Factorio Forums

Can't start factorio, all i get is a "Factorio.exe is not a valid win32-program".

This is on 32bit windows XP.

Did you use the installer file from the website, the zip file ? Did you get it from Steam ?

I tryed the installer and the zip from factorio.com
i don't use steam.

/Update. I tryed the same downloaded .zip file on my laptop (win7 64bit) and just got a "warning" about x86 factorio on 64bit, but it loaded fine...

the same issue here. I tried steam - unknow error. the 32bit.exe from the www.factorio.com - not a valid win32-program.
My computer has Window XP, too.

Same here. WinXP SP3 32bit.

Have tried the Zip and Installer and Steam, all say "Factorio.exe is not a valid Win32 application", but I can see it's in a Win32 folder.
(Steam says "Failed to start game Unknown Error, but if you go to the location and run the .exe you get the same as above).
Went back to 0.12.35 on Steam and the re-downloaded experimental/0.13.0 and doubled checked the 64bit zip just in case...

Hope this can be fixed soon, really looking forward to playing this update!

Thanks

Can somebody try this out on Windows Vista/7 in 32 Bit? Then we can say wether it is due to 32 bit or due to Win XP...

Same symptoms, running on XP. Auto update failed so I tried downloading 32 bit full install from Factorio.com (unzipped version). Message "Factorio.com is not a valid win32 app"
Now what?

are there some news about that
I have the same problem

AgentKing wrote:are there some news about that
I have the same problem

I assume there will be a new release with all the stuff that has been fixed already tomorrow. As this bug has not been picked up yet it either takes until the release after that (maybe next week?) or there is a workaround to be discovered that would not need an update.

I'll get the message out that this bug is game breaking for you guys, mbe that changes priorities...

Loewchen wrote:

AgentKing wrote:are there some news about that
I have the same problem

I assume there will be a new release with all the stuff that has been fixed already tomorrow. As this bug has not been picked up yet it either takes until the release after that (maybe next week?) or there is a workaround to be discovered that would not need an update.

I'll get the message out that this bug is game breaking for you guys, mbe that changes priorities...

Thank you very much, hope this can be fixed soon! Can't wait to play

Same issue with the 0.13.1 version. using the 32bit windows installer. (with windows xp)

I'll go grab one of my XP boxes out of the garage and see if I can diagnose the issue with my already-downloaded 0.13.0 (not 0.13.1). `file(1)` under Cygwin confirms that there is an at least somewhat good PE header, and it runs under x86-64 Win7, so I'm curious as to why XP thinks it's bad.

EDIT: @Developers: Was the compile toolchain changed between 0.12.x and 0.13.x? You guys remembered the XP platform toolset, right? It doesn't appear like you did...

Yep 13.1 is borked as well. I get
"Unable to execute file- CreateProcess failed, code 193"
" %1 is not a valid Win32 application"
So what's going on? Intern that's not working out? Microsoft hit team?

I realize that we (XP'ers) are few (but proud!), but a bug confirmation would be a start.

Actually the main issue is likely XP. I realize it sucks to upgrade to a nice new OS, mainly because of money but also because of weird reasons I never understand. However, being that I do work related to some programming myself, having to continue to support an OS that no-one should even have on their system is a serious drag on my team's productivity.

Most anything that ran on XP will run on Linux nowadays in consumerland. Heck I'm surprised they even compile anything in 32-bit. That is an extra distribution step that hasn't been needed for almost 10 years, for anything that could be considered a machine for gaming. 7 years if you discount the crap that was Vista and waited until windows 7.

So if forking out 100-140 USD for Windows 7/10 isn't in the budget, you could do yourself, and likely your computer, a favor and install linux. If you like the Windows XP interface, there is Linux Mint MATE (It ran on my old Intel T5500 quite well). If you want faster builds, and know how to use a computer well enough, there is Arch Linux.

If your system is older than that... computer shops usually scrap anything that is much older than a Core 2 Quad, and would let you have the stuff for free just to lower the amount of weight they have to pay for the recycling company to take it.

