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I don't know if this is happening to anybody else, but today I tried the kathy rain demo and crashed at launch. Yesterday I bought Shadwen and it also crashes saying there was a problem with galaxy64.dll. And a few days ago Ziggurat did the same saying the same thing with galaxy.dll. The common denominator is that all three come with those galaxy's dll. I don't have any problems with other games that don't have it. I could run Ziggurat just renaming the problematic file, but not the other two (they require galaxy.dll or galaxy64.dll to work). I already sent yesterday a ticket to support about Shadwen, but I'm worring this could become a problem for other games as well. I never installed galaxy and I don't plan on doing it either so, what can I do about this? Is this happening to anyone else?
Post edited May 20, 2016 by Eumismo
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Eumismo: I don't know if this is happening to anybody else, but today I tried the kathy rain demo and crashed at launch. Yesterday I bought Shadwen and it also crashes saying there was a problem with galaxy64.dll. And a few days ago Ziggurat did the same saying the same thing with galaxy.dll. The common denominator is that all three come with those galaxy's dll. I don't have any problems with other games that don't have it. I could run Ziggurat just renaming the problematic file, but not the other two (they require galaxy.dll or galaxy64.dll to work). I already sent yesterday a ticket to support about Shadwen, but I'm worring this could become a problem for other games as well. I never installed galaxy and I don't plan on doing it either so, what can I do about this? Is this happening to anyone else?
Haven't come across this yet, but then not got round to it. Post what the helpdesk state as it will be interesting for those of us who don't use galaxy.
In the case of Shadwen, it gives me this error:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: shadwen_64bit.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 57287ba1
Fault Module Name: Galaxy64.dll
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 56d70db0
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00000000000c426b
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 3082
Additional Information 1: 54c4
Additional Information 2: 54c4540b6ef130c1df31cea39fef238d
Additional Information 3: a0cd
Additional Information 4: a0cdf768b62d6257d8c66247ca5385bd

In the case of Ziggurat it gives me this, but even if it seems to be unrelated, if I rename or delete galaxy.dll it works:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Ziggurat.exe
Application Version: 4.6.9.2463
Application Timestamp: 561c360b
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.18933
Fault Module Timestamp: 55a69e20
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00022312
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 3082
Additional Information 1: 73e8
Additional Information 2: 73e88f5e0cfba8dd648178c2e4060061
Additional Information 3: b974
Additional Information 4: b974ea47c61d087e16a179aecef2df3e

About the Kathy Rain demo, I just tried it and something weird happened: It worked once! but the second time it crashed with this (I'm not totally sure if this is also related to galaxy.dll or not, because if I rename it the game doesn't work):

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name:: KathyRain.exe
Application Version: 3.3.0.1150
Application Timestamp: 573470ff
Fault Module Name: StackHash_0a9e
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 3a796164
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 3082
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Support contacted me a few hour ago and told me to reinstall some Visual C++ redist files, but they didn't solve anything. I already replied them that. Also, I never installed galaxy in this computer, I onlyuse the gog downloader.

Do anyone have any idea what could possibly be causing these problems? Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
Post edited May 20, 2016 by Eumismo
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Eumismo: I don't know if this is happening to anybody else, but today I tried the kathy rain demo and crashed at launch. Yesterday I bought Shadwen and it also crashes saying there was a problem with galaxy64.dll. And a few days ago Ziggurat did the same saying the same thing with galaxy.dll. The common denominator is that all three come with those galaxy's dll. I don't have any problems with other games that don't have it. I could run Ziggurat just renaming the problematic file, but not the other two (they require galaxy.dll or galaxy64.dll to work). I already sent yesterday a ticket to support about Shadwen, but I'm worring this could become a problem for other games as well. I never installed galaxy and I don't plan on doing it either so, what can I do about this? Is this happening to anyone else?
Do you have the latest version of Galaxy?
avatar
Eumismo: I don't know if this is happening to anybody else, but today I tried the kathy rain demo and crashed at launch. Yesterday I bought Shadwen and it also crashes saying there was a problem with galaxy64.dll. And a few days ago Ziggurat did the same saying the same thing with galaxy.dll. The common denominator is that all three come with those galaxy's dll. I don't have any problems with other games that don't have it. I could run Ziggurat just renaming the problematic file, but not the other two (they require galaxy.dll or galaxy64.dll to work). I already sent yesterday a ticket to support about Shadwen, but I'm worring this could become a problem for other games as well. I never installed galaxy and I don't plan on doing it either so, what can I do about this? Is this happening to anyone else?
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JudasIscariot: Do you have the latest version of Galaxy?
Did you read his post?
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JudasIscariot: Do you have the latest version of Galaxy?
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Pheace: Did you read his post?
He might have missed that part.
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Eumismo: Support contacted me a few hour ago and told me to reinstall some Visual C++ redist files, but they didn't solve anything. I already replied them that. Also, I never installed galaxy in this computer, I onlyuse the gog downloader.
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JudasIscariot: Do you have the latest version of Galaxy?
He's not using Galaxy.
Post edited May 20, 2016 by omega64
Did you install the Witcher Adventure Game Beta, AvP or Double Dragon (I think)?
They all came with a cut down Galaxy component for multiplayer when they were first released, if you still have it on your system it might possibly cause a problem with games looking for the proper galaxy client...

