Safe Mode Discontinuation Support - Windows

[Widower]

2 hours ago, death_jester said:

Is there going to be a way to run this game with an older graphics card that uses DirectX. I find it ironic that a computer I bought almost 20 years ago had less issue than a computer I bout a few years ago. Running 32-bit, 64-bit, 32-bit Beta, and 64-bit Beta; yields one result. That says it is missing OpenGL. Before the August 2019 patch, I used a recommended Shim, to solve the issue. After the patch this did not seem to work, and support recommended then that I use safemode. Now it seems my newer computer with a older graphics card, the shim and safemode are going obsolete.

I was kind of hoping the one answer I would not be getting is; buy a new computer/graphics card. There is of course no longer any support for the graphic card I have. 

The problem is that the shim directions direct you to use the Safe Mode exe (homecoming.exe) instead of the 32 or 64-bit exes (cityofheroes.exe in either hc-bin32 or hc-bin64 in your install directory). Do it for your favorite one of the two and it should work.

[nightscape]

I can only run the safemode version of the client.  Both other versions try running on my second monitor for some reason, where they simply hang on a black screen until I force it to close.  This is on Windows 10.  I don't get any error messages or crash report so I'm unsure where to even start.

[GM Korvin]

1 hour ago, nightscape said:

I can only run the safemode version of the client.  Both other versions try running on my second monitor for some reason, where they simply hang on a black screen until I force it to close.  This is on Windows 10.  I don't get any error messages or crash report so I'm unsure where to even start.

Does the beta version of either the 32 or 64-bit client work for you? There's a few bug fixes on them that should help the game to run.

[nightscape]

38 minutes ago, GM Korvin said:

Does the beta version of either the 32 or 64-bit client work for you? There's a few bug fixes on them that should help the game to run.

If you're referring to the "cityofheroes-beta" applications found in the hcbin-32 or -64 folders, yes I did.  I get the same result sadly.

[Troo]

 

Trying the 32-bit non beta...

 

back to safemode using http://patch.savecoh.com/safemode.xml

Edited January 12, 2020 by Troo

[Troo]

Any updates on the discontinue safe mode effort?

Is what some players are reporting being addressed, are there very few reports of issues, is the timeline for discontinued safe mode established beyond soon?

 

It appears that the safe mode showed back up on it's own without having to add a special manifest. Is this as intended? 

[GM Korvin]

16 hours ago, Troo said:

Any updates on the discontinue safe mode effort?

Is what some players are reporting being addressed, are there very few reports of issues, is the timeline for discontinued safe mode established beyond soon?

 

It appears that the safe mode showed back up on it's own without having to add a special manifest. Is this as intended? 

 

Yes - the latest patch in beta includes a new version of the safe mode client. You can read more about it in the above link.

[horsehouse]

Hey! I was told to reply to this thread with my issue, though I don't really know how it's relevant.

 

Whenever trying to run anything but Safe Mode, the game pops up in loading bar form, freezes for 30-60 seconds, then closes without an error message. Safe Mode seems to work fine, but I'd rather avoid playing it.

 

This is after I've made exceptions for it in my firewall and on Windows Defender. I don't use an antivirus.

 

Here's the latest crash report. It's on 64-bit.

cityofheroes-7z05qwk4rqhatqd494xmpqdhyy.report

Edited January 21, 2020 by moxierocks
Clarifying some things.

[Number Six]

@moxierocks, Can you try the beta client and report what happens?

It includes several fixes for common problems that people have been having. As a bonus, if it doesn't work, it also allows you to directly upload the crash report into our issue tracking system. The release candidate currently being tested even has several fixes for problems that were recently reported through the new tool.

[horsehouse]

21 minutes ago, Number Six said:

@moxierocks, Can you try the beta client and report what happens?

It includes several fixes for common problems that people have been having. As a bonus, if it doesn't work, it also allows you to directly upload the crash report into our issue tracking system. The release candidate currently being tested even has several fixes for problems that were recently reported through the new tool.

This actually works fantastic, thanks! I actually opened 2 or 3 clients out of expectation that it wouldn't work, lol. I'm excited to use the standard shards again, though... is there a ballpark as to when standard CoH will get these updates?

[Number Six]

I can't say for certain because you never know when a showstopper bug will be found, but given that we're on Release Candidate #4... I'd say Soon™

[loki120]

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 7:44 PM, death_jester said:

I'm getting this same thing, anyone can help explain a way to fix this?

[shamise]

On 1/10/2020 at 8:48 AM, Number Six said:

Can you try the beta client (https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13159-how-to-access-the-beta-testing-server/) and submit a crash report when it pops up? That ntdll.dll reference doesn't provide any useful information, so we'll need a full stacktrace or even a dump if possible to see what the issue is.

I did the full dump and the partial dump.

[Alaskanrebel]

On 1/10/2020 at 6:48 PM, Number Six said:

I'm working on a standalone diagnostic tool to help get the info we need from these oddball devices, so keep an eye on this thread for it.

 

At the end of the day, both the old client and the new one ultimately use the same method of getting joystick/gamepad input, but the old one had an extra middleware layer that Microsoft has since deprecated -- the newer one just gets the raw HID events directly.

 

In theory anything that works with the old client should work with the new one, but in practice there may be some not-quite-compliant hardware we need to do special workarounds for (that presumably DirectInput was doing before).

Any update on the stand alone tool development?  I am still having issues with 64 and 32 bit recognizing my joystick.  Im still working it on my system too just in case.  Hopefully more to follow.

