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CMFI won't start - nothing happens


rocketman

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6 hours ago, AVR said:

Bought the Big Bundle with all the modules so I only have the one license key.

Ok, so one key for the game and all modules then?

Do you have any sound improving software? There are known issues, for example with Nahemic for MSI laptops, which causes the game to crash on launch. I have had that and disabling/removing the program resolved my issue.

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Strangest thing, this morning I was able to launch normally with the only change to my setup was allowing VLC to update. But sadly upon restart the issue returned. I took screenshots of the task manager processes while the game was "working" and compared it to the processes while "not working" and I cant see a difference between the 2, other than the CMFI.exe showing up in the one obviously.

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

When you get the 'blue circle', do a Ctrl-Alt-Del and launch the 'Task Manager'. In the Processes tab look for the CM Fortress Italy.exe file and see if it is present (and whether it is 'Not Responding', etc.). If it is 'Not Responding', then 'End Task' on it. If it is still present, close up the Task Manager and see what happens (wait several minutes). Do you still continue to get the 'blue circle' endlessly or does that stop ? If it stops, go back to the Task Manager and see if CM Fortress Italy.exe is still present (it can be within the Apps section or the 'Background processes' section.

It's not showing up in the Task Manager at all, not even for a split second.

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

After running the GSClean utility, have you been able to re-activate CMFI (and whatever modules you have) ? If you have activated again, did this require running the game through Steam (to activate) ?

Upon re-install neither the game nor the activation application would launch (blue circle, nothing). Ran the GSClean utility and tried the application file again - same effect. Launched the game though steam and was presented with the activation prompt - entered the code and launched the game.

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

If adding the exclusion didn't work try temporarily disabling 'Real-time protection' in Windows Defender.

No Difference.

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

I'm not sure why the game performs with so much lag when launched via Steam. Does the text look good or is it blurry like it was if the game was running on the Intel video ? I don't know what parts of the Steam interface would work with the CM games and if the interface would cause draw performance problems for CM. More importantly, I have no idea why the game would launch through Steam, but not directly. Almost as if Steam were running some sort of interference on whatever prevents the game from running directly from the Desktop.

Text is 100%, the game looks good no complaints there. And when the action phase kicks off the animation is fine. Its got something to do with the mouse interaction. Selecting units, giving orders and elevating the camera with the mouse wheel all have a time delay and a stutter. I remember someone complaining about it in the original post where I came across the steam workaround just can't find it atm - will look some more.

 

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

Are you installing CMFI to the default directory or to a custom one ? This shouldn't make any difference to my knowledge. Moving the executable "in and out of the directory" sounds strange and I have no idea why it would have worked in this situation. If it was just the executable I would think that it would have problems finding the other data files to run the game. That particular 'solution' is something I've heard of with Macs, but I'm unfamiliar with it on PC/Windows.

Program Files (x86) / Battlefront / Combat Mission Fortress Italy

My technical knowledge isn't very impressive so believe me I have even less of an idea 😆

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

You may want to delete the (Nvidia ?) game profile in your GPU control panel/app and recreate it (with only default settings) and see if that makes any difference. Typically the game does like 'Triple Buffering' (an OpenGL setting), though not having that set should not affect the game launching.

I'm on AMD Radeon, No difference.

On 6/20/2020 at 3:05 AM, Schrullenhaft said:

What are the shortcut properties for CMFB (typically in the 'Compatibility' tab) ? Make sure your CMFI shortcut matches those (other than the game directory, etc.).

Don't see anything strange there. Nothing in the compatibility section is selected or altered - both look the same.

 

Really appreciate you trying to get me out the snow in the Ardenes to Sunny Italy.

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18 hours ago, rocketman said:

Ok, so one key for the game and all modules then?

Do you have any sound improving software? There are known issues, for example with Nahemic for MSI laptops, which causes the game to crash on launch. I have had that and disabling/removing the program resolved my issue.

Jup, just the one.

No audio improving software that I'm aware of, just the base setup that came with the Lenovo.

 

 

 

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What's strange here is that CMFB continues to work, it is just CMFI that has stopped working, suggesting that something has changed software/OS-wise on the computer. In the past we would occasionally see this with AV/security software targeting certain executables (but not others) due to the 'signature' the AV program would see in the executable. I'm not particularly aware of any issues with AV and the CMFI executable though. CMFB launches directly and does not require launching from within Steam, is that correct ?

What laptop brand and model is this and what software is loaded up ? If you could open up the Task Manager and maximize it and then take a screenshot and post it up here so that we can see the 'Apps' and 'Background processes' list as much as possible. It's a long shot see if we can find something that is interfering. I assume with the Nahimic audio control software/utility that it would interfere with all CM games and not just certain ones.

Do the video and audio drivers for your laptop come from the laptop manufacturer or have you downloaded updates via Windows Update or the hardware manufacturer's websites (such as AMD, etc.) ? Often with laptops you may be limited to what the laptop manufacturer provides. What version of the AMD Radeon drivers do you have ?

Edited by Schrullenhaft
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9 minutes ago, Erwin said:

Hi AVR: 

Did you find out what the problem was?  (Am hoping that you found a solution may also helpful to my own situation of not being able to run CM2 games on my new Win 10 machine.)

Not yet unfortunately. I've got a ticket open as well - will post here if ever I find a solution. Which CM2 games you trying to run?

