Dwarf Fortress Bug Tracker - Dwarf Fortress
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IDProjectCategoryView StatusDate SubmittedLast Update
0001046Dwarf FortressDwarf Mode -- Jobs, Smeltingpublic2010-04-12 07:492010-06-09 06:45
Reporterguilliman 
Assigned ToToady One 
PriorityhighSeveritycrashReproducibilityalways
StatusclosedResolutionfixed 
PlatformPCOSWin Vista 64bit UltimateOS Version
Product Version0.31.02 
Target VersionFixed in Version0.31.05 
Summary0001046: Melting item produces hard crash.
DescriptionGame crashes when I try to smelt an item, both manually selected or trough the stock screen. Happens every time after x amounts of smelts. Sometimes it can do one, sometimes none and it crashes immediately. Happened on previous forts too when I tried to smelt a piece of armour or weapon.
Steps To ReproduceDesignate several of the same items to smelt, I don't know if it's an issue with same items as I'm trying to smelt 50~ steel battle axes.
Additional InformationIf you need the save, please say and I'll try to upload it somewhere.
Tagscrash, smelter
Relationships
has duplicate 0001348closed Toady One Repeatable CTD, save attached. Melt a Metal Item crash? 
has duplicate 0001388closed Toady One Crash when melting looted copper low boot 
has duplicate 0001452closed Toady One I believe Melt Metal Objects is causeing a crash. 
has duplicate 0000609resolved Footkerchief newly produced plant fiber sock designated for melting 
has duplicate 0001561closed Logical2u Unknown crash, no data in errorlog. 
has duplicate 0001502closed Logical2u Melting an item causes the game to crash. 
has duplicate 0001511closed Toady One Melting crash (With save) 
has duplicate 0001808closed Toady One Melting jobs cause crash 
has duplicate 0001997closed Toady One random crash while melting items 
has duplicate 0001999closed Toady One Game crashing: melt related 
has duplicate 0001980closed Footkerchief Mac - Random crash 
related to 0000277acknowledged Toady One Game crash during saving game - cleaning objects phase 
related to 0006431acknowledged Footkerchief Crash when mass-melting items via stocks menu 
Attached Files
Issue History
Date ModifiedUsernameFieldChange
2010-04-12 07:49guillimanNew Issue
2010-04-12 08:51FootkerchiefNote Added: 0003050
2010-04-12 08:56KennelTag Attached: crash
2010-04-12 08:56KennelTag Attached: smelter
2010-04-12 09:40guillimanNote Added: 0003070
2010-04-12 09:42guillimanNote Edited: 0003070bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0003070#r992
2010-04-16 12:53JamesPNote Added: 0003889
2010-04-16 14:14derigoNote Added: 0003903
2010-04-19 09:14random51Note Added: 0004236
2010-04-19 09:15random51Note Edited: 0004236bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004236#r1412
2010-04-19 09:15random51Issue Monitored: random51
2010-04-19 09:49ChrissiNote Added: 0004242
2010-04-19 09:52JinalealiaIssue Monitored: Jinalealia
2010-04-19 11:11ChrissiNote Edited: 0004242bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004242#r1416
2010-04-19 12:30LeperousNote Added: 0004260
2010-04-19 17:58ZanziikNote Added: 0004285
2010-04-19 17:58ZanziikNote Edited: 0004285bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004285#r1436
2010-04-19 18:05ZanziikIssue Monitored: Zanziik
2010-04-19 18:40FootkerchiefSummarySmelting item produces hard crash. => Melting item produces hard crash.
2010-04-19 18:41FootkerchiefRelationship addedchild of 0000609
2010-04-20 05:02LeperousNote Edited: 0004260bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004260#r1457
2010-04-20 05:03LeperousNote Edited: 0004260bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004260#r1458
2010-04-20 07:51finesseNote Added: 0004330
2010-04-20 23:31SinnyilNote Added: 0004420
2010-04-21 02:21derigoNote Added: 0004425
2010-04-21 04:11LeperousNote Added: 0004428
2010-04-21 04:15LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1501
2010-04-21 04:16LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1502
2010-04-21 04:17LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1503
2010-04-21 04:17LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1504
2010-04-21 04:18LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1505
2010-04-21 04:19LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1506
2010-04-21 04:20LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1507
2010-04-21 04:21LeperousNote Edited: 0004428bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004428#r1508
2010-04-21 06:38random51Note Added: 0004436
2010-04-21 09:45random51Note Edited: 0004436bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004436#r1522
2010-04-22 02:48LeperousNote Added: 0004565
