Splash Error

Symptoms:

When starting JavaBB, a splash error (see below) comes up, and the application fails to start.

SPLASH ERROR
The original splash image is either corrupted, missing, or changed.
Replace the original splash image and restart.

What it means:

This error message indicates that a file (the splash image in this case) wasn't found in your javabb folder. 99% of the time, it's because you installed the latest patch version, without installing the most recent full version first (a simple mistake to make). You should always be able to fix this problem with a fresh install of JavaBB.

Solution:

Taken from a forum post by BadMrMojo).

Note that the version numbers in this post refer to 8.8a and 8.8b, however, it applies any time you install a patch.

It sounds like you downloaded the patch (the 8.8b version) but didn't install it (by dragging it into the 8.8a folder). Nine times out of ten, the "Corrupted or Broken Splash Image" error means that you installed the patch incorrectly.

So to fix it (and this really isn't complicated enough for 15 steps, I'm just being as thorough as possible)...

1. Delete all copies of Javabbowl, bbowl, etc... off your hard drive. Really. Just start from scratch.
2. Download the full version - 8.8a. You wind up with a .zip file sitting on your machine somewhere. Remember where.
3. Unzip the 8.8a full download.
4. Put the 'bbowl' folder wherever you like and then leave it there. Do not move anything out of that folder. Just leave it be.
   (Let's pretend you're using a PC and you choose to put it at "C:/bbowl". I'm going to refer to that below, but just remember to swap in the folder that you really chose to use.)
5. Now, really quick-like, just open that folder at C:/bbowl and double-click on bbowl.jar. It should open up and say 8.8a, allowing you to start a standalone game as a test.
   I recommend taking this opportunity to set your options as you like them. The only mandatory one is clicking on the FUMBBL Login option.)
6. Start up your standalone game and click through to the first turn. Concede and end the game. Make sure you get the end of game screen.
7. Close the .jar file. You've successfully installed and configured the old version.
8. Download the 8.8b patch. Remember where you save the .zip file.
9. Unzip the 8.8b patch .zip file.
10. Go into the folder that you just created and find bbowl.jar.
11. Copy the bbowl.jar from the patch folder and paste it into C:/bbowl. It will as if you want to overwrite the old, 8.8a version. Say yes.
12. Repeat step 11 for any other FILES (not folders)!
    I could be wrong, but I think 8.8b is just the new .jar file and maybe a new readme. Nothing trixy.
13. Double-click on the new C:/bbowl/bbowl.jar to start up 8.8b. It should work fine.
    Note that you can play like this. Just double-click on the .jar file and copy and paste in the roster and host information. It's really not that hard.
14. To get the "Play" link set up, try clicking on it. It should as you to find the bbowl directory.
15. Navigate to C:/bbowl and click on "choose".

Other possible causes:

This error can also occur if the "startup" folder is not set to your BBowl folder. Solving this depends on your operating system. For windows you can use the "Startup Folder" property of the shortcut you use to launch JavaBB, or can use a batch file to change the folder first. In linux, you can use a script to change the folder before launching java.

It will be something along the lines of:
cd ~/bbowl
java -jar Bbowl.jar

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