NCSoft Launcher Says CoH Not Installed
By
Father Xmas,
Posted on: 2012-05-26 19:58 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
It's possible the files got hashed (not encryption style hashed, hashed as in "scrambled").
When the launcher bombs out while its "fingers" are in files like that, you run the risk of gutting those files. That sounds like what happened here, and if you go in and look at file sizes on some of them you'll probably see some zero-byte and severely truncated files.
You are probably going to need to reinstall. Sorry boss.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
*consults crystal ball, goes cross-eyed, kicks it, stubbs toe, throws it across the room*
Ok, might we get a bit more than "Doctor it hurts when I do this."
Give us some info on your PC. What OS/version? Where's the Launcher/CoX installed? IE: did you do a default install? Why did it "not close properly" before? Please bring cake with the reply to feed our thinking caps!
Windows Vista
Installed to the default location (both NCSoft launcher and CoH)
I didn't remember it crashing or failing to shut down properly; the message caught me off-guard.
Needing to re-enable permission for the NCSoft launcher to run seemed a little odd to. I've been running it fine ever since the cutover from the CoH launcher.
I'll probably just go with Hyperstrike's comment about reinstalling. I just wondered if something from the last patch might have caused problems. My wife and daughter are both a little nervous about trying to launch CoH right now in case they get nailed as well.
Do yourself a favor. Don't install CoH to the default location. Or turn off UAC if you do. That's the biggest problem with the installer.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
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No, I'm quite sure the biggest problem with the installer is Vista, but anyway. :-p
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Do yourself a favor. Don't install CoH to the default location. Or turn off UAC if you do. That's the biggest problem with the installer.
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Originally Posted by Hyperstrike
Do yourself a favor. Don't install CoH to the default location. Or turn off UAC if you do. That's the biggest problem with the installer.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by WanderingAries
No, I'm quite sure the biggest problem with the installer is Vista, but anyway. :-p
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It's not a fun piece of software.
Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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I've been using the same PC since CoH switched over to using the NCSoft installer with nary a problem. Until now, of course.|
Originally Posted by WanderingAries
No, I'm quite sure the biggest problem with the installer is Vista, but anyway. :-p
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Hyperstrike - I tried installing to a different location and got an error that the installer did not have permission to write to that directory. So I guess I'm left with uninstalling one more time and reinstalling to the default directory.
Quick update:
My wife and daughter have not logged into CoH since I ran into my problem, just in case it was patch related.
I just tried logging in on my wife's PC (Vista) and my daughter's (Windows 7) and received the 403 permissions error on both.
Before I play with shutting off the UAC or uninstalling/reinstalling, I'd like to know if something in the last patch is causing the issue and if Paragon is planning on hotfixing it.
I'm praying for a hotfix. I've been getting the 403 error msg since last week. I submitted a ticket and we are still going back & forth. I sure don't want to have to play the uninstall/reinstall game.
Are you in Europe by any chance? I saw reports last week or the week before about someone in Europe having a similar problem and it turned out to be due to something with their ISP.
I'll see if I can find the post when I get home.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
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Not I. Only CoH is affected. LOTRO and STO are running fine for us.|
Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Are you in Europe by any chance? I saw reports last week or the week before about someone in Europe having a similar problem and it turned out to be due to something with their ISP.
I'll see if I can find the post when I get home. |
This is only since the last patch. It most likely isn't antivirus related either since our machines are each running a different antivirus program.
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I didn't say anything about any other games so I'm not sure why you are bringing that up.|
Originally Posted by lionheart_fr
Not I. Only CoH is affected. LOTRO and STO are running fine for us.
This is only since the last patch. It most likely isn't antivirus related either since our machines are each running a different antivirus program. |
I asked about whether you were in Europe for two reasons. The _fr at the end of your forum name and the recollection of something similar from someone in Europe that found it was a problem with their ISP.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
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By 'different location', do you mean somewhere in 'Program Files' or 'Program Files (x86)'? If so, the point is to avoid those directories completely to bypass the onerous permissions. My game is in c:\CoH
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Originally Posted by lionheart_fr
Hyperstrike - I tried installing to a different location and got an error that the installer did not have permission to write to that directory. So I guess I'm left with uninstalling one more time and reinstalling to the default directory.
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Paragon City Search And Rescue
The Mentor Project
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c:\City of Heroes
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Originally Posted by Ironblade
By 'different location', do you mean somewhere in 'Program Files' or 'Program Files (x86)'? If so, the point is to avoid those directories completely to bypass the onerous permissions. My game is in c:\CoH
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The launcher fetches the game location from the Windows Registry. Sounds link it's not finding it.
Father Xmas - Level 50 Ice/Ice Tanker - Victory
$725 and $1350 parts lists --- My guide to computer components
Tempus unum hominem manet
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I wondered about that. We're long-time players and CoH was installed under 'City of Heroes' in the 'Program Files (x86)' directory on all three PCs before the NCSoft launcher was required. It's been working fine since we moved over to using the NCSoft launcher -- until this patch.
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Originally Posted by Father Xmas
The launcher fetches the game location from the Windows Registry. Sounds link it's not finding it.
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*takes half a dozen deep breaths*
Ok, once I recover from my "I just wrote a full length procedure only to have it deleted by forum logout bug", there'll be a detailed writeup to follow.