2010-04-22 02:48LeperousNote Edited: 0004565bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004565#r1550
2010-04-22 06:33random51Note Added: 0004586
2010-04-22 06:34random51Note Edited: 0004586bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0004586#r1560
2010-04-22 08:03ZanziikNote Added: 0004596
2010-04-23 10:44FootkerchiefRelationship addedparent of 0001348
2010-04-23 10:44FootkerchiefRelationship addedparent of 0001388
2010-04-23 10:44FootkerchiefRelationship addedparent of 0001452
2010-04-23 10:45FootkerchiefRelationship replacedrelated to 0000609
2010-04-23 10:46FootkerchiefRelationship deletedrelated to 0000609
2010-04-23 10:46FootkerchiefRelationship addedrelated to 0000609
2010-04-23 15:15FootkerchiefRelationship addedparent of 0001367
2010-04-25 00:46TrowzersNote Added: 0004959
2010-04-26 10:53FootkerchiefSticky IssueNo => Yes
2010-04-26 18:22GusSmedstadNote Added: 0005227
2010-04-26 18:22GusSmedstadIssue Monitored: GusSmedstad
2010-04-26 20:30DoctorZuberNote Added: 0005255
2010-04-27 15:53Steely GlintNote Added: 0005420
2010-04-27 16:18Logical2uRelationship addedparent of 0001561
2010-04-27 16:21Logical2uRelationship addedparent of 0001502
2010-04-27 23:07derigoNote Added: 0005477
2010-04-28 06:51Logical2uRelationship deletedparent of 0001502
2010-04-28 06:51Logical2uRelationship addedhas duplicate 0001502
2010-04-28 06:52Logical2uIssue Monitored: Footkerchief
2010-04-28 07:02meto30Issue Monitored: meto30
2010-04-28 11:31Logical2uRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001561
2010-04-28 12:55FootkerchiefRelationship addedparent of 0001511
2010-04-28 19:37KishmondNote Added: 0005618
2010-04-28 20:32Logical2uNote Added: 0005626
2010-04-28 23:42CurunirNote Added: 0005639
2010-04-29 14:00qwintsNote Added: 0005703
2010-04-29 16:05EricNote Added: 0005711
2010-04-29 16:06EricIssue Monitored: Eric
2010-04-30 04:00LangdonNote Added: 0005740
2010-04-30 14:38xanraelIssue Monitored: xanrael
2010-05-01 21:58WFragIssue Monitored: WFrag
2010-05-01 22:44lucasupIssue Monitored: lucasup
2010-05-02 06:22riotman477Note Added: 0005914
2010-05-02 09:06smjjamesNote Added: 0005924
2010-05-02 13:47LeperousNote Added: 0005945
2010-05-03 02:19JimmyNote Added: 0005988
2010-05-03 02:19JimmyIssue Monitored: Jimmy
2010-05-07 18:57rgon842Issue Monitored: rgon842
2010-05-08 05:26ziggy1283Note Added: 0006404
2010-05-08 05:50ziggy1283Note Edited: 0006404bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0006404#r2382
2010-05-08 12:11GreigerNote Added: 0006422
2010-05-08 12:14GreigerNote Edited: 0006422bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0006422#r2394
2010-05-08 22:52JimmyNote Added: 0006439
2010-05-09 08:46morotNote Added: 0006452
2010-05-09 09:46Logical2uRelationship addedparent of 0001808
2010-05-10 06:33random51Note Added: 0006496
2010-05-11 13:13KishmondNote Added: 0006558
2010-05-11 13:19KishmondNote Edited: 0006558bug_revision_view_page.php?bugnote_id=0006558#r2434
2010-05-11 17:22EvilGrinIssue Monitored: EvilGrin
2010-05-13 11:59HavlockNote Added: 0006651
2010-05-14 08:07m4st0rNote Added: 0006689
2010-05-16 04:01morotNote Added: 0006759
2010-05-16 07:15m4st0rNote Added: 0006771
2010-05-20 14:17FootkerchiefRelationship addedparent of 0001997
2010-05-20 18:51Logical2uRelationship addedparent of 0001999
2010-05-21 11:14FootkerchiefRelationship deletedparent of 0001367
2010-05-21 15:26MontalasNote Added: 0007142
2010-05-21 15:36MontalasIssue Monitored: Montalas
2010-05-22 02:07FalconNote Added: 0007167
2010-05-22 07:13Toady OneNote Added: 0007178
2010-05-22 07:13Toady OneStatusnew => resolved
2010-05-22 07:13Toady OneFixed in Version => 0.31.05
2010-05-22 07:13Toady OneResolutionopen => fixed
2010-05-22 07:13Toady OneAssigned To => Toady One
2010-05-22 13:30FootkerchiefRelationship addedhas duplicate 0001980
2010-05-22 14:06FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001348
2010-05-22 14:08FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001388
2010-05-22 14:08FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001452
2010-05-22 14:08FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001511
2010-05-22 14:08FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001808
2010-05-22 14:08FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001997
2010-05-22 14:08FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0001999
2010-06-02 13:07FootkerchiefSticky IssueYes => No
2010-06-04 00:26FootkerchiefRelationship addedrelated to 0000277
2010-06-07 02:17lucasupIssue End Monitor: lucasup
2010-06-09 06:45Toady OneStatusresolved => closed
2014-01-27 10:51FootkerchiefRelationship replacedhas duplicate 0000609
2014-01-27 10:51FootkerchiefIssue Monitored: JimboOmega
2014-02-09 08:59FootkerchiefRelationship addedrelated to 0006431

