Initial Crash - Red Flag, OOTP resetting default graphics??

DuckSnort · 11-22-2008, 05:35 PM

Crashed, then...

Getting message "Red Flag for previous crash, OOTP resetting default graphics, etc." - Okay

Crash.

I've not made any progress with the game since the license, if there are any suggestions this would be great, otherwise I'll have to request my money back.

Nutlaw · 11-23-2008, 10:52 AM

So did you never get the game to work at all, or was it working at one point and now it won't?

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program? That is the most likely solution.

What operating system are you using? How much RAM does your computer have and what is your graphics card?

DuckSnort · 11-23-2008, 02:45 PM

Nutlaw, thanks.

I have an XP 1.3 Ghz, 768M RAM Desktop. Not sure how to find Video Card? This is not a gaming computer, but it plays games and it should work.

I did try to uninstall/reinstall and nothing.

After getting the license, launching the game leads to a window saying that "OOTP flagged a previous crash and is resetting graphics and that i may change these graphics back after the game gets running." Then a white screen and "needs to close/error report"

Never got the game to work and I'm dying to get it going. I'm used to buying games at the store, but when I read some reviews on OOTP I thought I'd download it. This is my first time trying to get a download game to work. This is my first experience with OOTP and so far I'm pleased someone has gotten back to me already.

Thank you!

DuckSnort · 11-24-2008, 12:12 PM

XP, 1.3GHZ, 768 RAM, ATI Radeon 7000 Series.
Reinstalled, defragmented hard drive, trying to update to 2.2 thought I already did, but trying again. Need Help!

Nutlaw · 11-24-2008, 01:05 PM

768M RAM isn't a lot, but it ought to be enough to run the game. Have you tried closing all of your other programs when running OOTP? If other programs are open and running (including your web browser), it will take up some of your available memory.

How much free hard drive space do you have?

What screen resolution are you running? Have you tried changing it and running the program?

DuckSnort · 11-24-2008, 01:18 PM

HD space - 62Gb free
1024x768, could go higher, yes tried to change it.
I have closed all programs when attempting to run.

The error message says "OOTP has found that the crashed-on-startup flag is set. To make sure that it starts this time, OOTP will reset the graphics settings to default values. You can set them back later in Game Preferences dialog."
When I select OKAY -
The OOTP game window comes up white and I get a error, needs to close/report window.

DuckSnort · 11-24-2008, 01:19 PM

Is there a way I could check my available memory, memory usage before launching the game?

satchel · 11-24-2008, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckSnort

Is there a way I could check my available memory, memory usage before launching the game?

If you hit "Ctrl-Alt-Del" and look at the "Task Manager, there's a little readout at the bottom right of the box that tells you your available memory, and your current usage.

Do you know what programs you're running in the background? The Task Manager can tell you this as well, you might want to look at the list called "Processes" and see if any single program is using an inordinately large percentage in the "CPU" column.

When your computer is running, how many little icons are in the lower right corner of your desktop, down by the time display? Is it more than five or six?

DuckSnort · 11-24-2008, 04:45 PM

Thanks.
Available Physical MEM -- 480,000-492,000 K
I did cut out some of those icons in cue, and nothing too high in processes.

There may be something here about memory, but that's not what the error message is saying. It's talking about finding a flag set for a previous crash on startup and wants to change graphic settings to launch the game. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to get it done and crashes. My computer should be able to handle this lower-graphic game right?

I don't mean to be a pain, I thought I met the req's for this, so I bought it.

satchel · 11-24-2008, 06:12 PM

You're not being a pain; considering how much we all love the game, we can feel the frustration of someone who wants to play, and isn't able to.

You're right about the memory not necessarily being the problem, but since we were on that track, I thought we'd check it out, just in case.

If I were going to guess, I'd say that the problem is probably your video card, or at least its drivers. The Radeon 7000 series was released in 2001, and when first launched, only supported DirectX 7. All versions of OOTP since v6 have required at least DirectX 8. (DirectX is a Windows software driver component; it is linked with your Radeon video card drivers, but they are separate.) The Radeon 7000 series does support DirectX 8, but it does not support DirectX 9 or higher. You may be able to update your video card drivers, or your Windows software, to DirectX 8. Do you know the version number of your video card drivers? At this point, I'd say that outdated video card drivers, or outdated DirectX for your Windows, are the most likely culprits.

satchel · 11-24-2008, 06:18 PM

Having said all that, I feel like you need to use caution, because since your Radeon 7000 doesn't support DirectX 9, if you try to upgrade to it, that might mess up your configuration. If it turns out that outdated DirectX is your problem, you need to somehow upgrade to DirectX 8, and not any higher.

