Redlynne Posted July 6, 2019 Posted July 6, 2019 As of the time of this posting, my Island Rum client refuses to launch Homecoming, even though the Homecoming Status page shows all servers are up except for Justin. Launch Island Rum Using https://forums.homecomingservers.com/update/manifest.xml in manifests, as per GM Widower recommendation (see link) Ready to Play Click Play button Launching Homecoming ... ... ... Ready to Play Click Play button Launching Homecoming ... ... ... Ready to Play ... wash, rinse, repeat ... This also happened earlier this week, but since that was associated with server maintenance, I figured that the behavior was due to the Homecoming servers simply not being available. Is there an explanation for this behavior by Island Rum? Should I be concerned that the launcher doesn't even throw an error message for failing to launch the City of Heroes client? Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Redlynne Posted July 7, 2019 Author Posted July 7, 2019 It's been more than 12 hours and this issue still persists. I wonder if Island Rum is (for some unexplained reason) trying to connect to Justin (which is DOWN) as part of its verification process ... failing to contact Justin ... and then just completely failing to launch Homecoming at all. Which is odd, because Island Rum had been working fine since it was downloaded until this problem started cropping up this week. Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Manga Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 I have seen a few cases of that, but I've been unable to duplicate it. The only thing I can think of at this time is re-download the Mac client and reinstall the files, and see if that works. Current Wineskin Mac client: http://telstar.eekstudio.com/macclient-wineskin.zip Unpack it, drop the app into /Applications (move your old client somewhere other than /Applications) and then point Island Rum to it. Let Island Rum patch up all of its files.
Redlynne Posted July 7, 2019 Author Posted July 7, 2019 I was afraid that was going to be the answer (when in doubt, CLEAN LOAD!) but was hoping there might be an alternative or useful testing to assist any research on your side of things. +1 Inf anyway. Downloading fresh copy now. Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Redlynne Posted July 8, 2019 Author Posted July 8, 2019 Forced to clean load. Island Rum has downloaded everything into the CoH package in my Applications folder. Ready to Play. Click to play and get ... Instructions please. This is extremely anti-intuitive. Wineskin simply refuses to accept that there's a CoH package there with everything in it ready to go. Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Redlynne Posted July 10, 2019 Author Posted July 10, 2019 Forced to clean load. Island Rum has downloaded everything into the CoH package in my Applications folder. Ready to Play. Click to play and get ... Instructions please. This is extremely anti-intuitive. Wineskin simply refuses to accept that there's a CoH package there with everything in it ready to go. NONE of these options allow me to point to the contents of the CoH package. None of these options help with getting the Homecoming client to launch. What do I need to do on any of these tabs to fix the MAJOR MALFUNCTION of using Island Rum to launch the Wineskin wrapper around the CoH package? Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Redlynne Posted July 10, 2019 Author Posted July 10, 2019 Just noticed something. Why is there no homecoming.exe file in my coh folder? Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Manga Posted July 10, 2019 Posted July 10, 2019 If you get that wineskin dialog it means the files didn't download to where they were supposed to. Either you have two CoH applications in your Applications folder, or Island Rum isn't pointed at the right place. Make sure the CoH application is inside the Applications folder (and it's the only one) and then Reset Path in Island Rum. Locate the CoH app and click it once, and then click Select. Then Re-Scan to see if it patches up any more files. Forced to clean load. Island Rum has downloaded everything into the CoH package in my Applications folder. Ready to Play. Click to play and get ... Instructions please. This is extremely anti-intuitive. Wineskin simply refuses to accept that there's a CoH package there with everything in it ready to go.
