Can't install Long War - Error 183

[MadJackGatlingGun]

Hello.

I wanted to upgrade from Long War 14f to 15f, so i verified EW back to vanilla and installed 15f. I installed Revenge of the Sleeves and used EziTexMod for some textures I wanted.
When I started the game, it was still vanilla. Verified, tried again, same thing. I decided to delete all local content and try again.

Here's my problem: Now the installer throws an error saying:

"(name and directory of the file trying to install)

An error occurred while trying to create a file directory. Setup was unable to create the directory (whatever directory, typically /Long War Files)

Error 183: Cannot create a file when that file already exists

Are you sure you are installing to the game folder? If so check for missing files. You might want to reinstall/repair the game"

Obviously I've tried reinstalling EW multiple times, so the game isn't borked, and the Long War files don't already exist. I tried installing an earlier version of LW, same deal.
The installer seems convinced that a lot of LW files already exist and, curiously, if I brute-force it by ignoring the error, at still installs the new voice-packs ect.

What's happening, and is there something I can do? Also my tech-fu is weak, so please use small words.

Thanks in advance.

 

Edit: grammer

Edited July 23, 2015 by MadJackGatlingGun

[dubiousintent]

First, the standard information for future use:

Long War bug reports should be posted in the appropriate Beta Feedback thread in the "Long War" download page "forum section" for a quick response. (The LW Team has stated they don't check the main forum at all anymore for problems. Really, the dev team is the most likely to be able to help with a LW issue but anyone else who can also will be there.) You may also find that the answer is already known and posted in that section.

Be sure to read the document included with the LW download on reporting bugs. They need all the information requested there to be able to help. If they can't reproduce the problem, they can't fix it.

Second, since you performed an upgrade, wghost81 (current maintainer of the script) informs us that there is a bug in the un-install script prior to LW Beta 15e that prevents removal of all LW related files. You should use the b15e un-install script against prior version installs. (Just unpack the b15e installer to a different folder and then copy that un-install script over your current version of the uninstall script.) If you still have questions, ask in the forum linked above.

 

Apparently you are unaware that XCOM places some files (such as DLC files) outside of the "game" folder, which LW has to use as well. Consequently you have to manually run the LW un-install script to clean those out. Reverting to vanilla alone does not do that. (These locations are documented in the "Loose Files" section of the "Basic Guide to installing mods" wiki article.)

-Dubious-

Edited July 23, 2015 by dubiousintent

[MadJackGatlingGun]

Thank you for your response. I did post in the forum page, but there has been no response by anyone.

I am not certain it is an actual bug; I have some launch-logs, but I have yet to launch the game with 15f actually functioning, and that was before the installer started throwing the 183 error, which is the main problem.

I did notice that when I tried installing the 15e files into a separate folder, the folder was empty afterwards, showing 0 bytes size, 0 files 0 folders, but if the installer is launched again and I click 'browse', it shows the directory containing folders called 'Long War Files' and 'XComGame'

I have tried the same with the actual Xcom folder, but it doesn't seem to be the case here..

Soo...do those folders exist? I obviously have checked to see if they are just hidden (they're not). Are there other loose files aside from the My Documents ones? And is there a way to access the uninstall script separately without using the installer?

(The feedback thread on the forum specifically states not to ask for technical support, which it seems might be what I need. I dunno, I'm so confused)

 

Thanks for your patience.

[dubiousintent]

First of all, I am not a LW expert. I don't even have it installed, but I have downloaded the latest version and looked at the contents of the installer. (I used a command line tool called "Inno Unpacker" to extract the contents without running the installer.) That said, I see a lot of similar questions and the devs' responses, so here is what I understand and recommend.

 

The "feedback" thread is for reporting problems with the mod for the devs to look into. This isn't such a problem. It's with upgrading an older version, and you are now indicating/suggesting that you never did get LW to run correctly. I see an older report of a similar problem, that didn't get a response either. In general, if you don't report the details that show you followed the instructions in the provided documentation ("ReadMe" and "Detailed Troubleshooting"), you won't get a response from the devs. They are too busy with people who DO follow instructions.

 

The "un-installer" script is the file "res_backup.bat", located in the subfolder "{app}\Long War Files" under the directory where you unpacked or copied the installer package. The one in the b15f package is dated 2014-10-29 and is 5,708 bytes in size.

 

If you can't find this, your current issue is how to get everything back to vanilla, so I'm focusing on that. (If you really want to try to preserve your current LW game, copy the "C:\Users\<YOUR WINDOWS UDERNAME>\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\XComGame\SaveData" files somewhere else. You can try to restore them after you get everything else working again. Delete or rename the file profile.bin from that folder. You will get one from the new version instead.)

 

First, LW install/uninstall instructions are specific to platform: that is Windows or (Linux/Mac). From your responses I believe you are on a Windows platform. As such the installer is an "Inno Setup" installer (hence the unpacker I used above). According to the b15f documentation, you should be able to do a clean uninstall by using the standard Windows Control Panel "Add/Remove Programs" tool. Once you have done that you need to check in the "C:\Users\<YOUR WINDOWS USERNAME>\Documents\My Games\XCOM - Enemy Within\" folder and ensure it is empty or gone. (It will be rebuilt when you revert to vanilla and install EW, which is treated as a DLC.) Then follow the "Restoring to Vanilla" instructions in the wiki article "Steam and Mods".

 

Follow all the instructions in the "Basic Guide to installing mods", from the beginning - including linked articles such as those in the "Environments" section. Failure to do this is the usual reason for a botched LW (or other mods) install. (Yes, it's lengthy and scary and a pain in the neck. But it's all necessary.)

 

Note that you need to get vanilla to run up to the main menu TWICE before installing any other mods. (This is necessary to get ALL the current version files.) Then install LW and get it confirmed to be working correctly before installing any other mods. (See the "ReadMe" and "Detailed Troubleshooting" documents. An initial CTD is EXPECTED!) The LW installer will take care of the hex edits that need to be made to the EXE file for you, so these can wait until then.

 

Install any LW compatible mods after that. Do not expect mods that are not explicitly indicating they are LW compatible to work.

 

TexMod in particular must be installed LAST of any mods, and needs to be backed out before installing any others later on. This is because it renames and replaces the game EXE file and mods need to alter the original. (See the wiki article "Modifying Textures" for details.)

 

-Dubious-

Edited July 24, 2015 by dubiousintent

[MadJackGatlingGun]

I got it working!

I used the Inno Unpacker you linked to extracted the files and thew them into the XEW folder, and was able to manually specify the config file in Xcom ModHelper in a command prompt. Then I manually deleted 'XComGame.upk.uncompressed_size, XComStrategyGame.upk.uncompressed_size' and 'Engine.upk.uncompressed_size'

Voila, the mod is now running.

Thank you so much for helping, I'm so psyched it's finally working!

Edited July 24, 2015 by MadJackGatlingGun

[dubiousintent]

Congratulations! Thanks for taking the time to report back. Hopefully this information will help someone else.

 

-Dubious-