KOTOR 1+2: Vista Fix & Windows 7 Report

[Q]

I've tried that a few times now. I went to the link in the first post and got the file, extracted it, and replaced the old file with it 2 or 3 different times but I still can't play the game unless sound is disabled. I'll try it again just to make sure I'm really not messing it up, but I'm curious if this is the only fix to this sound problem?

 

Edit: I renamed the old file that was already in the main folder, and then put in the vista fix mss32.dll into the folder. I've looked through this thread quite a bit and have tried some other fixes (i.e. the install from the first post, the dantooine lag fix). If there is anything else you know that might help I'm willing to try it.

If your High Definition Audio is by Realtek, you could go to their site and look for the "Soundback Beta" in their downloads section. It's supposed to make HDA more compatible with legacy games.

 

Although this seems to be a sound-related problem, you have an ATI 4xxx GPU, which are notoriously bad for KotOR. I think DarthParametric, who uses a 4850, has had to resort to using a savegame from right after character creation and then using KSE to modify the PC to his liking. You should probably try something like that.

 

These games have always had trouble with ATI GPUs, which was one of the reasons why I stuck with Nvidia when I built my new rig.

[Scarface43%]

It didnt find an update

 

Graphics Driver

Product Detected Intel® GM965

Current Driver Installed 8.15.0010.1662

An Intel device was detected but your operating system is not supported by this utility. Please visit Download Center to look for available software.

Audio Driver for Intel® Desktop Board

Product Detected

Current Driver Installed

This device is unknown or unsupported. Please contact the manufacturer for possible updates. More information>>

Wireless Networking

Product Detected

Current Driver Installed

This device is unknown or unsupported. Please contact the manufacturer for possible updates. More information>>

Wired Networking

Product Detected

Current Driver Installed

This device is unknown or unsupported. Please contact the manufacturer for possible updates. More information>>

 

I used the other EXE. Now i dont even get to a crash. it thinks ive inserted the wrong DVD.

 

I dont have an intell graphics driver controll panel.

[Scarface43%]

I see what you men by cough cough. IM not PLAYING WITHOUT THE CD (cough) and that seemed to have fixed the problem. thanks fo all your help guys.

[Flaam]

If your High Definition Audio is by Realtek, you could go to their site and look for the "Soundback Beta" in their downloads section. It's supposed to make HDA more compatible with legacy games.

 

! Downloading the Soundback Beta worked perfectly. Thank you very much for your help.

[Astrotoy7]

I see what you men by cough cough. IM not PLAYING WITHOUT THE CD (cough) and that seemed to have fixed the problem. thanks fo all your help guys.

 

Good to hear its working. Seeing you had no luck with intels utility >> heres the direct download link to the latest Mobile 965 drivers for Vista 64(May 2009)

 

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=17409&ProdId=2800&lang=eng

 

Having the latest drvers is always helpful - you will then get the intel control panel in your tray to which Q was referring. You dont get that when you have WDM(windows device manager default drivers) on.

 

mtfbwya

[XxMayhemxX]

Weird.. i got it to work.. 5 days later.. and i only had to use 2 of the steps...

 

Installing the game and copy/replace the kotor.exe in the game folder

then it started up and loaded the game, character roll, intro sequence, bunkmate tutorial, first 2 battles...

 

but not so fast!!!

i do have a problem... during the 3rd fight, after u take a left...

it crashed to desktop...

 

no idea why.. i just bought the computer brand new in february.. so i know i meet the system specs...

[Astrotoy7]

Weird.. i got it to work.. 5 days later.. and i only had to use 2 of the steps...

 

Installing the game and copy/replace the kotor.exe in the game folder

You mean the mss32.dll ?

 

but not so fast!!!

i do have a problem... during the 3rd fight, after u take a left...

it crashed to desktop...

I only could reproduce this if I tried to run a no cd patch, or in Vista - had not applied XP compat mode.

 

mtfbwya

[XxMayhemxX]

You mean the mss32.dll ?

