Still cant play due to black screen bug

minidari · June 2021

Dear devs,
Can you please tell us clearly if you gonna resolve the Black Screen bug or not ?
Its easy you can just tell us strait: chumps with black screen we don't need you in the game anymore ! goodbye and so long !
Worse than your lack of professionalism in resolving this old bug is only your attitude in informing us, YOUR players if anything will be done about it

strathkin · June 2021

I suspect that's not Kael's (CM) role, yet it be nice to see one DEVs take point, or sometimes have a DEV respond every now and then to Bugs. We don't need them to reply to everyone, often it's just nicer to know they've read it, or will review as they investigate. Sadly 2-3+ years ago they responded to forums a bit more often, yet haven't seen much in last year or so. Still I do believe they read them at least!

All 3 of these seem closely related causes, and effect a lot of people.

Black Screens unable to show Cryptic logo, or load login screen visuals, effects some.
Crashes that can occur one or more times a day, probably effects the most!
Weapons visual FX (for some) don't appear to show firing of weapons, this also effects fair # of users.

I opened the first thread showing steps I took to get by it, and then found other issues too. I tried to put various sources of people using either the forums, steam, reddit trying to tie the common theme together in the first thread.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1261957/load-game-since-5-25-update-just-black-screen-or-crashes

https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1262060/game-crashes

https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline/#/discussion/1261966/weapons-wont-fire

minidari · June 2021

That's the problem, no one asked them for NATO ballistic missile launch codes.
Just the information: "yes we know about the bug, yes we work on a fix".
What will happen with the event, will we have the opportunity to finish it or will we have to pay with zen?

strathkin · June 2021

Hopefully more use the

https://www.arcgames.com/en/supportredirect/app/home/
╘ clicking the 'Contact Support' link on top of page in dark grey border at top of page.

And you can also request Game Support - then Game Chat (bottom lower right) to explain the problem to a Customer Support Person, as they can also open a Arc Support ticket that way as well. Chat may only be available in US for English based users, or possibly a few others depending on region.

minidari · June 2021

Today is the last day we can start the event to finish it successfully.
Tomorrow will cost us Zen.

seawolf6 · June 2021

Even ARC Games support does not solve much, I wrote for the joysticks not working and the answer was not the best, they wrote that the game is for the keyboard and so let's forget, here only the Cryptic solves.

motito78 · June 2021

still cant play, any way @ambassadorkael#6946 see this post??

kaithan1975 · June 2021

seawolf6 wrote: »

Even ARC Games support does not solve much, I wrote for the joysticks not working and the answer was not the best, they wrote that the game is for the keyboard and so let's forget, here only the Cryptic solves.

Your post is off topic, but ARC support was correct, but then they don't actually support individual games. Any fix is going to have to come from Cryptic.

kaithan1975 · June 2021

minidari wrote: »

That's the problem, no one asked them for NATO ballistic missile launch codes.
Just the information: "yes we know about the bug, yes we work on a fix".
What will happen with the event, will we have the opportunity to finish it or will we have to pay with zen?

I'm sure they are totally aware of the situation. Unfortunately, fixing a bug that only affects a small number of players is probably more elusive than one that affects everyone.

kaithan1975 · June 2021

strathkin wrote: »

[*] Black Screens unable to show Cryptic logo, or load login screen visuals, effects some.
[*] Crashes that can occur one or more times a day, probably effects the most!
[*] Weapons visual FX (for some) don't appear to show firing of weapons, this also effects several!

Affects, not effects.

1) The Black Screen problem seems to only affect a few. Those that it does affect don't post any specifics about their system which doesn't help Cryptic identify the problem.

2) While crashes seem to happen now and then, 'most' is probably not true, not on a daily basis. I use to crash now and then mostly while traversing sector space. I made one change to the program, I made the STO application 'run as administrator'. I haven't had one crash in 6 months since then.

eazzie · June 2021

kaithan1975 wrote: »

strathkin wrote: »

[*] Black Screens unable to show Cryptic logo, or load login screen visuals, effects some.
[*] Crashes that can occur one or more times a day, probably effects the most!
[*] Weapons visual FX (for some) don't appear to show firing of weapons, this also effects several!

Affects, not effects.

1) The Black Screen problem seems to only affect a few. Those that it does affect don't post any specifics about their system which doesn't help Cryptic identify the problem.

