"Force verify" no longer works

frtoaster

Holodeck ticket 4,626,730 (submitted on 12/01/2017)

The "Force verify" option in the launcher no longer works after the patch on November 30, 2017. The launcher used to iterate through all the files and verify them one by one if the "Force verify" option was selected. After the patch, it no longer does that; it appears to finish within one second without doing anything.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install the following build:

Version: ST.80.20171016a.26
SVN build number: 216411
Release: Season 14
Holodeck patch date: 11/16/2017

2. Start the launcher. Click on "Options", select "Force verify", and then click "Save".
3. Look at the progress bar. Observe that the launcher verifies the files one by one.
4. Close the launcher, and install the following build:

Version: ST.80.20171016a.28
SVN build number: 216718
Release: Season 14
Holodeck patch date: 11/30/2017

5. Start the launcher. Click on "Options", select "Force verify", and then click "Save".
6. Look at the progress bar, and observe that it returns to the "Ready" state within one second.

gaevsman

And when it runs it actually don't fix anything... i can confirm that.

frtoaster

I'm not sure if this is related, but I found the following lines in my error log from this morning:

171201 10:59:15     10 [1]: ERROR: Failed to initialize registry key reader/writer. Please verify that the location of the registry key has not changed.
171201 11:08:24     10 [1]: ERROR: Failed to initialize registry key reader/writer. Please verify that the location of the registry key has not changed.
171201 12:21:52     20 [1]: ERROR: Failed to initialize registry key reader/writer. Please verify that the location of the registry key has not changed.
171201 13:33:14     10 [1]: ERROR: Failed to initialize registry key reader/writer. Please verify that the location of the registry key has not changed.
171201 13:34:19     10 [1]: ERROR: Failed to initialize registry key reader/writer. Please verify that the location of the registry key has not changed.

On an unrelated note, why do you guys write so many log files to STO's install directory? The launcher writes hundreds of files that begin with "PACKET", "PCL", "ALERTS", or "ERRORS". I think it creates a new log file every hour or every time the user logs on. Setting -NoAutoRotateLogs in the launcher doesn't stop it.

The client also writes hundreds of files under Live\logs\GameClient. The -NoAutoRotateLogs flag stops most of them, but not the ones that begin with "Makeshaderbins", probably because you're including a process ID in the file name.

frtoaster

OK, the game just crashed on me. Here is the error ticket that I submitted:

Holodeck 12/03/2017, 5:53 PM UTC
Error Ticket ID: 107314658
I was walking around Starfleet Academy on my character Sarine@frtoaster and chatting with some friends.

When I restarted the game afterwards, the launcher asked me if I wanted to force-verify. I said yes, and it did nothing.

where2r1

Just so you are aware it is not unique. I, also, tried to do a force verify on my computer after hearing of this.
It does not scroll through the files I as I usually see when I set the "Force Verify" in the launcher options.

Unless, the programmer guys have figured out a miraculous way for the files to be verified instantaneously...it is just loading the launcher into the game directly, nothing else.

salvation4

The launcher is pretty much a busted part..It just goes through the files but never rectifies anyhting..

frtoaster

salvation4 wrote: »

The launcher is pretty much a busted part..It just goes through the files but never rectifies anyhting..

I think you missed the point of my bug report. It no longer checks the files; it just stops after one second.

frtoaster

I just realized that the build versions I posted above are probably useless, because the launcher has its own build version. The current version of the launcher is CL_2017_11_15_16_34. Unfortunately, I don't what the previous version was. I suppose I'll have start keeping track of the launcher versions too.

corbomitekid

For the past 3 days, STO has crashed repeatedly, and the error log says "ERROR: Failed to initialize registry key reader/writer." every time. This continues to happen even after uninstalling then reinstalling both ARC and STO.

In my case, the problem seems to show up when I'm loading a bind file. It seems unlikely the file would be the cause, but just in case, here's the content of the TXT file:

||POWER TRAYS||
|ROW 1
1 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 0" ""
2 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 1" ""
3 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 2" ""
4 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 3" ""
5 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 4" ""
6 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 5" ""
7 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 6" ""
8 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 7" ""
9 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 8" ""
0 "+STOTrayExecByTray 0 9" ""

|ROW 2
numpad1 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 0" ""
numpad2 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 1" ""
numpad3 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 2" ""
numpad4 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 3" ""
numpad5 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 4" ""
numpad6 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 5" ""
numpad7 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 6" ""
numpad8 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 7" ""
numpad9 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 8" ""
numpad0 "+STOTrayExecByTray 1 9" ""

