EL Capitan Launcher problem

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

Anyone heard any rumors, or would ZOS care to comment on, when we can expect an updated launcher to solve the host_authfail error when using the launcher app? The application runs fine, just the launcher is whacked at the moment and while I can run like this, it means no updates for me until the launcher problem is fixed.

KhajitFurTrader

Why should they comment on an OS that hasn't even been officially released yet, and which will undergo numerous small changes until its release in the coming fall?

Apple itself warns about not using the 10.11 developer beta on productive machines. You haven't installed it on your main gaming machine and expected for everything to work flawlessly, or have you?

Just curious.

Edit: my curiosity has led me to investigate, I will post further updates in this thread.

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

Why they should comment? Because it is a system update that is coming. Some changes are going to happen, and some people just want to know.

Whether I run this on my main gaming system or not is irrelevant, I have several "main" gaming systems, and have participated in beta projects since the early 1980's both privately and professionally, so I am perfectly aware of the risks involved.

Apple warning is standard legalize required in our society for any company with deep pockets.

And I am certainly NOT complaining, I am simply discussing.

chris.dillman

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

We filed a bug with the company that makes the patcher SDK on friday.

Hopefully we will have a fix by the time apple ships 10.10.

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

Chris, thank you very much - that is great news!

Frank

Ratty

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the information and I hate to be a pedant BUT...

Apple shipped 10.10 last year it was named Yosemite.

El Capitan is 10.11

Also as a developer you are saying that we will not be able to play the game on the Mac until the Fall?

That seems a tad harsh. Before you committed the update on Monday we could actually play the game by ignoring the launcher. Does the launcher really need to confirm the hardware (basically the OS install) to download the update?

KhajitFurTrader

Ratty wrote: »

Also as a developer you are saying that we will not be able to play the game on the Mac until the Fall?

That seems a tad harsh. Before you committed the update on Monday we could actually play the game by ignoring the launcher. Does the launcher really need to confirm the hardware (basically the OS install) to download the update?

This seems to be a misunderstanding. The game itself is running well so far on 10.11, some people have even reported a slight increase in performance. The launcher not running on 10.11 (please refer to this thread/post) is a matter of code (or code signing) incompatibilities, which are not unusual if Apple is changing underlying APIs. Hence the bug report to the 3rd party producer of the launcher, to get their stuff straight in time.

You can always run the launcher of the ESO install on your regular 10.10 machine, and then copy the updated game file over to your 10.11 testbed.

chris.dillman

Ratty wrote: »

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the information and I hate to be a pedant BUT...

Apple shipped 10.10 last year it was named Yosemite.

El Capitan is 10.11

Also as a developer you are saying that we will not be able to play the game on the Mac until the Fall?

That seems a tad harsh. Before you committed the update on Monday we could actually play the game by ignoring the launcher. Does the launcher really need to confirm the hardware (basically the OS install) to download the update?

Hi Ratty,

Correct, you may not be able to play on 10.11 till fall or later.

We do not support BETA OS versions at all.

As a BETA or NEW OS user you accept the risk that programs may not run on it.


We have filed bugs with the company that makes the patcher.
AKA we got the ball rolling in this.
But we have no idea when we will have a bug fix from them let alone tested and rolled out to the public.

Before you committed the update on Monday we could actually play the game by ignoring the launcher. Does the launcher really need to confirm the hardware (basically the OS install) to download the update?

Ratty the patcher is is a application made by a 3rd party company
We do not have the source code and can not directly fix it.
We have to ask them to look into the issue.

Basically no idea if the the launcher really needs to confirm hardware.
Part the bug listed above was the lib was not loading or some such, maybe the lib crashed in init.
It is not clear if it failed to check the OS version etc.

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

Chris, thanks for continuing to comment, I completely understand and agree with your stated position and if I want to run 10.11, I accept the risk and issues.

I would ask that if you hear back from the 3rd party, and they provide you with a fix, I would love to "test "it for you

Frank

Ratty

Hi, Any movement on this? Is there a link to get an updated patcher - the game ran before the update and can't update the game anymore because of this issue.

KhajitFurTrader

Ratty wrote: »

Hi, Any movement on this? Is there a link to get an updated patcher - the game ran before the update and can't update the game anymore because of this issue.

Just copy the updated game file over form your regular machine. You didn't put a developer beta on your single, productively used machine and gambled that everything just works fine, didn't you? Apple itself explicitly advises against this.

gurahamu

KhajitFurTrader wrote: »

Why should they comment on an OS that hasn't even been officially released yet, and which will undergo numerous small changes until its release in the coming fall?

Apple itself warns about not using the 10.11 developer beta on productive machines. You haven't installed it on your main gaming machine and expected for everything to work flawlessly, or have you?

Just curious.

Edit: my curiosity has led me to investigate, I will post further updates in this thread.

I have always used public previews of OSes and have never had such a problem that a program I used is no longer compatible. This for me is plain disappointing because none of my other softwares have a compatability issue.

