LaunchCat: Homecoming for Mac installer replacement

[Shadow Kitty]

No, it didn't work. 

 

I get the error message "MD5 mismatch wine9.zip".

 

It's just there for half a second, and replaced by "Failed Downloading Mac Client" and "no URL's available". Launchcat creates a folder CoH and puts a file "wine9.zip" in it, which is 4 just kb. It feels as if it is way too small.

 

If I run it again, I get the error messages "Mac Client Download failed or cancelled" and "file cancelled"

 

Thanks for helping anyway.

Edited May 31 by Shadow Kitty

[GM Manga]

9 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

No, it didn't work. 

 

I get the error message "MD5 mismatch wine9.zip".

 

It's just there for half a second, and replaced by "Failed Downloading Mac Client" and "no URL's available". Launchcat creates a folder CoH and puts a file "wine9.zip" in it, which is 4 just kb. It feels as if it is way too small.

 

If I run it again, I get the error messages "Mac Client Download failed or cancelled" and "file cancelled"

 

Thanks for helping anyway.

 

There are a few people for some reason who are somehow having downloads from LaunchCat blocked, or from their computers.  The URL that file comes from is this:

 

https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/wine9.zip

 

See if you can download that separately.

[Shadow Kitty]

There's some kind of progress: after downloading wine.zip, putting it in the CoH folder, and unpacking it there, LaunchCat creates a subfolder "bin/win64" with the file "launcher.exe".

 

Then it stops, "Self Update Download failed or cancelled/File Cancelled."

 

Is there a way to get a log out of LaunchCat if that could help?

[GM Manga]

8 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

There's some kind of progress: after downloading wine.zip, putting it in the CoH folder, and unpacking it there, LaunchCat creates a subfolder "bin/win64" with the file "launcher.exe".

 

Then it stops, "Self Update Download failed or cancelled/File Cancelled."

 

Is there a way to get a log out of LaunchCat if that could help?

 

Are you clicking the arrow-shaped play button (or the X it transforms to) while it's updating?

[Shadow Kitty]

6 minutes ago, GM Manga said:

 

Are you clicking the arrow-shaped play button (or the X it transforms to) while it's updating?

I am not even touching it. It runs its thing until stops. When it stops, it looks like this:

 

 

And nothing happens if you click the play button.

[GM Manga]

4 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

I am not even touching it. It runs its thing until stops. When it stops, it looks like this:

 

 

And nothing happens if you click the play button.

 

Something is blocking LaunchCat from downloading anything, then.  I'm not sure what that would be, maybe some security software you have?

[GM Manga]

8 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

I am not even touching it. It runs its thing until stops. When it stops, it looks like this:

 

 

And nothing happens if you click the play button.

 

I altered the error detection so it should be able to figure out better whether it's a download issue or file/folder permissions.  It also might now have improved file permission compatibility since it now downloads its files to a temp folder.

Edited June 2 by GM Manga

[Shadow Kitty]

There is definitely something strange going on, and I think it is both downloads and permissions.

• MacOS would not let Launchcat run wine because it came from the internet, until I had run it manually at least once. 
• There is a file coh/bin/win64/launcher.exe but it is just 4k, which sounds too small. When Launchcat tries to launch the launcher, Launchcat closes and then nothing happens. 
• Except for the launcher.exe and the wine9 (which I had to download manually), there is also a launch.se. Other than that, there is nothing in the coh folder.
  • There is also a LaunchCat.plist in Documents. 

I think the internet just hates me.

[GM Manga]

On 6/3/2024 at 11:28 AM, Shadow Kitty said:

There is definitely something strange going on, and I think it is both downloads and permissions.

 

What has helped others in the past is, rename the coh folder in Applications, and then run the newest LaunchCat and let it start over from scratch.

[Shadow Kitty]

*sad kitty*

[GM Manga]

On 6/4/2024 at 3:34 PM, Shadow Kitty said:

*sad kitty*

 

I'm going to add a workaround for that piece of stupid design in the OS soon.  In the mean time, rebooting fixes it.

 

Correction:  It's just been added!

Edited June 6 by GM Manga

[Shadow Kitty]

Thanks for all the help and effort!

 

In the end, I managed to get it working using the following process:

1. Start LaunchCat so that it puts the CoH folder and then fails downloading wine. 
2. Download wine9, unpack it and put it in the CoH folder.
3. Run wine9 so that MacOS acknowledges that it can be run.
4. Run LauncCat again so that it makes the bin/win64/ folder and then fails downloading the launcher.
5. Steal the bin/win64/  from the PC Homecoming installation running in Windows/Parallels, and put the content in the bin/win64 folder. 
6. Run LaunchCat again.
7. So now it seems to work, for now. 

Thanks again for all the help and effort. Even if I found another workaround, I hope my failures helped to make a better Launchcat for others, and that my case was a ridiculous edge case. 

