posted on June 11th, 2007, 7:27 am
The Problem:
When I try to play a multi-player game, the application aborts during the "Checking game assets" phase. Yet, this stage successfully completes when I try to use the Gamespy option, which unfortunately comes back with a "Lobby cannot be found error" (although, it seems like that would be expected given that this is a mod and not from a publisher).
Steps I've taken to solve the problem:
Scourer the forums!
Kill UAC (No go)
Admin rights(No go)
Admin and XP SP2 Compat (No go)
Auditing the directory level permissions to force everything below it to allow User's full rights.
(reinstalling x5)
I've looked into the system logs that Windows keeps to see if it was just a configuration issue, which could be possible given that Vista is very picky about ACLs. Instead, I find that the faulting module is this NetworkManager.dll (same exact problems with the stock A2 install).
Once I found that it was this guy, I ran the ACT 5.0, which is supposed to check app-compatibility between XP and Vista etc. As it turned out, there were a number of attempts to access the registry, and various process/thread features of Windows, which failed due to the "non"-existence of NT AuthoritySystem in Stock A2, but this wasn't the case in FO, which used the correct user. After reviewing the problems, I had ACT 5.0 apply the correct ACLs to the DirectSound keys, which didn't work. I also noticed that Windows denies the taskswitcher hook they tried to implement.
I also checked the logs for FO, but they were non-existent at this point.
Steps to reproduce the problem:
1. Install FO3PR1.1 w/ Vista patch using Virtual PC 2007 and a Windows XP SP2 ISO image to build the appropriate proxy box that will allow the install to complete without problems
2. Copy the installed files to Vista
3. Reproduce the Keys in HKLMSoftwareActivisionFO3...
4. Start the game via the launcher
5. Try to play a multi-player game
6. Game crashes!
My OS:
Windows Vista Business Edition courtesy of the fantastic MSDNAA access my college grants me.
My Box:
P4 (Prescott) 3.0 Ghz w/Hyper Threadind
1GB Corsair XMS memory
2 80GB HDDs (FO and A2 are on a Seagate via SATA150)
1 Intel 1000/100/10 Mbps integrated network interface (drivers ala Asus)
1 Asus MOBO
1 Nvidia GeForce 5700 Ultra via BFG Tech (I know its old, but it still works!)
Assorted Periphs and multi-drives
FO_ERRORS.zip
thanks for reporting