194 replies to this topic

[Captain Greene]

Since the Oct 25 patch, are we still trying to fix this and the Broken Paks?

[Dolgan]

I'm getting a "CryEngine Error" as soon as I log in, the description is:

"FRead did not read expected number of byte from file, only 128 of 0 bytes read"

Anyone else had this or know a way round it?

[Tacojoemeru]

I am also getting this error after installation and patching the game. I'll sign in and it'll go to the game for a second before this error pops up and it crashes to desktop.

"Cry engine error. Fread did not read expected number of byte from file, only 128 of 0 bytes read"

Edited by Tacojoemeru, 30 October 2012 - 05:07 AM.

[Soulgorger]

Count me in on this one!!! Makes the game pretty much unplayable when you have to reset the client between EVERY match, then it's a crap shoot (50/50) as to whether it will even run then.

[Jooky SeaCpt]

There was a quite lengthy forum thread about this error in the Support sub forum, complete with Dev tech support. However, since the forum reorganization, my bookmarked link to it no longer works. I will try to sum it up.

Basically the thinking at the moment is that the FRead Cry Engine error is caused due to corrupted game files. The most frequent offender seems to be Objects.pak, but other .pak files can also become corrupted. The problem is that the patcher does not have a built in file integrity checker, so it tends to download corrupted files. This means that each time you install the game or download a new patch there is a chance that you will get a bad file. You can check the integrity of your game files manually by using a program called 7-zip. This program is free and fairly simple to use.

Unfortunately, the old forum thread had a link from the tech support Dev. to their actual FTP servers so that you could download the individual file you needed rather than re-installing the entire game, but as I said above my bookmarked link to it no longer works. If you choose to do a clean uninstall / re-install it has been recommended that you use the Microsoft Fixit program here: http://support.micro...l_and_uninstall
There is still a chance the you will get a bad file when you re-install, so you may have try more than once. This is the route I took (before I saw that the individual files were available), and after two attempts I was able to play entirely crash free last night for about 4 hours straight.

I hope this helps you guys out, and if I come across that old thread again, I will update my post to include a link to it.

[Soulgorger]

That helps out a bunch... Although I'm not real keen on dloading the game again, then all of the patches, only to find out I have another corrupted file due to poor programming.

[Dolgan]

Jooky SeaCpt,

Many thanks, I'm in the process of redownloading again and will try this once it's completed.

[Tacojoemeru]

Soulgorger, on 30 October 2012 - 09:05 AM, said:

That helps out a bunch... Although I'm not real keen on dloading the game again, then all of the patches, only to find out I have another corrupted file due to poor programming.

Yeah. 7zip shows some corrupt damage file for an Atlas in objects.pak, I guess I'll re-download it all, but I'd rather not have to do so multiple times. That wasn't any fun in the closed beta, and I can't imagine it'll be anymore fun now.

I seem to recall the progress bar during my first installation saying something about repairing objects.pak?

[Jooky SeaCpt]

Yeah, I am sorry the new forums didn't carry over all of the old threads so I can't link you to the individual files on the FTP server. Re-downloading isn't fun; especially with the chance to get another corrupted file. The current forum structure seems silly to me with no dedicated Support sub forum; just one for patch feedback and another for website support. Why they thought people would suddenly stop having problems is beyond me. Anyhow, don't forget to check your .pak files, especially Objects.pak with 7-zip. Objects.pak is in the mwo/game folder. I believe the other big offender is GameData.pak. Once you have 7-zip installed, you just navigate to that folder, select the file you want to test, right click and find 7-zip on the popup menu, then select Test Archive from the drop down box.

Good luck with the re-install, and report back here if it fixed your errors so that others can have hope. I personally was frustrated to no end when I was constantly crashing due to the FRead error.

[Jooky SeaCpt]

I read elsewhere that the devs are slowly adding certain threads back into the new forums. Just in case they choose the one with the FTP server list, the topic was, "Crash at login read this," and the (currently broken) link was: http://mwomercs.com/...s/page__st__120

[Krist Smith]

Indeed...most indeedily. I can't comment on the restructure of the forums, but my bookmarks aren't working, either.

So, quick run-down: this is indeed an issue with the patcher (sorry for the poor programming). The issue is still being investigated, but the main difficulty is that it doesn't happen to anyone at all on the dev team (that includes all our staff, dev support, QA, the whole lot). So it's just proving to be hard to nail down the culprit. So far all I've managed to cobble together from various reports is that it's mostly isolated to Windows 7 64-bit (although it may also affect Vista 64-bit). Outside of that I've been having trouble finding any other consistencies. I believe all reporters have anti-virus, although not enough response has come through for this to be considered a fact.

In the meantime, the other information provided in this thread is pretty much accurate. 7-zip (or WinRAR) can be used to test the integrity of the pak files. It's usually just one file inside the pak file that's become corrupt. Most reports are that the problem pak is Objects.pak, so I'll provide that link here:
http://patcher.mwome...ame/Objects.pak

(Using that link and your install directory structure, you should be able to create a link to all the other pak files with just a little editing).

This is bug #1 on my plate and I've been trying to track down the source of the problem for a while, so anyone with anything to add, please do so. You can feel free to flood me with information, even via PM if you don't want to post here.

If you're considering a re-install, first let me say that there have been mixed results with this. Most of the time the issue sticks. One thing to try is installing the newest .NET framework (4.5) before starting the uninstall/reinstall process, at least that will prove out whether or not it's a .NET issue.

Thanks for your patience and assistance on this issue, I sincerely apologize for the frustration.

