EVE Online Patch Accidentally Bricks XP

[Polaris573]

EVE Online players who use Windows XP and updated their game via the Premium Trinity patch before 4:00 a.m. GMT got a little more than they bargained for today. Instead of an updated game, they got a dead computer and an inoperative operating system. A programming error in the patch's installer seems to be largely responsible for the chaos. Rather than cleanly installing the MMO update, an incorrectly placed backslash in the program's install path does something a little different -- it overwrites a PC's Windows boot.ini file, effectively killing the computer come the next reboot.

A note over on the EVE online support page has the following bit of advice:

"If you have Windows AND upgraded EVE Online: Trinity Classic before 4 A.M. GMT to Premium using the content upgrade path then you MUST read this before doing anything else.

1. PLEASE DO NOT REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER

2. Check the root directory of your hard drive and see if you have a boot.ini file. Boot.ini file is normally hidden so you need to click Tools : Folder Options : View and select "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" to be able to see it. You can also check for the presence of this file by clicking Start : Control Panel : System : Advanced : Startup and Recovery : Settings (third button down). Windows will alert you if the boot.ini file is missing.

3. If boot.ini is still there then you are not affected and do not have to take any further steps.

4. If boot.ini is NOT there then please click here"

If you're an EVE player, hopefully this bit of upsetting news hasn't come too late to save you a lot of frustration. At the time of writing, the Trinity patch is no longer available through the Premium installer, so if you're just finding out about the issue now, your computer is probably safe. The bad news: before the patch could be removed, the faulty installer managed to catch plenty of unsuspecting gamers with their pants down. As a result, it's no surprise to hear that the EVE forums are in a bit of an uproar right now. At the moment, the only recourse for those affected is to troubleshoot using suggestions posted on the EVE forums.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[panchoman]

eve might get sued for this, for people with oem windows on their comp and they dont have the cd and stuff you know?

 

[Jimmy 2004]

That's a pretty bad mistake. Didn't they test it before it was released?

 

[panchoman]

did a big company like ms test their demo before they ran it?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TGLhuF3L48U

nope

but they've learned to test their os before sending it now..

 

[Ravenhaft]

Confirmed that this does delete boot.ini , it happened to me. I run Windows XP SP2, however I rebooted, received an error like "boot.ini not found, booting as normal", then it booted windows anyway.

However, the issue ONLY affects users who have windows XP installed on the non-primary boot partition (i.e. not the C:\ drive).

Quoting from their website:

ALERT: READ THIS IF YOU INSTALLED TRINITY BEFORE 04:00 GMT ON DECEMBER 6

Those that meet ALL of the following criteria need to read the Update Fix Instructions and should NOT reboot their PC:

1. You started downloading the upgrade from Trinity Classic Graphics Content to Premium Graphics Content BEFORE 04:00 GMT on Dec 6
2. You must be using a version of Windows other than Vista.
3. You must have Windows installed not on the primary partition.
4. You must have at least 2 hard disks and the OS must be installed not on the primary, but the secondary hard disk

If all these apply, you MAY be affected by a known problem with the Graphics Update system.

Scary nonetheless. However, I don't think they'll get sued, as people with an OEM windows will have windows installed on their primary partition.

 

[TheGuruStud]

hmmm: fixboot "partition letter"

LOL at the noobs that can't do it

Sorry, I must be an ass

 

[Betty (Kung Pow)]

Earlier this week i got problems with my pc, stating that my hal was broken.
First i tought it had something to do with my new graphics (3870, waiting for new atitool).
Fixed it by using my roommates pc.

But i think i might have got the problems when i patched for the public testserver, sisi.
Never tought of it to have somthing to do with eve

Proud tester of the everlasting beta, EVE-Online.

 

[mandelore]

lols, glad im on vista. eve rox, hmm, think im due a skill change, adv spaceship command lvl5

 

[AddSub]

Wow, what a mess! I've been playing EVE since 2004 and they never screwed up like this. In fact, the people at CCP (EVE developer and publisher) are the most professional when compared to some other MMOGs devs/publishers (I'm looking at you Turbine Games.) I hope everything gets sorted out properly.

 

[WhiteLotus]

wow i bet this is annoying for the people who have had to do this. they will probably get sued by someone for a ridiculous amount, and it would be a shame if they did - people make mistakes, noone is perfect

 

[Basard]

BOOM, HEADSHOT!

Come on guys, stick with Diablo!! Who's with me? "/f a aunt-flo"

 

[GSG-9]

I dont play eve, but this was entertaining to read. :]

 

[xvi]

All we need is for Microsoft to come out and stick a "Games for Windows Vista" logo on the box. "Wouldn't of happened if you were running Vista", they could say.

 

[Widjaja]

Someone's going to get fired

 

[Gam'ster]

Well im happy i was in work , still thats still a pretty big thing to cock up on no matter how human you are.

 

[Scrizz]

wow

 

[mas0n]

hmmm: fixboot "partition letter"

exactly.

 

[Assimilator]

The problem is that the EVE client uses a file called boot.ini, which normally lives in the game directory; but the misplaced backslash caused it to be placed in the root directory of the system drive.

Methinks CCP will be renaming that file in a future patch...

 

[FR@NK]

eve rox,

+1

I think TPU needs an eve clubhouse :/

adv starship command V? heh I got 38d left on fighters V