iPad1 Crashes

[Alec]

More information for anyone who is still experiencing crashes (hopefully not many of you!):

Q: Why is Aquaria crashing on my first-generation iPad (iPad 1)?

A: The most likely cause is that you have too many apps on your iPad.

In addition to storage memory for apps, photos and other data (16, 32, or 64 GB), iPads have system memory which is used by iOS to manage the iPad's data, and by apps themselves (like Aquaria) when they're running. iOS needs a small amount of system memory to keep track of each app that's installed, in addition to the storage memory used by the app. If you only have a few apps installed, this will be just a trivial amount, but as you install more and more apps, iOS begins to use up so much system memory that there's not enough left for the apps to actually run. This is what causes Aquaria to crash.

Q: But it worked an hour ago / yesterday / last week, and I haven't installed anything since then!

A: iOS is complex, and the amount of system memory it uses can change over time for many reasons — the number of installed apps is just one factor. Things like syncing your iPad, checking mail, even just unlocking the screen can reduce the amount of memory available. If you're very close to the limit, you may find that Aquaria works fine on some days but not on others.

Q: Why does this only happen with Aquaria and not other apps?

A: This can happen with any app, and in fact can even happen to the Home screen itself if your iPad is too full. Aquaria is simply much bigger than most current iPad apps, so it runs into this problem sooner.

Q: What can I do to fix the problem?

A: First, upgrade Aquaria to version 1.0.2 or later. Version 1.0.2 includes an adjustment to graphics resolution for the iPad 1 (iPad 2 is unaffected) which will allow it to run more stably even when iOS is using a lot of memory. The change is tuned so you shouldn't notice any difference during normal gameplay.

Also make sure you're using the latest version of iOS; if not, updating iOS may solve your problem.

If that doesn't help, try deleting all the apps you're not actively using from your iPad — remember that you can always reinstall them from iTunes later. It may also help to restart your iPad (power it off and then turn it back on) right before playing Aquaria, which will clear out the system memory and make as much as possible available to the game.

[ppc021]

No, rebooting the iPad (original, not 2) does not solve the problem. It still crashes!

Removing all open apps from the background and rebooting doesn't solve the problem either!

Please fix this!

[achurch]

No, rebooting the iPad (original, not 2) does not solve the problem. It still crashes!

Removing all open apps from the background and rebooting doesn't solve the problem either!

It's possible that the game data is corrupt on your iPad. If you don't have any save files you need to preserve, please try the following:

1. Delete Aquaria from your iPad.
2. Reboot your iPad (power it off and on again).
3. Reinstall Aquaria.

[achurch]

It's possible that the game data is corrupt on your iPad. If you don't have any save files you need to preserve

Here's the version if you do want to keep your save files. Sorry that this is so convoluted; I'll look into whether there's any way to make it easier.

1) Back up your iPad in iTunes (right-click or Command-click the iPad in the left column, then select "Back Up").
2) Quit iTunes.
3) Open Terminal, which can be found under Applications > Utilities.
4) Type (or copy/paste) the following line into the Terminal window and press Return:

      defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool true

5) Open iTunes again, and try right-clicking (or Command-clicking) on the iPad. There should no longer be a "Back Up" option. This is important -- if you leave backups enabled, you'll erase your save data when you reinstall!
6) Delete Aquaria from your iPad.
7) Reboot your iPad (power it off and on again).
8) Reinstall Aquaria.
9) Restore the iPad backup in iTunes. This will put your save files back.
10) Quit iTunes.
11) In the Terminal window, type (or copy/paste) the following line and press Return:

      defaults write com.apple.iTunes DeviceBackupsDisabled -bool false

12) Open iTunes again. The "Back Up" option should now be visible in the iPad's right-click menu.

[ppc021]

It's possible that the game data is corrupt on your iPad. If you don't have any save files you need to preserve, please try the following:

1. Delete Aquaria from your iPad.
2. Reboot your iPad (power it off and on again).
3. Reinstall Aquaria.

I'll give this a try...

[Jonathan1412]

Interesting result of the reinstall:

I just tried uninstalling Aquaria from my iPad 1, rebooted, and reinstalled. I then launched Aquaria and started a new game. I went through the first few caves (grabbing the two pickups in the cave) and the game still crashes at the transition point when you leave the starting cave system. However, upon relaunching I was out of the cave!

We'll see if things are stable from here on out. I may avoid that starting cave for now though. :-)

[Jonathan1412]

Nope, sorry.

