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Saighdiur's avatar
Saighdiur
3 years ago
Solved

No inputs work except in menus or dialog

After playing MEA Deluxe Edition 1.10 purchased on Steam for PC for maybe a month or two (186 hours, and two complete playthroughs with only a few minor issues), I saved and shut down one evening, an...
  • Saighdiur's avatar
    Saighdiur
    3 years ago

    I seem to have found a solution, though I'm not 100% sure of the details!

    Because it sounded relevant and had a certain number of people complaining about it crashing, I unstalled Microsoft GameInput and stopped the service. That didn't fix the issue.

    However, Windows seems to have reinstalled it automatically when I updated Windows 10 22H2 feature update to install (the process reappeared in TaskManager after rebooting).

    I can't be entirely sure, but I can theorize that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft GameInput ended up corrupted and forcing a reinstall fixed the issue?

    Either that, or something else in the Windows 10 22H2 feature update fixed a broken file.

    In any case, I was just able to load a save game and run around after that update went through.

holger1405's avatar
holger1405
Hero+
3 years ago

@Saighdiur 

Which config and profile files did you deleted exactly? (path)

Try to repair the game.

(Origin: Game Library > Right-click the game cover > Repair)

(Steam: Game Library > Right-click the game > Properties > Local Files > Verify integrity of game files.)

Use both! > restart the Pc > Test. 

  • Saighdiur's avatar
    Saighdiur
    3 years ago

    > Which config and profile files did you deleted exactly? (path)

    Documents/BioWare/Mass Effect Andromeda/Save/

      ProfOpts*

      Career*

    I tried just moving the ProfOpts* files to another directory first to make it regenerate these.

    Then I tried moving all the Save files, and then the entire Mass Effect Andromeda directory.

    > Try to repair the game.

    I ran Stream Verify (All 1172 files successfully validated) and Origin Repair (which I think just retriggered steam verify) and rebooted.

    Sadly, no progress, still stuck.

    As an interesting detail, I can tell that the game can see keyboard and controller input because a few of my saves are in front of an object with an interaction prompt.

    If I hit a controller button, the prompt switches to a Y button icon. If I hit a keyboard key, it switches back to an [E] icon. But it still doesn't actually allow any of the input to move the character or trigger the object.

    Also, as a random test I went and reinstalled Mass Effect 3 just to check if it would have any similar problems, but it's fine. Not that there's probably much in common between the source code bases of the games, but it's a data point that that game and others I have don't have a problem acquiring exclusive access to mouse, keyboard, and controller input.

  • Saighdiur's avatar
    Saighdiur
    3 years ago

    Trying to be a bit more thorough here:

    Symptoms I've discovered:
    • Tried essentially every key on the keyboard, mouse, and controller. Only the open console (tilde key) and open main menu (Tab key in single player, Esc in multiplayer, controller start or touch pad buttons) functions work when not in menu. Additional rebindable keys that would also open specific menus (H, J, U, M, etc.) do not function, though. In menu, all controls work as expected on all input devices. When the PC console is open, I can type commands into it normally.
    • Other games which require exclusive input from mouse, keyboard, and/or controller to control a character (Mass Effect 3, No Man's Sky, Satisfactory) all work correctly.
    • Plugging a PS4 controller shows that the problem is not mouse/keyboard specific (again, only menu controls work - start button or pressing touch pad)
    • Interestingly, the PS4 controller shows that the game sees input in some form, because a save file with an [E] prompt on an interactive object changes the [E] prompt to a [Y button] icon if I hit any button on the controller, and changes it back to an [E] prompt if I hit any key on the keyboard.
    • When in character movement mode, moving the mouse causes a windows mouse cursor to appear and move around on screen. That probably indicates that the game did not successfully capture exclusive mouse input and certainly didn't hide the mouse cursor.
    Steps I have tried so far:
    • reset controls to default
    • modified control bindings
    • unplugged and plugged back in input devices
    • Switched video output from full screen to windowed and borderless window modes
    • reboot
    • clean reboot (no non-MicroSoft background processes)
    • Origin repair game (All files validated)
    • Steam validate local files (All files successfully validated)
    • Clean Origin caches
    • CCleaner clean
    • Updated 2 drivers (GbE, Audio) detected as out of date by CCleaner
    • Reinstalled AMD graphics drivers
    • Uninstalled and reinstalled Mass Effect Andromeda from Steam (twice now)
    • Moved "Documents/BioWare/Mass Effect Andromeda/Save/ProfOpt*" to a backup location to regenerate them
    • Moved entire "Documents/BioWare/Mass Effect Andromeda" to a backup location to regenerate all
    • Checked for any windows or game updates that might have been installed the night it stopped working (no sign of anything)
    Testing I've done to check the issue:
    • Loaded 4 or 5 different save files going far back in my current character's Career (same issue for all)
    • Started a new character from scratch (same issue, but discovered that I can enter dialog options during the opening sequence - apparently, they work like menu input)
    • Started a new character from scratch after moving all Saves and ProfOpt files to get as close to a fresh install start as possible (same issue)
    • Started a multiplayer game to see if that would be different (same issue, except that the menu button that works is Escape instead of Tab)
     
    • Saighdiur's avatar
      Saighdiur
      3 years ago

      I seem to have found a solution, though I'm not 100% sure of the details!

      Because it sounded relevant and had a certain number of people complaining about it crashing, I unstalled Microsoft GameInput and stopped the service. That didn't fix the issue.

      However, Windows seems to have reinstalled it automatically when I updated Windows 10 22H2 feature update to install (the process reappeared in TaskManager after rebooting).

      I can't be entirely sure, but I can theorize that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft GameInput ended up corrupted and forcing a reinstall fixed the issue?

      Either that, or something else in the Windows 10 22H2 feature update fixed a broken file.

      In any case, I was just able to load a save game and run around after that update went through.

      • Saighdiur's avatar
        Saighdiur
        3 years ago

        I apparently jumped to conclusions too quickly.

        The problem reappeared after the next boot, but I've now established that Microsoft GameInput is somehow responsible.

        If I uninstall Microsoft GameInput and then reboot, I can play Mass Effect Andromeda normally.

        Stopping the GameInput service and processes doesn't seem to be sufficient allow MEA to run. I have to uninstall it and reboot.

        The next time I reboot, Windows reinstalls and restarts the service, and MEA stops working again.

        Presumably, there's some incompatibility between MEA and GameInput, and running without GameInput allows MEA to use some other path to get input.

        So I guess I have a partial solution that will allow me to continue playing when I want to.

        However, a bug report to GameInput would be in order if I had any idea how to make one.

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