Topic: Advice to make OP run on WinXP machine (Read 11518 times)

Rogue · « **on:** September 13, 2003, 10:17:52 am »

The situation...

My dad loves building computers so much that he builds them for his kids and shows up with one as a gift. Yay dad. This is what he put together for me...

-MSI K7N2 delta L mother board. rev 1.3
-Athlon 2700
-ATI 9600 pro
-DirectX 8.1
-1/2 Gig of the fastest Ram it will support
-Realtek ALC650 on board sound
-Zoom 3025c modem
-Maxtor 40 gig of some sort.
-Windows XP pro, service pack 1

The problem is SFC OP wont run. Crash and freeze with no response to keyboard. As the sound is really choppy I would think think DirectX would be the problem. No go. I'm trying to run it at 8.1 which is what this rev. of XP comes with. Tried everything I could with the onboard sound. Tried disabling the onboard sound and using a SoundBlaster PCI 64 card that works with my other computer. Checked all associated drivers with audio/video to find any potential problem. Tried Win98 compatability mode. I installed the ATI card in my old machine (Win98) and it plays fine... I don't believe updating to DX9.1 is going to be useful and roll back is near impossible without rebuilding the OS.

I was going with the theory that if I made DirectX happy all would be well. The dialog and diagnostics seem to show that DX8.1 is in a happy place.

Any ideas?

Toasty0 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 13, 2003, 03:42:26 pm »

Yes, you need to change the path of the shortcut to the following:

Quote:

"C:\Program Files\Taldren Software Inc\Starfleet Command Orion Pirates\StarFleetOP.exe"

This assumes that you have installed the game in the default directory.

Best,
Jerry

Rogue · « **Reply #3 on:** September 14, 2003, 08:03:42 am »

Mr. ToastyO,

It works!... It works, it works , it works ,it works!

If this were not a cyberworld that would have earned you a lunch. I'm still skeptical about WinXP but it will run now. For the sake of curiosity... what is the difference between the two .exe's? Is it just the lead in movie and registration? The likely answer should be "I don't know and I don't care." i guess. Which works for me.

I was completely bamboozeled by this one. I was strongly suspecting it would never work on this mother board. Until someone wrote a revision to the drivers at some point. And I wasn't inclined to make a stab at getting MSI tech support to put a fix for SFC on the aggenda. The last thing I think I need to do is see if I can get the swapfile to behave like I could in Win98.

Be good and happy hunting,
Rogue

Carrie · « **Reply #4 on:** September 14, 2003, 02:55:43 pm »

Now that you have OP, make sure you get the latest patch (listed on the forum at the top), and grab OP+ 3.0 (and the EvilDave missionpacks).

Your best bet for that is at Firesoul's site, http://klingon.stasis.ca

Happy hunting to you

3dot14 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 14, 2003, 03:54:20 pm »

I believe the problem is the Movies.

The version of movie player OP (bink?) uses was not designed for XP.

Rogue · « **Reply #6 on:** September 14, 2003, 04:54:22 pm »

Well... as a further update... crash and burn. It seemed to solve the issue at first but upon further testing it still hangs and dies a Windows death.

I really don't know what to make of it. It acts so much like the DirectX problems of the past. Stuttering sound and a big ugly hang. Gee, this computer looks like it ought to be such a wonderful experience but noooo... Oh, what to try next. Let's try Win95 compatability and after that stick a spare hardrive I've got in it to see in Win98 can handle everything. If that doesn't fly I'm back to having to assume the Nvidia chipset drivers wont work with SFC. This is giving me a bad taste for XP even though it probably is not at fault. And because of M$ activation process (which is used up by now) I'm going to have to get a temporary pass to start over from now on. The exact reason I didn't by XP to begin with.

The_Infiltrator · « **Reply #7 on:** September 14, 2003, 05:09:28 pm »

I have no idea what your problem is, but it isn't winXP. I have win XP and it works fine. Sounds like drivers to me.

Toasty0 · « **Reply #9 on:** September 14, 2003, 06:48:53 pm »

To add to what P said if you know how to run a dxdialog please do so. Sometimes you can find the cause of a problem that log.

Also, right click "My Computer"-->properties-->Hardware-->device manager. Are there any red Xs or yellow question marks?

Look, XP is a great OS, imho. It's just differenbt from what some folks are used to, and in their MTV-gotta-have-it-last-week lifestyle they are too quick to assume the failing is with the OS instead of their lack of willingness to understand the powerful operating system they just installed.

<RantOn>
If folks want to continue driving a tricycle then they should stay with win98 or winMe and let us Harley riders have our fun! But don't tell us our bikes suck cause they can't manage to keep their Harley upright at the light!</RantOn>

Rogue · « **Reply #10 on:** September 14, 2003, 08:14:58 pm »

Almost all that has been written I have done. ToastyO gave me the alternate StarfleetOP.exe launcher. I'm at the current version of OP. The few things remaining are as follows.

You may have pointed out the one thing I am hesitant to do. I am at DX8.1b. Which says all drivers are certified and passes the diagnostic tests. I did download the Latest DirectX 9 sdk for installation on any MS operating system. That will be one of the last things in the progression as it is such a bear to roll back if not impossible without reinstalling the OS.

