Lauhdutin keeps forgetting games + last banner is cut off

[Nathipha]

Short description of the issue

I'm using Lauhdutin to display 10 of my Steam games (Steam doesn't start with Win) and also 2 Windows shortcuts (in the "@Resources\Shortcuts" folder). About 90% of the time I start my PC, the Lauhdution sidebar is simply black and says "No games to show" at the very top. Sometimes there's also a "lua" error (see below) that's shown vertically centered in this black bar.

I then have to "Detect Games" but even if I don't get said "lua" error, it only loads of ALL the Steam games and I have to remove the ones I don't want again - it doesn't seem to remember which ones I already removed.

When this happens, the very last banner is also cut off (I can see less than a cm of it), even though it's still clickable.

Lauhdutin version

3.1.0 beta 4 (latest version)

Rainmeter version

4.3.1.3321 (64bit) (latest stable version)

Windows version

Win 10

Error messages

Error: rainmeter_helpers.lua:135: Failed to read "F:\games\steam\steamapps\appmanifest_xxxxxx.acf".

"xxxxxx" is a 6-digit number (probably the id of my Steam profile).

Steps to reproduce the issue

I don't know what's causing this problem. I used a very old version of Lauhdutin on my old Win 7 PC for years and everything was fine.

[Nathipha]

It doesn't fix the error messages and the issue with the last banner being cut off but there's a way to at least have it remember the games most of the time: Use the "hide" feature, not "remove"!

[humanspida]

@Nathipha @BanCrash

I saw one of these errors this morning when I cold booted the PC but when I refreshed the skin it loaded all my steam games, leaving out anything I had hidden last night and my sorting settings had been retained as per the change made in the settings.json file.

After rebooting the computer several times, including a full shutdown and turning off the PSU for 10 seconds or so has failed to reproduce the error again. I can only assume that it was temporary. Everything is continuing to work as expected now though.

The appmanifest files link to the content folders - if you open libraryfolders.vdf (found in the steamapps folder at the default location) in notepad you will see a pair of numbers on each entry line. Assuming you have a Steam library in a non default location with things installed to it.
The first number is the number of the appmanifest file and the second number is for a content folder like a game or whatever - if you crack open one of those appmanifest files in notepad it will show you a bunch of info and data for the program/game it points to.
You can check a game or programs App ID from its page in your client steam library by clicking the settings cog and selecting properties, then clicking on updates - at the bottom of that page in the little window there will be an App ID and build number.

My suggestion:
Update to Rainmeter 4.5 from the website if you're not already using it and also update the init.lua in resources\main\platforms\steam to the new version that includes BanCrash's changes from yesterdays investigation and fixes on the issue linked above this comment and see how that goes after setup.

Let us know how you get on, hopefully that'll quash the error for you.

[BanCrash]

@Nathipha could you check if the file that gaves you the error exists? And if it exists, could you open it with notepad++ (or another editor) and check its contents?

Just trying to understand if the issue is that the file is corrupted or that there is a reference to a file that doesn't exists.

[Nathipha]

I updated Rainmeter to 4.5.2 and edited both "init.lua" files according to your changes @BanCrash (thanks again for that!), then restarted my PC and the skin's looking fine: All the banners are there, apart from the ones I'd hidden before I restarted the PC, and there's no error.

I just noticed that I made a mistake in the first post: The 6-digit number isn't actually my steam id but a game id. Maybe your changes fixed that, I'm going to do a couple of random restarts in the next couple of days.

The very last game is still cut off but that's probably a different bug then (must have been introduced with version 3) and since the skin is always also listing "Steamworks Common Restributables", I can just keep that one at the bottom of the list.

[BanCrash]

I updated Rainmeter to 4.5.2 and edited both "init.lua" files according to your changes @BanCrash (thanks again for that!), then restarted my PC and the skin's looking fine: All the banners are there, apart from the ones I'd hidden before I restarted the PC, and there's no error.

I just noticed that I made a mistake in the first post: The 6-digit number isn't actually my steam id but a game id. Maybe your changes fixed that, I'm going to do a couple of random restarts in the next couple of days.

The very last game is still cut off but that's probably a different bug then (must have been introduced with version 3) and since the skin is always also listing "Steamworks Common Restributables", I can just keep that one at the bottom of the list.

Could you share a screenshot about that issue??

[humanspida]

I updated Rainmeter to 4.5.2 and edited both "init.lua" files according to your changes @BanCrash (thanks again for that!), then restarted my PC and the skin's looking fine: All the banners are there, apart from the ones I'd hidden before I restarted the PC, and there's no error.

I just noticed that I made a mistake in the first post: The 6-digit number isn't actually my steam id but a game id. Maybe your changes fixed that, I'm going to do a couple of random restarts in the next couple of days.

The very last game is still cut off but that's probably a different bug then (must have been introduced with version 3) and since the skin is always also listing "Steamworks Common Restributables", I can just keep that one at the bottom of the list.

You don't need to worry about the app manifest files, they aren't something that was involved in these changes. The problem was a change in how Steam formats the data in the libraryFolders.vdf file causing the skin to be unable to recognise another install library location iirc from the other thread the fixes were implemented from.