What I have done, and what I suggest others do who have updated to El Capitan, is to download the Windows 10 Insider Preview (you get a free key from Microsoft), make a disk image. go to Applications>Utilities>Disk Utility to burn. When you have the disk ready, go to Applications>Utilities>Bootcamp and make a second partition. This way you also get Windows 10 for free when it comes, and you also have a Windows partition which uses DirectX - so until ESO launches a Metal version of their game for OS X 10.11+, you have faster, better graphics on Bootcamp anyway and can still use OS X for productive stuff.

Really not very hard to get a workaround at all. The honest to god worst thing about this is that it takes up a little more HDD space thanks to having a separate OS installed on a second partition (unless your Mac has 2+ HDDs that is).

KhajitFurTrader

If you have never encountered issues with beta OSs, consider yourself lucky. New OS versions in testing often break stuff left and right, sometimes even long after official release. Changes to the basic I/O Kit API in 10.10.0 led to a memory leak in ESO's memory management, for example. Right now the developer beta of 10.11 has broken the launcher, a third party app. Chances are, this issue will be fixed until El Capitan's official launch in the fall. Until then, there are workarounds available, some of which I've mentioned above.

Using Boot Camp is not a solution for everyone, for individual reasons. I have a Windows 8.1 Enterprise partition, but it's not for gaming at all. (and no, I can't switch to Windows 10 just so)

gurahamu

KhajitFurTrader wrote: »

If you have never encountered issues with beta OSs, consider yourself lucky. New OS versions in testing often break stuff left and right, sometimes even long after official release. Changes to the basic I/O Kit API in 10.10.0 led to a memory leak in ESO's memory management, for example. Right now the developer beta of 10.11 has broken the launcher, a third party app. Chances are, this issue will be fixed until El Capitan's official launch in the fall. Until then, there are workarounds available, some of which I've mentioned above.

Using Boot Camp is not a solution for everyone, for individual reasons. I have a Windows 8.1 Enterprise partition, but it's not for gaming at all. (and no, I can't switch to Windows 10 just so)

Not saying I have never had any issues with Betas, as I have actually had many. Just never had any issues that couldn't be resolved easily by updating or changing compatibility settings as the old APIs and other necessary files are usually still there for compatibility reasons. With updates, I have generally been impressed by software vendors because they often have a fix released within a few days for any programs that cease to function. BetterTouchTool on MacOS X is one such program.

With bootcamp etc, that's the beauty of modern systems. Unless you're using a system issued by a school or employer, you can usually create as many partitions as you like, and install as many OS versions as you like. Some people have 2x OSX installations, some have 1x OS X and 1x Windows 7/8 but you could technically go further than that providing you have the HDD space to split up appropriately to accommodate all those OS versions. 2x OS X installations could technically create 2x Windows installations too, so 4 OSes on a single HDD.

jackmaninov

I can confirm the launcher issue has been resolved in El Capitan developer preview 7, and most likely in public beta 5. However, I get a crash immediately on launching the game.

KhajitFurTrader

jackmaninov wrote: »

I can confirm the launcher issue has been resolved in El Capitan developer preview 7, and most likely in public beta 5.

I can confirm that it works indeed on build 15A263e (Developer Beta 7). I could have sworn it still stalled at "Loading..." a few days ago after I updated my test bed. It even works after I deleted the extra Thawte root certificate from the login keychain, as I have described here.

I'm going to copy over my current PTS client and test a bit this evening.


Edit: the current live version 2.0.15.1194139 crashes for me, too. Crash report (from my 2010 27" iMac):

[reporter]
version = 0.01


[extra]
ProductName = eso
Version = eso.live.2.0.15.1194139
client.executablebits = 32
client.mode = startup
client.renderertype = OPENGL
client.session_start_timestamp = 2015-08-22T11:15:39.837Z
client.timestamp = 2015-08-22T11:15:47.685Z -frme 0-
computer.name = <snip>
computer.user = <snip>
cpu.count = 4
data.depotid = 4001
data.dir = /Applications/Zenimax Online/The Elder Scrolls Online EU/game_m
data.syncm = databuild
data.version = 0.win.0.live.1194139
exe.buildnum = 1194139
exe.opt = release
exe.reltype = public
exe.type = client
gfx.description = ATI Radeon HD 5750 OpenGL Engine
gfx.deviceid = 0.0.0
gfx.driver = 2.1 ATI-1.36.43
gfx.vendorid = 0
mem.physical = 12288
os.platform = mac
os.version = 15A263e
reportfield.ver = 3

Test of PTS will commence later, when I can find the time.

forestpest

I am finally able to put in my two cents. Running OSX El Capitan developer beta 7. In previous developer betas we couldn't run the launcher but, in this beta the launcher works fine. The new problem seems to be graphics related. As as you hit play you get the error as shown in the image. This full error output is

