Football Manager 2009 patch download details (was authentication and update)

[topacespurs]

my code will not work on uniloc or steam and i have tried putting it in by changing the 0 to an O but it still will not take my code on either service. im gettin rather annoyed at this system they r using !!!!!! can someone help me please?

[McGeady10]

i have a boxed copy and installed when prompted using steam. it then updated and said game was ready to launch but when i click launch it brings up a window from SoftAnchor asking for a product key as my trial has expired. when i do this it then sends activation request but keeps saying 'could not connect to internet...'

To fix this error all I had to do was change the system date to the correct date My verious was a Steam version though so I'm not sure sorry.

[TheOriginalJez]

Right, excuse me for being thick.

The torrent download is the patch right? And I can download of one PC and transfer to my laptop via a memory stick right?

That's what I've done and it seems to have worked

[Dicko99]

Authenticated through unloc and was a smooth easy process ty sega/si i had my doubts bout this system u were using but turned out fine for me.


plus did anyone get some football manager trumps cards free with the game i did

[HuwFlet2]

my code will not work on uniloc or steam and i have tried putting it in by changing the 0 to an O but it still will not take my code on either service. im gettin rather annoyed at this system they r using !!!!!! can someone help me please?

Hi

Have you tried putting your code into

http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/

SI/Sega came up with this last night to help with the problems people were having!!

[Pickles]

That's what I've done and it seems to have worked

nice one, cheers

[GillsMan]

Please post PATCH questions in the appropriate forum - this is not an activation request...

Christ, get some sleep man!

[Mike7077]

When you have a boxed version, do you have to install the game on your computer before you authenticate and get the update?

[Bilet]

Any time for mac patch?

[goonerspykey]

I have entered my code at least 20 times!! check the o' and 0s, and all the other similar letters and still it says invalid code!! how do I sort this please

[Chris21]

Just got my game and before attemping the code I was just wondering whether the code has to be written in Capital letters? I'm guessing no but I don't wanna get it wrong lol

[Krissern]

Hi, i asked this yesterday, but did not get an answer. I try to activate my game trough SoftAnchor, but it says unable to connect to internet. But as you see my internet connection is just fine and i have disabled my firewall.

[RuDi]

i'm having exact same problem Krissern but everything anyone can think of just doent seem to work, on the plus side my call of duty game arrived so i can play that now while i wait for a fix

[McGeady10]

Hi, i asked this yesterday, but did not get an answer. I try to activate my game trough SoftAnchor, but it says unable to connect to internet. But as you see my internet connection is just fine and i have disabled my firewall.

I had this problem and fixed it by making sure my system was set to the correct time and date and then reinstalling the patch

Sorri if it doesn't work for you...

[Kev_UK]

Tried registering the game with my key and all i get is this each time


We were unable to process your request. To receive a new key, please visit: http://www.sigames.com. Error: [-51

[Krissern]

MINE WORKS! Switched to cable instead of wireless network.

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

I had this problem and fixed it by making sure my system was set to the correct time and date and then reinstalling the patch

Sorri if it doesn't work for you...

Fxxxin disgrace, Same with me SI have LOT to answer for!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And where is this local tel number we are meant to be able to call?

[azzy_red_devil]

i have just installed box version when to activate online, must have typed the code in wrong because got an error so clicked back changed my 0 to a o clicked forward now its been stuck on the 'initializing' screen for 10 minutes, f**king joke it really is do i shut the box and try again but will it promp me to register again i dont no

paid good money for this game and i expect the activation process to run smoothly

[RuDi]

i'm gonna try unistalling it and steam and then install it again and see if it works this time. if that fails i'm leaving football manager till monday cus im working over weekend. hopefully by then therell be a fix for it. i'll report back if reinstalling works.