Just a thought.
high rated
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Eumismo: I don't know if this is happening to anybody else, but today I tried the kathy rain demo and crashed at launch. Yesterday I bought Shadwen and it also crashes saying there was a problem with galaxy64.dll. And a few days ago Ziggurat did the same saying the same thing with galaxy.dll. The common denominator is that all three come with those galaxy's dll. I don't have any problems with other games that don't have it. I could run Ziggurat just renaming the problematic file, but not the other two (they require galaxy.dll or galaxy64.dll to work). I already sent yesterday a ticket to support about Shadwen, but I'm worring this could become a problem for other games as well. I never installed galaxy and I don't plan on doing it either so, what can I do about this? Is this happening to anyone else?
I think I know what your problem is since I have exactly the same problem. And (if you have indeed the same problem as me) I know how to solve it.

Do you have a firewall installed that restricts access to localhost (127.0.0.1)? If the answer is yes you have to configure your firewall to allow access to localhost for all GOG games that have Galaxy features.

Reason:

The first thing the dll does seems to be to check if Galaxy is present. It does so by trying to connect to the Galaxy service. If the port is open and the service responds the game will run with Galaxy features enabled. If the port is closed then the service either does not exist or isn't running so the game will run without Galaxy features. But what happens if thanks to a firewall there is no reply from the network stack at all?

Theoretically you could simply set a timeout. If there is no reply within 1 second (or 0.5 seconds or whatever would be considered a reasonable timeout) run without Galaxy. But it seems the programmers of the galaxy.dll know so little about network programming that they have never even thought about the possibility of localhost not replying for any reason and since there is no code to catch the 'no reply' error the dll will simply crash.

For some older games (like Ziggurat for example) that had a DRM free release outside of GOG the developers have checked for the existence of the galaxy.dll and if it didn't exist use the non-Galaxy code so removing or renaming the dll was a usable (though of course unsupported) workaround.

Games that have a dedicated Galaxy release rely on the dll. If you remove it the game will simply not run. I made that experience with Bloodrayne Betrayal for example. And if you try to restrict the game from using Galaxy with your firewall it will crash. And that is NOT considered a bug by support since you interfered in the working of the game with security software.


From that follows:

*) If Galaxy is installed it becomes mandatory for all games since you can't prevent a game from using it. Trying to do so will only make the game not work at all.

*) If you don't want to use Galaxy on some games your only option is to uninstall it. Which will effectively lock you out of Multiplayer (or other features you might want to use) on all your games.

In other words: Galaxy (as it is now) is an all or nothing choice. You use it with all its features on all your games or you don't use it at all. This might or might not change in the future.

Before anyone asks where I know this from: I've had a lengthy discussion with GOG support on this topic.
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Geralt_of_Rivia: ...snip
Nice, so this nasty malware is messing up things even for people that don't the bleeding thing in the first place. Chalk another achievement up for the steam-a-likes.
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Eumismo: I don't know if this is happening to anybody else, but today I tried the kathy rain demo and crashed at launch. Yesterday I bought Shadwen and it also crashes saying there was a problem with galaxy64.dll. And a few days ago Ziggurat did the same saying the same thing with galaxy.dll. The common denominator is that all three come with those galaxy's dll. I don't have any problems with other games that don't have it. I could run Ziggurat just renaming the problematic file, but not the other two (they require galaxy.dll or galaxy64.dll to work). I already sent yesterday a ticket to support about Shadwen, but I'm worring this could become a problem for other games as well. I never installed galaxy and I don't plan on doing it either so, what can I do about this? Is this happening to anyone else?
avatar
Geralt_of_Rivia: I think I know what your problem is since I have exactly the same problem. And (if you have indeed the same problem as me) I know how to solve it.

Do you have a firewall installed that restricts access to localhost (127.0.0.1)? If the answer is yes you have to configure your firewall to allow access to localhost for all GOG games that have Galaxy features.

Reason:

The first thing the dll does seems to be to check if Galaxy is present. It does so by trying to connect to the Galaxy service. If the port is open and the service responds the game will run with Galaxy features enabled. If the port is closed then the service either does not exist or isn't running so the game will run without Galaxy features. But what happens if thanks to a firewall there is no reply from the network stack at all?

Theoretically you could simply set a timeout. If there is no reply within 1 second (or 0.5 seconds or whatever would be considered a reasonable timeout) run without Galaxy. But it seems the programmers of the galaxy.dll know so little about network programming that they have never even thought about the possibility of localhost not replying for any reason and since there is no code to catch the 'no reply' error the dll will simply crash.

For some older games (like Ziggurat for example) that had a DRM free release outside of GOG the developers have checked for the existence of the galaxy.dll and if it didn't exist use the non-Galaxy code so removing or renaming the dll was a usable (though of course unsupported) workaround.

