Error on launch of Eu4

[Humble]

Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 236850
SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561198295889861 [API loaded no]

Anyone know what going on here? This is confusing me as this randomly started to happen today, now when I try to eu4 it crashes almost instantly...

[grotaclas]

Where did you see these messages? Eu4 outputs them on every startup, but you normally don't see them unless you start it from the command line. AFAIK they have something to do with the crash reporter.

[Humble]

I see these messages in the launcher, and after doing a full clean, reinstalling C++ redistributable files, etc. it still crashes on launch. I get about 5 seconds of it loading, music starts, crashes... It also crashes when trying to launch it from the .exe

Originally posted by grotaclas:

Where did you see these messages? Eu4 outputs them on every startup, but you normally don't see them unless you start it from the command line. AFAIK they have something to do with the crash reporter.

[Humble]

The error has now changed... I didnt do anything, im so confused....

Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 236850
SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561198295889861 [API loaded no]
easywsclient: connecting: host=live-A377895oUfhi.ws.gamesparks.net port=443 path=/ws/device/A377895oUfhi
Connected to: wss:/live-A377895oUfhi.ws.gamesparks.net/ws/device/A377895oUfhi
easywsclient: connecting: host=gsp-aeu002-se33.gamesparks.net port=443 path=/ws/device/A377895oUfhi

I also installed Hoi4 just now to see if it was an engine or launcher problem but Hoi4 launches and loads fine, so this solely has to do with Eu4, very... very confusing...

[grotaclas]

The new messages look like there is another program which tries to mess with eu4 Maybe there is something which tries to offer new functionality, cheats, multiplayer enhancements or new overlays(e.g. to show what you are currently playing in some chat system).

[Humble]

Originally posted by grotaclas:

The new messages look like there is another program which tries to mess with eu4 Maybe there is something which tries to offer new functionality, cheats, multiplayer enhancements or new overlays(e.g. to show what you are currently playing in some chat system).

Hmm, okay, ill do some looking because I havent done anything of the sort... It may be some malware of something most likely imo

[Humble]

Its fixed! I dont know what I did but I ran some malware checks, did another full clean and it works now!

[Gavulo]

How do you do a malware check and what is a full clean I am also having this problem right now

[grotaclas]

Originally posted by Yeah:

How do you do a malware check and what is a full clean I am also having this problem right now

Which problem do you have exactly? The description in the first post is very generic and would apply to most startup problems

[Gavulo]

Originally posted by grotaclas:

Originally posted by Yeah:

How do you do a malware check and what is a full clean I am also having this problem right now

Which problem do you have exactly? The description in the first post is very generic and would apply to most startup problems

Of course my mistake. Okay so when I do open up the Eu4 launcher whether I click play or resume it loads up but I stay in the launcher. It then gives me an error. "An error has occurred" (Red error sign) then under that it says "Launching the game has failed. Please verify the integrity of your game files. If you are using Windows, you may also need to install Visual C++ Redistributable and .NET Framework." under that it says Show details and when I click that it says "Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 236850
SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561199004221697 [API loaded no]" which is actually what I searched up to find this.
Also sorry I took so long I didn't expect an immediate response.

[grotaclas]

Originally posted by Yeah:

Of course my mistake. Okay so when I do open up the Eu4 launcher whether I click play or resume it loads up but I stay in the launcher. It then gives me an error. "An error has occurred" (Red error sign) then under that it says "Launching the game has failed. Please verify the integrity of your game files. If you are using Windows, you may also need to install Visual C++ Redistributable and .NET Framework." under that it says Show details and when I click that it says "Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 236850
SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561199004221697 [API loaded no]" which is actually what I searched up to find this.

As I said in my first comment, these messages are just normal startup messages so the only thing it tells us is that the launcher was able to at least start eu4.exe.

Does eu4 open at least a window for you or doesn't that happen either? If it opens a window, what is the last thing that it displays?

The easiest things you can try are to make sure that there are no active mods in the playsets section of the launcher and to change the display mode to borderless fullscreen like in the following screenshot:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2708648091

One of the most common cause of crashes early in the startup is an antivirus or ransomware protection software that prevents eu4 from writing its files. In that case you have to add eu4 (and possibly the launcher) to the exception list of your software

• If you have Windows Defender(also called Microsoft Defender), add the launcher and eu4 to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list(here[docs.microsoft.com] are instructions for that).
  
• If you have bitdefender, add the launcher and eu4 to the list of ransomware exceptions and "give it access" to "protected files".
  
