Vista - A2 + FO Won't run

posted on August 8th, 2009, 5:59 am

  Don't think you can. Just install DX9 (or DX8) an give it a go. You got nothing to loose.

posted on August 8th, 2009, 4:25 pm

you could also try downloading this Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime

it will update your direct X so if for some reason your missing some of the direct x needed for this game it should add them.

I had a simular problem with a diffrent fan game I had the newist version but it never included a small febuary update that was critical to make the game run

hope this helps you get your game working

p.s. your Radeon 2600XT should run it fine I think

posted on August 8th, 2009, 4:49 pm

all i no is that some people do have problems running a2 and fo in vista i think the team are still trying to fix that so i guess a post containing all system specs could provide an answer

posted on August 8th, 2009, 6:11 pm

Download details: DirectX End-User Runtime

I attempted to reinstall DX9c, and try running it, with no success.
Even checked that one you linked, and it said no installation was needed (already had that same one downloaded from elsewhere and reinstalled...)

/shrug
Radeon 2600XT are kinda infamous for having the 'computer shut down' issue (certain games ran on most of the Radeon 2xxx series, will randomly power off the computer... no overheating, no nothing, just yoink goes the power..), but not usually things like this..... >.<

[shadow651]

posted on August 8th, 2009, 6:46 pm

Last edited by shadow651 on August 8th, 2009, 6:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

well I have run it on 2 vista computers, with no problems. so, I think the problem is probably video related. I've run it on a NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS (the lowest NVIDIA card out there today) and an integrated intell. the only thing I could think of is mabey the game has a compatiblity problem with radeon cards (mabey the graphics drivers). I can't be sure what kinds of cards people are using though so.... this might not be the problem I'm just throwing ideas out there (allthough at the moment this seams to graphics related)

If your computer has some sort of a lame integrated card I would try and see if the game can run on it. or if you have a diffrent video card even if it is older I would see if it works or not or if you have another computer try it on that.

another thing you should check is the 'problem reports and solutions' window in vista (most of the time it is usless but every now and then it comes up with somthing usefull) you can find it by typing it into the seach bar on the start menu.

one more thing did you buy your computer pre-assembled or did you buy all the parts and put it together yourself?

hope some of this helps you get this great game running

posted on August 8th, 2009, 7:12 pm

Well, I do have an intergrated chipset thats fully capable of running most of the newer end games, problem is, I'd have to switch back to it by this evening, so switching back and forth on a daily basis would be annoying. I'll switch them around and see if I can run it on that.

But, as for Problem reporting, thats the thing.... When the game runs, you see the screen flicker twice first pops to full screen, second is when its about to play an image or something), then there's a Vista distinctive 'ding' (like a popup window or something, asking for confirmation or saying theres a problem, but not windows problem+reporting system error).  And thats as far as it goes. I can Alt-F4 out of that and close it immediately (recently realized that one...), but had been ctrl-alt-del to close the program manually.

I do have a couple of error reports, but I don't think they have the right info (probably logs from program stopped responding when trying to terminate program...) but here are 2:

Product
Star Trek Armada 2

Problem
Program Compatibility

Date
7/31/2009 6:13 PM

Status
Report Sent

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: PCA2
Problem Signature 01: Armada2.exe
Problem Signature 02: 43.0.0.0
Problem Signature 03: Star Trek Armada 2
Problem Signature 04: Star Trek Armada 2
Problem Signature 05: Activision
Problem Signature 06: 200
Problem Signature 07: -1
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 9901503



-------------------------------------------



Product
Star Trek Armada 2

Problem
Stopped responding and was closed

Date
7/31/2009 9:25 PM

Status
Report Sent

Description
A problem caused this program to stop interacting with Windows.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: AppHangB1
Application Name: Armada2.exe
Application Version: 43.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 3c4c76bd
Hang Signature: 58af
Hang Type: 6144
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Hang Signature 1: 00927555ffbe4e9746b4e00af327c9d8
Additional Hang Signature 2: 6016
Additional Hang Signature 3: da07b4d0257e2a690bc0830d6a4ae351
Additional Hang Signature 4: 58af
Additional Hang Signature 5: 00927555ffbe4e9746b4e00af327c9d8
Additional Hang Signature 6: 6016
Additional Hang Signature 7: da07b4d0257e2a690bc0830d6a4ae351

posted on August 8th, 2009, 7:38 pm

I do have a couple of error reports, but I don't think they have the right info (probably logs from program stopped responding when trying to terminate program...)

