Mac Client

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Mac Client System Requirements

  • Turbine has not made any official statements as to hardware system requirements however, from the Beta:
  • The only KNOWN restriction is: the client will only run under Lion (OSX 10.7) or Mountain Lion (OSX 10.8). It will not run under Snow Leopard (10.6).
Note that this restriction in itself will limit the hardware on which the Client can Run, as Lion and Mountain Lion are restricted to certain Intel based Macs.
See Apple: OSX Mountain Lion - how to updgrade for hardware information (Nominally a mid-2007 or later iMac).
(Personally, I would recommend a minimum of 4GB of system memory. Any Mac capable of running Mountain Lion has more than adequate Graphics capabilities.)
At this point in time, the Retina Displays are NOT supported at full resolutions... there is no matching Text Font. So, while the Graphics are gorgeous at full Retina resolution, you cannot read any Text!)
Minimum Recommended*
Processor: Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7
Video: Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M or better
OS: OSX 10.7.5 OSX 10.7.5
Memory: 2 GB 4 GB
Disk Space: 25 GB available 25 GB available
Internet: 56kbps Modem Broadband DSL/Cable
Sound: Integrated Sound Integrated Sound

Update 13 - 14 April 2014

The new Mac download on "lotro.com" is now up and running.

The U13 release notes state:

Akamai Netsession
With today’s release of Update 13: The Breaking of Isengard, we have introduced a replacement for our Pando-enabled client and downloader. We now use a non-peer-to-peer version of the Akamai NetSession client for the LOTRO launcher, and wanted to update you on how we plan to utilize this service in the future.
The Akamai NetSession client allows us to quickly and reliably deliver fresh LOTRO client installations to you, and assist in the repair of missing or corrupted files in current game installations. The client utilizes Akamai’s large network of edge servers to deliver this content to you from a location which is deemed geographically closest to you, and ensures that we are able to efficiently and effectively get you what you need to play LOTRO.
Although some versions of the Akamai NetSession client used by other software providers utilize Peer-to-Peer technology, we have decided not to use P2P for LOTRO. What this means is that Akamai NetSession will NOT use peer-to-peer when delivering LOTRO-related content.
Once you install the LOTRO client, or patch your game to Update 13, it will be possible to uninstall Akamai NetSession from your computer, and NetSession will not reinstall unless it is necessary to deliver a deleted file or a fresh installation. Typical game updates will not require the use of Akamai NetSession.
In reality, the Mac Client download uses the Happy Cloud system, which grabs its data from Akamai. See:
and
for more information

March 2014 update

  • This page will be updated shortly, but I've gotten side tracked. Till then, a couple of quick notes.
  1. - the PMB downloader has been removed completely
  2. - the DDO Mac Client downloads now via Akamai. There are some rough spots, with patching for update 21, but they are easily worked around -- see the Mac Technical Support thread at DDO for details:
    https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/437744-Known-Issue-Mac-Client-Update-(March-10th-2014)?p=5277096#post5277096
  3. - Expect the Akamai solution to be ported over to LOTRO Soon (tm). (Sapience)
    https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?544084-Akamai&p=7118986&posted=1#post7118986

News 1 October 2013 -- Happy Cloud Returns

Apparently last week, (11 September, 2013) Turbine "brought back" "thehappycloud "as the downloader for the Mac Client. (And presumably the PC CLient as well, but I have not investigated.)

[url]https://www.lotro.com/en/game/download[/url]

So far, I have only begun testing the "Play Instantly" On Mac option.

Thehappycloud Interface is much "cleaner" than the old PMB interface.... and one bonus -- it begins playing Chance's Riders of Rohan theme as the download begins! (Bummer, it simply loops the opening track. But that itself is a convenient way to determine that the download is still in progress.

Estimated download time on my 2meg DSL is 188 minutes (3.1 hours) MUCH faster than PMB, and I believe either equal to or faster than the Steam Download.

The Happy Cloud downloader is a 6.5Mb "pkg" download -- LOTRO_Mac_360.pkg.

Note that this downloader is different from the full Happy Cloud interface.

There are 3 numbers posted next to the "download speedometer" ... Downloaded: xxx Minimum Buffer: 2983.8 MB Full Game: 17594.5 MB

One presumes (since I haven't gotten there yet) that the "Minimum Buffer" number represents how much of the Full Game needs to be downloaded before you can "play instantly."

More later..

"Play Instantly" option does not work "instantly"

So far, when the Happy Cloud interface announces "Game is ready to play" -- it isn't.

The interface goes off into never never land with a "swirlie" trying to load the game.

However, the download does continue.

The time mentioned is strictly for that first 2983.8 MB portion of the download.

Wm Magill - Valamar - OTG/OTC - talk 00:18, 2 October 2013 (EDT)

News: 31 August 2013 -- PANDO shuts down

PANDO shut down on 31 August. Apparently purchased by RELOADED TECHNOLOGIES http://www.reloadedtech.com

Reloaded appears to operate a network of download servers similar to those operated by Valve http://www.valvesoftware.com aka Steam.

No further details are available at this time (1 September 2013)

Mac Client for Bullroarer again available

On 5 September 2013, Turbine again made the Mac Client for Bullroarer available.

  • If you have received an invitation to the Beta of Helms Deep on Bullroarer, and want to use the Mac Client....
First visit the Bullroarer Forum -- FIRST! (Note that you will only be able to see the Bullroarer Forum if you have been invited into the Closed Beta.)
BETA - HELM'S DEEPBETA - HELM'S DEEP - ANNOUNCEMENTS BULLROARER: Client Download Link
In that message is a link to the Mac Client download -- "Bullroarer Installer for Mac" -- Click on it to begin the download in your browser.
Note: this is NOT a PMB download. It is basically the same link as the original RoR Beta link -- i.e. via Akamai.
  • The download is a 17.74 GB .dmg file, dated April 2013.
The file can easily be downloaded directly with Safari. I do not know how well Firefox and Chrome succeed -- they had problems in the past with this download, assumedly because of its size, and the subsequent time involved.
  • Remember TURN OFF TIME MACHINE BACKUPS DURING THE DOWNLOAD!
On my 2meg DSL line, Safari projected the download time at roughly 30 hours. Which proved to be "mostly correct."
Using Safari, it is possible to stop and restart the download using Safari's download manager (download Icon in the upper right corner of the toolbar.)
I say mostly correct because of "pauses." I am not certain, but I believe that most of the pauses were because of Time Machine, which I kept forgetting to turn off!
  • Once the "lotrohigh.dmg" is downloaded, click on it to mount. ALLOW IT TO VERIFY! This will take 30-45 minutes depending upon your system. If the verify succeeds, you are good to go. If it fails. That means the download was not successful, and must be re-done.
  • Copy (drag) "The Lord of the Rings Online" application to where ever you want to store it -- if you want it on an external disk, for example.
The application file itself will be 21.12 GB in size, dated October 2012.
  • You will then get the sequence of Gatekeeper pop-ups... "The Lord of the Rings Online(tm)" is an application downloaded from the Internet. Are you sure you want to open it?"

