Sindai Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 First off, the system specs: -OS: Windows ME -Athlon 1Ghz CPU (Thunderbird, I think) -ASUS VIA chipset motherboard -256 MB of RAM (Forgot which kind, exactly. Definetly a newer type) -VIA AC'97 Audio Controller (Integrated into the motherboard) -Geforce 2 MX/MX 400 card (Forgot who made it, I use the generic NVidia drivers in any case) -Maxtor 9 1360D8 13 gig harddrive -E-IDE 52x CD-ROM drive -Generic floppy drive, mouse, and keyboard; nothing special there Secondly, I present to you.... Sindiana Jones and the Saga of Trying to Get That *(&^ing Game, Jedi Knight 2, to Run.... Okay, let's see.... (First I should explain that when I say "freezes" in the following narrative, I'm not talking about normal "ctrl-alt-del your way out of things" freezes, or even evil Blue Screen of Death freezes, I'm talking about these nasty, whining freezes my computer does where it just stops responding to anything and begins emitting a high-pitched whining noise.) So anyway, the game crashed in the manner decribed above twice while I was trying to install. (I've never seen an installating program freeze before) and then twice once I actually managed to get into the game to play....within 5 seconds of starting the first mission. So I uninstall, and try to reinstall....no good. The install and autorun programs freeze at least six times in a row. I never even get far enough to begin copying files onto my computer. So I go update various drivers for various things on my computer (new Detonator XP drivers, new ASUS drivers, DirectX 8.1.) No dice. Freezes occur every bit as persistently as they did before. So I say to myself: "Hmm. I guess my computer just has too much crap cluttering up the registry and system settings to run stably any more. Better reformat and resintall ME." Now, this isn't a big deal for me. I install and uninstall things (mostly various games) so much that I have to lobotomize my computer at least once every few months to keep things reasonably stable. So I do so. Takes a few hours, goes as smoothly as it did last time. Which is to say, pretty darned smoothly. I finish updating everything, put the game back in again....hold my breath and cross my fingers.... Freezes. Exactly the same spots in the installer it froze on before. So I go and check out the tech help forum on one of the larger JK2 fansites (which I'll be copying and posting this message to as well, after I register there....) and find some people having trouble with the Geforce 2 MX....hm, that would explain the ingame troubles, but not installer problems, so I keep looking. Eventually I come upon some posts about older, high speed CD-ROM drives (just like mine) and the game's copy protection scheme. Now this could explain things....Most of the replies to the threads recommend either updating the firmware on your drive or getting a new drive equipped to handle the protection. Now, the former isn't an option because the manufacturer of my drive is a secret lost in the mists of time, and the later too expensive to attempt until I've tried something much simpler first: (Now, get ready for the really weird part of the story, folks.) I copy the entire contents of the JK2 CD onto my harddrive and install from there. It works like a charm. Installation goes quick, the game runs with nary a stutter, and while it still required the CD in the drive to run, I don't think I ever saw it actually access the disk for anything. So, after allowing two hours or so to evaporate into thin air on level one single player and dueling a bot with lightsabers and force powers (I made a poor man's practice arena by setting the bot to easiest difficulty and putting a jibberish password on the server) I realize I meant to go to sleep an hour ago. Cue next morning.... Start up comp, look around online for cheats (out of curiosity, no, really ) then go back and start the game. Loads fine, but about 3 seconds into the game - .5 seconds after I pull down the console - it freezes. Restart comp. Try game again. No console use this time. Another freeze. The weirdest one I've seen yet, too. The two halves of my screen (split vertically) got reversed when it froze. Much cursing. Uninstall game. Attempt to reinstall from the copy of the CD on my harddrive....installer freezes in exactly the same places it did before. Delete copy of CD on my harddrive. Re-copy everything from CD to harddrive. Try and install again....still freezes in exactly the same places it always has. And that's where I am now. I am so completely stumped by this. I simply can't come up with a rational explanation for why it would work last night but not this morning, when every single system setting on my computer is identical. Maybe my copy is just possessed by Satan and he thought it was funny to let me taste the sweet, sweet gameplay before snatching it out of my hands once again.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BZA Posted April 3, 2002 Share Posted April 3, 2002 Solution 1 step 1. repackage game step 2. return to retail store step 3. exchange for new copy as yours may have a corupt set of code Slution 2 step 1. go to http://www.dell.com step 2. think "dude, im getting a dell!" step 3. Thank God for making life so easy seriously....thats screwed up, i would try an exchange...and second...do you have a CD Burner as well as a CD Rom installed? if so, try using the CD Burner to install the Game, it will take longer but it will circumnavigate the problems with the copy protected installer. hmmm.....how old is your motherboard....if you are getting the screaming high pitch beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep of doom when your computer halts up, thats NOT GOOD....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahunaman Posted April 4, 2002 Share Posted April 4, 2002 Easy problem to fix, GForce 2 user should not upgrade their driver to the latest. Stick to Detonator version 21.83 Newer version are developped for GForce 3 and 4 ... Even if they are supposed to be compatible, they are not as stable for GForce 2 card. Also you'll see in file TROUBLE.DOC with the game that RAVEN have develop the game using Nvidia driver v23.11 This is a common problem for GForce2 user (one game out of 10 have this problem using new driver on GForce 2 card) Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPB[XXX] Posted April 4, 2002 Share Posted April 4, 2002 Similar experience, Day 1: Would not work, locked up PC had to reset.... Day 2: did the driver thing, did the CD burner thing and got it working. Played away no probrem. Day 3: Dead as a dodo. Upgraded BIOS on graphics card - runs SWEET Day 4: Today, Im off home now to try it out....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sindai Posted April 4, 2002 Author Share Posted April 4, 2002 Originally posted by HPB[XXX] Day 3: Dead as a dodo. Upgraded BIOS on graphics card - runs SWEET What does the "upgraded BIOS on graphics card" bit mean? Incidentally, though, I'm almost certain my copy of the game isn't bad - the installer worked fine right off the CD with my sister's CD-RW drive. Too bad it's not in my computer. And how would I get an older Detonator version? Lastly, getting a totally new computer isn't an option. Costs way too much. As it is I just spend around 200 bucks a year to upgrade my system to the point where it can play any current game at 10x7x16 and I'm happy. Probably should get XP sometime soon, though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest skooby1doo Posted April 4, 2002 Share Posted April 4, 2002 got to http://www.guru3d.com to get any and every driver ever made for geforce and ati and other cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiles4 Posted April 4, 2002 Share Posted April 4, 2002 the installer worked fine right off the CD with my sister's CD-RW drive. Sindai, if you have install troubles it may be, as stated, that your CD-ROM drive can't handle the CD's copy protection. From what you've said this appears to be so. If true, even copying the contents of your CD to hard drive and then installing from there might result in a partially corrupted installation. Does the game run fine on your sister's machine after installing it? What I'm trying to say is that you may be chasing bugs of all different sorts (like blaming drivers) when what you really need is a CD-RW or DVD-ROM drive that can install the game cleanly. For some games, even an install from the hard drive wouldn't help because when you start the game it tries to verify that you have the CD inserted. At that point, it will error out saying "Please insert the blah-blah CD". Thought JO doesn't seem to do this verification. My recommendation is to get a namebrand (Pioneer, Toshiba, Lite-On) DVD-ROM drive for ~$48 at newegg.com. They're the best vendor on the net and if you happen to pick a drive that still couldn't read it, their RMA service is excellent. I know throwing more money at the problem is a suck solution but it will help you with all the games you'll get in the future too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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