Notes
(0003050)
Footkerchief   
2010-04-12 08:51   
Yeah, a save would probably be helpful for this one. Bonus points if it already has the job orders queued up in the shop/manager. http://dffd.wimbli.com/ [^]
(0003070)
guilliman   
2010-04-12 09:40   
(edited on: 2010-04-12 09:42)
Al right made the save ready for testing. Save is paused with 135 steel axes designated to melt trough the stock screen. Two Furnaces are set to 'Melt an metal item' (or whichever it was called.) You need to let em melt a bit, as it's random. Just now I tested it and they smelted around 15 axes before crashing.

Most of the axes that I want to melt are used in traps, by woodcutters. Some military might carry em too, though I removed em by changing to short swords) but never know. Maybe they try to melt one that's used.


Some keynotes:
- Used the dwarf accelerator (+dll and adjusted ini for partial print)
- Gave dwarfs Speed:1 tag
- Steel was modded to require two iron bars and one fuel only.
- I use a custom tileset. (1280*800 resolution)
- Some stones have color adjustments

I didn't want to remove and redo a new game with a clean version, chances are it then will work knowing my luck. I don't think anything I did can have any effect on it. Just noting it in here to be transparent and complete to you guys.

Save is here: http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=2077 [^]
(0003889)
JamesP   
2010-04-16 12:53   
I have the same issue with a vanilla copy of 0.31.03, can provide fortress if needed.
(0003903)
derigo   
2010-04-16 14:14   
oh is this confirmation of my crashes?

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=629 [^]
(0004236)
random51   
2010-04-19 09:14   
(edited on: 2010-04-19 09:15)
I can confirm this with 31.0?, have fortresses if needed.

Melting goblin armor/weapons at the smelter will cause DF to crash.
(0004242)
Chrissi   
2010-04-19 09:49   
(edited on: 2010-04-19 11:11)
I just had the same crash with 0.31.03 with graphics on, windowed. I attempted to smelt several large, serrated bronze discs and I had a hard crash. I did not do it through the manager, I did it through the workshop itself.

Correction: It's not the discs, it was the items I was trying to melt I believe. Queuing up several bronze items (crafts and etc) to melt, my game crashes after a little while even if I cancel the discs.
(0004260)
Leperous   
2010-04-19 12:29   
(edited on: 2010-04-20 05:03)
Crash occurs when the smelt order is given, i.e. when the dwarf chooses an item to smelt, and seems to be item-independent.

I have a save file where the crash occurs at some point after a manual smelt order is given through the workshop, usually on the first. This is using graphics and Wine (Linux) but not the accelerator DLL.

Simply give smelt orders until the crash occurs, sometimes happens first time, sometimes takes a few:
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=2164 [^]

This is very unlikely to be a child of the sock-melting bug, as it's unrelated to invalid smelt orders.
(0004285)
Zanziik   
2010-04-19 17:58   
Same bug, accidentally reported seperately...

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/mantisbt/view.php?id=1348 [^] (my reporting)
http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=2169 [^] (my bugged save)

Run in Vanilla 0.31.03
(0004330)
finesse   
2010-04-20 07:51   
Just posting to confirm this bug, there appears to be plenty of saves already so i'll refrain from uploading another.

