Run Error - Floating Point

Jan 07, 2013

Hi, I hope you can help!... When starting a Storyline file, after publishing, by clicking  the Launch_Story file within a published folder, I'm getting a pop up box that states - Floating Point Division By Zero. It pops up only on the first slide and will return if you reload the presentation. It will not re-pop up if you back up using the PREV button.  Thanks in advance for you help/thoughts...!

33 Replies
Dave Schleif

Floating Point Division by Zero - I'm trying to continue working through this issue... It appears to be local on the computer that produced the story, and not within the story it self. I burned some of the cd-rom files to a cd, moved them to another computer, and alas, no Failure Point Division by Zero pop-up. But, on a specific computer, it will not run a finished story without this pop-up coming up, 4-5 seconds after the first slide loads up.... ugh....

Christine Hendrickson

Hi Dave,

I haven't seen that one, before. However, I did notice you were viewing the published content locally. It may be related to a restriction in this case. Have you tried publishing and uploading the content before testing it? 

Here's some additional information about viewing and testing local content:

If you view published Storyline content on your local hard drive or send it to someone else to view on their local hard drive, you'll encounter security restrictions from the computer, web browser, Flash Player, and network that'll cause various features of your content to fail.
To properly test your published content and share it with others, upload it to the environment for which it was published. Please review the following article for details:
Dave Schleif

Hi Christine... ugh, I'm really sorry to hear your news... This error comes up 4-5 seconds after starting a CD-rom after hitting the launch_story icon for a presentation, that is saved on my local hard drive, after publishing, or by hitting the view project, from the publish successful pop-up window, just after publishing. This issue with the Floating Point Division by Zero is really troubling me and I can't seem to find my way out of having it pop-up. My client company invisions utilizing cd-rom technology as their primary mode of delivery of training to field based employees/client companys, and with this issue amonst others, there really beginnng to trouble me a bit. I've been reading about various auto load issues and having clients "fish" into file folders to find the .exe to start a program via cd-rom, and the inability to program a "menu" pop-up that would autoload upon inserting a cd-rom into a player. I've also been working with an issue of not being able to insert presentations onto an iPad without web/drop box access. I think I'm finding out that Storyline may be the best "online" learning authoring tool, but has several unforunate caveats, related to being a the best local, computer accessed, computer driven training delivery vehicle? Thoughts?

Christine Hendrickson

Hi Dave,

Completely understandable. However, if you view content published to CD, you shouldn't see that pop up, either. If you'd like we can take a closer look at the file and see what might be causing the error. Please be sure to mention this forum thread and provide the .story file for the original project, or a project in which you've been able to recreate the issue. Also, if you can, please share the details with me so that I can follow the progress and update this thread with any additional suggestions or solutions. 

Again, I'm sorry you're experiencing this trouble. Hopefully, we'll be able to find out what's causing it so that you won't run into it again in the future. 

Thanks again Dave!

Christine

Dave Schleif

Hi Christine!.. first and most importantly... thank you for all of your help over the last couple of weeks! You've been most helpful, as we go though this investigation phase (ugh!) Anyway, the problem with the Floating Point Division by Zero pop-up appears local to a very specific computer in my office (unfortunately, the newest one, and the one that is best suited to run Storyline). I burned the files to cd-rom and ran them successfully on two other machines, but when any Launch_story.exe file is run on this specific machine, the Floating Point Division by Zero pop-up appears 4 seconds into the first slide. Since this morning, I've reloaded Articulate Stroyline, and re-loaded Flash 11. But... it was still popping up 4-5 seconds after clicking any of the Launch_story.exe files on that computer. A side note was that during a re-boot, an error came up showing that a specfic file - yep you guessed it... Launch_story.exe was not closed, even though it was closed, and it did not show as open on the Windows task bar, and did not show as running in the Application Window of Windows Task Manager. The file did show up as still running within the Processes tab of the Windows Task Manager, and was consuming a steady 50 on the CPU collumn. If have found that if you RIGHT click and Run as Administrator, the problem does not show up! Wow, hey!!!! Your thought on this? I tried various files, and if you run as Admin, the pop does not come up... anyway, my REAL issue is if it can't run normally on this machine, what about others? A client would have a fit, if this happend remotely.... Then there is this whole issue with having clients fish within the cd-rom file structure to find the launch_story.exe file, ugh... Anyway... a couple more questions? Is the Articulate icon for the Launch_story icon easily changed? I'd like a more specific icon if they have to go into the file structure to launch? One more question... Hav people tried "packaging the various files, that are outputed to the cd-rom, similarly to Adobe Captivate? When I've outputed to cd-rom via Captivate, it produces only two files, an auto run file, and the CP application file.... as they appear to "bundle up" the output files, all within that single CP output file... I truly look forward to your continued help and thoughts.... thanks! 

