be tragic to lose all my .FOG information.  Yikes.

Thrilled to see Jim G. on the forum.

 

[mauzeris]

Fontographer runs on WinXP.
Problem is a memory management of this old program.

You have 2 options:
1. Remove DIMM(s) to reduce amount of virtual memory to <2GB
2. Patch the function ASI_SetMemoryLimits() in FONTG410.dll file to set the limit in software.
Patch offset =  0x000812E8
Old data  = 00 00 00 00
New data = FF FF FF 7F

May be in next version of fontographer this function will be called on start up and limit set in more human way. 

[hdevogt]

Der FontMeister,

You have done it yet again.  Your patch to the DLL worked like a charm!  Whew!!!!
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

[mauzeris]

You misunderstood me.
I'm not a FontMeister and haven't any relations with Fontographer development.
It was a wish and not a promise about next version.
I like to repair things- computers, TVs, electricity, plumbing, fontographer, etc

[hdevogt]

Sorry for the misunderstanding.  My mistake.

You are still my hero! 

Thanks!

 

[Shanafeg]

I just applauded you, mauzeris... and I should smite the moderator of this forum for not publicizing your post.  I've been using FOG415 for years, starting with a 256m Win98 machine, then XP with 512m.  I always wondered about the infamous 30202 error from postings on the old FOG forum; tweaking the virtual memory seemed like a pretty lame solution.  I recently got a new machine with 3g of memory (still running XP) and no amount of tweaking the virtual memory would get FOG to work.  But your zap worked like a charm!  And my current virtual memory is set at 2046.

So, forum moderator, why isn't this fix part of the FOG FAQs?  Why, after years of excuses about how immensely difficult it would be to change the code, just fixing four bytes solved the problem?  (Perhaps my zapped version will no longer run with only 512m, but I have no way of determining that anymore).  Why not publicize a patch program to do the job automatically so you don't have to use an external hex file editor to do it manually?  Can't you now fix the original FONTG410.DLL file so that future purchasers of FOG never have to worry about this problem?

And I was afraid I'd have to buy a Mac if I wanted to continue using Fontographer...

[gohebrew]

Except for old versions of XP (buggy junk) and a Mac OS X, it can't run on a new Windows XP Pro or Vista.

Oh, how long, how long?

Adam?

[Shanafeg]

As I wrote above, I am running Fog 4.1.5 on a Windows machine with 3g of memory and the 32-bit version of Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3.  This is with mauzeris' patch.

I recently tried installing Fog 4.1.5 on a system running Vista 64, and this would not work.  The program would not even install, aborting with an error message that it was a 32-bit program and thus incompatible with a 64-bit operating system.  But with XP Pro, no problem.

[Der FontMeister (FontLab)]

I'd like to publicly apologize for not tracking down the excellent fix which "mauzeris" posted sooner.

I have been in hibernation writing a book to prepare the way for FOG 5. I have been responding to hundreds (yeah, verily thousands) of emails on how to generate a font.

I have been taking teens around the world building homes and offering medical clinics in the jungle. I have spent an inordinate time playing roller hockey etc. etc. etc.

In my defense I also spent hours begging the coders (during my years at Macromedia) to track this down. One of them finally showed me the problem in the DLL but said his boss (is this sounding like a Dilbert cartoon?) has him working on something else and it would take an act of congress to get anybody to fix it. etc. etc.

Then FOG was licensed to FontLab Ltd. and I now get to work with people who actually give a darn! And so we strategized and prioritized and got the FOG 5 program under way as fast as we possbily could.

I was raised Catholic and have an enormous amount of guilt to get rid of but in this case I would have to say that I did everything humanly possible to track this down and get it fixed -and doggonit we did! Bottom line is that soon it will be an interesting discussion from the past and there will be much rejoicing throughout the kingdom.

Much thanks to diehard FOG fans for their inexplicable patience! Long live FOG!

Jimmy G.

[mauzeris]

Not expected that interest in my dirty hack will be so great.

If you will make decision to release a v4.1.6 for some strange reason, try to call this code at program init:

Code:

VOID __stdcall ASI_SetMemoryLimits(BOOL SetOrReset,       //TRUE sets limits, FALSE resets
                                   UINT MaxAvailMem,      //max amount of memory, available to Fog
                                   UINT BlockSize,        //memory is allocated in blocks, this is block size
                                   SHORT MaxAvailBlocks); //max (and default) number of blocks is 0x7FFF
void SetMemLimit()
{
 MEMORYSTATUS stat;

 GlobalMemoryStatus(&stat);

  if ((!stat.dwTotalPageFile && stat.dwAvailPhys & 0x80000000) || (stat.dwTotalPageFile && stat.dwAvailPageFile & 0x80000000))
   {
    ASI_SetMemoryLimits(TRUE, 0x4000000, 0x10000, 0);
   }
}

Code is untested.

[Shanafeg]

Mauzeris,
Is this the same as your 4-byte hack to fix the memory problem in FOG 4.1.5?  Or does it make FOG compatible with Vista 64, able to edit Open Type fonts, and fully compatible with Unicode?   

[mauzeris]

It corrects (may be) memory problem only.
Edit OpenType support in 5 lines of C code should be nice

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