Games that have a dedicated Galaxy release rely on the dll. If you remove it the game will simply not run. I made that experience with Bloodrayne Betrayal for example. And if you try to restrict the game from using Galaxy with your firewall it will crash. And that is NOT considered a bug by support since you interfered in the working of the game with security software.

From that follows:

*) If Galaxy is installed it becomes mandatory for all games since you can't prevent a game from using it. Trying to do so will only make the game not work at all.

*) If you don't want to use Galaxy on some games your only option is to uninstall it. Which will effectively lock you out of Multiplayer (or other features you might want to use) on all your games.

In other words: Galaxy (as it is now) is an all or nothing choice. You use it with all its features on all your games or you don't use it at all. This might or might not change in the future.

Before anyone asks where I know this from: I've had a lengthy discussion with GOG support on this topic.
Problem solved! Thank you very much! :)

Indeed, it was as you said. If I block the connection with the firewall the galaxy.dll crashes. When a singleplayer game asks me for internet conection I think it is obvious that blocking is the right path. Where is supposed to connect to? A server that saves data about when and where I am playing my games. For privacy and security reasons, any person that has a firewall and isn't going to play multiplayer is going to block the connection. But doing so makes all these games crash! How could anyone even think it could be because of this?

This is a serious bug that should be solved, as any user that doesn't know this will think gog games don't work as intended or are bugged. In fact, every time I start a game for the first time after deleting the blocking order in the firewall crashes until I accept the connection in the firewall popup. That means with every new game that has this dll I have to watch it crash at least once. This kind of bugs should not be overlooked, as it gives the service a very bad image and cause a lot of trouble for people who don't use galaxy and has a firewall.

I am very grateful to you for explaining what was causing this issue. You were right. I hope this can also help any person who experiences the same problem.

Thanks also to the support guy who helped me too. I hope the gog's team that develops the galaxy stuff takes note of this bug and fixes it.
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Geralt_of_Rivia: Do you have a firewall installed that restricts access to localhost (127.0.0.1)? If the answer is yes you have to configure your firewall to allow access to localhost for all GOG games that have Galaxy features.
I know I should know more about firewall rules etc. but how exactly do I set up a rule for this in Windows 7 Firewall? I've gone into the advanced settings but it is not entirely clear there how I create this specific rule.

I use Sphinx Software Firewall Control (free version) which always gives me an option when something tries to connect to the internet but with games that have Galaxy features I always have to 'Enable all' or chose 'Outgoing only'' to be able to play them and so never quite know where they are connecting to :( Your suggestion to restrict access for these games specifically to localhost sounds perfect so I hope you can help me out regarding the creation of a rule?

Thanks in advance.
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Geralt_of_Rivia: Do you have a firewall installed that restricts access to localhost (127.0.0.1)? If the answer is yes you have to configure your firewall to allow access to localhost for all GOG games that have Galaxy features.
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Pajama: I know I should know more about firewall rules etc. but how exactly do I set up a rule for this in Windows 7 Firewall? I've gone into the advanced settings but it is not entirely clear there how I create this specific rule.

I use Sphinx Software Firewall Control (free version) which always gives me an option when something tries to connect to the internet but with games that have Galaxy features I always have to 'Enable all' or chose 'Outgoing only'' to be able to play them and so never quite know where they are connecting to :( Your suggestion to restrict access for these games specifically to localhost sounds perfect so I hope you can help me out regarding the creation of a rule?

Thanks in advance.
Just to make sure you understood what I was talking about: GOG games with Galaxy features require network access to localhost or they will crash at startup. Sure your could restrict them to localhost only (which I do) but that will only do you any good if you also uninstall Galaxy. Otherwise the Galaxy service running on your computer will contact GOG and start tattling about when and where you play your games (and which game), unlock achievements, etc.

I don't really know Sphinx but judging from the screenshots I looked at you should be able to define a localhost zone (if that isn't predefined already) which should be 127.0.0.1/32 and restricting access only to that zone.
Did GOG ever release a version of AvP 2000 that doesn't have that alpha of Galaxy?
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Geralt_of_Rivia: it seems the programmers of the galaxy.dll know so little about network programming that they have never even thought about the possibility of localhost not replying for any reason and since there is no code to catch the 'no reply' error the dll will simply crash.
Great..

+1 for the useful info
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Geralt_of_Rivia: Just to make sure you understood what I was talking about: GOG games with Galaxy features require network access to localhost or they will crash at startup. Sure your could restrict them to localhost only (which I do) but that will only do you any good if you also uninstall Galaxy. Otherwise the Galaxy service running on your computer will contact GOG and start tattling about when and where you play your games (and which game), unlock achievements, etc.

I don't really know Sphinx but judging from the screenshots I looked at you should be able to define a localhost zone (if that isn't predefined already) which should be 127.0.0.1/32 and restricting access only to that zone.
Thanks for replying :)

I've never installed Galaxy and have no wish to either so no problem there. Also that handy feature in Sphinx is not available in the free version which was why I thought the Windows Firewall rule would be ideal.