Steam update breaks HelixMod on some games
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Updated the first post with the known list of affected games, and the fix.
Updated the first post with the known list of affected games, and the fix.

#46
Posted 07/09/2014 07:54 AM   
edit:[rant snip] ... Lol. ;) There's really not many ways I can think of to do it 'automatically' ... the change(Ren dll) has to happen either after Steam checks it or prior to the affected game starts, for all the game's I tested(Viking, F.E.A.R 2, and Dead Space(Origin)) Steam(Origin) starts the alternate exe(which renames the dll, moves itself out of the directory, and renames and runs the game's exe) and everything works perfectly ... I just can't say without a shadow of a doubt whether or not Steam checks and/or cares about this sort of thing, I googled a bit but couldn't find anything(I know D-Man11 had mentioned cracked exes and TOS before but I don't really think this falls under the same catagory) As far as the game's concerned by the time the game's exe is renamed and run the alt. exe is already moved out of the directory and the script sits at that line until the game is quit and then it restores everything ... the only other thing I can think of is there's 2 processes listed in the Task Manger, eg. Dead Space.exe & Dead Space.exe ... one being the utility the other being the game. Thoughts? I'll release it but only if you guys think it's safe to use with Steam/Origin ... the only other issue with it is that it replaces the game's exe so if the game is updated there's a good chance that the utility will be over-written. I have the 'install' part of the script account for this and delete the old renamed game exe if it's present when you (re)install the utility.
edit:[rant snip] ... Lol. ;)

There's really not many ways I can think of to do it 'automatically' ... the change(Ren dll) has to happen either after Steam checks it or prior to the affected game starts, for all the game's I tested(Viking, F.E.A.R 2, and Dead Space(Origin)) Steam(Origin) starts the alternate exe(which renames the dll, moves itself out of the directory, and renames and runs the game's exe) and everything works perfectly ... I just can't say without a shadow of a doubt whether or not Steam checks and/or cares about this sort of thing, I googled a bit but couldn't find anything(I know D-Man11 had mentioned cracked exes and TOS before but I don't really think this falls under the same catagory) As far as the game's concerned by the time the game's exe is renamed and run the alt. exe is already moved out of the directory and the script sits at that line until the game is quit and then it restores everything ... the only other thing I can think of is there's 2 processes listed in the Task Manger, eg. Dead Space.exe & Dead Space.exe ... one being the utility the other being the game.

Thoughts? I'll release it but only if you guys think it's safe to use with Steam/Origin ... the only other issue with it is that it replaces the game's exe so if the game is updated there's a good chance that the utility will be over-written. I have the 'install' part of the script account for this and delete the old renamed game exe if it's present when you (re)install the utility.
#47
Posted 07/10/2014 07:41 PM   
The good news is, it might not be necessary (at least until they break it again). Steam just updated, and I tested out Mass Effect - things seem to be working again. I had to have compatibility mode set to XP on MassEffect.exe (other files didn't need it), but it seems okay now. This was just a quick test before work so I only had time to test it twice, but it's looking good. Anyone else able to confirm?
The good news is, it might not be necessary (at least until they break it again). Steam just updated, and I tested out Mass Effect - things seem to be working again. I had to have compatibility mode set to XP on MassEffect.exe (other files didn't need it), but it seems okay now.

This was just a quick test before work so I only had time to test it twice, but it's looking good. Anyone else able to confirm?

#48
Posted 07/11/2014 12:00 AM   
Didn't seem to work for me. Update as of 7/10/14. FEAR2 still crashes. No response to my Steam issue from Valve.
Didn't seem to work for me. Update as of 7/10/14. FEAR2 still crashes.

No response to my Steam issue from Valve.

Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607
Latest 3Dmigoto Release
Bo3b's School for ShaderHackers

#49
Posted 07/11/2014 07:23 AM   
Hmmm. Mass Effect 2 and The Witcher work for me with Helixmod now. Dead Space 2 didn't until I enabled XP compatibility, then it worked. I could even have the overlay enabled (but it wouldn't load). So maybe if you have XP compatibility mode enabled for a game, it will prevent the overlay dll from loading? I'll do more extensive testing tomorrow when I have more time.
Hmmm.

