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StarCraft II Troubleshooting FAQ [Updated 9/12]

Discussion in 'StarCraft 2 Tech Support' started by TheXev, Jul 31, 2010.

StarCraft II Troubleshooting FAQ [Updated 9/12]

Discussion in 'StarCraft 2 Tech Support' started by TheXev, Jul 31, 2010.

  1. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    8/26 - I am currently working on a "StarCraft II connection issue" guide. It will replace any question in this guide that relates to connection problems. Hopefully when completed, it will be a much better and concise way of troubleshooting all connection issues then the current FAQ.

    I have decided to put together a FAQ for people troubleshooting issues with StarCraft II. See many people having the same issues, so I will attempt to answer the common questions. So if you have any questions about installation, the nVidia overheating issue, StarCraft II system requirements, you can find it all here!

    [HOT ISSUE]
    Q. Can my machine play StarCraft II?

    (StarCraft II System Requirements.)

    A. The easiest way to tell is you navigate to the System Requirements Lab website and run their utility for StarCraft II. Don't let your video card model number fool you, some cards work better then min spec, other worse even if they appear to have a higher model number!

    [HOT ISSUE]
    Q. I have corrupted graphics in StarCraft II, what should I do? or
    Q. I need updated drivers for my machine for StarCraft II, where can I go?

    (StarCraft II corrupted graphics.)

    A. First attempt to update all of your video card drivers. This is not as simple as making sure you have no driver updates in Windows Update! Windows Update sometimes has drivers that are 6 months to a year old! Your computer manufacture also won’t always have the most current drivers on their website!

    ATI desktop/portable drivers can be found here. A guide to installing ATI's newest drivers can't be found here.

    nVidia desktop drivers can be found here.

    nVidia portable drivers can be found here.

    nVidia Laptop drivers generally are not as well supported as desktop drivers, so if your laptop is not supported by the official nVidia laptop driver, you can try Laptop Video 2 Go’s 3rd party driver add-on. These are 3rd party modified drivers, but are generally stable because they do not attempt to tweak hardware at all. Use at your own risk!!!

    Intel has a Driver Update Utility that you can run. If you have any Intel hardware in your machine, you should try running this by navigating to the site with either Internet Explorer or Firefox.

    [CRITICAL ISSUE -ALL NVIDIA USERS TAKE NOTE]
    Q. StarCraft II runs okay for about 5 mins, and then slows down to a crawl!? What do I do?

    (StarCraft II causing nVidia video cards to overheat.)

    A. This is a general issue that Blizzard is aware of. This commonly happens on nVidia card setups running the 196 series drivers or newer. This occurs when the nVidia card doesn't cap the frame rate of StarCraft II and the video card overheats! The current work around is to…

    -Open your Variables.txt file (which can be found in "C:\Users\{YourUserName}\Documents\StarCraft II" on PC and "~/Documents/Blizzard/Starcraft II/variables.txt" on Mac)

    Add these lines to the bottom:
    frameratecap=60
    frameratecapGlue=30

    This problem was introduced during StarCraft II beta with the release of the 196 series nVidia drivers, while this issue was supposed to have been addressed by nVidia, many nVidia users are still experiencing the symptoms of overheating. PC users can try installing Rivatuner and manually controlling your fan settings to be at 100% while playing StarCraft II, in addition to the above variables.txt fix! Mac users can use iStat in combination with smcFanControl. Temperatures above 74C/165F may be too hot for your video card!

    Laptop users and users of cards without cooling fans (passively cooled) may not have a fan setting.

    There have been reports of people losing their video cards because of this issue! All nVidia users should apply this regardless of a problem!

    [HOT ISSUE]
    Q. I am having an issue with the patcher, what do I do?

    (StarCraft II error message "Multiple problems saving data".)

    A. There are many issues you could be experiencing with the patcher software. First and foremost, try port forwarding if you are behind a router.

    Q. But what if I keep getting the error ‘multiple problems saving data’? or
    Q. Patcher downloads then stops at xx%, what do I do?

    (StarCraft II manual patch downloads.)

    A. You can download the StarCraft II patch data here, and place it into your StarCraft II game folder. Then when you run the patcher again, it will read that data and update. If you unable to find manual patch data for your client, try deleting your /updates folder inside of your StarCraft II installation and trying again.

    You can also try manually setting your DNS server settings. This fix is more typically used to address the patcher stopping, not the 'multiple problems saving data' issue.

    Q. StarCraft II’s mouse cursor is invisible! Where did it go?
    (StarCraft II mouse cursor disappeared.)
    A. The mouse cursor disappears typically when DPI settings for the computer are set to anything but 100% (normal). Setting “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings” in StarCraft II’s compatibility mode will not fix this issue. The main method of correcting this issue is to return your DPI settings to normal.

    Others have reported for ATI cards, that disabling Catalyst AI in the CCC will fix this issue as well.

    Q. I need to know what ports to forward on my router for StarCraft II, what are they?
    (StarCraft II port forwarding.)

    A. The ports you need to forward depend on the region you purchased StarCraft II! They are pretty much the same, but the little difference might be all it takes to get things working!