Dave Schleif

I just re-read this and should re-explain... the problem with the Zero pop-up really does go away when you right click any of the launch_story files, hit run as administrator, hit "allow, I trust this" and off it goes, and it they all run just great! A positive step in the right direction, though I have no understanding as to why it runs fine in the admin mode, but by left clicking...

Christine Hendrickson

Good morning Dave!

Sorry about the delay. I did take a quick look this morning and I found your case (#00312977). I'll be following the case for any updates to the issue and I'll update this thread with any solutions or suggestions. I also see that Jayem is working with you on the case and the last response was actually the same thing I was going to suggest

I've honestly never tried to change the icon for the CD executable. Taking a quick look, I'm not sure you'll be able to change that.

In regards to the output for CD - you're going to have the multiple files you see now. I haven't worked with Captivate, but I believe I understand what you mean. I do see how packaging the files into a smaller amount of files would be useful, but it's really not intended for launching locally. Normally, when the content is properly burned onto a CD, the auto launch file is executed, so the user running the CD may not ever even see the other files that are included. 

I hope this answers some of your questions. If not, just let me know :)

Oh, and if you have any updates on the pop-up, please be sure to let Jayem know so that we can keep the case up to date and get this resolved for you!

Thanks again Dave. I hope you have a great day!

Christine

Brian Keefer

I have Storyline loaded on my computer and I get the same Floating Point Division By Zero error when running a published Storyline course (CD version).  The solution seems to be to go back to IE8 from IE9, or to right-click the .exe for the course and run it in compatibility view.  Unfortunately, these two options for running a Storyline course aren't really viable, so I am still stuck with this problem.  My IT person is going to contact Articulate support again.  The good news is that the published course will run on other people's computers that have IE9, so I don't know if it has to do with Storyline being installed on my computer or what.

Christine Hendrickson

Hi Brian. Welcome to the community!

I would definitely like to find out the root cause of this. Just curious, are you in the same position where the course runs on other machines or operating systems without issue? I'm really wondering if it's a restriction, as well.

If possible, can you share the case number that gets assigned to your IT department, so I can keep track of the case? 

Thanks very much,

Christine

Dave Schleif

Hi Brian!!!

So good to hear from you... I've been trying now to get this resolved for a couple of days, with no real progress... The floating point error that pops up for me is coming up when I try to run any launch_story.exe files, directly from this computer, when published as a CD, and run from the hard drive, or from the CD/DVD drive. But, if I open any launch_story.exe file directly from my hard drive or from the CD/DVD drive, and right click as Administator, yep... no pop-up... I too have been waiting on Articulate Support... and I'm somwhat confused as to the hold up... And, I too have found that it's with a specific machine in my office that happens to have Storyline loaded on it, but if I give these (finished programs on a CD) to another computer in the office, they seem to run fine... But...! what prevents this issue from happening to a client, that is running the program on various computers in their office? I'm hesitant to move forward without knowing the reason for the error... ugh... 

Brian Keefer

Yes, the published course works fine on other computers.   My original case number in September was 00295147.   I didn't have time to fool with it again until today when I asked my IT person to spend time on my computer troubleshooting this issue (I don't have an IT department, I have an outside company I have to pay for IT support).   If my IT person gets a different case number I can let you know what it is.

Brian Keefer

Below is the final message from September on this issue.  As mentioned in my previous note, I didn't have time to fool with it until now.  As of right now, my IT person cannot find any problems with my IE9 installation etc. as mentioned below.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your reply.

Based from your tests, as the Articulate content works on most of your users IE9 browsers, works on IE8 on the same machine, then the issue is some conflict between your system and IE9 and Flash Player.

As the issue is already browser specific and system specific, we recommend that you contact you IT department to assist you in troubleshooting the issue with the Internet Explorer 9 browser in your machine.

Just reply to this email if you need more help.

Regards,

Gren Foronda

Christine Hendrickson

Dave,

You won't need to upload the file to me, here. The forums have limited uploads, but our case system will allow larger files so our technical department can properly test them. You' may want to submit it with your case. Jayem sent a request for your files last night, did you receive his request? From the case records the message was sent at 8:44PM on 1/8. Please make sure that the message didn't go to your spam folder or any filters for your email address. 

Brian,

It may be faster if you respond to that original case email so that Gren can continue to work with you on this. Not only that, but if you're having to pay for IT assistance, it would be less expensive, I'm sure. If you explain that you're not working in a company environment that provides an IT department, I'm sure he'll be able to provide some additional suggestions for the conflict that may help fix the issue.