|ROW 3
Alt+numpad1 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 0" ""
Alt+numpad2 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 1" ""
Alt+numpad3 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 2" ""
Alt+numpad4 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 3" ""
Alt+numpad5 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 4" ""
Alt+numpad6 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 5" ""
Alt+numpad7 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 6" ""
Alt+numpad8 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 7" ""
Alt+numpad9 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 8" ""
Alt+numpad0 "+STOTrayExecByTray 2 9" ""

|ROW 4
Control+numpad1 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 0" ""
Control+numpad2 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 1" ""
Control+numpad3 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 2" ""
Control+numpad4 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 3" ""
Control+numpad5 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 4" ""
Control+numpad6 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 5" ""
Control+numpad7 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 6" ""
Control+numpad8 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 7" ""
Control+numpad9 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 8" ""
Control+numpad0 "+STOTrayExecByTray 3 9" ""

|ROW 5
F5 "+STOTrayExecByTray 4 0" ""
F6 "+STOTrayExecByTray 4 1" ""
F7 "+STOTrayExecByTray 4 2" ""
F8 "+STOTrayExecByTray 4 3" ""
F9 "" ""
F10 "" ""
F11 "" ""
F12 "" ""

||SHIELDS||

Shift+numpad2 "+power_exec Reroute_Shields_Forward"
Shift+numpad6 "+power_exec Reroute_Shields_Right"
Shift+numpad4 "+power_exec Reroute_Shields_Left"
Shift+numpad8 "+power_exec Reroute_Shields_Rear"
Shift+numpad5 "+power_exec Distribute_Shields"

||Defensive Powers||

Shift+numpad1 "+STOTrayExecByTray 9 0$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 1$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 2$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 3$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 4$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 5$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 6$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 7$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 8$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 9$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 8$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 7$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 6$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 5$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 4$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 3$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 2$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 1$$+STOTrayExecByTray 9 0" "

||POWER PRESETS||

F1 "StatsPreset_Load Preset_1"
F2 "StatsPreset_Load Preset_2"
F3 "StatsPreset_Load Preset_3"
F4 "StatsPreset_Load Preset_4"

||CONTROLS||

Button4 "ThrottleToggle"
Button5 "FullImpulseToggle"
Alt+Button5 "throttleadjust .25"
Alt+Button4 "throttleadjust -.25"

||WEAPONS||

Space "FirePhasers"
Shift+Space "FireAll"
Control+Space "FirePhasersTorps"
Alt+Space "FireProjectiles"

frtoaster

Force-verify is still broken. When someone reports a problem, one of the most common suggestions is to run force-verify. If you're not going to fix it, you should put up a sticky note telling people not to run force-verify anymore, because it no longer does anything.

sthe91

Yep, force-verify is borked.

gaevsman

Yeah, still

Unknown

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frtoaster

taehsong wrote: »

You might try starting as Administrator or change the directory ownership to the user's name. Microsoft's security system for files and folders has been patched so many times to plug up security holes (best guess) it gets confused about ownership sometimes. As in the owner is not recognized for some reason, even if they are named or part of the group.

I'm pretty sure that's not it. I have STO installed in a directory to which every user has both read and write access. Yes, I know Windows file permissions are a bit more complicated than that, but I've never had a problem accessing files in that directory. Furthermore, this problem started after the Holodeck patch on November 30, 2017, and not after any Windows patch that I installed. They updated the launcher on that day; I distinctly remember seeing a message asking me to wait while they updated the launcher. This bug was caused by a change they made to the launcher, not by anything else.

valda7of3

Force Verify stopped working for me around the time they added the 32bit option to Tribble test server.

frtoaster

valda7of3 wrote: »

Force Verify stopped working for me around the time they added the 32bit option to Tribble test server.

Force-verify stopped working after the Holodeck patch on November 30, 2017. The option "Use 32-bit Client" was added to Tribble on December 4, 2017. For me, the option "Use 32-bit Client" was subsequently removed on December 6, 2017.

Unknown

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gaevsman

> @taehsong said:
> Try right-click and Run as Administrator.

It's not a permission problem, i already tried that the first time it failed, thinking about writing permissions, it really does nothing, probably related to the soon to be released x64 client, perhaps it's disabled until the upgrade?

Unknown

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valda7of3

frtoaster wrote: »

valda7of3 wrote: »

Force Verify stopped working for me around the time they added the 32bit option to Tribble test server.

Force-verify stopped working after the Holodeck patch on November 30, 2017. The option "Use 32-bit Client" was added to Tribble on December 4, 2017. For me, the option "Use 32-bit Client" was subsequently removed on December 6, 2017.

I know my force verify worked the day they added 32bit to tribble. I ran it when the launcher failed to launch.
I couldnt get tribble to run without the 32bit being checked with a 64bit system and OS. Had some really bad game crashes after the 6th thats when I noticed that I couldnt use force verify and the games auto repair popup failed to run.

