DzrtFox Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 Hi guys, I just recently rebuilt my computer system/reinstalled Windows and am trying to reinstall CMBB. The install seems to go fine but like 5 or 6 of the BMP & WAV files don't extract properly. The installation proceeds all the way to 100% but at the end says something like "Some files are corrupt. Please try re-downloading and re-installing the game." If I scroll back up the list of files that were extracted I can see where it says something like "Bad CRC" in red for the bad files. I've tried cleaning the CD and also manually copying the installer program to my hard drive and running it from there. It seems like the cd itself is ok because the installer program copies with no problem to the hard drive. I've tried running the game and it actually runs but I'm guessing that as soon as it tries to access one of the files that didn't extract properly the game is going to crash. Any ideas? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 The largest files for the game are the "ambient" sound files. They're 10-25MB in size. Do you have anything running in the background when you perform the install ? Make sure to turn off any anti-virus programs (usually listed in the System Tray in the lower right-hand corner) since they can interfere with the extraction process. You may want to run "chkdsk c: /f" from a command prompt to check for any file system problems, just in case something has gone wrong. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 7, 2005 Author Share Posted May 7, 2005 Everything is definitely off when I try the install. I just re-installed Windows (98SE) yesterday and did all the updates from Microsoft. CMBB is one of the first actual programs I'm installing (gotta get my fix in), so everything should be clear as far as the filesystem goes. It's just odd because pretty much all of the files extract properly, it's just like 5 or 6 random ones that get that CRC error. If I was having a problem with the CD it wouldn't copy the whole installer program would it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted May 7, 2005 Share Posted May 7, 2005 I'd assume that if you could copy the entire program off of the CD that it should be OK. Maybe an MD5 check of the the CD and copied installer file may help. This is an MD5Sum generator & check for Windows (this is shareware with a 30 day license). Using the above program on a CD with CMBB v. 1.0 from BFC (the file: CMBB Installer.exe) I got an MD5Sum value of: 74b3674ddadf565ef3f118d794cab3b6 If you have another version of CMBB (1.02 or 1.03) on the CD or it is the CDV version, then this value will not be the same. I suggest running this utility on the file that you copied to your hard drive and then on the CD and compare the values with the one I posted. If they all match then the files should be fine and un-corrupted. At that point it would be an issue of the software environment, file system or CPU. [ May 07, 2005, 02:59 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 7, 2005 Author Share Posted May 7, 2005 Thanks a lot for your help. I am going to continue fooling around with it and see what I come up with. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 8, 2005 Share Posted May 8, 2005 Turn off DMA transfers on the CD/DVD drive. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 8, 2005 Author Share Posted May 8, 2005 Thanks for the tip Redwolf. I tried that but still no luck... After messing around with it some more, I don't think the problem is CMBB-related, it's something with my software setup like Schrul said. I've noticed that another program I'm trying to install that uses that same extractor (WinRAR I think?) for the installer has the same problem. It's like just at random the CRC check will fail while it's extracting. Does this sound like something memory or cpu-related? I've looked around in the BIOS for something I could be missing (I just moved over to a new motherboard...) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Well, a whole bunch of the first printing of CMBB disks were defective like that, except they could be read on selected CD-ROM drives. If this is a first-generation CD send it to BFC for replacement. It seems a huge number if not most of the early CDs either had problems right away or now have problems after people changed CD drives. Alternativly, I don't think anybody would care if you obtained a personal backup copy off a friend if the both of you have the original anyway. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 9, 2005 Author Share Posted May 9, 2005 I actually have the Special Edition that came out in retail stores awhile back. It is already patched to whatever the current version is (1.03?) I've used this same cd to install CMBB several times in the past, so unless it's scratched or dirty (and I've tried cleaning it) I know the cd was at least originally ok. I was trying to install another program that uses the same type of extractor for its installer and I had the exact same problem -- random CRC errors during the extraction. I haven't had problems installing any other software yet though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 Isn't that what can be fixed by installing in Windoze XP safe mode? Just a shot in the dark, not using XP. Alternatively, sue CDV [ May 09, 2005, 05:56 AM: Message edited by: Redwolf ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 9, 2005 Author Share Posted May 9, 2005 Hehe I'm not sure man. I'm not using WinXP either (using 98SE), but I might try going into safe mode and installing it again just for kicks. It's strange how it's happening with two separate, unrelated programs though. It must be somehow related to this particular version of the extractor (I think it's WinRAR). I was thinking it might be some sort of memory issue or something with my setup, but I've checked and as far as I can tell everything is set up right. Much larger programs have installed fine since I've started having this problem. Thanks for all your help though. I will keep trying till I get it... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 It's not likely to be WinRAR's fault. Copy protection is most likely if it is not hardwae. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 9, 2005 Author Share Posted May 9, 2005 Very interesting... I tried re-copying the installer file from the CD to the hard drive then rebooting to safe mode and running the installer there. This time the install went almost perfectly ... only 3 CRC errors this time and they are on different files than when installing in non-safe mode. Since they are different files, I'm hoping that all the files should actually be there this time (I installed to the same directory that was already there). Talk about a roundabout way to get everything installed! What do you think that would mean that I would have far fewer errors and on different files when running in safe mode? I will try to troubleshoot that later, but for now, I'm going to try and play some CMBB!! Thanks again for your help... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 9, 2005 Share Posted May 9, 2005 If the error is not in the same place every time it is likely a hardware failure. But you now have safe mode, so you would have to re-test with safe mode and see whether that one gives the same places as the other safe-mode runs. But who knows. The safedisk copy protection used by these CDV releases is nothing else than a deliberate hardware error, so anything can happen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 9, 2005 Author Share Posted May 9, 2005 I see. Since it took a LOT longer to install in safe mode I'm not going to re-try that right now but I might again soon. I'm pretty sure that the errors were repeatedly in the same files in non-safe mode, but I didn't go down the list file-by-file to verify that. I pretty much built this computer out of scrap parts (although all decent parts) so there very well could be some sort of hardware problem somewhere. I don't see any conflicts and everything else seems to work ok, but this problem has me baffled... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eichenbaum Posted May 12, 2005 Share Posted May 12, 2005 Scratches may be the problem. I have more CM cd's that have been scratched (slightly) and do not work anymore; do not install the wav.rar but still useful for playing CMBB. I think the .rar files are too big... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yskonyn Posted May 14, 2005 Share Posted May 14, 2005 No scratches are not the problem. I had the same issue once. RTPatch updaters wouldn't work (CRC errors), Install Shield application wouldn't work (CRC errors), all at random points. Everything else seemed to work ok. It turned out to be a defective RAM module, so your best guess is to find a replacement module and swap it for either module you have installed until the problem stops, then you know which one it is. I can imagine you have damaged the chip while rebuilding your computer. Static electricity is a b|tch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 14, 2005 Author Share Posted May 14, 2005 Thank you Yskonyn! I was thinking along those same lines -- something to do with the RAM in there. I'm using an old PC100 RAM stick I found laying around but I think I'm going to go pick up a newer one and see what happens. The odd thing though is that everything else seems to be ok... CMBB runs great now (even though I don't know if it's tried to access one of the "bad" files yet) and everything else does as well. Oh well, thanks again everyone for all your help! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 14, 2005 Share Posted May 14, 2005 If the CD shows errors that repeat at the same place in normal mode, and at different places in safe mode, and both are repeatable that the same locations are affected everytime in each mode, then it is quaranteed to be the copy protection. Get a BFC version or that new CDW three-pack which has no CD protection nor any CD check (until you install the CMAK patch). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 14, 2005 Author Share Posted May 14, 2005 Redwolf if it is copy protection then there's just nothing I can do about it? Could it have become a problem even though I have installed CMBB several times off this cd before? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yskonyn Posted May 15, 2005 Share Posted May 15, 2005 Like I said, in my situation everything else seemed to work just fine. I could play games, listen to music, download, upload, etc. etc. Only when I tried to do specific file operations like RTPatch powered patches for games, or installation of applications or games I got CRC errors. It got me completely baffled at the time, but it turned out to be the RAM chip. No harm in checking if its the copy protection, though Any cheap solution is better than having to get a new RAM chip! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 The copy protection that CDV's version of the CM series uses is called SafeDisc (at least it was when the series was first released). SafeDisc utilizes bad sectors that are intentionally manufactured/recorded on the disc. It's pretty hard for most CD copying programs to produce these bad sectors. SafeDisc looks for these bad spots at certain locations to know that it has an original CD. Generally I would assume that the bad sector would be written somewhere on the disc that wasn't important to the data files stored on it. The problem with the SafeDisc scheme (and others like it) is that some CD/DVD drives don't behave too well when they run into an error. Their error recovery routines aren't too good when they run into read problems. Generally this should lead to a read error at the same point each time (the 'CRC error' during extraction). Though most newer optical drives can handle these copy protection methods, some can't (usually older drives, but sometimes brand new ones). When you used the CM disc previously to install, did you use the same optical drive or was it a different one ? Since you're getting the CRC error on different files, I'd assume that the copy protection scheme isn't what is at fault here. The RAM issue may be the most likely culprit here. What CPU are you running and how much RAM do you have in this computer (especially the number of DIMM modules you may be using) ? It's possible that a BIOS setting for your memory speed may help (if there is much that can be selected in the CMOS/BIOS setup). If you're using the Auto (SPD) settings and you're using two or more sticks of memory that are different, then your computer may be using timings that are too fast for one of the DIMMs. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DzrtFox Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 Hi Schrull, Thanks for the info. It seems the CRC errors are occurring in the same place each time until I go into safe mode, where far fewer errors occur and on different files. I don't think I have ever installed CMBB using this particular CD drive though, and it is an older one. Would the problem still occur though even when copying the installer file over onto the hard drive first and running from there? I am using a 1.4Ghz Athlon XP with a single 256MB stick of PC100 RAM. I was hoping that maybe it was as simple as a BIOS setting but I don't want to go jacking with too many settings until I'm sure that's the issue. Other than this particular installation, everything else seems to run fine on the computer. Since Yskonin was having the same issue, I believe it really is RAM that's the issue... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Originally posted by DzrtFox: Would the problem still occur though even when copying the installer file over onto the hard drive first and running from there? Because reading off the CD turned the data in some sectors around. The image on disk has corrupted data. And thanks to that crazy copy protection intentionally playing with illegal sectors your CD drive which will normally catch these problems doesn't anymore. I am using a 1.4Ghz Athlon XP with a single 256MB stick of PC100 RAM. I was hoping that maybe it was as simple as a BIOS setting but I don't want to go jacking with too many settings until I'm sure that's the issue. Other than this particular installation, everything else seems to run fine on the computer. Since Yskonin was having the same issue, I believe it really is RAM that's the issue... RAM would not have it show in the same place every time. It is extremely unlikely that two install runs end up having disk buffer in the same location. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Are you sure that you're using PC100 SDRAM with an Athlon 1400 (I assume that it isn't actually an XP model) ? Is this a 200MHz FSB '1400' ? If not, then you're overclocking your memory if you're running at 266MHz (133MHz) FSB. To be clear on the CRC errors... You get them in the same place/file(s) each time in normal mode, but they happen on different places/files in Safe Mode ? Does the error occur on the same files each time in each mode, i.e. - the same files will have CRC errors when attempting multiple installs in normal mode, while you'll also get the same CRC errors in multiple attempts in Safe Mode; though the files that get CRC errors may be different between normal mode and Safe Mode ? An older CDROM drive can definitely be more susceptible to these 'copy protection errors' than newer ones, though not always. Some older drives may work fine since they were thoroughly engineered, but this isn't the case for many drives. I don't have any lists of drives that may experience problems with SafeDisc or other copy protection formats (neither does Macrovision, unfortunately). If you suspect that it is the copy protection, try out another optical drive if you can get your hands on one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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