Help me or kill me now

Okay I know there's been a gazillion threads on this but I've only today managed to activate the game (after 4 hours). Now I want to enable the patch.

Last week I spent 5 hours downloading the patch (see where I live) only for it to get corrupted at the 95% mark. Today I went to the rapidshare site and took another 5 hours, only for the patch to give me the message 'Error reading file block 158'

HELLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can anybody please tell me which site has a patch file that really is unbugged because I just don't have the time and facility to spend my life in internet cafes tearing my hair out.

And SI guys, PLEASE don't do this to us again next year. Please?

ah yes, the 158 file thingy. I feel your pain. I had the same issue, though I do not live in Cambodia. For me the corrpupted patch was under the following link from the official sticky patch thread: Download 3 - http://www.lespacio.com/fm2009.php (so don't use it).

At first I thought I was going to kill myself. Luckilly patch under Download 1 - http://www.bdgamers.net/2008/11/14/football-manager-2009-released-patched.html was all good. So go there and find a rapidshare link, it was a decent speed dowload (but than again I do not know how it will be for you).

Good luck mate... and as for Si doing this to us once again next year, I am pretty sure that they will. Still, do you guys really think that thanks to all this online verification you can't get a working pirate version of FM?

Cheers 12.bialy - I'll try that one tomorrow. Any other tips fellas?

Check out the fansites Andy, CM Frenzy, FM Formation etc usually make the patch available and hopefully one of those will be working fine (i'd give links but can't access those sites in work)

I had this (error reading file block 123) so i re-installed and also re-downloaded the patch. So it was either the game didn't install properly or the patch didn't download properly! Anyway it fixed it. I used the same download link for the patch both times so i guess that points towards a corrupt install as to the reason it failed updating with the patch!

12.bialy - that link takes me back to the rapidshare site where I downloaded the ' block 158' error

It could be the installation. As I said in another thread, I tried to activate/install with unilock but it was bugged, so I went via Steam but that was naff too. Then unilock worked, but it left me with 2 activations. That may have caused a conflict,so I deleted Steam. As well as the patch failing, my game loaded at first but then gave me a Win32 error followed by FM.exe app failure. Right now I'm downloading the patch again (5 hours again) and hoping that the new FM.exe app solves the problem. If not it will be a full uninstall/reinstall. A whole weekend wasted just trying to get my game working. Previously I just put my disk in and away I went. If all this faffing about doesn't work, I waste considerable time and money with no result. IF that's my situation I'm left with two options - either give up on FM after over a decade of loyal dedication, or go down the market to buy a fully patched and functional diak for $2. Why does SI put me in this position?

Right, HOPEFULLY the endgame:

The last effort at downloading the patch from I site I googled was successful (only 4 hours to download). Just now it installed successfully and my game fired up. I'm loathed to close FM09 as it might never open again but right now I'm keeping fingers crossed.

I really don't appreciate the agony I've had to go through but if all is well now, the pain will fade into the background - so long as I can enjoy my game with no further hassle.

:emoticon for sheer relief:

Still, do you guys really think that thanks to all this online verification you can't get a working pirate version of FM?

In the activation FAQ they even said that this wouldn't stop the piracy of FM09, which begs the question; why bother?

It isn't going to stop piracy and it only causes legitimate users problems!

Please SI, trust your users and don't do this next year!

I was also having this problem for 146, but I re-downloaded it from the torrent and it worked fine first time.

Seems to be an issue with bad patch files.

In response to the 'bad patch files' I can't say what is causing it because it's been very sporadic, but it's been from every source so I get the feeling it's something to do with either the method of download or the computers. What's really weird is that some people have fixed it just by running the installation a few times - eventually it worked, which means that there wasn't anything inherently wrong with the file when it was run any of the times... it's odd.

Finger crossed I think I have a result. After my last post from the internet cafe I got home and the game wouldn't fire up

So I did a complete uninstall/reinstall and deleted all the files (skins, graphics, edited database etc) and put everything in one by one until I was sure () everything was okay. I've got up to July 24 with my edited database and so far so good.

As well as the activation and downloading patch nightmares, another thing that is such a pain is that the folders are defaulted to appear all over my computer. I see how many people can't find the editor, manual and other things when Steam is downloaded; I deleted all that but I still find it unbearably complex. A really bizarre thing is that in the SI folder in ' My Documents' you have a folder named ' games' and in that one all the folders are replicated, with the savegame files going into the ones inside 'games'/' games', and skins, schedules, tactics etc. all going in that sub-folder What's the point of that?

I do hope SI look into these illogical and unnecessarily complicated facets. I wonder if all the SI staff in SI towers are such computer boffins that they fail to understand us non-geeks who just want to put our DVD in the drive and play the game.

Anyway, PROVIDING my game doesn't freeze or crash, I'll be a well happy bunny. Despite the stuttering and lagging, I'm loving the 3D - even my wife is hooked and screams as a belter is curled into the top corner. She's says FM is now ' real'. I hope to be happily hooked until FM10 is out.

Now for the dreaded July 24th Bug, lets hope it doesn't happen to you also !

Whew! That didn't affect me - I'm now into August and well happy. Does the July 24 bug only affect certain leagues loaded up, or what?

Whew! That didn't affect me - I'm now into August and well happy. Does the July 24 bug only affect certain leagues loaded up, or what?

Yeah the Italian Serie C from what I heard, but thankfully that didn't affect me either.

Whew! That didn't affect me - I'm now into August and well happy. Does the July 24 bug only affect certain leagues loaded up, or what?

It's 24 July 2009 by the way. Reading your post, it seems that you have just started out and so most probably would not have already finished one season. That said, hope your save stays good!

I had already gotten to December 2008 in my game before I realised there was potentially a problem with the Italian Serie C being loaded. So I holiday-ed to 23 July 2009 and tried to see if I could get past the 24th. Alas, my save got crippled by the bug.

I feel for you Ediocy. In fact I only have the top Italian league loaded, on view-only. I have a dread feeling I'll lose the save to a crash; my installation nightmares have left me pessimistic, but so far life is idyllic!

Phnompenhandy: dont worry mate, if your in cambodia i hear there are real cheap hookers! - get out and give em one! That'l help with the frustration!!

I feel for you Ediocy. In fact I only have the top Italian league loaded, on view-only. I have a dread feeling I'll lose the save to a crash; my installation nightmares have left me pessimistic, but so far life is idyllic!

Thanks phnom! And hmm, you should be more optimistic precisely because of that nightmare you have gone through. Seeing as you went through that much trouble to get your game working, chances are, the game will reward you by not bugging out! Not having the Italian Serie C loaded at all should help out tons too.

Me? My installation/activation process on release day was smooth as silk, so I guess I should take this hiccup of restarting my game squarely on the chin haha.