Beta Download/Install Nightmare!!

[DavidR 10]

Hi,

I really hope someone can help here;

I purchased/Pre-ordered "Take On Helicopters" from simw.com a few hours ago.

I am having an absolute nightmare trying to understand how to download and install the beta. I have of course referred this to Simw for assistance but haven't heard back yet. (In the past I've waited a long time for replies to support requests).

After purchasing, I have 6 'files' in my "Download Page" at Simware;

Beta 6

Beta 5

Beta 4

Beta 3

Beta 2

Beta 1

...... there is absolutely no info whatsoever given by Simware, o how to approach this install; ie.. which files to install, in which order. Is "Beta 6" the full latest, version of the beta, or do I need to install all of these files?

I tried downloading "Beta 6" and each time I click on it's "Download Link", nothing but a text page pops up, with some files names on it (no download starts).

I have therefore tried downloading "Beta 1" and something is downloading, but it's a ".BIN" file, not an EXE.

I have used up 8 of 10 "download attempts" with Simware, and I only bought this game 2 hours ago, and haven't achieved a single download or install yet!!!

This is not a dig at Bohemia, but you really need to get Simware to give some information on how to download and install the product.

Please, please help.

Regards,

David R

Edited October 18, 2011 by DavidR

[sickboy 13]

You probably need to download the setup.exe which will take care of the installation for you.

Sprocket version simply gives you a sprocket.exe which downloads all needed files and then launches the setup.exe

---------- Post added at 14:29 ---------- Previous post was at 14:29 ----------

This is not a dig at Bohemia, but you really need to get Simware to give some information on how to download and install the product.

Simply contact Simware?

[DavidR 10]

Hi,

It does say in my post above, that I have contacted Simware, but haven't got a response yet. So I thought I'd check the issue out on these forums, to see if it was a common issue / misunderstanding.

There is no setup.exe file at all in my downloads for TOH, at Simware.

Can anyone else who has also purchased from Simware please offer any help on how install worked for you?

At the moment I'm £32 down, with no clue how to get what I've paid for. :(

Hopefully Simw will respond soon, and I can come back and confirm what the issue is.

Thanks in advance for any help,

David.

Edited October 18, 2011 by DavidR

[zoog 18]

You need all the .bin files and the setup.exe. When you run setup.exe it will use the data from the .bin files to install. All files should be in the same folder.

I also advise to contact simware.

EDIT: you posted at the same time.

---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

This is what sprocket gives me for download:

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta.exe

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta01.bin

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta02.bin

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta03.bin

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta04.bin

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta05.bin

So yeah, maybe one of your six files should be renamed to .exe because it should be six in total.

[sickboy 13]

These are the files that I have received from Sprocket:

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta.exe
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta.exe.md5
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta01.bin
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta01.bin.md5
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta02.bin
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta02.bin.md5
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta03.bin
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta03.bin.md5
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta04.bin
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta04.bin.md5
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta05.bin
TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta05.bin.md5

TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta.exe is the installer.

If this is not delivered with Simware I suppose you'll have to await the support response.

Or hopefully BIS could nudge them but I think they are not much in control of 3rd party distributors :(

[Derbysieger 11]

I downloaded from sprocket and the first file I downloaded was TKOH_Pre-Order_Beta.exe (124MB)

Then 4 .bin files, each about 1,7GB and another .bin 334MB

I can only repeat what the others already said. Contact simware.

[BlackWolfC6 10]

It's totally normal to have many files, as said before the beta is split in some smaller files so you don't have to download the whole package at once. Download all the files simware provides you (beta 1, 2 3 and so on..), put them in the same directory and check if there's a .rar .zip or .exe file. In this case it's the only thing you'll have to install, it will grab the files it needs in the other files.

Try to right click on the links and click "Download" instead of left clicking on it.

[DavidR 10]

Hi,

Thanks for the help / confirmation guys.

Ok, I got a response from Simware, and the issue was indeed that they did in fact omit one of the files. (ooopss).

They sent it through on email, and will hopefully correct the issue on line too so other people don't go through such a nasty experience lol!

All sorted now, just 2 hours of d/loading left and I can try thing great looking sim.

Cheers.

Edited October 18, 2011 by DavidR

[zoog 18]

Good to hear it's all fixed now! Enjoy the beta :)

[dale0404 5]

Let us know that everything worked and you are looking down on Seattle mate!

[DavidR 10]

I am losing the will to live .................

10 hours after purchase .... still not had a sniff of this game yet.

So after discovering that Simware had forgotten to provide one of the files (no hard feelings) and after hours of finally downloading (no moans there, all good games & sims take some d/load time), I finally run the EXE to be told that the "SecuROM" has found a 'security issue' with my PC and will not run the program, "probably because I have a virus".

After swapping emails with "SecuROM" (who the heck am I dealing with here??) it seems I don't have a virus and should try installing again.

So.......... I install again and this time I don't get the 'security error' and all seems to go well with the activation .... yippeeee!!

So I run the program and this time I get this error message:-

"Data file too short 'addons/air_us_h.pbo'. Expected 277163363 B, got 85772928 B".