Mass Effect 2 and The Witcher work for me with Helixmod now. Dead Space 2 didn't until I enabled XP compatibility, then it worked. I could even have the overlay enabled (but it wouldn't load). So maybe if you have XP compatibility mode enabled for a game, it will prevent the overlay dll from loading? I'll do more extensive testing tomorrow when I have more time.

#50
Posted 07/11/2014 10:01 AM   
Another update ... 'disabled' overlay still crashing the affected games I tried(Viking/FEAR2) ...
Another update ... 'disabled' overlay still crashing the affected games I tried(Viking/FEAR2) ...
#51
Posted 07/27/2014 03:53 PM   
Try XP mode?
Try XP mode?

#52
Posted 07/27/2014 04:25 PM   
Same, still crashes on both ... but I did notice before FEAR2 crashed that it was in 3D Vision Discover mode instead of regular 3D Vision. So I tried my alt overlay disabling exe, but kept the WinXP compatibility checked on the original exes and sure enough they both started in anaglyph mode and after unchecking it they both start normally, odd.
Same, still crashes on both ... but I did notice before FEAR2 crashed that it was in 3D Vision Discover mode instead of regular 3D Vision. So I tried my alt overlay disabling exe, but kept the WinXP compatibility checked on the original exes and sure enough they both started in anaglyph mode and after unchecking it they both start normally, odd.
#53
Posted 07/27/2014 05:07 PM   
This overlay in steam is still a problem. Probably will continue to be, because I think Valve has lost it and no longer seem to care about introducing this sort of problem. Another possibility that should work is to use Helix's Injection mode. In general, most of the wrappers are moving to Injection mode because of stupid F'ups like Win8.1 dxgi bugs, this Steam overlay fiasco, Origin overlay fiasco (since resolved), NVidia driver lock-outs of wrappers. We know that overlays tend to conflict with each other, mostly because in general they are coded poorly. There is no technical reason why they can't all co-exist. I don't know how the Injection mode Helixmod works, and whether it's game specific or not, but if someone has the motivation, it looks like we are going to continue to have these problems, and it would be worth using Injection mode instead. I saw the Injection mode in the latest version of HelixMod, so if someone has the motivation, please take a look.
This overlay in steam is still a problem. Probably will continue to be, because I think Valve has lost it and no longer seem to care about introducing this sort of problem.

Another possibility that should work is to use Helix's Injection mode. In general, most of the wrappers are moving to Injection mode because of stupid F'ups like Win8.1 dxgi bugs, this Steam overlay fiasco, Origin overlay fiasco (since resolved), NVidia driver lock-outs of wrappers.

We know that overlays tend to conflict with each other, mostly because in general they are coded poorly. There is no technical reason why they can't all co-exist.


I don't know how the Injection mode Helixmod works, and whether it's game specific or not, but if someone has the motivation, it looks like we are going to continue to have these problems, and it would be worth using Injection mode instead.

I saw the Injection mode in the latest version of HelixMod, so if someone has the motivation, please take a look.

Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607
Latest 3Dmigoto Release
Bo3b's School for ShaderHackers

#54
Posted 08/18/2014 02:26 AM   
I tried it with the Viking fix and it worked, I also tried using the latest release dll instead of the one in the fix and that worked also ... FEAR2 on the other hand crashes with both the first and latest injector and the latest dll and will only work if I run the script to disable the steam overlay dll, so kind of a mixed bag of results here.
I tried it with the Viking fix and it worked, I also tried using the latest release dll instead of the one in the fix and that worked also ... FEAR2 on the other hand crashes with both the first and latest injector and the latest dll and will only work if I run the script to disable the steam overlay dll, so kind of a mixed bag of results here.
#55
Posted 08/18/2014 04:13 AM   
Good to know, thanks for trying that out! Dang, I was really expecting the injector to get around this. The problem is timing related. At launch time, all the overlays kick in and patch OS calls so they can sneak stuff into the frame buffer. The poorly written ones, including Valve apparently, don't make their code thread safe, and so two wrappers will patch the same call at the exact same moment, leaving the call inconsistent, and crashing whenever it's used. This comes from the older days when everything was single-threaded and it didn't matter. And also, programmers typically only think about their specific tool and ignore that real users want choices and multiple tools. So anyway, the only tidbit I can add is that it is timing related, so things you can do to perturb the timing, or make it all run on one thread/core can keep it from crashing.
Good to know, thanks for trying that out!