LOTRO Mac Client Released - 1 November 2012

Turbine announced the general availability of the Mac Client (Beta Version) on 1 November 2012.

  • It is a direct download from Turbine via Akamai. (No Pando or Happy Cloud involved).
  • The Mac Client download from Turbine is a .DMG file -- 17.74 GB in size!
  • Download time is approximately 2 hours on a 15MB FIOS link. (Download speed for many is only 2.9MB/Sec for some unknown reason, probably ISP throttling.)

In January of 2013, Turbine changed the download procedures for the Mac Client. The standard download now also uses PMB, the same as the Windows Client. -- see below.

"DDO Mac Client"

DDO also has a Mac Client for both the live game servers and Lamannia (the DDO equivalent of Bullroarer).

  • The DDO and LOTRO clients are "the same" -- both have the same features and problems.
  • I currently have all four clients installed on an external hard-drive on my iMac and can run them all with "no problems."
  • DDO is a much smaller client, coming in at just over 10GB compared to 21GB for the LOTRO client.

Update 12.3 Fixes related to the Mac Client

  • 10 February 2014
  • none specific to the Mac Client

Update 12.2 Fixes related to the Mac Client

  • 23 January 2014
  • none specific to the Mac Client

Update 12.1 Fixes related to the Mac Client

  • 16 December 2013
  • none specific to the Mac Client

Update 12 Fixes related to the Mac Client

  • 20 November 2013
  • Loading music files to play (with /play “filename”) will now work properly on Mac.

Update 11 Fixes related to the Mac Client

  • Update 11 (13 May 2013) has no fixes specifically related to the Mac Client.
  • Note that you MUST accept (re-accept) the EULA and TOS after updating with the Update 11 patch. This must be done in ENGLISH!
see: Internal Error on Logging in (German_and_French_users)

Update 10 Fixes related to the Mac Client

Update 10, release on 6 March 2013, included the following fixes directly related to the Mac Client. " Update 10, Against the Shadow,Part II Official

One small note at the end "officially" describes them:

  • Graphics and Effects
Resolved a number of issues with openGL rendering.

Initial testing has shown that:

  • OpenGL fixes have resolved graphical glitches related to High Quality Lighting and Specular Lighting
  • OpenGL fixes or other work appears to have enabled more environmental details (more grass moving etc.) with higher detail settings.
  • The inability to type in the chat window when changing from Windowed mode to Full Screen or vice versa has been fixed.

LOTRO Mac Client is also available as a download via STEAM

Note: At the present time, 20 October 2013, use of Steam to download the Mac Client is the recommended procedure. The download takes approximately 2.5 hours from Steam compared with over 30 hours using the PMB downloader from lotro.com.

  • The Steam download of LOTRO of the Mac Client for LOTRO requires roughly 20GB of disk space. Download time is approximately 2.5 - 3 hours depending upon your communications speeds.
NOTE: The Mac Client downloaded via Steam is identical to the Mac Client downloaded from lotro.com. Steam is simply a download mechanism.
  1. You first need to download and install the Steam engine for the Mac, if you do not have it installed. When you visit the Steam Store at the link above, a pop-up "Got Steam?" will greet you as soon as you click the "play" (download) button. The Steam client is a 1.5 MB download.
  2. If you currently have the Steam Mac Client installed, simply navigate to the "Store," search for "Lord of the Rings," click "Play" and the download will begin. Do not be intimidated by the initial estimate of 11 days for the download -- it's a bug in the Steam Client.
  3. As always, following the download the Mac Client will initialize and patch. This process will take an addition 20-40 minutes depending upon your CPU and disk speed.
There is no indicator that anything is happening during portions of this process, especially the "applying Forward Iterations" section -- no slider movement, countdown timer, etc.

Steam Notes

  • Steam installs the Mac Client itself in:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Lord of the Rings Online/The Lord of the Rings Online™.app
Location of Steam files under ~/Library/Application Support/Steam
  • All other file locations and comments are identical to the Turbine Mac Client Download information (see below).
  • If you want to keep Steam on an external drive, simply move the contents of the folder "~/Library/Application Support/Steam" to your external drive, and then provide a symbolic link back to the original location:
cd ~/Library/"Application Support" (note that the space needs to be "escaped")
ln -s "/Volumes/<external-drive-name>/Steam"
  • To launch LOTRO without using the Steam interface
Option 1 -- launch LOTRO once via the Steam Interface. Once "the ring" appears in your dock -- but BEFORE you enter your Userid and password, right-click on the ring icon, select Options, Keep in Dock.
Option 2 (use when Steam is failing) -- Using the finder, navigate to the application in the location above and double click on it.
  • Once installed, all patching and client updates are handled by the client in the normal Turbine manner, Steam is not involved.
  • All DLC (as Steam calls it) for LOTRO requires that the "CD Key" be entered at your account on "myaccount.turbine.com"
  • Turbine Points (TP) can be purchased through your Steam Wallet, or by using Steam cash in the LOTRO on-line Store.
  • Turbine Support FAQ for STEAM wallet: How do I make a purchase through Steam?
  • When purchasing "DLC" via STEAM, you must take the "CD KEY" from Steam and enter it at myaccount.turbine.com.
  • To find your "CD KEY" the instructions in that FAQ are slightly different - Note also that this does NOT describe the "Big Picture" mode:
  1. go the the Steam Library
  2. find the SMALL entry in the upper left corner of the screen -- NOT the large icon in the center
  3. Right click on that name: "Lord of the Rings Online(tm)" and select "View Downloadable Content" from the pop-up menu.
  4. That will bring up a window labeled ""Lord of the Rings Online(tm) - Properties"