 

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I have only tried to install and run CMFB and CMFI (cos they have the least modules) on a brand new Win 10 machine (with nothing else other than MS Office installed as yet). 

Schrullenhaft tells me that the games installed fine.  But when I try to run (as Admin) the games seem to start for a fraction of a second - I see the bar at the screen bottom open up, and then it all disappears and nothing happens - which sounds like like what you were describing.  (I tried disabling Defender but that didn't seem to solve anything.)

It also sounds like we both have our own IT guys.  My IT guy thinks that there may be incompatibility with the latest Win 10 OS.  (I have other older Win 10 machines on which all the games run fine.)

There have been several Win 10 updates recently so I have been waiting in the hope that the problem would magically get resolved eventually.

The only non-standard action I have done on my new machine was reset all the privacy settings to max privacy and limit any info leaving my system as much as possible.  I wondered if that could cause issues?

 

 

 

Edited by Erwin
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1 hour ago, Erwin said:

My IT guy thinks that there may be incompatibility with the latest Win 10 OS.

I don't think so, I have the latest and CM runs.

 

The issue is something else.

Edited by Bufo
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Perhaps installing something OTHER THAN Windows Defender AV might be the solution, since both AVR and Erwin are using that security software. I've had decent results with Avast, specifically that I've had few to no problems with the CM games.

I've had ALL of the CM2 games run fine on Windows 10 v. 2004, though admittedly they were installed and activated BEFORE I upgraded to that version.

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For AVR - I wonder if the 'qtwebengineprocess' could be interfering with CMFI somehow, since the menu screens are built using the Qt libraries. However if it were, I would assume that CMFB would also have issues. I don't know which program has loaded those into memory (perhaps Dropbox or QuickBooks ?). Try shutting down Dropbox initially and if they are still there then 'ending' them and see if CMFI behaves any better.

I couldn't specifically find your particular Lenovo Ideapad 320 model (there are several) that had an Intel CPU and a Radeon GPU. Usually it was either an Intel CPU with the Intel GPU only or an AMD CPU with its integrated Radeon GPU. I was trying to setup up a computer using an RX480 and the latest Radeon driver with Windows 10 v. 2004 and see if I ran into any issues with CMFI, though I would probably need to uninstall Avast and install Windows Defender.

If it is a possibility for you, I would suggest installing Avast (even temporarily, if necessary) and see if that offers a possible solution. Typically Windows Defender will remain, but it will no longer have its active protection enabled (a function handed off to Avast in this case).

Edited by Schrullenhaft
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On 6/23/2020 at 6:57 PM, Schrullenhaft said:

If it is a possibility for you, I would suggest installing Avast (even temporarily, if necessary) and see if that offers a possible solution. Typically Windows Defender will remain, but it will no longer have its active protection enabled (a function handed off to Avast in this case).

You Sir have just earned your Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds to go with your Iron Cross!!!!

Tried Running the game one last time - No Dice. Installed Avast, game launches flawlessly. Reset and Shudown half a dozen times to make sure.

Now here's the interesting bit - I removed Avast and still able to launch!

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I believe, but I haven't checked personally, that Windows Defender automatically disables its active protection feature when another AV program is installed. If that AV program is removed I assume that it automatically re-enables. You can check your settings by going to Start Menu > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Windows Defender Antivirus options. In my case with a third party AV software installed I just get the option to enable or disable periodic scanning, but with just Defender Antivirus available there should be quite a few more options available.

This Microsoft document on Defender Antivirus should hopefully answer questions about using it. 

Edited by Schrullenhaft
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7 hours ago, Erwin said:

WIll try installing AVAST.  Does one also have to disable Windows Defender at the same time?  (And afterwards when you remove AVAST, does one enable Defender again?)

Just installed, ran CMFI once then uninstalled. I tinker with any settings.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/23/2020 at 10:05 AM, Erwin said:

The only non-standard action I have done on my new machine was reset all the privacy settings to max privacy and limit any info leaving my system as much as possible.  I wondered if that could cause issues?

Have been following your issue.  Might I suggest resetting or lowering your privacy settings temporarily.  I ran into an issue with another game with a heavy DRM and couldn't get it to work.  After screwing around with it a couple months, I finally checked my privacy settings.   Lowering them seemed to fix it.

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It's worth trying (the Privacy Settings), though I assume this is more along the lines of what data gets shared from your account and browsers than anything else. CM games only make contact with the license servers during the activation process. They do NOT check every time you launch the game. You can play completely off-line once you've activated. Certain changes to your hardware or operating system can potentially 'trip' the copy-protection software and de-authorize your installation, but this won't be due to being unable to contact a server after being activated.

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Hey Erwin,

Saw this on the CMO forum at Matrix...

"I believe I have found the solution after doing some deep research and testing. It basically comes down to Windows Defender and a section of it called Controlled folder access. To navigate to it, simply type defender into the search bar, click windows security, scroll down to ransomware protection, click manage ransomware protection, then disable controlled folder access. I have tested this numerous times and I am now 100% sure this was the problem. You might want to add this to your help section :)"

He was having issues with CMO starting.  No one else was having the issue.  I suspect it has something to do with Windows Defender and maybe default security or privacy settings.  Its either something got changed by the user by accident, a new deafult setting for Defender, or some combination of general security or privacy setting.  Maybe that helps.

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