wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Short and sweet. Long time player of CMBB on my old Windows 2000 PC. No problems at all. Sadly, I had to disconnect it for business reasons. My game PC is now a Windows 7 with 3 gig RAM and a 3.40 ghz processor, more than enough to run this game. I downloaded the CMBN demo figuring it's newer than CMBB and would have a better chance of running on my PC. CMBB does not. However, I am getting an openGL error. I did diagnostic online and according to the program I have a GeForce 5200. I checked to see if the drivers are up to date and they are. However did not check the openGL driver (I am assuming these are different? Don't know. Not really technically inclined) Anyway, what next? I'd really like to purchase CMBN but can't get the demo to work. The graphics card is brand new. It has 128 meg or RAM. For the life of me I have no idea why it won't work. Am I out of luck? I hope not. I really love this series but this PC doesn't seem to like it. I can't install it on my business PC because that's for music production. Suggestions? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Short and sweet. Long time player of CMBB on my old Windows 2000 PC. No problems at all. Sadly, I had to disconnect it for business reasons. My game PC is now a Windows 7 with 3 gig RAM and a 3.40 ghz processor, more than enough to run this game. I downloaded the CMBN demo figuring it's newer than CMBB and would have a better chance of running on my PC. CMBB does not. However, I am getting an openGL error. I did diagnostic online and according to the program I have a GeForce 5200. I checked to see if the drivers are up to date and they are. However did not check the openGL driver (I am assuming these are different? Don't know. Not really technically inclined) Anyway, what next? I'd really like to purchase CMBN but can't get the demo to work. The graphics card is brand new. It has 128 meg or RAM. For the life of me I have no idea why it won't work. Am I out of luck? I hope not. I really love this series but this PC doesn't seem to like it. I can't install it on my business PC because that's for music production. Suggestions? I'd open a ticket with the helpdesk, really is your best first stop. Asking here is an invitation to allow us to run you in circles for weeks when it could be something stupidly simple 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 I'd open a ticket with the helpdesk, really is your best first stop. Asking here is an invitation to allow us to run you in circles for weeks when it could be something stupidly simple Okay, how do I open a ticket with the help desk? Is it here at the forum or a different URL? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Okay, how do I open a ticket with the help desk? Is it here at the forum or a different URL? Here is the link: http://www.battlefront.com/helpdesk/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Here is the link: http://www.battlefront.com/helpdesk/ Thanks, I had found it and put in a ticket. But it doesn't matter. I figured out what the problem is and it's not solvable. My video card is GeForce 5200. It's only compatible up to DX 9. I am running Windows 7 DX 11. I tried just installing DX 9 over it using the installer but no change. My mother board is too old to support the newer cards that support DX 11. We tried and the PC wouldn't start. So we had to roll back to an older card just to get it to work at all. So I am essentially screwed unless I simply get a new PC to run games which isn't an option because I'm broke. Oh well, it sucks but that's life. Thanks anyway. PS - I hate computers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 In any event, I suspect that your computer is just too weak to be really happy with CM. Not nearly enough RAM or GRAM it would appear. I am so sorry. Maybe whenever you can afford something more powerful in the future. If it is any comfort, my iMac has more power but I expect to soon be in the same boat as you. I am already up against its limits with sub-optimal performance. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 In any event, I suspect that your computer is just too weak to be really happy with CM. Not nearly enough RAM or GRAM it would appear. I am so sorry. Maybe whenever you can afford something more powerful in the future. If it is any comfort, my iMac has more power but I expect to soon be in the same boat as you. I am already up against its limits with sub-optimal performance. Michael Computer power is NOT the issue. I am running a Pentium 4 with 3 gig of RAM and a 3 gig processor. I ran CMBB on Windows 2000 with hardly any power at all just fine. The problem is the video card, period. If I had one that supported DirectX 11 I would be having no problems. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Am I missing something here? The game does not use Direct X and could care less about it. It uses Open GL for rendering. I certainly agree that the video card could be the limiting factor. I upgraded my video card back when I started playing and it took the game from just barely playable to not to bad considering how old my machine was. And that machine is a 4Gb AMD running Vista. The new game takes way more resources to operate than the CM1x games (CMBB et al). It takes more memory and more CPU as well as a better video card. If you could find a video card that would work you would still find yourself keeping to smaller maps. Ack!!! Edit: I wrote that thinking you were running this on a Windows 2000 machine. Oops. The GeForce 5200 has 128M of memory you say? Yeah you want to get a better video card - something with 1 or 2 Gb of memory. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Am I missing something here? The game does not use Direct X and could care less about it. It uses Open GL for rendering. I certainly agree that the video card could be the limiting factor. I upgraded my video card back when I started playing and it took the game from just barely playable to not to bad considering how old my machine was. And that machine is a 4Gb AMD running Vista. The new game takes way more resources to operate than the CM1x games (CMBB et al). It takes more memory and more CPU as well as a better video card. If you could find a video card that would work you would still find yourself keeping to smaller maps. Ack!!! Edit: I wrote that thinking you were running this on a Windows 2000 machine. Oops. The GeForce 5200 has 128M of memory you say? Yeah you want to get a better video card - something with 1 or 2 Gb of memory. I had no idea CMBN needed that big a card. Regardless, even CMBB doesn't run on this machine and I can't for the life of me understand why. I checked my OpenGL driver and according to diagnostics I have the most up to date one. The error I get with CMBB says resolution must be at least 800x600 or something like that and then just closes. I was running at 1024x768. So I reduced to 800x600 and it still won't run. The only graphics based game I can get to run on this PC is SimCity 4 Deluxe and even that gives me a message before starting that it can't do some kind of graphics related thing. I forget what. But it still works. Same with Flight Simulator 2002. It says can't use hardware acceleration so it runs in safe mode. I know it's my card not being compatible with this machine but a newer card (tried it) won't work because my motherboard won't recognize it. It's too old. So I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. My card is too old for the newer DirectX and games and my motherboard is too old to put in a new card. And I don't have the bucks right now to get a new computer just to play games on. Again, I hate computers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I had no idea CMBN needed that big a card. Regardless, even CMBB doesn't run on this machine and I can't for the life of me understand why. I checked my OpenGL driver and according to diagnostics I have the most up to date one. The error I get with CMBB says resolution must be at least 800x600 or something like that and then just closes. I was running at 1024x768. So I reduced to 800x600 and it still won't run. Regarding CMBB I picked up CMBB and CMAK back when CMBN was in beta. Since I was new to the series I bought the version that was patched to run on the new OS (starting with Vista) but could it be that you need the $5 upgrade that makes the older games run on newer OSes? I suggest asking support that question too. Or read up on it here: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=51&Itemid=90 I know it's my card not being compatible with this machine but a newer card (tried it) won't work because my motherboard won't recognize it. It's too old. The route you can take is to find a used card for sale. You should be able to find a card of the right era and that may solve the problem. Yeah I know buying used computer components does indeed sound sketchy but I think that might be your only hope. Again, I hate computers. Yeah, I love computers and I still hate them most of the time 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Regarding CMBB I picked up CMBB and CMAK back when CMBN was in beta. Since I was new to the series I bought the version that was patched to run on the new OS (starting with Vista) but could it be that you need the $5 upgrade that makes the older games run on newer OSes? I suggest asking support that question too. Or read up on it here: http://www.battlefront.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=51&Itemid=90 The route you can take is to find a used card for sale. You should be able to find a card of the right era and that may solve the problem. Yeah I know buying used computer components does indeed sound sketchy but I think that might be your only hope. Yeah, I love computers and I still hate them most of the time I went to the link you gave me and the patch for CMBB is for Vista. I'm running Windows 7 so I doubt it will work unless they have another patch for Windows 7. I guess I could download the demo and give it a shot but I'm not holding my breath. PS - I know you said the game doesn't use DirectX but this is right off the specs page. DirectX 8.0 compatible sound and video cards (PC) My sound card is compatible with DirectX 8 but I'm running 11 and it's not compatible with that. That's the problem. I can't run anything lower than 11 (I tried) so the card simply doesn't work for games that need directX. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 9, 2014 Author Share Posted May 9, 2014 Well, I tried downloading and running the Vista fix demo and it doesn't work. I get this screen that comes up "Accept 640x480" or something or another. WTF? I'm running at 1024x768. The card is crap it won't run anything on this PC. I have to just accept that and the fact that new cards won't run because my motherboard is too damn old. I am stuck in no man's land. Too new an OS for my motherboard, too old a video card for my directX and too old a motherboard to get a new video card. This would actually be funny if it wasn't so damn annoying. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMac Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Wagtunes, I understand your broke, but have you considered getting a Used PC off FleaBay for around $200... I got a used Dell Optiplex 755 Mid-Tower, Win 7, 250GB HD, 4x Ram, 256MB Vid Card, ( recently upgraded to 1GB ) for $250...It plays both my old CMBB & CMAK, and CMBN. Joe 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 I went to the link you gave me and the patch for CMBB is for Vista. I'm running Windows 7 so I doubt it will work unless they have another patch for Windows 7. Sorry to hear of your catch 22 situation. That is a drag. I can assure you that the Vista patch for CMBB will work on Win7 while I played on Vista two of my friends played on Win 7, using that patch, while we waited for CMBN to arrive. I am sure your problem is as you suspect - video card, mother board, OS not liking each other. I hope you can find a resolution of some kind. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 It sounds like a bad video card or video card slot, possibly. If all your games have an issue with the card and one that runs uses software emulation rather than the card (hardware), I'd suspect your graphics hardware. What motherboard do you have? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 10, 2014 Author Share Posted May 10, 2014 It sounds like a bad video card or video card slot, possibly. If all your games have an issue with the card and one that runs uses software emulation rather than the card (hardware), I'd suspect your graphics hardware. What motherboard do you have? The card is fine. It was tested by my tech. It runs SimCity 4 because that program can run in software mode without the hardware acceleration. I still get an error on load but the game plays. The problem is simple. GeForce 5200 cards do not work with DirectX 11. I tried manually installing DirectX 9. The system says it installed but the diags still say NA for directX. I need to get a card that my motherboard will like that runs off of DirectX 11. It's that simple. This isn't complicated. The problem is finding such a beast because it's not likely as the motherboard is 11 years old. It's an ASUS PS4800 or another. Don't remember the exact name. It's old. The PC is old but newer than my Windows 2000 that ran everything because the video card was compatible with the version of directX on it. I ran CMBB with no problem. I can't even get that to run on this machine. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c3k Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 With an AGP slot, the best you'll get is DX10.1. If your tech tested it and it's fine, then I guess that's that. Your motherboard, since you're not sure of the specs, may not even support AGP 8x. Migrating to a new mobo means a new cpu and ram (and possibly psu depending on what you're running). However, the benefit would be that you wouldn't be running over a decade out of date. (CM uses OpenGL, btw.) Good luck. Ken 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 With an AGP slot, the best you'll get is DX10.1. If your tech tested it and it's fine, then I guess that's that. Your motherboard, since you're not sure of the specs, may not even support AGP 8x. Migrating to a new mobo means a new cpu and ram (and possibly psu depending on what you're running). However, the benefit would be that you wouldn't be running over a decade out of date. (CM uses OpenGL, btw.) Good luck. Ken If I get a new motherboard, that also means having to reinstall Windows 7, correct? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoMac Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 No, you will not need to reinstall Win 7, because it's in your HD and not MB. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagtunes Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 No, you will not need to reinstall Win 7, because it's in your HD and not MB. But aren't some of your windows settings based off of your hardware? The reason I'm asking is, after replacing my video card recently, my tech had to make some changes to the bios. After doing just that one simple thing, Windows had to go through a whole process of redetecting my web cam (had to reinstall that) and some other things. Wouldn't a whole brand new MB make whatever Windows needs to do even more involved? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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