Trouble Shooting under Steam

  • The Steam overlay has been known to cause "issues." Those issues come and go and have no consistent symptoms. If you have "strange" problems, simply launch the game without the Steam Interface as described above.
  • NEVER Verify Cache when using the Mac Client under Steam! This will ALWAYS result in a complete re-downlad of the LOTRO Mac Client!
The Verify simply compares the "checksums" of what it has to download with what is on your computer. These will ALWAYS be different because the Patching of the LOTRO Client is done directly by Turbine, and the Steam Download is never patched. Consequently, the checksums will always be different, and will always result in a complete download of all patched files... which then just have to be patched again!

DDO Download under Steam

  • DDO download size -- 7.6GB
  • Steam installs the Mac Client itself in:
~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Dungeons and Dragons Online/DNDLauncher.app
  • DNDLauncher.app - is the actual game launcher.

Support for the Mac Client

  • Turbine support links
Turbine Support | Knowledgebase | How to Get Help on the Tech Forums | Common Tech Issues | New Player Help

Note:

Disclaimer
This site, "Lotro-Wiki.com," is for players by players, dedicated to LOTRO!

This site is neither endorsed by, nor associated with, Standing Stone Games.
Content at this page is copied from Standing Stone Games, "as-is," with minor wiki adaptions.
See also our general disclaimer.

  • The LOTRO Customer Support forums are for Player-to-Player help!
  • For official support, please submit a ticket to the appropriate team via the form here.
  • After contacting support, log into your email webpage to add noreply@turbine.com and accountsupport@turbine.com to their "safe senders" list and your contacts list/address book.
  • Be sure to check Spam/Junk Mail folders as well since most email providers do not let external email programs or cell phones download mail flagged this way.

Player created Support and Information


Turbine Customer Support: Accounts

  • For problems not specifically related to the Mac Client, but relating to the Account (myaccount.turbine.com), Financial, etc.:
(From CarpeNocturm - Turbine Customer Support - signature)
LOTRO SUPPORT Page & Knowledge Base
  • To request a Paid Service or support from a specific team, click the "Support Center" tab, then "Submit a Ticket"
  • English Account/Store Support is available from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, 7 days a week. (GMT -5). 855-WBGAMES (855-924-2637)
Support Portal - Deutsch
Portail de support - Français


Important Notes about OSX

  1. The Tilde character, "~" is shorthand for "<your home directory>". (This is classic UNIX(tm), OSX Terminology.)
  2. Under OSX Lion (10.7) and Mountain Lion (10.8) the Library directory (folder) is no longer normally visible in the finder. You can change this Finder behavior with a terminal command or simply use the Finder "pull-down" menu "GO" and select "Go To Folder" (Keyboard shortcut = Cmd-Shift-G). This will open a window which defaults to "~/Library" and open a finder window to that location. You can then simply continue to navigate from there as you normally would.
  3. There are two "library" directories: "/Library" and "~/Library".
    "/Library" is the root or System Library. You will "GO" here if you forget the Tilde!
    "~/Library" is your userid's personal library and where all of the LOTRO Mac Client information is stored.
  4. Case-Sensitivity - HFS+ (the Mac filesystem) is usually configured to be Case-Insensitive but Case-Preserving. This means that "hello.txt," "Hello.TXT", and "HELLO.txt" all refer to the same file. This is the same behavior found in the normal FAT32 File system in Windows. Since Tiger, it has been possible to create a Case-Sensitive File system for OSX. Most users will never do this, hence this note is somewhat superfluous, however it is more likely under OSX, and because of it's Unix(tm) background. All Unix(tm) file systems are Case-Sensitive.
  5. Filename extensions, ".app" for example -- By default these are turned off. In the Finder under Preferences, Advanced, you can display them by checking the box "Show all filename extensions."

The Mac Client PMB Installation

Mac Client PMB Installation

  • Additional information about the PMB installation can be found here.

The Mac Client and Gatekeeper

Mac Client Gatekeeper Information


The Mac Client Communication Notes

General Communications issues

Many problems seen with both the Mac and PC Clients are truly caused by "Communications issues."
The nature of the Internet and the encrypted UDP (see next section) used by LOTRO and DDO cause untold "non-obvious" problems.
  • The first step to fixing most of these communications issues is to get "new addresses and routes" (ARP and DHCP).
  1. Quit LOTRO
  2. Power OFF your system i.e. Shut Down your system (not reboot or sleep)!
    un-check the box to "Reopen windows when logging back in"
    (With a MacBook Air or PowerBook DO NOT just close the lid, shut it down completely and do not leave any programs running!)
  3. Power OFF as appropriate (unplug the power cord if you can't find a switch):
    (these three devices are frequently one box, especially from a Cable TV or FIOS provider)
    • your WiFi Access Point
    • your Router
    • your Modem
  4. Wait at least two (2) full minutes! on the wall clock.
  5. Power up the item(s) in step 3 in reverse order -- Modem ,Routher, Access Point -- waiting until each device is completely rebooted and back "in the green." (typically between one and two minutes per device)
  6. Power up your Mac
  7. Launch LOTRO and try again.
This process "forces" your Router to clear its ARP cache and usually, acquire a new address from your ISP; and then your Mac or PC to obtain a new DHCP address from your router.
The few of you who have "Static Addresses" already know what I'm talking about and this article won't try to elaborate as it doesn't know your specifics.