It still crashes on iPad 1. This time during the first "firefight", it stuttered for a bit then crashed out. It then crashes whenever I try to restart the game. It seems to happen during big load events or when there is lots of stuff going on.

Jonathan

[False.Genesis]

Random idea: If resource management changed, is there a chance that the iPad goes out of file descriptors?

At least that would possibly explain why it crashes when maps are changed, randomly stops sound/vox playback, and fails to load Lua scripts.
And why rebooting it seems to help at first.


Opensourcing the code already might speed up finding bugs, too ; )

[kahlan]

Just saw new update came out... Says specifically for iPad1 issues.  Hope this helps.

[Delmion]

For the record: I'm using the original iPad and I have not yet had a crash.  I made sure to get to the savepoint after "the first firefight" so I could confirm.

I don't have anything intelligent to add because I don't know what's so different; I'm merely noting that it is not universal.

--Delmion

[achurch]

For those of you still experiencing crashes, your iPad may have some information that would help us figure out what's going on -- "crash reports" and "low memory logs". When you sync your iPad to your computer, these are copied into the following folder:

• Mac OS X -- <HOME_FOLDER>/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/<DEVICE_NAME>
  
• Windows XP -- C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\<DEVICE_NAME>
  
• Windows Vista/7 -- C:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice\<DEVICE_NAME>
  

Look in the folder for either of these things:

• Files whose names start with "Aquaria".
• Files whose names start with "LowMemory", followed by a date and time around when you had a crash.

If you could send any files like that to achurch+aquaria (at) achurch.org, it would be greatly appreciated! If possible, please also include a screenshot of the "About" screen in your iPad's settings (press the Lock and Home buttons together to take a screenshot).

[Delmion]

For general interest, who is/are working on these bugfixes?  And is there a more centralized discussion where we can see what's happening?

I'm concerned that customers (you know, the ones reviewing this game on iTunes) aren't able to see what work is being done, or to contribute if they want to help.

--Delmion

[achurch]

I'm not quite sure what you want to see -- I can't exactly show the neurons firing in my head. (:

The problem is that some people's iPad 1s don't seem to have enough memory to run Aquaria, so I'm trying to gather as much data as possible (logs and device information -- screenshots of "About" info would also be useful, and I've added that to my post above) to try and figure out why some devices have trouble while others run Aquaria fine.

[achurch]

Version 1.0.2 will be released Very Soon, with changes to use less memory so there's less chance of crashing on the iPad 1 (the crashes are caused by the iPad itself running out of memory). Stay tuned!

[achurch]

More information for anyone who is still experiencing crashes (hopefully not many of you!):

Q: Why is Aquaria crashing on my first-generation iPad (iPad 1)?

A: The most likely cause is that you have too many apps on your iPad.

In addition to storage memory for apps, photos and other data (16, 32, or 64 GB), iPads have system memory which is used by iOS to manage the iPad's data, and by apps themselves (like Aquaria) when they're running. iOS needs a small amount of system memory to keep track of each app that's installed, in addition to the storage memory used by the app. If you only have a few apps installed, this will be just a trivial amount, but as you install more and more apps, iOS begins to use up so much system memory that there's not enough left for the apps to actually run. This is what causes Aquaria to crash.

Q: But it worked an hour ago / yesterday / last week, and I haven't installed anything since then!

A: iOS is complex, and the amount of system memory it uses can change over time for many reasons — the number of installed apps is just one factor. Things like syncing your iPad, checking mail, even just unlocking the screen can reduce the amount of memory available. If you're very close to the limit, you may find that Aquaria works fine on some days but not on others.

Q: Why does this only happen with Aquaria and not other apps?

A: This can happen with any app, and in fact can even happen to the Home screen itself if your iPad is too full. Aquaria is simply much bigger than most current iPad apps, so it runs into this problem sooner.

Q: What can I do to fix the problem?

A: First, upgrade Aquaria to version 1.0.2 or later. Version 1.0.2 includes an adjustment to graphics resolution for the iPad 1 (iPad 2 is unaffected) which will allow it to run more stably even when iOS is using a lot of memory. The change is tuned so you shouldn't notice any difference during normal gameplay.

Also make sure you're using the latest version of iOS; if not, updating iOS may solve your problem.

If that doesn't help, try deleting all the apps you're not actively using from your iPad — remember that you can always reinstall them from iTunes later. It may also help to restart your iPad (power it off and then turn it back on) right before playing Aquaria, which will clear out the system memory and make as much as possible available to the game.