Issue with the Launcher and Intel i7-12700k

[nellolello]

Meh, cancelled subscription now. Hats off for the unofficial fix but i dont feel like using it, basicly they won. Some gamer fixed the issue for them and people keep playing/paying, and the official fix will come who knows when.

[DecanAndersen]

Meh, cancelled subscription now. Hats off for the unofficial fix but i dont feel like using it, basicly they won. Some gamer fixed the issue for them and people keep playing/paying, and the official fix will come who knows when.

 

Good point...

[Ascended_Angel]

When i installed it and launched WITH ADMIN rightsi et promped with the error: Please run with administrator priviliges.

I already tried to make the file with any admin rights possible, still doesnt work.

 

Any solution for this?

Edited January 23, 2022 by Ascended_Angel

[Cassianus]

When i installed it and launched WITH ADMIN rightsi et promped with the error: Please run with administrator priviliges.

I already tried to make the file with any admin rights possible, still doesnt work.

 

Any solution for this?

The file swtor_alder_lake.exe should be run as administrator, otherwise the launcher shows the error message as you described. The most easy way is to right-click on this exe file and select "Run as administrator" in context menu. It also should be possible without right-click menu if you change the properties of this file and select the compatibility checkbox "Run this program as administrator". In any case, you should confirm the start of patcher on UAC screen (I suggest not to turn UAC off). Then patcher will run the launcher with administrator rights, and it should work normally, showing the start screen with name and password fields. If something is going on not as expected, please write here in details.

[QuinlanSaathis]

Cassianus can I request your help please.

 

I have 3 installations of the game (don't ask) and they were all working, now I can't get any of them to run the launcher if they have a copy of the the Patch folder.

When I remove this folder the Launcher starts (using your exe) but will not patch.

 

EDIT

I fixed the issue, I was using a fixlauncher that was too old once I updated that I then applied the CPU fix and all was good.

Edited January 24, 2022 by QuinlanSaathis

[Ustiawalleh]

Same issue. I have a i7 12700K. Steam won't open the launcher. I tried uninstalling and downloading the client from swtor.com, but still have the same issues. It goes to open, then immediately closes. I tried running compatibility mode, still the same issue.

 

SWTOR Team,

 

Please look into this, SWTOR is my favorite game, and I can't play now! Please put out a patch asap!

[Cassianus]

QuinlanSaathis, if you have a problem with the launcher (not related to Alder Lake incompatibility), it would be better to use the last available launcher repair, available on EA support website where you can download LauncherRepairUtilityU2021.0.18.exe.

 

This utility installs one of recent version of launcher and other components required for its work, but it cannot start on Alder Lake CPU. As a result, you need to run the patcher every time when this launcher attempts to restart itself during repair process (don't forget to run the patcher as administrator). Eventually this utility will download the actual version of all SWTOR client components and you can run the game normally. Still using the patcher, of course.

 

Ustiawalleh, maybe I didn't fully understand you: have you already tried to use the patcher or not? Or, as some people on this forum, you don't want to run unofficial programs (such attitude can be understood) and want that BW release the official fix ASAP. In this case, unfortunately, I can't help much because I don't have any relation to BW staff. All info, needed to find the place of launcher failure, I already published in this thread more than two weeks ago, still no result...

Edited January 24, 2022 by Cassianus

[Ustiawalleh]

I've tried the patcher. The launcher comes up for a second then closes again. Also, steam asked me if I chose to "elevate", I click yes, then it asks me to open with admin privileges, even though I already did.

[Cassianus]

I've tried the patcher. The launcher comes up for a second then closes again. Also, steam asked me if I chose to "elevate", I click yes, then it asks me to open with admin privileges, even though I already did.

I use the standard SWTOR installation and don't have Steam, so I cannot give you detailed instruction right now, sorry. But some people here told that Steam version of SWTOR can be successfully started by patcher, which should be used outside of Steam environment. This means that you need to start File Explorer (or use a Steam option, which allows to browse file system using Explorer) and run the patcher swtor_alder_lake.exe with administrator rights. The size of standard launcher.exe is 8,042,696 bytes; Steam launcher is about 7,477,632 bytes (see post #273, a log by RBF_FAN).

 

When the launcher is started by patcher, its window will not disappear and you can continue. Parameter "-Elevated" is internal, it is needed when launcher is started as administrator. In first window of standard launcher user should input the name (Ustiawalleh as you use here) and password. Steam launcher may input user's data other way (I don't know exactly), but it should work. After that, launcher connects to server and starts the full-screen client.

 

If the SWTOR installation needs update because you played too long ago, the launcher will download the updated files. If the launcher itself needs update, it may attempt to restart, but this fails on Alder Lake CPU. You need to run the patcher again until updating is finished. Don't forget to run it with administrator rights from right-click menu; alternatively you can select the corresponding checkbox in its properties.