The Mac Client and Firewalls (Port Forwarding)

Note especially: Depending upon your home networking setup you may simply want to disable the Firewall option in OSX -- System Preferences / Security & Privacy / "Firewall tab" and allow your Router to be your firewall. (Configuring two firewall devices can lead to significant confusion. This is especially true when your ISP provides you with a "Router.")
  • LOTRO and DDO both use the same two sets of Firewall ports.
Normally, you don't need port forwarding because the client always sends to the server before the server tries to respond. In most NAT firewalls, this implicitly triggers a port forward from that server to your client.
A "NAT" (Network address Translation) router or firewall device will typically be your home Internet connection offered by your ISP. This is frequently a WI-FI device.
  • Port 80 - TCP
  • Ports 9000-9010UDP - Server Port This changed with the datacenter move on 11 January 2016.
  • Ports 9000-9100UDP - Server Port
  • Ports 2900-2910UDP - Server Port
These ports need to be opened out-bound
Note that the following is rarely necessary:
  • With the Windows Client, when configuring port forwarding explicitly, you need to specify the CLIENT's port. By default, the client lets the operating system choose its port. If you edit your UserPreferences.ini (My Documents\Lord of the Rings Online\UserPreferences.ini), you'll see a section titled [Net]. There's an entry there for "UserSpecifiedPort", which defaults to 0. Set that value to something else (like 9000), and then forward that port to your computer (either by port forwarding or by a trigger).
Two files may also need to be added to your firewall exceptions list. These two files are "launcher.exe" and "lotroclient.exe". Both of the files need to have full permission in the firewall to access the servers.
See: Turbine's Knowledge Base https://support.turbine.com/link/portal/24001/24001/Article/347/Port-forwarding-and-LOTRO
  • For the Mac Client, the preferences file is "~/Library/Preferences/com.turbine.lotroclient.plist", which is a binary file that must be edited with Xcode or TextWrangler. TextEdit CANNOT be used to edit the file. "Net.UserSpecifiedPort" is assumed to be the equivalent variable. (This has not been verified.)
The two file names are: "LotroLauncher.app" and "lotroclient.app"

Encrypted UDP

  • Both DDO and LOTRO connect using encrypted UDP (User Datagram Protocol) packets over Ports 9000-9010UDP (This changed with the datacenter move on 11 January 2016.) Ports 9000-9100UDP (for the general data communication) and 2900 to 2910 (for the chat and voice chat connections) and they use "loose" routing methods, usually referred to as "asymmetrical packet routing". What this means is that while the game client sends data outbound (upstream) on port 'x', the response packets coming back from the server inbound (downstream) are using port 'y'.
  • Whenever there is an issue with these ports being accessible, the two-way data method being supported, or the inbound/outbound data being mis-routed then connection issues at these stages can and do occur.

The Mac Client and anti-malware (anti-virus) software

  • It has been determined that if you use any of the various anti-virus software packages which ALSO check for "malware" from websites, the Mac Client will encounter problems in the initial phases of loading resulting in the error: "An Update Error Occurred."
  • If you use the avast! for Mac product, it is known that this will prevent the Mac Client from contacting patch.lotro.com and updating. The end result is the "classic" error: "An Update Error Occurred."
In the System Preferences control panel for avast!, [B]"Web Shield"[/B] is the culprit.
If you have it enabled, the Mac Client will not get started!
  • You can either disable "Web Shield" completely, or select "Advanced" and add "patch.lotro.com" (HTTP) to the list of exclusions.
(For the Bullroarer client also add "moria.patch.lotro.com" (HTTP) )

Communication related Knowledge Base articles

The Turbine Support Knowledge base at support.turbine.com has information related to communications issues in many articles. While much of the information is technical, and generally written from a Windows point of view, an understanding of many different things is necessary to troubleshoot your problems.
NOTE: It is not possible to "check for the latest drivers" or "update your graphics drives" with OSX. No third-party drivers exist. Apple purchases the technology from the Graphics vendors and integrates it directly into OSX and then releases it along with any other OSX Updates.

Communication with the server has been lost.

After playing for some random amount of time I get a black screen with the message "Connection with the server has been lost."
The error message: "Connection with the server has been lost." -- is specifically a communications problem.
99+% of the time that problem is with YOUR ISP, not Turbine.
If Turbine's servers are having trouble, then you may get that error, but not likely. You will normally simply get no connection.
However keep in mind, that error message is generated by the game-client on your system, it does not come from Turbine's servers, so you will only ever get it if you WERE logged in to the game.
So, what is the fix? Sadly, the accurate answer is -- "It depends."
All communications problems can have multiple causes and therefore multiple fixes.
That said, most communications problems are extremely transient.... here one minute and gone the next. That is because of the "Connectionless" nature of the Internet.

* Frequently if you wait three to five wall-clock minutes and then try again you will discover the problem has resolved itself!

In reality, the "Net's Topology" is extremely redundant, except for the "Last Mile."
The "Last Mile" is that piece of wire between your ISP and your home. (Very few folks have "fibre to the home," but rather have either twisted-pair from the phone company or coax from the cable company.) Unless you physically move, that "last mile" never changes.
The "Next mile" is between your ISP and the thing known as the Internet Exchange point (IXP) -- the location where your ISP connects to the Internet.
Depending upon your ISP (i.e. how big they are and how much capital they have invested), that "next mile" may only be a single link or it may have multiple redundancies.

The ARP Cache

What happens?
A typical scenario is a problem with that "Next mile" -- today, many ISPs have multiple connections to the "Internet backbone," that "Internet Exchange point."
If a problem develops in the primary link, it is like a wound -- it will "fester" for some time, until it gets "bad-enough" that various detection software determines that a significant failure has occurred or is about occur. At that point, the software will switch the ISP's connection to its alternate "ROUTE." Bingo, everything is restored to full functionality... almost. (If you really care, "festering" typically means Packet Loss.)
Why almost? Because of things known as "Routing Tables" and the infamous "ARP Cache" (Address Resolution Protocol).
Because you had a working connection the ARP cache on your system KNOWS that it has to send packets addressed to Turbine via that failed link.... Oops. That won't work.
The ability of the IXP to switch and recover is fairly instantaneous -- maybe only taking 30-90 seconds.
However, the ARP software on your Mac or PC "takes time" to realize that the old route is broken, and to ask for a new one.
How long? Hard to say. There are many issues revolving around such timers, not the least of them being -- maybe this is only a very brief outage and things will return to normal faster than we can figure out how to get a new Route.

