Troubleshooting: Common installation issues

If the software you downloaded from this site is not opening properly on your machine there are a couple of things you can try to fix the problem.

Compiled MATLAB applications:

    • Don't install the software to the 'Program Files' folder if you run Windows 7. This is because the software must be able to create and save setup files on startup which is blocked by Windows in the 'Program Files' directory.

    • The software must be located in a folder with full administrator rights.

  • The compiled versions are Windows-applications. If you need a compiled version for another platform write me an email and I will see what I can do.

  • Make sure the correct version of the MATLAB Compiler Runtime (MCR) is installed. This information is provided in the readme-file associated with the software. You can have multiple installations of different MCR versions without conflicts.

  • If you get an error similar to: "The procedure entry point "? throw_exception_v4@... could not be located in the dynamic link library "tbb.dll"." this may be because there is a conflict with other installed software, possibly Labview. Solution: Copy the tbb.dll file from the MATLAB Compiler Runtime installation folder to the software installation folder containing the .exe file. Thanks to Thomas Kure, Technische Universität Berlin, for this info.

  • If you get the error 'Entry point not found', this may also be because you have multiple installations of MATLAB on your computer. To resolve this problem, change your system path variable such that $MATLAB\bin\win32 corresponding to the latest MATLAB release appears first on the system path. Here, $MATLAB is the MATLAB root directory on your machine, as returned by typing 'matlabroot' at the MATLAB Command Prompt. This is how you set the system path.

  • If you install the MCR on a machine that already has MATLAB on it, you must position the MCR-path before the MATLAB-path in the Windows system path. See the MATLAB documentation 'Modifying the Path' for more information. This is how you set the system path.

    • In some cases MATLAB applications compiled on a 32-bit machine does not run properly on a 64-bit machine and vice-versa. I am working on distributing the software compiled on different platforms. Until then there is not much I can do.

MATLAB versions:

  • The software and its sub-folders must be located in a folder with full administrator rights.

  • If you experience that texts in the GUI objects (buttons etc.) exceeds the size of the object itself, i.e. if you can't see the full text of a button, this is likely because MATLAB is interpreting your screen resolution wrong. This is also the same concern when the GUI opens in an odd size, such as very small.

  • See this guide on how to turn off text zooming in Windows.

  • If MATLAB crashes/freezes when running the program this is likely a Java memory issue. You can try two things to fix the problem:

    1. Increase the Java heap space in MATLAB: See MATLAB's own guide here. Note that in R2010 and onwards this is easily set in MATLAB's Preferences menu. At least 250 MB can be needed.

    2. If step 1. did not help search the .m-file of the program for the following line of code (one line):

set(findobj(handles.figure1, '-property', 'FontUnits'),'FontUnits', 'normalized')

and remove it. This line is located in the opening function and makes texted items resize when resizing the GUI. However, in some cases it has caused MATLAB to crash. In particular MATLAB versions prior R2012.

If none of the above helped after a computer restart please fill the online feedback form or write me an email directly with your problem.