 

Another possible approach is in replacing the Steam launcher with standard. To do this, you probably need to run the launcher repair program from EA support website (see the link in my previous post). After that, you will be able to run SWTOR independently, but it will no longer work with Steam. For free-to-play version it doesn't matter, but apparently you are a subscriber, I don't know how it may affect the subscription via Steam.

 

If some players with Steam read this post, please add the details which I might miss.

[Ustiawalleh]

I used your swtor_alder_lake patch along with the launcher repair tool. I have it working in steam. Took me a few times not sure why, got it going now, and I'm back in the game!! Thank you very much!!!

[captaincopey]

If this isn't fixed before LoS releases, will cancel my sub, this is taking way too long to fix. I tried the unofficial fix but there's hassle every time I try to launch the game as Windows Defender and Anti Virus go nuts gave up and decided to uninstall until there is a proper fix, or LoS launches..

[Cassianus]

If this isn't fixed before LoS releases, will cancel my sub, this is taking way too long to fix. I tried the unofficial fix but there's hassle every time I try to launch the game as Windows Defender and Anti Virus go nuts gave up and decided to uninstall until there is a proper fix, or LoS launches..

Hello captaincopey,

 

Could you please explain what exactly happens with the patcher, which you describe as "Windows Defender and Anti Virus go nuts"? I would like to understand how anti-malware reacts and see if it can be solved, it's really important. But I should note that your complaint is the first one, nobody before told that Windows Defender detects the patcher as possible malware (even if some people avoided to use it as unknown third-party software). On my side, I was almost sure that such misdetection will not happen because the archive with patcher is placed on OneDrive and scanned by Microsoft, so any real malware would be immediately removed.

 

While I knew that patching the binary code of other process in the memory, which the patcher does, may be counted as a suspicious activity, the detection rate of the exe file on VirusTotal, happily, is very low: 3/65, and those 3 cases come from rarely used anti-malware programs. But you might have one of them, unfortunately...

 

If you have some time and practice in C, you can download the source code, check it and build the patcher yourself.

[captaincopey]

 

Could you please explain what exactly happens with the patcher, which you describe as "Windows Defender and Anti Virus go nuts"? I would like to understand how anti-malware reacts and see if it can be solved, it's really important. But I should note that your complaint is the first one, nobody before told that Windows Defender detects the patcher as possible malware (even if some people avoided to use it as unknown third-party software). On my side, I was almost sure that such misdetection will not happen because the archive with patcher is placed on OneDrive and scanned by Microsoft, so any real malware would be immediately removed.

 

While I knew that patching the binary code of other process in the memory, which the patcher does, may be counted as a suspicious activity, the detection rate of the exe file on VirusTotal, happily, is very low: 3/65, and those 3 cases come from rarely used anti-malware programs. But you might have one of them, unfortunately...

 

If you have some time and practice in C, you can download the source code, check it and build the patcher yourself.

 

 

Hi Cassianus,

 

Windows Defender pops up with "Trojan virus detected" even after telling it to allow it, it removes parts anyway so I had to move the files to the SWTOR folder each time and then hope it doesn't remove files again. Even though I've marked it safe and told Windows Defender to leave it alone, it still sparks up with alert after alert.

 

Thank you so much for your work on the fix, it's excellent to have a way to play the game but the problems I'm having with Windows Defender just annoy me too much. I'm not knowledge at all in any form of coding. I'm not in a rush to get back on to play right now as most of my guild is offline anyway at the moment waiting for the new expansion, just hoping Bioware fix it in time for LoS release date, if not, think I will give up on it, cancel my 8 year sub '

[Cassianus]

OK, I understand now your problem. BTW, thanks for good words about my efforts.

 

I tried to reproduce this on my Windows 11 Pro 22000.469 (last non-insider build). I switched on all possible settings in Windows Security > Virus & threat protection, removed all exclusions; added Cloud-delivered protection and Automatic sample submission (usually they are switched off). Also I switched for test the Memory integrity (Device security, Core isolation) which usually is not recommended because it decreases the system performance.

 

Then I ran as administrator the patcher swtor_alder_lake.exe. But it showed the usual yellow UAC dialog, after allowing the launcher started and showed the initial screen. No any warning about trojans were on my PC, I cannot reproduce it right now. Maybe OS is different, I can test only on Windows 11 and 8.1.

 

Anyway, it should be possible to avoid the warning by adding the SWTOR folder to exclusion list: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Add or remove exclusions > + Add an exclusion. Select "Folder", then point at SWTOR folder, add it (it should appear in the list of exclusions). Alternatively, you can exclude only the patcher's exe file, keeping the whole folder protected by default.