Sakata wrote:Actually the main issue is likely XP. I realize it sucks to upgrade to a nice new OS, mainly because of money but also because of weird reasons I never understand. However, being that I do work related to some programming myself, having to continue to support an OS that no-one should even have on their system is a serious drag on my team's productivity.
[...]
If your system is older than that... computer shops usually scrap anything that is much older than a Core 2 Quad, and would let you have the stuff for free just to lower the

First point: Does you team actively not support Windows XP anymore? That can be a problem, as you might have somebody go to the court to get back the price of a new windows version and, depending on you country, might even get it. Same problem might occur to the Factorio devs.

Second Point: Well, that clearly is wrong, atleast outside of certain countries. Here in Germany, shops get money for recycling, so they wouldn't gift anything away.

Masterfox wrote:First point: Does you team actively not support Windows XP anymore? That can be a problem, as you might have somebody go to the court to get back the price of a new windows version and, depending on you country, might even get it. Same problem might occur to the Factorio devs.

Really? Microsoft officially stopped supporting Windows XP in all ways on April 8, 2014. It doesn't really sound sane to expect a software developer - or any one - to support an old product indefinitely. This is similar to how someone who manufactured a television in 1970 will eventually stop making that model of their product. How long do EU courts think a developer should be required to support a product for free after it's no longer produced? Surely it can't be forever? And even if they did go to court and some how win, wouldn't refunding the price of their software make more sense than paying for someone else's software?

That's all just curiosity on my part. I have nothing against Windows XP support.

They dropped support for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard already: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18955

I expect they will keep supporting Windows XP as long as they have enough paying customers to fund the support costs.

Sakata wrote:So if forking out 100-140 USD for Windows 7/10 isn't in the budget, you could do yourself, and likely your computer, a favor and install linux. If you like the Windows XP interface, there is Linux Mint MATE (It ran on my old Intel T5500 quite well). If you want faster builds, and know how to use a computer well enough, there is Arch Linux.

And what about people living in central and eastern Europe where 100 USD is much, much more? And what about people still running 32 bit hardware? Then it's a matter of 1000 USD for a whole new PC... THAT's the reason people still run Win XP. Not that they don't want to upgrade... they just can't.

Like me for example, owning a potato PC because I can't afford any better. Playing Factorio as one of few games still running on my hardware...

I understand that XP is outdated and not supported anymore. But there's a difference between not developing a game fo 32 bit systems anymore and for that game to stop working on them out of nowhere.

I was not serious when I hinted that XP will be no longer supported. We all know that the proper way of doing these things, is to post an announcement along the lines of "Due to circumstances beyond our control XXXX will not be supported in the future releases.. Sorry"
I think too much of this development team to imagine they'd do otherwise.
I am concerned about the seeming deficiencies in the development process, highlighted by this release (sure it's experimental, but!).

It appears, at least from the outside, that the: bug reporting, classification, responding, prioritization , implementation , testing and release process is broken not optimal.

One could argue that the above statement is pretty strong and based on limited evidence ( i.e. "Who cares about XP. We got bigger problems. Look! The flame colours are not perfect!", however:

Its obvious that the regression testing is not complete (For crying out lout, not even supported platform go/no go?)

I don't know what that the bug process is. From what I can tell, it consists of mods trawling the forums, cherry picking likely suspects, and throwing them into devs inbox, who then picks the favorites to work on.

This was a panic release. Big times (i.e. Steam), "committed" date, tons of new stuff and oh by the way let's rewrite the stuff we always hated.
Oh s..t! We have to release tomorrow or we are Doomed! This tells me that the development que management also needs work.

Look guys! Now you are playing in a big pond. If you want to stay here, you are going to have to make some hard and unpleasant decisions.

PS sorry for the harsh words. It's only because I care

piriform wrote:I don't know what that the bug process is. From what I can tell, it consists of mods trawling the forums, cherry picking likely suspects, and throwing them into devs inbox, who then picks the favorites to work on.

I nominate this for exploration in a future FFF post!

Also I use XP. It's a nice treat when modern fancy games work on my PC and I play old games because I can play them now as if I had a high-end system, which I didn't have when the games were released. Being forced to upgrade my system to play modern games is the biggest problem with PC gaming.