Unable to reach character select on either account

Discussion in 'Bug Reports' started by Cheopis, Jun 14, 2020.

  1. Cheopis Journeyman

    Every time I try to log in, I can get to the server select screen, but after I select the Firiona Vie server, the game crashes. It does not crash to desktop, it freezes the computer with an old-school blue border windows screen. I have to ctrl-alt-delete and choose reboot or power off to clear the frozen window. The system will open other applications, but absolutely nothing but the broken old school windows screen will come to the top window, trying to bring other windows to the front has zero effect, though you can see them in the background via mouselook on the taskbar.

    Everquest worked just fine only a few days ago. What did you guys break?
    Maheym and bloodbeard like this.
  2. GNOME_POWER Augur

    I don't know what happened to your computer, but the server is working.
    Yinla likes this.
  3. Cheopis Journeyman

    Update.

    The two accounts impacted are [removed account name] and [removed account name]

    The initial login attempt was made on [removed account name]. My offline trader was active on that account when I attempted to log in. I agreed to log it off, then several different size standard black/white sharp edge windows appeared on the screen, as normal, before the old school Windows sky-blue rounded edge border window came up and EQ stopped responding.

    Future attempts on [removed account name] failed multiple times, requiring reboots of the laptop to break out of the broken EQ window. I was not asked again to log off my offline trader. About 2 hours after the initial login attempt, the [removed account name] account finally asked me for the second time if I wanted to log off my character. I said yes, again, and I was able to log in after the game re-removed the offline trader. I did a bit of bazaar character maintenance then set up as an offline trader again.

    While this was going on, I had also been trying to log in occasionally with the [removed account name]account. It had no offline trader. I still cannot log into the Firiona Vie server select screen with that account.

    I have attempted validating the game data, with no effect.
  4. Cheopis Journeyman

    The problem continues.

    Account [removed account name] cannot connect to character select for the Firiona Vie server. Upon failure, the game crashes so hard, I have to reboot the laptop.

    Going to attempt a couple other servers and report findings.
  5. Cheopis Journeyman

    Just tried to connect to Selos. Same problem. I can get to server select and choose a server just fine, but cannot get to character select. Crashes so hard I have to reboot the laptop.

    As a paying accountholder who also buys daybreak cash from time to time, I'm a wee bit irritated about this. Any chance that someone can respond, acknowledging the issue?

    Thanks!
  6. Cheopis Journeyman

    I have found another thread elsewhere describing what appears to be this exact same problem, and it also describes a claimed resolution.

    Here is the description of the proposed solution by @MrOptimism457

    https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/cannot-get-to-char-select.267784/

    So I've found a work around. This is a shockingly old issue that was supposedly "fixed", but I'm having this issue on my laptop after a recent system update.

    For whatever reason, the game keeps forcing itself into windowed mode when you go to character select, and when you try to log out from character select. My best assumption is that this is a resolution/windowed mode error.

    What I did to fix this is I went to the Eqclient.ini file (i forget the exact name, I'm at work) and I hit control+f to find every entry of "windowed". For the line that says "WINDOWEDMODE=FALSE" , change the "FALSE" to "1" so it reads "WINDOWEDMODE=1". then, hit find again to find the lines that dictate the height and width of the windowed setting, and make sure it matches your resolution setting, so 1920× 1080 for example. Then save, right click the EQClient.ini file, and make it read only. Keep in mind, you will not be able to save any settings after doing this.

    LASTLY!!!! when you're finished playing, type /camp desktop to fully log out of the game, or you will get locked in that windowed mode again. Yes, this is stupid and a frustrating work around, but it's the only way I could figure out how to save my sanity. Hopefully it helps.


    I do not believe this resolution will work for me, as I do not play at my native desktop resolution. EQ at 1920x1080 is hell on my eyes, but I need that resolution for my desktop to keep it organized the way I want it.

    Any chance we can get what appears to be a minor issue hotfixed to allow us to play?
  7. Cheopis Journeyman

    More data.

    Apparently there was a Windows Update that might be involved here as part of the problem.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4560960/windows-10-update-kb4560960

    This update apparently had several security functionality updates. Considering how ancient some of the EQ code is, it seems highly likely that unsecure EQ legacy code is freaking Windows out after the update - but not 100% of the time, as I was able to log in one character, one time. (Cheopis2 account, character Fargaan)

    I don't know how difficult this fix will be for you guys, but if EQ legacy code is conflicting with Windows security initiatives in a major critical Windows 10 Update, your team likely has a limited amount of time to roll out a fix before the problem explodes.
  8. Cheopis Journeyman

    Update.

    I performed a system restore to a point before the last Windows 10 updates.

    The crashing behavior of EQ has not changed. Either some aspects of the updates were not rolled back, or there were server side changes in the last few days that are no longer compatible with my computer.

    It sure would be nice if a member of the Dev team would respond, acknowledge the issue, and tell me what data they need from me to help isolate what they need to fix.
    Maheym likes this.
  9. Maheym New Member



    There have been a few others with this same issue, I was affected back on May 30, but no Dev ever replied. I tried all to so called fixes with no luck. I was so irritated I performed a system restore back to day 1, luckily my pc is only a few months old. After updating all the necessary things, I loaded EQ and its worked fine ever since(one week so far). I box 3 accounts and so far so good. I used Webroot antivirus before, which I have not installed yet. So it could be something with that, not sure.
    Yinla likes this.
  10. Cheopis Journeyman


    I just updated again, to the newest Windows update version. No change. I also reverted the computer to a state prior to when I was last able to play. No change.