 

As I remember, the security system showed me an alert at first start of patcher, I allowed it and this warning no longer was shown again. Maybe your OS work differently in this case. I will try to do more tests, also maybe someone else will see the same problem. If so, please add a post here.

 

P.S. I am a subscriber since 2013, never cancelled yet.

Edited January 27, 2022 by Cassianus

[captaincopey]

 

Anyway, it should be possible to avoid the warning by adding the SWTOR folder to exclusion list: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Add or remove exclusions > + Add an exclusion. Select "Folder", then point at SWTOR folder, add it (it should appear in the list of exclusions). Alternatively, you can exclude only the patcher's exe file, keeping the whole folder protected by default.

 

As I remember, the security system showed me an alert at first start of patcher, I allowed it and this warning no longer was shown again. Maybe your OS work differently in this case. I will try to do more tests, also maybe someone else will see the same problem. If so, please add a post here.

 

 

Thank you very much, will give it a try on my days off, will update how it goes.

 

 

Edit: quote went wrong :S

Edited January 28, 2022 by captaincopey

[VorpeHD]

 

Anyway, it should be possible to avoid the warning by adding the SWTOR folder to exclusion list: Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Manage settings > Add or remove exclusions > + Add an exclusion. Select "Folder", then point at SWTOR folder, add it (it should appear in the list of exclusions). Alternatively, you can exclude only the patcher's exe file, keeping the whole folder protected by default.

 

As I remember, the security system showed me an alert at first start of patcher, I allowed it and this warning no longer was shown again. Maybe your OS work differently in this case. I will try to do more tests, also maybe someone else will see the same problem. If so, please add a post here.

 

 

Thank you very much, will give it a try on my days off, will update how it goes.

 

 

Edit: quote went wrong :S

 

Weird, I first had the same issue and error. I put the fix files in its own folder and excluded the folder, that worked. I was also gonna cancel my sub if it's not fixed within 3 weeks, but honestly the game runs fine and I have the fixed exe on my taskbar, the problem is not even noticeable anymore. We can still even get updates, I'm keeping my sub regardless.

[aakkccyy]

Having the same issue with i5 12400, fix by Cassianus seems to open the launcher but it closes withing a couple of seconds with Steam window pop-up about SWTOR being launched with "-Elevated" command. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned success with using both launcher repair tool and fix but I seem unable to download the tool, it leads me to ea help centre but while trying to download it - nothing happens, new browser tab opens and instantly closes without any result.

 

Edit: downloaded it using another browser, now it flawlessly opens SWTOR launcher and updates it.

Edited January 29, 2022 by aakkccyy

[Cassianus]

Hello aakkccyy,

 

There are two different SWTOR launchers: standard launcher (EA calls it streaming launcher) and Steam launcher. First launcher works independently and requires your name and password on SWTOR server, like you use here on forum. Second works with the Steam environment, it somehow stores your SWTOR data and uses Steam account for authorisation, if you have linked SWTOR and Steam accounts.

EA support: SW:TOR on Steam - how to link or unlink your accounts

EA support: SW:TOR launcher troubleshooting guide

 

To use the patcher with any of these launchers, your SWTOR installation should be updated first. Patcher should be started outside of Steam environment, you may run the File Explorer, navigate to SWTOR folder (you can see it from Steam) and run the patcher as administrator. Parameter "-Elevated" is necessary to run the launcher with administrator rights, otherwise it shows error message or attempts to restart, but it fails on Alder Lake CPU. You need to run the patcher as many times as need to fully update the installation, then you will see the launcher start screen.

 

You can decide whether to keep the Steam launcher or switch to standard SWTOR, there are two fix utilities on the second page. If you unlink the SWTOR account, it will work independently but I suppose that you will not be able to subscribe via Steam, need to use SWTOR subscription service on your local account instead. Decision is yours.

 

First I suggest to try to fix the Steam launcher, because many people here successfully did it. If you are ready to switch to SWTOR account, use the launcher repair file LauncherRepairUtilityU2021.0.18.exe, I checked that it can be downloaded, but the web server doesn't have a proper certificate, such downloads are disabled in browser by default, you need to allow it. After installation, this utility will attempt to repair the launcher for SWTOR account, it may try to restart several times. Any such time you need to run the patcher swtor_alder_lake.exe as administrator until the update finishes, then you should be able to log in with local account and start the client.

[ClanNeeb]

Kind of sad that Cassianus is more responsive than Bioware to this issue. I mean just in his responsiveness to issues as well. I hope they fix this before LoS.

[AMMastin]

I am glad that you also attempted to solve this problem, it's not easy to do this alone. Currently I was managed to fix the launcher in the debugger, which is definitely not a solution for common players. Please count this as a demo that the real fix is possible and isn't very hard to implement.

 

BioWare, I apologise that I had to do this, only because of a desperate situation. I never wanted to be a hacker and even less wanted to "fix" the commercial product protected by copyright and other laws.