Redlynne Posted July 10, 2019 Author Posted July 10, 2019 If you get that wineskin dialog it means the files didn't download to where they were supposed to. Either you have two CoH applications in your Applications folder, or Island Rum isn't pointed at the right place. Make sure the CoH application is inside the Applications folder (and it's the only one) and then Reset Path in Island Rum. Locate the CoH app and click it once, and then click Select. Then Re-Scan to see if it patches up any more files. Make sure the CoH application is inside the Applications folder (and it's the only one) and then Reset Path in Island Rum. DONE. Locate the CoH app and click it once, and then click Select. DONE. Then Re-Scan to see if it patches up any more files. Why is it trying to download all 165 files from scratch now, even though that was done just fine BY Island Rum in the first place to create the CoH package in the first place? Why does it only get 48 out of a 165 files in and then suddenly crash/quit to desktop, killing off Island Rum without warning (or explanation)? And why do I still not have a homecoming.exe file in my coh folder? Y'know, I'm starting to think there isn't anywhere NEAR enough Fool Resistance built into Island Rum at this point (because as we all know, there's no such thing as Foolproof!). Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Redlynne Posted July 13, 2019 Author Posted July 13, 2019 So this is still the problem after a week. Island Rum, by default, calls for a homecoming.exe file in the Wineskin wrapper ... and resolutely refuses to download a homecoming.exe file into the CoH package ... causing a FILE NOT FOUND error, preventing Island Rum from successfully launching homecoming. Island Rum will download everything BUT homecoming.exe to where it needs to be in order to make things work. Editing the Windows EXE line to point it to: cityofheroes.exe causes a failure for not using the NCSoft launcher. icon.exe launches Titan Icon (predictably enough), not Homecoming. paragonchat.exe launches Paragon Chat (predictably enough), not Homecoming. So what is missing from this list? homecoming.exe is NOT being downloaded for use by Island Rum. Where can I obtain the homecoming.exe file so I can push it over into the directory where it needs to be so I can start playing Homecoming again? Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Redlynne Posted July 14, 2019 Author Posted July 14, 2019 STILL A PROBLEM. Delete CoH package from Applications folder. Download new macclient from HERE. Save file from http://telstar.eekstudio.com/macclient-wineskin.zip to desktop. Unarchive .zip file. Move CoH package from desktop to Applications folder. Launch Island Rum. Set Path for Island Rum to Applications folder. Re-scan. Watch over 5 GB of data download into CoH package ... EXCEPT THE ===>> HOMECOMING.EXE <<=== FILE THAT IS NEEDED to play the game. An explanation IS REQUIRED for why Island Rum WILL NOT DOWNLOAD the homecoming.exe file that is needed to play. I'm still waiting for an answer to this question. And if Island Rum is "incapable" of doing this ... what alternative locations can the necessary homecoming.exe file be obtained from? Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Manga Posted July 14, 2019 Posted July 14, 2019 I haven't been able to duplicated any of this. I just now deleted my homecoming.exe, and it was replaced by Island Rum after a rescan. What I can't see is if you're using a different manifest than I am. I'm using http://patch.savecoh.com/manifest.xml - I don't know if that's the official one, because these forums here don't list the official one anywhere, but the URL I use does show what appears to be a correct manifest. I also can't see which path you have selected for Island Rum to write the files, or if you're using a non-admin user that has no rights to write to the folders inside the CoH application. The files (including homecoming.exe) might be getting written to some completely unexpected location, or failing to write at all. Island Rum is not capable of asking for administrator rights, because an unsigned app that downloads stuff and then asks for admin rights will make Gatekeeper very upset. And lastly, the download locations are out of my control, and I can't do anything about failed downloads. I see in the manifest that homecoming.exe is only available from one download site, and if it's not reachable for you, that would definitely make it impossible for Island Rum to get the file (IR doesn't do proxying or any sort of bittorrent-like behavior, it just downloads via http).