Right now, your video card drivers are the main thing you need to check into updating. Try and find out what version you have, and what version is the latest for the Radeon 7000.

Check out your DirectX version by going down to the "Start" button at the lower left corner of your Windows desktop, clicking on "Run" from that menu, and then typing "dxdiag" (no quotation marks) in the box. A readout will come up and tell you what version of DirectX you're using, it's the last thing on the list on that first display.

DuckSnort · 11-25-2008, 09:41 AM

DirectX Version - DirectX 9.0c
Radeon 7000 Series - Main Driver: ati2dvag.dll Date: 2/22/2005

There are some higher numbers I'm seeing on the available physical memory before launching the game. I've seen it as high as 530,000 K.

The game wants to launch in it's own full sized window, rather than going to a full screen (out of windows like my other games). Do you follow me? I don't have any games that behave like this, so I was wondering if that could be something?

Satch, you should have a job there, and if you already do, start training people.

satchel · 11-25-2008, 12:32 PM

Haha, thanks a lot.

That driver date doesn't specify the actual version number of the driver, but the latest driver on the ATi site (the company which makes the Radeon) is dated mid-2006, so it's almost certainly newer. Go to this page and click through the dialog and pick your driver.

Installing that new driver should improve your system performance overall, and hopefully it will solve your current problem as well, but I don't know the odds of that.

There are some OOTP display options listed in some of the config files in the game directory. If updating your Radeon driver doesn't help, maybe we can go there next and try to manually toggle the switch that the game is saying needs to be done. This whole field is Nutlaw's specialty though.

Since yours is the first report of a problem like this, I'm inclined to think that there's something about your system's configuration which is causing the problem. Otherwise, I'd almost say that Markus himself needs to see this.

satchel · 11-25-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckSnort

The game wants to launch in it's own full sized window, rather than going to a full screen (out of windows like my other games). Do you follow me? I don't have any games that behave like this, so I was wondering if that could be something?

It is unusual for games these days to open in their own window, instead of going full-screen, but if I'm not mistaken, taking up a smaller window instead of the full screen is actually less of a strain on your system. But, that being said, I have heard of problems being related to this display setting, that is, using the smaller window, instead of going full-screen. Although you can't get into your game to change this, the configuration options that I was talking about before, accessible from config files in the game folder, might enable us to modify this setting without having to launch the game.

DuckSnort · 11-25-2008, 11:59 PM

Downloaded and installing the Catalyst Software Suite 6.11 for Radeon 7000, posted 11/15/06.
Requires minimum .NET Framework version 2.0!!
The process says the .NET must be installed prior, and directs me to a Microsoft download site.
I see I can download .NET Framework 1.1 not 2.0? If you could take a look at this site for me, This page is where the Radeon installation takes me to:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...n#Requirements

My question is, if the message box says I need .NET Frame 2.0 then why am I directed to a .NET Frame 1.1 download page. Are there going to be a series of downloads?

I went ahead and installed this, but there was a problem - An error occurred while Windows Installer was initializing. Setup will now close.

Yikes!!

satchel · 11-26-2008, 12:19 AM

Here's the .NET Framework 2.0 download. Generally, .NET is something that a lot of MicroSoft applications use, and is useful to have on your computer. Have you kept your Windows installation updated?

An error during a software installation usually isn't a big deal. Most of the time, it's not going to affect anything, because files created during an installation are created as temporary versions until the install completes, and if the installation aborts, it just deletes those temp files.

It's late for me, but maybe check out that .NET 2.0, and let me know how it goes. I'll check this forum in the morning and if you're still getting an error, I'll try to investigate it, but it might be hard to diagnose without being at your machine.

satchel · 11-26-2008, 10:46 AM

Are there some custom or modded graphics you've installed into your game?

DuckSnort · 11-26-2008, 04:46 PM

No custom work at all. No mods. I'm trying to get the downloaded original working for the first time. I'll try this 2.0download. Thanks again.

satchel · 11-26-2008, 05:23 PM

I'm going to be out of town until Friday, but I'll check back here at that point.

Make sure that your Windows is updated, try to get that .NET installed, and get that newer Radeon driver in place, and you'd probably be better off re-installing the game at that point, too. See what happens. Good luck!