 

As I supposed early, the problem is in wrong interpretation of Alder Lake CPU information in the code which analyses the result of Win32 API function GetSystemInfo(). This code is located in the module SWTORLaunch.dll, apparently written by BioWare programmers (unlike some components from Solid State Networks). SWTORLaunch.dll is protected by digital signature and cannot be patched directly. This is important because it protects the integrity of binary files. The code, however, can be modified in the memory after DLL is loaded. Here is a fragment of the code (I hope it will help the developers too).

 

6F8F82F8 | 8B0D 28EFA06F                           mov ecx,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F82FE | 8379 38 00                                   cmp dword ptr ds:[ecx+38],0
6F8F8302 | 74 07                                             je swtorlaunch.6F8F830B
6F8F8304 | E8 87ECFFFF                               call swtorlaunch.6F8F6F90
6F8F8309 | EB 10                                            jmp swtorlaunch.6F8F831B
6F8F830B | 8B55 FC                                       mov edx,dword ptr ss:[ebp-4]
6F8F830E | 52                                                 push edx
6F8F830F | 8D45 EC                                       lea eax,dword ptr ss:[ebp-14]
6F8F8312 | 50                                                  push eax
6F8F8313 | E8 08EEFFFF                               call swtorlaunch.6F8F7120
6F8F8318 | 83C4 08                                        add esp,8
6F8F831B | EB 4C                                            jmp swtorlaunch.6F8F8369
6F8F831D | 8B0D 28EFA06F                           mov ecx,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F8323 | C781 84000000 00000000            mov dword ptr ds:[ecx+84],0
6F8F832D | 8B15 28EFA06F                            mov edx,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F8333 | C782 8C000000 00000000           mov dword ptr ds:[edx+8C],0
6F8F833D | A1 28EFA06F                               mov eax,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F8342 | C780 80000000 FFFFFFFF          mov dword ptr ds:[eax+80],FFFFFFFF
6F8F834C | 8B0D 28EFA06F                          mov ecx,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F8352 | C781 88000000 00000000            mov dword ptr ds:[ecx+88],0
6F8F835C | 8B15 28EFA06F                           mov edx,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F8362 | C742 7C 00000000                       mov dword ptr ds:[edx+7C],0
6F8F8369 | A1 28EFA06F                                mov eax,dword ptr ds:[6FA0EF28]
6F8F836E | 8378 2C 00                                   cmp dword ptr ds:[eax+2C],0
[color="SandyBrown"]6F8F8372 | 74 07                                             je swtorlaunch.6F8F837B[/color]
6F8F8374 | 83C8 FF                                        or eax,FFFFFFFF
6F8F8377 | EB 04                                            jmp swtorlaunch.6F8F837D
6F8F8379 | EB 02                                            jmp swtorlaunch.6F8F837D
6F8F837B | 33C0                                             xor eax,eax
6F8F837D | 8BE5                                             mov esp,ebp
6F8F837F | 5D                                                 pop ebp
6F8F8380 | C3                                                 ret

 

Code in the selected line "74 07" should be replaced with two "nop" operations "90 90", after that the launcher will be able to calculate the SpecsHash parameter and show its screen. This fix is nothing but a circumvention of validity check of calculated result, but the result itself is wrong in the case of Alder Lake. I am not sure whether this fix may have some unwanted consequences, but apparently it works. Then the client swtor.exe works without any noticeable error.

Note: the debugger sould be run as Administrator and launcher has -Elevated parameter in its command line.

 

 

Brother, I cannot thank you enough. I love this game and it sucked not being able to play. This worked perfectly for me. Seriously, thank you!

[aakkccyy]

 

Worked like a charm, repair utility made game files re-download and then your fix made the launcher stable, thank you very much!

[GhostDrone]

Yeaaah, I really hope this is actually fixed with 7.0 launch. It's getting kind of ridiculous now. More and more people will be upgrading their CPUs, and the fact that Cassianus here has already made an effort to make it easier for BW to fix the issue themselves, makes it inexcusable that there isn't at LEAST a small update on the situation.

 

I'm still waiting to go through with my own upgrade, specifically because of SWTOR. I've already googled every other game I play on the regular and they're all compatible with 12th gen CPUs.

[soulsmasterr]

has anyone done a video tutorial for the fix yet?

[KIDSASMAN]

has anyone done a video tutorial for the fix yet?

No one has done a video tutorial yet and I would appreciate one since I am really lost on how to fix the problem.

[Foldon]

Core i7-12700K here as well. Although I have kept my subscription, I really really hope you get this fixed no later than 7.0 launch. It should be already! I am mean Alder Lake was released ~ 3 months ago (4th November) and I think a developer of this size should get samples even before release.