 

I only could reproduce this if I tried to run a no cd patch, or in Vista - had not applied XP compat mode.

 

mtfbwya

 

not mss.dll i didnt need that this last attempt...

 

all i did was install, then replace/copy the .exe

i think it was this from post 2 the secure rom fix

 

EDIT: We forgot about the SecuROM Vista fixes! Of course, I know why we did.

 

For KotOR (there was a link to a kotor.exe here...)

 

For KotOR2

 

on my second attempt.. all i had to do was install the 4 discs, then copy/replace the .exe and presto.. up until the crash..

 

i didnt set affinity however... so i'll try that next

[Q]

You have to do everything that we mention in Posts 1&2 in order to get it to work without crashing, and when I say everything, I mean everything.

 

 

 

 

Did I mention that you have to do everything in Posts 1&2 to get it to work without crashing?

[Astrotoy7]

not mss.dll i didnt need that this last attempt...

 

Unless you are running windows 7, you are seriously wasting your time if youre trying to run that game in a stable prolonged fashion in Vista without that fix! When you get your crashes, check the error messages - There's a good chance it will tell you that mss32.dll is where the grief is

 

Q doesnt say things twice withough good reason!

 

mtfbwya

[diablo2121]

My KotOR II keeps crashing in game after the opening movie.

 

Info from Windows:

Problem signature:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH

Application Name: swkotor2.exe

Application Version: 2.1.0.0

Application Timestamp: 00000000

Fault Module Name: StackHash_7456

Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0

Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000

Exception Code: c0000005

Exception Offset: 00000000

OS Version: 6.1.7100.2.0.0.256.1

Locale ID: 1033

Additional Information 1: 7456

Additional Information 2: 745613ab99b452a52bfaab804110fcc1

Additional Information 3: a2b8

Additional Information 4: a2b82fcb7f9f960928352157ff32cbf5

 

Read our privacy statement online:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

 

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:

C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

 

The menu and character creation work fine, but once I start playing and either watch or skip the opening movie, the game crashes. I also get the same crash when loading up a save I downloaded.

 

I am running 7 RC1 x64 and have an Intel 4500MHD. My KotOR II is patched manually to 1.0b, and I installed and ran the patch with XP SP2 and admin compatibility mode. I've also replaced Mss32.dll and added the line in swkotor.ini concerning Intel cards. I don't think this is the same problem since KotOR II starts fine (and the crash points to swkotor.exe instead of Mss32.dll), I just can't play anything. Any ideas?

[Q]

Yeah. It's your Intel GPU.

Go into your Intel graphics control panel and click on "3D Options". Look for "Flipping Policy" and change it to "Blit".

 

Is the line that you added to the swkotor2.ini "Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1" under "Graphics Options"? If so, that's pretty much for all GPUs nowadays, or at least the DX10 ones.

[diablo2121]

Yes, I meant Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1. I tried with Blit and the same error occured.

[Q]

Are you using the swkotor2.exe that was updated by SecuROM?

[diablo2121]

How do I find this out? [edit:bill - no warez discussion here]

[Q]

By kindly reading the instructions in the first two posts of this thread instead of wasting my time.

 

Astro, you were right.

[WhiteTone]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm using the Steam version of Kotor and I know it hasn't been mentioned in this thread but I'm hoping someone here can help me with the problem I'm having.

 

At first the game would crash as soon as I tried to open it but after reading post #31 in this thread I've managed to get the game to run in a window at 1024x768 by changing the following in [Graphics Options] in swkotor.ini:

 

Anti Aliasing=1

FullScreen=0

 

I'd love to get the game to run fullscreen or at least be able to run it in a bigger window. If run the game and go to Options->Graphics->Screen Resolution there is nothing in there so I can't change the res in there. I've also tried changing the res in the config file but no matter what I make it there is no difference.

 

Here is what I've tried so far:

Running the game with & without the mss32.dll mentioned in post #1 as well has running it in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode.

