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CMRT won't run on laptop


Andrew Kulin

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44 minutes ago, Redwolf said:

Uninstalling doesn't remove keys. So you have all keys.

I think that in your previous runs you probably activated 4.0/2.11 and FR but not 3.0/1.03.

No.  I originally only loaded and activated CMFR and when that did not work I loaded and activated 1.03, and that did not work and then I loaded and activated the big bundle.  As I completed the activations, the green success "boxes: were added onto the success screen (shown with all three in an earlier screen shot).

Anyway it seems to be working so not going to fret over this.  Hopefully this helps out Erwin with his situation.

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7 hours ago, rocketman said:

CM games don’t like some types of sound enhancement apps (like Nahemic) so if you have one, try switching it off.

As with the story of the Steam guy posted above the sound suite thing is something that was stumbled upon a few years ago. Another situation where the "normal" fixes didn't do the trick and we were running out of ideas. The guy noticed a sound suite program running that he didn't even know he had installed on his computer.....let alone actually use it. He turned that off and BOOM......CM started working. Here is a list of some of those programs that we've found over the years. Some people may have one of these running and have o issues. Some people may have a sound program that isn't on this list but may be causing a problem:

Realtek HD Audio Manger

Asus ROG Sonic Studio

Nahimic

Sonic Suite II

RivaTuner

AI Suite 3 

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It seems silly now as during all the frustrating man-hours and money spent on IT guys to get CM2 running on my new system, the one thing I didn't try was plugging in a sound system.  I just got a new sound system, plugged it into my new desktop and...  my test CMBS game launched and seems to be running ok.  :)

I still have to install all the other titles.   But, this seems very hopeful.  It's hard to believe that such a simple thing could be the problem.    

Anyone know why plugging in a sound system (or presumably headphones) would be so critical in making CM2 run?

 

 

 

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In the past (I'm not sure if this is the case currently), if you had USB headphones plugged in while activating the license key, then you would need those headphones plugged in to run the game. The USB headphones became part of the 'hardware ID' associated with the license key for activation. If things changed enough that the 'hardware ID' didn't quite match, then the game wouldn't run - most likely resulting in a 'license error', but it could also end up with the game not running. The 'hardware ID' was an effort to prevent the game from being copied to another PC and running it there. At some point with one of the Engine Upgrades the 'tightness' of the hardware ID info was loosened and that may have reduced some of the issues with USB devices (possibly).

Is your 'new sound system' an USB device (headphones or external sound chip/amp) ? Is there no other sound card/on-board audio that is enabled with this system ? If your system lacked any sound, then I can only guess that CM considers sound a necessity and won't run without it (?). 

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My order of priority for investigation if CM games won't run:

Make sure you're not using Intel GPU

Remove any sound management software or weird graphical overlays

Remove all third party anti-virus (Defender isn't perfect, but its a lot less malware-like and less likely to get triggered by CM's DRM)

Double check versions and which CM engine your have

Update video drivers.  I have found this rarely makes a difference with nVidia and is a last resort.  AMD is a little different because of its issues with OpenGL.

Those five things I have used for over a decade with almost 70 installs and reinstalls across all the games.  I don't think I have ever had to submit a ticket other than being out of activations.  Thats Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10 on at least 15 laptops. I only included the accounting because I did the math today and shocked myself.

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Well, that is rather hilarious. Wasn't very high on the checklist.

Yeah, CM won't start at all without a sound device. You'll get a "DirectSound failed to initialize" error.

If nothing is plugged into the audio connectors, Windows considers those audio devices inactive. When CM invokes DirectSound and DirectSound wants to communicate with audio devices to set everything up when the game starts, it cannot do so properly since they are inactive. DirectSound decides that's not cool and throws an exception.

Edited by ZPBII
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12 hours ago, Schrullenhaft said:

Is your 'new sound system' an USB device (headphones or external sound chip/amp) ?

It is a very basic portable system (two small speakers) normally used with a portable system, mp player/ipod etc.

I do not have a separate sound card like Sound Blaster, so it must be on the motherboard.

Anyway, before we count our chickens, let me install and test all the other games.  I posted a question elsewhere re what are the latest version numbers for all the games and where to locate the "all in one" downloads.

Edited by Erwin
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46 minutes ago, Andrew Kulin said:

a solution for you as well Erwin.

Maybe someone some months ago suggested plugging something in the sound output hole.  But, my solution came about as I luckily found some portable speakers when going thru my office and thought "why not try it".  Still... I have yet to install the other games.  So, no chicken counting yet.

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Really? Realtek causing issues? That is mighty strange. I'd imagine this was a really specific situation.

Realtek comes as the standard audio software on every single motherboard I've ever bought. I've been using it for years now... because...

 

I really need to send my Asus Xonar Essence STX I sound card back to get repaired.. I am seriously missing out :unsure:

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