I did investigate all associated drivers for the mother board, video card and on board sound system. I don't really believe XP has anything to do with it. I'm just annoyed that I have to contact MS from now on if I want to reinstal the operating system. Which could become necessary with all the driver instal/unistal that I am doing. If I have to make a call at this point I would think that the possible problems would be...

-DirectX needs updating even though it passes the diagnostics.
-The ATI catalyst version is the culprit as I'm using one just high enough for DX8.
-The Nvidia chipset support drivers are at issue.
-Perhaps the RAM isn't the correct type for this mother board.
I didn't build the system so that's a thin possibility. Very thin.

Now one thing I can say is the mother board drivers don't instal like the manual says they will. There is supposed to be an instal for the sound system that is either missing from the CD or some other odd explaination. The system is a Realtek ALC650 chipset. I downloaded the drivers for that system directly from Realtek and they seem to instal like the mother board manual indicates. However I cannot be sure that it will want to play on my mother board. There is no update at MSI's site for the audio as they are included in the all in one Nvidia set up. So darn it. Even disabling it and trying the Creative sound card didn't help. What conlusion can I draw? Perhaps an error was made setting up the drivers for this mother board. I did use both the drivers on the CD and what I downloaded from MSI but they are supposed to be the same. No difference was achieved.

I've spent a lot of time trying to make this fly and I'm putting it on hold for a few days to deal with other things that need my attention. Plus... I just want to blow stuff up after moding OP till it squeels with about everything I can mess with. Models, script, textures... I'm really happy with it but making it work on the new box remains to be pinned down. Either the magic mother board drivers will appear soon or perhaps DX9.0b will be the answer. I'll let you all know what progress has been made when I can make it.

Sincerely, thanks for the thoughtful answers as it is appreciated.

Till then... blow some stuff up... BOOM!

Cleaven · « **Reply #11 on:** September 15, 2003, 07:58:15 am »

Not quite the same problem but there was another person who solved a play problem by changing these sfc.ini settings:

[Mouse]
async=0
hwblit=1

Captain KoraH · « **Reply #12 on:** September 16, 2003, 10:45:10 am »

I can put this info to use some day!

RingWraith 413 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 16, 2003, 06:46:03 pm »

Did your 9600 require you to install DX9 first? My 9800 Pro did, and also the ATI Cat. 3.7 drivers are out. I have WinXP Home and haven't had any problems playing EAW or OP, or using any of the Mods. Try loading DX9 first and then the Cat 3.7's. They are available as a complete file, which includes the Smartgart uninstaller, which you shouldn't have to use. Last thing, try installing the new Motherboard drivers, if available, before DX9 and Cat 3.7. Lastly, check your bios settings.

DIF_Wraith 413

Rogue · « **Reply #15 on:** September 16, 2003, 07:14:52 pm »

Well... I took another stab at it this evening. What did I get for the trouble? An unusable WidowsXP. The video completely fragged. Ya, I know, I did it... I didn't uninstal the right driver in the right order. Sooo... I'm gonna have to start from scratch again. Much anguish but a little amuzed.

I don't know why I bother with Backup. More often than not you can't get back to where you were. There goes the updates and now I must get Microsofts blessing and annointment again. Which I wont bother with till I get where I want to go this time. And, may I reitterate, sticks in my craw. I'm not pirating their software and I'm only using it on one box. I suppose I will have to appeal to Microstar if all remedies fail this time.

9/19/03 - Ya know what... It's the audio set up. Upon visiting the MSI user forum I've discovered everyone has some sort of issue with the audio drivers. This problem is rather infamous and has driven many half nuts. It remains to be seen if it can be solved. Even if I figured out the thing to do on my own it has been confirmed by other peoples experiences with this MB system. So, should I make my own T-shirt with the universal 'Sucker' logo on it? Subcaptioned 'I got bit by the MSI audio bug?

Thanks for all of the suggestions and I'll post no more till I bask in the warm glow of XP/OP goodness. Arghhh...

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #16 on:** September 18, 2003, 01:45:07 pm »

There is an audio bug with the K7N2 Delta L?

Well, thats disheartening since that is what I just got as a new motherboard.

<sigh>

Have any extras of that T-shirt hanging around?

Captain Krenn · « **Reply #18 on:** September 19, 2003, 09:49:27 am »

Thanks for the link Rogue.

I'll try this tonight as I noticed some sound glitches when playing Anarchy Online. At first I thought it was just bugs in the
game software.

If this doesn't work, I guess I'll just have to invest in a SoundBlaster.

Rogue · « **Reply #19 on:** September 19, 2003, 03:57:38 pm »

Yer welcome. But... hold off on the soundblaster. I am experiencing some oddities in the IRQ assignment which I havn't nailed down yet. If you already have an appropriate sound card try that first before you spend money. If I figure the 'what to do' out I will let you know.

News:

Topic: Advice to make OP run on WinXP machine (Read 11518 times) var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

Rogue

Toasty0

Rogue

Rogue

Carrie

3dot14

Rogue

The_Infiltrator

Pestalence

Toasty0

Rogue

Cleaven

Captain KoraH

Dogmatix!

RingWraith 413

Rogue

Captain Krenn

Rogue

Captain Krenn

Rogue

Topic: Advice to make OP run on WinXP machine (Read 11518 times)