Solution Thread: Launcher, Login and Startup Issues

Started 19 Feb 2019
by Ashok
in Support Center
Hey folks,

this thread contains known issues & solutions to various scenarios Phoenix players encountered recently.
Do not hesitate to contact us if the issue persists.

Phoenix Game Installation
Important: Windows XP and Vista are not supported OS'; they are also deprecated by Microsoft and now longer receive any kind of updates.
While Phoenix is capable of being played on Linux/Ubuntu gaming VMs/emulations or special configurations, it's not officially support either.
The minimum OS for full support is Windows 7 with SP1.

1. Download and install the latest live client
2. Run the camelot.exe once and let it patch
3. Download the Phoenix launcher and extract the files into your DAoC root folder
4. Run the phoenix.exe

If you want a custom UI, checkout this thread.


General troubleshooting
Phoenix requires additional apps on your computer; for 99% those should be installed and working already.
Some people might miss one or parts got damaged - especially for Windows 7 users.
As mentioned above, Windows XP and Vista clients are no longer supported with the latest updates.

Please check / install / repair the following runtimes:
.NET Framework 3.5: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21
MS Visual C++ 2015: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145
C runtime: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2999226/update-for-universal-c-runtime-in-windows


Patcher & Startup Issues


Game Issues
Tue 19 Feb 2019 8:40 PM by Ashok
Issue: Launcher not appearing / Infinite patcher loop / Error when starting phoenix.exe
The patcher is either not showing up, when you run phoenix.exe, or it shows up, patching something, closing and repeats over.
Sometimes a dialog box with lots of text pops up

Note: Windows XP is not supported for Phoenix! Sorry folks.

1. General Troubleshooting
2. Antivirus: Phoenix as exception

If your issues persist, please contact our team on Discord or create/post on a thread in the Support Center.


Error: Patcher unavailable. Shutting down.
Appears when starting phoenix.exe; the patcher is showing "checking files" and the error shortly after.

This issue occurs, when your computer cannot connect to the patching server. It might be just a temporarily situation (like a maintenance) so keep trying.
If you still can't connect after a few minutes try to reach the patcher manually, by pinging it:

1. Press Windows key + R
2. Type in cmd and hit Enter
3. Into the black window, type: ping patcher.playphoenix.online
4. Hit enter

A good connection should show this
[attachment=1]Ping.JPG[/attachment]


With a bad connection you see something like
[attachment=0]PingBad.JPG[/attachment]


If you see something like on the first screen, just restart your computer and modem/router then try again.

If you see "Request timed out" for the most part, you (or better: your ISP) has some issues routing you to Germany right now.
Restart your modem/router.

If the issue persists you might want to try a VPN service to improve the connection to our servers.
There are several VPN providers that are designed to resolve connectivity issues / reduce latency for games.
Tue 19 Feb 2019 8:40 PM by Ashok
Error: Two factor authentication required. Please check your email (and spam folder).
Old error: Please check your email to verify access.
You may see this message when attempting to login to the game:

[attachment=0]2factor.JPG[/attachment]

This is part of a 2-step verification to improve the security of your account.
It will pop whenever you are trying to login with a computer that was not used on your account yet or after a major launcher update.

Solution
1. Open the inbox of the email account used to create the account
2. Look for the email with subject: Phoenix: Account Access Verification
3. Look again - in the spam / junk mail folders
4. Read the mail and click the link if the IP address visible in the mail belongs to you.

If you do not know the current assigned email, check out your account control.

If the message continues to appear on login, please restart your computer and then try again.

Microsoft Mail users (Hotmail, MSN, Live.com, Outlook.com and any Office 365 Exchange mail provider [like companies]):
1. Open up your inbox in your webbrowser (really: use your browser for it!)
2. Go to your contacts
3. Add as contact: [email protected]
4. Logout from the web-inbox.
5. Wait about 30 minutes, then try to login to the game again to trigger a new mail.
6. Check the webinterface of your Microsoft mail for a Phoenix mail.

If you do not receive an email, our team can update it to a different one or check if there is a typo in it.
The fastest way to get this resolved is to join our team on Discord.

Please contact Beckett via forum or Discord to get the email changed.

