82 replies to this topic

[Krist Smith]

If you have run the repair tool since this morning's patch, you may have noticed that it reports a large number of mismatched files. This is not an error; we have actually made some adjustments to our patching process in an effort to improve stability and reduce patch (and repair) times. The downside to these improvements is that this one-time transition will require additional downloads and patch time.

Right now, we're advising everyone to run the repair tool when you have some time to "set it and forget it". For example, before you go to bed at night, before you head off to work/school, or any time when you can just leave your computer on and let it download the required files. Just run the repair tool, let it complete the initial scan to detect the differences, then tell the tool to start the clean download. It will likely take a bit of time to download all the mismatched files, but once it's done you're all set for the next upcoming patch.

This isn't a required action at the moment, but it is in your best interest to do this prior to the next patch day.

On April 21st we're going to be rolling out a final set of fixes to the patcher and repair tool process. Once that patch goes out, and if you haven't already run the repair tool after the April 7th patch, applying the April 21st patch will automatically initiate the 'clean' re-download and install of any mismatched pak files. If you have already run the tool after the April 7th patch, you will not need to go through this process again for the April 21st patch.

There are several reasons why we're changing the patch process, but the main reason is to be able to verify the file base as fast as possible. This will allow us to mitigate problems with missing or corrupt files. We do apologize for the inconvenience, but it’s definitely for a good reason.

To summarize:

• We released some initial fixes to the patching system with the April 7th patch.
  
• We will be releasing additional fixes to the patching system with the April 21st patch.
  
• Applying the April 21st patch will automatically initiate the re-download and install of any mismatched files
  
• Running the MWO Repair Tool prior to April 21st will allow you to bypass having to download the mismatched files when the April 21st patch hits.
  
• For that reason we recommend that you run the MWO Repair Tool prior to April 21st.

[A Vieira]

Krist Smith, on 07 April 2015 - 12:51 PM, said:

There are several reasons why we're changing the patch process, but the main reason is to be able to verify the file base as fast as possible. This will allow us to mitigate problems with missing or corrupt files. We do apologize for the inconvenience, but it’s definitely for a good reason.

Can you shed some more light into whats been happening and what changes you're applying? I ask out of curiosity because I personally have had regular problems with corrupt files, usually after each patch is applied.

Running the repair just now, as after a few games post patch I started getting loading errors again..

Edited by A Vieira, 07 April 2015 - 02:16 PM.

[cpl jack]

Post patch I couldn't get the application to connect. So this large update hits and:

1. I can't play with the urbie on launch night
2. The patch repair tool keeps crashing

I understand the need to make large updates on this - but on the same night as a launch like this is questionable at best.

[Krist Smith]

A Vieira, on 07 April 2015 - 02:14 PM, said:

Can you shed some more light into whats been happening and what changes you're applying? I ask out of curiosity because I personally have had regular problems with corrupt files, usually after each patch is applied. Running the repair just now, as after a few games post patch I started getting loading errors again..

Well, the thing is that it currently takes a couple of minutes to scan the entire file structure to determine whether or not there are issues with the pak files. When the new system is in place, we can reduce that significantly (in the area of 30 seconds, give or take). This will allow us to scan more frequently with minimal impact, and ensure that your file structure is fully intact.

[Krist Smith]

cpl jack, on 07 April 2015 - 02:55 PM, said:

Post patch I couldn't get the application to connect. So this large update hits and: 1. I can't play with the urbie on launch night 2. The patch repair tool keeps crashing I understand the need to make large updates on this - but on the same night as a launch like this is questionable at best.

I'd be happy to help diagnose your repair tool problems. Does it outright crash and disappear, or is there a message that pops up indicating the reason for the crash? If the latter is the case, could you provide me with the details? If you'd rather not do a public post, then a PM would be ok.

[Elthionel]

I'm able to play a few games, then the client freezes (usually loading a map). Once the game starts to freeze, it will continually freeze at the same point each successive reboot.

I've run the repair tool 3x now after each event, and each time it identifies the objects.pak fiile as not matching the hash. Its a pretty large file to keep redownloading.

Can you verify the repair tool is working properly at this time?

I'm having no local disk or performance issues. Just with this game.

[cpl jack]

In the end I had to uninstall as I just before I leave for work its died again. So I'm kicking off an installation and hoping that fixes it.

[Modo44]

Krist Smith, on 07 April 2015 - 12:51 PM, said:

Right now, we're advising everyone to run the repair tool when you have some time to "set it and forget it".

If only you could do that with the patcher's temp directory. It does not show where the current temp directory is before you click the option to set it, which makes it look like it keeps defaulting to the original installation temp directory. Quite the opposite of "set it and forget it". No, I will not leave it rummaging around my SSD with multi-GB disk operations.

Edited by Modo44, 07 April 2015 - 11:02 PM.

