@holger1405 @EA_Archi
Thank you both for responding. Yes, I have installed patch 1.02, the configuration utility crashes without it (existing issue, I remember it happening when I last reinstalled Mass Effect a couple of years back). Yes, the router has been restarted, and I'm on a private home network. I've not had any problems with other games either, Mass Effect 2 installed smoothly and my dlc for it authorized fine (also a non-Origin install, but I don't think ME1 and 2's authorization processes work the same way).
That is my worry, if the authorization servers for the disk version are even still online. However, when there's similar issues happening over with Sims 3 for Mac OS (the same error message, and it seems to have started on Friday, the same day I tried installing Mass Effect) it gives me a little hope there might be some general server oops that can be fixed. That Mass Effect's deauthorization tool also had issues and threw up that error (when it worked fine last week) also makes me hope it's not just things being shut down. That seems to connect most of the time now, but it couldn't for most of Friday, while I was making sure it wasn't just the game having the issue.
I have a friend who has Mass Effect on cd too, so if she has time for it today, I'll ask her to give installing it a try and see if she gets the same error message.
With regards to Origin, I'd like to hold off trying it until it's looking like a last resort and the old authorization method is broken/shut down for sure. My internet connection is slow, and I've some anxiety issues around programs and games updating without my permission, so the less games I have linked to programs like Origin/Steam/etc, the better. Especially a "comfort blanket" game like Mass Effect - once it's got past that first-time launch authorization, it works fine and doesn't need the internet at all, so I can always trust it to start up and not tell me it's updating or something. If things are still looking broken through next week though, I'll give my computer a back-up and try Origin. I'll post if anything changes, either way, thank you for your time 🙂
