Uninstall Blackbox?

[lonetrav]

I'm trying to uninstall or repair (with Admin rights) Blackbox Mars 1.50. Both processes tell me that they don't have enough rights to delete / change Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.dll.
I can delete other files in the StarDrivePlus folder.
What can I do?

[Fizban1978]

Did you install in `c:\program files` directory? that might be the issue , especially if you installed on the steam directory.
check full instructions here: https://github.com/TeamStarDrive/StarDrive/releases/tag/mars-release-1.50

[lonetrav]

It's installed on my D: drive, outside of Steam.

Additional information: I installed Blackbox 1.50 about a year ago, and it worked. Today I decided to try the latest build 15033, and extracted the zip file to StrDrivePlus.
When I launched StarDrive.exe, Windows Defender tried to block it. I told it to launch anyway. Then Norton Data Protector removed several files, but restored them when I requested it (I didn't check Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.dll specifically - it's there now, and it's also included in 15033).
I decided to un- and then re-install Blackbox 1.50 (as admin), but this didn't work, because, see above, the installer refused to remove Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.dll. Then I tried to repair the installation - same result. Finally I tried to delete the file manually, which wasn't possible either.
Now I'm stuck with a non-functioning StarDrivePlus application I can't un-install, nor repair, nor fully delete manually.

Update:
I just saw that I had downloaded build 15010, too (together with 1.50, I suppose), but didn't extract it. I tried now, and ti worked. Don't ask me, why replacing Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.dll worked, but deleting didn't.
At any rate, I can now launch Blackbox again.
But I still have to tell Windows Defender not to block it.

[Fizban1978]

We need to certify the exe at some point, i guess.
note that the auto updater should prompt you for the latest patch (should be v1.50.15034 or more by now)

[lonetrav]

Today I performed a few tests by unzipping builds and launching stardrive.exe via desktop icon.
- Build 15010 works (after I told Windows Defender not to block it).
- Build 15035 (most recent) doesn't work, because Norton Data Protector doesn't let me launch stardrive.exe.
- Going back to build 15010 works (again after telling Windows Defender not to block).
- I haven't tried to uninstall or repair StarDrivePlus again (didn't work yesterday).

I don't know what Norton's issue is. At first a number of files were quarantined because of WS.Reputation (not really a surprise, given that the build is new). I told Norton to restore these files. But when I launched stardrive.exe, Norton Data Protector interfered and didn't let me continue (even though I told it to exclude stardrive.exe).

Well, I'm happy to continue playing build 15010. But I'd appreciate it, if the next stable version (whenever it's released) would work without Windows Defender or Norton interfering. And if I could uninstall / repair the installation again (I'll probably try it myself again in a few days or weeks - for now, I simply want to have a look at Blackbox).

[Fizban1978]

When you install the release version. Do you get a prompt to update to 15035 and when you do that, does it fail to update? or only the game launch fails after the update?

[lonetrav]

"Installing build xyz" means extracting the build's zip, I've never seen an update prompt. In my last post I described my experiences with installing builds and then launching stardrive.exe.

My current installation is 15010. I just ran the 1.50 msi again and chose repair This time it went well (which makes me optimistic that uninstalling would now also work). When I launched Starbox after the repair process was complete, it showed still 15010.
The whole issue seems to be associated with trying to install one of the recent builds.

[Fizban1978]

Well, there should be a pop up that you can click on it (bottom left, with the title "update available") than you can click on to install the new patch. its an auto patcher we have since 1.50.
If you dont see it. i suggest you join our discord and we'll walkthrough it.
https://discord.gg/dfvnfH4

[lonetrav]

No pop up. ll I see on the bottom left is two lines "Stardrive Blackbox" and "Mars 1.50.15010".
Never mind. I don't use Discord, and if Norton doesn't like files, it won't like them just because they were installed by an auto updater (I suppose).
My main worry was that I couldn't seem to be able to delete one or more files, but now it looks like there is a way to get rid of them. I'll play what I've got, and try the next full release when it's available.
Thanks!