[GM Manga]

10 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

Thanks for all the help and effort!

 

In the end, I managed to get it working using the following process:

1. Start LaunchCat so that it puts the CoH folder and then fails downloading wine. 
2. Download wine9, unpack it and put it in the CoH folder.
3. Run wine9 so that MacOS acknowledges that it can be run.
4. Run LauncCat again so that it makes the bin/win64/ folder and then fails downloading the launcher.
5. Steal the bin/win64/  from the PC Homecoming installation running in Windows/Parallels, and put the content in the bin/win64 folder. 
6. Run LaunchCat again.
7. So now it seems to work, for now. 

Thanks again for all the help and effort. Even if I found another workaround, I hope my failures helped to make a better Launchcat for others, and that my case was a ridiculous edge case. 

 

What error does the 060520241 version show when the download fails?

[Shadow Kitty]

There isn't an error. It creates the folders /bin/win64, places a broken (partial?) 4kb Launcher in it, and then dies without an error.

[GM Manga]

11 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

There isn't an error. It creates the folders /bin/win64, places a broken (partial?) 4kb Launcher in it, and then dies without an error.

 

I bet if you opened that 4KB file in a text editor, it would contain text about the web site being blocked.

[Shadow Kitty]

12 hours ago, GM Manga said:

 

I bet if you opened that 4KB file in a text editor, it would contain text about the web site being blocked.

It's an XML file with lots of URLs: 

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<resurgence>    
    <launchers>
        <launcher id="dsmacbeta" name="Island Rum.app" md5="fed2e431d018d4d00740847011a0866c" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-mac.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="dscatbeta" name="Island Rum.app" md5="fed2e431d018d4d00740847011a0866c" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-mac.zip</url>
        </launcher>                
        <launcher id="dsmac" name="Island Rum.app" md5="fed2e431d018d4d00740847011a0866c" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-mac.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="dscat" name="Island Rum.app" md5="fed2e431d018d4d00740847011a0866c" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-mac.zip</url>
        </launcher>                        
        <launcher id="dswindowsbeta" name="Island Rum.exe" md5="70b52b7d6f7e4a5799437d51d4d96171" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-win.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="dswindows" name="Island Rum.exe" md5="70b52b7d6f7e4a5799437d51d4d96171" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-win.zip</url>
        </launcher>                    
        <launcher id="dslinuxbeta" name="Island Rum" md5="a99e1028fc8ea93eb7dc268a5e6df6e9" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-linux.zip</url>
        </launcher>                                    
        <launcher id="dslinux" name="Island Rum" md5="a99e1028fc8ea93eb7dc268a5e6df6e9" version="060120241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/islandrum-linux.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="launchbeta" name="LaunchCat" md5="de20ac0702070e73924dbaeae083fc32" version="060520241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="launch" name="LaunchCat" md5="de20ac0702070e73924dbaeae083fc32" version="060520241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="launchlow" name="LaunchCat" md5="de20ac0702070e73924dbaeae083fc32" version="060520241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="launchlowbeta" name="LaunchCat" md5="de20ac0702070e73924dbaeae083fc32" version="060520241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="launcholdbeta" name="LaunchCat" md5="de20ac0702070e73924dbaeae083fc32" version="060520241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="launchold" name="LaunchCat" md5="de20ac0702070e73924dbaeae083fc32" version="060520241">
            <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip</url>
        </launcher>    
        <launcher id="hclaunch" name="launcher.exe" md5="" version="">
            <url>https://manifest.cohhc.gg/launcher/hcinstall.exe</url>
        </launcher>                                                                                                    
    </launchers>
    <manifests enabled="1">
        <manifest url="patch.savecoh.com"/>    
        <manifest url="cityofheroes.dev"/>
        <manifest url="patch.cityofheroes.dev"/>
        <manifest url="manifest.cohhc.gg"/>    
        <manifest url="cohhc.gg"/>                
        <manifest url="telstar.eekstudio.com"/>    
        <manifest url="islandrum.eekstudio.com"/>        
        <manifest url="manifest.cohcb.com"/>
        <manifest url="cohcb.com"/>
    </manifests>
    <mac name="wine-4.0.1.sierra.bottle.tar.gz" md5="c3377a0821c6d361f78e8728f298bc7a">
        <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/wine-4.0.1.sierra.bottle.tar.gz</url>
    </mac>
    <mac5 name="wine.tgz" md5="bddddb29e31965afe8600505a2848c1c" version="wine-5.0">
        <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/wine.tgz</url>
    </mac5>    
    <mac6 name="wine.zip" md5="d4e15b5f5f7fe8ca0080a4838926acaa" version="wine-8.4">
        <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/wine.zip</url>
    </mac6>        
    <macl name="wine9.zip" md5="7c2471b37f140471ae77d5e960dc027a" version="wine-9.0">
        <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/wine9.zip</url>
    </macl>    
    <maco name="wine.zip" md5="d4e15b5f5f7fe8ca0080a4838926acaa" version="wine-8.4">
        <url>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/wine.zip</url>
    </maco>            

    <irvideo>https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/movie.mp4</irvideo>
    <irlink>https://homecomingservers.com/</irlink>
</resurgence>

 

[GM Manga]

Hmm that shouldn't even be possible, since the update manifest isn't stored in the same variable as any of the other file URL's.  I'm going to have to try an experiment and make sure the previous URL request is blasted out of the queue before a new one is fetched.

