Problems accessing EVE through Steam (new player)

I got the EVE starter pack this weekend on Steam, and downloaded it, but haven't been able to get in the game. There are a few threads I've seen that talk about how to fix it, but none have helped so far.

Basically, when I play, the launcher comes up, and get to the end of step 3 of 4 to update, and then just stays there forever.

One thread suggested d/ling the launcher right from CCP, and then patching that. Now, it gets to the middle of step 2 and gets some error stack trace, and then stops. However, it gives me a button to launch EVE anyway, which I can, but then it wants me to log in, and I don't think it wants the Steam info, but I don't know what info it wants.

Anyone here sign up through Steam, and know how to get around this issue?

Thanks,

Tat

firewall? i personally dont liek launching eve through steam at all. ive had the steam overlay crash my client multiple times and for multiboxing, skipping the launcher altogether is the ebst