[Dirky Diggler]

Anyone at SI or Sega any idea why I didnt have to authenticate my game when installing it on a second computer? Installed it, then installed patch and it started up without asking me to authenticate

[azzy_red_devil]

anyone on SI gonna sort this p***in mess i cant activate every code i type in gives the same error as the guys above

[HuwFlet2]

Anyone at SI or Sega any idea why I didnt have to authenticate my game when installing it on a second computer? Installed it, then installed patch and it started up without asking me to authenticate

If you activated through Steam the first time it stores your license key and you shouldnt need to enter it again thank god!

As for the people with error 51 there are some posts on page 6 which identifty possible solutions for this problem.

[Dirky Diggler]

If you activated through Steam the first time it stores your license key and you shouldnt need to enter it again thank god!

As for the people with error 51 there are some posts on page 6 which identifty possible solutions for this problem.

I didnt authenticate first time with steam, I used uniloc

[W_Beattie]

Whomever's idea it was to use 0's and O's on the code needs shot.

This is a nightmare.

[charliek]

Steam didnt work. Couldnt connect to Library or something. No problems with my internet connection.

Steam = lack of

Just trying the Uniloc method and downloading the patch via the website.

[Miles Jacobson]

For those having activation issues...

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61131

[dunkman]

When activating your copy of the game. Zero's and O's are virtually identical in appearance on the code itself.

For guidance, please check here for a visual of the font - http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/...f04d50ffdb.jpg

If you are still having trouble, I'm afraid it's a case of trial and error.

Apologies and hope you don't have too many Zero's (O's) in your code.

what an idiotic system then... perhaps O and 0's should be avoided in the future?

i've got a magnifying glass oot and i still cant see the difference between the 2.

[HuwFlet2]

Whomever's idea it was to use 0's and O's on the code needs shot.

This is a nightmare.

http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/

Try this it worked for me, it translates your code and you can copy and paste.

I didnt authenticate first time with steam, I used uniloc

In that case I dont have a clue, did uniloc ask your to set up a username and password?

[dunkman]

For those having activation issues...

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61131

that should hopefully fix it

[Dirky Diggler]

http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/

Try this it worked for me, it translates your code and you can copy and paste.



In that case I dont have a clue, did uniloc ask your to set up a username and password?

Nope, guess its just one of those things

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

anyone on SI gonna sort this p***in mess i cant activate every code i type in gives the same error as the guys above

azzy red devil (iM a city man but I wanna help anyway-are all FM fans at the end of the day) have got mine sorted now (apologies to the community for previous cussing but no apolgy to SI, they made this fxxk up!) Its the font of the keycode. 0 & O are identical (ignore the flickrr link, that clarifies the 1 / i thing but not the o / 0 thing. Write out all the combos with different 0 o options (I only had 3 but that was 9 options, number 8 did it for me)) and try them in sequence. You have to be patient and disciplined to try them all. Should we the consumers have to do this in 2008?......

Excuse upper case please but THE MOST BASIC OF FONT RECOGNITION SYSTEMS PRINT 0 WITH A DIAGONAL BAR THOUGH IT AND O AS A PLAIN CIRCLE. PERHAPS SI SHOULD GET A STREET WISE 15 YR OLD TO ORGANISE THIS NEXT YEAR INSTEAD OF THE COUNTERPRODCUTIVE CLOWN(S) WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE THIS YEAR. JEEZ SUCH A SIMPLE THING COMPLETELY MESSED UP.

Thank God the game looks like the best yet in the series but these shortcomings will NOT be forgotten.

[Flooejen]

Do we have an ETA on the mac update?

Should it be this morning still or will it be tonight?

[Flooejen]

Thank God the game looks like the best yet in the series but these shortcomings will NOT be forgotten.

Get a grip mate. So it took you five minutes longer to install your pc game.

[Kev_UK]

Got the game working now, do you have to load up Steam everytime you want to play Football Manager 2009, as I may want to play and don't have internet connection, I'm new too Steam.

[azzy_red_devil]

i the code case sensitive? i enter my code into http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/ and it says its fine although i only have 1 0/o and i change it and either is fine so assuming someones got the same code and one of us has a 0 one of us a o, still cant activate plus when i try to paste into the activation it only does the first box

[Chris21]

I don't wish to annoy people who are struggling to work there game but to install my game and to activate the game it took about 10-15 minutes with no problems? Seems a really easy process and I did have a few 1's and i's etc...

