JTsyo Posted November 1, 2006 Share Posted November 1, 2006 So I picked up the CM: Anthology but have trouble running it. First I tried CM:BO and it would come up with a blank screen. When I turned on Win98 compatibility the load screen would come but I would get the CD not in message. I went through the FAQ troubleshooting and figured out that the CD problem could be solved but then I was back to the first problem. I also tried CM:AK since it was newer but it had the same troubles. When I turned off AA I didn't notice a difference. I sometimes get the message saying Direct3D couldn't be initialized. CPU: P4 3GHz Video: Nvidia 6800 with latest drivers (can't rollback drivers as far as the FAQ says) DirectX: 9.0c WinXP 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I was under the impression that the CDV CM Anthology didn't have copy protection and thus didn't need the CD present to play a game. The only exception to this is when you patch CMAK to 1.03. Since the patch was released for all distributions of the game, it ends up requiring a CD to play at that point. CMBO and CMBB will not require a CD since they are patched to their latest version on the CD (1.12 and 1.03 repectively). Previous single-game only releases from CDV have used a different form of copy protection than what BFC used and that occasionally had problems with some CD/DVD drives and/or software running on the computer. The Win98 compatibility mode fix worked for some people and aggravated the problem for others (i.e. - it wouldn't work when Win98 compatibility was selected) and it shouldn't have been necessary under WinXP in order to run CMBO. In the past we've actually not recommended it. Generally there shouldn't be any issues with the current Nvidia drivers and videocards. AA should work too, but turning it off as troubleshooting step was the right thing to do. The only problem I've heard of with the GeForce 6800's and blank screens was with a SLI setup using drivers before 77.72 which sounds older than what you currently have. If you're not using a WHQL release (the 'official' drivers), you may want to consider downgrading to the latest WHQL driver. The 'Direct3D not initialized' error sounds like you're going through the resolution selection process, but either no resolution is sync'ing up to select or you never selected a resolution during the process. The CM series doesn't constantly repeat the process. If you go through it once and don't select 800x600 or anything higher (which is offered earlier), then you'll get that error message after not selecting 800x600 at 60Hz. For CMBB and CMAK you need to be running at 800x600 minimum (which I assume you've figured out already since you've looked at the FAQ). Let us know which specific driver you're using, what resolution you're running at and if you're seeing the resolution selection screens. If none of this seems applicable and you're still having the problem, let us know. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTsyo Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 I tried downloading new drivers (93.71, they're dated the 3rd) and reinstalled DirectX but it doesn't help. I haven't got to the part where I can pick the resolution. My destop is running at 1024x768. So far I only tried CM:BO and CM:AK. Is there a command for running it in windowed mode? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 The CM series utilizes the entire desktop and doesn't run in windowed mode. Basically you should get the resolution selection process when you first start any of the CM titles under Windows. This is only required once (assuming you can exit normally from CM to have a Prefs file written out). If you're getting the 'Direct3D couldn't be initialized' error almost immediately, then there may be something else going on here with your setup. If however it takes awhile before you get that error message, then I would assume that the resolutions being offered aren't being selected at some point (and this error indicates the end of the resolution offerings). The resolution selection process is a black screen with a simple text box in the middle of it indicating the current resolution and often the refresh and even an indication of which adapter it is running on (primary or secondary), though that doesn't appear all the time. The process will start at the current desktop resolution (in your case that would be 1024x768). However it will run that resolution at a vertical refresh rate that is the maximum offered by the videocard driver. This may cause a problem with some displays since videocards can often run at resolutions and refresh rates beyond the capabilities of many monitors. CM may start out on your videocard with a resolution of 1024x768 at 160Hz vertical refresh rate. Most likely your monitor would either scramble the image (somewhat like a pay cable TV station that you aren't subscribed for) or it will 'black out' and not show anything or give an 'out of range' error. Assuming that your monitor can 'recover' from such signals (some monitors may shut down the input, though that is probably a rare situation) you can just leave the computer alone and CM will automatically attempt the next lower refresh rate available to the video driver (possibly 140Hz in this case). It does this progressively without input (though there is a 'skip' button to manually have it quickly proceed - if you can see it), until it reaches 60Hz at a particular resolution. Once it reaches that, then it goes down to the next available resolution (which would be 800x600 in this case), but it starts at the highest available vertical refresh rate again. Eventually at some point you should see the resolution selection box on the screen. Your best bet would be to use your current desktop resolution at the same refresh rate that you're using for the desktop display. This is usually a good idea with CRTs since the screen should be adjust properly already (not off-center, etc.). For LCDs there may be a vertical refresh rate that comes in a bit sharper on some models (in which case you should set your desktop display to the vertical refresh). If you get the 'Direct3D couldn't be initialized' error almost immediately then something video-wise isn't working as it should. To test your setup (assuming that you haven't run other games already with this setup) you can go to the Start Menu > Run command > type in dxdiag, click OK and this should launch the DirectX Diagnostic. Click 'Yes' on any dialog box that shows up (regarding WHQL drivers or something of that nature). Once this loads go to the Display tab. Under the DirectX Features section make sure the three settings on the left are enabled (there'll be a 'disable' button if they are enabled already - in addition to the text that says 'enabled'). If these are all set to enabled, then click on the Test Direct3D button and proceed through the tests and see if they all (3) pass (they probably should). This just confirms that things are working in a very basic manner for 3D. If this works, then the next thing you need to do is to minimize the number of open and running programs/utilities that are running in the background. You may want to turn off antivirus and firewall utilities, etc. It's possible that something could be interfering with CM, though that is rare. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTsyo Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 Thanks, just waiting worked. My monitor is pretty old and it was just cutting the input. It started working when it got down to 100Hz. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomni Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Help. I'm running CMBO in XP with ATI graphics card. Screen resolution is 1027 x 768, 60 Hz refresh rate. Game screen is off-center. How do I fix this? -------------------- Problem solved. I erased the pref file and restarted and kept on selecting the resolution until it was correctly centered. [ November 16, 2006, 04:35 AM: Message edited by: jomni ] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 Adjusting the centering of the image is up to either the monitor (most common) or videocard. The other way around this is to find out what your current desktop resolution and vertical refresh is and match CM to use that. In order to get the resolution selection screens you will need to delete the Prefs file in the CM directory. Once you start CM after that the resolution selection process starts automatically. If 1024x768 isn't what your normally run your desktop at, then adjusting the image via the monitor's controls would be the easiest solution. Typcially most monitors will remember the settings for each input that they get (or at least have a few 'user' memories that hopefully match different resolution inputs). So the centering that you do at 1024x768 @ 60Hz will hopefully not affect your normal desktop resolution (whatever that may be). If your monitor applies the changes you make to it at all resolutions, then deleting the Prefs file and matching CM to your desktop settings would be the best bet. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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