I tried to find if they had a debugger in the file folders to run. Last game crash said that errors were detected but it was unable to fix them cause it failed.

frtoaster

taehsong wrote: »

Try right-click and Run as Administrator.

No, this doesn't work either. It's not a Windows problem; it didn't start after a Windows patch. It started after they updated the launcher on November 30, 2017.

valda7of3 wrote: »

I know my force verify worked the day they added 32bit to tribble. I ran it when the launcher failed to launch.
I couldnt get tribble to run without the 32bit being checked with a 64bit system and OS. Had some really bad game crashes after the 6th thats when I noticed that I couldnt use force verify and the games auto repair popup failed to run.

I tried to find if they had a debugger in the file folders to run. Last game crash said that errors were detected but it was unable to fix them cause it failed.

Just to be clear, when you say, "I know my force verify worked the day they added 32bit to tribble," you mean that force-verify actually iterated through the files and verified them one by one? I suppose it's possible that force-verify stopped working on Tribble after it stopped working on Holodeck. The other possibility is that they're pushing different versions out to us at different times, but I don't find either possibility terribly likely.

frtoaster wrote: »

darkbladejk wrote: »

Unless you tell it not to the Tribble server will default to the 64 bit client. If you're using a 32 bit system then it won't let you utilize the 64 bit client anyways so that doesn't surprise me at all that it kicked it back. On the launcher at the top right, you have several options for News, Forums, Support, Options, and Release Notes. Go under options and scroll down. Near the bottom of the list you should see the option to use the 32 bit client. you might have to change some settings and such when you swap client versions, but otherwise that should take care of your issue. If not let me know and I will update the report to let them know it's effecting 32 bit systems as well.

Is this what you're currently seeing? Because that's not what I'm seeing. For me, the option "Use 32-bit Client" is gone, and the launcher starts the 32-bit client by default. This change happened on December 6, 2017.

64-bit Game Client

frtoaster wrote: »

Update 2: The latest Tribble patch has removed the option "Use 32-bit Client" from the launcher. As of December 6, 2017, the launcher starts the 32-bit client even if PrefEntry Launcher.Use32 is set to 0 in the gameprefs.pref file. Both Playtest\x64\GameClient.exe and Playtest\x86\GameClient.exe are still present.

Are they pushing different versions out to us now? Curiously, when I launched Tribble tonight, it updated to

Version: ST.80.20171118a.14
SVN build number: 217303

That's the same build as Holodeck. But according to the patch notes, Tribble should be on build version ST.80.20171118a.10:

TRIBBLE MAINTENANCE AND RELEASE NOTES - 12/6/17

As of this writing, those are the latest Tribble patch notes. Did they silently update Tribble during the last Holodeck patch?

valda7of3

Yes I watched force verify scan the files. Sometime after that I even got an error code 6 I think after just switching from holodeck to tribble. I had checked the options and noticed the 32bit box was gone. Tried to run a force verify and it failed to do the scan and did'nt repair anything. Had 3 or more bad crash to desktop with errors also submitted the errors.

sthe91

I have filed a ticket as well but I just wish they would understand what the problem is even though I have explained it so much that I am tired of doing it. It is exhausting!

strathkin

Yea I noticed that as well. I had some strange Horizontal Bubble Distortion (1-2cm tall) that starts 40% up the screen then shifts down to 20% before disappearing then possibly comes back in a few seconds and repeats. This all started on 12/14/2017 and strangely enough I noticed it in both Neverwinter & STO and I've never ever seen one bug that occurs in one game be duplicated in the other but this one is.

I tried running Force Verify in both games because I suspect some file got corrupted or needs to be updated/replaced; sadly Force Verify is also not working in Star Trek Online or Neverwinter either and I'm seeing many reports it's been going on for a month or two. I'd very much like to be able to validate both game files as this is frustrating especially since I even purchased a new Video Card 1000x GTX NVIDIA with 288.13 (Dec 2017 Drivers) and this hasn't corrected the problem; I suspect some file has inadvertently been effected and needs updating but I can't even do that.

Hope this problem is giving a little more priority since FORCE VERIFY is what ensures everyone who plays has the correct game files. But all we can do is HOPE a lot of people report on it so it's fixed soon.

maraq2

Having the same problem, it started with crashes, launcher asks if I want to run "Force verify" I answer "yes" it then goes directly to "Ready", tried to run it from "Options" but get the same result.

Now the game client wont even start, it does not even get to the black screen, so now the game is pretty much dead for me, about to try rebooting to see if that helps.

darkspeaker

I love how we haven't gotten an official response to this on the bug forums yet.

darthpostal

Still broken.