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STICKY: Downloading Problems? Need Help? Look here.

STICKY: Downloading Problems? Need Help? Look here.

We're here to help

Starting this week, tens of thousands of people will be jumping on to download gigabytes of game at around the same time.  This means, naturally, that some percentage of people are going to have problems.  This post is here to answer some questions and provide a place where Stardock support people can also help.

Don't worry! We will take care of you.

Stardock Central:

The most common problems we've seen people have revolve around two things:

(1) Someone who bought the game with one email address but has used a different email address to be on the forums.  That's fine, in fact, probably a good thing to do.  But it may confuse Stardock Central.  If you run into that, just email [email protected] with the subject:GalCiv Stardock Central problem.  They will fix you up.

(2) Some of our long time users have multiple accounts on our sites.  Same issue as above.

(3) The base game will download slower than the other modules.  In Stardock Central there is a menu called tools. Go to Settings, pick Internet and you can try a different server to see if that helps your download speed.  The base game should download at speeds from 30k/sec to 300k/sec depending on where you live, time of day, etc.  The bulk of the game, however, should download at whatever the maximum your connection is as we have set up mirrors world wide.  The base game is being set up so that we can update it very often. The  other stuff won't need updating (i.e. movies and such) so we can mirror that more.

(4) Activation. If you are downloading the entire game, there is an activation system built in.  Don't worry, you will be able to keep installing the game, even years from now, on your new systems without having to talk to us.   However, because the activation server is likely to get hammered, there may be some issues that will crop up.  Don't worry, just email support with the above. IF you don't get an answer within 1 hour, feel free to post in this thread.

(5) IF you had the beta, you can install on top of it and it should work fine.  But if you do run into problems, reinstalling is a possible solution (yea, that's a lame answer).

(6) IF you switch servers, there may be some modules that look like they need updating. Trust your own judgment. If you just downloaded the latest/greatest version and you switch servers and there's an update that you didn't hear about, it's probably due to minute differences in the time stamps.  This probably won't happen but given the sheer # of mirrors involved, it's possible.

(7) IF you purchased the retail version, you can skip Stardock Central entirely if you want and just download the "patch" from Downloads area. 

(8) IF you are downloading on one of the first days, bear in mind how many other people are also downloading. Download resume should be working fine so if for some reason there's a server time out, don't panic, you can resume where you left off. 

(9) MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE LATEST STARDOCK CENTRAL. 2.29A.374 (or later).

Thanks to the preloading we did last week, we don't expect any huge issues.  But due to me saying that, just now, that naturally means something will go wrong. For you.

We'll be camping out here, not just me but the support team, the development team, my mom, and of course the tech support guy who has "It's working fine here." set as a hot key.

Stay tuned and good luck!

67,171 views 74 replies
Reply #26 Top
Both systems ask me to pay for it.


If you look on the registrations page in Impulse (click the little window icon in the top right corner), does it list the game? If not, you need to register it.

Those having looping download issues with SDC--try using Impulse to get the game.
Reply #27 Top
thanks kryo. Impulse worked fine for me!
Reply #28 Top
I have finally gotten "Dark Avatar" to install. (Apparently, it does not need a serial number to load.) Therefore, I can also install "Twilight of the Arnor". (Thank God! I was getting tired of waiting to play that expansion!)
Reply #30 Top
Hi, I bought the Ultimate Bundle Pack yesterday and I installed Impulse and it detected the 3 games I bought. GC2DL installed fine but DA won't install. It downloads and says installed for a second and then goes back to available. So I can't even try TotA until DA is working.

So I decided to try Stardock Central instead and it tried installing DA but this time at the end it gave me an Error:6 too many activations. I'm guessing that since I kept trying to install through Impulse it tried to activate too many times for some reason.

I sent an email to Stardock Support and got a ticket number: JMM-553618

I know its a weekend but I really want to start playing TotA. Anyway if there is anything that can be done it will be greatly appreciated.
Reply #31 Top
I'm having this problem again. GC2 download gets to 100% and then starts over. W2K. Ticket# CKG-866057.

The error is ...


-- [Installation] ---------------------------------------------------
Download: C:\Program Files\Stardock\SDCentral\data\public\gc2\production\gc2.xml 1
Load: C:\Program Files\Stardock\SDCentral\data\public\gc2\production\gc2.xml 1
Download: C:\Program Files\Stardock\SDCentral\temp\gc2.sdc 0 | File Size Incorrect | 1351777446 155340102
Result: Installation cancelled



If someone else has been through the problem and solved it, please post here. Not something like "use impulse instead" or "install from CD" either, please.

If they work out a solution for me, I'll post it here, but with so many people having the same issue, it seems like an answer would be posted if it has been resolved.