Dang, I was really expecting the injector to get around this.

The problem is timing related. At launch time, all the overlays kick in and patch OS calls so they can sneak stuff into the frame buffer. The poorly written ones, including Valve apparently, don't make their code thread safe, and so two wrappers will patch the same call at the exact same moment, leaving the call inconsistent, and crashing whenever it's used.

This comes from the older days when everything was single-threaded and it didn't matter. And also, programmers typically only think about their specific tool and ignore that real users want choices and multiple tools.


So anyway, the only tidbit I can add is that it is timing related, so things you can do to perturb the timing, or make it all run on one thread/core can keep it from crashing.

Acer H5360 (1280x720@120Hz) - ASUS VG248QE with GSync mod - 3D Vision 1&2 - Driver 372.54
GTX 970 - i5-4670K@4.2GHz - 12GB RAM - Win7x64+evilKB2670838 - 4 Disk X25 RAID
SAGER NP9870-S - GTX 980 - i7-6700K - Win10 Pro 1607
Latest 3Dmigoto Release
Bo3b's School for ShaderHackers

#56
Posted 08/18/2014 06:41 AM   
Hi, I am trying to play Mass Effect 2 but with the helix mod installed it crashes. I get the splash screens but when I should get the menu (to start the game) I only get a black screen. I can hear the music. Anyways, I tried everything I read here in this thread and nothing worked, so I'm wondering: will a version of Me 2 on Origin work? I don't to mind to buy that if necessary. btw: driver version 340.52 (GTX680 in SLI, used to work) and I installed the latest version of the fix.
Hi, I am trying to play Mass Effect 2 but with the helix mod installed it crashes. I get the splash screens but when I should get the menu (to start the game) I only get a black screen. I can hear the music.

Anyways, I tried everything I read here in this thread and nothing worked, so I'm wondering: will a version of Me 2 on Origin work?

I don't to mind to buy that if necessary.

btw: driver version 340.52 (GTX680 in SLI, used to work) and I installed the latest version of the fix.

#57
Posted 09/08/2014 09:23 PM   
Odd, almost sounds like a different issue. All the games I've tried with this issue crash to desktop at some point, whether it's right at startup or a bit of the way in once something kicks in. Are you running the updated version of the Mass Effect 2 fix? https://s3.amazonaws.com/eqznew/me2/MassEffect2_fix.zip
Odd, almost sounds like a different issue. All the games I've tried with this issue crash to desktop at some point, whether it's right at startup or a bit of the way in once something kicks in. Are you running the updated version of the Mass Effect 2 fix?


https://s3.amazonaws.com/eqznew/me2/MassEffect2_fix.zip
#58
Posted 09/08/2014 10:07 PM   
You can try it for free. Grab your CD key from Steam, enter it into Origin. This works for some games, and I'm pretty sure ME2 is one of them.
You can try it for free. Grab your CD key from Steam, enter it into Origin. This works for some games, and I'm pretty sure ME2 is one of them.

#59
Posted 09/09/2014 03:34 AM   
@TsaebehT, Thanks! But yes, I had that version installed. The strange thing however is that the upload date is: Monday, July 14, 2014 suggestion it's a very recent fix. However, I cannot find a single file in the fix that isn't from 2013. Makes me wonder if the right fix is uploaded on the helix mod site. @Pirateguybrush, Thanks for the tip, I'll try that at soon as I get home! If it doesn't work I'll try to do a celan re-install of my drivers.
@TsaebehT,

Thanks! But yes, I had that version installed. The strange thing however is that the upload date is: Monday, July 14, 2014 suggestion it's a very recent fix. However, I cannot find a single file in the fix that isn't from 2013. Makes me wonder if the right fix is uploaded on the helix mod site.

@Pirateguybrush,

Thanks for the tip, I'll try that at soon as I get home!

If it doesn't work I'll try to do a celan re-install of my drivers.

#60
Posted 09/09/2014 09:06 AM   
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