Flush the ARP Cache

There are multiple ways to flush the ARP cache on OSX -- however they all involve being familiar with the Terminal Window and the command line.
Consequently, I simply recommend the "power-cycle" route, as part of the flushing involves access to your modem/router.
  1. Quit LOTRO
  2. Power OFF your system i.e. Shut Down your system (not reboot or sleep)!
    un-check the box to "Reopen windows when logging back in"
    (With a MacBook Air or PowerBook DO NOT just close the lid, shut it down completely and do not leave any programs running!)
  3. Power OFF as appropriate (unplug the power cord if you can't find a switch):
    (these three devices are frequently one box, especially from a Cable TV or FIOS provider)
    • your WiFi Access Point
    • your Router
    • your Modem
  4. Wait at least two (2) full minutes! on the wall clock.
  5. Power up the item(s) in step 3 in reverse order -- Modem ,Routher, Access Point -- waiting until each device is completely rebooted and back "in the green." (typically between one and two minutes per device)
  6. Power up your Mac
  7. Launch LOTRO and try again.
All of this takes time, and frequently during that time, the original problem as been healed by the ISP, etc. and you will be up and running again.
Again, depending upon your ISP, that may simply not happen -- a storm might have knocked out power, a back-hoe could have cut the Fibre, etc.
Obviously, if the "wire" to your home is cut -- you are simply SOL until it is repaired.


What happens when you launch the Mac Client?

  • As with the Windows Client, the first thing which the Mac Client will do is to download the English, French and German "teleport screens."
At present, the Mac Client downloads all 30 screens (10 for each language) every time it is launched. This is a "Known Issue."
  • Next the client patches the patcher, launcher, and game engine as necessary. Then if necessary, reboots the Launcher and downloads the "teleport screens" again.
  • At which point the patcher will begin patching in earnest... as with the windows client, depending upon what needs updating since the "app" was built.
    This is a good time to right-click on the ring icon in your dock, select options, "keep in dock" To make it easy to launch the application the next time you want to play.
  • Enter Userid
  • Enter Password
  • Respond to EULA (Must scroll to end of text to make Accept button "live.")
  • Respond to Terms of Service (Must scroll to end of text to make Accept button "live.")
  • Select World
  • Game launches in fullscreen mode
  • Intro Movie plays (you can hit escape to skip to the end of it)

Assorted notes about the Mac Client

  • Note: many of these "notes" are "design" items which (hopefully) will change as the Client becomes more "mature." However, they are currently "issues."
  • If you use the Finder to view the LOTRO Mac Client, you will find the name of the Mac Client to be: "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app" (the .app suffix may or may not be visible depending upon the settings of your Mac's preferences).
However, if you use the Terminal window to view the Mac Client, you will discover the name to be: "LotroLauncher.app".

Allowing multiple users on a single machine

Permissions and protections have changed in OSX over the releases, from a very wide-open environment when it was known as Darwin, to a very restrictive one today. Setting up multiple users on a "non-server" implies that everybody is in their own "pigeon-hole," and not sharing things with other users on the same system.

This is compounded by the fact that the Mac Client Application is NOT quite multi-user. That is to say, It suffers from several "Windows-isms" in file names -- Back-slashes "\" , in path names which cause path names to break and therefore reads and writes to fail. And makes assumptions that only one person will be using the Mac, which impacts how Updates are processed.

  • In ~/Library, the Preferences, Log and Application Support folders are written to regularly.

Each user should have their own. This appears to happen with no problems. ("~/Library" is the User's Library directory, not "/Library" which is the system Library.)

  • However, the application itself (The Lord of the Rings Online™.app) and its contents DO need to be readable, writeable and executable by all users in your "Group."
This is because of the way the launcher updates files each time it is launched -- all of the "transition" screens are downloaded each and every launch and are written into the ".app" file! AND, there is a second executable buried inside the first!

In theory, you should be able to set User and Group to [B]"Read & Write"[/B] and everything should work.

  • You need to use the Terminal (Utilities/Terminal) and enter the command:
chmod -R ug+rwX <path to your installation>/LotroLauncher.app

This will take care of the corresponding issue of Directories not being searchable by Group, and the fact that there is a second executable buried down inside the ".app" structure: lotroclient.

To verify success:

ls -al <path to your installation>/LotroLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/lotroclient.app/Contents/MacOS/lotroclient
Note: If you have installed LOTRO in "Applications," the <path to your installation> will be "/Applications".

You should see something like this (all on one line):

-rwxrwxr--@ 1 user group 56458116 Nov 4 22:16 <path to your installation>/LotroLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/lotroclient.app/Contents/MacOS/lotroclient
rwx = Read, Write, Execute in three groups - User, Group, Others

This verifies that the embedded executable "loroclient" is in fact executable by everyone in your Group.

You should now have all of the permissions necessary to allow any user in Group staff (or whatever your Group name is) to read and update the various "transition" screens and other files.

Internal Error on Logging in (German and French users)

This applies to folks who are not using the American English language selection.

You get all the way to entering your userid and password and selecting a server when you get the error: "Internal Error. Please contact customer support."

This happens on your FIRST login, when you have not yet accepted the EUL and T&C.

  • The solution/work-around is to "Select a Language" -- In the upper right corner of the Client is a little blue box with a downward pointing arrow. When you mouse over it, you get "Select a Language" in German, English and French. Click on that button and select "English."
  • The Client should re-launch, and you will be presented with the EULA and TOC to accept.
  • Once you have accepted the two agreements, you can switch back to your preferred language at any time.

How can I get F1 - F12 to work in game?

If you are using an Apple keyboard:

  • Open System Preferences.
  • Click on Keyboard.
  • Click on the checkbox next to Use all F1, F2, etc, keys as standard function keys.

The Function buttons will now work as you want.

To use the special features instead of F1 etc. then just press the fn key at the same time as the F key as before, except the function is now reversed.

F16 > F19 do not map in LOTRO even with this selected on the Apple extended keyboard.

"Standard" ANSI 101-key and 102-key keyboards (such as Logitech) should "just work."

Assorted Mac Client Messages (including errors)

Images and interpretations of various messages generated by the Mac Client can be found on this page: Mac Client Messages.

Turbine Knowledge Base Articles

Note that many of these articles refer to both LOTRO and DDO, both Turbine games.

Turbine Knowledge Base Articles related to the Mac Client

Note: This article is not accurate for Mountain Lion.
  • Under Mountain Lion, there is no longer a "Save as" option. The document can NOT be saved as an RTF document, only as ".spx".
  • The default location to save the document is in your "Documents" folder. The Desktop option may not be visible.
  • The save can take a while as it includes log files. It may also be a LARGE file as a result.
An alternative is to
  • Select print
  • In the Print window select PDF
  • Select Save as PDF
  • The default location to save the document is in your "Documents" folder. The Desktop option may not be visible.


File locations:

All support files are being stored in:

~/Library/Application Support/com.turbine.lotroclient/

Or when using the Wine wrapper used by Steam:

~/Library/Application Support/com.standingstonegames.lotro/common/wineprefix/drive_c/<username>/My Documents/The Lord of the Rings Online
  • lotro.keymap
  • lotroclient.log
  • Chat logs (Capture Chat)
  • Screenshots (F11)
  • Music (folder) -- ABC Music files
  • Plugins (folder) -- Lua Plugins
  • PluginData (folder) -- Lua Plugins Data
  • ui (folder) -- Skins and Layouts

The "UserPreferences.ini" file (as found in the Windows Client) is stored as a plist file:

~/Library/Preferences/com.standingstonegames.lotroclient.plist

And the launcher

~/Library/Preferences/com.turbine.lorolauncher.plist

Note that .plist files are "binary" files which need to be read and converted into readable text. Xcode (free from the App Store for Mountain Lion users) does a fine job as do other third party text exiting programs. TextEdit cannot read or convert them. (TextWrangler - Bare Bones Software can convert them into XML form, however the resulting file contains all of the Apple plist boilerplate which tends to make the resulting file less than readable and therefore useful.)

Where are the .dat files?

Steam

  • For the Steam installation of the Mac client, they are located here:
Open the Finder to: ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Lord of the Rings Online/The Lord of the Rings Online™.app
  • Right click on "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app"
  • In the pop-up menu select: "Show Package Contents"
  • Select "Contents"
  • Select "Resources"
  • Right click on "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app" (Yes this is the same name. This is the actual game-client.)
  • Select "Contents"
  • Select "Resources"
All of the .dat files will be visible in this folder.

Happy Cloud Installation: File Locations

NOTE: There is no longer a Happy Cloud installer available for LOTRO.


SSG

  • /Users/<username>/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ -- Standard Apple location for dump files
  • /Users/<username>/Library/Logs/LotroLauncher.log -- LOTRO Launcher log file (Typically contains no useful information)
  • For the SSG installation of the Mac client, they are located here:
Open the Finder to: <path to your installation>/The Lord of the Rings Online™.app
Note: the <path to your installation> will typically be /applications -- /Applications/The Lord of the Rings Online™.app
  • Right click on "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app"
  • In the pop-up menu select: "Show Package Contents"
  • Select "Contents"
  • Select "Resources"
  • Right click on "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app" (Yes this is the same name. This is the actual game-client.)
  • Select "Contents"
  • Select "Resources"
All of the .dat files will be visible in this folder.
  • Note that in both cases here, the file names are as seen from the Finder. If you use the Terminal App, the file names ARE DIFFERENT.
See the example in Video files and transition screens below.


Log files:

Client: ~/Library/Application Suport/com.turbine.lotroclient/lotroclient.log

This file can be clicked on and read via the Console app, however it is usually only a report of events taking place AFTER login credentials have been validated. It is overwritten at each launch.

Launcher (Patcher): ~/Library/Logs/LotroLauncher.log

This file can be clicked on and read via the Console app. It is normally quite short, as it is usually only a report of password failures and its full text can be read in the Finder preview window. (It represents the initial dialog between the Launcher(Patcher) and the GLS data center.)

Launcher (Patcher): ~/Library/Logs/com.turbine.lotroclient/PatchClient.log

This file can be clicked on and read via the Console app. It is appended to at each launch or patch session.

This log is the most useful for diagnosing patching and other issues. It records activity during the patching phase of the client, both when patches actually exist as well as for each launch when LOTRO checks the files (including .dat files). If there is any issue it usually will be indicated in this log.

However, in classic Unix fashion, this file is not normally created for you. You need to create a blank file to "initialize" it. (Note that it is also never truncated an can therefore grow infinitely.)

You can most easily create the file from the Terminal window the "classic" Unix way :

$ touch ~/Library/Logs/com.turbine.lotroclient/PatchClient.log
Yes that is a tilde, shift of the key to the left of 1 on the top row.

You can also create it using Text Exit or any other text editor (such as Text Wrangler or Emacs).

  • Launch Text Edit;
  • Create a New document making sure it is in plain text format;
Textedit > Format menu drop down > Make Plain Text
NOTE: You may only have "Make Rich Text" as option if you have chosen the Preference:"New Document - Format - Use the Format menu to choose settings for an open document. -Plain text."
  • Enter nothing, just Save with the name;
Library/Logs/com.turbine.lotroclient/PatchClient.log
Important Note: if you are running Mountain Lion (10.8.x), your default may be to save the document to iCloud AND you may discover that you do not have Library as a visible folder (directory)! If that is the case, you may NOT be able to save the file in this manner using Text Edit. (Apple re-defined how the "Save/Save as" options in Mountain Lion work, as well as removing Library from the normally visible list of folders.) You will need to either use the Terminal window (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal) and the "touch" command listed above. Or use a different Text Editor which does make your Library folder visible.
To "truncate" this log file, you can simply erase it (Move to Trash), in which case no further logging will take place until you re-create it. Or, again in classic Unix fashion, use the Terminal and the command:
> cat /dev/null > ~/library/logs/com.turbine.lotroclient/PatchClient.log

Lua plugins:

For Lua plugins, I recommend using LPC - LOTRO Plugin Compendium (Mac / Linux) - https://www.lotrointerface.com/downloads/fileinfo.php?id=689 This is a Java program which allows one to easily install and update Lua Plugins. You simply point it at the directory mentioned above and it will create the Plugins Folder and generate a list of available plugins for you to "pick and choose" -- then it will track updates to your installed plugins for you. (You simply launch it, and let it do its check prior to launching the game.)

  • The Plugins folder is not created for you. You need to create the "Plugins" folder, or allow LPC to create it.
  • An important Note about using LPC with the new Native Mac Client:
Because the Native Mac Client is storing the Plugins in a place different from Windows, you need to make certain that you Configure LPC before you use it -- ESPECIALLY, if you have previously used it with a WINE based distribution. LPC will look for, and find, its old settings information, and store the Plugins in the wrong location. It is not known if Turbine will change the location for the Native Mac client to match the Windows location at this time. We have bugged it and asked them to change it... but nobody knows if they will or not.


Music:

Work-aounds for Play bugs: Mac Client - Music work-around

ABC Music files go here for use with /play (/playlist /playstart) commands.

UI Layouts:

This is the default location where the in-game command /ui stores its output. /UI allows you to save and restore (across characters) the placement of UI (User Interface) elements on your screen.

  • The "ui" folder will only be created for you if you use the in-game command /ui. This will also create the folder "layouts" within that folder.

Note that these files are plain text files in XML format. They also contain all of the aliases defined for a character. This provides a mechanism to also make your aliases common across all your characters. The files are visible to all characters on all servers when using a game-client accessed from the Mac. (I.e. they are not restricted by either account or server.)

  • Note also: This command is currently (Update 9) broken in the Mac Client Beta Version, one needs to use the FULL PATH NAME for <filename>.
For example, to save a layout to the same location as all other Mac Client support files use:
/ui layout save "/Users/<userid>/Library/Application Support/com.turbine.lotroclient/ui/layouts/<layoutname>"

If you are doing this frequently, you can assign this command to a shortcut (i.e. create an alias). Replace <userid> and <layoutname> with your values:

/shortcut xx /ui layout load "/Users/<userid>/Library/Application Support/com.turbine.lotroclient/ui/layouts/<layoutname>"
where xx = the desired quickslot number (The version in the shortcut example loads the UI layout)
usage /ui [layout [<save|load> [<filename>]]]
This command can be used to save or load a UI layout.

To save a ui layout use:
: /ui layout save <filename>

To load a ui layout use:
: /ui layout load <filename>

In the file name you can use %r to substitute in the current resolution and %c to substitute in the character's name.

If no filename is specified, a default filename of the form Default_%r is used.

Skins:

Skins change the visual appearance of your User Interface. They go in a folder called "skins" located inside the "ui" folder.

  • The "ui" folder will only be created for you if you use the in-game command /ui (see "Layouts" below).
  • The "skins" folder is not created for you. You need to create the "skins" folder inside the "ui" folder.
  • See: [www.lotrointerface.com www.lotrointerface.com] for available skins

Video files and transition screens

The Video vignette files and the Transition screens are located inside the .app bundle. As most users are not expected to need to access these files, this information is primarily for debugging purposes.

You need to be familiar with the Terminal or adept at the Finder.

1- Navigate to wherever you have LOTRO.app installed (nominally in /applications) and select it.

2- In the Finder toolbar click on the "Gear" to get the pull-down; then select "show package contents" (You can get that same menu as a pop-up by right-clicking on the filename.) A "new" finder window will appear to show the "Contents;" you navigate down from there.

3- In terminal, simply keep CDing your way down:

LotroLauncher.app/
                Contents/
                        Resources/
                           Lotroclient.app/
                                      Contents/
                                           Resources/
                                                    raw/
                                                      en/    (or de or fr)
                                                           vignette_videos

At that point, you can simply select the file you want to trash, right click on it "move to trash" or simply drag it "up a level."

Note that from the Finder, the top-level application name is different from that which is seen in Terminal.

Yes, you do wind up passing through two ".app" files and using the "show package contents" twice.

This is because the Mac Client is actually two nested applications -- the launcher/patcher and the game-client itself.

FWIW, this is actually the same location as in the Windows version -- just with the Mac "bundle" around it. All three languages tress are symmetrical.

How to find LOTRO files on a Mac

  • As of Yosemite (OSX 10.10) and El Capitan (OSX 10.11) there is a new method for exposing the user's Library directory.
How to Always Show the User Library Folder in OS X El Capitan & Yosemite the Easy Way - OSX Daily.
https://osxdaily.com/2014/12/16/show-user-library-folder-os-x-yosemite/


Apple in their infinite wisdom decided back about Lion, that the User never needed to visit the Library directory (folder) and hid it from from the Finder. -- However at the same time "The Apple Way" promulgated to Developers advocated that all application program support functions be placed in "~/Library/Application Support" -- which the user can't see! Duh!

Let me describe the two situations as relating to the LOTRO Mac Client.

1- Note also that there are TWO libraries -- /Library (slash Library), the System Library and ~/Library (tilde Library) the User's Library. Needless to say both Libraries have "Application Support" directories.

It is easiest visit them via the Terminal window, but that requires Unix (OSX) command line expertise.

To access them via the Finder, use the "Go" drop-down menu. Pressing the Command (alt) key while that menu is down, will add "Library" to the list. That entry will take you directly to the User's Library.

Alternately, you can use the "Go to Folder" option (Apple-Shift-G). This will generate a pop-up "Go to Folder" which ill be automatically filled in with "~/Library"... the User's Library.

Once there, you are "halfway" there... "Application Support" will contain "com.turbine.lotroclient" -- this is where your screenshots are stored, and where you create the "Plugins" folder for Luas, or "Music" folder for ABC files, etc.

Note that it is also possible to make the Library directory permanently visible again. In terminal, issue the command: chflags nohidden ~/Library

2- Again in their advocating of the "The Apple Way" to developers, primarily so that Applications can be distributed through the "App Store," all Application programs are "bundled."

In "Finder Preferences,' "Advanced," if you have "Show all filename extensions" checked, you will see the extension ".app" at the end of each application in "/Applications." (Note that while there are again TWO -- "/Applications" and "~/Applications." The User's ~/Applications directory is rarely used by third-party developers.)

