More than three weeks ago, I posted this question:
Technical question: What's the purpose of x64\d3dcompiler_47.dll and x86\d3dcompiler_47.dll?
See also:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/7byvw8/technical_question_whats_the_purpose_of/
It seems that ruinthefun's guess was correct, and everyone who thought otherwise, including me, was wrong. When you select the Tribble shard in the launcher, there is now an option called "Use 32-bit Client" in the "Options" menu. And there are two different game-client executables in the Playtest directory.
Playtest\x64\GameClient.exe
Playtest\x86\GameClient.exe
The old executable Playtest\GameClient.exe has been removed. If you select "Use 32-bit Client" in the launcher, the 32-bit client will run; otherwise, the 64-bit client will run. I have confirmed this in the Windows task manager.
Other changesPath of UI files
I was highly confused at first, because the keybind that I used to load my custom UI file stopped working. I was ready to report a bug when I realized the problem. It turns out that the path of the commands /ui_load, /ui_save, /ui_load_file, and /ui_save_file is relative to the location of the game-client executable. I was using a relative path instead of an absolute path, and because GameClient.exe was moved, the command /ui_load_file could no longer find my file.
Voice Chat
The "Voice Chat" tab has been removed from the "Options" window in the 64-bit client. It remains in the 32-bit client.
Update 1: Some people have been reporting that they've been unable to run the 64-bit client. They're getting the error message "Unable to start game client: The operation identifier is not valid." It may possibly be related to the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. See the links below.
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.
Waiting for a programmer ...
Comments
i bet i can guess - correctly - why this was removed...because no one smart actually USED the damn thing - if someone used voicechat at all, they used far superior third-party programs like teamspeak
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Yes, I disabled voice chat the moment I found out about it. I heard some people yelling in the background in a language I didn't understand, and quickly found the option to disable it.
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
I'm using the 64 bit client. It patches and runs Holodeck fine, but crashes patching Tribble. Is that a seperate issue?
Star Trek Online volunteer Community Moderator
Running the launcher is no issue. It part-patches Tribble, then just stops patching and crashes. My system remains slow to respond for about five minutes or so thereafter, so could be a memory leak in there too. It automatically brings up the Cryptic's Crash Report submission. Can't remember if there was an error code. I will rerun it in a bit and report back.
Tried numerous times to patch Tribble and it just keeps hanging. Deleted Playtest folder, got part way, then started hanging again. No error code displayed. Just reported through Crash Handler. Dug around in the log files and found in a 'Packets' log the following:-
171213 12:30:07 38 [1]: Link 4edb6898 (6) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: pclDisconnectAndDestroy:socket was shutdown:linkQueueRemove(0:No error)
171213 12:30:07 39 [1]: Link 4edb6898 (6) (pcl_client.c(1854)) in linkFree: pclDisconnectAndDestroy:socket was shutdown:linkQueueRemove(0:No error)
171213 12:30:07 40 [1]: Link 4edb6898 memory freed
171213 12:30:11 41 [1]: Link 17f81010 (7) (pcl_client.c(1854)) disconnected: patchclientlib redirecting
171213 12:30:11 42 [1]: Link 17f81010 (7) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: patchclientlib redirecting:linkQueueRemove(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:30:11 43 [1]: Link 17f81010 (7) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: patchclientlib redirecting:linkQueueRemove:sock==INVALID_SOCKET:read failed(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:30:11 44 [1]: Link 17f81010 (7) (pcl_client.c(1854)) in linkFree: patchclientlib redirecting:linkQueueRemove:sock==INVALID_SOCKET:read failed(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:30:11 45 [1]: Link 17f81010 memory freed
171213 12:44:39 1 [1]: Link 4924df18 (1) (pcl_client.c(1854)) disconnected: patchclientlib redirecting
171213 12:44:39 2 [1]: Link 4924df18 (1) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: patchclientlib redirecting:linkQueueRemove(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:44:39 3 [1]: Link 4924df18 (1) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: patchclientlib redirecting:linkQueueRemove:sock==INVALID_SOCKET:read failed(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:44:39 4 [1]: Link 4924df18 (1) (pcl_client.c(1854)) in linkFree: patchclientlib redirecting:linkQueueRemove:sock==INVALID_SOCKET:read failed(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:44:39 5 [1]: Link 4924df18 memory freed
171213 12:44:39 6 [1]: Link 492513d8 (2) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: pclDisconnectAndDestroy:processFlushedDisconnects:linkQueueRemove(997:Unknown socket error)
171213 12:44:39 7 [1]: Link 492513d8 (2) (pcl_client.c(1854)) added to remove list: pclDisconnectAndDestroy:processFlushedDisconnects:linkQueueRemove:socket is invalid(0:No error)
171213 12:44:39 8 [1]: Link 492513d8 (2) (pcl_client.c(1854)) in linkFree: pclDisconnectAndDestroy:processFlushedDisconnects:linkQueueRemove:socket is invalid(0:No error)
171213 12:44:39 9 [1]: Link 492513d8 memory freed
Cannot see any other logs with error information in them.
