Problems Launching Mass Effect 1 [ Edited ]

[FCormacB]

I don't want to double post, but I get the feeling that I should have posted my problem in this forum. Instead, I'll provide I link to my topic: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Origin/Problems-Trying-to-Launch-Mass-Effect/m-p/4624412#U4624412

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Cormac

UPDATE:

Slight update with my problems: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Mass-Effect-1/MASS-EFFECT-BRING-DOWN-THE-SKY-for-free-NO-KEY-NEEDED/td-p/25...

See my post in that thread in the link above for details.

No solution yet.

[FCormacB]

I'll try to give as much detail about my previous experiences and current issues with Mass Effect (not the Trilogy version), through the Origin client, to help you understand my current situation.

I own Mass Effect 1 (not the Trilogy version) on Origin. I've owned my copy of it for a few years now. I have completed the game once with both Pinnacle Station and Bring Down the Sky installed. I'm currently using the same machine and operating system that I've had to buy and play Mass Effect before.

I've recently decided to play through it again and to progress through the sequels with a new character.

The first problem I ran into was trying to get Mass Effect to launch. It was resolved by running the game under the administrator setting.

So, now I'm in the game for the first time since a long time. Everything seems fine.

I notice my previous saves from when I completed the game from before. I must have used the cloud service to be able to access these old saves.

I attempted to access one of these saves out of curiosity. A notification came up saying that I couldn't access the save because I was currently missing DLC that I had used previously with that saved character. The mentioned DLC was Bring the Sky Down.

So, I looked through the Origin client to find the existence of said DLC, but I couldn't find anywhere on the client that mentions either Pinnacle Station or Bring the Sky Down in regards to the non-Trilogy version of Mass Effect 1.

After a while of Googling I found this link which should solve the missing DLC problem: http://help.ea.com/nz/article/mass-effect-bring-down-the-sky-dlc-redemption/

After downloading the Bring the Sky Down installer the next problem I encountered was when I was trying to run the installer. It notified me that it couldn't find Mass Effect on my computer and that maybe I should try reinstalling Mass Effect. I didn't believe reinstalling Mass Effect would solve anything since it already seemed to install just fine and that I could still actually play it (just without the Bring the Sky Down DLC).

So, more Googling lead me to this: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Mass-Effect-1/MASS-EFFECT-BRING-DOWN-THE-SKY-for-free-NO-KEY-NEEDED/m-p/254...

See the bottom post on page 4 of the link above.

Simulating the existence of the Mass Effect launcher via a text file seemed to allow the Bring the Sky Down installer to proceed and install the DLC.

Finally, after all of that my current issue is that the game now wants me to enter my Registration Code before I can play the game again. There was already some code there without me typing anything into the box. However, it wouldn't let me proceed further as it didn't seem to like the could that was already there.

So, I Googled a bit more and through various answers thought I could find the correct code on the Origin client. I clicked on my copy of Mass Effect, went to the information section, looked at the Product Code, copied it and used it to try to access the game. Note that the code that was automatically entered in the Registration Code box differed from the product code. The game still won't let me proceed, not with the Product Code I've been trying to use.

Now I am at a loss as to what to do at this point and any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Cormac

UPDATE:

Slight update with my problems: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Mass-Effect-1/MASS-EFFECT​-BRING-DOWN-THE-SKY-for-free-NO-KEY-NEEDED/td-p/2...

See my post in that thread in the link above for details.

No solution yet.

[EA_David]

Thanks for the detailed post. I merged in your info from the Origin thread. 

There's quite a bit here, but it seems that your main issue now is the code registration? For this your best way forward is to contact support, they can try to straighten out the code issue. 

It sounds like there's a build mismatch, hopefully support can straighten it out: http://help.ea.com/en/article/contact-ea-help/

[FCormacB]

Thanks for the reply, EA_David. I appreciate the help.

Before I chat with customer services to resolve registration code build issues, I would like to understand a few things first so that I can be sure how to check that everything else is functioning properly, so I can understand all of the issues at hand and so I can communicate my problems effectively and efficiently to those who can provide the required help to get Mass Effect 1 working as it's supposed to with the latest patch and both DLC.

When I apply these steps and view the MassEffectConfig.exe I get these results:

1. Install Mass Effect from the Origin Client.

Config shows:

• MassEffect.exe = v1.02
• MassEffectLauncher.exe = [blank]
• MassEffectConfig.exe = v1.02
• Uninstall Mass Effect.exe = v1.03
• Product Keys: Mass Effect, Pinnacle Station

2. Download BDtS, create fake MassEffectLauncher.exe and install BDts.

Config shows:

• MassEffect.exe = v1.02
• MassEffectLauncher.exe = v1.01
• MassEffectConfig.exe = v1.02
• Uninstall Mass Effect.exe = v1.03
• Product Keys: Mass Effect, Bring Down the Sky, Pinnacle Station

3. Check for Mass Effect update on the Origin client and allow update to install.

Config shows:

• MassEffect.exe = v1.02
• MassEffectLauncher.exe = v1.01
• MassEffectConfig.exe = v1.02
• Uninstall Mass Effect.exe = v1.03
• Product Keys: Bring Down the Sky

You might need to read through many of the posts here to understand where I'm coming from when I apply the above steps: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Mass-Effect-1/MASS-EFFECT-BRING-DOWN-THE-SKY-for-free-NO-KEY-NEEDED/m-p/258...

Q1. After the third step above, why do the product keys for Mass Effect and Pinnacle Station disappear (apparently caused by the Origin client "Check for Updates")? While applying this step allows me to get past registration code queries it also seems to disable any installed DLC. You can observe the lack of DLC in in in-game Downloadable Content menu and when you try to load old games from when the DLCs were then applied.

Further note: This effect on the product keys also happens when you apply the v1.02 patch installer. In fact, the BDtS installer also seems to include the v1.02 patch, so it might be the patch alone causing many of the issues, including registration code issues.

Q2. What does applying the Origin client "Check for Update" technically do and how would it cause this situation to happen?

EDIT: Q2.5 How does the Origin client "Check for Update" solve the registration code issue?

Q3. Where does Origin download the game files to before it installs them and how do I delete these unnecessary files? Unrelated to the issues at hand, but since I've been downloading Mass Effect again and again to try to get the game to work, testing out different methods to solve the related issues and screwing up the game files (namely product keys) during the process, I've noticed my storage space has been becoming more and more full every time I download and install the game.

Q4. Are there any plans for releasing a fully functioning version of Mass Effect with the latest patch and both DLC already applied to the Origin client so that we don't have to go through this messy process and only to find more dead ends afterwards?

Once I can trust that customer services would actually comprehend all of the issues and be able to help me register a fully functioning version of Mass Effect 1 with the v1.02 patch and both DLC, then I will contact them for their support. I hope you understand where I am coming from and I hope that my posts will help others too.

Regards,

Cormac