....and the program closes. :(

I'm trying to stay positive here, 10 hours after purchase, but I've really not experienced anything like this, after handing over my cash. I suspect all these problems are caused by having seperate .BIN files that are referenced by the EXE. If everything was packaged into the EXE I reckon I'd be flying by now.

So..... what to do now I wonder? .... another 6 hours of downloading the files from Simware to see if it works next time ........

I'm not a flamer, nor a troll, and I have nothing against Simware, having spent £0,000s on hardware with them, but until this mess is resolved I would advise against anyone buying this pre-order from them, as this experience has been PAIN and not a lot of fun!

Yours exasperated,

David.

[.kju 3244]

Ask them (SimWare) for a refund and buy it at Sprocket or Steam.

[zoog 18]

Ask them (SimWare) for a refund and buy it at Sprocket or Steam.

Second that. I would go for sprocket, directly from the developers and no possible problems with trying to get addons to work when having the steam version etc.

Hope you can get your money back. And otherwise, I think you'll have to re-download the corrupted file, because it sounds as if a .bin file has an error. :(

[DavidR 10]

Thanks guys.

I am doing what I knew would need to be done, before taking things further; completing a full re-download of all the files, from Simware, in case one of the files was corrupted during the last download.

So a few more hours of downloading, and we'll see what happens. It's now 23 hours since purchasing, the clock is ticking lol! ..... let's see how long it takes to be able to try out the beta.

Incidentally, none of my frustrations are with Bohemia (at this point!).

....but it would be nice to hear from someone on the team about this issue, eg, are steps being take with Simware to investigate if there is a problem etc?

I don't know if there were any installation instructions provided through the Steam or Sprocket purchase systems, but with Simware the comms were non-existant.

No installation instructions or guidance of any type, just 5 links (one missing), one of which was the md5 file which needs to be downloaded differently (right click and save as, as it's not an executable file or a BIN)........... as is so often the case, it's communication (or lack of) that has caused all of these problems.

Judging from the fact that no-one else who has purchased from Simware has mentioned anything on this thread, I am wondering if I am the only 'mug' who has chosen Simware to pre-order from. :(

I won't be making that mistake again!

Cheers for the help and encouragement. The v/beers are on me if and when I ever get to run the beta!

:)

[JustGotWicked 10]

Have you verified the existing files on your HDD to see which are and aren't complete? TKOH....01.bin for example provides air_us_h.pbo, given that the size is indeed 270MB and you seem to of ended up with roughly 83MB you could prioritise that download.

Johny posted the MD5 of each file; you can use a program called md5sums to verify the files. Simply drop them onto the executable to get the output to check against.

Hopefully you can get up and running within the shortest possible time. :)

[zoog 18]

Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but when the game is released you have to re-download the full game, ~20GB (iirc you cannot upgrade the beta installation). So I'm afraid you might have a good chance to run into these kind of issues again once it's the end of october :eek: If simware doesn't change it's delivery style/method of course. Maybe it's still possible to consider a refund. Or not. Up to you of course, and simware's policy as well.

[dale0404 5]

Just to echo what others have said mate, try and get a refund because the full game is ~ 20GB and you do not want to d/l 20 gig to find you have a problem installing the game. Use Sprocket mate, its a damn fine system and I have never had a problem with them.

Horse bolting and all that I know but its the best advice to give you buddy.

[Johny 25]

Hi,

I have prepared a small script that should allow you to see what setup files are corrupted.

It is just a script which checks the MD5 file but you don't have to know anything about MD5s.

check_TakeonBeta.zip

You need to download it, unzip/unpack the contents to the directory where you downloaded the beta files to and then run Check_TakeOnBeta.bat .

It will start script which checks the files. Please note that it takes a few minutes for each file. Then you will be able to see which file is corrupted.

I hope it helps some of you that might have trouble downloading.

Oh and a small note - full game download will have no more than 15GB.

[tommytoad2 10]

Everyone is saying simware is at fault here but it could just aswell be the OP:s internet connection. It would be so much better for people with slow/inconsistant connections if there was a BitTorrent alternative.

[DavidR 10]

Everyone is saying simware is at fault here but it could just aswell be the OP:s internet connection. It would be so much better for people with slow/inconsistant connections if there was a BitTorrent alternative.

Uhhhm, BT "Infinity" (Fibre Optic) running at 44Mbps....... ...I do take your point, but I have a high speed, fibre optic broadband connection ;) :)

THANKS to all the other posters for their help and advice. And thanks for the check tool, Johhny. I NOW HAVE THE BETA RUNNING!

I asked Simware to check all of the files they had uploaded. I then redownloaded, ran the EXE and all now works fine.

Just going through the 'startup & shutdown tutorial' ; this looks fun! (I am a 20yr veteran of MSFS, but am very up for something new, and looking forward to a fresh take on flight sims). :)

Haven't quite got my graphics/displays right yet as I seem to have no AA displaying, but I'm sure we can get that sorted.

Tonight will be spent reading the manual (luckily something I really enjoy with a new product, unlike many!).

Cheers again,

David.

Edited October 19, 2011 by DavidR

[dale0404 5]

Good news all round then!!!:yay: