Printing Cards and etwin.dll !problem! 2

[james33]

Has anyone got any answers to this problem: when I try printing a card in a cardfile and a window appears that says: etwin.dll the required resource is unavailable with the option to click on OK it pulses too as if to a rhythm. If you click on OK the window appears again and again ad infinitum.
or without the preceding 'Drama' Windows crashes and when you return to Sidekick there is an untitled Cardfile which you cannot access without crashing again. The only way to carry on is to go to File/Close cardfiles and select that cardfile in the dialogue box.
This happens only occasionally but is worse if I have my printer shared on the network.
Now I know that etwin.dll is to do with Earth Time but why it should affect printing is beyond me.
I am running Win95 and Sidekick98 + SecondCopy97 no virus programme
Is there an update to etwin.dll?
I'll be glad of any help on the matter as I have tried a lot of different workarounds.
Thank you in advance
James33

 

[noslenp]

James,
I am also having a similar problem with Sidekick 99.
I see it is documented on the Starfish site but they have no solutions. Even though Sidekick99 is no longer supported I still use it all the time for a few reasons.
Easy to use - small files for lots of data - I find outlook to be too heavy on resources.
Anyway my problem is an error with etwin.dll occurs apparently at random and sometimes causes the computer to crash which can be terrible if you have not saved your excel sheet for example. A required resource was not available is the error message and it keeps appearing every second so that soon your screen is cluttered with 50 or 60 identical error messages. If you manually click OK on all of these you can sometimes close them all down and then close Sidekick99. It then stops if you restart Sidekick and may not come back for days/weeks.
Have you come across this problem.
There seems to be no reason for the error and may not happen for days or weeks however it always comes back.
It happens when Sidekick is just open in the background you do not have to be doing anything.
I would be interested if you had any comments.
Regards
Philip Nelson

 

[james33]

Dear Nelson,
I would think that it is possible that you are using Sidekick99 with Win95; is that the case? If it is, then going on my experience (admittedly with Sidekick98) the following seems to hold true:
I run Sidekick on 4 machines at work and it runs fine with Win98 and Win98SE (I installed the Patch for Sidekick98 on both) and Sidekick95 runs great on Win95 except for the Invalid File in the Calendar.
However I get the etwin.dll problem on the machine that has Win95 and Sidekick98 so I can only assume that the problem exists with that configuration.

I also run SecondCopy97 on all.

The problem is on the machine with a Hewlett Packard 660C printer (I haven't updated the drivers), in fact I use HP690C Drivers now I come to think of it as I couldn't get the others at the time.

The problem also seems to happen more frequently if I 'Share' the printer over a peer to peer network.
If any of these echo your experience I would appreciate it if you could post a reply or email me direct as I do still need to use this program.
Also Have you tried changing any settings on the printer?
One other thing, where do you save the calendar file is it in Userdata if not try moving it there (File/Save as).
Any ideas would be gratefully received.
Regards
Jim

 

[noslenp]

James,
Thanks for taking the time to reply (My first name is Philip by the way I hope yours is James)
In reply - I am using Windows 98 and did not have the problem with Windows 95 I also have installed the upgrade from the website.
I am using both a HP870cxi and a 970cxi on a network connection. I however dont have your printer problem but exactly the same problem with the ad-finutum pulsating error message with etwin.dll
This is the only problem I have but I find Sidekick so useful I would find it very hard to give up using it as I have not found a better PIM.
I do save the calender file in USerdata also.
I really dont know any other suggestions and it looks as if Starfish gave up on this also.
I also think that Sidekick98 was a much better programme especially the to do list could have users etc but upgraded to 99 and stuck with it.
Sorry I cant be of more halp but will get back to you if I come across anything else and hope you will do the same.
Regards
Philip

 

[buczacz]

I too would appreciate any insight with regard to ETWIN.dll problem.
I run Sidekick98 on Win98 usually with Netscape in background.

Occasionally, once or twice per day, Sidekick starts looking for file
ETWIN.dll, can't find it, posts so many error messages, machine crashes.
I have a memory dump log of most all of my crashes, but I've not found pattern.
Could the event that triggers this be due to Sidekick seeking to synchronize
the time clock when some other program is already using the ETWIN.dll?

I see reference to Sidekick98 update. What is this? I vaguely recall downloading
a sidekick update that cured a problem associated with going from Win95 to Win98.

 

[james33]

Hello again buczacz,
You can disable the Time synchronisation by double clicking the icon in the Systray and entering 0 in the Synchronise every ### minutes Box.
Do let me know if this works.
I do think though, that it is related to the Earth Time display?
I run Sidekick on 4 different machines and as you can see from my post above I only have ever had the problem with 2 networked machines which share a printer.
If you can work it out please do let us know.