Hope some of you get yours sorted though, can't imagine how frustrating it is.

[Monty_9]

i cant find the activation screen. I follow the link but i just get to www.sigames.com where shows news articles and about patch. Could anyone point me in right direction of activation screen? Thankyou

[TheOriginalJez]

You do have to load steam but apparently it has an 'offline mode' which would work fine (I've never used it so I speak from what I've read rather than experience)

[azzy_red_devil]

I HAVE FOLLOWED THE STEPS IN THE ERRO 51 GUIDE

firewall disabled
copied my code from the http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/
and pasted it fine into the authentication screen, still getting the error 51

please help si

[azzy_red_devil]

i have even made sure my time is correct to the second! still cannot activate..... WHY?!?!?

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

Get a grip mate. So it took you five minutes longer to install your pc game.

Dont even go there, I was at the end of a long process where I queried net connection & many other things - trying all o 0 combos was a last resort - at that point didnt know if the i 1 thing was right though I had a hunch. Why dont you take your pointless unproductive comments to a thread where people are not trying to help each other overcome a problem, hey?

[RuDi]

i reinstalled this time with uniloc and still when i click to play game a softanchor window comes up asking for product key after which it then says failed to connect to intenet. so both steam and uniloc both install it for me but it is this softanchor thing that prevents me fom playing

[azzy_red_devil]

tigerhgrrrrr cheers mate i tried that but it dint work literally have one zero tried both still not able, where the fook are si you'd think this forum would be packed on release day

so frustrated!

[W_Beattie]

Finally got my code working and now need to download a 483MB DLL update which is estimated to take 3 hours.

Must say this is a bit of a shambles.

What was wrong with a simple install and run?

[chipembele]

What a joke? O01IYV why???

Looks pretty straight forward to me does that.

Have a think about it.

[jasewood]

Finally got my code working and now need to download a 483MB DLL update which is estimated to take 3 hours.

Must say this is a bit of a shambles.

What was wrong with a simple install and run?

Because everyone who buys the game legally has to suffer due to the worries of piracy.

[azzy_red_devil]

Have you tried the utility linked in one of the stickies at the top of this forum for people with your problem?

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61131

yes mate still no joy, that page needs to be changed to all people with this problem are sorted becuase we ignore the minority that arent

[RuDi]

just wondering could this softanchor internet connection problem i have be solved by doing the phone activation because my installation never mentioned activation phone numbers it just gives me an activate online option

[azzy_red_devil]

yeah mine too i have no option to activate over the phone, uninstalling, downloading steam and going to try to activate through them

[goofkdy]

For those having activation issues...

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61131

This doesn't always help Miles,

My problem is I have activated my game played it for a bit no problems and then I went back to play it and all I get is this, what a joke!!!!!!!!

OF COURSE THE KEY IS ACTIVE I ACTIVATED IT

I shouldn't need to sign up to a forum, trawl the net for a fix and upload an image to a ftp server all so I can show you guys the problem

I have bought this game legitimately, the least you can do is provide your customers with the service they payed you for!!

I look forward to your reply

[RuDi]

yeh i activated through steam and it said my product was now activated but when clicked to launch game it keeps bringing up the Softanchor thing which no matter what will just not connect to internet

[azzy_red_devil]

goofkdy i agree with your point 100% i went out of my way and paid for the game and cant play it! bloody joke

im still looking forward to a reply!

[Darth Bodde]

Probably already asked, any idea what time we can expect the Mac patch?

[kevgaleuk]

For those having activation issues...