[A Vieira]

Elthionel, on 07 April 2015 - 04:57 PM, said:

I'm able to play a few games, then the client freezes (usually loading a map). Once the game starts to freeze, it will continually freeze at the same point each successive reboot.

I've run the repair tool 3x now after each event, and each time it identifies the objects.pak fiile as not matching the hash. Its a pretty large file to keep redownloading.

Can you verify the repair tool is working properly at this time?

I'm having no local disk or performance issues. Just with this game.

What you just described is exactly what happens to me. Normally on crash I get a cryengine read error and usually objects.pak and sometimes other files show up as corrupt (I guess objects.pak is more used).
As you pointed, neither OS or other games/apps ever give me a problem with files, only MWO.
What I've done sometimes is manually downloading the objects.pak (or others) using my browser and copying the file to the game folder whenever is needed. Please do note that the file changes at each patch.

You can use the address given at the repair patch to download each file (run repair tool to diagnose but don't run fix step) or follow instructions in this post:

http://mwomercs.com/...st-for-and-fix/

[Inappropriate1250]

After patch game starter doesnt launch in win7, when i try launch again its says that boosttrap alrdy launched and i cant delete it from process, relaunch PK and clear folder with profiles doenst help, but when i load game from XP - all works correctly.

[ShinVector]

Krist Smith, on 07 April 2015 - 12:51 PM, said:

To summarize:

• We released some initial fixes to the patching system with the April 7th patch.
  
• We will be releasing additional fixes to the patching system with the April 21st patch.
  
• Applying the April 21st patch will automatically initiate the re-download and install of any mismatched files
  
• Running the MWO Repair Tool prior to April 21st will allow you to bypass having to download the mismatched files when the April 21st patch hits.
  
• For that reason we recommend that you run the MWO Repair Tool prior to April 21st.

Hi Krist,

This should have been part of the major notes in the Patch Notes.
I assume many player run repair tool post patch for:
1. Ensure they have an uncorrupted copy of MWO.
2. Automatic clearing of the shader cache.
*Additionally did you guys fix the problem I post in last patch feedback that repair tool does NOT clear the shader cache directory anymore. It doesn't seem to know the new shader cache directory since you guys standardised the folder to 'savegames'
Edit: seems this part was fixed. deletes the whole shader cache directory i see.

Repair Tool has been going bonkers for some of us who often run it.
We were getting very inconsistent scan results where one scan state there are no mismatch and second scan right after will say eg. applejack.pak is mismatch and might remain in that loop regardless how many times you run repair tool.
Now I getting the feeling it might have been cause by their changes you guys have been making to repair tool in the backend.
It really only start screwing up like 2 or 3 patches back.

Anyway.. I am running repair tool right now... Because of the of all the mismatch files state above...
I will run it a second and third time as well to see whether the inconsistent repair tool mis-match files results happens again.

Edit:
Additionally Kris,
What repair tool is doing now is essentially re downloading the whole game, probably uncompressed at a much slower place. (For my case 1-10Mbit/s)
What is the different between this and reinstalling the whole game ?

Going to be an uproar if your going to be forcing people go through this on Apr 21st. Repair Tool redownloading ALL the pak files can't be right.

Edited by ShinVector, 08 April 2015 - 04:59 AM.

[ShinVector]

Ok so far.. Things looks good..

I see there is a huge difference in the number of hashes being compared and the speed on subsequent repair tool scans.

Edited by ShinVector, 08 April 2015 - 05:05 AM.

[Troopie]

Why download speed is slow with repairtool --> 40 mins with ~374 mb??????

[ShinVector]

Troopie, on 08 April 2015 - 05:47 AM, said:

Why download speed is slow with repairtool --> 40 mins with ~374 mb??????

I am getting about 10mbits max... People will rage if you for them to redownload the whole game at this speed.
Might as well tell people to redownload the whole game in the first place.

[o0Marduk0o]

It tells me 6-7 min for the download (374mb). Seems fine to me.

[Krist Smith]

ShinVector, on 08 April 2015 - 02:29 AM, said:

Hi Krist, This should have been part of the major notes in the Patch Notes. I assume many player run repair tool post patch for: 1. Ensure they have an uncorrupted copy of MWO. 2. Automatic clearing of the shader cache. *Additionally did you guys fix the problem I post in last patch feedback that repair tool does NOT clear the shader cache directory anymore. It doesn't seem to know the new shader cache directory since you guys standardised the folder to 'savegames' Edit: seems this part was fixed. deletes the whole shader cache directory i see. Repair Tool has been going bonkers for some of us who often run it. We were getting very inconsistent scan results where one scan state there are no mismatch and second scan right after will say eg. applejack.pak is mismatch and might remain in that loop regardless how many times you run repair tool. Now I getting the feeling it might have been cause by their changes you guys have been making to repair tool in the backend. It really only start screwing up like 2 or 3 patches back. Anyway.. I am running repair tool right now... Because of the of all the mismatch files state above... I will run it a second and third time as well to see whether the inconsistent repair tool mis-match files results happens again. Edit: Additionally Kris, What repair tool is doing now is essentially re downloading the whole game, probably uncompressed at a much slower place. (For my case 1-10Mbit/s) What is the different between this and reinstalling the whole game ? Going to be an uproar if your going to be forcing people go through this on Apr 21st. Repair Tool redownloading ALL the pak files can't be right.