Installed the latest DirectX Redistributable Package and added Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1 to my swkotor.ini.

As for CPU affinity, if I have the config set to fullscreen=1 the game crashes before I even have time to set it to one core and if the config is set to fullscreen=0 then I can change the affinity but it doesn't help with the res problem.

 

My specs are:

Intel® Core2 Duo CPU T8300 @ 2.40GHz

4GB Memory

GeForce 8600M GT

Windows 7 Ultimate (Build 7600) (32 bit version)

 

Below is the output from running swconfig.exe (I've left out the [Keymapping] piece if you need it let me know and I'll post it too):

 

[sWKotOR]

ReportDateTime=2009/10/13 13:12:52

SysInfoVersion=v1.00.60

GameExists=1

GameVersion=v1.03.514077

GameInstallLocation=c:\program files\steam\steamapps\common\swkotor\

 

[OS]

Name=Win9x

Version=Windows 9X v6.1 build 7600

Service Pack=None

Status=Fail

 

[swapFiles]

?:\pagefile.sys=0

 

[CPU]

CPUCount=1

CPUSpeed=2394

CPUFamily=6

CPUModel=7

CPUStepping=6

CPUVendor=Intel

CPUName=Intel® Core2 Duo CPU T8300 @ 2.40GHz

Status=Pass

 

[Memory]

RAM=2048

Status=Pass

 

[Disk Free Space]

C: (NTFS), UNICODE=15.61GB

G: (NTFS), UNICODE=4.09GB

Status=Pass

 

[CD-ROMs]

DriveLetters=D:\

Drives=

 

[Video]

Video Card Name=RDPDD Chained DD

Video Memory=2048

Desktop Resolution=0x0x0

DirectX=DirectX (9.0+) (4.09.00.0904)

OpenGL Version=2.1.2

OpenGL Vendor=NVIDIA Corporation

OpenGL Renderer=GeForce 8600M GT/PCI/SSE2

NVidia Driver=(null)

Vid Card Status=Warning

Vid Card Driver Status=Fail

GL Status=Pass

DX Status=Pass

 

[Audio]

Sound Card Name=Speakers / Headphones (SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC)

Status=Pass

 

 

;Game Options from swkotor.ini

 

[sound Options]

Number 3D Voices=16

Number 2D Voices=24

2D3D Bias=1.50

Force Software=0

EAX=0

Sound Init=0

Music Volume=85

Voiceover Volume=85

Sound Effects Volume=85

Movie Volume=100

Disable Sound=0

Environment Effects Level=0.60

Environment Effects=1

Environment Effects Nonstreaming=1

Environment Effects Streaming=1

 

[Game Options]

GUIsInScreenShot=1

EnableScreenShot=0

Reverse Mouse Buttons=0

Hide InGame GUI=0

Use Small Fonts=0

Keyboard Camera Deceleration=2000.000000

Keyboard Camera Acceleration=500.000000

Keyboard Camera DPS=200.000000

Hide Unequippable=0

Tutorial Popups=1

Subtitles=1

Mini Map=1

Floating Numbers=1

Status Summary=1

Enable Mouse Teleporting To Buttons=1

Mouse Sensitivity=33

Auto Level Up NPCs=0

Mouse Look=0

AutoSave=1

Reverse Minigame YAxis=0

Combat Movement=1

Enable Tooltips=1

Difficulty Level=1

TooltipDelay Sec=1.000000

Memory Access=1

Memory Level=1

 

[Movies Shown]

Movie 0=16

Movie 1=0

Movie 2=0

Movie 3=0

Movie 4=0

Movie 5=0

Movie 6=0

Movie 7=0

Movie 8=0

Movie 9=0

Movie10=0

 

[Alias]