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61131

I first installed the game through the joke that is STEAM and the code worked - problem with that is that steam doesn't allow you direct access to the game so I deleted it from there and re-installed it on my PC (I dont want my games stored on a third party and only installed them to play the strawberry demo)

Now however the keycode doesn't work - first it said it was invalid so I used the keycode checker and had it spot on; retried it both small and caps case and now when I press Paste on the activation screen it simply pastes the last 5 characters into a new version of the screen

I have tried cancelling and re-doing but it keeps happening - I have tried re-booting and now the activation simply says its an incorrect code but again using the keycode thing you guys already made available the code I am using is spot on correct

can someone from SI please advise?

[Blackbag]

my soft anchor trial has expired and it seems that i can not activate my game.

[azzy_red_devil]

after uninstalling and installing steam i managed to activate it through steam but judging from the comments above i wont be coming off it once iv finished because it looks like its f**king up!

[Bobby G]

No one has answered my question. If I want to move and play FM on another computer now, do I just copy the football manager 2009 folder over, or do I need to install steam as well, etc...? How does it work exactly? I hope I dont have to redownload.

[Hendonboy]

I hope so, it would be better sincerely to check well the game before making it go out. For the one that are a fan of the series is very whipping to have the game in the hands and not to be able to play it.
For the more' seeing that the consumers PC can already play the game.

I am very disappointed by the service offered to the MAC consumers.


Sorry for my English.

To be fair, it's perfectly playable on a Mac. I'm doing so at the moment and have been since Tuesday evening. Yes, right click is an issue, but there are several ways to work around it.

[azzy_red_devil]

no it installed and activated through steam and when i launched it from steam i was asked to activate so pasted the code steam gave me and it gave me the error :51

also says SoftAnchor Your trial period has EXPIRED maybe this is the problem this morning? any feedback SI?
also have no option to activate the game through the phone

[ambolt]

Screenshot of the error:
http://img363.imageshack.us/my.php?image=errorfa0.jpg

His internet works (look at webpage) and his code is correct (managed to join FM club)

That is one brilliant error message -- You are unable to connect to the internet, for help please visit www.sigames.com. :-)

[goofkdy]

For those having activation issues...

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61131

So what do we do Miles and SI team what do we do, some saddos like myself took the day off work to play the game

which I did by the way for a brief couple of hours, only for me to log out

and then log back into the game only for the activation code request screen to appear and ask for my key which already been registered

Seems a bit strange to me

Good luck guys, because I think its going to be a while before all the issues are fixed

[Hanko]

Seriously!!!!!!!!!!

When will the Mac Patch come on? Paided the money for the game and now just want to play it!

Can you at least give us an idea when it will be ready for today? I don't want to waste a day waiting in front of my Computer.

Please any info would be great!

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

tigerhgrrrrr cheers mate i tried that but it dint work literally have one zero tried both still not able, where the fook are si you'd think this forum would be packed on release day

so frustrated!

With you mate, good luck.

[goofkdy]

That is one brilliant error message -- You are unable to connect to the internet, for help please visit www.sigames.com. :-)

I had the same problem guys,

I disabled my firewall or add th FM09.exe to your firewalls exception list and this will solve the problem well it did at least for me

but I can't play the game due to my activation keyed being registered already (by me) ????

[azzy_red_devil]

FFS SI were are you on this morning of release? i CANNOT activate ready my many posts above i have tried every solution you reccomend!!!!!

[HuwFlet2]

FFS SI were are you on this morning of release? i CANNOT activate ready my many posts above i have tried every solution you reccomend!!!!!

The people from SI who were on here helping and posting last night and into this morning have problably crashed and burned!

I would imagine the staff who have come in are in a crisis managment/briefing session furiously trying to figure out whasts going on and what they are going to do next!

That is unless they have all go to visit the people responsible for printing the activation codes!

If you post or PM me a description of your error I will try and help you.

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

yeah mine too i have no option to activate over the phone, uninstalling, downloading steam and going to try to activate through them

Dont give the purchaser a phone number to call - This was SI's answer to the concern of tel lines that were jammed or had long hold times! Of couse you could call the tech line at £1 per min but I thought it was only FM live which was designed to bleed you dry of money?

Awesome SI ! - great laterall solution to a genuine consumer problem!