• If you have avast, you have to add the launcher and eu4 to the allowed list in the ransomware shield

[Gavulo]

Originally posted by grotaclas:

Originally posted by Yeah:

Of course my mistake. Okay so when I do open up the Eu4 launcher whether I click play or resume it loads up but I stay in the launcher. It then gives me an error. "An error has occurred" (Red error sign) then under that it says "Launching the game has failed. Please verify the integrity of your game files. If you are using Windows, you may also need to install Visual C++ Redistributable and .NET Framework." under that it says Show details and when I click that it says "Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 236850
SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561199004221697 [API loaded no]" which is actually what I searched up to find this.

As I said in my first comment, these messages are just normal startup messages so the only thing it tells us is that the launcher was able to at least start eu4.exe.

Does eu4 open at least a window for you or doesn't that happen either? If it opens a window, what is the last thing that it displays?

The easiest things you can try are to make sure that there are no active mods in the playsets section of the launcher and to change the display mode to borderless fullscreen like in the following screenshot:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2708648091

One of the most common cause of crashes early in the startup is an antivirus or ransomware protection software that prevents eu4 from writing its files. In that case you have to add eu4 (and possibly the launcher) to the exception list of your software

• If you have Windows Defender(also called Microsoft Defender), add the launcher and eu4 to the Ransomware "Apps Allowed Through" list(here[docs.microsoft.com] are instructions for that).
  
• If you have bitdefender, add the launcher and eu4 to the list of ransomware exceptions and "give it access" to "protected files".
  
• If you have avast, you have to add the launcher and eu4 to the allowed list in the ransomware shield

Okay so I click the play button for Eu4 on my steam library I choose "Play Europa Universalis IV" then play it loads up the launcher the launcher appears on my task bar. If I do nothing it is stable it stays open and when you do ask about whether it opens a window for me I assume that it does. It just displays the launcher and it nothing else happens. Then if I press play as I've said it loads for a bit and gives me the error message.
I have no mods on right now as prior to this I was trying to get as many achievements as possible stopping at 39. Okay interesting news so I turned it on borderless and of course it gets my hopes up buying opening up for not even a second with the Eu4 screen but then it closed and gave me the same error message. I tried it 2 more times after that and each time brought up the Europa Universalis IV screen with the blue background and a gold line above and below it.
So in windows defender I was able to find the launcher but not eu4 so I then searched for eu4 and it went in but it was called a 6 digit set of numbers. After doing this I now open the launcher and I get a new error code "Access Error to Game Data" under that it says "We don't read/write access to to the directory with game data. Please contact support." Under that it says ok. If I press play it gives the same error code but now Windows defender tells me "Unauthorized changes blocked" under that it says "Controlled folder access blocked eu4.exe from making changes. Click to see settings." Which is weird because I thought I just gave it access or maybe I blocked eu4. So I tried again and this time I did find EU4 now the reason I just typed out me failing that last time was for the important details and I'm typing this as I do it. Anyway I tried reopening again expecting it to fail again. It still gives me that "Access Error to Game Data" I press play and as I expect it's the same "An Error has occurred" error and keep it mind the Eu4 screen with the blue background is still showing up ever since I made that one change with the borderless option. So first option failed and I then moved on to the second in your 3 bullet point solutions. This one was simple I don't have Bitdefender to my knowledge. So now the third Avast which is also easy because I don't have Avast.
I do have some things to say though would any other anti virus apps you have not mentioned affect it because I assume not due to the fact I've been able to play 1200 hours of Eu4 while having them. The other thing I ask is would storage be an issue because I am currently dealing with a bad storage issue on my main drive I have 215 gb left and I can't find anything to delete that isn't important.

[grotaclas]

Originally posted by Yeah:

The other thing I ask is would storage be an issue because I am currently dealing with a bad storage issue on my main drive I have 215 gb left and I can't find anything to delete that isn't important.

Why is 215 Gigabyte left a storage issue? Or did you mean to say 215 Megabyte? 215 MB could be a problem, because this could fill very very quickly (e.g. if the launcher attempts to update itself) and then there wouldn't be enough space left for eu4 to write its log files and this makes eu4 crash.

Any antivirus or ransomware protection software can block eu4 or the launcher. I only wrote about the ones which definitely caused problems for some people and for which I found specific instructions. It can even block eu4/the launcher if the same software has not blocked them before(e.g. because an update to the software changed its rules or a new eu4/launcher version is a little different and triggers and existing rule or the old eu4/launcher version was on a whitelist while the new one isn't or because the software tries to track which program owns which file and a new eu4 version isn't considered the owner of its log/setting files anymore and gets blocked from overwriting them).
If the launcher complains about missing access to the game data, there is definitely still a problem. It could be that a full storage would give the same message, but otherwise it is probably blocked.

Or is your Documents folder maybe on a cloud storage service(e.g. microsoft onedrive)? This has caused problems for some people.

