Disk write error

[Castor Troy]

I recently built a new pc and successfully (except for Plants vs Zombies: goty) transferred over all of my Steam games. At first PvZ was stuck on 'Update Paused' and I was unable to 'resume updating'. I was also unable to verify the game cache, play the game or delete local game content. When I would try deleting the game content I got an error message telling me that it couldnt be removed because some files were being used by the pvz demo. Also, for some reason, Steam had the game being installed on D: which is a system reserved partition of my SSD (for some reason Windows created that when it installed).

If I right click on PvZ in the game library and go into properties>local files it says (above the 'Browse local files' tab).... Disc Usage: 49mb on drive D: even though the game is installed on Drive E:

Anywho..... so I decided to give it another try today and voila... I was able to remove the local game content. However, when I go to reinstall the game I get this error message now "An error occurred while installing Plants vs. Zombies: Game of the Year (disk write error)"

Prior to the reinstallation the game ran fine.

Btw... I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64

Thanks in advance.

[Johan]

I have the same exact problem! I even reinstalled Steam but nothing seems to work.

Did you find a solution yet or is it still not working?

[Castor Troy]

It's still not working for me.

[Johan]

That sucks. I've opened a Steam Support ticket, will post here if I find a solution.

[[iSuck] Ninekeysdown]

Delete PvZ from the steamapps folder, verify game files, and then the game will launch.

[Castor Troy]

I can't get to the point where the game will install so there are no files to verify. I just keep getting the Disk Write Error when it tries to install.

[Johan]

I got a response! It worked for me:

Hello Johanfaas,

Thank you for contacting Steam Support.

Please exit Steam and go to the folder called C:\Program Files\Steam\ (this is the default location for a Steam installation - if you set a different installation directory, you will need to browse to it).

Delete all of the files in this folder except:

- \Steamapps\ and \Userdata\ folders

- Steam.exe (this file is listed as an application and features the black and white Steam logo)

Restart your computer.

Then, launch Steam.exe from within the Steam installation folder, and not from a pre-existing shortcut.

With Steam running, re-test the original issue.

Note: This process will not affect your currently installed games.


Additionally, please complete this process for your installed game(s):

Title: Verifying Game Cache Files (GCF)
Link: http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

NOTE: There may be files that fail to validate. This is normal and can be ignored.

Let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

[Castor Troy]

Thanks Johan... that worked for me also!

I submitted a ticket to both Steam and Popcap and never recieved a reponse from either. I'm assuming that I didn't submit the Steam ticket in the proper area since there are no real PvZ forums/tech support on Steam.

Thanks again

[GeorgeWL]

Originally posted by Johan:

I got a response! It worked for me:

process

yeah tried all that, having same problem for Nimbus. not working when I do that method though.

[Johan]

Originally posted by George:

yeah tried all that, having same problem for Nimbus. not working when I do that method though.

Maybe you should open a Steam ticket about the specific problem you've got.

[GeorgeWL]

Originally posted by Johan:

Originally posted by George:

yeah tried all that, having same problem for Nimbus. not working when I do that method though.

Maybe you should open a Steam ticket about the specific problem you've got.

yeah I did. awaiting a reply.

[Squammish]

Thank you! This thread solution worked for my problem with Arkham city installation.

[GothFarmerGamerGirl]

Reinstall the whole game its not that heavy

[Gravis]

I fixed this on my machine by tracing the problem to a manifest file IN my steamapps directory. This is why deleting all of steam except your apps doesn't help.

Check \steam\logs\content_log.txt for a line like this:
[2013-09-13 22:05:00] Update job for app 70 canceled: Failed to create install base folder l:/steam/steamapps/[e-mail]/ (Disk write failure)

Steam used to live on my L drive and this data is saved in a manifest file, but I moved it to K. These files are located in the steamapps directory with names like "appmanifest_XX.acf" where XX is the app ID, which you can read from the error message in the log. In this case, it's 70 (Half-Life).

So to fix this problem, you would delete (for instance):
K:/Steam/steamapps/[e-mail]/appmanifest_70.acf

But check the logfile, find the very last error in the file of that type, and get the app ID from it.

[Kaji]

I can hereby confirm Gravis' solution. It just worked for me. Just be advised that he explicitly means your app_manifest number will NOT always be the same as his. For me, it was 3590.

Thank you, Gravis!

[Nandishimo]

Confirmed Gravis' solution worked. Have to restart steam after deleting the app_manifest file.

Thanks!