    For English US:

    TCP Ports 1119, 1120 and 3724
    TCP Ports 6881 - 6999
    UDP port 1119

    For English UK (Downloader here,StarCraft II game):

    TCP Ports 1119, 1120 and 3724
    TCP Ports 6112 and 6881-6999
    UDP port 1119

    If you need instructions on how to forward ports on your router, check out PortForward.com!

    Q. I have attempted to install off the DVD and failed, now I am trying to install using the internet installer and that fails too! What do I do?
    (StarCraft II won't install.)

    A. Many have reported that simply removing the DVD from the drive will allow the Internet installer to download. The internet install first checks your DVD for files and if you already had trouble with it will fail again!

    Thank you Case23 for this easy solution!

    [MAC ISSUE!]
    Q. My Mac meets the minimum system requirements, yet StarCraft II plays poorly! What can I do?

    A. A Mac user with this very same issue posted an interesting fix. Take a look at the thread here.

    Q. I have been receiving the error “you need the Blizzard language pack to use that language.” What do I do?

    A. Check and make sure the time is set correctly on your PC. Setting the correct time seems to clear this issue up.

    Q. My issue isn't addressed here? What should I do?

    This question has been moved to its own post, you can find it here.

    So many people are asking the same questions so its hard to search for an answer that may have already been posted. If the same question keeps coming up, I'll amend it to this first post!

    I will also spend time updating what I have already typed with more detailed post about stuff like changing DNS servers, with XP/Vista/Win7 specific explanations and pictures. If someone else has already posted a good, detailed explanation on how to fix a common issue, I'll post that too!

    If anyone has an answer to a common question they want on this list, please just let me know in this thread and I'll try to make it happen! It will take some time to build this FAQ into something useful, but if we all work together it will happen.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2010
    kuvasz and jasmine like this.
  2. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    2010-07-31
    - Created FAQ.
    - Added Question on ‘multiple problems saving data.’

    2010-08-01
    - Reformatted post using spoiler tags so the questions can be read quickly.
    - Added Case23's solution to Internet installer issues question.
    - Added additional information on port forwarding.

    2010-08-02
    - Added additional information on how to find system data with dxdiag.
    - Split "My issue isn't addressed here? What should I do?" into its own post. This is so I can simply reference that post if I need to direct people on how to gather their system information in other topics.

    2010-08-03
    - Reformatted FAQ again. Adding hot/critical issues, and combining patcher issues into one question (as all solutions may work). Added information on nVidia cards and Rivatuner fan control.
    - Posted low performance on Mac question.
    - Added question about StarCraft II system requirements, and Intel driver updating tool.
    - Added 1.0.1 enUS Mac patch data and ricsorceror's enGB workaround.

    2010-08-06
    - Clarified information on nVidia overheating. Made 'multiple problems saving data' part of the question so more people will read it (too many people asking on the forum now.

    2010-08-11
    - Added links for nVidia Mac fan control programs.

    2010-08-14
    - Added tags to hopefully encourage more "hits" of the FAQ via search engines and maybe make it easier for people to read.
    - Added info about laptop users and passively cooled video cards not having fan settings in rivatuner/other tools.
    - Added question about disappearing/invisible mouse cursor.

    2010-08-25
    - Reformatted corrupt drivers question to be simpler.
    - Added link to ATI/AMD driver installation guide. Unlike nVidia drivers which work well when installed over an existing installation, ATI/AMD drivers require more work to be installed stable.
    - Added/changed details on posting your own thread. These chances include how to run dxdiag. This is long a long overdue change.

    2010-09-12
    - Added more Mac specific data to overheating question.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2010
  3. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    I have uploaded the StarCraft II enUS and enGB patch data to folders on mediafire.com!

    [PC Patch Folders]

    Click here for StarCraft II enUS (United States/North America) patch data!

    Click here for StarCraft II enGB (United Kingdom/Europe) patch data!
    I am now maintaining enGB. Not sure why its so different in size as enUS in some patches. Maybe I need to reinstall enUS too?

    Currently, enSG patch data is not available! If you have a South-Asian English distro of StarCraft II, please private message me or email me (TheXev[at]gmail.com) a guest key so I can download the client!

    [Mac Patch]

    Click here for StarCraft II enUS OSX patch data! Currently only 1.0.2 is missing. Once I have it, this will be kept up-to-date properly!

    PC archives require WinRAR.
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2010
  4. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    Q. My issue isn't addressed here? What should I do?

    A. Start your own thread in the StarCraft 2 Tech Support forum. Make sure you put a simple description of your problem in the subject line (not just "Help me PLEASE" or the like). Next, describe your problem in detail, but also include details of your system specs and installed drivers. The easiest way to do this is to run dxdiag (DirectX Diaglostics). This can only be done on a PC (I still need to look into what Blizzard would have a Mac user use).

    To run dxdiag=> Windows_logo_key+r, dxdiag. If you have 64-bit Windows, click the button at the button that says "Run 64-bit DxDiag," Then save all the data by clicking "Save All Information..." zip/rar the text file and attach it to your forum post. Instructions on how to zip here. To create a rar file, first download and install winRAR then read this guide here.