The Update Patch is only for Sidekick98 and you can check it out through the FAQ page by clicking on the link
Check out the FAQ
area for this forum!
Regards Jim

 

[james33]

Dear All,
Further to the original discussion (I re-read the previous posts) and I have a way that works for me (To avoid a total crash) and that is to use the old 3 finger salute Ctrl/Alt/Delete and then choose Sidekick and close that down.
I seem to have reduced the frequency of the 'EVENT' too, by setting the properties of the printer to the same on both machines.
i.e. Paper size, print quality etc.
Jim :-0

 

[buczacz]

James.. I should of also mentioned that I have a cable modem, and so my machine is interacting with an Eithernet card at all times. Your statement that you only get the etwin.dll problem on machines that are networked with the printer suggests to me that the problem might be related to dealing with a network rather than the printer.

I might add that I certainly did not have the problem before I installed the cable modem, and I think the problem first developed when I switched to Win98. I had so many problems with old (but key) software when I switched to Win98 that I was not paying much attention to sidekick.

I do know that I can ask Sidekick to synchronize the time, and it will do it without problem. Is there any other program that might be using the ETwin.dll, and could the ETwin.dll be viewed as "unavailable" if Sidekick was to go looking for it when another application was using it. I'm really reaching, but if two programs were both scheduled to use the etwin.dll at different times, their occasional collision would probably seem random.

I do agree, if I'm working on the machine when Sidekick starts looking for etwin.dll, and I'm fast enough on the draw to close sidekick, I can prevent a crash. Of late, I've found that the Escape key is the fatest way to back out the etwin.dll error messages so as to give one enough time to use cntrl-alt-delete to close sidekick.

buczacz in Los Angeles

 

[james33]

Dear buczacz,
Are you on a network all the time as well as the cable modem or are we talking about an always-on connection (a costly concept in Ireland which is why I am unfamiliar).
If you are also on a LAN perhaps you could try
1. Disabling the Time synchronisation and
2. Check the printer settings are similar on your machine and the machine with the printer attached.
By the way, is the printer you use an HP?

It would appear that the only program that uses etwin.dll is Earth Time which is running all the time in the background, (though I could be wrong) but the only way to check that would be to use a program like dllSpy (I think it is called).
Even with that you would probably have to decompile the program to find the exact references!!
If you have any further thoughts on the issue do please let us all know, as it is presumably our problem now that Starfish are not not supporting it.
It could be a good idea if one of us purchased a copy of Sidekick99 from whoever you said still sells it and then
insist that they SUPPORT it....

In eager anticipation of a solution
Yours Jim

 

[buczacz]

I doubt any of the sellers of Sidekick98 or Sidekick99 will or could provide support. Every once in a while I get a solicitation through the US Mail or via e-mail offering same for sale. I suspect someone bought out Starfish's stock and is trying to peddle it as best they can.

I'm talking about an always on connection via cable modem. Currently, there is only one machine connected via the eithernet cable to my cable modem. My current modem only supports one connection to the best of my knowledge.

Yes my parallel port printer is an HP. It's an HP LaserJet Series II. Its old but it makes good copies for penies. My serial port printer is an old Apple Imagewriter II which is used to print tractor fed checks.

I'll try disabling the automatic time synchronization, but it may take weeks to verify that it makes a difference. Since I added more memory, I'm now at 128 + 56 = 192 MByte, the etwin.dll problems seems to be occuring less often.... or it could be that I'm spending rebooting my computer more frequently because of other crashes.

It good to see that I'm not alone in having to tackle this problem.

Michael in Los Angeles

 

[pfrei]

There is a patched etwin.dll available from Starfish. Go to there ftp site at:

ftp://ftp2.starfish.com/pub/sk98/

There you can download the new etwin.dll file.

Pius

 

[buczacz]

Before I install the new etwin.dll, does anyone know why or how it solves the "can't find etwin.dll" problem.

What does the program skw98sea.exe do?

I assume that sk98patch.exe is the same patch that has been available for many months which cures a Windows98 compatibility problem not present with Win95.

Of possible interest to readers. One person suggested that the etwin.dll was connected in some way with "Earth Time." Thinking that the problem might have to do with Sidekick's automatic updating of my clock, I changed the clock update interval from 480 hrs to 1 hour. I experienced no significant change in the frequency of lost etwin crashes.

 

[james33]

Dear all,
As I saw from the properties of the File etwin.dll located at the Starfish site it does appear to be slightly younger than the one that I had on my computer but not a lot... It still predates the Year 2000 so I am not sure it does anything towards solving the problem.
However I am willing to be convinced otherwise.
have you tried it out yet pius?
And does it work?
That was a good try buczacz with the clock but still no result.
Good luck all
Keep trying and let us know if you have any luck.
Jim

 

[pfrei]

I installed this patch way back in 1998 (I think it was released somewhere around April 1998).
All I can say is that I have not had any problems as described above, be it under Win95, Win98, or Win2000.