Does appear to be random, and not a fixed number of melts that cause the crashes. If I have time ill try to confirm this.
(0004420)
Sinnyil   
2010-04-20 23:31   
I've run into this as well. Vanilla .03
(0004425)
derigo   
2010-04-21 02:21   
@Leperous
It should be noted that the "sock melting bug" is not really a "sock melting bug", so much as a "designating objects for melting (or melting them perhaps, it's hard to tell which) causes objects totally unrelated to that task to also be designated for melting, even if they are not meltable' bug. But that's kind of a mouthful. To be clear about that bug, every time I've observed it, I've had a full fledged large-scale melting operation going on elsewhere in the fort.

My guess as to what's happening is that every time an object is melted, it frees up an item ID (or something, I don't know exactly how toady actually handles it) to be used for other, newly created items. That ID is supposed to have all it's attributes reset, but sometimes the melt designation doesn't get reset for some reason, so the new items using the old ID are created melt-designated. This explains the 'sock melting bug.' Newly created socks or bolts of cloth, or whatever are created right after an item is melted, and so get the id.

Now the crash could just be a complication of this idea. What if a caravan spawns causing many new items to be created in the traders inventories, and some of the items are designated for melting but not owned? What if goblin kidnappers appear on the map, are hiding, and their equipment is melt designated? What if the faulty designation isn't limited to items, but applies to objects in general, like newborn animals, vermin, dwarfs, water waves, blood spatter, piles of dust, buzzards flying in the sky, swarms of gnats, miasma clouds, projectiles in mid-flight, fire, creature-souls, kittens, or body parts? Any of these ideas would put the game in a sort of undefined state of behavior, and undefined states are bad.

To all of you verifying this bug, please go through your stockpiles and check for any items that are inexplicably, or impossibly melt designated. In my case it was socks and cloth, but I usually have a large-scale weaving operation going on.

And to clarify the terminology, you cannot 'smelt' metal items. You 'smelt' metal ores into bars. You 'melt' metal items.
(0004428)
Leperous   
2010-04-21 04:11   
(edited on: 2010-04-21 04:21)
@Derigo: after your post I have indeed discovered items that were being created with a melt-tag attached (in the case of my save, an obsidian hatch cover). However I still do not think these items (in general) are causing the crash, simply because I get a "nothing is melt-designated" message and no crash when only these items are erroneously designated.

In my save, the only melt-designated items (AFAIK) are the metal objects next to the smelters, and the melt-designated stone hatch.

If you give a melt order, the game crashes straight away. Of course the crash occurs when an item is being chosen to melt, rather than at the end of a melt-cycle.

If you undesignate all of the metal items and give a melt order, you are told there are no designated items for melting, and the game doesn't crash.

If you undesignate all of the items except for an *entire* row (or more) of objects, there is some very interesting behaviour: a melt-order given before unpausing doesn't crash, but a melt-order given after unpausing does. Single metal items still designated don't cause a crash either way, only a whole row after unpausing do. A column or equivalent number of melt-designed items doesn't cause a crash either way.

Undesignating all melt items, unpausing, redesignating all items again and giving a melt order does not cause a crash.

Undesignating all melt items, unpausing, giving a melt order a moment later says "no melt-designated items" and does not cause a crash.

I don't see how any invalid melt orders can be causing a crash in my case given these observations, and it was similar (less-scientific) tests I previously ran to make me earlier conclude the same, *unless* the problem is when you have a sufficiently long list of melt candidates in a particular physical arrangement (a row, in my case) with an invalid item somewhere else appended to this list.
(0004436)
random51   
2010-04-21 06:38   
(edited on: 2010-04-21 09:45)
In all of that do I detect a workaround of "pause, mass designate, issue melt order, unpause" ? :)

Hey, it does work.
(0004565)
Leperous   
2010-04-22 02:48   
The game just crashes a few melts later if you do that. I was referring more to a reproducible crash that a lot of us often see, rather than a weird one-off thing.
(0004586)
random51   
2010-04-22 06:33   
(edited on: 2010-04-22 06:34)
It worked for melting finished goods and ammo. Of course that could be coincidence. Still crashed on armor/weapons, FWIW.
(0004596)
Zanziik   
2010-04-22 08:03   
My crash is happening melting toys and instruments, so my results don't jive with Random's.
(0004959)
Trowzers   
2010-04-25 00:46   
I'm also getting this one - just posting to confirm, and that I have a save. Thank god I checked in here, after 5-6 crashes at around the same point each time I was about to abandon my fortress, but as soon as I stopped melting stuff I was fine.
(0005227)
GusSmedstad   
2010-04-26 18:22   
I've experienced this as well.
(0005255)
DoctorZuber   
2010-04-26 20:30   
>>> Trowzers -- Never abandon anything, especially on a crash game issue. We're bug hunting here. If you're just stumped and just want a clean start by all means do so, but gen a new world and start fresh, don't nuke the save. Instead you should . . .