Ok, this is going to be a step-by-step writeup for cleaning out all traces of CoX related content from the computer while preserving a minimal amount of settings and files to help ease a clean install. This will involve editing the registry so please read very carefully! Turning off the UAC at this point might save a few headaches and reduce the number of prompts.
You will need the following Guides for quick reference:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=282641
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=282643
Selective File Backup:
To help make this a smoother install, you'll probably want to copy a small number of files/folders that'll help speed up the installation process later. You should go ahead and make a temporary directory (say, C:\CoX_temp). The name isn't as important as knowing where it is.
Copy the following files/folders from your current game directory (I think you said it was C:\City of Heroes):
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This will help preserve things like your basic character settings, server character list order, and any AE related offline content.|
Files: Any and all files that end in .txt except for the THIRDPARTYSOFTWAREREADME.txt file to your temporary directory. Folders: All folders except for the following: data, logs, piggs, and qt_plugins. |
Download a fresh copy of the Launcher installation file into your temporary directory.
Manual Deletion of CoX:
This is where you must be careful! We will be editing the registry and we will be deleting things so make sure you're clicking things exactly as stated!
- Hold the Windows Key and press R. This will bring up the Run command;
- Type regedit and hit enter. This will bring up the registry editor, but unlike the Migration guide we WILL be deleting things so tread carefully;
- Hold the Control Key and press F. This will bring up the Find command within the registry editor;
- Type Cryptic in the box and hit Find Next. This will go to the key that houses the game’s general settings that it loads on startup;
- Right Click the cursor on the word Cryptic. This will bring up the list of options you have available for this key;
- Choose the Delete option and it will likely ask if you are sure and perhaps throw up some warnings. Click Yes/OK to whatever pops up and keep going;
- Hold the Control Key and press F. This will bring up the Find command within the registry editor;
- Type NCsoft in the box and hit Find Next. This will go to the key that houses the launcher’s installation information;
- Right Click the cursor on the word NCsoft. This will bring up the list of options you have available for this key;
- Choose the Delete option and it will likely ask if you are sure and perhaps throw up some warnings. Click Yes/OK to whatever pops up and keep going;
- Close the registry window and you’re all set!
If you're absolutely confident that you've followed the instructions correctly so far and have copied everything you need/want into the temp folder, then feel free to delete the folders that house the Launcher (\NCSoft\Launcher) and the Game (C:\City of Heroes). Empty the trash and you now have a clean system.
Installing the Game from Scratch:
I'm going to modify this to mimic what you had previously for simplicity sake. That said, go ahead and create the following folders:
C:\NCsoft
C:\NCsoft\Launcher
C:\NCsoft\City of Heroes
Using the fresh installation file in your temporary folder, follow the installation instructions in the Install Guide using the folders above. Install the Launcher to its new folder (C:\NCsoft\Launcher) and the Game to its new folder (C:\NCsoft\City of Heroes). When installing the game, let it fully download without interuption. Don't copy any files yet from the temporary directory. Don't let the computer fall asleep, hibernate, etc.
Once your shiny new installation is complete, go ahead and run a consistency check on it just to be sure. Now you can feel free to copy those files to the new Game folder (C:\NCsoft\City of Heroes) and delete the entire temp folder when complete.
Notes: You have basically preserved your ingame character settings (as of the last time you manually saved the settings), but erased the graphics settings so the game will initially startup in the absolute minimum graphics mode.
Customize the launcher as necessary/desired using the tips in the Installation Guide. Start the game, but don't login yet. Check the box that says something like "link to account". Adjust your graphics settings now to your appropriate desktop resolution, etc as desired. Once you login, use the ingame options menu to manually reload the files (IE: wdw.txt for the window settings)as necessary.
If this does NOT solve the issue, then follow Hyperstrike's Guide for tech help and we'll see what else we can do. It's entirely possible that there could be bad drivers, malware, etc involved, but we need more info to sort that out.
Good Luck!
This thread will esplode in 5.....4....3...
WanderingAries -
I appreciate your efforts, they are above and beyond, but I'm not going to risk manually editing the registry on three PCs. Also, since we also all play Star Trek Online, I probably can't just search on Cryptic and remove the entries without killing that game as well.
Considering the number of people this is apparently affecting (see the error 403 thread, plus however many may have contacted tech support without posting on the forum), the problem seems to be associated with the last patch and should be fixed in another patch. It's hard for me to believe that only a handful of us were affected.
Quick update: With today's patch, my wife's CoH now patches and loads properly. We're updating my daughter's now; mine will be last. I'll update this thread with results.
Hopefully this means whatever bug cause the error 403 problem has been squashed by this patch. 
Today's patch appears to have fixed the issue for all three of us. We're up and running now.
Thanks to all who posted here. Your comments and tips were much appreciated.
When I launched CoH just now, it came up saying that CoH did not shut down properly and asked if I wanted to repair. I said yes.
The repair ran and the update started. Suddenly it shut down. When I went relaunch, I got a message saying that I needed to run the NCSoft launcher in admin mode. I said okay. Now it says CoH is not installed on my PC.
The CoH files are still there, but the NCSoft launcher doesn't recognize them. What happened?