Yes thats what they are, but under the same window has it come up with any solututions? and if there is what are they? (probably not related or even acurate, but like i said sometimes it's usefull)

Well, I do have an intergrated chipset thats fully capable of running most of the newer end games, problem is, I'd have to switch back to it by this evening, so switching back and forth on a daily basis would be annoying. I'll switch them around and see if I can run it on that.

well if it works we might have some sort of an idea as to what the problem is and how to fix it so hopefully you won't have to switch it around all the time

But, as for Problem reporting, thats the thing.... When the game runs, you see the screen flicker twice first pops to full screen, second is when its about to play an image or something), then there's a Vista distinctive 'ding' (like a popup window or something, asking for confirmation or saying theres a problem, but not windows problem+reporting system error).  And thats as far as it goes.

That is strange but the screen flicker (I think) is normal because the resoultion is changeing when the game loads. as for the other part, that might be a video error but I can be sure

[Diabolical]

posted on August 8th, 2009, 7:52 pm

Last edited by Diabolical on August 8th, 2009, 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ok, tried the chipset, and on first run, the game started up fine (although the resolution was quite low, to small to play, as boxes overlapped each other and whatnot). As soon as I switched the resolution to second lowest, the game began to pop that error up again (whatever it is).

As for solutions, no, none have any fixes..
Would a DMP file be of any help? I can create one from the Task manager, when it has the popup window active (but I can't tab out to anything, its a straight black screen constantly, with the exception of bringing up the task bar, but trying to show desktop or tab to another program has no effect...).

An interesting side note:
W/ Radeon 2600XT installed, I have the above posted problem with the patched A2/FO exe's (they 'run' in task manager, but never really startup)
But, with the Nvidia chipset, A2 patched will startup but crash out like unpatched version..

posted on August 9th, 2009, 11:50 am

In this case a DirectX log would be helpful

click Start. In the search box type dxdiag. Press Enter key. Wait until the program is loaded, then, on the bottom of the window, click Save All Information... save the file and attach it to the forum please.

[Diabolical]

posted on August 10th, 2009, 6:42 pm

Last edited by Diabolical on August 10th, 2009, 6:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, some new info, I finally managed to get a hold of the error tab and see exactly what error is:

Fatal error in Direct3D. Please reboot.

But, the Dxdiag is attached to post.

With that keyword, found another thread with similar contents (but no resolution to it...)

Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations - Crah whenever i want to start a game on 3.0.7

Attachments

DxDiag.txt

(34.49 KiB) Downloaded 365 times

posted on August 10th, 2009, 10:13 pm

did you send me an error report of the crash?
what i assume is that for some reason your computer cannot generate (the low) 800x600 16 bit resolution for the screen, however it is needed for armada 2 to run...

posted on August 11th, 2009, 12:49 am

did you send me an error report of the crash?
what i assume is that for some reason your computer cannot generate (the low) 800x600 16 bit resolution for the screen, however it is needed for armada 2 to run...

Well, I had other reasons other than just this, but I did a full backup and reformat.

And, guess what... The problem is now gone.. >.<
Well, thanks for your help, even though I'm still not 100% sure what was causing the problem to start with, or how to have fixed the problem other than a complete reformat... /shrug

The problem didn't appear to be the resolution, as 800x600 is the lowest possible setting on this graphics card, and that was one of the first things I tried (setting size = game size fullscreen), but ehh...
The Dxdiag was attached to the post I made, even though its a bit late for that. I'm still curious as to what the problem was, as I wouldn't want to run into the same situation again, in a few days (when I wouldn't be planning to format again, for another 4-6 months.... lol)

posted on August 11th, 2009, 5:10 am

I've been to afraid to try anything else (patch lol, or FO), for fear it'll break again, without me getting my 'Armada' fix on first :p
I'll come back if it has any problems (which are doubtful, I'm still curious as to what caused the problem to start with, as reformatting isn't exactly a viable fix normally...)

posted on August 11th, 2009, 7:56 am

hard to tell what may have caused it, i still assume it was something that prevented armada from generating it's desired startup resolution. i wouldn't worry about it too much. good to hear it's working now 

posted on August 11th, 2009, 9:16 pm

But, what would make it only run semi-functional in 98/ME comp mode? (IE starts up directly into the end of the final campaign, 'restart mission' starts from the beginning of Fed's, but lags really bad by third mission).

That and why it worked once when I switched graphics cards....
O well, guess I'll never know... lol