[SOLVED by batchfile] Odd Crash - Forge #164/Modloader?

Yep, one of those "omg I modded it and now it daont wurk!" threads.

error report:

*major edit* - of all the bizarre things... the solution was to turn my java command-line into an actual .bat file located in the .minecraft/bin directory - WHY this is so, I sincerely have no idea.

the commandline in question: java -Xms512m -Xmx768m -cp "%APPDATA%\.minecraft\bin\*";
-Djava.library.path="%APPDATA%\.minecraft\bin\natives"
net.minecraft.client.Minecraft

MANY thanks to Hidinginthelight for providing the final solution

-*edit*-
a fresh .jar with ONLY Modloader and Forge #164 (aka Forge 3.3.8.164) installed - in that order - same error.
.jar with ONLY Forge #164 - same error.

*edit II*
Fresh .jar with Modloader and Forge 3.2.4.114 - works fine.

The reason for using Forge #164 is because my IC2 server is unconnectable with earlier versions, for whatever insane reason.

so... can an IC2 server be built using an outdated version of Forge?

Quote from Hidinginthelight

And while you are at it, unless you need ic2 1.95b for a specific server, you may want to upgrade to Ic2 1.97. It may be an issue of the older version of IC2 not working with the newer versions of forge.

...I didn't even realise I was using an older version of IC... to the Batcave!
Progress update in the works.

*edit II* - "Failed to load mod class mod_IC2class" - using Forge 3.2.4.114/IC 1.97 - Using Forge 114 and IC 1.95b works fine.

Quote from Monoxide

Use the recommended build of Forge and the current version of IC2.

oh, such helpful advice! If you'd actually been reading you would have realised I didn't know IC 1.97 was out yet, for one.

*edit* - Forge #135 + IC1.97 works - sort of.
After about 0-20 seconds, it drops out with some form of io. error - mostly bad packets, occasionally a 'string length less than zero' - can only assume this is Forge related? Sorry for lashing out if/when I do. This has been pissing me off for days now...

redundancy for clarity:
Forge #135 + IC1.97 works - sort of.
After
about 0-20 seconds, it drops out with some form of io. error - mostly
bad packets, occasionally a 'string length less than zero' - can only
assume this is Forge related? Sorry for lashing out if/when I do. This
has been pissing me off for days now...

Quote from Monoxide

I would recommend starting with a clean client and server jar, and installing NOTHING but Forge 152. Run the server/client

Here's the thing: I tried installing 152 on a fresh .jar - and got this:

From the look of it, you'd think I installed the server version of Forge onto my MC client - but you'd be wrong. I've tried /both/ #152 versions, to see if the zips were mislabelled when they were posted, and the client zip is the only one that runs long enough to give an error message... this is really starting to aggravate me (and my girlfriend!)

Quote from Hidinginthelight

Have you tried downloading new copies of the forge files?

All 7(!) versions of Forge I currently have are fresh from the download site

Quote from RichardG

That last error could be caused by MCPatcher.

MCWho? I roll my own .jars, I don't use 3rd party patchers at all

Quote from RichardG

There's something very wrong there then - FML is starting to load mods from your user folder... Are you using .minecraft or something such as MultiMC or a batch file?

do you mean .minecraft, as in the default minecraft install directory? yep...
I can't figure out how to make the java command-line actually log me into MC, so when I play SMP I run MC straight from the default launcher .exe; not a batchfile in sight, and I wouldn't even know what MultiMC is (I could hazard a guess, though)

All this is admittedly moot at the moment; I think I'll stick with my present 108 build until the next major version update - but for the sake of others who follow, it'd be good to get to the bottom of just what causes these wierd glitches...

btw, is Forge really supposed to be completely non-dependent on Modloader now? Because from where I sit, it sure don't look that way... thanks heaps for the input peeps

Quote from Hidinginthelight

Something with in that pointed FML to the downloads folder.

I'd dearly like to know what exactly caused that to happen...

Monoxide:
all my mod zips end up in my default Downloads directory (ie c:\documents and settings\aethir\my documents\download)
zipfiles are then extracted into separate folders
minecraft.jar opened with WinRAR
drag/drop files from extracted modfiles directory to jar

I haven't had an issue with this until I tried to patch in a version of Forge that was numbered higher than 108... then everything went spectacularly, horribly wrong. Evidently I need to re-work my procedure.