Forum Discussion

Re: EA WRC not starting after 1.9 patch

Good evening. I solved this problem like this. I just maked symbolick link on "EA SPORTS WRC" folder in my C disk.

With this command in console: mklink /d "path to ea sports folder" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam".

This command make symbolick link to ea sports folder in other disk (not C) into ea sports forlder in disk C.

21 Replies

  • StuyoDGr8's avatar
    StuyoDGr8
    8 months ago

    @ALALEKSANDR wrote:

    Good evening. I solved this problem like this. I just maked symbolick link on "EA SPORTS WRC" folder in my C disk.

    With this command in console: mklink /d "path to ea sports folder" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam".

    This command make symbolick link to ea sports folder in other disk (not C) into ea sports forlder in disk C.


    This is elegant solution to circle around the folder issue, I think it was listed couple if pages back.

    For most if us though the anticheat client fails for different reason (my game is already installed ik the Original folder). Support even suggested to me to move to different drive 0.0

    I personally get “Anticheat cannot get hold of Origin folder” which is total nonsense. I even installed the legacy Origin client to no avail.

    Also bought the game on EA app store which has totally different structure. Now it launches but right after connecting to server it crashes to desktop without any errors showing or recorded so it is impossible to debug. Any idea if I can find somewhere in a log file what is triggering the anticheat failure? It is clearly the culprit here, but I do not want to reinstall the whole machine for my game to work after the issue is clearly in the questionable software EA pushed on us.

    I have second PC but it does not support games, there the EA App version works, I will test the Steam one as well, but this is 0 help in debugging the real issue…

  • EA_Groguet's avatar
    EA_Groguet
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    8 months ago

    Hi there,

    Sorry for the delay. The team is still investigating this issue. Meanwhile, can you try the next steps to see if it solves your issue?

    • Try running the game with no other applications running except for the minimum required for the Operating System and Steam or EA App. Once the game runs, start turning things back on and restarting the game each time. The moment the game doesn't boot - that's the piece of software it doesn't like.
    • Remove any mods from the game that have been installed. The only things we support are custom configs for telemetry and the input system. The easiest way to do this is uninstall the game from steam, then locate the old folder and make sure it's completely empty before re-installing.
    • Remove any other dll based mods for things like DirectX. We've seen mods that alter some of the DirectX dll's to add hooks to allow for other mods to run and changes to game data.

    -Groguet

  • MMFL012's avatar
    MMFL012
    8 months ago

    What a joke of a response. "Sorry for the delay in responding" lol been over a month and this is all you got to say? must be too busy moderating on the game forums you guys actually care about instead. And the classic its not our fault its yours, just delete and redownload the 90+gb game, no big deal right? And i'm not worried about getting banned or deleted, cause no ones here answering questions anyway so this forum is useless, just like this game to many people that cant play it. 

  • StuyoDGr8's avatar
    StuyoDGr8
    8 months ago

    @EA_Groguet wrote:

    Hi there,

    Sorry for the delay. The team is still investigating this issue. Meanwhile, can you try the next steps to see if it solves your issue?

    • Try running the game with no other applications running except for the minimum required for the Operating System and Steam or EA App. Once the game runs, start turning things back on and restarting the game each time. The moment the game doesn't boot - that's the piece of software it doesn't like.
    • Remove any mods from the game that have been installed. The only things we support are custom configs for telemetry and the input system. The easiest way to do this is uninstall the game from steam, then locate the old folder and make sure it's completely empty before re-installing.
    • Remove any other dll based mods for things like DirectX. We've seen mods that alter some of the DirectX dll's to add hooks to allow for other mods to run and changes to game data.

    -Groguet


    Did all of the above already, even flashed BIOS. All drivers are up to date, deinstalled all overlay software, shut down everything else, unplugged all USBs. Moved my game files around, reinstalled anticheat like 100 times - all is the same

    Even bough the game in EA App to test - another error, but still unplayable. 

    I will be reinstalling my whole PC because if this but I fear the result will be the same.

    Clearly the culprit is Anticheat and I wonder are there any plans to actually deal with it as for 2 months now I cannot launch the game and i have it in both platforms currently as steam-ea app integration did not work as with other games and I had to pay twice.

    I am checking every day but there is no info/list of known bugs with the game or if it is actually being worked on. This is pretty much what uuI was playing last year in the limited spare time I have and was participating in the club series regularly every month… This bug renders everything naught as now I had to miss last two months. 

  • @EA_Groguet I just came here to say, what a joke..... You sound like a beginner helpdesk IT associate. How about you don't release a broken game and then continue to break it as time goes on instead of spouting useless troubleshooting steps. I have tried everything mentioned on these 9 pages including your suggestions to no avail. It is a damn shame that codemasters had to work so hard at making such an amazing product for every decision to be null and void at the hands of EA. It is very clear anticheat that has shattered this game on PC. Every forum from here to Reddit makes that incredibly clear.
  • sonki's avatar
    sonki
    Rising Newcomer
    8 months ago

    Everyone still having problems, try this:

    Go to folder %localappdata%\WRC\Saved

    Remove all the ushaderprecache files and the upipelinecache file. So basically remove all the 4 files and leave only the folders.