DuckSnort · 11-26-2008, 06:21 PM

Thanks again, Satchel.

I was able to get the .NET and ATI Driver Suite updated! When starting OOTP, a window said that the database could not be found and that I need to reinstall the game (this is hopeful, and new). I reinstalled the game and like before, it crashed on it's own maximized window (no full screen) and when I attempted to load the game again, more of the same, including the warning about crashing_on_startup flag.

Hey have a great Thanksgiving. And thanks for helping through all this, it's more of a headache than I thought, but the support has been legendary.

11-22-2008, 05:35 PM	#1
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	Initial Crash - Red Flag, OOTP resetting default graphics?? Crashed, then... Getting message "Red Flag for previous crash, OOTP resetting default graphics, etc." - Okay Crash. I've not made any progress with the game since the license, if there are any suggestions this would be great, otherwise I'll have to request my money back.

11-23-2008, 02:45 PM	#3
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	never worked Nutlaw, thanks. I have an XP 1.3 Ghz, 768M RAM Desktop. Not sure how to find Video Card? This is not a gaming computer, but it plays games and it should work. I did try to uninstall/reinstall and nothing. After getting the license, launching the game leads to a window saying that "OOTP flagged a previous crash and is resetting graphics and that i may change these graphics back after the game gets running." Then a white screen and "needs to close/error report" Never got the game to work and I'm dying to get it going. I'm used to buying games at the store, but when I read some reviews on OOTP I thought I'd download it. This is my first time trying to get a download game to work. This is my first experience with OOTP and so far I'm pleased someone has gotten back to me already. Thank you!

11-23-2008, 10:52 AM	#2
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	So did you never get the game to work at all, or was it working at one point and now it won't? Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the program? That is the most likely solution. What operating system are you using? How much RAM does your computer have and what is your graphics card?

11-24-2008, 12:12 PM	#4
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	XP, 1.3GHZ, 768 RAM, ATI Radeon 7000 Series. Reinstalled, defragmented hard drive, trying to update to 2.2 thought I already did, but trying again. Need Help!

11-24-2008, 01:05 PM	#5
Nutlaw Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,538	768M RAM isn't a lot, but it ought to be enough to run the game. Have you tried closing all of your other programs when running OOTP? If other programs are open and running (including your web browser), it will take up some of your available memory. How much free hard drive space do you have? What screen resolution are you running? Have you tried changing it and running the program?

11-24-2008, 01:18 PM	#6
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	HD space - 62Gb free 1024x768, could go higher, yes tried to change it. I have closed all programs when attempting to run. The error message says "OOTP has found that the crashed-on-startup flag is set. To make sure that it starts this time, OOTP will reset the graphics settings to default values. You can set them back later in Game Preferences dialog." When I select OKAY - The OOTP game window comes up white and I get a error, needs to close/report window.

11-24-2008, 01:19 PM	#7
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	Is there a way I could check my available memory, memory usage before launching the game?

11-24-2008, 04:45 PM	#9
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	Thanks. Available Physical MEM -- 480,000-492,000 K I did cut out some of those icons in cue, and nothing too high in processes. There may be something here about memory, but that's not what the error message is saying. It's talking about finding a flag set for a previous crash on startup and wants to change graphic settings to launch the game. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to get it done and crashes. My computer should be able to handle this lower-graphic game right? I don't mean to be a pain, I thought I met the req's for this, so I bought it.

11-24-2008, 06:12 PM	#10
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith Ark. USA Posts: 2,681	You're not being a pain; considering how much we all love the game, we can feel the frustration of someone who wants to play, and isn't able to. You're right about the memory not necessarily being the problem, but since we were on that track, I thought we'd check it out, just in case. If I were going to guess, I'd say that the problem is probably your video card, or at least its drivers. The Radeon 7000 series was released in 2001, and when first launched, only supported DirectX 7. All versions of OOTP since v6 have required at least DirectX 8. (DirectX is a Windows software driver component; it is linked with your Radeon video card drivers, but they are separate.) The Radeon 7000 series does support DirectX 8, but it does not support DirectX 9 or higher. You may be able to update your video card drivers, or your Windows software, to DirectX 8. Do you know the version number of your video card drivers? At this point, I'd say that outdated video card drivers, or outdated DirectX for your Windows, are the most likely culprits.

