57 replies to this topic

[Kataris]

Greetings all,

I have finally resolved most of the problems plaguing my MWO client. I finally realized that this game cannot be played in 64-bit mode whatsoever and doing so will only result in crashes. By implementing Adobe flash into the game's UI and HUD PGI has effectively locked themselves out of any kind of 64-bit goodness. I had to uninstall EVERYTHING adobe related to get this game to work properly. I also uninstalled every C++ redistributable package and reinstalled them to make sure they were the x86 libraries, not the x64 ones. By doing this, I've locked MWO into 32-bit mode which has resolved the memory leaks and program crashes. The drawback is texture related issues have increased as there is not enough memory to render thanks to the new limits, but at least the client is stable. I will try setting the object detail and textures to lower res models and that should fix those as well. For those of you experiencing these bugs, please try this as well and report back!

Respectfully,
Kataris

Edited by Kataris, 01 May 2013 - 05:15 AM.

[Hovertank]

Kataris!

You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down!

http://youtu.be/E-WHW-QNswE


If this turns out to be a resolution that works for a lot of people, PGI needs to take note and address the underlying root cause.

[Monky]

I can only hope UI 2.0 ditches flash entirely.

[Multitallented]

Coming from a Actionscript3/Flash specialist, I hope they ditch flash too.

[ArcDemon]

As far as I know flash usage for the HUD is baked into CryEngine. I hadn't realized (assuming your solution is really working) that they where using the actual Adobe installed binaries and not an independent flash compatible renderer shipped with the engine. I already have enough issues keeping Flash at the correct version and with the correct OCX plugin working correctly for a local app. Adobe's completely broken updater and stand alone installer don't make it easier.

[Marvyn Dodgers]

OP - have you also sent in a support ticket with your fix/comments/suggestins so they can take a look? Will likely get more PGI attention that way.

[Kataris]

Kataris, on 01 May 2013 - 05:11 AM, said:

Greetings all,

I have finally resolved most of the problems plaguing my MWO client. I finally realized that this game cannot be played in 64-bit mode whatsoever and doing so will only result in crashes. By implementing Adobe flash into the game's UI and HUD PGI has effectively locked themselves out of any kind of 64-bit goodness. I had to uninstall EVERYTHING adobe related to get this game to work properly. I also uninstalled every C++ redistributable package and reinstalled them to make sure they were the x86 libraries, not the x64 ones. By doing this, I've locked MWO into 32-bit mode which has resolved the memory leaks and program crashes. The drawback is texture related issues have increased as there is not enough memory to render thanks to the new limits, but at least the client is stable. I will try setting the object detail and textures to lower res models and that should fix those as well. For those of you experiencing these bugs, please try this as well and report back!

Respectfully,
Kataris

Okay, after testing throughout the day. I do not receive HUD bugs at all. I do however, get a CTD about every 7-15 matches. I believe this is probably due to running a 64 bit windows, and I will be reinstalling tonight to 32 bit and will further test. Perhaps MWO simply will not work in a 64 bit environment.

[Snailio]

I believe Kataris is onto something here. To test: I installed a fresh Windows 7 - 32 bit setup (i typically run win7 64), including all required 32 bit system drivers, and subsequently allowed the MWO downloaded client to install the requisite .NET framework. With everything running 32-bit I incurred absolutely zero HUD/IFF related bugs today. This contrasts against my approximately 33-50% (sometimes more, on a nightly basis but never less) rate of HUD bugs in a 64 bit environment. I am, however, still experiencing Crash to Desktop without explanation/error reporting. This I expected, and would assume is due to the previously publicly admitted memory leaks that appear to not have been addressed.

[SgtMaster]

CTD bug is a seperate bug from the HUD bugs,
CTD is happening because the devs introduced lately some new coding, they are now aware of the problem and are fixing it.
Keep up the good work, i also hope they remove flash entirely.

[Snailio]

SgtMaster, on 01 May 2013 - 09:27 PM, said:

CTD bug is a seperate bug from the HUD bugs,
CTD is happening because the devs introduced lately some new coding, they are now aware of the problem and are fixing it.
Keep up the good work, i also hope they remove flash entirely.

You are right, CTD is a separate issue(s), but I just wanted to notate it in case someone were to replicate what I have done based on Kataris' recommendations. Did not want them to come back and say but now I CTD after 6 drops.