    Now try starting your game. This at least worked for me and I literally tried everything else in this thread. Now the problem is, the files are created again when you launch the game and at least for me, you have to remove these files every time you launch your game or it doesn't work. So little bit of a hassle, but at least it's working for me now.

    Also EA, cmoon. Tons of people having problems and your solutions are not working...

  • EA_Groguet's avatar
    EA_Groguet
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    8 months ago

    @sonki wrote:

    Everyone still having problems, try this:

    Go to folder %localappdata%\WRC\Saved

    Remove all the ushaderprecache files and the upipelinecache file. So basically remove all the 4 files and leave only the folders.

    Now try starting your game. This at least worked for me and I literally tried everything else in this thread. Now the problem is, the files are created again when you launch the game and at least for me, you have to remove these files every time you launch your game or it doesn't work. So little bit of a hassle, but at least it's working for me now.

    Also EA, cmoon. Tons of people having problems and your solutions are not working...


    Thank you very much for sharing that workaround.

    I would be really interested if more people tried it and it solved the issue for them.

    Thanks for your feedback.

    -Groguet

  • StuyoDGr8's avatar
    StuyoDGr8
    8 months ago

    @EA_Groguet wrote:

    @sonki wrote:

    Everyone still having problems, try this:

    Go to folder %localappdata%\WRC\Saved

    Remove all the ushaderprecache files and the upipelinecache file. So basically remove all the 4 files and leave only the folders.

    Now try starting your game. This at least worked for me and I literally tried everything else in this thread. Now the problem is, the files are created again when you launch the game and at least for me, you have to remove these files every time you launch your game or it doesn't work. So little bit of a hassle, but at least it's working for me now.

    Also EA, cmoon. Tons of people having problems and your solutions are not working...


    Thank you very much for sharing that workaround.

    I would be really interested if more people tried it and it solved the issue for them.

    Thanks for your feedback.

    -Groguet


    I tried it in the beginning but did not help. The Anyicheat fail to obtain Origin directory error pops up in event log the moment I click “Launch game”, it is way before any checks or gameload happens. This lead me to believe the client itself is broken, not so much the game files. All of this is for the Steam version, the EA is totally different but i never had it before and was recently purchased and installed so everything there was fresh.

    I reinstalled my PC with Windows 11 Pro yesterday. This being my gaming PC it did not have much software to start with. Now Steam game works, my cloud saves are present and all is fine. I do not want to install the EA version for testing so I avoid any further issues, also I will be refunding it as it is nit needed.

    Here is everything I installed/ modified and game still works so it can be ruled out:

    Nvidia and AMD MB Drivers

    Steam and freshly downloaded WRC in C:

    Asus Armoury Crate + all updates (it was broken before at some components, read somewhere it crashes anticheat if not updated)

    MSI Afterburner + Riva Tuner - this is also something AC does not like

    Simagic drivers for wheelbase

    SimHub for motion and other devices

    Nvidia Surround enabled

    All my USB peripherals plugged in

    Modified Engine.ini file for perspective rendering correction in triples

    Major software I still have not installed:

    Sim Racing Studio for motion

    Meta Quest Link for VR

    EA App - I dont need it, but want to verify it is operational.

    As this was gaming PC I did not have much else installed to begin with. All was up to date, but my Windows was on the DEV channel.

    All indications were that AC client was buggy and maybe had some leftovers hard to clean based on the Steam Errors

    But in the other hand the EA version AC was passing fine, game loading, connecting to servers and THEN crashing right before it loads the mains screen.

    My Steam and EA accounts were linked long ago. It was strange I did not have WRC in my library and had to buy it as all other games I have in steam appear there. Also multiplatform was enabled for me, but local saves were missing and it requested to create new profile (EA app). My club progress was present though.

    I installed EA app version on my work PC, created profile (save), launched on game PC, save was downloaded from cloud but still game crashed on initial “garage” screen. This can rule out connectivity issues. 

    Will report progress when i load up all the rest and if i see some possible culprit at least for my problems.

  • <replying to you, since this forums doesnt even have normal reply box...>

    I've troubleshoot similar issue for my viewer. His errors of EA Anticheat were ( 2 ) ( 5 ) popping up in games splash screen. What I did (not everything maybe required):

    Fyi, he has Steam version of it.

    (restart PC if previously tried to launch the game as EA AC service is getting stuck)

    From program files / EA / AC folder I've run installer and uninstalled that. Make sure its Windows service is also gone (if not, try again or run powershell commands to force-remove it)

    Delete leftovers in program files \ EA and C:\Users\User\AppData (search by EAAC)

    In game files delete all anti cheat installers/folders/files/etc., for some stupid reason it had multiple of them.

