Game Refusing to play ball with technical wombat

[Gazza]

Wonder if anyone can help. Bought Combat Mission just now. I had the demo some time back and it worked fine, and the full version seems to have installed fine. However every time I fire it up, the initial picture comes up, and then it terminates with this message:

COMBAT MISSION caused an invalid page fault in

module ~DF394B.TMP at 017f:011386b8.

Registers:

EAX=00000000 CS=017f EIP=011386b8 EFLGS=00010246

EBX=00004db8 SS=0187 ESP=00a7f9cc EBP=00a7f9d8

ECX=00000cf3 DS=0187 ESI=00d6059b FS=0d5f

EDX=0000e5f3 ES=0187 EDI=0083724c GS=0000

Bytes at CS:EIP:

66 8b 44 1f fc d1 e8 83 c0 07 99 83 e2 07 03 c2

Stack dump:

0133c1c8 011522f8 000000c8 00a7fa04 010f80d0 00400000 0133c1c8 011522f8 000000c8 000000c8 00000000 011988f8 00400001 011988f8 00a7fa78 01175af8

My Pc is Athlon 800, nVidia tnt2, via ac97 soundchip, direct x 8.1, 32x cdrom.

I am a technical amoeba and have no idea where to start. Cheers in advance. :mad:

[Schrullenhaft]

That looks weird. An error from a temp file ? I'd suggest deleting everything in the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP directory and running scandisk to see if this helps with anything. Are you absolutely sure that DirectX 8.1 is fully installed ? What video driver version are you running for your Riva TNT2 ?

I'd suggest shutting down any apps/utilities that are running in the background (antivirus, etc.) to make sure that there isn't some sort of interference. I'm guessing you just purchased the recently released CDV UK release of CMBO and I'm not sure if you could just copy the executable off of the CD or not, but you may want to if the file is uncompressed on the CD.

[Gazza]

Hi, thanks for the suggestions. Tried them and still no luck! DirectX 8.1 is definely installed, background apps are off and temp file empty. I have the new detonator drivers for the TNT2, so I can't see it being that, but thanks anyway

[Schrullenhaft]

What OS are you running ?

Then I suggest uninstalling CMBO and completely wiping out the directory that it is installed in. Disable any anti-virus programs and anything else that is running in the background.

You can check through the registry (depending on how confident you are with using that utility) and search for any Combat Mission or CDV references and possibly delete them. But if you don't know what you're doing you may want to skip this.

Now reinstall CMBO and don't apply any patches as of yet. See if it will run or if you have the same problem. I'm guessing that there is another program that is actually causing the problem. You may want to run the spyware removal utility mentioned in this thread.

[ March 29, 2002, 08:19 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

[Gazza]

Thanks again for the reply. Right I have tried all that and still no joy. A special thanks for the Adaware tip, I had no idea how much crap had been put on my system! Very frustrating. The only thing that rang a bell in the pile of hex that I recognised was the EAX reference, which I seem to remember a reference to for my soundcard. Could it be something to do with sound? My OS is Win 98.

Cheers for all your help, its much appreciated and educational!

[Scheer]

Hi Gazza,

no offense, but have you looked into the FAQ ? I think that I heard sumthing about your specifically *.tmp problem somewhere, could´ve been in the FAQ or here on the board.

I think it has sumthing to do with the installer, if another program has made an unclean install before.

Methinks ...

I could be totally wrong though ...

Hope it helps.

Scheer out

[Gazza]

Hi Scheer

Thanks for the message. There was a board about .tmp files on the 21st March and I've tried the suggestions on it. Frankly I'm about to resort to the claw hammer solution! If I disable my sound I can gt the game to run (silently!), so it must be in there somewhere I guess.

[Schrullenhaft]

The 'EAX' listing above in your error is a CPU register and not a reference to the Creative EAX software for the Live/Audigy sound cards.

I've been searching, but I can't find a thread about a user who had a problem with MS Office apps having a problem creating temporary files (though Office still worked). His CM copy gave a similar error and I wonder if it was related to yours.

Does CM work fine with the audio off ? What version of the VIA AC97 Codec driver do you have ? The latest version (though possibly not the same as what your motherboard manufacturer may have listed on their site) can be downloaded here. If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest installing the latest VIA 4-in-1 drivers (4.38a) from here.

[Gazza]

Thanks again, I have already downloaded those drivers. This is curious, but I was wrong to say CM worked with the sound disabled - I uninstalled the driver by mistake and hadn't at that time installed the new ones! So, the only time I got it to work was when my device was missing! Very odd, and my technical skills have never been stretched so much! Learning with every post though!

[Scheer]

Hi,

when you click on "Your Computer" and then click on the properties you should get to the hardwaremanager. Are there any Questionmarks shown ?

Scheer out.

[Gazza]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. There were when I uninstalled my driver, which is coincidentally the ONLY time I have got the game to load. There wasn't any sound so I exited, realised I hadn't installed the updated driver and did so. Bingo! the game would'nt load again!! My soundchip is onboard the KT133 motherboard, is it too old/crap and should I invest in a separate soundcard? Could it be as simple as that? Why would it work with everything else? Why am I crap at computers?