After 90mins fannying around am now in the game and the goalpost shadows make me feel all warm inside! Hope you all get it up & running soon. Word of advice for parents tho, do not buy this game as an Xmas pressie - your child will be crying with disappointment due to the awkward long winded initial set up and it will ruin your breakfast time.

[HuwFlet2]

Dont give the purchaser a phone number to call - This was SI's answer to the concern of tel lines that were jammed or had long hold times! Of couse you could call the tech line at £1 per min but I thought it was only FM live which was designed to bleed you dry of money?

Awesome SI ! - great laterall solution to a genuine consumer problem!

After 90mins fannying around am now in the game and the goalpost shadows make me feel all warm inside! Hope you all get it up & running soon. Word of advice for parents tho, do not buy this game as an Xmas pressie - your child will be crying with disappointment due to the awkward long winded initial set up and it will ruin your breakfast time.

If you brought the DVD copy like me there was a number to ring!

However last night it just rang and rang and rang rang I did have a number for chap at SI last nite but I know he isnt working at moment and therefore wont punish him by posting it!

Sege Europe Customer Services Non Geographic number 0208 9964430

[azzy_red_devil]

i tried ringing the helpline....engaged lol typical

the problem for me is activation i have the correct keycode pasted in but every time i get error 51 tried all their recoomendations, installed it through steam and it activated through them but then when prompted by softanchor ,as before, it gives me the error, now onto my 3 re-install to try it again!!

[Daveshotton]

Hate steam so much, nice one for keeping us all controlled SI this is the thanks for millions of us who buy your product year in year out? Do I have to have Steam running in the background all the time? If this is the case I'll be returning the game to the shop and going back to FM08

[Blackbag]

for EVERYONE having problems is you SoftAncher saying that your trail period has expired?????

[moneyhero]

Get a grip mate. So it took you five minutes longer to install your pc game.

5 minutes for him 90 minutes so far for me and im still not activated... ive tried everything recomended so yes it is a ****ing joke

[azzy_red_devil]

Blackbag that is indeed true in mycase

[azzy_red_devil]

money hero i feel your pain.....

[kevgaleuk]

Blackbag that is indeed true in mycase

Thats true in my case too - anybody know what the "Checksum" number under the code box does? It changes as you put the code in but doesn't seem to have any other relevance that I can see

[Daveshotton]

WTF, is the game only installed through Steam? I can't find a shortcut on my PC to launch the game

[Blackbag]

Blackbag that is indeed true in mycase

This would appear to be the problem, as i have tried all of the suggested fixes.

i am currently singing are you Codemasters under another name

[azzy_red_devil]

i'm guessing its a problem with SoftAnchor the b*astards

[bavlondon]

Guys do i need to activate it online if i bought a hard copy or just enter the code? I dont need that steam thing right?

[bcooper]

This doesn't always help Miles,

My problem is I have activated my game played it for a bit no problems and then I went back to play it and all I get is this, what a joke!!!!!!!!

OF COURSE THE KEY IS ACTIVE I ACTIVATED IT

I shouldn't need to sign up to a forum, trawl the net for a fix and upload an image to a ftp server all so I can show you guys the problem

I have bought this game legitimately, the least you can do is provide your customers with the service they payed you for!!

I look forward to your reply

Hi,

Uninstall or try deleting this directory: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on XP and/or C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on Vista

Then try to activate again - that should clear it up. Remember - make sure the directory ends in "Certificate"

[Blackbag]

i'm guessing its a problem with SoftAnchor the b*astards

Surely you mean SoftW.. wait a minute i don't want to get banned

[azzy_red_devil]

Guys do i need to activate it online if i bought a hard copy or just enter the code? I dont need that steam thing right?

no you can do it online, and by phone although i'm yet to see that option try it mate let us know if you can activate it becuase i cant!

[bavlondon]

no you can do it online, and by phone although i'm yet to see that option try it mate let us know if you can activate it becuase i cant!

Whats the link to activate it online?

The 1s and Is dont even look like that pic the mods posted.