So far, I've increased my internet cache to 4092MB and switched servers in SDC. I've also moved the GC2.xml out of the folder to see if that would help.
Reply #32 Top
If Impulse is not an option for you for whatever reason, contact [email protected] and they can work through the looping issue with you.
Reply #33 Top
Thanks, Kryo.

However, as I mentioned in my post, I'm using W2K, so Impulse won't load. Otherwise, Impulse would be an excellent option.

I've contacted support, which is indicated by the ticket number in my post.

What I'm trying to do though, is find a common solution to a problem that has plagued several of us. Once found, if I or someone else could post the solution, we'd have a post that we could refer to rather than waiting for support.

To update, I tried the following without success...

Shut down SDC and restarted it.
Attempted to archive GC2.
Edited the .xml file to reflect the actual file size on SDC.
Moved the GC2.xml from the Install folder to the production folder and visa-versa.
Deleted the CG2.xml and the partial GC2.sdc from the temp folders.
Shut down and rebooted the computer and attempted to archive GC2.

I've gotten through this before by using my original CDs to install the game and then updating from SDC, but I'm trying to get the whole thing going through the downloads online. It should work somehow and I'm just trying to help troubleshoot the problem.

I've also deleted the registry entries from my previous installation in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT registries.
Reply #34 Top

MyStCaL,

Have you gotten things taken care of now?  Was support able to help you?

I am wondering if you had "Prompt for install directory" checked under Preferences -> Folders.  If so, and you were prompted for an install directory in Impulse, it may have been putting the files in the wrong place.  Try unchecking that option for this install and Installing GC2: Dark Avatar.

Reply #35 Top
I am having the same problem as MottiKan and others: When trying to install GalCiv II it just keeps repeating the download of gc2.sdc. Impulse is not an option (I do not meet system requirements).
I only post this here in the hopes that Stardock will realize that problem is not an isolated one and provide a fix--I'm sure there is a silent majority out there with the same problem and eagerly waiting a fix as well.
Reply #36 Top
Stardock got back with me (thanks, folks) and gave me some stuff to try. It seems deleting the temp stardock folder in the user's local settings is the key to the attempt.

They sent a batch file, but it's pretty easy to do without being so cryptic. Just go to your Windows profile and look for the Local Settings folder. Within that folder, there will be a Temp folder. Open it. Inside that folder, there should be a folder named sdcentral.

The path is something like %userprofile%\local settings\temp\sdcentral Where %userprofile% is the name that Windows knows you by. It'll be in your WINNT\Profiles folder.

Delete the "sdcentral" folder there. This is what they're talking about when they say they're clearing the cache.

If that doesn't fix it, uninstall SDCentral and remove the cache folder above again. Reboot and then reinstall SDCentral.

It didn't work for me, but perhaps this can get some other folks up and running without waiting for a reply while pulling their hair out.

Unlike some others, I have the option of re-installing from CD, so I'll be giving up on the online method.

Perhaps someone can put these instructions in the op so people with download issues can get going.

Thanks.
Reply #37 Top
Gnnh!

I just purchased "Galactic Civilization II - Dark Avatar". I did this through the thingie they call Impulse. It downloads just fine, and it says it's "installed" under "My Games". However, when I press the "run" button a window pops up wich has two buttons, "Install Game" and "Readme". When I press "Install Game" an error message pops up : "Please run setup.exe on your CD, or install using Stardock Central."

Doh. I bought the downloaded version, so I went ahead and looked for this Stardock Central and installed it. However, in the "Purchased Software" list, it only shows me "Sins of a Solar Empire" wich I've previously bought, installed and played, just fine. Then I figured ok, I'll just have to find it in the demo list below and somehow activate it with the serial number I recieved on my email. However, there's no "Dark Avatar" in there. Only the original Galactic Civilization.

Why make it so durn confusing? Two "Steam"-lookalikes to achive the same thing, or am I missing something really obvious here?

Thanks in advance,
Johan
Reply #38 Top
Doh.

I do complete failure on the intertubes. Didn't realize I needed the "Dreadlords" aswell.

You can shoot me now.
Reply #39 Top
you know. instead of using your proprietary download software you could just host these updates on several servers. Im pretty sure Ive been trying to dl the same update for like 3 weeks now for gal civ II. excellent game, cool dl software. But WoW was cool too until it became a headache
Reply #40 Top
you know. instead of using your proprietary download software you could just host these updates on several servers. Im pretty sure Ive been trying to dl the same update for like 3 weeks now for gal civ II.


