DCS 2.5.2 installer delivers corrupted files, repair function fails to detect them

[Hardcard]

My DCS 2.5.2 installation started crashing regularly yesterday for no apparent reason, so I decided to perform a clean reinstall.

Problem is that it has taken me over 12 hours to install DCS 2.5.2 successfully (just the basic game, no modules yet), here's why:

 

1- DCS 2.5.2 installer consistently downloads/installs corrupted files without returning any kind of warning. This happened to me with both "stable" and Openbeta builds of DCS 2.5.2.

(No antivirus, no other programs actively running, just basic services and device controllers running on the background , full permissions everywhere, DCS allowed through firewall and added to the exclusion lists of all programs I could think of, etc. )

 

2- DCS_updater.exe consistently fails to detect corrupted files.

I've run it on repair mode (via command prompt) dozens of times and it has simply failed to detect and replace corrupted files in every single installation attempt.

 

I've attached a corrupted "db_weapons_data.lua" which was preventing DCS.exe to launch after my last installation attempt (no error message returned).

The corrupted code can be found between lines 1701 and 1732.

 

DCS_updater.exe failed to "flag" the file as corrupted when I ran it in repair mode.

It just finished the whole verification process normally, as if all files were ok.

 

You should be able to replicate this by creating a backup of your "healthy" db_weapons_data.lua and then replacing the original by this corrupted version.

DCS.exe should fail to launch (without returning any error message) and DCS_updater.exe should fail to detect and replace it when running on repair mode.

 

I discovered the issue while checking the attached dcs.log , btw.

 

I fixed the problem by deleting the corrupted file and running DCS_updater.exe in repair mode again. This time the updater "saw" that the file was missing and provided a "healthy" one, at long last.

 

3- The initial download (via torrent) is quite fast, however, the subsequent update downloads (non-torrent, I guess) are extremely slow, especially if we consider the massive size of the updates.

It takes forever to download a 20+GB update at a speed of around 1MB/s, by comparison, downloads via torrent run at a consistent 30+MB/s in my rig.

 

 

Please, ED:

 

-Implement a working file integrity check during installation.

 

-Fix the DCS_updater.exe repair functionality, so it's actually capable of detecting and replacing corrupted files.

 

-Force DCS.exe to automatically return an error message whenever a corrupted file is found.

 

Players shouldn't be forced to analyze the dcs log and figure out this kind of stuff by themselves. Getting the game to launch successfully shouldn't be this hard.

 

Thanks

db_weapons_data.lua

dcs-log.rar

Edited July 22, 2018 by Hardcard

[boedha68]

Did you delete your dcs folder in saved games? Probarbly not. Try that and then command cleanup and do repair after that. Don’t forget to move your input folder to a save place to replace it back later. Love to hear your feedback on this. :D you didn’t have to reinstall the whole thing.

[Hardcard]

Yes, I removed the DCS folder under "Saved Games" with each installation attempt. When I said "clean reinstall", I meant it. Other than the DCS key registry, there was no trace of DCS in my system as far as I could tell.

 

As I said, corrupted files were being installed and DCS_updater.exe cleanup-repair didn't solve the problem.

 

You should be able to replicate it by using the corrupted file I provided. You'll see how DCS_updater.exe cleanup and repair functions fail to identify the corrupt code and replace the file.

 

 

Now I'm stuck with another problem, though...

I'm getting constant Access violation crashes when ME tries to load edterrain4.dll

Something seems to be seriously messed up, since the problem persists when I move DCS to a separate drive (and even when I run it from another Windows account).

EDIT: I've been able to access Nevada map without problems, which means that the problem is probably unique to the new Caucasus map.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Hardcard

[Hardcard]

Seems like I've finally solved all my file corruption/access violation problems.

 

DCS 2.5.2 openbeta is now running fine on my SSD.

 

 

There were several problems, which I'll list just for reference (in case other players ever find themselves in a similar predicament):

 

1- The last Windows 10 update had apparently messed up my old windows installation.

 

I followed the steps described here to repair my Windows 10 installation.

 

Basically, it's just a matter of running the following commands in cmd (admin):

 

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

 

...and once that finishes, run:

 

sfc /scannow

 

2- My OCZ Vector SSD apparently needed a complete wipe (secure erase)...I also performed a firmware reflash, just in case.

The NTFS partition that it contained was clearly causing problems, which didn't disappear by simply formatting the drive.

 

I created a new NTFS partition (3GB short of total capacity this time), which is working well for now... (fingers crossed).

 

I can finally continue working on my SP mission, after 3 days of... :badmood: :crash:

 

Btw, sorry ED, it seems like my system was the culprit this time! :doh:

[c0ff]

Btw, sorry ED, it seems like my system was the culprit this time! :doh:

Thanks for coming back and reporting the situation!