Include the following information when contacting the team about this matter:
- account name
- provide at least 2 characters names you have on the account
- current email address
- new email address

Additional information might be requested ad-hoc for verification purposes.
Tue 19 Feb 2019 8:40 PM by Ashok
Error: User folder was not initialized
Dark Age of Camelot was unable to get the path to your My Documents directory. You may need to change your security settings.

The error can occur when the game client is about to start (after login).
It is caused by insufficient permissions of your Windows user or too harsh security settings of your installed antivirus software.

Solution 1
Force-run the game as administrator.
Rightclick the phoenix.exe inside your DAoC folder and select "Run as Administrator".

Solution 2
Your antivirus software might block the access. Go to: Antivirus: Phoenix as exception

If your issues persist, please contact our team on Discord or create/post on a thread in the Support Center.
Tue 19 Feb 2019 8:41 PM by Ashok
Issue: Game client stuck on loading screen / "Hit ESC to exit game"
You may see either of those message when the client is starting up...
[attachment=1]Loading1.JPG[/attachment]
[attachment=0]Loading2.JPG[/attachment]


Solution: Try again. Not kidding.
This is a temporary issue, like a road bumper...

Solution 2
If the issue persists over a longer time period, try:
1. Run the camelot.exe in the DAoC folder and let it patch/fix stuff
2. Reboot your modem/router to re-initialize your internet connection
3. Check your firewall/antivirus software if it's blocking any of the games processes
4. Now run phoenix.exe and try again

Still no luck?
Try a VPN service for troubleshooting to see if that solves it.

If your issues persist, please contact our team on Discord or create/post on a thread in the Support Center.


Issue: Black screen when starting game
Instead of a loading screen you just get a black screen.

Solution 1: Update GPU driver
AMD: https://www.amd.com/en/support
Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Solution 2: Reset client settings
This will reset all GFX settings + keybindings to default.

1. Press Windows key + R
2. Copy in: %appdata%\Electronic Arts\Dark Age of Camelot\phoenix
3. Hit enter
4. Delete or rename the "user.dat" file

Solution 3: Reinstall
Your client might be corrupted; get a fresh one.

1. Delete the DAoC folder
2. Download and install official DAoC
3. Launch camelot.exe in the DAoC folder
4. Let it finish patching
5. Download the Phoenix Launcher
6. Extract all the files from the archive into your DAoC folder (must be in the same folder as camelot.exe!)
7. Launch phoenix.exe in the DAoC folder

If your issues persist, please contact our team on Discord or create/post on a thread in the Support Center.
Tue 19 Feb 2019 8:41 PM by Ashok
Antivirus Issues: Set exceptions in your antivirus software
Setting an exception for your antivirus software ensures the functionality of the patcher/launcher.

Try to exclude the whole DAoC folder.
If this is not possible for your AV-tool, exclude the following files (all in DAoC root directory):
  • camelot.exe
  • game.dll
  • phoenix.exe
  • phoenixconnect.exe
  • phoenixfixer.exe
  • phoenixpatcher.exe


Hint: If you exclude individual files instead of the whole folder you might have to re-do this after every patch (because the file version changed), depending on your antivirus software.

How-To exclude files/folders for your AV-tool
Avast: https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/Antivirus-scan-exclusions
Avira: https://blog.avira.com/exceptions-avira-antivirus-3-steps/
AVG: https://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?l=en&urlName=AVG-Antivirus-scan-exclusions&supportType=home
ESET: https://support.eset.com/kb2769/?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US
Norton: https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v3672136_ns_retail_en_us
Windows Defender: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028485/windows-10-add-an-exclusion-to-windows-security



Antivirus Issues: Disable real-time protection for troubleshooting
Important: This should only be done temporarily to test if your antivirus software is causing the issue. Enable it again after testing!
If it's working, follow the steps outlined in section "Antivirus Issues: Set exceptions in your antivirus software"

How-to disable real-time protection of common AV-tools
Avast: https://support.avast.com/en-eu/article/Antivirus-shield-settings
Avira: https://www.avira.com/en/support-for-home-knowledgebase-detail/kbid/1790
AVG: https://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?l=en&urlname=How-to-disable-AVG
ESET: https://support.eset.com/kb548/?locale=en_US&viewlocale=en_US
Norton: https://support.norton.com/sp/en/us/home/current/solutions/v116457581_ns_retail_en_us
Windows Defender: https://support.microsoft.com/en-ph/help/4027187/windows-10-turn-off-antivirus-protection-windows-security
Sat 27 Apr 2019 12:34 PM by Ashok
The following are resolutions for issues, that occured after our maintenance on April 27th.