Once in /Applications, select "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app" and Right-Click, select "Show Package Contents." You are now "inside" the "application bundle" of the "Launcher" for the LOTRO Mac Client.

This top level folder "Contents," contains a number of other folders: "Resources" being the one of interest. Inside the "Resources" folder, you will find ANOTHER "The Lord of the Rings Online™.app" -- this is the actual game client.

Another Right-click and "Show Package Contents" and you will find another set of folder including another "Resources."

Inside this second "Resources" folder you will find all of the Game's data files, and the file : "DownloadFilesList.xml".

Stopping the constant downloading of the Transition Screens

15.3

As of 15.3 - 30 March 2015:

  • The OSX Launcher will no longer download all the splash screens every time you start it. It does make an HTTP request for each splash screen to see if you have the most recent one on disk each time.
20 December 2014 - NOTE: These instructions no longer work. Turbine has changed the way the screens are downloaded and as yet a way to prevent the 30 screen download has not been found.
  • The Mac Client constantly downloads the "Transition" screens every time it is launched, if they have been changed or not!

To stop that behavior and dramatically shorten launch time, follow the instructions below.

  • This set of commands is for a STEAM installation. The "standard" installation location is slightly different. (see below)

Note that this is a single line for use in the Terminal window. Each "\ " represents and "escaped" space. There is a single space after "Rings".

ls -als ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Lord\ of\ the\ Rings\ Online/LotroLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/lotroclient.app/Contents/Resources/DownloadFilesList.xml

This is a list command: which will return something like:

12 -rw-r--r-- 1 User staff 8703 Feb 22 13:51 /Users/User/Library/Application Support/Steam/ ...

If you get "No such file or directory" you most likely have one of the escaped spaces wrong.

Once you have verified that you have the ls command "spelled correctly" and gotten the list response back, change the command to:

cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/Lord\ of\ the\ Rings\ Online/LotroLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/lotroclient.app/Contents/Resources

This will Change your Directory to "Resources" where a simple "ls -l" command will return something like,

> ls -l
-rw-r--r--  1 User  staff        8703 Feb 22 13:51 DownloadFilesList.xml
-rwx------  1 User  staff           3 Feb 22 12:13 ProjectVersion
drwxr-xr-x  2 User  staff          68 Feb 22 13:55 bindat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   567279616 Mar 11 23:12 client_anim.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   331350016 Mar 11 23:12 client_cell_1.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   201326592 Mar 11 23:12 client_cell_2.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   502267904 Mar 11 23:12 client_gamelogic.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   367001600 Mar 11 23:12 client_general.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff  4287627264 Mar 11 23:12 client_highres.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff  1329594368 Mar 11 23:12 client_highres_aux_1.datx
-rwx------  1 User  staff   558891008 Mar 11 23:12 client_local_DE.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   667942912 Mar 11 23:12 client_local_English.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff   504365056 Mar 11 23:12 client_local_FR.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff    23068672 Mar 11 23:12 client_map_1.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff    23068672 Mar 11 23:12 client_map_2.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff  1419771904 Mar 11 23:12 client_mesh.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff  2657091584 Mar 11 23:12 client_sound.dat
-rwx------  1 User  staff  3792699392 Mar 11 23:12 client_surface.dat
drwxr-xr-x  4 User  staff         136 Feb 22 12:52 de.lproj
drwxr-xr-x  4 User  staff         136 Feb 22 12:54 en.lproj
drwxr-xr-x  3 User  staff         102 Feb 22 12:54 en_gb.lproj
drwxr-xr-x  4 User  staff         136 Feb 22 12:23 fr.lproj
drwxr-xr-x  3 User  staff         102 Feb 22 12:23 ja.lproj
drwxr-xr-x  3 User  staff         102 Feb 22 12:23 ko.lproj
-rwx------  1 User  staff     1666634 Feb 22 12:52 lotroclient.icns
drwxr-xr-x  5 User  staff         170 Feb 22 10:30 raw
drwxr-xr-x  4 User  staff         136 Feb 22 13:04 ru.lproj
drwxr-xr-x  4 User  staff         136 Feb 22 13:08 zh_cn.lproj
If you examine the contents of the file: "DownloadFilesList.xml," you will discover that all of the file names are in "Windows" format, with "\" instead of "/" as the path separator. Consequently, the launcher cannot find them, and assumes that they must be downloaded again.

Next backup (Copy) the file: "DownloadFilesList.xml"

cp DownloadFilesList.xml backup.xml

Then run the following SED command:

sed -i .bak -e's/\\/\//g' DownloadFilesList.xml

Yes, this does create a backup file: DownloadFilesList.xml. -- belt and suspenders :)

  • For the standard installation in /Applications, the process is identical, just the initial path is somewhat simpler.

Start off with ~/library again, but leaving out the "Steam Parts" :

ls -als ~/Library/Application\ Support/LotroLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/lotroclient.app/Contents/Resources/DownloadFilesList.xml
cd ~/Library/Application\ Support/LotroLauncher.app/Contents/Resources/lotroclient.app/Contents/Resources/

and continue as above.

Misc Notes

Capturing Screen Shots on the Mac OUTSIDE of the game

This can be used to capture a particular window on your Mac.

  • The resulting file will be placed on your desktop as "Screenshot <date>


  1. Position the cursor over the window you wish to record. (The cursor does not appear in the screenshot.)
  2. Hold down the APPLE [Command] and SHIFT keys
  3. Press 4 to get "Crosshairs" so you can select just the section of the screen you want in your screenshot.
  • You can drag the crosshairs around the object you wish to capture.
  • Note that you only get one try to select an area. As soon you release the mouse, the screenshot is taken.

Alternately:

  • Press the space bar after you press 4 to automatically size the screenshot so that it matches the window the cursor is over.
  • After you press the space bar, the window under the cursor window is highlighted, and a camera icon should appear.
  • Click the mouse to take the screenshot.

You can also easily capture the entire screen:

  1. Hold down the APPLE [Command] and SHIFT keys
  2. Press 3 for a screen shot of the entire screen