 

EDIT:  I made a small change that should force a lower timeout, and purge old URL fetch requests before starting a new one.

Edited June 8 by GM Manga

[Shadow Kitty]

18 hours ago, GM Manga said:

Hmm that shouldn't even be possible, since the update manifest isn't stored in the same variable as any of the other file URL's.  I'm going to have to try an experiment and make sure the previous URL request is blasted out of the queue before a new one is fetched.

 

EDIT:  I made a small change that should force a lower timeout, and purge old URL fetch requests before starting a new one.

"That shouldn't even be possible" is one of the immortal sayings of programmers. I remember it fondly from my days as a web developer decades ago. 😀

 

If I try a clean install, I get a quick succession of errors:

• Failed obtaining update manifest
• Ignoring update manifest, ready to launch
• Failed generating launch script
• Ready to launch

… and then it quits. No CoH folder is created, so there is no Homecoming launcher to start.

 

 

If I try from a working installation (i.e. the one I managed to create through the workaround above), I get the first two messages, and then the Homecoming launcher starts. 

[GM Manga]

8 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

"That shouldn't even be possible" is one of the immortal sayings of programmers. I remember it fondly from my days as a web developer decades ago. 😀

 

If I try a clean install, I get a quick succession of errors:

• Failed obtaining update manifest
• Ignoring update manifest, ready to launch
• Failed generating launch script
• Ready to launch

… and then it quits. No CoH folder is created, so there is no Homecoming launcher to start.

 

 

If I try from a working installation (i.e. the one I managed to create through the workaround above), I get the first two messages, and then the Homecoming launcher starts. 

 

Now we're getting somewhere!

 

The first error means it's unable to fetch https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/update.xml within 30 seconds.  Either it's being blocked, or massively delayed for some reason.  So then it decides to skip it and move on.

 

Second error means LaunchCat does not have permission to write files to /Application/coh - which can happen if it's either very restrictive, or you're using a limited account.

[Shadow Kitty]

19 hours ago, GM Manga said:

 

Now we're getting somewhere!

 

The first error means it's unable to fetch https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/update.xml within 30 seconds.  Either it's being blocked, or massively delayed for some reason.  So then it decides to skip it and move on.

 

Second error means LaunchCat does not have permission to write files to /Application/coh - which can happen if it's either very restrictive, or you're using a limited account.

The update.xml is exactly like the launcer.exe which was actually an xml, right? Chrome opened it faster than fast can be. So that indicates that something is blocked for LauncCat.

The account I run on is the admin account, which shouldn't really be limited or restrictive. 

[GM Manga]

On 6/10/2024 at 11:20 AM, Shadow Kitty said:

The update.xml is exactly like the launcer.exe which was actually an xml, right? Chrome opened it faster than fast can be. So that indicates that something is blocked for LauncCat.

The account I run on is the admin account, which shouldn't really be limited or restrictive. 

 

The only thing I can think of is you have LaunchCat set for very restrictive behavior in the Security & Privacy settings panel, or you have a antivirus/firewall installed that doesn't recognize it.

[GM Manga]

@Shadow Kitty

 

I posted a new LaunchCat today: https://launchcat.powermadsoftware.com/launchcat.zip

 

It incorporates a lot of different fixes and a few new tricks based on what I learned yesterday, hopefully it helps.

[Shadow Kitty]

That worked perfectly! Thank you for your effort and patience!

[GM Manga]

6 hours ago, Shadow Kitty said:

That worked perfectly! Thank you for your effort and patience!

 

Awesome!  The new things are:  It adds separation of https statements so they can't time out and run into each other, and it will now attempt to forcibly correct the permissions of the coh folder on launch if they are not correct.

[QuazarStar]

@GM Manga

Oh my goodness I've been searching/trying for 2 days for ways to fix my corrupted IslandRum launcher after the update because I couldn't get LaunchCat to download anything when I tried it, and I tried the version you posted here and it WORKED PERFECTLY AT LAST THANK YOU SO MUCH ❤️ it even used the existing /coh folder from IslandRum and saved all my characters etc.

 

The version linked in the Get Started guide does NOT work though I tested it just yesterday, so maybe someone in charge of forum stuff needs to be poked about changing it?

Again thank you so much, I gather you're pretty much solely responsible for allowing me to discover and play this great game I owe you my life 🙏