11-24-2008, 06:18 PM	#11
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith Ark. USA Posts: 2,681	Having said all that, I feel like you need to use caution, because since your Radeon 7000 doesn't support DirectX 9, if you try to upgrade to it, that might mess up your configuration. If it turns out that outdated DirectX is your problem, you need to somehow upgrade to DirectX 8, and not any higher. Right now, your video card drivers are the main thing you need to check into updating. Try and find out what version you have, and what version is the latest for the Radeon 7000. Check out your DirectX version by going down to the "Start" button at the lower left corner of your Windows desktop, clicking on "Run" from that menu, and then typing "dxdiag" (no quotation marks) in the box. A readout will come up and tell you what version of DirectX you're using, it's the last thing on the list on that first display.

11-25-2008, 09:41 AM	#12
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	DirectX Version - DirectX 9.0c Radeon 7000 Series - Main Driver: ati2dvag.dll Date: 2/22/2005 There are some higher numbers I'm seeing on the available physical memory before launching the game. I've seen it as high as 530,000 K. The game wants to launch in it's own full sized window, rather than going to a full screen (out of windows like my other games). Do you follow me? I don't have any games that behave like this, so I was wondering if that could be something? Satch, you should have a job there, and if you already do, start training people.

11-25-2008, 12:32 PM	#13
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith Ark. USA Posts: 2,681	Haha, thanks a lot. That driver date doesn't specify the actual version number of the driver, but the latest driver on the ATi site (the company which makes the Radeon) is dated mid-2006, so it's almost certainly newer. Go to this page and click through the dialog and pick your driver. Installing that new driver should improve your system performance overall, and hopefully it will solve your current problem as well, but I don't know the odds of that. There are some OOTP display options listed in some of the config files in the game directory. If updating your Radeon driver doesn't help, maybe we can go there next and try to manually toggle the switch that the game is saying needs to be done. This whole field is Nutlaw's specialty though. Since yours is the first report of a problem like this, I'm inclined to think that there's something about your system's configuration which is causing the problem. Otherwise, I'd almost say that Markus himself needs to see this.

11-25-2008, 11:59 PM	#15
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	Downloaded and installing the Catalyst Software Suite 6.11 for Radeon 7000, posted 11/15/06. Requires minimum .NET Framework version 2.0!! The process says the .NET must be installed prior, and directs me to a Microsoft download site. I see I can download .NET Framework 1.1 not 2.0? If you could take a look at this site for me, This page is where the Radeon installation takes me to: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...n#Requirements My question is, if the message box says I need .NET Frame 2.0 then why am I directed to a .NET Frame 1.1 download page. Are there going to be a series of downloads? I went ahead and installed this, but there was a problem - An error occurred while Windows Installer was initializing. Setup will now close. Yikes!!

11-26-2008, 12:19 AM	#16
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith Ark. USA Posts: 2,681	Here's the .NET Framework 2.0 download. Generally, .NET is something that a lot of MicroSoft applications use, and is useful to have on your computer. Have you kept your Windows installation updated? An error during a software installation usually isn't a big deal. Most of the time, it's not going to affect anything, because files created during an installation are created as temporary versions until the install completes, and if the installation aborts, it just deletes those temp files. It's late for me, but maybe check out that .NET 2.0, and let me know how it goes. I'll check this forum in the morning and if you're still getting an error, I'll try to investigate it, but it might be hard to diagnose without being at your machine.

11-26-2008, 10:46 AM	#17
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith Ark. USA Posts: 2,681	Are there some custom or modded graphics you've installed into your game?

11-26-2008, 04:46 PM	#18
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	No custom work at all. No mods. I'm trying to get the downloaded original working for the first time. I'll try this 2.0download. Thanks again.

11-26-2008, 05:23 PM	#19
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith Ark. USA Posts: 2,681	I'm going to be out of town until Friday, but I'll check back here at that point. Make sure that your Windows is updated, try to get that .NET installed, and get that newer Radeon driver in place, and you'd probably be better off re-installing the game at that point, too. See what happens. Good luck!

11-26-2008, 06:21 PM	#20
DuckSnort Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 35	Thanks again, Satchel. I was able to get the .NET and ATI Driver Suite updated! When starting OOTP, a window said that the database could not be found and that I need to reinstall the game (this is hopeful, and new). I reinstalled the game and like before, it crashed on it's own maximized window (no full screen) and when I attempted to load the game again, more of the same, including the warning about crashing_on_startup flag. Hey have a great Thanksgiving. And thanks for helping through all this, it's more of a headache than I thought, but the support has been legendary.