EQ2 Graphics :: Reference :: RM4DF SigMaster, Part VI: Troubleshooting

:: Part I: Introduction :: Part II: The Config File :: Part III: The Template File ::
:: Part IV: The Base Image :: Part V: The Moment of Truth :: Part VI: Troubleshooting ::

Part VI: Troubleshooting

Help!! It's not working!

Thankfully, SigMaster has a pretty detailed DEBUG routine. Figuring out why your sigs aren't generating properly is sometimes the easiest part of the whole process! ;)

This page contains some scenarios you may encounter and the steps you need to take to resolve them. If you've encountered an issue with SigMaster that's not covered here, please visit the official Roster Master thread on the EQ2 Official Forums. Give us a detailed account of the SigMaster problems you're having, and we'll do our best to help!

First Things First

To properly debug SigMaster and figure out why your sigs aren't generating properly, we first need to set the DEBUG flag to TRUE. The process is very simple:

Open the sigmaster.inc file that's located in our /modules/Roster_Master/functions directory. You can use your favorite HTML editor, or failing that, Notepad. (Just make sure Notepad doesn't save the file as sigmaster.inc.txt!)
Look around line 46 in sigmaster.inc for the following code:
```
$DEBUG = FALSE;
```
Change "FALSE" to "TRUE," then reupload your file to the /modules/Roster_Master/functions directory.
Login to your guild's website and go to the roster page.
Click the "Manage Characters" link at the top of the roster.
Any characters you've claimed will be listed there. (If you haven't yet claimed your character(s), now's a good time to do it!) Click the icon that looks like a white paper with a blue quill on it.
Instead of opening a new window or tab that just shows you a broken image, you should see a templated error message telling you why SigMaster can't generate your sig.
Once you are finished debugging your SigMaster, don't forget to set the $DEBUG flag in sigmaster.inc back to FALSE!

Listed below are many of the error messages you may encounter. Again, if your issue isn't listed here, or if these steps don't resolve your problem, please tell us about it in the official Roster Master thread.

FATAL: Access control error. You are not permitted to complete this operation.

You are not allowed to administrate the Roster Master module, or you're not currently logged in as an administrator. You might get this error after attempting to perform one of several actions:

Attempting to purge the signature block cache.
Attempting to force a roster refresh.
Attempting to preview a claim or sig.

If you feel you're receiving this message in error, you should contact your guild website administrator.

Fatal error. Prerequisite missing.

This error will be followed by one of the following statements:

The GD library extension, required for Signature Master operation, is not loaded and/or installed.
Freetype Support, required for Signature Master operation, is not installed.
The imagettftext() function, required for Signature Master operation, is disabled by configuration.
The imagettftext() function, required for Signature Master operation, does not exist.

Running into any one of these errors is a Bad Thing. You can double-check whether or not your webserver is running these prerequisites by browsing to your Dragonfly admin panel; click "System Info," then click "PHP Modules." If they are enabled (except for imagettftext()), you should see a section that looks like this under the heading "GD":

GD Support          enabled  
GD Version          bundled (2.0.28 compatible)  
FreeType Support    enabled  
FreeType Linkage    with freetype  
GIF Read Support    enabled  
GIF Create Support  enabled  
JPG Support         enabled  
PNG Support         enabled  
WBMP Support        enabled  
XBM Support         enabled

If you don't have GD or Freetype, imagettftext() will not be able to function. You should contact your website host regarding these issues. There is no workaround.

Signature request for invalid characterId "123456789."

You have attempted to load a sig for a character whose ID is not in the roster database. There can be several causes:

That character isn't a member of this particular guild.
User error (a typo while tweaking the code)
Corrupted data (from the SOE guild summary page or from the roster database)

Character in exclusion list. No signature generated.

The sig you're looking for belongs to a character who is in one of the "excluded" ranks. These ranks are listed in config.inc, under the "exclude_ranks" array. You can un-exclude ranks by deleting them from the array.

