Re: [PC] Unable to Launch Mass Effect 1

@holger1405

The good news:

There was no secondary InstallDir key, and the existing key matches my current directory.

After the restart, EA Desktop minimized and me1 <tried> to launch, which is itself an improvement.

The bad news:

After waiting some ten minutes I became certain that me1 was not going to finish launching.

EDIT: just got a "the app crashed unexpectedly" error.

Can't edit the post again, so here's more data

After restarting EA Desktop, noticed that me1's 'play' button was dimmed.

Tried to close EA Desktop, got a 'close the game first' error, so restarted the computer.

End result: me1 tried to launch, but failed in such a way that EA Desktop thought the game was running.

@mikewoo6425235 

Deinstall ME1 with Revo as described in post 8.

Then:

• Make sure EA App or Steam are closed.
• Go to your "Documents\BioWare\Mass Effect" folder and move the "Save" folder and the "Config" folder to your desktop.
• Reinstall the game > Test.

If that is still not working post a new DxDiag.

tried everything in this thread and i cant make it run...

@holger1405 

Uninstalled me1 using Revo

Restarted

Made sure EA App was not running

\Documents\Bioware\ does not have a 'mass effect' folder, probably due to prior efforts

A power failure forced another restart

Unable to reinstall me1 because it never finishes 'preparing'

Is there a way to get the 'preparing' step to complete?

Posting a new dxdiag.

EDIT: Exiting the EA App and restarting broke it out of the endless 'preparing' loop, so now me1 is reinstalling.

Edit 2: Reinstall complete at 12:27. Tried launching me1, get yet another 'failed to launch game' error. <groan>

@mikewoo6425235 

From the error I assumed this is a game or EA app problem, but now it looks like a problem of your system.

• Hit Windows key and X.
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” or "Windows Terminal (Administrator)", whichever option is offered.
• Inside the PowerShell or CMD, enter “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Checkhealth” without quotes. > ENTER.
• If errors are found, notify us. If no errors were found reaped steps 1 & 2.
• Inside the PowerShell or CMD, enter “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes. > ENTER.
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here.
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key and X again.
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command Prompt (Administrator)”
• Inside the PowerShell or CMD, enter “sfc /scannow” without quotes. >ENTER.
• Post the message you receive at the end of the processes here.
  
  

Also:

• Follow this manual to the letter to cleanly uninstall all NVIDIA components.
• Install the graphics driver and GFE. > Go online.
• Test.

@holger1405 

ran dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /checkhealth, got 'operation completed successfully

ran dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, got 'operation completed successfully'

ran sfc /scannow, got 'windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations'

Restarted in safe mode, ran DDU to remove graphics driver

Restarted in normal mode, reinstalled graphics driver

However, <still> get 'failed to launch game' when trying to launch me1. Man, what is the freaking problem here???

@holger1405 

I've decided to run a 'repair' on me1 in order to get its folders back into \documents\bioware\

Hopefully this will make it easier to launch.

EDIT: Aaand I still get 'failed to launch game' errors. <sigh>

I just don't know what else to do. Stupid screwed-up game.

@mikewoo6425235 

Please preform a clean boot and test the Game in clean boot mode.
(Make sure the "EABackgroundService" remains enabled under point 3 in the guide.)

Make sure your virus scanner and other security software and also Afterburner and similar software is disabled.

@holger1405 

It worked! ME1 works now! Wahoo!

So I guess now I need to figure out what was blocking me1, right?

What a long and crazy mess this has been.

@mikewoo6425235 

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mikewoo6425235 wrote:

So I guess now I need to figure out what was blocking me1, right?

What a long and crazy mess this has been.

---

Yes, and unfortunately, the only way to find out what blocks the game is trial and error.
Enable the services and leave the startup apps disabled. If the game starts it is a startup app if not it is a service.
Then you have to test one after another.

@holger1405 

This is weird. ME1 will run with all services enabled, but when I tried apps, ME1 will NOT run with <anything> in startup.

Literally all apps are disabled, and ME1 won't launch any more.

This doesn't make any sense. I don't know what else to do.

Guess I will just have to live without ME1....

@mikewoo6425235 

I am not sure if I understand you correctly.