[Jooky SeaCpt]

Hurray! I was hoping one of you guys would pop in here with a link to the individual files! Krist, even though my issue was resolved by re-installing (twice), I will be happy to provide you with any info you need about my system if it will help. I am indeed running Windows 7-64 bit, and my .Net version is 4.03. My AV is Avast! In the old thread you asked about processor, so I'll throw that out too. It's an Intel i-5. My GPU is an AMD 7870. Hope this helps with your bug hunt!

[Soulgorger]

Well this makes me feel a bit more warm/fuzzy to know we're at least being acknowledged now and not being blown off with "it's a known cryengine memory leak error, read the sticky" like some other users have posted.

I'm using W7 64-Bit, with Avast Anti-virus 7 and Spybot S&D for Malware. I had .NET 4.5 already installed prior to MWO as I need it for other applications. CPU is AMD 960T (O/C to 4ghz), with 6870 XFX (stock clock speed) in Crossfire. 8GB of ram.

Has PGI started work on a file integrity checker that can check each file and download a new file if needed? As I mentioned before, World of Warcraft has one, and it works great, the two times in seven years I needed it.

Edited by Soulgorger, 30 October 2012 - 11:29 AM.

[Krist Smith]

Thanks guys. Sorry for the impression that we're not working on fixing issues, it's just that our typical flow is to work with support tickets moreso than directly commenting on threads. Although that's no excuse, I do hope that you at least understand.

So, based off the responses so far, it's kinda looking like Avast is another common factor. Can anyone dispute that? Also, I'm currently grabbing the free version of Avast, but are you guys using that or the pay version?

Soulgorger, yeah, there's a validator/repair tool in the works. I'm hoping to roll it out in a week or two, it just requires some extensive testing first. And, of course, the fact that I can't reproduce this problem also means that I don't have a proper test case to verify that it works correctly in this situation. If I could get my hands on one of these corrupted pak files, at least I could do that much. I can easily corrupt the entire pak, but that's not the problem here - this issue is that just one file within the pak is corrupt, not the whole thing, and that difference is enough to bring in a lot of uncertainty.

[Krist Smith]

Oh, also, if anyone is just tired of waiting and willing to try reinstalling, could you try disabling Avast before you do the uninstall/re-install/patch? It could at least demonstrate whether or not it's part of the problem. Of course, if disabling anti-virus software is too risky for you, then I completely understand.

This won't be the be-all end-all solution, I'm just hoping that I can narrow down the cause and fix it completely so that it works with Avast enabled.

[Egomane]

Krist, I have no problems with the patcher, corrupt files or crash on login and I am using an up to date patched (including optionals) Windows7 (64 bit) with the free version of Avast. If that is the culprit, it isn't alone.

[Soulgorger]

Krist;

I'm using the free version of Avast.

If there was a way you could help us narrow down WHICH file is corrupted (maybe with your file validator), I'd be happy to send you that file. I have a personal website I can FTP the corrupted file to that you could download it.

I would, however, prefer to not spend my entire evening waiting for all of those files to upload, as I'm on a 1.5mb down/768k up DSL connection.

Tonight I will try disabling Avast during game play, to see if something in the AVS is conflicting with MWO. If the issue persists I will:

1. Copy the old install to another folder.
2. Uninstall the game.
3. Make sure .NET is at 4.5
4. Download the game again.
5. Disable Avast.
6. Install the game
7. Test...

Krist, if you'd like me to help you test your validator/repair software, I'm down for that. Anything to get back to being able to play without the worry of a crash upon the match start. PM me or E-mail me.

Edited by Soulgorger, 30 October 2012 - 12:09 PM.

[Krist Smith]

Egomane, on 30 October 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

Krist, I have no problems with the patcher, corrupt files or crash on login and I am using an up to date patched (including optionals) Windows7 (64 bit) with the free version of Avast. If that is the culprit, it isn't alone.

Yeah, good point. I have been testing the patcher on various VMs (some of them with AV software like Avast), so I agree that it's not the single-handed culprit. Although you do raise a good point:

Those of you having this problem, have you installed all the latest Windows updates? Note that applying them now and trying the game won't fix the problem. The game would have to be reinstalled to accurately test this as the culprit.

[Soulgorger]

Windows is kept up to date. So unless there's been a patch as of the 25th, I was up to date when you rolled out your patch.

[Krist Smith]

Soulgorger, on 30 October 2012 - 12:08 PM, said:

Krist; I'm using the free version of Avast. If there was a way you could help us narrow down WHICH file is corrupted (maybe with your file validator), I'd be happy to send you that file. I have a personal website I can FTP the corrupted file to that you could download it. I would, however, prefer to not spend my entire evening waiting for all of those files to upload, as I'm on a 1.5mb down/768k up DSL connection. Tonight I will try disabling Avast during game play, to see if something in the AVS is conflicting with MWO. If the issue persists I will:
1. Copy the old install to another folder.
2. Uninstall the game.
3. Make sure .NET is at 4.5
4. Download the game again.
5. Disable Avast.
6. Install the game
7. Test...
Krist, if you'd like me to help you test your validator/repair software, I'm down for that. Anything to get back to being able to play without the worry of a crash upon the match start. PM me or E-mail me.

That test plan would definitely verify everything I currently suspect about this problem, thanks a lot! As for the repair tool, I'll see about making a stand-alone version and get all the final pieces in place for it to work (it's still incomplete, so there will probably be some manual steps required, such as downloading and such). If the corrupted file isn't too much of a hassle for you to upload, then it would be very handy for me to get a copy.

Thanks for the help, gang!