Odd, I don't have any cut off tiles, have you got the bar positioned in a manner that has the offending tile overhang the edge of the screen?
Have you tried changing the number of tiles and their size in the settings? - try shrinking the tile size and reducing the number of tiles shown on the bar till there are no cut off tiles.
Did you not choose to hide the "Steaworks Common Redistributables" tile from being visible? Can do that if you don't want to see it lurking in the list. That's wot I did, along with anything else I don't want to see or scroll through everytime.

The only issue I'm probably going to run into occasionally now is the rainmeter helpers app manifest one (only seen it once, this morning, since I mentioned it in my comment earlier on this thread) where the skin complains about failing to read it... but it doesn't matter with the recent changes to the init.lua file coz on skin refresh it disappears right away - IF it even appears in the first place, and games are once more displayed or hidden if i chose to hide them... and everything returns to behaving as it's supposed to.

[Nathipha]

When I started my PC today I was greeted by the "Failed to read" error again. I checked and the file doesn't exist, even though the game ("Don't Starve") is installed on my PC. I had to "Detect Games" multiple times before all of the tiles finally showed up (including the one for "Don't Starve", even though the file still doesn't exist):

1. Error
2. Only about one third of games showed up
3. Only non-Steam games I added to Steam showed up
4. -"-
5. Success

@BanCrash
Screenshot of the cut-off tile: Click
The green bar at the bottom is the task bar, the black bar on the right side is just part of the wallpaper.

@humanspida
I had it set up the same way on my old Win 7 PC, which used an older version of Lauhdutin and it didn't happen then. It's about 2 icons wide (Win 10, 1080p), the "width" line in the "@Resources\settings.json" file says "240" and looking at the width of the screenshot that seems to be correct. I already set it to 480, then restarted Rainmeter but nothing changed, so not sure if that's the right file/setting after all.
I just didn't hide "Steaworks Common Redistributables", so that can be the tile that's cut off.

[BanCrash]

When I started my PC today I was greeted by the "Failed to read" error again. I checked and the file doesn't exist, even though the game ("Don't Starve") is installed on my PC. I had to "Detect Games" multiple times before all of the tiles finally showed up (including the one for "Don't Starve", even though the file still doesn't exist):

1. Error
2. Only about one third of games showed up
3. Only non-Steam games I added to Steam showed up
4. -"-
5. Success

@BanCrash
Screenshot of the cut-off tile: Click
The green bar at the bottom is the task bar, the black bar on the right side is just part of the wallpaper.

@humanspida
I had it set up the same way on my old Win 7 PC, which used an older version of Lauhdutin and it didn't happen then. It's about 2 icons wide (Win 10, 1080p), the "width" line in the "@Resources\settings.json" file says "240" and looking at the width of the screenshot that seems to be correct. I already set it to 480, then restarted Rainmeter but nothing changed, so not sure if that's the right file/setting after all.
I just didn't hide "Steaworks Common Redistributables", so that can be the tile that's cut off.

I think your issue could be that skin is not being rewrite. Could you open settings -> Right click -> Rebuild main slots, and after that refresh your main skin if it doesn't happen automatically?

About the other issue, I will check if we can somehow ignore a file if it doesn't exist.

[Nathipha]

@BanCrash
Sorry, right-click what? I found the "RebuildMainSlots" function in the settings.ini but not sure how to access it. If I right-click "settings" in the submenu, the new menu opens (with "skin", "Windows shortcuts", "Steam",... settings) but that option doesn't exist there either.
If I use that menu and refresh the skin, then the changes are applied. What are your settings, how many rows and what's the slot width and height?
With 9 rows and 240 x 115 there's an empty space between the skin and the taskbar. With 10 rows and 240 x 108 the last banner is cut off because of the task bar, so with 10 rows and 240x105 the last banner should theoretically not be cut off (the task bar is 30 pixels tall). Do you know if it's possible to always keep the bottom edge of the skin above the task bar? I can move the skin left and right but not up or down.

Btw, I just got the same error again (line 135) for the same file but this time everything was back to normal after a single "Detect games".

[BanCrash]

@BanCrash
Sorry, right-click what? I found the "RebuildMainSlots" function in the settings.ini but not sure how to access it. If I right-click "settings" in the submenu, the new menu opens (with "skin", "Windows shortcuts", "Steam",... settings) but that option doesn't exist there either.
If I use that menu and refresh the skin, then the changes are applied. What are your settings, how many rows and what's the slot width and height?
With 9 rows and 240 x 115 there's an empty space between the skin and the taskbar. With 10 rows and 240 x 108 the last banner is cut off because of the task bar, so with 10 rows and 240x105 the last banner should theoretically not be cut off (the task bar is 30 pixels tall). Do you know if it's possible to always keep the bottom edge of the skin above the task bar? I can move the skin left and right but not up or down.

Btw, I just got the same error again (line 135) for the same file but this time everything was back to normal after a single "Detect games".

Nevermind, your issue is somewhere else. Do you have enabled the option to hide the skin? If so, could you disable and check if that solves the issue?

EDIT: About the other, I will check it when I have time

[BanCrash]

@Nathipha could you try this to see if solve your line 135 issue?

Go to Lauhdutin folder@Resources\lib\rainmeter_helpers.lua, go to line 125, press Intro to create a new line and then paste in the blank line this:

if not io.fileExists(path, pathIsRelative) then
	return " "
 end

It should add three new lines automatically and should look like this:

[BanCrash]

@Nathipha did you try the code of my previous comment?