EVE-Online Patch Makes XP Unbootable 572
Nobo writes "CCP's latest major patch to the EVE-Online client, Trinity, comes with an optional DX9-enhanced graphics patch that dramatically improves the visual quality of the in-game graphics through remade models, textures, and HDR. It also has an unfortunate bug: the incredibly stupid choice of boot.ini as a game configuration file, coupled with an errant extra backslash in the installer configuration. The result is that anyone who installs the enhanced graphics patch overwrites the windows XP c:\boot.ini file with the EVE client configuration file, bricking the machine on the next boot. Discussion in a couple of forums threads is becoming understandably heated."
Lemon Party (Score:2, Informative)
Bricking? (Score:5, Informative)
Hardly "bricking" IMHO.
Partially correct story (Score:5, Informative)
It is still a momumental fuckup though and the one responsible needs to be kicked in the balls for that kind of stupidity.
Re:Insanely sloppy... but not without precedent (Score:5, Informative)
It's not bricked! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Bricking? (Score:3, Informative)
Bricking? BS! More FUD! (Score:2, Informative)
As for why this didnt get caught by QA, they don't reboot their machines. I rarely do either. Plus I expect they have permissions in place to prevent the overwrite. Plus this is the only patch in the thousands of patches they make for the test server which had this problem. Anyone will tell you the odds of a mistake are bigger the longer you go without making one.
Alarmist (Score:4, Informative)
If you've got a 'basic' OS install, e.g. C:\WINDOWS and one partition, you're fine - the boostrap loader guesses, flashes up an error, and boots anyway.
It's a bit of a fubar, but hardly the next apocalypse.
Re:How is this possible? (Score:5, Informative)
Now, the term bricking is being applied to any piece of electronics or computer equipment that won't boot an OS.
It's not bricked if you can just reinstall or repair Windows and have it work again. It's bricked if you flash a bad ROM BIOS image and now you can't even turn the thing on.
Re:Bricking? BS! More FUD! (Score:3, Informative)
Besides which, another poster claims that the EVE boot.ini file contains specific information about which version of the game you have, and that it's only installed by the Premium version. That sounds like a test case right there - patch the normal version, confirm boot.ini file not present. Patch the Premium version, confirm that it is.
QA *should* have caught this.
Anyone will tell you the odds of a mistake are bigger the longer you go without making one.
That's because most people simply don't understand probability theory. Unless you get complacent and sloppy, the odds should be independent of past successes.
Re:Admin privileges (Score:3, Informative)
Wrong. I've been logging on to XP as a limited user for years. Most apps work. Some broken apps can be made to work by fiddling with NTFS and registry permissions (hardly ideal, but workable). This isn't MSFT's fault, but sloppy and lazy programming by app developers. I've also been writing my software to MSFT guidelines on this for years too, so see no excuse other people in the industry.
Re:Bricking? BS! More FUD! (Score:3, Informative)
1 - Many systems don't come with XP CDs anymore. They come with "restoration partitions" that revert the entire system to a default factory state and might incur data loss.
2 - I'd bet that most users wouldn't know how to use their XP CD or restoration partition if they needed to.
So, yes, messing up the OS this bad would be "bricking" the computer for these users. Sure the fix is simple to you and me, but it's horrendously technical to them. This doesn't even get into the fact that these people might now mentally associate installing updates with catastrophic system damage and might even shy away from installing Windows Updates.
Re:They both made errors. (Score:1, Informative)
The boot file information (Score:2, Informative)
For anyone that did hose their boot.ini file and needs the info, here is a copy of mine:
[boot loader] /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"
As you can see, an XP Pro install with one HDD; adjust according to your needs.
Re:Insanely sloppy... but not without precedent (Score:3, Informative)
For most users their choice is binary:
0. Call the family IT guy (you know, one of us..) and waste our time (as if we don't sit in front of a PC enough..)
1. Call Geeksquad or a similar ripoff-artist and pay $100+ to have them wipe the disk and re-install windows, after stealing all your porn and music
Re:Insanely sloppy... but not without precedent (Score:5, Informative)
Also, this EVE patch wouldn't "brick" an XP SP2 machine that had Windows installed to the primary partition of the primary drive (i.e. most pcs), because Windows XP SP2 will automatically try to boot that if it fails to find boot.ini. Assuming they did test the patch, this would explain why they didn't notice.
Re:(catchy subject) (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Insanely sloppy... but not without precedent (Score:3, Informative)
If you installed Half-Life to any folder other than the default ('C:\Sierra\HalfLife\' if I'm not mistaken), uninstalling would remove the Half-Life folder and the folder directly above it in the tree.
So, if you installed it to C:\HL\, you kissed goodbye to a good chunk of your C drive when you uninstalled it.
Fixed in the first patch, but still cause for enough annoyance.
Re:Insanely sloppy... but not without precedent (Score:2, Informative)
Summary innaccurate/sensational (Score:3, Informative)
Also, it's not bricking. A repair via install disc will fix it. Booting a linux Live CD (Ubuntu etc) will allow you to re-create your boot.ini.
Bricking == hardware permanently reduced to non-functional status. I.E. only, ever, useful in the future as a brick/paperweight.
Other uses of the term "bricked" or "bricking" are wrong and not supported.
Virtual Machines (Score:3, Informative)
Firstly, I'm not even sure that VMs *use* boot.ini. Secondly, even if they do, they probably test the installer, say "yup, that works" and then trash the snapshot.
It uses google's "I am Feeling Lucky" (Score:2, Informative)
Really, google needs to wise up and disable that btnI parameter for GET requests.
It wouldn't hurt for the lameness filter to remove it from anonymous posts either.
Re:Insanely sloppy... but not without precedent (Score:2, Informative)
My grievance remains the same, however, in that access to boot.ini should have been denied.
Actually, by default, boot.ini is marked read-only and the patch installer should have respected that attribute, rather than overriding it.
Not a brick, dammit! (Score:5, Informative)
A blown OS is not, and never ever will be a brick. Get your terminology straight for once. Wikipedia explains rather nicely the nature of real "brick".
Re:How is this possible? (Score:3, Informative)
The point of bricking is that it stays that way and can't be fixed by any normal means, i.e. hardware it dead for good and a theoretical repair will likely cost as much as buying it new, if at all possible.
Lack of a booting Windows can certainly be very inconvenient, but its not bricking, not even close.
Re:How is this possible? (Score:3, Informative)
Now though, ANYTHING that temporarily impairs the function of a device now "bricks" it. It's the EXACT same thing that happened with "terrorist", a usage that strangely the geek community hated. Once upon a time, you had regular criminals, and you had terrorists, where terrorists were generally politically motivated and caused widespread destruction and panic for the purpose of achieving some specific agenda. Now, it seems like if you hold up a liquor store or hack an ATM you're declared a "terrorist". It's fear mongering at it's best. Use the scariest word possible to make the most impact; exaggeration is irrelevant.