EA app won't let me play Mass Effect 1 but Origin does.

Hi, first time posting on this forum so hello to everyone. I as well have trouble launching my ME1 standalone (2007) wersion. When I was forced to migrate to EA App i tried to launch some of the games installed on my hdd. When EA App was online it tried to connect to cloud. I closed the pop-up with loading bar, turned offline mode and was prompted about not being able to sync data. Chose to run with hdd saves. Game launches as on Origin, but after  about two minutes it hangs out. Freezes on last frame, no looped sound or anything. Task manager shows that ME1 is not responding. I can force quit. I observe no spike in CPU or GPU usage. Downgrading to Origin fixes this behaviour.

The freeze happens 100% of times in random places. But when I tried to force it to happen earlier or in the same place I couldn't.

I can provide more data, but I suggest we move this bug repport to https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports-Technical-Issues/bd-p/ea-app-bug-reports-en as it will be more visible there. Plus it's EA App bug not the game itself. If I start a bug repport I will post a link here so anyone can push the 'mee to' button.

I had the same issues. And the issues somehow comes from EA App itself. It cannot launch the game without it freezing. However if you launch the game completely circumventing the EA App the problems don't occur.

This can be done by using Steam to launch the game for you.

When you are in steam, go to your library, at the bottom choose "Add a game" and pick "Add a non-Steam game".

If Mass Effect appears on the list, just pick it. If it doesn't, select "Browse..."

Mass Effect is by default installed at "C:\Program Files\EA Games\Mass Effect\Binaries" and select "MassEffect.exe"

Then select "Add selected programs", once this is done, launch the game from Steam.

After doing this the game ran fine for me. It is possible you can also run it from the installation folder it self. Same folder as above, and run "MassEffect.exe".

EA App is shockingly bad. It has to rely on a direct competitor's product to run its own products properly.

I sincerely hope that this helps you, as it helped me.

Unfortunatelly I can't circumvent EA App. Navigating to - in my case - C:\Program Files\Origin\Mass Effect\Binaries and selecting MassEffect.exe via Steam or just double clicking still opens EA App. Maybe because it was bought from Origin.

If you have more info/suggestions on circumventing EA App can you please share?

Tried launching completly offline (unplug Internet) - no luck, launching EA App in Windows Vista compatibility mode - same as always, tryed limiting number of cores ME1 rubs on (via Task Manager) - still freezing.

One thing I noticed - when I launched via Origin ME1 window had legacy frame, launched via EA App has Windows 10 frame.

If I manage to solve this problem I will share solution here.

@Resztaczasu 

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Mass-Effect-Legendary-Edition/Mass-Effect-Legendary-won-t-download/m-p/12357207#M16276 

Sorry for the late reply Holger1405. I've managed to find this and similar posts on my own, but wanted a more permanent solution and I believe I found one.

I needed to turn back on the in-game overlay (top left tree bars menu > settings > app > Game overlay).

ME1 should check cloud saves (for me this can take up to five min, usually less than a min), ask for admin privileges and launch.

The EA App seems to be a bit moody, so if EA App disappears andd ME1 splash screen doesn't come up wait a bit, open task manager find masseffect.exe if uses like 0% of CPU kill it, then kill activation UI (32-bit) this should bring back EA App to screen and let you try launching ME1 once more (you may be prompted wit some “couldn't sync cloud data”). - I don't know why this happens. Mostly once right after launching EA App, even if I wait for couple of minutes.

If anyone have additional questions please ask.

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@FaceCombat wrote:

There is a workaround to use Origin without being forced to migrate to the EA app. Follow the steps here. Though, I am not sure if this will fix the crashes in the game itself.

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Wanted to give an update about this method: an update from Origin was released today and now it seems to ignore this method. You can still use it in offline mode by not updating, however.

Hi @HeDinDoNuffins just wanted to thank for xp. Sorry for being late with the response.

I'm on Windows 11, and can confirm that ME1 works fine through Origin, but not the EA app. I'm currently using the F**k_off_EA_App_installer workaround. There is also a way to still download Origin. Just google. Hope that helps.

Now, if only there was a workaround to put Windows 11 back to 7... sigh, wish me luck.