OpenCPN 4.2 crashes and hangs up -- regressed to 3.2

[Akka]

I installed OpenCPN 4.2 on my Windows 10 system, and it hung up so many times that I was forced to reinstall OpenCPN 3.2, just in order to navigate. I use this program mainly for its intended purpose, which is to navigate in real time, so I can't tolerate repeated crashes.

The one crash I can track to an action on my part was in designing a route. I started with a waypoint near my current boat position, which was right near the waypoint I had entered the day before, as the place I wanted to anchor. The program prompted me, as usual, with RouteCreateScreen, "Use nearby waypoint?" I selected "Yes", as I almost always have done in 3.2, and the computer hung up -- "OpenCPN not responding." I finally had to reboot, and this time when I chose that waypoint location I answered "Use nearby waypoint?" with "No". The program hung up again.

There were numerous other crashes for unexplained reasons. Additionally, I had great difficulty getting the connection to my GPS to work -- especially uploading waypoints. So in the end, because I need a navigation program, I uninstalled OpenCPN 4.2 and installed my old OpenCPN 3.2, which works fine, but only after I did a complete reinitialization.

I'd love to move back up to the most recent product, but am leery of doing so. I haven't seen this problem reported here before; was it perhaps because one of the data files was corrupted? Unfortunately, those files are now gone, so I have nothing to send developers.

[bdbcat]

Akka...

The hang when selecting a nearby waypoint is a well-known bug in O4.2

We are currently in Beta test on 4.2.2 which corrects this bug, among a few others.

We would like to know more about your various other crashes/hangs. O4.2 has been reasonably stable for most users....

Thanks for your patience
Dave

[Akka]

Should I download the Beta 4.2.2 and try it? Right now, I'm not in passage, so I could do that.

[bdbcat]

Akka...

Sure. O 4.2.1706 is much more stable than O3.x.
Also, the "nearby waypoint" bug is fixed in this Beta.

And you can give us valuable feedback before we release.

Thanks
Dave

[Akka]

OK, I'll try it. Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706

First comments:

1. The icon in my quick-launch bar is a blank page, not the usual OpenCPN icon. No big deal as long as no other programs in that bar do the same thing

2. An MOB waypoint I dropped the other day won't go away. When I right-click on it, I don't get a "Delete" option. Am I stuck with this waypoint forever?

[bcn]

The icon might be shown later or the next time you restart your system. Happens under Windows sometimes after an install.

MOB - this is by design :
Marks and Routes | Official OpenCPN Homepage
says

The Man OverBoard mark can be activated through the icon in the toolbar, or through hitting Ctrl + Space-bar. The mark looks like the button and is dropped on own boats present gps position. This mark cannot be moved or deleted with the cursor or keyboard (by mistake), but can still be deleted from the Route/Waypoint manager dialog.

[pupuce]

I had the same bug with Open CPN 4.2
Another solution is to do a right click on the road, not on the way point and choose "extend" or "continue" the road (in french "prolonger" la route)

[Akka]

bcn,

Thanks! The OpenCPN icon did appear when I rebooted.

1706 appears to be stable; I'll let you know later, when I'm actually using it to navigate in real time!

I found another trick to delete MOB waypoints, and it's really easy -- right-click on the waypoint and change the icon to anything else, like an anchor or triangle or whatever. Then you can delete it as with any other waypoint.