If you're having download issues, try the alternate mechanism option in the preferences (click the blue orb in the corner). Alternately, you may have better luck with a full download than an update, as the full downloads come from a transparent mirroring service rather than from our servers as updates do.
Reply #41 Top
Hi.. i got a problem with the registration... it does not accept the code from the game, says its an invalid but the only one i have /from the backside of my manuel) what can i do, i just want the updates!
Reply #42 Top

I just bought the Gold Edition and the CDs got here today.  I installed the Gold Edition, and then immediately bought Twilight of Arnor, and DL'ed it through impulse.  So far, I keep getting errors, and when I try and run either DA or TA it asks me to activate (which I think I already did), but doesn't accept the registration key.  Also, the first time I tried to run TA (simply clicking the X in the corner of the activation window), it told me I had to update DA first.  So I've uninstalled and reinstalled, but I keep getting errors.  Does the following mean anything to anyone?

 

Application start: 2008-11-13 0.1.56

Silent mode

Mode 2

Submitting activation request...

Download: failed HttpSendRequest

Result parsing error (1)

Error activating the product

Please check the serial number that you have entered and ensure that it is associated with the email you used. Try to activate the product again. If you are using Stardock Central you can right-click on the product and attempt to activate without reinstalling. Please include this log file when contacting [email protected].

 

Edit: I'm trying installing everything via Stardock Central (instead of using the CDs), to see if that works.  It's going to be a decent wait, though, and I'm not certain it will work.

Update: Nope, that didn't seem to work, I'm still getting the same problem regardless.  When I go to play any of the games (DL, DA, or TA), I'm asked to activate my product.  Hitting the X seems to simply close the program, or flash a black screen then promptly return to Windows.  Entering my email address and the CD-key, which I'm pretty sure are correct, I get this error:

 



Application start: 2008-11-13 3.42.5

Downloading test internet data...

Download: success

Test internet data - success

Mode 1, short info

Submitting activation request...

Download: failed HttpSendRequest

Result parsing error (1)

Error activating the product

Please check the serial number that you have entered and ensure that it is associated with the email you used. Try to activate the product again. If you are using Stardock Central you can right-click on the product and attempt to activate without reinstalling. Please include this log file when contacting [email protected].

2nd Edit: Might the fact that I had the game installed previously using my brother's CDs and neglected to remove the folders under "My Documents" have any thing to do with this?

Reply #43 Top

My system blew 7 capactors on the mother board then the replacement system croaked now on a laptop and it WILL NOT allow me to down load the dark avatar patch.  Can someone please tell me where and how I can get the patch?

Duh

 

Reply #44 Top

Can you be more specific about what you mean by "it will not allow me to download the patch"?

Reply #45 Top

sure Kryo.  I see now you carry the stardock logo now too.  kewl.  Anyway. it says my email and serial number dont match.  I had to buy the gold twice so there are two diff serials I use.

Duh

Reply #46 Top

In that case, contact [email protected] about getting your accounts merged into one and it should sort out the confusion.

Reply #47 Top

Thanks, well it was user error not you guys.  Anyway spent the weekend taking over a 1/4 of an immese galaxy man is it a diff game now.  used to crash every hour.  good work.

 

Duh

Reply #48 Top

Impulse: Update Failes but Uninstall/Resintall Works

The updates to GalCiv II TA 2.0, 2.01, and 2.02 each failed for me using Impluse. Sorry, I did not write down the error but it was complaining about not finding some file or folder. In order to install each I was forced to uninstall, reboot, then do a full installation, and finally reboot again! The update of GalCiv II DL worked fine; I can't recall if I had this problem with GalCiv II DA 2.0. Thankfully I have a broadband connection but still uninstalling, rebooting, downloading 340MB for 2.02 vs. the 3.7MB update, and rebooting again is a pain! X(

I noticed a post that AV software causes issues with Impluse so I tried disabling that to no effect.

Reply #49 Top

Why I have constantly problems to update Galactic Civilizations 2 Ultimate Edition through Impulse? First it was with v2.00 or v2.02 in last Xmas, when there was major difficulties for many users to get the update, and now with v2.03 (I haven't noticed this been such major impact to other users). I don't understand why it is so hard to get downloaded even 3.5 MB patch with Impulse. That v2.00 was easier to understand because the update was huge, but now I'm stuck with less than megabyte for downloading the patch and it didn't progress anymore. I have tried now almost three weeks to get this update. First it halted around 600-700 kilobytes, but it has progressed little now and then to almost megabyte. Error log contains several entries with connection time out with different files. I have tried also what is suggested above with uninstall/reinstall/reboot and I don't get downloaded that bigger update v.197 to v2.0x (which was so hard to get in last Xmas/January). Fortunatelly I have archived that install so I can restore it later. I have also installed Impulse multiple times, no success for GC2 download problem, though doing that I bypassed Impulse's inability to download it's own update which stucked same way than GC2 update. I'm losing my temper with this (or have lost it already), so could you gyus on Stardock help me, please.

 

My system specs are (Asus G2sg): T9300, GF 8700M GT, 4 GB RAM, Vista Ult. x64 FI with SP2 and 10 GB avalaible disk space on C: at the moment.

Reply #50 Top

If you're having issues downloading through Impulse, please contact [email protected].