Redlynne Posted July 14, 2019 Author Posted July 14, 2019 Using https://forums.homecomingservers.com/update/manifest.xml in manifests, as per GM Widower recommendation (see link) Switching to http://patch.savecoh.com/manifest.xml as per your recommendation. Swapped Manifests (added "new" and deleted "old") and then did a Rescan. homecoming.exe was not added by Rescan. Quit Island Rum. Checked System Preferences > Security Center to see if any applications were pending permission for open. No such requests were pending. Launch Island Rum (with "new" manifest loaded). Island Rum began rescan process automatically ... and began downloading files. The very first file I saw 1/23 was labeled resurgence.exe for some reason. When I checked Finder for the CoH package contents down at the coh folder level, I saw that homecoming.exe had gotten added ... and some other files were also being added by Island Rum to the coh folder (contents lengthened while I was watching). Previously: Now: Conclusion: http://patch.savecoh.com/manifest.xml works as a manifest get location for Island Rum. https://forums.homecomingservers.com/index.php/topic,5992.msg48644.html#msg48644 does NOT WORK as a manifest get location for Island Rum, despite GM Widower's recommendation. Request that this bit of Tribal Knowledge™ be added to the troubleshooting for these kinds of issues in the future. Best practice would be to inform all known posters of Installation Guides of this (sticking?) point and help ensure that no one else using Island Rum runs afoul of the issue(s) I did this past week which prevented me from playing the game at all. To help this effort, I am going to be self-reporting this post to moderators for assistance in disseminating this information so as to help ensure no one else has to experience this. Thanks for the tech support, Manga ... I couldn't have done it without you. GAME LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL !! Now to put all my bind files and default files back to where they were in my previous install ... Curious side note addendum ... all of the exploration of zones that I'd done (Nova Praetoria, Mercy Island, Atlas Park, etc.) has been wiped by the clean install, meaning I've got full Fog Of War covering my maps again ... which is a nuisance, not a crisis, since those maps can all be re-explored to clear them. Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
Manga Posted July 15, 2019 Posted July 15, 2019 <!-- Issue 26: Homecoming --> <file name="homecoming.exe" size="9170944" md5="5ca875294f68760040889d278937b0dc"></file> <file name="homecoming/bin.pigg" size="8806001" md5="95adf6248bf4bad12f4e0b4619374314"> <url> http://forums.homecomingservers.com/update/hc/20190605bin.pigg </url> </file> Someone needs to tell them that their recommended manifest (https://forums.homecomingservers.com/update/manifest.xml) is broken. There are no download URL's listed for "homecoming.exe". I'm surprised this hasn't become a more widespread problem by now.
Redlynne Posted July 15, 2019 Author Posted July 15, 2019 Someone needs to tell them that their recommended manifest (https://forums.homecomingservers.com/update/manifest.xml) is broken. There are no download URL's listed for "homecoming.exe". I'm surprised this hasn't become a more widespread problem by now. Agreed on the surprise ... :( Verbogeny is one of many pleasurettes afforded a creatific thinkerizer.
City Council Widower Posted July 15, 2019 City Council Posted July 15, 2019 If you would read the post you cite, you would note that using that manifest was recommended because the main manifest server was down, and not because it is what you're supposed to use regularly. "We need Widower. He's a drop of sanity in a bowl of chaos - very important." - Cipher Are you also a drop of sanity in a bowl of chaos? Consider applying to be a Game Master!
Manga Posted July 15, 2019 Posted July 15, 2019 If you would read the post you cite, you would note that using that manifest was recommended because the main manifest server was down, and not because it is what you're supposed to use regularly. With all due respect, that's going to bite you in the rear the first time a patch comes along that requires a new "homecoming.exe". You're going to have somewhere between hundreds and thousands of people posting here about not being able to get into the game. And most of them won't read the announcements to see that they're supposed to change manifests for the patch. It doesn't even take a major feature upgrade to require the main exe to patch - it could be a client crash was discovered, and the patch has to be rolled out quickly. Being in software, I can tell you that any time there is something that the end user 'should be able to figure out', they absolutely won't, and it will become a huge headache for you at the very moment you don't need one. Like this thread!