Edited January 24, 2020 by Alaskanrebel

[LilPoundcake]

I updated today and the game will ONLY load in safe mode now despite always playing on 64 previously. When I try to start up the game, the loading screen pops up and immediately crashes. I can't even get to the login screen. Please help. :'(

[Cyrious]

Having a similar issue that Poundcake is having.

 

Attempting to boot the 64bit version gives:

Quote

Unfortunately, the City of Heroes client encountered an unexpected error and must close.

The error occurred in cityofheroes.exe at relative address 0x5b67b.

Booting the 32bit version gives:

Quote

Unfortunately, the City of Heroes client encountered an unexpected error and must close.

The error occurred in cityofheroes.exe at relative address 0x4b5f8.

This started with the most recent patch, and when verification was done it passed.

Booting into safe mode works, but obviously this wont be an option soon.

 

Are there any crashdumps that it spits out when this happens that I can hand over?

[LilPoundcake]

Just now, Cyrious said:

Having a similar issue that Poundcake is having.

 

Attempting to boot the 64bit version gives:

Booting the 32bit version gives:

This started with the most recent patch, and when verification was done it passed.

Booting into safe mode works, but obviously this wont be an option soon.

 

Are there any crashdumps that it spits out when this happens that I can hand over?

I don't even get the courtesy of an error message. It just crashes. lol

 

[Number Six]

@CyriousIf you’re seeing that message and not the full crash handler UI (with options to send a report and/or crash dump), it sounds like something went wrong with the patcher and you’re running out-of-date executables.

 

Try reverifying files and make sure you don’t have antivirus blocking the download.

 

To everyone: if you do submit a crash dump, please put something in the comments indicating that you’ve also posted in the safe mode thread, to help us tie those back to posters here. We’re getting a healthy number of crash submissions with great info. It will take a while to sort through all of them (though we already have fixes for a few), and mentioning safe mode will help prioritize those that are preventing people from using the modern clients at all.

[Cyrious]

I did verify. Twice. It's still doing it. My machine flat out does not have any sort of AV installed to block or interrupt the installing process.

[LilPoundcake]

Mine is fixed! Thanks, all! That was so fast!

[Cyrious]

Got it, its working now.

[Tcat9]

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2020 at 5:57 AM, Jimmy said:

Hello!

 

If you are not yet aware, the Safe Mode client will soon be discontinued.

 

If you're having trouble running the new 32-bit or 64-bit clients on Windows, please post in this thread. If you need support on Mac OS X, please use this thread instead.

 

Old threads which have some workarounds:

• "Safe Mode" Client May Be Going Away Soon
• Safe Mode Client Discontinuation FAQ

I receive the following prompt:

 

An OpenGL driver for your video card 'Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000' was not found.

This game will not run with your current configuration.

Please update your video card driver...

 

I have run the support steps to get around this to run in safe mode but it does not work in the 32 or 64 bit and support for my graphics card is not longer available.

 

[GM Tock]

2 hours ago, Tcat9 said:

I receive the following prompt:

 

An OpenGL driver for your video card 'Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000' was not found.

This game will not run with your current configuration.

Please update your video card driver...

 

I have run the support steps to get around this to run in safe mode but it does not work in the 32 or 64 bit and support for my graphics card is not longer available.

 

You would need to rerun the procedure.  Instead of choosing "homecoming.exe" in the Tequila folder (the Legacy Client), you would need to pick either "/hc-bin32/cityofheroes.exe" for the 32-bit client, or "/hc-bin64/cityofheroes.exe" for the 64-bit client.

 

This is from the Manifest.xml file that launches the game, so if it changes in the future, you can find the executable to shim yourself:

<launch exec="hc-bin64\cityofheroes.exe" order="0" params="-patchversion 20200121_679 -auth 51.79.19.146 -patchdir homecoming" architecture="x64">Homecoming (64-Bit)</launch>
<launch exec="hc-bin32\cityofheroes.exe" order="1" params="-patchversion 20200121_679 -auth 51.79.19.146 -patchdir homecoming">Homecoming (32-Bit)</launch>
<launch exec="homecoming.exe" order="2" params="-patchversion 20200121_679 -auth 51.79.19.146 -patchdir homecoming" architecture="Legacy-x86">Homecoming (Safe Mode)</launch>

The application address you need is in the "exec" property (the first pink word).  The  entire<launch> tag surrounds the corresponding launcher entry (in white above).

[NCN616]

Hello.  New here.  I'm unable to run the 64 or 32 bit version because of my graphics card driver (Intel HD Graphics 3000).  The games says that my drivers are out of date, but this is untrue.  I checked for updates and even went to the Intel site make sure I had an updated driver.  My driver is up to date, I think it just has some issue with OpenGL.

 

Any, initially I couldn't get the game to run at all - not even in safe mode.  I tried using different compatibility modes but that didn't work either.  Then I found this thread:

 

Specially, the post about OpenGL with Intel cards by Silk.  By following those instructions and creating a driver shim (don't know what that is, but that's what he called it), I was able to get the game to run.  But ONLY in safe mode.  It still won't run in 32 or 64 bit modes.  Now, I don't know if this is because this fix was only ever meant to work in safe mode or if I messed up somewhere.  Regardless, I can't run the game in the other modes.

[GM Korvin]

You'll need to adapt those instructions to target the right executables for those game clients. In other words, instead of homecoming.exe, you'll need to target cityofheroes.exe, located either in the hc-bin64 folder (64-bit mode), or the hc-bin32 folder (32-bit mode). Otherwise, you're just targeting the safe mode client with those steps, which is why the steps aren't working for you.