Schrullenhaft
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Posts posted by Schrullenhaft
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Yes, these are 'digital downloads'. The GOG.COM installs do NOT have any copy-protection and there is no license key.
With the 'never ending turn', is this ONLY with CMBO or do CMBB or CMAK have it happen too (assuming you have those games to play on this computer) ? What Windows version are you running with these games and what type of computer are you running them on (really old or something a bit newer) ? Does it happen immediately (like the first turn) or at some point later in the game ?
There was a problem with some PCs in the past where the 'internal time' wasn't being maintained properly which affected the game's 'clock'. However this issue involved attempts to playback a turn, but instead going to the end of the playback without actual playback occurring.
You may want to make sure NOTHING else is running in the background when you run CM games, to minimize the possible interference. You also may want to make sure that any anti-virus/security programs have an 'exception' for the games so that they don't get scanned while they're running. A long time ago it the issue that I mentioned also recommended not running instant messaging applications in the background (since they could have been interfering). I don't know if that would be any sort of issue now, but probably trying to minimize anything running in the background might help.
The CMx1 series also runs into problems with modern CPUs and operating systems. You will likely have to Alt-Tab out of the game (that will be a black screen in some menus) and re-maximize it in order to see the screen again. This may also help with a game that is going abnormally slow (performance-wise).
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If it takes a long time to launch the game, this MIGHT be a copy-protection system issue. SOMETIMES, deleting the activation with the gsClean utility (that you would need to request from the Helpdesk) for each of your games/modules and then re-activating them MIGHT fix this particular problem. Usually the most common issue is the Z folder and mods that are loaded up, though I believe this affects the scenario/campaign loading times rather than the game itself (getting to the main menu).
How long ago was CMBN last stable ? I'm not specifically aware of any Windows 10 updates that should have affected the CM games (though that may still be a possibility). What Nvidia videocard/chip do you have ? By the 'December 2017 update' I assume you have the 388.17 drivers (which have generally worked well in the past, for the videocards/chips that can use it). Usually you shouldn't need to replace this driver, but you may want to double-check that it is still the actual driver you have loaded (via Device Manager). Some Windows Updates could replace this driver with a newer one that MIGHT be causing some of the issues.
When you've reinstalled CMBN, have you used the 'all-in-one' installer or have you installed via individual games and patches ? If you haven't used the all-in-one installer (which is usually downloaded as the '4.0 Upgrade'), you may want to use that to install CMBN. You would want to backup any saved games/in-progress games, mods and downloaded scenarios/campaigns and then delete the CMBN folder in your Documents folder. Then reinstall using the all-in-one installer. You should NOT have to reactivate anything as the activations will remain in place (unless the copy-protection system determines your system is somehow different from when you originally activated the games/modules/upgrades). Check that everything you have is activated by checking the icons that show up in the lower left hand corner of the main menu (which appear only when you initially load up the game). There should be an icon for each game/module that you have (and the version should be 4.02).
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Xorg_Xalargsky is correct, you have 4 activations per license key. You can request more activations via the Helpdesk if you run out of these. The activations only need to occur if you install on a new computer or reinstall Windows. Uninstalling and reinstalling the games (on the same computer and Windows installation) typically does NOT require the use of an activation. However some hardware changes (upgrading the computer) may trigger a license problem that could require the use of an utility to wipe out the activation and then reactivating.
The crashing that you're experiencing right now, is it occurring when you initially launch CMBN and display the initial splash screen/menu ? When was the last time that the game ran properly and did you change anything about the computer since then ? With Windows 10, you CANNOT use the CMBN 1.x games. You will need to upgrade to CMBN 3.x (maybe 2.x) in order for the license activation to work. So if you upgraded in the past to CMBN 3.x or 4.x, then you may want to upgrade back to those versions before attempting to run CMBN under Windows 10.
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You can purchase it at Gog.com (CMBB page). All three of the old CMs are there.
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At this point is seems as if all PBEM files coming from your current opponent don't open ? You're both on the same version of the game, is that correct (which would seem to be the case since they can open the file that is sent to them) ? Are all of the files from your opponent showing a syncing issue in Dropbox ?
You or your opponent may want to make an exception within your security software for the Dropbox folders that are syncing the game files (and the Dropbox app). There's a slight chance that somehow security software may be corrupting/interfering with the file(s).
Here are some of Dropbox's suggestions on syncing issues:
https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/sync-uploads/files-update-issues
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Sounds like an issue with Dropbox. How big is the latest file compared to previous PBEM files in this game ? I suspect it is quite a bit smaller and therefore corrupt (which means that CM won't recognize the file).