    Get newer version here: https://cdn.eaanticheat.ac.ea.com/EAAntiCheat.Installer.exe

    <make sure game is in the same drive as AC was previously installed, likely system drive and should be not in protected drive folders>

    Installed downloaded AC.

    Added windows defender exceptions to Program File \ EA and game folder (might be optional, but im not changing anything anymore)

    Verified steam files for game so it will restore some internal shortcuts/config for it. (per suggestions elsewhere he added some launch options, but I removed it)

  • I have update after my PC reinstall:

    Added Meta Oculus Link Software - VR works fine, game still works.

    Added XBOX app as well - no issues.

    All overlay software except Discord I have before are installed and working fine.

    On the other hand i tried to refund my game in EA App as I got the steam version working which was horrific experience and was not successful.

    After owning the game for about 5 days and testing everything support advised I decided to reinstall and then immediately refund. EA Help website says - go to this section for Refund, follow links there - ok, but when you reach refund page there are no further links to request or open actual case. For couple of days the live chat button was missing at the time and only the bot chat was present, which as you imagine is not helpful at all, redirected me to the same "Refund Page": https://help.ea.com/uk/solutions/?product=wrc-23&topic=refund-request

    Then I tried refunding through PayPal, but the refund request page there said it is not possible through them and i have to contact EA support phone or send email to [edit: email address removed]. Which I did. I can imagine if I ever received any reply on my e-mail 😉

    I was busy couple of days, finally today managed to get hold of live support. Today is 13 day after purchase btw, game never launched properly for me. I was told I am not eligible for refund, but refund rules state within 14 days after purchase if game was not launched.

    Well for me it never did launch as it was crashing and never worked. Support suggested first we have to go through all troubleshooting steps before requesting refund. I repeated I already did all of them and had opened several cases with EA and nothing worked (was trying both EA and Steam version).

    After that support agent just stated I am not eligible. I asked - clearly i am based on your comments eligible for refund, what is the reason? 

    As I was on my phone i did not look for a minute and screen locked. Chat was closed without any agent reply, reason was dropped connection.

    It is not about the 14EUR I will never see, it is about the EA support being appalling. I already bought the game on both platforms so i actually double paid it.

    And finally just FYI - EA App says 42 minutes of playtime, all of them were trying to launch the game which was always crashing testing support suggestions.

    This for me clearly is stalling away my request, 14 days period expires today so I will not be eligible any more for refund. All of this is because i was sold broken game that cannot be started 😉

  • i can not start the game...after start i immediately get a blue screen and the pc restarts...unplayable for me..im on epic store version

  • jazzbutter's avatar
    jazzbutter
    New Adventurer
    8 months ago

    With the release of the patch 2.1.0 notes today: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Updates/EA-SPORTS-WRC-Version-2-1-0-Patch-Notes/m-p/14142820?cid=82303&ts=1728318709088#M25

    And there being no mention of a fix for launching issues since 1.9 - almost 3 months ago - I'd like to see some kind of communication as to when this will be addressed. A tentative timeline at the very least.

    Right now, we've paid for a game we haven't been able to play for the last 3 months. I don't find this acceptable.

  • evonglan's avatar
    evonglan
    8 months ago

    I totally agree. I'm quite happy I never invested any time in any of the many workarounds found in different places. There are many other interesting things to do, playing WRC will not be among them in the near future, thx to the people who sold it to me in the first place. Bizarre. It is the producer's job to make sure that a piece of software which had been running perfectly for quite a long time runs perfectly again, not the customer's duty at all. Once there is a fix, all people who were not able to play should be given DLC for free as compensation.

  • Got the new update, now the game crashes instantly at the EA Logo cutscene. Previously I could at least reach the logging in screen when the crash was happening. Well done!

  • for me too..i get a blue screen of death and PC restarts...never had such an error in many years of gaming

  • Gabhead's avatar
    Gabhead
    8 months ago

    Game not start after update. Crash after LOGO! i buy this DLC and now it crash! MY MONEY IS GONE???? i played this game 1 year now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now its BROKEN!!!!!!!!!!

  • Gabhead's avatar
    Gabhead
    8 months ago

    nope. i repair the game. restart pc. but nothing helps. I see the WRC Logo and it crash and EA App crash with it. Im sure its the Anti cheat. Ho to repair the anti cheat? im sure its the anti cheat causing this crash.

  • @Gabhead Yes, I have the same problem. Yes, it can be with the anti-cheat, but it's annoying to put 25 euros on the table for a game that I was playing an hour ago and now it doesn't work anymore
  • EA_Groguet's avatar
    EA_Groguet
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    8 months ago

    Hey there,

    We have released a new patch, but it seems that the issue continues for some players.

    There is a new thread where players can share their issues and workarounds.

    I am closing this thread to avoid duplicates.

    -Groguet