    EQ broke something. If it isn't fixed soon, I'll have no reason to buy any more xpacs, keep paying for two active accounts, or buy daybreak points. I've been playing since 1999, off and on. It's be a shame to have to leave because EQ broke their game for me.

    At the very least, someone on the dev team should be telling me what logs or data they need in order to identify the problem.
  11. Cheopis Journeyman

    There has still been no dev response. The recent EQ patch made no difference. Restoring to a Windows restore point prior to when EQ broke itself made no difference. The big new Windows patch made no difference.

    Due to absolutely zero action on the part of the dev team, (they have not even asked me to provide logs or configuration data,) I am disabling automatic renewal of my two accounts Cheopis and Cheopis2. I will not be purchasing the most recent expansion on Cheopis2 as was planned. I will not be purchasing more Daybreak points to buy more inventory bags on either account. I have been playing since 1999, and this is the first time I have ever experienced such an utter lack of support for a critical game failure.

    Why should I continue to support EQ when they are completely ignoring the fact that the game is literally unplayable? The answer is that I shouldn't.
  12. Cheopis Journeyman

    Well, in the absence of EQ being a playable game, I've started playing AO again.

    I will occasionally attempt to log in and see if anything has changed.

    As of five minutes ago, there is no change. EQ is still utterly unplayable, and hard-crashes my laptop every time I try to go to character select.

    Any devs want to bother caring enough to even ask me for data, or is EQ on Windows 10 laptops now abandonware?
  13. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    EQ just doesn't like your laptop. Could play on a desk top.
  14. Cheopis Journeyman


    No, actually, I can't play on a desktop. I drive a truck for a living, cross country. I go home every six weeks and have no desktop machine set up, and I'm not buying a new one to collect dust for six weeks at a time.
  15. Cheopis Journeyman

    Just tried to log in after today's patch.

    No change. I can log into the game. I got the patch. I was able to choose a server.

    Then the launcher failed before displaying the character select screen.

    The failure is so spectacular, it hard-locks my screen. I have to force a reboot in order to get the screen to un-freeze.

    The only thing that the desktop will do is show the taskbar.

    Sure would be nice if someone on the Dev Team would have asked me for more data so they could address this issue.

    Uninstalling EQ now. Not worth the headache since the launcher isn't being supported.
  16. Darcheart New Member

    Late to the party but I was having the same issues and read the workaround you found in the other post. I wasn't willing to go through that just for Everquest to be honest, so I tried other things involving windowed mode. I went into the installer and reduced the resolution in the game settings as far as I could and although it opened in a tiny little window it seems like it'll get me to my characters and logged into the game.

    I did however have to mess with the resolution again inside the game and with a bit of tuning to my preferred sizing it stuck after a logout and login again. don't know if you're willing to try again after uninstalling but thought I'd throw my 2 cents your way! Good luck!
  17. Histamine Journeyman

    Old thread, I know.
    I also had this issue (ie. crashing between Server Select and Char.Select screens) and submitted a support ticket. It took them awhile to get back to me (about a week) but they managed to help and I successfully logged in today on at least one account.
    FWIW I tried all the other solutions in this thread to no avail.
    Here is the reply from support that resulted in the fix:
    "
    Bridgette S. (Daybreak Games)
    Mar 19, 2021, 7:46 AM PDT
    Thank you very much for making the files we wanted. The hardware looks good. However, you may wish to re-install the video driver with the latest stable version available.

    If the issue continues, I would like you to please ensure that the programs listed below are installed/updated on your system. Once updated, I would suggest rebooting your system to ensure all actions are completed.

    .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (Standard Installer): www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=22
    Windows Update (IMPORTANT: may need to run several times to pick-up all recommended/optional programs for the best compatibility, stability, and performance)

    If the game is still experiencing an issue after updating the software above, you may need to update Microsoft C++. Please select the version appropriate for your version of Windows (32 or 64 bit).

    C++ Redist (64-bit 2010): http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632
    C++ Redist (32-bit 2010): http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5555
    Bridgette S.
    Senior Technical Support
    Daybreak Games"

    I had to run the Win Updater a couple times, and I ran the installer/updater for the .NET Framework software. Rebooting after ea. install and VIOLA!

    Anyway, in case anyone else runs across this...hope it helps.
    Cheers,
    Ybolla
  18. skien Journeyman

    I've been trying for the last two days to get logged in with no success. Looking at the other forum entries others have had a similar experience but I can't see a recent bug forum update. This is really not funny, i'm a tolerant bloke but this has got annoying.

    I may get several error messages while trying to log in but they always end in this:

    Unable to download IDS_UNABLETODOWNLOAD
  19. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    Found a nugget you might try in posts from about 2 years ago, worth a shot since its easy:
    Switch to test server and then back to live. (You can do this by clicking the "Live" hot text in the lower left corner of the launcher or by using the drop box in the advanced options menu of the launcher.)
    Cheopis likes this.
  20. skien Journeyman

    Spot on my friend, that worked a treat on my main account. Cheers and a salute to you.
    CatsPaws likes this.