Have you uninstalled and reinstalled Dropbox (assuming this was an in-place OS upgrade with all of the software remaining) ?
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Are your CDs of the Battlefront distribution or are they the CDV or Paradox distributions ? For the Battlefront distribution you can create a 'virtual CD/DVD drive' with software like Daemon Tools Lite. This will create an image of the disc which should generally work for the Battlefront version. For the CDV and Paradox versions I'm not sure how well virtual drives will work since they are also using disc based copy protection (SafeDisc or something to that effect).
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What Windows version and what videocard and driver are you using ? Intel video tends to have problems with CM games. Another problem with Intel video is that you may be limited to what the system manufacturer provides (especially with some laptops), which can further complicate things. If you're running a GeForce or a Radeon, then it should be possible to get CM running. With laptops that may be running a GeForce or Radeon this can get a bit complex since sometimes you can use the Nvidia or AMD drivers and other times you are limited to what the laptop manufacturer releases.
I'm not aware of anyone successfully running CM in a window. CM is an OpenGL based game. Some utilities can convert OpenGL calls into DirectX ones, but I don't think that these will work properly with CM (or possibly produce REALLY HORRIBLE performance if the do work).
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You purchased another distributor's version of CMSF (Paradox). That version required unique patches (due to the different copy-protection). When you installed the 1.32 patch, you installed the Battlefront version of the patch that uses eLicense for the copy-protection and therefore required an eLicense license key. Paradox/Gamersgate published its last patch as 1.20. You had to purchase either the 1.21 patch (for US$5.00 at the time, if I recall correctly) OR you purchased one of the modules, which then converted you to using the Battlefront patches. On top of that the 1.32 patch is NOT cumulative. You had to install other patches before installing the 1.32 patch.
Your fix is to delete/uninstall your current CMSF installation and then reinstall from the DVD again. You need to figure out if it is a Gamersgate (I believe those may have been just downloads) or Paradox (most likely) distribution. Download the CMSF1 (v1.20 Retail Only Patches) (just the Paradox one, most likely) and install that. This will bring you up to version 1.20, the last Paradox/Gamersgate patch (Paradox's decision, not Battlefront's).
I'm not sure what sort of offers there are with upgrading from the retail version to CMSF2. The sales website only mentions Battlefront copies being capable of the upgrade (requiring the previous eLicense license key). Support may have an offer for an upgrade, but you would probably have to purchase the CMSF2 modules at the listed (new, rather than 'upgrade') prices.
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Your version is 4.02 after the patch (seen in the lower right corner of the splash screen), is that correct ? Was this a recent purchase or an old purchase that you've downloaded ? I'm not certain if the latest downloads would already be at 4.02 or not (making the 4.02 patch unnecessary).
What Mac do you have and what MacOS version are you running ? Usually this sort of issue is seen on PCs with either Intel video chips (due toe their drivers - an unchangeable situation) or GeForce videocards with a FXAA setting that needs to be disabled. On the Mac however, I'm not sure what causes this issue, especially since there are almost no controls for the video image quality and the Intel drivers under MacOS don't suffer the same problems to my knowledge as the PC/Windows does.
Some text mods cause problems with the text, but this sounds like a completely fresh install with no previous install being present. Sometimes missing patches/data files cause strange names, like modern equipment names instead of WW2 equipment names, etc.
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A way of testing this directly is to download and try-out the CMBN Demo (3.12). However the latest (and probably last) version of the Demo is only 3.12. I believe it should still work, but there may be a chance that it doesn't.
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Yes, the CM games (with the latest 4.0 Upgrades) should work with MacOS 10.15 Catalina. I think the sole issue you may have to worry about is that the games will be identified as coming from an unidentified developer. Here's Apple Support's page on running 'unidentified developer' apps.
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umlaut - You are using the 'all-in-one' installers for CMBN and CMFI, correct ? I know that the CMBN 1.x series will NOT work with Windows 10 due to the version of the copy-protection system not being compatible with Windows 10. Either CMBN v. 2 or v. 3 updated the copy-protection system to where it could be used with Windows 10. Using the Upgrade 4.0 all-in-one installer should prevent that particular issue.
Problem 1: With the license keys, if you're using copy-and-paste, make sure that you're not getting any 'whitespace' before or after the license key. I don't know if that will cause problems, but it is a possibility. I forget what the exact error message is when you run out of activations, but I typically wouldn't expect it to be "invalid license key". Usually each license key will have 4 activations associated with it (though 'multiple purchases' with one resulting license key can have more). Once you run out, you can contact the Helpdesk to add an activation to that license key. If you have the 4.0 Upgrade, then at least the 3.0 Upgrade and the 4.0 Upgrade license keys are required (I don't know if the 2.0 Upgrade license keys will be recognized or not).