Could not allocate signature block image file "My_Super_Guild.png."

SigMaster can't find any base image to use in this sig. If you're using archetype-, class-, or rank-specific images and SigMaster doesn't find the appropriate one of those, it falls back to using the default image. If the default base image is also missing (and you didn't upload the generic base image distributed with the module), you will see this error.

Double-check that the filename you provided in config.inc and your actual filename match; they are CaSe SeNsItIvE!
Make sure your base images have been uploaded to the correct location: "/modules/Roster_Master/images/sigblocks"

Error parsing signature block template file "My_Super_Guild.txt."

There is an error in the syntax in your template file. This error will be followed with a line-by-line listing of the errors that were encountered, whether they're negative numbers or variables that have already been defined.

There may be a negative number in your coordinates. Your coordinates can't go lower than "0."
There may be a dash ("-") in your font filename. Deleting the dash in the filename or replacing it with an underscore, for instance, will resolve this.

Could not allocate avatar image file "123456789.png."

The avatar image for this character is of an unsupported file type. SigMaster is hard-coded for PNG avatars, base images, and guild rank insignias, but you will see this message if the avatar isn't a PNG, GIF, or JPEG image file.

If you don't want to include an avatar in your sigs, the "AVATAR" line in your template can be safely erased, or it can be commented out by adding two forward slashes ("//") to the beginning of the line.

Could not find avatar image file "123456789.png."

The avatar image for this character can't be found.

Double-check that the image is in PNG format. SigMaster is hard-coded for PNG avatars, base images, and guild rank insignias.
Double-check that the image filename exactly matches the character ID.
Make sure your avatars have been uploaded to the correct location: "/modules/Roster_Master/images/avatars"

Could not map rank "Initiate;" check the configuration of the $config['lookup_rank'] array in "modules/Roster_Master/config.inc."

This character's rank, "Initiate," isn't listed as a valid rank for your guild. You should edit the config.inc file to reflect your guild's in-game rank names.

Could not allocate guild rank image file "default_rank_1.png."

The guild rank insignia image corresponding to this character's rank is of an unsupported file type. SigMaster is hard-coded for PNG avatars, base images, and guild rank insignias, but you will see this message if the insignia isn't a PNG, GIF, or JPEG image file.

If you don't want to include a rank insignia in your sigs, the "RANK" line in your template can be safely erased, or it can be commented out by adding two forward slashes ("//") to the beginning of the line.

Could not find guild rank insignia image file "default_rank_1.png."

The guild rank insignia image corresponding to this character's rank can't be found.

Double-check that the image is in PNG format. SigMaster is hard-coded for PNG avatars, base images, and guild rank insignias.
Double-check that the image filename matches the "default_rank_#.png" naming scheme.
Make sure your guild rank insignia images have been uploaded to the correct location: "/modules/Roster_Master/images/sigblocks"

Could not find template value for the color "White."

The color "White" does not correspond to a hexidecimal value in your template file.

Color names are CaSe SeNsItIvE! "White" isn't the same as "white" or "WHITE."
There was not a hex value provided for "White" in your template, even though the color name was specified.
The "White" line is commented out (it has two forward slashes ("//") at the beginning of the line).

Could not find font file "modules/Roster_Master/fonts/MyCoolFont.ttf."

SigMaster can't find the font you specified in your template file.

Font names are CaSe SeNsItIvE! "MyCoolFont.ttf" isn't the same as "mycoolfont.ttf" or "MYCOOLFONT.TTF."
Make sure your font file has been uploaded to the correct location: "/modules/Roster_Master/fonts"

That's it! Your SigMaster should be up and running like a charm now! :)

Please don't forget that there is an entire community of Roster Master developers and users ready and willing to help, so if you have an issue with SigMaster -- or with Roster Master in general -- that isn't addressed here, tell us about it in the official Roster Master thread.