I'll write some highlights below of some serious issues people should be aware of; including the fact that some STO users had their install corrupted to the point of the game not running at all because of the December 7th Patch. A workaround is available and I'll put those steps into this post first with the finer details after.
4 days of troubleshooting STO followed, and there are very significant differences between Enterprise hardware like mine and consumer hardware (the vast majority of STO players). It's best to think of consumer hardware as hiding the true colors of any program while Enterprise hardware exposes the true colors of any program. The newer build of STO's 64-bit software restructuring does NOT work on Enterprise hardware because it still defaults to running the 32-bit GameClient.exe that will not run in that environment, and from some of the posts I found, some using consumer hardware (I suspect Intel Extreme CPU users are likely to have similar issues since there's a lot of similarity between the Xeon series and Intel Extreme series of processors) ...have also been having the same problem I encountered.
The workaround basically tricks STO into running only the 64-bit GameClient.exe, and I'll say this, the graphics' clarity alone is significantly improved by the 64-bit GameClient.exe and is an almost immediately noticeable improvement.
PWE/Cryptic's developers have also been notified of the issues via Ticket # 171210-000860 ...and the full details of the troubleshooting are on this URL in Steam Community Forums; although since my system is heavily firewalled via the hardware (for networking too), software, and private cloud I use, I will note, while I tried Steam as an Arc alternative and can use other Steam Games, STO has additional firewall requirements for Steam that it does not have for Arc, so I continue to use Arc as the client of choice, but I was able to discern that the loading issue does affect STO the same way regardless of client, and further, that both Steam and Arc have some work they'll need to do on their respective clients as well to ensure STO is "distributed" / installed and/or patched/updated properly in the future too.
I hope this information provides an answer to your question along with helping others that need the workaround as well.
Here's the URL on Steam Community Forums:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/9900/discussions/0/1500126447392310303/?ctp=1
Here are the workaround steps using Steam paths in the example, just work with the same paths within the STO folder for an installation that was done and has worked correctly with Arc in the past if the Arc client is preferred:
Workaround for Crashed Installations of STO that no longer function in 64-bit Environments:
1 - Moved GameClient.exe & d3dcompiler_47.dll files from the \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\x86 folder to a freshly created \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\x86\x86backup folder
2 - Renamed d3dcompiler_47.dll in the \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\ folder to d3dcompiler_47.backup
3 - Deleted GameClient.exe & d3dcompiler_47.dll files from the \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\x86\ folder
4 - Copied the GameClient.exe & d3dcompiler_47.dll files from the \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\x64\ folder to both the \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\x86\ & \Steam\steamapps\common\Star Trek Online\Star Trek Online\Live\ folders.
The above steps were taken after a fresh re-install, the problem is now solved with this workaround,and the program has been fooled into running in 64-bit for the time being.
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For those interested in learning the differences (some of the information here has been oversimplified to make it more comprehensive such as the math, so while not entirely accurate, it gets the point across)... between professional hardware and consumer hardware here's some information about that below that's also featured in the Steam post:
[ Consumer CPU - Intel i7-6500U ]
Consumer - 1 - Can only address 32-bit memory clusters at a time using a 2x address cache (32-bit * 2 = 64-bit) that limits the system as a whole to "Hybrid" compatibility.
Consumer - 2 - Hybrid compatible systems "can" run 64-bit software; however they're limited on what they can handle for RAM, and that limit is between 32GB and 64GB depending on motherboard and how many RAM Slots and the speed of RAM Modules are available.
Consumer - 3 - Hybrid addressing is more flexible for applications, so if an application is capable of running in a 32-bit environment on a system running a 64-bit OS, it will be more likely to run; however that also often means that an unstable program is running if bugs are found on Enterprise equipment running the same program and will eventually manifest on consumer equipment...
Consumer - 4 - Hybrid systems are also restricted to using non-ECC, Unbuffered , non-Registered RAM
[ Enterprise CPU - Xeon - 4th Gen with 256GB of Registered & Buffered ECC RAM ]
Enterprise - 1 - Can address more than 32-bit memory clusters at a time using L1, L2, and L3 Cache (64-bit * 1 = 64-bit).