[Daveshotton]

Does anyone know if it's possible to launch FM after you've installed it without using Steam? I don't want to have to log into it every time I play

[Blackbag]

Hi,

Uninstall or try deleting this directory: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on XP and/or C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on Vista

Then try to activate again - that should clear it up. Remember - make sure the directory ends in "Certificate"

That worked thanks

[goofkdy]

Hi,

Uninstall or try deleting this directory: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on XP and/or C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on Vista

Then try to activate again - that should clear it up. Remember - make sure the directory ends in "Certificate"

I will give it a try guys I will let you know how I get on - thanks for the prompt reply


EDIT


It worked for me, from a personal point of view STEAM is not the issue here for me personally it was SOFTanchor

I have bought countless games from steam as my previous screen shots provided shows, it really is great peice of software - HONEST



anyway the bad news now that FM is back up and running I need to go shopping with the Mrs d'oh

Good Luck Guys

[jasewood]

Hi,

Uninstall or try deleting this directory: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on XP and/or C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on Vista

Then try to activate again - that should clear it up. Remember - make sure the directory ends in "Certificate"

Any chance of a word with what's going on with people who have bought it through steam,are getting -51 error,have tried all the fixes and are not getting anywhere???

[bavlondon]

Does anyone know if it's possible to launch FM after you've installed it without using Steam? I don't want to have to log into it every time I play

So your saying it has to be played online every time? Thats so stupid. Can anyone confirm this?

And whats the link to activate online?

[azzy_red_devil]

ok so blackbag got a quick reply what about those having problems actually activating it?

just run FM to get prompted by the activation screen mate

[kevgaleuk]

Hi,

Uninstall or try deleting this directory: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on XP and/or C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate on Vista

Then try to activate again - that should clear it up. Remember - make sure the directory ends in "Certificate"

Cheers guys; that worked for me too - added bonus? During all this I completely deleted STEAM

SI for next year revert back to your previous delivery methods; I can see why you'd use them but it adds unnecessary complication.

[martplfc1]

God this is seems like a nightmare. I've just bought the boxed game and will try it when I go home. All this to play a bloody game, it really is ridiculous.

[azzy_red_devil]

still no word and why i cant activate SI?

its pay day for you so is it through sheer ignorance that there is no reply or are you not bothered and playing COD world at war because thats what im doing as soon as i get home

[buckyohhare]

RAGING, cant read the damn code it just keeps saying invalid code

[data6930]

What a surprise that the new Steam activation is a total farce!

[azzy_red_devil]

RAGING, cant read the damn code it just keeps saying invalid code

http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/ put your code in their and it will give you your correct code, mine did

altough still wont let me activate

[rawhide1983]

I have boxed version and have authenticated throught steam its now in process of updating(patch I presume) how do I get to data editor and installed files on my computer or do I have to run Steam if so how do I data edit? please help getting very frustrated here

[azzy_red_devil]

I have boxed version and have authenticated throught steam its now in process of updating(patch I presume) how do I get to data editor and installed files on my computer or do I have to run Steam if so how do I data edit? please help getting very frustrated here

let me know how you get on mate because i tried through steam, once patch was downloaded launched it from their but once again asked me to activate which i couldnt

[chunyu19]

What the Shxt !!! I just buy this game in Hong Kong. The "25 characters" Football Manager 2009 Keycode is adhered at the back of the game manual.

I have tried all the possible code....I have no "O" or "0", only have one "I" (maybe "1" or "L") but I have already tried all of it. Nothing but Invalid Product Code.

I don't have a scanner to scan my manual / receipt, if I have to contact the STEAM support, do I really have to buy a SCANNER for it?

Actually, I am extremely angry now !!!!!!! Anyone can help ??

[buckyohhare]

oh yeh baby im in!! Cheers Devil

[stevemc]

God this is seems like a nightmare. I've just bought the boxed game and will try it when I go home. All this to play a bloody game, it really is ridiculous.

I'm the same, I'm going to try it tonight.

It better work, all this messing just to play a game, is a joke.