Problem w/ resolution

[Cronk]

My CMBO stopped working (sort of)! Ack!

I tried to launch it a week or so ago (shhh...this is my work PC) and got the resolution requestor screens. It told it was in Software Mode and only wanted to give me 640x480 at various refreshes.

I do share this PC with one other person. I don't know of any changes that were made though.

The game used to work just fine at 1024x768 on this very computer.

I have gone through the TSG but that didn't really help. I updated my video drivers without any success.

I am running XP Pro, DX9, Intel 82845G graphics (icky - but they work).

I did run the DXDIAG tests for DirectX and only had issues is Direct3D 7 tests (it ran out of memory). The D3D 8 and D3D 9 tests passed OK.

But why is the game not recognizing hardware acceleration anymore? Again, it used to work fine on here...

I haven't tried uninstalling it yet; it just seems like a simple switch somewhere...

[ September 07, 2005, 04:10 AM: Message edited by: Cronk ]

[Redwolf]

What is TSG?

Do other 3D games run?

Uninstalling and reinstalling CM won't do anything about this problem.

[Cronk]

TSG = trouble shooting guide, the one found on this website.

No, I don't run other games (it is a work PC after all ). But, as mentioned, I did run the DirectX tests.

[Schrullenhaft]

There are no real "switches" in the CM software that would affect the resolution selection process and what you're offered. CM just reads the system's state for 3D acceleration and resolutions and offers what it deems are compatible choices.

The problem with the DirectX 7 test says that there is something wrong with either DirectX, your video driver or something else that is causing havoc with your system.

I'd suggest uninstalling your video drivers completely and then rebooting (don't install any video drivers before rebooting). Windows XP will detect the 845G video and install some older drivers. You should try out DXDIAG at that point and see if the DirectX 7 tests pass or not. If they do, then I'd guess that CMBO should work and allow you to use a hardware-accelerated resolution.

If uninstalling the drivers doesn't fix the DirectX 7 test in DXDIAG, then you have a more severe problem. If you can, make sure that everything non-necessary is closed down (anti-virus, firewall, etc.) from the Task Manager's Processes tab. In fact, you may want to do that when you install any drivers or updates, just in case they're getting corrupted by another piece of software that is running in the background. Delete the driver again and let it reinstall again (after reboot), then kill all the unnecessary programs again and re-run CMBO to have it redetect the resolution (assuming you've deleted the Prefs file).

If this works then you can grab the latest 845G Windows XP drivers. I've seen these drivers not install with certain manufacturers when they're using the manufacturer provided drivers (i.e. - a Dell provided driver may prevent the driver from being installed until it itself is uninstalled).

[ September 07, 2005, 04:41 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

[Cronk]

I uninstalled the video drivers and let Windows try and find its own solution. It did but came up short on files; I had to dig around a good bit and find various files on my system for it to finally install. But it looks like it installed the Intel drivers, albeit a slightly different rev. Running the DxDiag tests still shows a problem with the Direct3D 7 test (out of memory).

I then uninstalled and installed the newest drivers from Intel. Same results: problems with D3D 7 test and CMBO doesn't sense the hardware correctly.

I haven't tried it yet with all of the coporate goodies turned off, though. That will be my next attempt. But, frankly, I am not holding out a lot of hope.

Thanks for the good suggestions so far...any others (apart from the turning off of stuff that I haven't tried yet)?

[Redwolf]

You should download some random demo from a 3D game.

Most games give better diagnostics on what went wrong with 3D initialization than CM which basically says nothing.

[Schrullenhaft]

It probably won't offer a lot in terms of diagnostics, but you can download and run 3DMark 2001 SE and see how that behaves. Several tests probably won't run on an Intel 845G (so "skipped" tests are to be expected and not a sign that something is wrong).

I'm certain that the Intel 845G works with the current CM series, since I've run it myself with both the Microsoft provided drivers and the latest Intel ones (though I don't currently have access to an 845G-based system right now).

If the Microsoft install of the Intel 845G drivers had a problem, then something is possibly up with your registry or your Windows XP install. You shouldn't have to dig up any drivers as Windows XP should find and install an older Intel driver automatically. Potentially you may have reinstalled the problem by searching for drivers since it is possible that you have a mixed set of drivers (files from two different versions). I'm not sure how much the drivers may have changed between the Microsoft provided drivers and the latest Intels (in terms of files that are part of the install).

You may want to uninstall the driver again. This time on Windows' redetection of the video, DO NOT LOOK FOR DRIVERS. Instead let the installation fail (you will be defaulted to some VESA/Super VGA safe mode driver - though it may not quite say so in the Device Manager).

The next part is a bit problematic since you will have to hunt for files and delete them manually. I believe in the Windows/System directory there will be possibly over a dozen files starting with IGFX... that should be related to the Intel driver and there may be some files starting with IALM.... Before deleting any files, do a "Properties" on it (right click file, select "properties" in the popup menu at the bottom) and in the "version" tab the description should mention something about Intel. You will also need to look in the Windows/System32/Drivers directory and there will be several files in here to be deleted also. The initial set will start with ADV... and another set starting with ATV..., and another set starting with WADV... and some other files starting with CH7... , SII... , VCHN... , WATV... and finally there will be an IALMNT5.SYS that definitely needs to be removed since this is the primary driver. In the Windows/Inf you will want to delete any IALMNT5.INF file and open all of the OEM... INF files and find out which ones are Intel 845 driver related and delete them.

There are also registry settings, but we'll leave those alone for now. With all of these files deleted, go ahead and reboot. It may redetect the 845G video again, but if it can't find the drivers that it needs DO NOT POINT IT TO ANY. At this point you need to disable anything that you have running, especially anti-virus software or anything else (the above mentioned Task Manager and Processes tab clearing) or you can use EndItAll, which I assume works with XP otherwise you can use EndItAll2. Anyway, once unnecessary programs have been killed , then attempt the driver installation.

If DXDIAG, 3DMark2001 or CM still don't work, then it seems you have a deeper problem with your setup. Since this is a work machine with other users, you may not be able to reinstall Windows, etc.

[Cronk]

Well, things just never seemed to work. I did as Schrullenhaft had suggested with deleting files and all that. The install went OK but the game still didn't work.

I had a problem with an application update handed out by the corporate system. The tech who helped me with that ran a utility to clean up things related to the prior installation of that application. I didn't really think anything about it but decided to check the DXDIAG tests again. This time they all ran, including the tricky Direct3D 7 that had caused me problems before. I tried the game again and bingo! It came up asking if I wanted to run in 16x12! Yeah!

I don't know exactly what the utility that the tech support fellow used did, but whatever it was seems to have fixed my resolution issues. I didn't do any driver install/uninstall after that utility ran.

I am just glad to have it working again. Thanks for all of your suggestions, folks.