HD0=.\

OVERRIDE=.\Override

TEMP=.\Temp

MODULES=.\Modules

LOGS=.\Logs

LOCALVAULT=.\LocalVault

DMVAULT=.\DMVault

SERVERVAULT=.\ServerVault

STREAMMUSIC=.\StreamMusic

TEMPCLIENT=.\Tempclient

SAVES=.\saves

CURRENTGAME=.\currentgame

TEXTUREPACKS=.\texturepacks

STREAMWAVES=.\StreamWaves

 

[Graphics Options]

V-Sync=0

Anisotropy=1

Frame Buffer=1

Anti Aliasing=1

Texture Quality=2

Emitters=1

Grass=1

Soft Shadows=1

Shadows=1

Brightness=57

EnableHardwareMouse=1

FullScreen=0

Disable Vertex Buffer Objects=1

 

[Autopause Options]

Mine Sighted=1

End Of Combat Round=0

Enemy Sighted=1

Party Killed=1

Action Menu=0

New Target Selected=1

 

[config]

firstrun=0

 

 

Thanks

[Q]

You know, I've never had to do any of that crap in post #31 and KotOR 2 runs just fine on my Vista 64 rig.

 

Is the resolution that you're trying to run the game at supported by your graphics driver? If not, you will need to set up a custom resolution or the game won't run.

 

If that is not the case then I'd say that the game did not install properly.

[WhiteTone]

Well my desktop resolution is currently 1920 x 1200 so I'd imagine that my driver should be able to support that for the game. I doubt the game can support that resolution though.

 

How would I setup a custom resolution? I've tried setting Height & Width in the swkotor.ini but there is no change to the game.

 

I also originally thought that the game didn't install properly so I deleted everything and then redownloaded it from Steam and reinstalled it. Still have the same problems.

[Q]

You can see whether or not the resolution that you're trying to use is among those supported by opening your Nvidia control panel and looking under "Set Resolution". You can then set up a custom resolution if you need to.

[WhiteTone]

I see that my Refresh Rate is currently 59hz. Could that not be a problem if the game is trying to run at 60Hz? How can I force the game to run at 59Hz?

 

The resolutions that my drivers support are:

800x600

1024x768

1280x720

1280x800

1280x1024

1440x900

1600x1200

1680x1050

1920x1080

1920x1200

 

I've tried setting the Height & Width in the swkotor.ini to 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050, & 1920x1200 and there is still no change in the window size.

[Q]

Your does indeed support the resolutions that the game runs at, so that's not the problem. The game doesn't support any of those widescreen resolutions that you've tried, though. It might support 1600x1200 through the .ini hack, but usually the highest it supports with the patch is 1280x1024 or 1280x960, so I'd give those three a try. You can also play around with the Nvidia control panel's flat panel scaling settings.

 

Otherwise I haven't a clue why it won't run fullscreen.

[Thats No Moon]

Hi guys, I've run through all the steps provided in the first few posts:

 

Running ms....dll, xp compatability/administrator mode, updates,

 

I'm having that strange crash after the movie following the character selection screen with a no-cd and the program won't run using poweriso and the securom fix "No disc inserted." My new laptop doesn't have a dvd drive so I'm running an iso (I own a copy of KOTOR 2).

 

Here's my specs:

Lenovo x200 64 bit Windows 7

2.4 Ghz dual core w/ integrated GPU intel chipset.

 

If i have to, this week I'll get an external dvd drive but If i can get this to work with an ISO I would be very pleased. All my other backed up programs from my other laptop work fine with poweriso and it'd only be for KOTOR 2 that I get this drive.

[Q]

Man, I feel ya, really, but in my experience you'll have to use the original game disk and the swkotor(2).exe updated by SecuROM in order to run it in Vista on an Intel mobile chipset with an Intel GPU, and I don't know why.

 

Your laptop doesn't have an optical drive?!

[Thats No Moon]

Man that's disappointing. I've got a Lenovo x200 that gets something around 8 hours of battery life and they removed the optical drive to save space for the battery or something like that. It's nice for trips but installing windows from a flash drive is always fun. Thanks for the tip btw.