[Gavulo]

Originally posted by grotaclas:

Originally posted by Yeah:

The other thing I ask is would storage be an issue because I am currently dealing with a bad storage issue on my main drive I have 215 gb left and I can't find anything to delete that isn't important.

Why is 215 Gigabyte left a storage issue? Or did you mean to say 215 Megabyte? 215 MB could be a problem, because this could fill very very quickly (e.g. if the launcher attempts to update itself) and then there wouldn't be enough space left for eu4 to write its log files and this makes eu4 crash.

Any antivirus or ransomware protection software can block eu4 or the launcher. I only wrote about the ones which definitely caused problems for some people and for which I found specific instructions. It can even block eu4/the launcher if the same software has not blocked them before(e.g. because an update to the software changed its rules or a new eu4/launcher version is a little different and triggers and existing rule or the old eu4/launcher version was on a whitelist while the new one isn't or because the software tries to track which program owns which file and a new eu4 version isn't considered the owner of its log/setting files anymore and gets blocked from overwriting them).
If the launcher complains about missing access to the game data, there is definitely still a problem. It could be that a full storage would give the same message, but otherwise it is probably blocked.

Or is your Documents folder maybe on a cloud storage service(e.g. microsoft onedrive)? This has caused problems for some people.

Okay maybe I was overreacting 215 gb isn't that bad.
I looked on my files and my documents folder is in "This PC"
Also about the antivirus I was just asking to check I honestly am not 100 percent sure about all the antivirus apps I have installed although I am pretty sure I only have one. I have tried to give eu4 access in the Microsoft one and it didn't work as I've previously stated. I can try it again though.

[grotaclas]

Do you still get the message from the launcher that it can't access the game data? Then you should definitely check out microsoft defender again.

You could also try a clean reinstall as described in my guide on reddit about common startup problems with version 1.29 to get a clean slate. Maybe it helps.

[Gavulo]

Originally posted by grotaclas:

Do you still get the message from the launcher that it can't access the game data? Then you should definitely check out microsoft defender again.

You could also try a clean reinstall as described in my guide on reddit about common startup problems with version 1.29 to get a clean slate. Maybe it helps.

When I open it now the only error I get is "An error has occurred" under that it says "Launching the game has failed. Please verify the integrity of your game files. If you are using Windows, you may also need to install Visual C++ Redistributable and .NET Framework." under that it says show details and if I click that it says "Setting breakpad minidump AppID = 236850
SteamInternal_SetMinidumpSteamID: Caching Steam ID: 76561199004221697 [API loaded no]" This is what was happening originally although now the Europa Universalis IV with the black background and gold stripes pops up. So I assume Microsoft was never blocking it in the first place because when I did mess with the Microsoft access that is when I was starting to get the access error.

I will try a clean reinstall so as the guide says I verified the games integrity which I have done before about 6 times and like those previous attempts this one said nothing. I don't usually feel safe messing with my files but this time I felt like I had to. So I went to steam steamapps common found the Europa Universalis IV folder and I deleted it by right clicking. Now I am looking for the workshop content and I found it. There were many folders with numbers but I couldn't find 236850. So I am going to assume I somehow deleted it while I deleted the eu4 folder or I messed this all up. I am pretty sure I recognize 236850 from earlier though in one of my messages. Wait what so I delete the folder and rename it?6-7 is confusing. Nvm I reread it and found paradox int. Move it where and rename it to what? I decided to not install this out of fear of corrupting my game and losing those save files. "you can skip this step if your game at least opens the Europa Universalis startup screen after you click play in the launcher)." pretty sure this is that screen with the blue background I started getting after changing to borderless right? I got deja vu in this step so combined with the previous thing I talked about I decided to skip this step like it says to do. So onto step 9 I started steam again to redownload Eu4 and when it finished I verified the game. So now eu4 while having no mods expecting it to fail again and weirdly enough it loaded with the loading screen and I think it maybe crashed because eu4 and the launcher now closed. Now I am worried I broke the game. So then I try again and as if it's cursed I get the same error sign the "An Error has Occurred" one. Then I changed my games version I open in with low hopes then I see peter the great and my hopes go up as soon as they do the game crashes... Are you seriously going to tell me this thing isn't alive and did that on purpose? I opened the game again and it said "ungraceful exit" under that it says "it seems that the application closed ungracefully, sending us a crash report will help us track down your issue. The transmission will run in the background while you play the game." under that it asks "send report?" This sounds good to me so I sent a report and now I wonder why the newer version doesn't have this. I try playing again and as I expect it tries. So then I do third time the charm it says ungraceful exit when I open it and when I press play it load and it again crashes. (I have it on 1.28.3 btw as it asked). I don't know if I am even doing all this correctly so if you want me to stream my screen with you while doing this or take images I'll be fine with that if you need more info.