Problem 2: It's possible, but I can't exactly recall, that the CMBN 1.x series may have allowed you to specify or move the "user data" and "game files" to a custom location (this was likely the case with CMSF1, but possibly not CMBN). However in order to meet Microsoft file security requirements to not write data files to the 'Program Files'/'Program Files (x86)' directory the CM files were re-located to the user's directory. This has remained the case with later games, upgrades and modules. There are methods to 'redirect' the user and program data directories to a different drive than where Windows is installed (as mentioned in the above posts), but that means ALL user data is sent to this new directory location (not just CM files). This was mostly useful for people who had smaller SSDs for their boot drives and they wanted to save the write wear on them (and possibly have more user space) by having them located to a standard spinning-metal drive. Occasionally there are issues with folder redirection (performance and upgrade-wise, usually) and in general it is an additional complexity that I don't think is worth the hassle. The one possibility of doing what you want are 'Libraries' and the 'mklink' command line utility as mentioned in this article. However I haven't tested it with any CM games to know if it will really work or if there are other problems with these methods and CM. With the 'mklink' command you would need to know the name of the directories that CM creates BEFOREHAND and use the utility to create them before CM does. I believe subdirectories created within this folder can be created by CM without issue (and be linked to the new location).
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From what little I've read eGPU supports OpenGL apps, like CM. CM isn't explicitly coded to support eGPU, but I don't believe that it needs to be though. I assume, but don't know for certain, that the eGPU may need to be set as the Primary display.
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The 'full download' that you're mentioning, is this the 4.0 Upgrade 'all-in-one' installer ? If so, then you DO NOT need to patch it or install anything over it. Only it needs to be used to install everything for CMFI. If you use this installer, then you would most likely want to delete/uninstall your current installation (backing up and in-progress games, downloaded scenarios/campaigns, mods and any in-progress games first).
As for the license key not being accepted, as IanL mentioned you'll need to open a Helpdesk ticket providing your 4.0 Upgrade license key and hopefully they can straighten the situation out. One other thing to keep in mind is if you are copying-and-pasting the license key is to make sure that there are no missing or additional characters when you copy. I'm not sure if blank/white space is any problem with the license keys, but try to make sure even that doesn't exist when you copy the license key.
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I don't have details on doing this but it MIGHT be possible. Typically when people run with more than one monitor it is setup in an 'extended desktop' role. Usually this means that one monitor is the 'primary' and the other will be the 'secondary'. Windows will usually put up its desktop on the primary monitor. You can move icons, programs and other stuff to the 'secondary' monitor, but most programs will run on one or the other. You can possibly expand programs by manually dragging them, but that doesn't work with CM games (since they aren't 'windowing' type apps). Typically CM will run on the 'primary' display. In order to use the entire desktop both monitors have to be seen as one display (the task bar typically at the bottom of the display will appear across both monitors). This will then appear as a single, higher resolution to programs, such as CM. If two 1920 x 1080 displays were to appear as one, then the resolution would be 3840 x 1080. With the Prefs file for CM deleted, it should attempt to run at the 'desktop' resolution, which would be the 3840 x 1080 resolution. It would be up to the video drivers to offer such an option (the 'expanded desktop as one display resolution').
I rarely run multiple-monitors, so I'm unknowledgeable about the exact options to enable to allow for these 'combined resolution' desktops.This article on using Nvidia Surround may be helpful since it is of what I speak, however I don't know if current drivers operate with these options or not. AMD Radeons have a feature called Eyefinity, but again I'm not sure if it is a current feature or not.
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Do you have anything of CMBN BEYOND the base game and the Commonwealth module ? You will need, at minimum, the 2.0 Upgrade (which was necessary for the Market-Garden module). However there is a possibility that you might even need the 3.0 Upgrade in order to activate the license keys with Windows 10.
Windows 10 is incompatible with the version of the copy protection system that originally came out with CMBN. Thus all of the 1.x versions of CMBN can't work with Windows 10. The license keys are still good, but you will need at least the 2.0 Upgrade and possibly even the 3.0 Upgrade. If you only have the base game and Commonwealth modules, then you can purchase the CMBN 3 + 4 Upgrade bundle for US$15.00. This will allow you to use any 4.x patches. In fact the installer for this should have EVERYTHING for CMBN. However to activate this content you would need the appropriate license keys. In this case you would have the CMBN base game, the Commonwealth module (though a bundle of those two would likely have only one license key, but that should be fine), and the 3+4 bundle license key (or keys). While you would have the files for Market-Garden, Battle Pack and Vehicle Pack, you would need the license keys to activate that content.
