Matrix Games Forums

In the process of reinstalling COTA on a new PC (the old one having died) and the basic installation went ok.

I then tried to install the 2008 FEB 29 - COTA Patch v3.3.147E patch (which seemed to Dl ok) and although it started fine it then asked for a serial number, and when I used the one I'd just used for the basic installation (I actually pasted the same thing, no risk of a typo) I got an "invalid serial number" pop-up.

Well, then I thought "maybe I need the preceding patch" so I D/Led the 2006 NOV 27 - COTA Patch v.2.141 one and it gave me the same pop-up/error.

Now, I vaguely recall there being an even earlier patch, and the :Latest News" page hints at one, "2006 OCT 11 - Conquest of the Aegean Update" but as far as I can see there's nothing on the downloads page, and I assume that in fact it got rolled into the V.2.141 patch.

So .... any thoughts on what I have to do to get the patch(es) to install. The game itself seems to play (a scenario started without any hiccups). Thanks.

You will need to contact Matrix on this one I believe. I'll draw their attention to this post.

MadScot,

On the surface, that makes no sense to me. If your serial number worked on the installation, it should have worked on the updates. Are you entering it in exactly the same way, complete with dashes (i.e. XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)?

If you e-mail the serial number to me at erikr@matrixgames.com or your order number, I can double-check and see if there's an issue with the update.

Regards,

- Erik

Yes, serial number exactly as per the xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx format - it was the same format as the main installation

(I actually ctrl-C'ed it from the email and ctrl-V'ed it for the main installation and then the patch. I'd not done anything else with the PC during the time, so it was exactly the same clipboard text.)

I'll send the info in a moment .... thanks for the quick responses.

MadScot,
 
Did you ensure there was no trailing "space" character at the end of the pasted text. This can sometime occur when you copy and paste from the clipboard.

I'll retry, but it was the same clipboard text as before.

Yep, actually typed it this time, no trailing space for sure, same message.

OK, worth a try. I would follow up with Erik then and email him your serial number for him to check.

For what it's worth, the new patch does exactly the same, too. A bit frustrating.

MadScot,
 
It would appear that you're alone with this issue. No one else has reported having similar problems. Did you follow up with Erik Rutins as I suggested?

Yes, I did send him the info. If I'm a one-off, I may try to install the game on a different PC and see if the same problem occurs. (When it was installed on my old, XP, machine, I never had this issue. It's now occcurring on a Vista machine. I'm sure it isn't Vista as such, since no-one else has the problem.)

OK let me know how that goes.

OK, I tried installing on an old laptop (which didn't meet the 512MB minima). The game installed OK, and even ran. Any patch I tried to install got the same "Invalid Serial Number" message, whether I tried to type it or cut-and-pasted it.

Looks like I have a serial number that the patches just plain don't like. (I checked to see if "666" was part of the serial, but it isn't)

MadScot,
 
I'm going to leave this for Erik or someone else at Matrix to respond. They handle the installer side. Please email Erik and ask him to help.

I emailed Erik for you.

Just to report that after looking into it Greg Wilcox of Matrix found something and fixed it, and it now seems to work.

(Don't ask me what he fixed, I just care that it works)

Thanks![:)]

Glad to hear that. Now go and enjoy the game. We await your first AAR. [;)]

hello,

just registered to the forum and posted here because i have the same problem as described.

i reinstalled cota today after about a year or so. install was fine and the game runs. on installing a patch it says "invalid serial" just as described by madscot.

i would be grateful for you to look into this issue once again.

thank you

HarLkiN

I've asked Erik to look into this again.

HarLkiN I just sent you a PM hopefully we can get this figured out for you.

-Greg

hello,

just registered to the forum and posted here because i have the same problem as described.

i reinstalled cota today after about a year or so. install was fine and the game runs. on installing a patch it says "invalid serial" just as described by madscot.

i would be grateful for you to look into this issue once again.

thank you

hectorafull