Enterprise - 2 - Can run 32-bit programs; however in a 64-bit OS will NOT run any 32-bit programs that the system determines has a 64-bit option because the hardware itself will make a determination of the most stable option of running a given program by checking what it is and is NOT capable of utilizing for an addressing system at the hardware level. STO is capable of running in a 64-bit hardware and OS (software) environment; therefore 32-bit will NOT run in that environment. This occurs to protect the system.
Enterprise - 3 - non-Hybrid Enterprise systems can have up to 512GB of RAM in today's technology marketplace, sometimes more; especially in server and multi-Enterprise CPU environments.
Enterprise - 4 - True 64-bit non-Hybrid architecture is NOT flexible like consumer grade equipment, so as to preserve data integrity and stability for any data stored within the system. Additional modes regarding 32-bit and 64-bit hardware functionality may be available on some Enterprise systems; however such a feature is not popular on Enterprise equipment, and the majority of Enterprise equipment lack the ability to make such adjustments to hardware function.
Enterprise - 5 - non-Hybrid Enterprise systems are also able to use both Registered & Buffered ECC RAM as well as non-ECC, Unbuffered , non-Registered RAM ; however using non-ECC, Unbuffered , non-Registered RAM often creates serious problems for data integrity and is not recommended. Using non-ECC, Unbuffered , non-Registered RAM will also cause many of the more useful Enterprise features (too many to list) to be unavailable.
Again, hope this is helpful information for everyone to have, and happy holidays.
- Lifetime Gamer
- Lifetime Gamer
There is no difference between the Steam and Arc versions of STO as actually, they don't exist. STO is updated via the 'Original' launcher, the one you see open regardless of whether you use Arc or Steam, which quite alot of people still use. Steam and Arc are only 'portals' to launch the launcher, and are superfluous to requirements and in low spec machines, only hinder the game (especially Steam). It's a myth to think you need either portal for STO and a bigger one to think either benefits.
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Yeah. We haven't had a real quality of life improvement in STO in quite some time. The lighting upgrade was a big disappointment. The dev team could redeem themselves with the 64bit client release.
+1 here..It would be a much welcomed upgrade..
Adu-Uss Firefox NCC-93425-F (LVL 65 FED AoY ENG) UR/VR MKXV Fleet Intel Assault Cruiser (July 2016)
Jean-Uss Seratoga Ravenna (LVL 60 FED Delta ENG) UC/R MKVI Bajoran Escort (April 2018)
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That is very good news!
Will be interesting to see the differences between the 32bit client and the 64bit client
Guessing better resource allocation to RAM cause of the ability for the program to go beyond the 3GB limit of system memory..
Adu-Uss Firefox NCC-93425-F (LVL 65 FED AoY ENG) UR/VR MKXV Fleet Intel Assault Cruiser (July 2016)
Jean-Uss Seratoga Ravenna (LVL 60 FED Delta ENG) UC/R MKVI Bajoran Escort (April 2018)
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Marop-IKS Orunthi (LVL 50 KNG Delta ENG) BoP (May 2018)
Kanak'lan-TRIBBLE (LVL 65 DOM Gamma ENG) TRIBBLE (June 2018)
> foxman00 wrote: »
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> jcsww wrote: »
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> frtoaster wrote: »
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> By the way, the 64-bit client has been enabled for "Victory Is Life". The option to switch back to 32-bit is in the launcher. It's called "Use 32-bit Client".
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> That is very good news!
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> Will be interesting to see the differences between the 32bit client and the 64bit client
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> Guessing better resource allocation to RAM cause of the ability for the program to go beyond the 3GB limit of system memory..
That will be the single biggest improvement people will notice that are running 64-bit ooerating systems with 8GB of memory or more.
I am aging blood wine as this is happening and await the arrival of the new x64 STO in June!!
Adu-Uss Firefox NCC-93425-F (LVL 65 FED AoY ENG) UR/VR MKXV Fleet Intel Assault Cruiser (July 2016)
Jean-Uss Seratoga Ravenna (LVL 60 FED Delta ENG) UC/R MKVI Bajoran Escort (April 2018)
Dubsa-RRW Mnaudh (LVL 50 FED allied ROM Delta ENG) Warbird (May 2018)
Marop-IKS Orunthi (LVL 50 KNG Delta ENG) BoP (May 2018)
Kanak'lan-TRIBBLE (LVL 65 DOM Gamma ENG) TRIBBLE (June 2018)