:confused:

[Schrullenhaft]

So when you've disabled sound in CM, it will still lock up, but when you remove the drivers for sound then CM will load up. That's strange. At least it seems as if CM is installed correctly on your machine.

What specific motherboard do you have (you've already mentioned that it is based on the VIA KT133) ? Sometimes the audio codec isn't the chipset one, but another onboard codec. AC97 works OK and generally should be sufficient for CM. Like any other PCI/AGP device it may end up sharing an IRQ with another device. Sometimes this may cause a problem (but not usually with just loading CM - usually it would be a lockup during play).

I'd suggest performing a Ctrl-Alt-Del and close any running application other than Explorer and Systray. You can also manually close out programs first (such as some sitting in your System Tray).

You may want to reinstall the VIA drivers, then DirectX 8.1 and then whatever version of the NVidia Detonators you want to run (the latest are 28.32). Next, once it is determined what your exact audio codec driver is, reinstall that and check your audio. If you have previous audio driver/software (audio card specific software that is - Winamp and other programs shouldn't be a problem) installed for another sound card make sure you remove it with the 'Add/Remove Software' control panel. This reinstallation sequence should hopefully help with most problems.

[Gazza]

Hi thanks again, I am sorry for taking up so much of your time.

I've tried that and no joy. My soundcard is integrated and not PCI, would that make a difference? The AC97 is the one I got from VIA and I have tried shutting down all other applications using ctrl+alt+del, because I noticed you suggested that to the person with a similar problem. Serves me right, I have been waiting for this game for soooooo long! Typical!

[Schrullenhaft]

There shouldn't be any real difference between an AC97 integrated audio and a separate PCI audio card. Most likely your AC97 codec is a PCI device that is mounted on the motherboard. I don't know (and I doubt that it would) if it would make a difference to purchase and install a separate PCI sound card. A separate PCI sound card can be more powerful than your onboard codec, but it may not necessarily solve the problem here.

What motherboard model do you have ?

I'm not sure what to tell you. If CMBO runs fine with your audio device uninstalled then something is wrong with your system. Are you absolutely sure that your board uses the VIA AC97 codec ? While you may have the chipset for it, your motherboard may have an additional 'external' codec with its own drivers (to replace the VIA ones). This can make a difference.

[Gazza]

I'm pretty sure the audio driver is the AC97 codec - that is the one that is listed under my "device manager profile", whereas before it just stated "VIA WDM". Should I be checking anywhere else? Could it be a problem with my 128mb memory itself (although I would guess other programs would have similar problems if that was the case)? Something smells fishy.......

[Schrullenhaft]

You need to tell me your motherboard model. Look through your documentation, and if it is good it will tell you what your audio chip/codec is. Some of the chipset audio codecs (like Intel and VIA) may install the default codec, but the audio may not always work. In this case a driver for the specific codec may be necessary. It is these drivers that you'll need to install. Some examples are chips from Stac, Sigmatel and even Creative (and they're tiny, often 5mm x 5mm in size).

AC97 is just a broad standard, part of which defines some CPU/chipset audio playback designs. It isn't a name brand for any audio chip.

There is a possibility that the problem could be memory related, though I would think that other programs would show problems if this were the case. Your initial error is strange (pointing to a temp file as the cause of a crash - it's not even an executable).

[Gazza]

Hi thanks again, that's made a couple of things clearer. Right I have now found my box an my little book says it is a "Socket A 1st Mainboard AZ11, based around KT133 chipset comprised of VIA VT 8363 system controller for the North Bridge, and the VIA 686A (Super South)". "Onboard AC97 sound ensures high quality audio, with the option of being disabled through BIOS". It says about the Compact Onboard Audio Subsystem "Embedded in VIA 686A, the audio processor offers an integrated PCI audio controller, DOS games compatible engine, and offers the feature of high-quality music synthesizer. The subsystem utilizes line-out, line-in and MIC mini-jack external jacks.

Phew! Hope that helps. Thanks again for your time.

[Schrullenhaft]

OK, there's no mention of an external codec to the chipset (which is the case with most documentation anyway). We can only assume that there is no unique codec driver other than the one for the VIA chipset. Your motherboard is made by FIC. Here's the webpage to download the driver for the 686A chipset audio codec (its more than half way down the page under the heading of 'other VIA drivers'). Version 2.0a is what is listed on the site, but I have no idea if this is actually newer than the one posted on the VIA site I listed earlier (which shows a lower version number, but may actually be newer).

The lastest BIOS for your motherboard is dated October 20, 2000 and it's version VDA44 (or VDA44NR). I don't see anything that is applicable to audio however in the BIOS update info.

[Gazza]

Ok, Thanks again, it took me a while to log into the site, but I've got it. Still no joy I'm afraid. Hmmm, last gasp I think. I think I may have to pop it into mt local friendly PC doctor, just in case there is something lurking in there. Many thanks for your time and patience.

[Gazza]

Ahaaaa!! Success!!!!

Right it turns out my ASPI drivers had become corrupt! I have downloaded 4.6 and everything is working superbly. Many thanks for all your help and advice, I have learnt more in the last two weeks than in the previous few years!!! Thanks again!