Thanks for the feedback. First things first, this version of the repair tool should no longer have the issue where running it consecutive time finds new errors. If I'm wrong about this, please let me know now, and I'll definitely work on it some more.

As for downloading the entire game (uninstall/reinstall) vs. running the repair tool and letting it download each file separately, bear in mind that most pak files are already compressed. So downloading a zipped bundle wouldn't actually save much in the download. And, also, not every file is mismatched. In the end, we did the math, and the download size should, in the worst cases, be roughly the same between repairing vs. reinstalling, but the repair tool won out just because it's simpler and wouldn't reset things for users. Also, there's the possibility that some people would have fewer mismatches, and would have to download much less in a best case (whereas the reinstall would have a flat 7GB download no matter what),

Finally, in response to your follow-up post, yes, there should be way fewer hashes calculated since we're only checking the pak files themselves (as opposed to unzipping them and checking the hashes of the contents, which was the old way of doing things). This is why it's so much faster.

[A Vieira]

Yeah, I figured from the number of hashes and quick check time that now you're just checking the hashes of the pak files instead of decompressing each one and checking the included files hashes.

Thanks for giving us the details and information Krist!

[Krist Smith]

Modo44, on 07 April 2015 - 11:01 PM, said:

If only you could do that with the patcher's temp directory. It does not show where the current temp directory is before you click the option to set it, which makes it look like it keeps defaulting to the original installation temp directory. Quite the opposite of "set it and forget it". No, I will not leave it rummaging around my SSD with multi-GB disk operations.

Thanks for the pointer. For the upcoming patch, I'll be adding a confirmation dialog window when you click the option to set the temp directory. This dialog will indicate your current selection and ask if you would like to change it. I hope that makes things clearer.

As for "rummaging around" on your SSD, well, the latest repair tool calculates the hash of the pak files (no more extracting, so no thrashing there) and downloads mismatches directly to the destination folder (MWO game folder) with a temp name. Once it's done, it deletes the original and renames the temp name to the destination name. In terms of file operations the patcher essentially does the same thing. So, in the end, when the next patch comes out, applying it and letting it repair the mismatches will do the same thrashing. What we're saying is that if you do it now then you don't have to wait for the patcher to do it on patch day, since people usually like to get the patch and back into the game as quickly as possible.

Also, when I say "set it and forget it", I mean after the initial scan is done, click the Fix Errors button ("set it") and let it do its thing ("forget it"). Sorry if that was unclear.

If none of this addresses your concerns, please let me know.

[Morgana]

Curious as to what is in the game, that is now causing Ping issues. As others have stated, I have been able to play 2-3 matches without issue, and from there the ping starts to climb. I typically run a 50+/- ping, and after a few drops, can watch it climb upwards to 500+/-, until I finally get the Network Error has Occurred Error and am dropped out of match.

I have run the Repair Tool with no issue, with all things resolved, get into game, play 2-3 matches, and still have the same issue. Am able to do anything else on the computer, with the exception of MWO. Repair Tool is not fixing the issue.

[ShinVector]

Krist Smith, on 08 April 2015 - 11:17 AM, said:

As for downloading the entire game (uninstall/reinstall) vs. running the repair tool and letting it download each file separately, bear in mind that most pak files are already compressed. So downloading a zipped bundle wouldn't actually save much in the download. And, also, not every file is mismatched. In the end, we did the math, and the download size should, in the worst cases, be roughly the same between repairing vs. reinstalling, but the repair tool won out just because it's simpler and wouldn't reset things for users. Also, there's the possibility that some people would have fewer mismatches, and would have to download much less in a best case (whereas the reinstall would have a flat 7GB download no matter what),

Hi Krist,

I will probably run it a few times later tonight again. It was good so, far last night.

However you got to take note of this issue:
http://mwomercs.com/...-tool-question/

So far... He was hit by it as well as I did...

We are basically re-downloading every single .pak file.
I suspect this is happening because we run Repair Tool often and may have downloaded a bad copy of the .pak from PGI online repository.
Re-downloading all the .pak files is not the first time. It happen before when there was increased reports of repair tool going bonkers with the scans.

Come Apr 21st there may be many more people hit by the same issue.
It is painfully as you are probably aware that the patch download speed nowadays is quite slow...
Max is around 10Mbits.... I am running 1Gbit/s FTTH currently so, bottleneck ain't on my end.. Hehe..