LUA ERROR and DEDICATED SERVER WON'T START

this is also what happen to me right now.  And I also lost all of my old servers

Edited October 25, 2019 by euro99

Hi, sorry to hear about this - is either of you on OSX Catalina by any chance?

I can't do anything, too, lost old servers, can't host or join any other servers, on macos.

How can I do?

I assume you are all on Catalina? It seems that Catalina's new security features are a bit restrictive.

** Before you do this, make a backup of your /Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether/ folder **

There's likely two things that can cause this:

- Don't Starve not having permissions to use the Documents folder (Catalina should have asked about that, it's because of its new security features).
You should be able to fix that by giving Don't Starve Together the right to access your Documents, or give it Full File Access.

- Because DST was unable to read its save files it may have created a new directory in your save location and is working from there, therefore not seeing your original saves.

To address both issues, first we have to make sure that DST doesn't use a new location rather than the original, which it couldn't see because of Catalina permissions.

• Check in your Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether folder and see if there's a folder with as it's name just a large number. You want to delete that, because with the right permissions DST should be able to read the original save.

Next we'll have to give DST permission to read from its original savelocation, either by giving it access to Files and Folders or Full Disk Access.

To give DST access to Files and Folders:

• - Now go to your system preferences>Security and Privacy>Privacy
• - Select 'Files and Folders'
• - Make sure the lock in the bottom left of the dialog is open. If it isn't, click it and enter your password.
• - If dontstarve_steam is in the panel 'Allow the apps below to access data',  select it (by clicking to the left of the checkbox, not the name) and click the '-' button to delete it. Next time you launch DST a popup should ask you if you want to allow it to access files in the documents folder. Selecting OK should make things work as intended.

If this does not make things work as intended you can try giving DST Full Fisk Access:

•  In Steam, right click Don't Starve Together and select 'Properties'
• - Go to the 'Local Files' tab in the dialog that opens and select "BROWSE LOCAL FILES..."
• - Now go to your system preferences>Security and Privacy>Privacy
• - Select 'Full Disk Access'
• - Make sure the lock in the bottom left of the dialog is open. If it isn't, click it and enter your password.
• - Shift-Drag dontstarve_steam into the panel 'Allow the apps below to access data'.

** Again, before you do this, make a backup of your /Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether/ folder **

I hope this resolves issues, if not please let me know.

• Quote

   

  •  In Steam, right click Don't Starve Together and select 'Properties'
  • - Go to the 'Local Files' tab in the dialog that opens and select "BROWSE LOCAL FILES..."
  • - Now go to your system preferences>Security and Privacy>Privacy
  • - Select 'Full Disk Access'
  • - Make sure the lock in the bottom left of the dialog is open. If it isn't, click it and enter your password.
  • - Shift-Drag dontstarve_steam into the panel 'Allow the apps below to access data'.

   

  Thank you so much, it's okay now!

On 2019-10-25 at 4:37 PM, bizziboi said:

Check in your Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether folder and see if there's a folder with as it's name just a large number. You want to delete that, because with the right permissions DST should be able to read the original save.

I have followed @bizziboi 's instructions but every time I reopen DST it just makes another one of these files with big numbers! Dst has full disk access but it still creates a new save file. Any suggestions?

EDIT:

To give more info on my problem, it seems all my save history in-game is gone. Like settings I've previously set, obituaries/encounters, my item collection doesn't show my saved outfit, character or little profile picture. My items I've collected in the curio cabinet are still there but shown with the red New! banner. When I go and reset my settings and outfits, then next time I log in they are not there any more and I have to redo it. I also tried to join a server and got the Warning! screen with code. hope that helps.

Edited October 27, 2019 by StationArii

@StationArii

If it keeps creating the folder it seems you didn't give proper File Access, because that causes the game to create the folder and thus look in there and not see your original data.

Can you post a screenshot of the privacy dialog with DST having access, maybe I can spot something being 'off'? I know someone else gave permission to the alias and not to the actual game.

Does DST show as having access it 'Files and Folders'? If so, remove it, and see if OSX shows a popup asking permission when launching the game, and say 'OK'.

Lastly, make sure you delete the <number> folder when DST is not running.

For the people that replied so far this seems to have solved the exact same issue, so maybe there's a step I didn't word properly, please try those suggestions and let me know?

16 minutes ago, bizziboi said:

@StationArii

If it keeps creating the folder it seems you didn't give proper File Access, because that causes the game to create the folder and thus not see your original data.

Can you post a screenshot of the privacy dialog with DST having access, maybe I can spot something being 'off'? I know someone else gave permission to the alias and not to the actual game.

Does DST show as having access it 'Files and Folders'? If so, remove it, and see if OSX shows a popup asking permission when launching the game, and say 'OK'.

Lastly, make sure you delete the <number> folder when DST is not running.

For the people that replied so far this seems to have solved the exact same issue, so maybe there's a step I didn't word properly, please try those suggestions and let me know?

Originally when I followed the instructions I had a dontstarve_steam item (I can't remember if it was a folder or icon) in the privacy files and folders. it had a little drop down with a check box. I deleted it but nothing popped up when I reopened the game asking for permission.

When I do a broad search in finder for "dontstarve_steam" there is 2 things that show up: a folder and the dst icon. the privacy settings only allows the one with the icon to be added to files/folders/full disk access. Maybe that has something to do with it..? With or without the dontstarve_steam icon having access to the full disk drive didn't change anything for me. here is what my current privacy settings look like:

 

thanks for you help

Could you try removing DST from "Full Disk Access" and re-adding it, and again removing the <number> directory?

I've seen reports of people online with regards to other apps where removing and re-adding it solved it. The tricky part is that it's completely out of my control what OSX does at the point we ask it to read a file and it reports back that it doesn't exist, even if it does exist. The disk access should make it see the file as apps by default don't get read access on Catalina.

Could you send a screenshot of the Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether folder, and maybe give me the full path OSX shows for it?

Edit: By the way, from my tests, what you want to add is dontstarve_steam.app, as located in the steamapps folder, not the executable inside the app.

On 26/10/2019 at 1:48 AM, euro99 said:

this is also what happen to me right now.  And I also lost all of my old servers

I lost all my old servers too! Not happy...

Ive tried removing and readding and it hasn't worked. I'm not sure if these pictures are what you meant: the first one is what it looks like from documents and on. the 2nd one is what it looks like from looking up steam on my computer.. so many files :0

I've noticed that in the userdata folder under steamapps it has the same long number file in it. do I need to delete that too?

 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by StationArii

Hmmmm, your situation does seem different, and makes me worried. For other people the original save files are sitting in the Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether directory, for you they are not. I have seen some reports from people online about their documents folder not properly being synced back from iCloud after installing Catalina, was/is your Documents folder mapped to iCloud?

Edit: Forgot - No, you definitely don't want to delete folder in steamapps.

Edit2: To make sure I get the current situation right - the old saves are not visible, but are you able to start (and continue) a new game and/or join another server? 

Edit3: Did you make a backup of your DoNotStarveTogether folder? I wouldn't mind taking a look at it to see if it can give me an insight.

What should the original save files look like? do they end in .txt? I can try and search if they are hidden in a different folder. 

Yes my documents folder is located within my iCloud. 

Correct. The very first time I tried to join a server I got the Warning message, but I just tried again and I am able to join other servers and host.

Every time I log in, the long number file and client log and chat log.txt show up in my dst folder (after I have deleted it and changed the privacy settings).

I want to clarify that I have not lost items (thank god). It's just the presets/customizations or history that I have made over time: like saved outfits, hosted worlds, obituaries, and edits I've made in settings like sound or controls. I will attach some pictures of what my dst looks like.

Edited October 28, 2019 by StationArii

Yes, the items wouldn't be lost, they are stored server-side, but all else, your progress and your worlds, are not, so that is troubling.

The original save files are, amongst others, Cluster_1, Cluster_2, etc. folders, a client_save folder, basically like you can see in the post I linked below just to get an idea of files you could search for.

Have you checked on iCloud.com to see if the files happen to be there still? 

Also, to be double sure, did you make a backup of the documents folder? I would love to take a look at that.

 

 

On 26/10/2019 at 3:37 AM, bizziboi said:

I assume you are all on Catalina? It seems that Catalina's new security features are a bit restrictive.

** before you do this, make a backup of your Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether folder **

There's likely two things that can cause this:

- Don't Starve not having permissions to use the Documents folder (Catalina should have asked about that, it's because of its new security features).
You should be able to fix that by giving Don't Starve Together the right to access your Documents, or give it Full File Access.

- Because DST was unable to read its save files it may have created a new directory in your save location and is working from there, therefore not seeing your original saves.

To address both issues, first we have to make sure that DST doesn't use a new location rather than the original, which it couldn't see because of Catalina permissions.

• Check in your Documents/Klei/DoNotStarveTogether folder and see if there's a folder with as it's name just a large number. You want to delete that, because with the right permissions DST should be able to read the original save.

Next we'll have to give DST permission to read from its original savelocation, either by giving it access to Files and Folders or Full Disk Access.

To give DST access to Files and Folders:

• - Now go to your system preferences>Security and Privacy>Privacy
• - Select 'Files and Folders'
• - Make sure the lock in the bottom left of the dialog is open. If it isn't, click it and enter your password.
• - If dontstarve_steam is in the panel 'Allow the apps below to access data',  select it (by clicking to the left of the checkbox, not the name) and click the '-' button to delete it. Next time you launch DST a popup should ask you if you want to allow it to access files in the documents folder. Selecting OK should make things work as intended.

If this does not make things work as intended you can try giving DST Full Fisk Access:

•  In Steam, right click Don't Starve Together and select 'Properties'
• - Go to the 'Local Files' tab in the dialog that opens and select "BROWSE LOCAL FILES..."
• - Now go to your system preferences>Security and Privacy>Privacy
• - Select 'Full Disk Access'
• - Make sure the lock in the bottom left of the dialog is open. If it isn't, click it and enter your password.
• - Shift-Drag dontstarve_steam into the panel 'Allow the apps below to access data'.

I hope this resolves issues, if not please let me know.

Hi, I had tried your method and the game is back. Thank you very much!!!