Not launching under Lion on 2009 MBP

[KWagle]

Hi guys,

I tried to run Civ V for the first time since I upgraded my 2009 17" MBP to Lion. It doesn't launch--I see the icon in the dock, a black flash, and then it quits. I've deleted all the files I know about (the app and the folder which includes saved games) uninstalled using Steam, and reinstalled. No luck.

It seems to run fine on my 2010 Mac mini which also has Lion (I launched it and poked around at the map, but haven't played a turn yet.) But I want to run it on the MBP since the machine is nominally faster and certainly has more RAM and graphics power. Has anyone seen this behavior before?

Thanks.

~ Kiran <entropy@prismnet.com>

[Methos]

When you deleted the files, did you get the .ncf files in <Your Name>\Library\ApplicationSupport\Steam\Steamapps? When I had issues with Steam not completing the download, those were the files I had to delete to reset Steam/Civ V. I'm not sure if that will help you. I'm using a 2009 MBP with Lion.

[KWagle]

When I try to launch Civ V from Steam I see the icon briefly appear and then vanish, and find the following messages in my console.

2/29/12 5:33:33.113 AM [0x0-0x15c55c4].com.aspyr.Civ5: Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 8930

2/29/12 5:33:33.121 AM [0x0-0x15c55c4].com.aspyr.Civ5: Steam_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561198030706371 [API loaded no]

2/29/12 5:33:33.864 AM [0x0-0x15b45b3].com.valvesoftware.steam: Game removed: AppID 8930 "Sid Meier's Civilization V", ProcID 6155

So I guess the Moderator Action: expletive deleted at Valve are screwing me again. When I dealt with Steam support on a previous occasion, I got the impression they didn't speak enough English to actually understand what I was asking. I guess I should've bought the App Store version.

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

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[AlanH]

It certainly sounds like a Steam problem. Have you tried:

- Open the Steam application, right click Civ5 in the LIBRARY tab, select Properties
- Select the Local Files tab in the Properties window
- Verify Integrity of Game Cache

That may prompt Steam to repair your installation

[forty2j]

Originally Posted by KWagle

So I guess the at Valve are screwing me again.

While a broken game can be extremely frustrating, I would encourage you not to be personal. Nobody at Valve looked up your account, found your computer, and purposely corrupted your installation. Software isn't perfect, and shtuff happens.

[AspyrRyan]

Those console messages are standard, although normally you don't get the "Game removed" message until you're done playing.

Verifying the integrity of the game cache is a good start.

If that doesn't work and you want to try a clean download, you'll want to get rid of the appmanifest_8930.acf, and also see if any Civ folders are in downloading or temp directories.

[KWagle]

Originally Posted by forty2j

While a broken game can be extremely frustrating, I would encourage you not to be personal. Nobody at Valve looked up your account, found your computer, and purposely corrupted your installation.

Right. What they did was not actually do enough user testing to have an answer to my problem.

What they then did was tell me how to rename my folder full of games so I could reinstall them. When this didn't work, and I posted to the trouble ticket that it didn't work, another tech gave me the *exact same instructions* and then closed the ticket.

So any ire I feel for them seems entirely justified. As I knew it would be when I posted my original support request to their forum.

If they can't resolve this (or if I can't resolve it using the probably much more knowledgeable advice on this forum) I'd be happy to get a refund of my purchase price and buy the Mac App Store version. But I'm betting I know exactly what they say when I remind them of that request which i made initially on the trouble ticket.

[KWagle]

Originally Posted by AspyrRyan

Verifying the integrity of the game cache is a good start. If that doesn't work and you want to try a clean download, you'll want to get rid of the appmanifest_8930.acf, and also see if any Civ folders are in downloading or temp directories.

Verifying didn't solve the problem. (It didn't seem to report any errors either.)

I can't find a file of that name using Spotlight search. Nor can google find any reference to that string except in this very thread.

So, having discovered the right-click options, I tried "removing local game content" and am downloading the game again. We shall see if this is worth the time.

What they told me to do was rename a folder that contained the actual games, or seemed to, and then redownload them. That didn't work. Previously I tried removing all my saved game content, but that didn't work either. I'm not sure which downloading or temp directories to check, but when I removed the game folder, Steam did spend several hours downloading.

[Zaimejs]

I had that problem on my 2011 iMac. I deleted the .ini files and it worked again. In fact, it played faster and better than it had. I had to redo all my settings, but that was easy enough.

[KWagle]

Originally Posted by Zaimejs

I had that problem on my 2011 iMac. I deleted the .ini files and it worked again. In fact, it played faster and better than it had. I had to redo all my settings, but that was easy enough.

Thanks. I found and deleted two files. But, that didn't work.

(I didn't expect it to work, since those files were in a folder I had previously removed entirely.)

~ Kiran

[AlanH]

I assume re-downloading the game had no effect?

Spotlight doesn't index the Library folders, and other "system-related" locations, so you can't find files in them by name. My copy of that file is at:

~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/appmanifest_8930.acf

[KWagle]

Originally Posted by AlanH

I assume re-downloading the game had no effect?

Correct. :-(

Spotlight doesn't index the Library folders, and other "system-related" locations, so you can't find files in them by name. My copy of that file is at:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/appmanifest_8930.acf

Thanks. Found it. Deleted it. Now "installing" which appears to be recycling my existing files. That didn't work. So I deleted the files and am actually downloading again. I'm not expecting that to work either.

[KWagle]

And just as mysteriously as it stopped working, it started working again. I've played into the modern era and it still seems to launch and run. Of course, now that I've posted this update, it's probably going to fail again.

[Sidlicious]

Originally Posted by KWagle

Right. What they did was not actually do enough user testing to have an answer to my problem.

What they then did was tell me how to rename my folder full of games so I could reinstall them. When this didn't work, and I posted to the trouble ticket that it didn't work, another tech gave me the *exact same instructions* and then closed the ticket.

So any ire I feel for them seems entirely justified. As I knew it would be when I posted my original support request to their forum.

If they can't resolve this (or if I can't resolve it using the probably much more knowledgeable advice on this forum) I'd be happy to get a refund of my purchase price and buy the Mac App Store version. But I'm betting I know exactly what they say when I remind them of that request which i made initially on the trouble ticket.

I had a similar problem with their support, or at least I thought it did. They told me to delete some files or move a folder. When that didn't work they responded with a similar set of instructions. I thought they just gave me the exact same instructions again, the ones that didn't work before. But they were actually subtly different, and ended up fixing my problem.

[KWagle]

Originally Posted by Sidlicious

I thought they just gave me the exact same instructions again, the ones that didn't work before. But they were actually subtly different, and ended up fixing my problem.

I should check to see if the instructions are different; they certainly didn't seem to be. But I believe I have isolated the problem. The Mid 2009 MBP has a discrete and integrated NVidia graphics. I use gfxCardStatus 2.1 to change graphics cards on the fly. (This is supported by the app, though not very *well* supported since the app was designed for newer laptops.) After the first change (from integrated to discrete) the game no longer runs with the new graphics card choice.

I haven't tested to see whether it will run with either card when switched by Apple's utility, if it runs only with the integrated graphics, or if it runs only with the graphics card selected at boot time. That requires either logging out or restarting, and I don't have time for that right now. But hopefully Aspyr (hi Ryan!) can find a 2009 MBP and test this to see if they have a bug, or if someone else has a bug.

Since the only reason I have to use discrete graphics is to play Civ (and it's never been clear to me that there's any noticeable improvement) being unable to switch on the fly is somewhat pesky.

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>