[Fizban1978]

This is very strange that you do not get a pop up when you run the game after you install the MSI file of the main release. It leads me to believe that they game might not work well for you. And also, there is a huge diff from 010 to 35. Tons of bug fixes and new stuff. So with 010 you dont get the best experience the game has to offer.
anyway, there is a video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emgWRMSpcMU&ab_channel=Tasselhoff
shows how to install and also it shows the pop-up you should get.
maybe try to install it on a different directory.
Sorry you get such problems with the install.

[lonetrav]

I get the pop up now.

At first I uninstalled Blackbox and deleted the StarDrivePlus folder. - went smoothly. Then I re-installed it to the same folder again (using the 1.50 msi) and launched stardrive.exe - again went smoothly, no complaint from either Windows Defender or Norton. Except that there was no pop up.
But a message telling me that Blackbox' access to the internet was blocked.
Which reminded me that I had told my firewall to block the access of stardrive.exe in this folder from accessing the internet (an old habit of mine - too many programs try to collect data from my PC, without asking for my approval, most of them even without telling me - I don't like spyware).
Of course, updating Blackbox does require internet access (which is ok for me in this case). I disabled the firewall rule, and the pop up duly appeared. And, surprise, the update went smoothly, too. Windows defender and Norton remained silent.

I can't explain my experience. Seems like there is a difference between me unzipping the update into the Blackbox folder and the stardrive.exe doing the same.
As far as I'm concerend, the problem has gone, and it looks like there had never been a problem if I hadn't blocked the automatic update in the firsr place. In the future, I'll never try to update Blackbox manually again :-).
While we're at it: Do you collect user data from the PCs on which Blackbox is installed?

Thanks for your help. The differences between your information and what I experienced were instructive, and helped me find the issue eventually.

[Fizban1978]

Thanks for the update. I am glad your problem is now solved. :)
Actually, when there is a new version (like 1.60) - you might need to install it manually because we dont have a major version updater yet.
Blackbox has an automated error report system where it sends reports to sentry with the crash stack and the game info. If you are concerned about it, feel free to disable it in the option screen ("Automatic Error Report" checkbox). We do not collect data besides that report.

[lonetrav]

Thanks. I have no problem with an Automatic Error Reporting system, as long as I know what it does, and I have the choice to participate or not.

[Bozobub]

Please note that Norton is *notoriously* bad for this kind of thing, in general, especially the "Sonar" global whitelisting module, as well as "Download Intelligence". C/C# devs had (and sometimes still have) HUGE problems with it deleting files silently, with no logs or quarantine, for example (quite likely why restoring files didn't work properly, when you attempted it). Yes, really. Expect more malarkey like this in the future, sadly.

This link may be of use, but folks have had problems occasionally with Norton still insisting on interfering with legit files, even so; YMMV ^^':

https://superuser.com/questions/1137080/prevent-norton-from-deleting-downloaded-files

[lonetrav]

I've been using Norton / Symantec / ... for more than 30 years, and have never had any real reason to complain. Reading the logs and messages gives me a good idea how well the software protects my PC (this is not saying Norton is the best AV software - it's the only one I know well). That it's overly protective sometimes is true, but it tells me what it does and why it does it, and I can decide to accept what Norton is doing or not. I haven't noticed a single case in all these years where Norton deleted a file silently - all deletions I noticed and checked were accompanied by messages, or mentioned in the log (but then I'm not a "C/C# dev").

The issue I described above is not a Norton issue, as far as I can say - don't kill the messenger! Both Windows Defender and Norton made me aware that there was something wrong and warned me that ignoring the alerts might cause problems. I'm still trying to understand what exactly happened, but blaming Windows Defender and / or Norton doesn't help there (without more and better information about the circumstances).
Fact is that the problem started with me unzipping a file. Later, based on a fresh install, when I let the auto-updater unzip the same file, there was no problem, Windows Defender and Norton remained silent. My decision to block stardrive.exe from accessing the internet (using Norton firewall - a great tool!) contributed (in the sense that it prevented the auto-updater from working), but was not the cause.

[Bozobub]

Glad it came out well for you, but the issues with Norton are pretty well-known and documented ^^' .

What concerns me here, is that I've *never* received such an alert from my AV for BlackBox, and I've had to install from zipped files many times. That doesn't shock me for Norton, but Windows Defender..? Odd.