Pius

 

[buczacz]

Reviewing "Can't find etwin.dll" problem..

If one downloads and runs skw98sea.exe, the program installs
sidekick.exe of 2859 Kb dated 12/1/97
etwill.dll 571 K dated 12/1/97
and many associated files.
This seems to be the original sk98 program.

If one downloads and runs sk98patch.exe, 1193 Kb, dated,
sidekick.exe is changed to 2860 Kb with a 1/7/2000 date, and
original Yintl.dll, is replaced with a 79 Kb file dated 1/11/2000

When the original sk98 is run on Win98, one gets an error message when double clicking on a day in the "week" calendar presentation. The error message is "invalid file to complete this action, Mast.wk." The error is not critical and can be bypassed. Running the sk98patch.exe eliminates this error messages.

At least on my machine running Win98, Netscate 4.7+, and Office95, I sometimes get the numerous error messages, "can't find etwin.dll." If you can close SideKick before too many error messages are posted by pressing "escape," you can recover control. Otherwise, machine crashes, and it must be totally rebooted.

I'm not sure what purpose is served by the etwin.dll. Prior posting suggests it has to do with "Earth time." Given that it might be associated with updating of the clock, I changed the update frequency to see if machine would crash more often. I changed update frequency from once ever 8 hours to once every two minutes. The change seems to have had no impact. I note that there is also a timeupdate

In mid-Nov. 2001, I increased the memory in my machine from 128 MByte to 192 Mbyte. It seems like my etwin.dll crashes are now less frequent, but they still do occur. I've noted etwin related crashes on..

(starting 2001) 2/15, 2/16, 2/19, 3/4, 3/6, 3/14, 3/16. 3/19, 3/26, 4/4, 4/9, 4/11, 5/9, 8/14, 8/28, 8/29, gone all Oct. 2001, added memory in Nov. 2001, 12/12, 12/18

The absence of incidents in June and July may be a record keeping problem, but I note that my log contains entries for other types of crashes in the June - July time period. The decreasing frequency of etwin crashes may also be due to changes in Win98, Office95 or Netscape 4.7 software; all are updated on a regular bases.

Even though etwin.dll is becoming less of a problem, suggestions will still be welcomed.

buczacz in Los Angeles

 

[james33]

Dear Buczacz,
I did say earlier in the thread to disable Time Synchronising completely
You can disable the Time synchronisation by double clicking the icon in the Systray and entering 0 in the Synchronise every ### minutes Box.
Do let me know if this works.
Regards Jim

 

[buczacz]

Per suggestion above... I'm going to disable time synchronization, although I don't think it is the problem inasmuch as increasing the frequency did not impact crashes. Since the 1st of January I have a new problem with Sidekick. At times I get message "True Sync ... can not find..." The result is the same as the "etwin can't find, " a hard crash. I don't know if the change of date (new year) is responsible or just a conincidence. I don't use a Palm Pilot, and I do not have the True Sync function installed, it does not show up as an operating program when you press control-alt-delete, and it does not show up in the program list in the control panel under the "add/delete programs" option.

Whereas I was getting an "etwin can't find" crash about twice a month, I've gotten three "True Sync can't find" crashes in the past two days, and I've not been using my machine very many hours.

I'll let you know what happends.

Michael in Los Angeles

 

[james33]

Buczacz,
Ihave the same Installation as you (Sidekick98 on Win98SE but not Netscape I have IE5) but no problems and I haven't got tru-sync installed either.
Just a risky suggestion, but have you thought of installing the tru-sync program by going to tools|synchronise|tru-sync and then following the installation procedure
(Back up first)!!!?
Very Important: Read the article on the Starfish Webpage about saving/backing up the label/envelope formats/etc. The files are: sklayout.skw/ skwlb2.skw/ skwnv2.skw/ skwph2.skw and are in the Starfish\Sidekick98\data Directory.
It can't be much worse... but make sure you have Sidekick98 + Patch Disc/Files ready
Jim

 

[james33]

For All who may heed my suggestion about Re-Installing.

Just make sure you have read your manual and
Back Up ALL your files as in Resources Templates Labels Envelopes PhoneFields etcetc
Regards Jim

 

[catcutter]

I am having a problem with Sidekick99 and windows XP. I loaded Sidekick99 4 months ago and it ran fine. The past couple weeks it would sometimes not load when I clicked on the icon. Today it said it could not find the etwin.dll file. So I played a few minutes and figured something was corrupted. I uninstalled and then tried to reinstall. Big mistake. Now it starts to install, but when I click on logo to proceed it shows a demodisk software start then nothing. JUst goes to desktop with no messages. I can not seem to get the setup.exe past this demodisk thing.

Any suggestions? Is is a windows XP issue with an updated patch? Is it a timed selfdestruct? Did I not patch a y2k issue somewhere? What is going on?

Thanks
Mark