So purchase the CMBN 3+4 Upgrade bundle and with that download the 'all-in-one' installer. Install CMBN with this file (no other installers needed). Then activate the CMBN, Commonwealth and 3+4 bundle license keys (which should require the 'Activate Modules' shortcut you've read about earlier).
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The version of the copy-protection system used with the CMBN 1.x series is NOT compatible with Windows 10. If you ONLY have the CMBN 1.x series, then the last patch is 1.11 (still incompatible with Windows 10). At a minimum you will need either the 2.0 or 3.0 Upgrade to get the game to activate under Windows 10. The 3.11 patch can only be used if you have the game upgraded with the 3.0 Upgrade.
The base CMBN game and the Commonwealth module were initially available as 1.x series. I believe the Market-Garden module pushed the game to require the 2.0 Upgrade (there were 'bundles' of Market-Garden and the 2.0 Upgrade). So installing that module (if you have it) along with the PRE-REQUISITE 2.0 Upgrade MIGHT allow you to activate the base game and modules. If not, then the 3.0 Upgrade will be necessary.
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For the loading, an SSD may help (which you don't mention if that is part of the upgrade). However drive loading times are only a part of what is happening when a scenario/map loads. The additional cores on the CPU will not make a difference to the CM games (for most things), however there are a few things that are coded up in CM where multi-cores are utilized, with scenario loading being one of them. The effect may be pretty marginal though (i.e. - you may only notice a slight improvement).
The speed up from 3.4GHz to 4.6GHz (I assume that this is actually the 'turbo' speed of the new CPU) should provide a noticeable difference, along with the slight improvements that have been made between the CPU generations. The CM series is primarily CPU-bound, so faster CPU cores make the biggest differences (including for graphics, to a certain extent). This Userbenchmark between an i7 9700K and an i7 4770 gives approximately a 35% improvement in single-core benchmarks with the i7 9700K, which would give you a very rough idea of how much faster it might be for CM (though probably a little less so).
The extra memory won't make a difference to CM directly, but could help things when you have other programs loaded up, etc. The CMX2 series supports a max of 4GB of RAM since they're 32-bit applications (under Windows, 64-bit under MacOS).
The videocard will probably only make a slight difference, but it MIGHT make map scrolling just a little faster (assuming it is a GTX 1050 or better). Very large/complex maps are still likely to stutter, but the improvement may be noticeable with even these maps.
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I replied in your CMA thread. Hopefully there a solution in there for both games.
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Is your copy of CMBB an eLicense version ? If so, then eLicense could be the common link since CMA also utilizes eLicense for copy-protection. eLicense should work fine for Windows 10. Personally I've recently reinstalled my CM apps on a Windows 10 computer (version 1909) and the eLicense games have so far worked without issue. All of the newer CM games you list that are functioning do NOT use eLicense, but the current copy-protection system in use since CMBN.
In the past one possible workaround (though it didn't necessarily involve the 0xc0000142 error code) was to set exceptions to DEP (Data Execution Prevention - a security feature of Windows since Windows XP). However Windows 10 doesn't seem to have 'exceptions' to this security feature. Instead you have to either enable it or disable it. In my case it there wasn't a need to change this setting (it is enabled), but possibly changing MIGHT help. To do so, go to Start Menu > Settings (gear icon) > System > About > near the top is a section labelled 'Your PC is monitored and protected'; at the bottom of this section is the link 'See details in Windows Security'. In the left menu click 'App & browser control' > at the bottom of this panel click on 'Exploit and protection settings'. In the 'Data Execution Prevention (DEP)' settings change it FROM 'Use default (On)' TO 'Off by default'. This will probably require rebooting the computer to have this take effect. You can try the games again and see if the same error pops up or not.
Are you running these games on a laptop or a desktop ? If you're running them on a laptop, do you have 'discrete graphics' that may be a Radeon or GeForce (beyond the built-in Intel video) ? If so, then you may need to go into the control panels for those discrete graphics and possibly set a 'profile' for those games. Typically this should force the game to run on the discrete graphics chip rather than the Intel video.
If you have security software installed, you may need to set exceptions for CMA and CMBB, to also include the 'Runservice.exe' file in the Windows directory. This is the eLicense service that needs to be running in order for the games to work. If this file is moved/deleted or is not running, then any eLicense games will not work. This file will typically NOT be present if you have not been successful in activating the license key for the eLicense games (it typically gets downloaded and installed during the license activation process). You may also want to check in the Services control panel (right-click the Start Menu > Computer Management > 'Services and Applications' in the left menu > Services. In here look for the 'LicCtrlService' and see if it is Running. If not, then start it and see that it is in the 'Running' status.