You say with the services enable the game runs, but if this is while testing, the startup app should be disabled in this moment? But you say with them disabled ME is not starting?

Could you elaborate on this?

You can still play in the state the game is running if anything else fails.

@holger1405 

Okay, I will try to clear this up. My apologies.

With services enabled and apps disabled, me1 would start fine.

However, with apps enabled and services disabled, me1 would <not> start. Went back to 'failed to launch game' errors.

And I couldn't fix it by disabling apps again.

Sorry, I was quite saddened yesterday when this happened. Hope I've clarified things now.

@mikewoo6425235 

Then I would suggest to enable one app at a time and test after any app. (After you got the game to launch again by disabling all apps and serviced.)

@holger1405 

Okay, this I don't understand at all.

I have disabled every app and every service (except EABackgroundService), yet ME1 still cannot launch.

ME1 <tries> to launch, and asks for permissions, but then I get nothing. Computer just sits there doing nothing.

EDIT: It appears there is one other app running because it cannot be disabled. Avast Antivirus literally refuses to go away. Could this be causing my problem?

@mikewoo6425235 

Sorry for the late reply, this thread escaped my notifications.

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mikewoo6425235 wrote:

Okay, this I don't understand at all.

I have disabled every app and every service (except EABackgroundService), yet ME1 still cannot launch.

---

But you said it worked before as you did the same?

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mikewoo6425235 wrote:

EDIT: It appears there is one other app running because it cannot be disabled. Avast Antivirus literally refuses to go away. Could this be causing my problem?

---

It surely can, but you should be able to deactivate Avast over its own control panel.

@holger1405 

Yes, me1 did work previously, but now it doesn't, and I don't understand why. Me1 <should> be working.

All right, I will hunt for a way to deactivate Avast. If I am unable to find one, I will uninstall Avast for the short time needed to troubleshoot the problem.

Hopefully me1 will start working again....

@holger1405 

Found a relatively simple way to disable Avast. So, launching me1...

...And me1 is <still> unable to launch. No 'failed to launch game' error, just nothing happens. So we do this the hard way.

Uninstalling me1... done.

Uninstalling EA App... done

Restarting

Really strange how sometimes this board will not allow my editing a reply. Anyway...

Downloaded a fresh copy of the EA App.

Reinstalling EA App... done.

Reinstalling me1... done.

Disabling Avast again

Launching me1 (fingers crossed).... and once again getting 'failed to launch game' errors.

This is nuts. I give up. ME1 can stay not working.

@mikewoo6425235 

Sorry to here that.
As the game worked in clean boot mode once, something must have changed between your attempts.

@holger1405 

Apologies for my poor attitude yesterday. I'm back at it today.

Okay , done another clean boot...

And I am back to silent failures. No 'failure to launch game' error, just get nothing happening at all when I try launching me1.

What could have <happened> to prevent me1 from launching?

I've posted a dxdiag from today, hoping it will help.

EDIT: Finally, some results! It took 90 minutes, but I finally got a 'failed to launch game' error. Only surprise is that it took so long.

@mikewoo6425235 

Seeing Explorer.exe and DxDiag crashes and other problems in your DxDiag, there are at least some corrupt system files on your PC.

Fixing that is is possible, but a complete fresh installation of the Operating System is an option too.

If a fresh installation is a problem for you I would recommend a Windows repair installation, also called a in-place upgrade, that will allow you to keep your data and your applications.

Here you will find an Microsoft Video Guide about it.

Here is the Website to create the Install medium.

This is normally a very safe process, but you should make a full backup of all your important data anyway. (And not just before such on operation.)

Make sure that "Keep Personal files and Apps" is marked before you click "install".

If you are unsure about a step, ask!

@holger1405 

I did not want to do an OS reload, but if it's necessary I will do it.

<sigh>

Awful lot of trouble to fix what should be a simple thing, but if it's needed...

@holger1405 

Okay, I've formatted my drive and reinstalled Windows.

Installing the EA App... done

Installing ME1... done

Launching ME1... got 'failed to launch game' again. Damn!

Since I've reinstalled literally everything from the ground up, I think this means ME1 will not be working.