    With this information, you will receive a much quicker response about your issue.
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2010
  5. paul_lennon

    paul_lennon New Member

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    Thanks for creating this much needed FAQ TheXev and think we all appreciate it

    My problem is the patching issue. It stops at 22% with the 'There were multiple problems saving data.
    I have no idea how to forward ports or anything to do with it, and the website you listed makes you use a program worth $30.
    Is there anyway i can do this without that? I use a D-Link D-624 router.
    I have an option in my router set up called Advanced Applications. I can select Battle.net from a list of 'special applications and set up trigger ports with the type and public ports with the type.
    Can I use this to fix my problem?
     
  6. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    First, try the steps in "Q. My patcher downloads a little bit of patch, then stops in the same spot! What do I do?" Then try the steps in port forwarding (it will tell you what ports to forward, and lead you to a website that will hopefully have instructions on how to forward those ports on your exact router).

    I really need to reflect on how to clarify stuff like the multiple issues saving question... as the answers for most of the questions involving connection settings can all be used together (meaning the answer to the " My patcher downloads a little bit of patch, then stops in the same spot! What do I do?" might be the solution to your problem.)
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2010
  7. peterius

    peterius New Member

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    Xev has a good FAQ here but guys don't beat yourselves up trying to fix hardware or this or that. I think its clear that SC2 was pushed out the door and has a huge number of bugs. Beta forum was filled with people saying "Please FIX blizz" even in the last days.

    Basic rule of thumb, if you can run newer games fine and for some reason you have problems with SC2, its probably SC2's fault and all we can do is wait for a patch.
     
  8. paul_lennon

    paul_lennon New Member

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    I have both forwarded the ports above(checked with a port app) and manually inserted the patch into SCII's Update folder
    To no avail

    What else can I do Xev?


    Do you know of anyone who has gone through this problem and fixed it??
     
  9. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    Did you try manually downloading the patchs at one of the above links and copying them into your game folder? That normally fixes it for most people. You can try deleting your current "updates" folder if that's not an option.
     
  10. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    DNS Troubleshooting

    It is possible that you are having a DNS (Domain Name Server) time out. This can happen when you are behind a router and the router is not properly forwarding DNS request to your machine. (DNS is when you take a web address like http://www.starcraft2forum.org and resolve it to an IP address like 123.23.54.7 [ex]).

    If you are experiencing this problem, you probably also have frequent time outs when attempting to load web pages in your web browser.

    I have previously addressed how to change your DNS server in Windows 7/Vista. If you want to use your own DNS server instead of google's, open your router and find out what DNS servers it is using to access the internet and use those instead.

    Also, you can try port forwarding listed in last question, or manually downloading the patches listed blow.


    [I will eventually change this post to be a full guide for changing DNS settings]
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2010
  11. paul_lennon

    paul_lennon New Member

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    (Please read)
    My system:

    DNS: (Primary):8.8.8.8
    (Secondary)8.8.8.4

    Open Ports:(TCP) 1119, 1120, 3724, 6881 - 6999
    (UDP): 1119

    Static IP:190.53.213.221

    Patch directly inseted into updates folder again and again. I erase the PART files as well

    Still stuck at 22%
    Whats wrong, I have done absolutely everything in the guide and still nothing. All of the question related to patching ive read and tried
     
  12. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    You have tried manually downloading the patch and pasting it into your StarCraft II folder? Its not an EXE, it has to be manually put into C:\Program Files (x86)\StarCraft II (overwriting the \updates folder completely). Then restart the patcher and it should patch.
     
  13. paul_lennon

    paul_lennon New Member

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    So I must extract with WinRAR to the Starcraft 2 folder? Or just copy and paste?

    Sorry If im coming off as a nuisance here I just dont know what else to do.
     
  14. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    Grab the updates folder inside the rar (after opening it), drag to StarCraft II folder, overwrite old updates folder.
     
  15. paul_lennon

    paul_lennon New Member

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    SUCCESS!

    Thank you Xev couldnt have done it without your guide.
     
  16. TheXev

    TheXev Active Member

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    I need to make some pretty pictures for lots of stuff. lol Guna take some effort and time. Glad you got things working now.
     
  17. BeRToZ

    BeRToZ Guest

    Thanks for the tips! I did have a quick question though.

    1) Where exactly do I go to set my fan speed to 100% There seems to be multiple fan speed options, and each require me to fill in a number (I assume 100?).

    2) Also, do I set it once and forget it? or should I set it to 100 before SC2, and back to whatever when I am done?

    Thanks for your hard work!
     
  18. HamAndSwiss

    HamAndSwiss New Member

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    I've been wondering the very same!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 20, 2010
  19. kecekapan

    kecekapan Guest

    thanks =) it works great... now i need the manual download for patch 1.0.2.

    Thanking you in advance, thank you! =)
     
  20. fitzner

    fitzner New Member

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    I can't found out how this work, when i press on my cennection bars (I use wireless) it just pops up with my cennection name and same info about it, nothing about any DNS. Maybe i've mised something, if I haven't please can you maybe explain a alternative way to fix it? :)