2) While crashes seem to happen now and then, 'most' is probably not true, not on a daily basis. I use to crash now and then mostly while traversing sector space. I made one change to the program, I made the STO application 'run as administrator'. I haven't had one crash in 6 months since then.

[/quote}

Tried part 2 of your post with another player and did not work

kaithan1975 · June 2021

eazzie wrote: »

Tried part 2 of your post with another player and did not work

Unfortunately that's what makes it hard to fix these bugs. What may work for one may not necessarily work for another.

minidari · June 2021

kaithan1975 wrote: »

I'm sure they are totally aware of the situation. Unfortunately, fixing a bug that only affects a small number of players is probably more elusive than one that affects everyone.

this problem would have been a small one if it was first time it occurred, but this is old already as it happened last year also

eazzie · June 2021

Just a thought guys. As this issue is only effecting a few. If those effected supplied details of their rigs. ie graphics card driver ram processor etc it may help narrow down the cause quicker and a fix be found. I know that one of the mods @darkbladejk would be more than willing to escalate things for those affected, but info is required if any form of escalation can take place.

darkbladejk · June 2021

I've kept an eye on this one for awhile but so far I have yet to gain any useful info other people who have reported this. I would love to see this fixed for the folks who are having the issue, but there's a few things people need to understand about this. Fixing things in game isn't as simple as flipping switches as much as we all wish it was. A single one or zero out of place in the code can bring the entire thing crashing down, be it at the studio level like what Cryptic does, or the small time modder level like things I do. Part of being able to fix a bug is knowing what's causing it, and being able to reproduce said bug consistently. In the immortal words of GI Joe, knowing is half the battle. Once they know what the problem is, then comes the fix. Outside of STO I also help folks fix computers on occasion. There is a thousand and one different things that can cause a black screen issue such as your net dumping for a moment right when you try to connect, something on their end, something in the background of your rig, or what have you. With a black screen it's also possible that 10 different people could be effected at once, but there be 10 different causes. Folks may think that's a copout answer but technology can be fickle.

For those who are experiencing the issue I need the following info.

-Your exact computer specs you are running. This includes what windows you have, your graphics card, processor, how much ram you have, whether you're playing STO from a SSD or HDD. If your rig is a pre-built system, then I need to know the exact make and model of the rig.
-Any anti-virus software you may be running. Some of them do not play nicely with STO at all and are borderline viruses themselves.
-How you are launching STO.
-How long it's been since you have updated any drivers.
-I will need any and all crash logs you have available.
-Any softwares you may have running in the background. some softwares can conflict with each other.

Once I know more about what people have, and where they are with their rigs, I can then try to offer more tailored advice. If it works and fixes the issue, then that's great. With alot of this stuff if I had the actual computers in front of me, I could probably tell you guys in about 10 minutes or less what's up. However since I don't, I need the info you guys will supply in order to try and make determinations as to possible causes.

eazzie · June 2021

darkbladejk wrote: »

I've kept an eye on this one for awhile but so far I have yet to gain any useful info other people who have reported this. I would love to see this fixed for the folks who are having the issue, but there's a few things people need to understand about this. Fixing things in game isn't as simple as flipping switches as much as we all wish it was. A single one or zero out of place in the code can bring the entire thing crashing down, be it at the studio level like what Cryptic does, or the small time modder level like things I do. Part of being able to fix a bug is knowing what's causing it, and being able to reproduce said bug consistently. In the immortal words of GI Joe, knowing is half the battle. Once they know what the problem is, then comes the fix. Outside of STO I also help folks fix computers on occasion. There is a thousand and one different things that can cause a black screen issue such as your net dumping for a moment right when you try to connect, something on their end, something in the background of your rig, or what have you. With a black screen it's also possible that 10 different people could be effected at once, but there be 10 different causes. Folks may think that's a copout answer but technology can be fickle.

For those who are experiencing the issue I need the following info.

-Your exact computer specs you are running. This includes what windows you have, your graphics card, processor, how much ram you have, whether you're playing STO from a SSD or HDD. If your rig is a pre-built system, then I need to know the exact make and model of the rig.
-Any anti-virus software you may be running. Some of them do not play nicely with STO at all and are borderline viruses themselves.
-How you are launching STO.
-How long it's been since you have updated any drivers.
-I will need any and all crash logs you have available.
-Any softwares you may have running in the background. some softwares can conflict with each other.

Once I know more about what people have, and where they are with their rigs, I can then try to offer more tailored advice. If it works and fixes the issue, then that's great. With alot of this stuff if I had the actual computers in front of me, I could probably tell you guys in about 10 minutes or less what's up. However since I don't, I need the info you guys will supply in order to try and make determinations as to possible causes.

fantastic dark I'm sure with the relevant info you will help in resolving this issue. I know you are wanting to help, committed to helping , but you need info first.

strathkin · June 2021

motito78 wrote: »

still cant play, any way @ambassadorkael#6946 see this post??

I suspect he reads & reports back, but rarely answers as he's not really permitted to comment on when a FIX may be coming. It would be nice to see DEVs sometimes reply to at least acknowledge a few threads.

Best we can do is:

https://www.arcgames.com/en/supportredirect/app/home/
╘ selecting Game Support and using 'Chat' to log a ticket or open Game Support Ticket.

And request Chat to explain their problem to a Customer Support Person, or Contact Support to open an Arc Ticket to help get this resolved. I had Arc Support ask me to send my DXdiag report and upload it in text format, they also send it up to the next level of support for investigation.

Note: Include any crash ID's you experience or write them down in ticket.
╘ unless you have the black screen, no cryptic logo, or login issue.

So hopefully others are being asked to send this, and include Arc Support Ticket ID in the name of the text you include for tracking.

DxDiag xxxxxx.txt for example

motito78 · June 2021

wheres the chat? i get here https://support.arcgames.com/hc/en-us/categories/360000168113-Star-Trek-Online but no link is valid for me. It's the same directx10 bug that comes back in every big update.

strathkin · June 2021

Perhaps chat is only available in english as I'm in North America.
╘ click Game Support, then look for a blue window in bottom right corner for 'chat'.

Click on hypertext that says Contact Support shown in white/light grey, my text is just using a color to show you what to click. You have to click on the hypertext on your Arc Support page!

Try your best to answer any questions they have, you can also upload a screenshot, or the dxdiag report which is an application that comes included with Direct X and can save all details in text format to your computer. So they can review that to help them troubleshoot, or help identify a way to fix or improve performance issues.

minidari · June 2021

strathkin wrote: »

╘ click Game Support, then look for a blue window in bottom right corner for 'chat'.

I don't have such a button

@darkbladejk
CPU - Intel i5-2320
MB - Gigabyte B75M-D3H
Ram - 8 Gb
HDD
Windows 10 Pro x64 last update (today)
browser opera
arc launcher

when the game runs, all sounds are heard
in the images in the link https://imgur.com/a/weRwpG9
img2 - user selection - I roughly know where the character selection button is.
img3 - sometimes these windows still appear and disappear (very rarely it appears.)
img4 - I call the windows with the keys i-inventory j-journal
img5 - with such stickers I glued on the monitor to be sure when I click.
When I play event the windows appear and disappear much more often.

Before the May 25 update, everything was fine

eazzie · June 2021

minidari wrote: »

strathkin wrote: »

╘ click Game Support, then look for a blue window in bottom right corner for 'chat'.

I don't have such a button

@darkbladejk
CPU - Intel i5-2320
MB - Gigabyte B75M-D3H
Ram - 8 Gb
HDD
Windows 10 Pro x64 last update (today)
browser opera
arc launcher

when the game runs, all sounds are heard
in the images in the link https://imgur.com/a/weRwpG9
img2 - user selection - I roughly know where the character selection button is.
img3 - sometimes these windows still appear and disappear (very rarely it appears.)
img4 - I call the windows with the keys i-inventory j-journal
img5 - with such stickers I glued on the monitor to be sure when I click.
When I play event the windows appear and disappear much more often.

Before the May 25 update, everything was fine

can you supply darbladejk with the other details needed.

whether you're playing STO from a SSD or HDD. If your rig is a pre-built system, then I need to know the exact make and model of the rig.
-Any anti-virus software you may be running. Some of them do not play nicely with STO at all and are borderline viruses themselves.

How long it's been since you have updated any drivers.
-I will need any and all crash logs you have available.
-Any softwares you may have running in the background. some softwares can conflict with each other.

strathkin · June 2021

minidari wrote: »

strathkin wrote: »

╘ click Game Support, then look for a blue window in bottom right corner for 'chat'.

I don't have such a button

The button or hypertext Contact Support, is shown in your screenshot, just got to click of the 'words'.

That shows you what to click on as it's hypertext URL, that will open a Ticket!
╘ You can then send a screenshot, or upload your Dxdiag file in text format to them with that tool.
╘ also if you click your username on same grey border, can select My Tickets too to update them.

I know english isn't your native language, so hopefully something there is now more clear.

shewolf89 · June 2021

I have reached my limit with this issue now, after 11 years of playing and consistently spending $130 - $260+ per month most months on this game I am sick to death of being left out of pocket and treated in a substandard manner by Cryptic when it comes to these game glitches leaving me either unable to complete events or having to pay to do so just because they messed up and failed to acknowledge their mistakes or compensate us for them. I am thoroughly ashamed of how Cryptic now treats the loyal player base and so I leave this message for them as I leave.... Do better or make way for those who will.

motito78 · June 2021

minidari wrote: »

strathkin wrote: »

╘ click Game Support, then look for a blue window in bottom right corner for 'chat'.

I don't have such a button

@darkbladejk
CPU - Intel i5-2320
MB - Gigabyte B75M-D3H
Ram - 8 Gb
HDD
Windows 10 Pro x64 last update (today)
browser opera
arc launcher

when the game runs, all sounds are heard
in the images in the link https://imgur.com/a/weRwpG9
img2 - user selection - I roughly know where the character selection button is.
img3 - sometimes these windows still appear and disappear (very rarely it appears.)
img4 - I call the windows with the keys i-inventory j-journal
img5 - with such stickers I glued on the monitor to be sure when I click.
When I play event the windows appear and disappear much more often.

Before the May 25 update, everything was fine

Exactly the same issue and same things displayed.
My PC is a notebook I5-2410 with integrated intel HD3000 graphics
8Gb Ram and 480Gb SSD Win10

halfmoon10 · June 2021

minidari wrote: »

Dear devs,
Can you please tell us clearly if you gonna resolve the Black Screen bug or not ?
Its easy you can just tell us strait: chumps with black screen we don't need you in the game anymore ! goodbye and so long !
Worse than your lack of professionalism in resolving this old bug is only your attitude in informing us, YOUR players if anything will be done about it

halfmoon10 · June 2021

Still having this issue with the black hole screen and blue circle after pressing ENGAGE ! Sometimes the game loads fine and sometimes it will not , which is the result we are experiencing now for the past several weeks. My PC laptop is not to blame or internet connection either. For the non believers out there who are not experiencing this delightful everyday PC anomaly ? it is just a matter of time before its your turn.

halfmoon10 · June 2021

Just uninstalled STO and reinstalled STO again and it works fine for now, but I have done this many times over the past week or two. NFI ????

minidari · June 2021

halfmoon10 wrote: »

Just uninstalled STO and reinstalled STO again and it works fine for now, but I have done this many times over the past week or two. NFI ????

Unfortunately not for me, I installed windows on a backup HDD. I added the drivers and installed STO. same result.
On the recommendation of a friend, I reinstalled windows 8.1 and put the drivers again and installed STO.
It worked, it's not a black screen. But I can't move to windows 8.1 and I can't change the HDD every time

halfmoon10 · June 2021

New patch and back to the black hole again with that blue circle again and again !!!!!!!!!!

amazing · June 2021

minidari wrote: »

Dear devs,
Can you please tell us clearly if you gonna resolve the Black Screen bug or not ?
Its easy you can just tell us strait: chumps with black screen we don't need you in the game anymore ! goodbye and so long !
Worse than your lack of professionalism in resolving this old bug is only your attitude in informing us, YOUR players if anything will be done about it

strathkin · June 2021

So try to open a support ticket, and upload the Dxdiag (Diagnostic Tool from Direct X) that can be saved in Text format and uploaded to Arc as they specifically also ask for this if you have it. Chat can also reopen a previously closed ticket if they closed it with an unsatisfactory reply. All most want done is acknowledgement of the issue, and them to identify they've at least forwarded onto Q&A or DEVs for investigation / bug fixes prior to closing.

https://www.arcgames.com/en/supportredirect/app/home/
╘ Click there, select Contact Support, then say technical problem/assistance, and Submit a Ticket.

halfmoon10 wrote: »

Just uninstalled STO and reinstalled STO again and it works fine for now, but I have done this many times over the past week or two. NFI ????

Yea that's what I had to originally do back on the 5/25 as well, though I later learned if it crashes the first time, just try reopening and often it works the second try.

Still it be nice to see them finally put this to bed. They resolved some of the crashes on the 6/11th patch last Friday (which was minor) yet hasn't resolved most of them. Some are still getting the Black Screen, and crashes at various times...

Still cant play due to black screen bug

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