Error: "Some files have to be manually updated, please see phoenix_wrong_files.txt"
This issue came up after our maintenance on April 27th. Easy to fix:

1. Run the camelot.exe inside your DAoC folder and let it patch
2. Run the phoenix.exe and login


Issue: I can't see myself/group members on /map
1. Run the camelot.exe inside your DAoC folder and let it patch
2. Run the phoenix.exe
3. Before logging to the game, click on "Fix OF Maps"
[attachment=0]Fix.png[/attachment]


In order for the fix to work, you will need client version 1.125 (visible during loading screen).


Issue: I can't craft / invalid crafting recipes / wrong recipe materials
1. Run the camelot.exe inside your DAoC folder and let it patch
2. Run the phoenix.exe
3. Before logging to the game, click on "Fix Crafting"
[attachment=0]Fix.png[/attachment]


In order for the fix to work, you will need client version 1.125 (visible during loading screen).


Issue: Game is freezing / crashing when using /qbind or /keyboard
While the team is aware of this issue, we not yet have a final fix for it.
But we've got a workaround!

For /keyboard
1. Go to character selection
2. Click on Options
3. Click on Configure Keyboard and change the keybinds

For /qbind (also works for /keyboard)
1. Go to character selection
2. Click on Option
3. Set the "Skin Choice" under "Interface" to "Atlantis Skin"
4. Log into the game and set all /qbinds you want
5. Log back to character selection and enable "custom skin" again for the UI skin

In case clicking on "Options" does not open the options:
1. Close DAoC
2. Go into your DAoC Phoenix folder (Default Path: %programfiles(x86)%\Electronic Arts\Dark Age of Camelot)
3. Delete the "game.dll" file
4. Run camelot.exe in the same folder an let it patch
5. Run phoenix.exe and try again
Sat 11 May 2019 10:49 PM by Ashok
Error: Missing api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll
The given .dll file is a greatly used Windows file.
If you are missing it, you are either running a not supported Windows version (XP/Vista), an outdated patch level or having a damaged system.

Please make sure you have .NET 3.5 and MS VC 2015 installed:
.NET Framework 3.5: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21
MS Visual C++ 2015: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145

If the issue persist your Windows system files require a repair:
1. Press Windows key + R
2. Type in: cmd
4. Hit [Enter]
3. type into the black window:sfc /scannow
4. [Enter]

This may take a bit, but will auto-repair missing/damaged Windows library files (like the one in question).
Sat 17 Aug 2019 6:41 PM by Ashok
Error: Your account does not have access to this game.
When: Startup of the game client during initial loading screen

This error indicates that your game account got suspended.
You - or someone with access to your account and/or computer (depending on the violation) - did violate at least one rule that can lead to a ban.
Phoenix https://playphoenix.online/rules

Check the ban forum: https://forum.playphoenix.online/viewforum.php?f=14
In most cases you will find a thread about your account (last played character name), with details about the violation and the ban duration.

If you cannot find yourself in the ban-forum or got questions, feel free to send a private message to a gamemaster here on the forum or the Phoenix Discord.
Do not talk about your ban in public.
Sat 17 Aug 2019 6:52 PM by Ashok
Login Error: Something interesting happened.... Error 500
When: Phoenix launcher login

This error indicates an issue with a corrupted Phoenix file or insufficient permissions accessing/editing it.

Solution 1
1. Right click the Phoenix symbol (phoenix.exe)
2. Select "run as administrator"

Solution 2
1. Press the Windows key + R
2. Type in: documents
Hint: You may also navigate to the "Documents" folder of your Windows user manually.
3. Delete the ".phxlauncher" and ".phxlauncher.ACCOUNT" files (*)

* ACCOUNT stands for your game account name - in my case it would be ".phxlauncher.ashok"
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