Good news for XP users

[rickyboy]

Hey Fandango Fans,

 

Like many before me, I had serious problems getting G.F. to work on my computer since upgrading it.

 

My specs are:

Intel P4 3.0 GHz with HT

1 GB of Ram

ATI Radeon 9550 and so on.

 

The real kicker is the Hyper Threading on new CPUs. As others have posted, turning on Windows XP's compatibility mode fixes Speech and SFX errors (it simply freezes after a while). But this makes the Full motion video very choppy.

 

SO HERE'S A SOLUTION THAT ANYONE CAN DO:

A rather brilliant poster on this site realized that it was the HT technology that was causing this error but had a very complicated method for fixing it.

 

So... here's a simple one:

Restart your computer and press "Delete" before Windows starts up. This should take you to the SYSTEM BIOS screen (which looks like it's from 1984) At the first menu there should be a listing that includes HYPER THREADING on it. Simply change this to "DISABLED". Don't worry it won't blow anything up, and if this makes you really uncomfortable you can turn it back on just as easily.

 

There... that's it. No mystery,

BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE TURNED COMPATIBILITY MODE OFF! I played the game start to finish in a couple hours with zero problems.

 

Hurrah!

[Tall Guy]

thanks for the info buddy, hopefully this will solve a few of the issues some people have when playing thr game

[NYles_Bobbit]

This did work but your directions were a bit off, at least for my pc, if Hyper Threading is not in the original menu, i found mine in advanced bios, so you might wanna try in there, just go down and select it and it will take u to a second menu with hyper threading in it.

[antena]

BUT MAKE SURE YOU HAVE TURNED COMPATIBILITY MODE OFF

 

Wot do u mean by that? Cause i did the HT thing and i got past the bit where it usually gets stuck then just as i was starting to drop tears of joy, the game crushed saying "WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED A PROBLEM"

 

This is frustrating as hell, usually i wud return a game like this but i want to play this!! (and i lost the receipt)

[Shiek927]

I tried getting the System Bios up but it didn't work. What should I do?

[re1314]

Hi -

 

Edit: Read the last edit, at the bottom, before trying any of these instructions.

 

There is another way - you can tell Windows XP/2000 which processor to use for each process/program running on your system.

 

Firstly, switch off any compatibility mode settings on the GRIMFANDANGO.exe file. You should also be able to run the game in this way with HyperThreading enabled in your BIOS. Switching on HT now is probably a good idea.

 

Now, download this program (Credit goes to Adron):

http://www.valhallalegends.com/adron/prioaff/prioaff.zip

It will allow you to start programs with a predefined priority, and assign them to only one CPU (logical/HT or physical).

Extract the files from the ZIP you just downloaded to C:\priority, for example.

 

Next, make a new shortcut to the prioaff.exe file which you just extracted. Ensure that the target of the shortcut reads:

C:\priority\prioaff.exe 1 01 C:\Program Files\LucasArts\Grim\GRIMFANDANGO.exe

 

This tells it to run GF with a normal priority, and on your first CPU.

 

(If you extracted the files to another directory, or GF is installed elsewhere, modify the target accordingly.)

 

Then, run the shortcut and the game should load normally. If you get an error regarding affinities, check that the shortcut is set up correctly. Remember to enable HyperThreading in your BIOS.

 

I have noticed on my PC, that under certain configurations with this program, the main menu in GF is not displayed. This is a bit strange. To close the game, you have to Alt+Tab and close it in task manager. I reckon its just my machine (I've tinkered with the GF installation), but if anyone else gets that problem, please let me know and I'll see what I can do to sort it out.

 

Note: Changing the '1' in the shortcut target to a '2' or '3' alters the priority.

2 = High Priority

3 = Realtime Priority

(Changing this setting may lower the choppiness, if any occurs when you are playing).

 

Note2: Changing to '01' in the shortcut target to '10' will run the game on your second processor (01 = Binary 1 and 10 = Binary 2).

 

Please post back and let me know how you all get on!

Of course, if anyone is confused by these instructions feel free to please post back and I'll send easier ones. I hope this solves some problems.

 

Rus.

 

Edit: After using the priority application to start the game, it seems I can run GF normally (straight from the standard shortcut) without any compatibility mode or priority settings...and everything works normally - even the menu.

 

Edit2: I also found that by lowering the level of hardware acceleration for my sound card made things work perfectly...so far! I recommend trying this method before anything else (because its the easiest!).

Click Start > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio Tab > Click 'Advanced' under 'Sound Playback' section > Performance Tab > Lower the Hardware Acceleration one notch at a time and see if it fixes your problems. I found that running the game normally with no compatibility mode settings, and sound hardware acceleration on setting 2 or 3 worked best. Unfortunately, the sound cut out when I exited the in-game menu sometimes. Still, its better than no sound at all. If I find anything else useful, I'll post back.

[Deuce]

I used the priority program and the game doesn't freeze but I still don't know how to get the game menu to show up. I didnt quite understand that bottom edit. Did you use the Prioaff prog to open GF or open with the GF launcher?

 

 

Any help?

[re1314]

I found that after launching the game once, using the prioaff program, I was able to quit and launch it normally, with the regular GF loader, and everything would be fine.

 

I think that's what I did, anyway. I'll check. (I got stuck due to what I think must be a bug in the game and haven't played since - the underwater bit with the crane, if anyone knows about this!)

[eyet00th]

Followed the above instructions...the program solves the sound and choppiness of the movies, but I have NO text onscreen. I don't mind the menus not being there, but I'm unable to choose dialog selections.

 

Any further help would be greatly appreciated...I've been trying to play this game for the last 2 years!!

[melora]

like the above poster i have tried everything i read here... including the other post titled "2 ways to correct hyperthreading problems... i still cant run the game... any help would be appreciated.

[cmorbutt]

that was great! it worked like a charm. no need to adjust sound settings, no need to turn off Hyper Threading. Just used that little program and created the shortcut and voila, problem solved.