You may want to run the eLicense games as 'Administrator'. Right-click on the icons you use to launch the games and select 'Properties' from the popup menu. In here go to the 'Compatibility' tab and near the bottom checkmark the box for 'Run this program as administrator'. Click 'Apply' and then 'OK'. Typically the OS compatibility settings aren't needed, but sometimes they work for some users.
Your security software could change some registry settings that could interfere with some programs and how they may load DLLs. Follow the instructions for 'Fix 5 - Reset the value for LoadAppInit_DLLs in registry' at this link: https://thegeekpage.com/how-to-solve-application-error-0xc0000142-in-windows-10/ .
Hopefully something in here has got you running again. With CMBB you may notice REALLY SLOW performance. To possibly correct this, Alt-Tab out of the game (typically to the desktop) and then re-maximize CMBB. This should hopefully bring the performance back to what it should be. If for some reason that doesn't work, you can possibly mess around with 'Affinity' for the game, which will set the game to work with a particular CPU core. To do this, make sure you have already selected a resolution AND properly exited out of CMBB (so that this setting is written to the Prefs file). Launch CMBB again and then Ctrl-Alt-Del and select 'Task Manager', go to the 'Details' tab and look for the 'Barbarossa to Berlin.exe' listing. Right-click on it and select 'Set Affinity'. In here UNCHECK '<All Processors>' and also UNCHECK ALL of the other processors listed and then check just ONE of them (possibly a 'higher' numbered one that may not be getting much use from other processes). Re-maximize CMBB and hopefully it should be performing acceptably now.
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It might be more convenient to download the 'FULL' installer. This will have the latest patch. That might be true of the 'Update' installer, but I'm not certain. With the FULL installer you'll want to backup any in-progress games, mods, non-standard scenarios and campaigns and then delete the installation and then run the FULL installer.
The 'Update' installer should work with what you have installed currently (no need to remove the current installation - in fact you shouldn't for this installer). However I'm uncertain if it is the latest. I assume that it is, but I didn't install it, so I don't really know.
Not sure about the CM Helper version or the other alternatives to it.
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Typically you should have received and email with the license key and the download link. You may want to check any spam/junk mail folders in case the email was classified as such (it often is).
There are also license keys and download links within your Store account that gets created on the Battlefront website (separate from this forum account). You can access your store account at the main website ( https://www.battlefront.com ). Click the 'Login' button in the upper right of the screen and login with your email (you may need to reset your password if you don't know what it was when you placed the order). Once you've logged in the screen should default to a 'My Account' list in the center of the screen. Click on the 'My Orders' text/link and it should show you a list of your orders. Click on 'Order ID', 'Order Type' or the 'Click here to view' text next to the 'Current total' to view the order details. In the 'Order Content' section of the order there should be a download link for each item that you purchased and 'Activation Code(s)', which are the license keys. The download links do take you to another site to perform the download. Here you will need to checkmark the box next to the particular file that you will download and click the 'Download' button. There may be a selection of Mac and PC installers, so you'll have to read the file name by possibly hoovering over it with the mouse cursor to bring up the full filename. If there is a choice of files, you'll want the 'full installer' for your particular OS.
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You may want to add an exception within your anti-virus for the CMFI 3 and 4 Upgrade installer. I would guess that your issue may be that the temp files are being created, but then are being deleted/quarantined and thus the installer can't find them to move them to the final folder/directory location.
How many times can we reload the game
in CM2 General Tech Support
Posted
I'm still confused as to the nature of your crashing. Does this happen ALL OF THE TIME ? If so at what point does it happen, such as when you are simply launching CMBN or when you're attempting to load a scenario or does it happen only with certain scenarios or save games ? Does it happen in a specific game that you're playing ? Or does it happen randomly, where you're able to play any number of turns (assuming you're playing turn-based mode) and it suddenly crashes ?
Reading some other threads that you've written in, it appears that you have the DVD of the CMBN 4.0 installer (and not just the 'Upgrade 4.0' installer). This would mean that this copy of CMBN was purchased after the 4.0 Upgrade was released (so a purchase of CMBN and not simply a '4.0 Upgrade'). The difference would be that the Upgrade would NOT have all of the files necessary to run the game. Do you own any other modules or packs or simply just the base game ?
I can't find anything specific in the June 2019 Windows Updates for Windows 10 that would relate to a problem with CM. I'm also not aware of any strange interaction with these updates and the Nvidia 388.71 driver, however either of these MIGHT be possible.