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Have to reboot every time after a patch ?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I have no problems patching.

I have no problems playing the game once I log in.

However, since the end of OB and the game has gone live I have had this really annoying problem. Every time the game patches itself and I launch it, it will hang on the screen immediately before character selection and freeze. The only way around this is to reboot. Then after a reboot, the game runs just fine.

At first I thought it might be a problem with Zonealarm, as the game executable changes with each patch. However, I tried completely removing permissions in ZA for the exe file, same problem. I've also tried quitting the patcher, and re-running it again immediately afterwards, same problem.

I've tried the first run after a patch in safe mode, same problem. Same with windowed mode, freezes. Can't Ctrl-Alt-Del, can't alt-tab, nada.

I reboot, and everything works just fine.

Is there something that's changed in the windows registry after each patch that requires it to be reloaded? It's about the only thing I can think of that would force a reboot. I can't say I've ever seen this same sort of bug with any other game that I've ever played, so I'm a bit flummoxed.

As I say, it's not a showstopper, as the game plays fine after a reboot. However, with the current frequency of patches it is bloody annoying though.

Anyone got any ideas?

P.S. Don't be lame and ask for dxdiag logs. It's not a gameplay issue. If you have a serious idea, great. If you're merely a troll, move along......
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Check task manager to make sure there aren't zombie copies of GameClient.exe sitting around after updates.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Dominatus wrote: »
    I have no problems patching.

    I have no problems playing the game once I log in.

    However, since the end of OB and the game has gone live I have had this really annoying problem. Every time the game patches itself and I launch it, it will hang on the screen immediately before character selection and freeze. The only way around this is to reboot. Then after a reboot, the game runs just fine.

    At first I thought it might be a problem with Zonealarm, as the game executable changes with each patch. However, I tried completely removing permissions in ZA for the exe file, same problem. I've also tried quitting the patcher, and re-running it again immediately afterwards, same problem.

    I've tried the first run after a patch in safe mode, same problem. Same with windowed mode, freezes. Can't Ctrl-Alt-Del, can't alt-tab, nada.

    I reboot, and everything works just fine.

    Is there something that's changed in the windows registry after each patch that requires it to be reloaded? It's about the only thing I can think of that would force a reboot. I can't say I've ever seen this same sort of bug with any other game that I've ever played, so I'm a bit flummoxed.

    As I say, it's not a showstopper, as the game plays fine after a reboot. However, with the current frequency of patches it is bloody annoying though.

    Anyone got any ideas?

    P.S. Don't be lame and ask for dxdiag logs. It's not a gameplay issue. If you have a serious idea, great. If you're merely a troll, move along......


    Try uninstalling Zone Alarm, then running the game, see if that changes anything. If it does not fix the problem then reinstall Zone Alarm.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    coderanger wrote:
    Check task manager to make sure there aren't zombie copies of GameClient.exe sitting around after updates.

    Yes, I had also had that thought so I've already been down that road and checked that. I'm very process conscious, so I checked for duplicate processes committing resources. There are no unusual processes running, or duplicates.

    As far as the second suggestion of uninstalling zonealarm and trying it then. I think I might well give that a whirl under some controlled circumstances. I'm not a huge fan of switching off firewalls on Windows systems, regardless of additional security... Now, if we had decent games software that ran under Linux, whole different ballpark. I'll give it a go though.

    It would be helpful to know if it's only me that's experiencing this problem. If it is, then at least I know that I can fix it because the problem is localised. Then the only issue becomes diagnosing it, which is at least feasible with us being in a "patching" environment at this early stage of the STO lifespan.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    zone alarm is well noted to reflag a program after a patch requiring you having to reauthorize the program. If you are running the game is full screen , the zone alarm prompt always gets hidden behind the game screen and you have to reboot to get out of beeen stuck.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    more or less the same thing happens with my firewall but unitll now ive not had to reboot

    ive noticed sometimes when starting lotro it hogs resources and appears to cause windows to hang when you try to alt-tab but if you press ctrl-alt-del task manager will eventualy popup if, you click on the task manager it will kick desktop to the front or if you have internet explorer or another program running click the switch to button or if you leave STO for a few minutes you should see an error saying something like unable to connect and you will see the ingame logon screen

    although youve tried removing the exe from ZA it may be at the stage of ZA redetecting the new exe's thats causing windows to appear to hang try manualy adding them back or lowering or disabling how ZA detects and responds to new programs executing

    to prove its your firewall causing the problem reboot windows after the next patch then start STO, the same problem should occur if its your firewall ;)

    there should be 2 exe's in ZA for STO star trek online.exe and gameclient.exe makesure you remove and\or change both
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Update.

    It seems that the problem was indeed the firewall update option being "shadowed out" by the game application. It was also impossible to "alt-tab" back to that option to allow the application.

    The simplest work around I have been using is to have an instance of task manager open and as the active window when starting up the game after patching. That way the firewall can be allowed to grant permissions and the game will run normally.

    Problem solved - kind of.
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