City Council Widower Posted July 15, 2019 City Council Posted July 15, 2019 If you would read the post you cite, you would note that using that manifest was recommended because the main manifest server was down, and not because it is what you're supposed to use regularly. With all due respect, that's going to bite you in the rear the first time a patch comes along that requires a new "homecoming.exe". You're going to have somewhere between hundreds and thousands of people posting here about not being able to get into the game. And most of them won't read the announcements to see that they're supposed to change manifests for the patch. It doesn't even take a major feature upgrade to require the main exe to patch - it could be a client crash was discovered, and the patch has to be rolled out quickly. Being in software, I can tell you that any time there is something that the end user 'should be able to figure out', they absolutely won't, and it will become a huge headache for you at the very moment you don't need one. Like this thread! We know; the download link was removed intentionally shortly after to suggest to people that perhaps they shouldn't use that manifest. (Why we didn't just pull down that manifest altogether, as I was led to believe initially, is unknown to me, but this is what we're doing.) I would also note that most people did not see that manifest and have no idea it exists, and those that do, apparently, are aware that it's not the main manifest and that they should switch to the correct one (which is loaded into Island Rum by default as it is in Tequila, yes?). "We need Widower. He's a drop of sanity in a bowl of chaos - very important." - Cipher Are you also a drop of sanity in a bowl of chaos? Consider applying to be a Game Master!
Manga Posted July 15, 2019 Posted July 15, 2019 Island Rum and Tequila both have the ability for the user to delete the original built-in manifest, so some people out there might not even remember what it was. If you change that manifest to something like this: <manifest> <label>Paragon Chat</label> <profiles> <launch exec="" order="0" params="">Change Your Manifest</launch> </profiles> <filelist> </filelist> </manifest> (Side note: I haven't actually tested that XML, I'm at work) It should show "Change Your Manifest" in the game list, and then they'll come here looking for a replacement manifest URL long before a new patch hits. Then just add a link that says "Tequila/Island Rum Says 'Change Your Manifest'" that links to an announcement about it, and you have a self-solving problem!
City Council Widower Posted July 15, 2019 City Council Posted July 15, 2019 If you change it to something like this: <manifest> <label>Paragon Chat</label> <profiles> <launch exec="" order="0" params="">Change Your Manifest</launch> </profiles> <filelist> </filelist> </manifest> (Side note: I haven't actually tested that XML, I'm at work) It should show "Change Your Manifest" in the game list, and then they'll come here looking for a replacement manifest URL long before a new patch hits. Then just add a link that says "Tequila/Island Rum Says 'Change Your Manifest'" that links to an announcement about it, and you have a self-solving problem! A fine idea! I would suggest telling Leo or Cipher, since I have no control over the manifest! "We need Widower. He's a drop of sanity in a bowl of chaos - very important." - Cipher Are you also a drop of sanity in a bowl of chaos? Consider applying to be a Game Master!
GadgetDon Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 This morning, on my iMac (running High Sierra, 10.13.6), Homecoming won't launch. I run Island Rum, "ready to play", and now I get a Wineskin alert with the options of "Install Software", "Set Screen Options", and "Advanced" If I trash it all and reinstall, would that fix it?
demonss Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 (edited) 14 minutes ago, GadgetDon said: This morning, on my iMac (running High Sierra, 10.13.6), Homecoming won't launch. I run Island Rum, "ready to play", and now I get a Wineskin alert with the options of "Install Software", "Set Screen Options", and "Advanced" If I trash it all and reinstall, would that fix it? Edit - So I deleted island rum from my computer and redownloaded it from the link here in the forums and it fixed the problem and introduced the new handy dandy 64-bit version of the game! No more fear updating my mac now!🙂 Edited August 22, 2019 by demonss
Retired Game Master GM Capocollo Posted August 22, 2019 Retired Game Master Posted August 22, 2019 Hold tight, the Island Rum author's pushing out a new version today.
demonss Posted August 22, 2019 Posted August 22, 2019 8 minutes ago, GM Capocollo said: Hold tight, the Island Rum author's pushing out a new version today. Thanks for the quick response! It seems like the issue is fixed if you DL the new client from the 'how to install' area of the forums.
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