[reporter]
version = 0.01


[extra]
ProductName = eso
Version = eso.live.2.0.15.1194139
client.executablebits = 32
client.mode = startup
client.renderertype = OPENGL
client.session_start_timestamp = 2015-08-22T20:48:35.116Z
client.timestamp = 2015-08-22T20:48:38.138Z -frme 0-
computer.name = something
computer.user = something
cpu.count = 2
data.depotid = 4001
data.dir = /Applications/Zenimax Online/The Elder Scrolls Online EU/game_m
data.syncm = databuild
data.version = 0.win.0.live.1194139
exe.buildnum = 1194139
exe.opt = release
exe.reltype = public
exe.type = client
gfx.description = Intel HD Graphics 5000 OpenGL Engine
gfx.deviceid = 0.0.0
gfx.driver = 2.1 INTEL-10.8.75
gfx.vendorid = 0
mem.physical = 4096
os.platform = mac
os.version = 15A263e
reportfield.ver = 3

agegarton

Any updates on this issue? El Capitan (Mac OS X 10.11) is now at GM status, and will be released this month. As of today, the launcher still crashes as soon as the user hits "play".

I must say, I have never had as many issues with software as I have had with ESO's launcher - it is a total nightmare and alway has been. From this thread I see it's a third party build - perhaps it is time ZOS took the development back in-house, or went another route. The game is great - I love it....but the launcher is appalling.

Much obliged.

Age.

forestpest

read this
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/2225013/#Comment_2225013

KhajitFurTrader

agegarton wrote: »

Any updates on this issue? El Capitan (Mac OS X 10.11) is now at GM status, and will be released this month. As of today, the launcher still crashes as soon as the user hits "play".

I must say, I have never had as many issues with software as I have had with ESO's launcher - it is a total nightmare and alway has been. From this thread I see it's a third party build - perhaps it is time ZOS took the development back in-house, or went another route. The game is great - I love it....but the launcher is appalling.

Chris has posted a workaround for the time being here: invoke the ESO client binary from the shell (Terminal.app) via the command

CI_ENABLE_CL_CPU=0  /Applications/ZeniMax\ Online/The\ Elder\ Scrolls\ Online\ EU/game_mac/pubplayerclient/eso.app/Contents/MacOS/eso

Scratch the "\<space>EU" part from the path for the NA client.

As for the Launcher, ZOS is using the game hosting services of Solid State Networks, Inc., which includes the hosting and deployment of the client, all of its languages, and all of its patches for the PC and Mac platforms via CDN. The Launcher App is being developed in-house by ZOS, relying on a SDK provided by SSN, which brings with it all of the front-end functionality and connectivity to work with SSN's virtual CDN (SSN itself buys storage and bandwidth capacity with the big players, like Akamai and Amazon Web Services).

Publicly hosting a software product like the ESO client, which is huge not only in size but also in monthly transfer bandwidth, is not something that is easily (or cheaply) done for a company the size of ZOS. Taking into account that ESO is a globally used product, using a CDN for distribution is a logical choice, which benefits users everywhere around the world. Solid State Networks offers the whole package of back- and front-end to games, and saves their business customers from the hustle of negotiating with CDN hosters themselves (who, in turn, might not even talk to little fish like ZOS -- figuratively speaking, of course).

The Launcher is serviceable. I haven't had any major issues with it so far (it not running on the earlier betas of El Capitan was the first). Replacing it with something else now (if there even is a viable alternative) would both be costly and an inconvenience to a lot more customers, no doubt about it.

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

I am running El Capitan 10.11.1 and the launcher I have works. I have 136.1133142 launcher, don't know when I got it, but I had been launching the client directly for a while now. I thought I would try the launcher again tonight and it worked. Updating my client now.

Frank

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

Oh well, the launcher itself seems to work okay for me now, and it updated the client (so no more copying it from Yosemite) and it launches the client - then the client immediately crashes.

So, one step closer to goodness. I will continue to launch the client directly which still seems to work okay.

jluchau

For those who have been running the GM of El Capitan have you noticed an improvement in the way the game runs or graphics or anything? (problems logging in and with the launcher not withstanding). I'm excited for the release coming up and i'm curious if it has any positive affect on the game.

forestpest

I played for hours yesterday seemed fine to me. although I didn't play PvP

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

I have not noticed any "improvement" using EL Capitan, but I haven't noticed any problems either (other than launcher issues). I am very happy with the performance of ESO on my Mac. The single noticeable difference between my Mac and my PC (at least the only one that bothers me) is the lack of facial animation on the Mac. On the PC the lips and mouth are very well done in sync'ing with speech, on the Mac the jaw basically bounces up and down. I can live with it, but I will be glad when/if they "fix" it. I assume it requires an upgrade on the version of GL they are programing to.

j.frank.nicholsb14_ESO

Okay! Used the launcher to download the update today and then launched the client, it all works fine for me now!

Running 10.11.1 and todays update.

Frank

KhajitFurTrader

I can confirm that on OS X 10.11.1 (build 15B17c), both launcher and client run fine.