Urgh DRM AGAIN

misha1967 · 02-08-12, 02:03 AM

Not laughing at you, mind you, it's frustrating as hell I know, I'm laughing at myself here

Looks like I picked the right night to switch from Steam Silent Hunter 5 to the DVD version. Just got the DVD in the mail today (because I really, really wanted to be able to perform the TDW hydrophone patch to the sh5.exe file and, at 5 bucks, what's not to like?).

Except, of course, that the SH5 DVD doesn't like it if you've been running the Steam version previously. Even after you delete it via Steam AND delete the "SH5" folder from your Documents folder the DVD still thinks that it's already installed and thus the "Install" feature on the autorun screen is disabled as in "grayed out". No, cleaning the registry with CCleaner and rebooting doesn't help either, you still can't choose "Install", but the fix is fairly simple: You just open the DVD with "explore" and run setup.exe and all is well. But I digress.

It installed, promptly told me that my GeForce drivers weren't "up to date" since they were only 185.62 where they needed to be 191.07 or higher and warned me that it might not run properly as a result. Except I know, and checked, that my drivers are 285.62 but, hey, why check the first digit with your clever driver detection software? Surely nVidia are never going to roll past 200, right?

Then it auto-updated to version 1.2.0 and then, then it updated the UPlay launcher and THEN it proceeded to try to start up and, apparently, the first thing it tries is to check for updates to UPlay. Which it can't find because the server is down. And then it refused to play the sim.

Yes, you can tell it to ignore the online nonsense, but apparently you have to get past the first time to change that setting, and I can't get there because it won't let me check for an update that isn't there and isn't necessary.

So no, sober, I can't even get to the screen you're showing because it won't let me until I've performed a successful first update check.

Because the geniuses at Ubi decided to refuse to let you even get to the "Play" screen unless you'd first successfully tried to update.

Talk about a classic "Catch 22."

It's a good thing (for Ubi employees) that Donald Trump doesn't own their company or he would be wearing his voice out yelling "YOU'RE FIRED" at each and every one of them.

Sorry, it's no big shakes to me, really. I can wait a day or so because, thanks to the modders, it's still the best dang sim ever made, I just find it hilarious every time Ubi demonstrates how utterly, crushingly inept they are. If I didn't already know, through years of painful experience, that it's only due to sheer, mind boggling incompetence, I'd think they were deliberately trying to make people stop buying their product.

Once again, I'm not laughing at anybody not being able to play tonight, I know how infuriating it is and I'm ticked off right there with you, I was as happy as a kid in a candy store when I found my DVD in the mailbox today and looking forward to another night of no sleep whatsoever and loving every minute of it, because that's how much I love my Silent Hunter sessions. I'm just laughing at myself for picking this night, of all nights, to "upgrade" to the DVD version.

But it'll be back, and I'll be having the time of my life again soon enough, so it's all good.

Be of good cheer, my fellow Kaleuns. Everything will be alright soon and, at the end of the day, we're still part of a select Band of Uboat Brothers with the best sim in the world and the best community that ever existed. It'll be alright.

It's just tonight is the night where we have no eels left and run into an unescorted convoy of a dozen large steamers, with high seas and heavy fog.

It's all good.

02-08-12, 02:03 AM	#7
misha1967 Commander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 470 Downloads: 78 Uploads: 0	Not laughing at you, mind you, it's frustrating as hell I know, I'm laughing at myself here Looks like I picked the right night to switch from Steam Silent Hunter 5 to the DVD version. Just got the DVD in the mail today (because I really, really wanted to be able to perform the TDW hydrophone patch to the sh5.exe file and, at 5 bucks, what's not to like?). Except, of course, that the SH5 DVD doesn't like it if you've been running the Steam version previously. Even after you delete it via Steam AND delete the "SH5" folder from your Documents folder the DVD still thinks that it's already installed and thus the "Install" feature on the autorun screen is disabled as in "grayed out". No, cleaning the registry with CCleaner and rebooting doesn't help either, you still can't choose "Install", but the fix is fairly simple: You just open the DVD with "explore" and run setup.exe and all is well. But I digress. It installed, promptly told me that my GeForce drivers weren't "up to date" since they were only 185.62 where they needed to be 191.07 or higher and warned me that it might not run properly as a result. Except I know, and checked, that my drivers are 285.62 but, hey, why check the first digit with your clever driver detection software? Surely nVidia are never going to roll past 200, right? Then it auto-updated to version 1.2.0 and then, then it updated the UPlay launcher and THEN it proceeded to try to start up and, apparently, the first thing it tries is to check for updates to UPlay. Which it can't find because the server is down. And then it refused to play the sim. Yes, you can tell it to ignore the online nonsense, but apparently you have to get past the first time to change that setting, and I can't get there because it won't let me check for an update that isn't there and isn't necessary. So no, sober, I can't even get to the screen you're showing because it won't let me until I've performed a successful first update check. Because the geniuses at Ubi decided to refuse to let you even get to the "Play" screen unless you'd first successfully tried to update. Talk about a classic "Catch 22." It's a good thing (for Ubi employees) that Donald Trump doesn't own their company or he would be wearing his voice out yelling "YOU'RE FIRED" at each and every one of them. Sorry, it's no big shakes to me, really. I can wait a day or so because, thanks to the modders, it's still the best dang sim ever made, I just find it hilarious every time Ubi demonstrates how utterly, crushingly inept they are. If I didn't already know, through years of painful experience, that it's only due to sheer, mind boggling incompetence, I'd think they were deliberately trying to make people stop buying their product. Once again, I'm not laughing at anybody not being able to play tonight, I know how infuriating it is and I'm ticked off right there with you, I was as happy as a kid in a candy store when I found my DVD in the mailbox today and looking forward to another night of no sleep whatsoever and loving every minute of it, because that's how much I love my Silent Hunter sessions. I'm just laughing at myself for picking this night, of all nights, to "upgrade" to the DVD version. But it'll be back, and I'll be having the time of my life again soon enough, so it's all good. Be of good cheer, my fellow Kaleuns. Everything will be alright soon and, at the end of the day, we're still part of a select Band of Uboat Brothers with the best sim in the world and the best community that ever existed. It'll be alright. It's just tonight is the night where we have no eels left and run into an unescorted convoy of a dozen large steamers, with high seas and heavy fog. It's all good. __________________ Ansonsten, Herr Lutter, ist alles in Butter Liqui-cooled Intel i2550K @ 4.2 GHz, 8 Gb RAM, GTX 970 GPU Last edited by misha1967; 02-08-12 at 02:16 AM.