Try to understand the issue to the best of your ability, If you're completely stumped at the very least copy the entire save folder, label it, and stash it someplace safe. Post a report here with as much as you can puzzle out and be ready to add the save file as needed.

P.S. I play almost exclusively pocket regions right now because they world gen so fast. I've literally got dozens of saves, with a few labeled and set aside for various issues.
(0005420)
Steely Glint   
2010-04-27 15:53   
I've only had this problem when I tried to melt goblin gear. Possibly caused by blood (or other liquid) coverings on melted objects?
(0005477)
derigo   
2010-04-27 23:07   
No, I usually set up a giant melting industry around the training of my armorsmith and weaponsmith. They make iron(or whatever I have lots of) leggings and corkscrews by the bushel while a team of furnace operators melt them. The items never leave the forge area and there's no way for them to have gotten bloody. That area is completely separate from everything else (at the bottom of the world), and the smiths and smelters are all restricted there with a burrow, so they don't leave. I gave up on melting for now, always crashes me.
(0005618)
Kishmond   
2010-04-28 19:37   
I did get this with a mass-melting operation going on when a caravan arrived.
In a save with the crash occurring every time, I avoided it by removing the designation of 2 stacks of 25 bronze bolts and 1 stack of 25 bronze arrows.
(0005626)
Logical2u   
2010-04-28 20:32   
Kishmond: Is it possible to narrow it down further than that?

Is there anything distinct or unusual about any of the stacks of ammo?
(0005639)
Curunir   
2010-04-28 23:42   
This might explain the crash that I'd been having.

Just had a bunch of bronze stuff sent to the melters, and the game crashed about 3-4 in game days later. Wasn't sure what the problem was, but this bug certainly fits the criteria. Checking to see if this is the bug.

I'm guessing that when it crashed, a bunch of goblins were spawned on the map, and something of theirs took one of the newly melted item ids.
(0005703)
qwints   
2010-04-29 14:00   
Posting to confirm that I've also experienced the crash. .3103 + graphics. It happens when I designate the melting objects from the status-stocks menu.
(0005711)
Eric   
2010-04-29 16:05   
Seeing this crash as described after X number of melts. Also had one instance of crashing during saving after designating items for melting through the stocks menu, giving the melt-order then saving the game. This may have corrupted the save, but after loading it things seem correctly saved and play fine, aside from the melting crashes.

Some of these items designated for melting are still on caged gobbos, if that is significant.
(0005740)
Langdon   
2010-04-30 04:00   
I have this melt crash also, and I am starting to believe the crash-after-save bug (0000277) is related. In all my games under 0.31, I used to believe the crashing was linked to reaching magma, as in my former forts it started crashing when I tapped the magma pipe, or reached the underground magma sea. Now I believe it starts when I start melting (as in those games I don't set up a smelter until I have magma).

In my latest game, I have not breached the first cavern layer, and there are no magma pipes on the map, but due to large bituminous coal seams I have started melting goblin items using a normal smelter. The crash happens whenever I queue up more than 2 consecutive Melt Object tasks in my lone smelter. Single Melt tasks do not cause a crash, nor does a Melt Object followed by other smelt ore orders on repeat. The crash happens when the melt object job is begun - I'm suspecting a melt object job on an object the arsenal dwarf is assigning to the military, or some other job conflict on the to-be-melted item.

On this particular fort I have not seen random non-meltable objects marked for melting, as in some of the comments above (I went through the stocks screen to make sure, and only the objects I have specifically marked are marked with M). I have not designated any ammo to melt, only daggers, armor, and cages, which are all verified to be in stockpiles or trade depot, and not forbidden. I have no caged goblins.

Once I have started melting objects, the crash-after-save bug also appears.

Save is available, will upload if needed.
(0005914)
riotman477   
2010-05-02 06:22   
I am having this crash as well. I have two magma smelters going with melt objects on. I have a stock pile for any non-master work weapons and armor which I have been regularly redisignating. I have a save between 15 and 40 seconds before the crash.

