Download problems

Publius · **Download problems -** 05-16-2014, 01:31 PM

Hi, all! New to Alice, as in haven't even managed to try it yet, because I can't seem to download it. When I download the installer, all I get is a txt file which opens by default in Notepad. The contents don't even look like code; it's just page after page of wingdings and gibberish. I've looked around on this forum and found nothing for this; searching on Google, I found other people who've reported the same problem but nobody mentioned a solution that I could find.

I'm running Windows 8, and have the latest version of Java installed.

Any help would be much appreciated!

jrrTolkien · **Ah! -** 05-16-2014, 07:46 PM

Yes, this happened to me too. I tried editing the name of the file and changing the extension from .txt to .exe, then run it as the installer.

-Jrr

jrrTolkien · **Oh! -** 05-16-2014, 07:48 PM

Oh, right. the "file extension" is the last 3 characters in the file name. You may need to unhide the extension. Post if you don't know how to do that.

-Jrr

Publius · 02:40 AM

I actually tried that...renaming it to .exe did nothing, it still just opened as a text document. Is there another step I'm missing?

Edit: Looking at the file in my download folder, it actually ends with the extension .exe already, but is still described as a "text document" everywhere its properties are described. Maybe there is a hidden extension, in which case I don't know where to find it.

jrrTolkien · **Well... -** 05-17-2014, 07:01 AM

It probable comes like that, but you have to unhide the file extension. Open control panel, select "file and folder options," then "view," and "advanced settings." Next, there will be something saying "hide known file extensions." You want to make sure that this is unchecked. Then, it should show up on your file as .exe.txt. Remove the .txt part and it should be runable. Hope this helps!

-Jrr

jrrTolkien · 05-17-2014, 07:05 AM

Also, is this Alice 3 or Alice 2 that you're trying to get?

-Jrr

MrMoke · **Focus somewhat on download instructions -** 05-17-2014, 09:42 AM

The web site has instructions on the proper procedures. BUT:

For Windows:
With Alice2 (use 2.4.2), I usually do a "save as". This makes sure that the file has a .zip extension, and is stored where you want it. Then just unpack it to desired folder, and go from there.

With Alice3, the install instructions are specific for version 3.1.92 only. The executable for windows is now a .exe file. So far, I have been unable to get it to work on my WIN7 computer, although the older 3.1.81 version works fine with Java8.

jrrTolkien · **Are you sure? -** 05-17-2014, 01:29 PM

I don't know. I wanted to try and download the Alice 3 again, and it came as a .txt. I changed it to .exe, and it still won't work. I think that's what happened to Publius as well, except that I don't know what happens when he tries to install it.

-Jrr

MrMoke · 05:02 PM

the off-line and on-line installers are executables for the O/S you are using.
.exe for Windows
.tgz for mac
.sh for Linux

Universal is just a .zip that you unpack like the Alice 2 package.

The problem may have something to do with the specific web browser, so I keep Chrome as my backup.

jrrTolkien · **Well, -** 05-17-2014, 07:22 PM

I use firefox most of the time. It is usually less bug-prone than chrome or IE. I should try getting Alice in chrome...

-Jrr