Will continue to test, but so far no HUD bugs on the 32 bit windows install.

[ElCadaver]

Thanks for the Fix, constant crashes have been driving me bonkers in the nut.

So the choices are either the fix above, or run a dual boot 64 bit/32 bit system? (i.e. Win7 64 / WinXP 32 for example)

Kataris, would you mind putting together a dumbed down walkthrough of the process you describe, to help the less technically savvy apply your fix?

Is it ok to just uninstall the 64bit C++ redistributable packages, and replace them with the 32bit versions. Any need to remove them all?

You can choose which version of the adobe [flashplayer] installs?

Edited by ElCadaver, 01 May 2013 - 10:08 PM.

[xengk]

Is this legit?
I have been playing on Windows 7 64bit since day one, the number of times I CTD can be counted on 1 hand.
HUD bug however is a different matter, but generally of the no minimap/radar variety.
IFF or HUD bug are rare.

[Hansh0tfirst]

Kataris, on 01 May 2013 - 05:11 AM, said:

By implementing Adobe flash into the game's UI and HUD...

Wait... what? There's Flash integration in the game client?? Wow, that explains soooo much. It's all clear now.

[Ralgas]

Hansh0tfirst, on 01 May 2013 - 11:01 PM, said:

Wait... what? There's Flash integration in the game client?? Wow, that explains soooo much. It's all clear now.

Too true,

In other supporting evidence 95%+ of votes in the hud bug survey are running 64 bit os's.............

[GrimmwolfGB]

Wow, this is really something. Good job figuring that out!

Edited by GrimmwolfGB, 02 May 2013 - 12:49 AM.

[Krzysztof z Bagien]

Wow. Just wow. Great find man!

And again - it takes a user to figure that out. Makes me think devs don't know what they're doing.

[Major_Crash]

You are required to use 64bit OS with more than 4GB of RAM installed, otherwise only 4 are visible. I had no problems with any other game. So, I am not willing to revert back to 32bits, and if I am required to ditch something - MWO will be the one, obviously.

[Ralgas]

thalarg, on 02 May 2013 - 03:16 AM, said:

You are required to use 64bit OS with more than 4GB of RAM installed, otherwise only 4 are visible. I had no problems with any other game. So, I am not willing to revert back to 32bits, and if I am required to ditch something - MWO will be the one, obviously.

64 bit incompatibility hasn't reared it's head for a while for me, but it's not unheard of. It's an extreme fix yes, but how about we wait and see what pgi is going to do with the info 1st?

i'm sure they aren't going to go to release with a game that's locked to 32 bit systems in this day and age, particularly when we know a complete ui reboot is in the pipeline. This is one of those things that may throw the sept date mentioned out the window though............

[Fooooo]

Ralgas, on 02 May 2013 - 03:33 AM, said:

i'm sure they aren't going to go to release with a game that's locked to 32 bit systems in this day and age, particularly when we know a complete ui reboot is in the pipeline. This is one of those things that may throw the sept date mentioned out the window though............

They stated a while ago that they have no plans to compile a 64bit executable for MWO anytime soon, if ever.

So in that sense, the game will always be stuck as 32bit.


Although they have changed their minds before on things they said would never happen....................

[TrackTerror]

Thats really nice that there is a workaround. However the issue still exists, and there should be no need for the workaround for the end user.
This is one of the major issues that needs to be addressed before going "live"
If there is a 100% workaround then there should be a clear thread to find and if possible fix the issue for PGI.

If the issue is 32/64 bit, then really I do not see a fix anytime soon, since they know about this and surley have been trying to fix without success for more months then it is left for the live release.

If it is a bug in the code then then this could possibly be fixed but as stated above, not likley anytime soon.

Now the HUD problem is likely to be a different bug from the random crashes to desktop altough the root cause can be the same. This would suggest that there is a problem with the underlying architecture as how to handle 32/64bit. EDIT: not likley to be the same problem as the workaround fixed the hud but not the desktop crashes for OP.

Anyways I am looking forward to see these problems fixed.

Q: Has PGI officially stated what the cause is for the HUD/desktopcrashes?

Thanks for a otherwise great and entertaining game.

Edited by TrackTerror, 02 May 2013 - 04:39 AM.