I can tell you some things it doesn't seem to be related to...

Melting items of different materials (I did copper followed by steel) any particular item, or dwarf skill level/skilling up from smelting.

I too have a copy of my save, but don't want to take the time to upload it unless it is really needed.
(0005924)
smjjames   
2010-05-02 09:06   
I wonder why the melt stuff is happening? Strangeness due to the new tissue and material stuff?

It would be REALLY strange if some dwarfs liver or something was assigned for melting, but we wouldn't see this. Toady probably has tools to see if something like that is happening, but the rest of us wouldn't know if it happened.
(0005945)
Leperous   
2010-05-02 13:47   
@Langdon: Try running single melt items at the same/different smelters and see if you get a crash eventually (might take 10+ of these). From what I've seen from lots of testing is that this is *not* to do with queued melt orders or anything special about the item being chosen, but rather the selection mechanism falling over.
(0005988)
Jimmy   
2010-05-03 02:19   
Adding my two dwarfbucks for this issue to say it's also happening for me. Fingers crossed this gets resolved soon, as it's annoying not to be able to reclaim goblinite for other purposes.
(0006404)
ziggy1283   
2010-05-08 05:26   
(edited on: 2010-05-08 05:50)
This is happening for me, too, when I try and melt silver nuggets and horn silver. However, if i assign them to smelt native silver or horn silver, they do it just fine.
(0006422)
Greiger   
2010-05-08 12:11   
(edited on: 2010-05-08 12:14)
Hmm, it may be relevant that I am actually not experiencing this bug. In a previous fortress (that I abandoned before I knew of this bug unfortunately) I melted down a significant amount of invader equipment with no issues. I did have crashes now and then, but they all seemed to be related to other issues. They were the kind that happen repeatedly on season change, not randomly like it sounds this does.

If it helps anything all I ever melted was goblin equipment. And all stuff that none of my military was ever set to or able to use. The game was modded, so the armor was too small for my residents, and my entire fortress was set to only use custom swords and spears that the goblins never bring.

3 year old fortress, about 130 goblins worth of metal gear melted, no melt crash.
(0006439)
Jimmy   
2010-05-08 22:52   
Then it would appear that melting is causing issues specifically because melted armor has been accounted in military equipment manifests, even if it's not actively worn. Has anyone else confirmed this behavior?
(0006452)
morot   
2010-05-09 08:46   
I tried melting only things that can not be equipped (anvils, toy boats, etc), but the crash still occurred.
(0006496)
random51   
2010-05-10 06:33   
I usually don't have a military, still have the melt crash.

b-C-w is my favorite defense.
(0006558)
Kishmond   
2010-05-11 13:13   
(edited on: 2010-05-11 13:19)
Logical2U: The crash has appeared again, with no bolts or arrows this time. I will try to make many melt orders instead of one melt order on repeat and see if this changes things.

Edit: Nope, sure doesn't. I'll systematically undesignate every category of item and narrow it down from there.
(0006651)
Havlock   
2010-05-13 11:59   
To me it looks like the smelter has trouble with melting down items that contain other items. I've observed that DF will crash out consistently if I melt down copper bins with items in them, but if I dump out the contents I can safely melt them.
(0006689)
m4st0r   
2010-05-14 08:07   
It's not the bins that are causing this.
Just melted weapons and armor down. As long as it was only iron it was okay. But when I changed to copper it crashed. All at the same smelter.
Maybe the problem is handling the fractional rest bars that are stored in the smelter.
(0006759)
morot   
2010-05-16 04:01   
Tried melting only iron, but it still crashed. I suppose it's possible there might have been a non-iron item melt designated, but I checked and didn't catch any at least.
(0006771)
m4st0r   
2010-05-16 07:15   
build a new smelter and melted iron only, got a crash with a "large iron dagger"
seems totally random
(0007142)
Montalas   
2010-05-21 15:26   
Trying to melt anything causes a crash for me as well. Confirmed.
(0007167)
Falcon   
2010-05-22 02:07   
Several of my forts crashed when I tried to melt my woodcutters/miners tools.

I saved, removed their labor designations, then ordered the items melted. Game crashed every time before the last item was gone (4 axes,2 picks).
(0007178)
Toady One   
2010-05-22 07:13   
This should be fixed for 0.31.05. I wouldn't melt anything until it's out, but melting one object at a time should theoretically be safe.