Installed launcher not being recognized when trying to play as non-admin

[Ethyron]

Hello,

I found a few similar threads but none of the solutions posted there seemed to work. I managed to install the paradox launcher as an admin (by using the suggested method of clearing all the folders in .Appdata etc. and launching steam as an admin before launching the game), and everything seeems to be working fine. However, every time when I try to launch the game via Steam (while it isn't running in admin mode), the Paradox Launcher installer attempts to re-install itself rather than launching the already installed instance of it.

I tried "installing" it into the same folder where it was already located (making sure it points at the right user directory) as well as trying to install it at a completely different location, but no matter what folder I pick (even switching between different partitions), the installer fails citing that "Paradox Launcher v2 Setup Wizard ended prematurely because of an error". I also tried removing the current (admin-based) installation completely and just launching the game as a non-admin, but that results in the same error, so it does not seem to be related to conflicts due to certain files already existing.

The logfile in the launcher-v2 folder reads:

2020-09-14 22:12:24 [main] [INFO] Dowser version: 2020.3
2020-09-14 22:12:24 [main] [INFO] The `launcherpath` file does not exists:
C:\Users\MyUsername\AppData\Local\Paradox Interactive\launcherpath
2020-09-14 22:12:24 [main] [INFO] Trying to fix existing installation in "/passive" mode
2020-09-14 22:12:24 [main] [ERROR] Fixing existing installation failed:
exit status 1605
2020-09-14 22:12:24 [main] [INFO] Running regular installation in "/passive" mode
2020-09-14 22:12:26 [main] [ERROR] Encountered installation error: exit status 1603
2020-09-14 22:12:26 [main] [INFO] Retrying installation on non-passive mode
2020-09-14 22:17:59 [main] [CRITICAL] Failed to install Paradox Launcher:
exit status 1603

Since DLCs and mods seem to require the launcher to work (and my user account usually isn't an admin account), I'd be happy for any kind of help - thanks!

 

[AndrewT]

It is not uncommon to need Steam to be in Admin mode to get the launcher to install cleanly, but it is not normal to need that henceforth.

What antivirus app do you use? Add CK3.exe to the exceptions list of your antivirus app; ESPECIALLY if you have Windows Defender, add it to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list.

You may need to add steam.exe and C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.29020.12/paradox launcher.exe. to that list too.

 

[Ethyron]

Hi AndrewT,

Thanks a lot for your response! I'm using Avira right now, and I had added both C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/ (the entire folder) as well as the CK3 installation folder (which is on my D: partition) to the exception list. I tried also adding Steam to the list based on your suggestion, but it didn't help either unfortunately.

Last installation I tried installing the launcher into a drive on my D: partition as well, since the game is installed there - I added that folder to the exception list as well, but no dice. The Windows Defender Ransomware protection isn't running right now due to Avira, so I'm at a loss what the problem may be.

Some additional information:
If I start the installer "launcher-installer-windows.msi" in the CK3 installation folder, I get the same error as when I'm starting it via steam - it tries to go through the installation process again (no matter if it is currently installed or not), and then aborts due to it "ending prematurely".
I can install the launcher successfully by either a) running steam as an admin, and then starting CK3 from there as previously described, or alternatively by

• navigating to the CK3 installation folder (on D: in my case)
• right-clicking launcher-installer-windows.msi
• selecting "Troubleshoot compatibility"
• WIndows automatically selects "Compatibility mode: skip version check" (German: "Versionsprüfung überspringen")
• Clicking on "Test settings" ("Programm testen") allows me to run the installer, and it installs/uninstalls normally

However, even if I then click on "apply these settings" in the compatibility troubleshooter and then try to open the launcher again, I'm back at the original problem until I launch the compatibility troubleshooter again - maybe this is helps to find a solution? Or is there some way to force Windows to skip the version check on the installer (I didn't find the option in the "Compatibility" Tab of the application, unfortunately).

Thanks in advance!

 

[AndrewT]

This will almost certainly be Avira getting in the way. After Avast that is probably the most troublesome AV app we see, as far as our games are concerned anyway. You may need to contact their support to ensure the game an dlauncher are fully allowed through it.

In this folder are some .log files:
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
Please attach them here.

 

[Ethyron]

Hi Andrew, thanks for getting back to me!

There is a new log there that I didn't notice before, cpatch.log - I attached it to this message. The other log is an endless stream of repeating errors about non-existing launcherpath files that I mentioned in the first message:

Spoiler: launcher-dowser.log

2020-09-16 00:07:07 [main] [INFO] Dowser version: 2020.3
2020-09-16 00:07:07 [main] [INFO] The `launcherpath` file does not exists:
C:\Users\MyUsername\AppData\Local\Paradox Interactive\launcherpath
2020-09-16 00:07:07 [main] [INFO] Trying to fix existing installation in "/passive" mode
2020-09-16 00:07:07 [main] [ERROR] Fixing existing installation failed:
exit status 1605
2020-09-16 00:07:07 [main] [INFO] Running regular installation in "/passive" mode
2020-09-16 00:07:08 [main] [ERROR] Encountered installation error: exit status 1603
2020-09-16 00:07:08 [main] [INFO] Retrying installation on non-passive mode
2020-09-16 00:07:13 [main] [CRITICAL] Failed to install Paradox Launcher:
exit status 1602

The error in cpatch.log mentions warnings regarding chmod towards the end, so it really seems to be some problem with permissions:

Spoiler: cpatch.log - Warning

2020-09-15 12:21:11 [repository] [WARNING] failed to make metadata path repository.json world writable: failed to chmod D:\Games\Paradox Interactive\.cpatch\launcher-v2-bootstrapper\repository.json: Zuordnungen von Kontennamen und Sicherheitskennungen wurden nicht durchgeführt.
2020-09-15 12:21:11 [repository] [WARNING] failed to make metadata signature repository.json.asc world writable: failed to chmod D:\Games\Paradox Interactive\.cpatch\launcher-v2-bootstrapper\repository.json.asc: Zuordnungen von Kontennamen und Sicherheitskennungen wurden nicht durchgeführt.
2020-09-15 12:21:11 [repository] [WARNING] failed to make keypath _keys/public.gpg world writable: failed to chmod D:\Games\Paradox Interactive\.cpatch\launcher-v2-bootstrapper\_keys\public.gpg: Zuordnungen von Kontennamen und Sicherheitskennungen wurden nicht durchgeführt.

The entire cpatch.log was attached to this message.

Is there perhaps some way to manually point the steam app to the installed launcher? I'll also try reinstalling CK3 while disabling Avira and relying on Windows Defender instead, thanks for the tip!

 

[Ethyron]

I managed to find a workaround by

• reinstalling the launcher as an admin (into D:\Games\Paradox Interactive)
• navigating to D:\Users\Adminusername\Appdata\Local\Paradox Interactive
• Copying the launcherpath-file from there
• Pasting the launcherpath-file into D:\Users\MyRegularUser\Appdata\Local\Paradox Interactive

Now I can start the launcher even as a regular user

Thanks a lot for your help! I hope this information may be of use for somebody else as well.