Thanks,

Christine

Dave Schleif

Christine, hi... I did resond to Jayem's email last night after he sent it, mentioning to him that I had already done what he suggested that I do in his email to me, (his request was redundent), as I had explained that in my orginaly submission... Anyway, he stated in his note that I should try to run the file as an administrator, and as mentioned in my orginal submission to him, I had already done that, as was already explained here.... Anyway... I have now sent a Storyline file, with a video capture to him that shows exactly what is happening...

Brian Keefer

Has anyone had any luck solving the "Floating Point Division By Zero" error message when trying to run the published CD version of a Storyline course?  I have done everything, using IT staff which I have to pay for.  We uninstalled and reinstalled Flash, IE9 (both on my account and the IT Administrator account), Storyline, etc. etc.    Uninstalling and reinstalling all the various software does nothing to solve the problem.

Christine Hendrickson

Hi Brian,

It looks like it's related to an issue with admin rights on the machines, from what we've seen so far. There have only been a couple of cases for this issue, though, and the more I see the more it looks system-specific. Any chance you can submit a case with us as well, so we can get a little more information on the problem? Hopefully we'll be able to pinpoint this and work toward a more global solution so we can share the information with anyone else that experiences the problem in the future. 

Also, if you do submit a case please share the case number with me so I can keep track of this issue.

Thanks!

Dave Schleif

Hi Brian... I trulyh share your frustration with this issue, but, unfortunaely... no, I wasn’t able to obtain a fix this issue on my computer… and because of time pressures, I had to take an extended break from trying to fix it, as it was consuming way, way, way too much time. I finally had to move on with other projects… Anyway, I was working with Jayem in Tech Service and during the process I tried… removing and wiping all Articulate Storyline files from my computer, several times, then removing, wiping, and re-installing Flash Player 11 from my computer, several times. I removed a full instance of Flash 8 Professional from this computer, but alas, no luck. I did have several issues with the launch_story.exe running in the background, long after closeing, (as seen in Task Manager) but he wasn't able to help with that either... As a note, I am running an older copy of Adobe Captivate on this box, but I didn’t want to run the risk of removing it, as I’ve got to get some work done with that program… So, as some background, I did produce a Storyline screen capture presentation of the actual error pop-up and sent it to Jayem so he could actually see the pop-up when starting a project after production... so he could see how the pop-up actually expressed itself. He viewed the file, and acknowledges the error, but just haven’t been able to solve it on this computer. Ideas???? PLEASE, if you happen to come up with a solution or if Christine sees/hears of a solution, PLEASE post it here, as I hope to re-engage with Storyline and Articulate, when time allows me to put some time back into this project, as I really hope to institute a software change to Articulate. As a note, I was about "this close" just re-formatting the whole hard drive on this computer, but I just don’t have the time right now to install 20-30 other programs and dealing with possible lost files, etc... Drop me a note and perhaps I can help/compare strategies... Best of luck.

Brian Keefer

Hi Dave,

I am in the same boat as you.  I uninstalled and reinstalled all kinds of software with no luck.  I have also made sure that my user account is in the Admin group on my machine.   The problem seems to only go away if my IT person is signed in under their Admin account, or I roll back to IE8, or I right-click and troubleshoot compatibility of the published file or run as Administrator.

The only thing I didn't try yet was reinstalling Storyline under the IT Admin acccount, but I was nervous about it being installed in that user account and then I run Storyline from my user account and install Storyline updates from my user account.

Dave Schleif

I'm not sure about the IE8 issue. I've been running MSN Explorer, and I have IE-9 installed on this box, too. I have and I run full ADMIN rights, as I am the administrator at log on, and I have no restrictions... For me, this pop up occurs, whenever I produce, and run a "for CD" Storyline presention, regardless of it being run directly after production, by hitting the "view now" button, or if I save the cd-produced .exe file on to the hard drive first then run it after exploring for it on the hard drive, or if I run it from an actual stand alone cd-rom, using the cd-rom/dvd drive... with me,  the pop-up appears 99% of the time. I did have some instances where with the very first run of a particular new presentation, the pop-up didn't pop up.... Other than that, the pop-up comes up every time I run a "for cd" presentation. I have other Vista machines here, of the same brand, and they run the file fine, without pop-up. We've even tried a cd-rom file that was produced by Articulate, sent here via email, tried to run it.. and yep, the pop-up still occured... I've tried just about anything dealing with Admin, Flash, Articulate, but the solution still evades... ugh.

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