The Official ETW Hardware Problem Solving Thread

[risker]

but i've installed the game. if this doesnt matter could i uninstall other games?

or should i think about getting a new comp.

And does memory really affect the graphics????

[Barkhorn1x]

but i've installed the game. if this doesnt matter could i uninstall other games?

or should i think about getting a new comp.

And does memory really affect the graphics????

Just get more RAM. It's only like $15 per Gig - tops. Look up your mobo specs on the manufacturers website and get enough to give you 4 Gigs.

These are probably your specs - but I would cross check against the S/L # on the box.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3419521

I would look into the box and figure out if you have one stick (probably one Gig) or two (probably 512MBs). The goal is to get to 4Gigs.

[Dvbnocos]

Hello all,

I've got a pretty old rig, and I thought it wouldn't play the game, but turns out it actually worked -- albeit only slightly, and on pretty low settings.

Seeing as my machine managed to play The Witcher decently, as well as Medieval II total war on medium-high settings, this has given me hope in actually improving my machine rather than spending a whole lot of money on a new one.

it's a 3.06 Ghz single core Pentium 4; I guess the weak spots are the RAM (1Gb) and the crappy graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 6200SE turbocache 256 mb).

So my question is, would adding 3 gb of RAM and a decent (say, a Geforce 9800 card or equivalent ATI) allow me to play decently? Is it worth the investment, or should I just get a new machine?

Thank you in advance!

[risker]

Just get more RAM. It's only like $15 per Gig - tops. Look up your mobo specs on the manufacturers website and get enough to give you 4 Gigs.

These are probably your specs - but I would cross check against the S/L # on the box.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3419521

I would look into the box and figure out if you have one stick (probably one Gig) or two (probably 512MBs). The goal is to get to 4Gigs.

So basically I cant do anything about it apart from buying RAM...I cant uninstall anything or what?

thanks anyway...

[Barkhorn1x]

So basically I cant do anything about it apart from buying RAM...I cant uninstall anything or what?

thanks anyway...

Nope. Un-installing only frees up hard drive space which has zero effect on performance**.

**Unless you have next to no space.

Bottom line = you're running Vista with less than a Gig of RAM and that just will not cut it from a gaming standpoint.

And that brings me to another question and I believe I did ask this before. What kind of video card are you running? That 894 mbs of RAM indicates that you have on-board video but I thought that you had a card. You did not copy over the first 11 lines of the DXDIAG Display Devices that would tell us what we need to know in this area.

Do that and then we'll talk.

[Barkhorn1x]

Hello all,

I've got a pretty old rig, and I thought it wouldn't play the game, but turns out it actually worked -- albeit only slightly, and on pretty low settings.

Seeing as my machine managed to play The Witcher decently, as well as Medieval II total war on medium-high settings, this has given me hope in actually improving my machine rather than spending a whole lot of money on a new one.

it's a 3.06 Ghz single core Pentium 4; I guess the weak spots are the RAM (1Gb) and the crappy graphics card (Nvidia GeForce 6200SE turbocache 256 mb).

So my question is, would adding 3 gb of RAM and a decent (say, a Geforce 9800 card or equivalent ATI) allow me to play decently? Is it worth the investment, or should I just get a new machine?

Thank you in advance!

Adding RAM and a good card will improve things yes. You may want to check what your mobo can handle in terms of a CPU and buy the most poweful one. I am planning on doing exactly that as I have the RAM (4 Gigs) and the card (9800GT) but my CPU is little faster than yours.

BTW, I do manage to play on medium/high and it is very smooth - I do not check any of the "special" boxes on the bottom of the graphics menu tho'.

[Dvbnocos]

Gee, thanks a lot for answering so quickly! It really helps to get some outside guidance I'll post my impressions once I've upgraded my stuff (hopefully tomorrow -- I might drop by my local hardware store).

Cheers!

[risker]

Ok Barkhorn , i think this is what you wanted:


---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03D0&SUBSYS_2A5A103C&REV_A2
Display Memory: 312 MB
Dedicated Memory: 122 MB
Shared Memory: 190 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0011.8208 (English)
DDI Version: 10
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/18/2009 14:44:00, 6082560 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4090-11CF-9C53-510A02C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x03D0
SubSys ID: 0x2A5A103C
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Video Accel:


then there is a hell of alot of numbers. i fear i may have the same problem as that other dude. i dont have a graphics card just a video one. I'm just confused.

[A Very Super Market]

JEBUS CARLO

Nvidia 6 series + 1Gb RAM = Horrible, horrible, gaming computer.

[Barkhorn1x]

Ok Barkhorn , i think this is what you wanted:


---------------
Display Devices
---------------
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

then there is a hell of alot of numbers. i fear i may have the same problem as that other dude. i dont have a graphics card just a video one. I'm just confused.

Yep - you have integrated video - so your "video" is cannibalizing your RAM. Not good. To play ETW you will need 4 Gigs of RAM and a decent video card. Sorry, but that is the way it is.

[risker]

OK so a trip to the harware store is needed. i want to know if its worth it though. if i do get 4gigs of RAM will it work really smoothly or just on low? i might as well buy a new pc otherwise.


last question (i promise)...

thanks alot for your help.

[rajpoot]

Right, I don't this is a bug, but I'll leave that for the people here to judge.....it sounds something more serious to me anyway.
So, I finally get the game, I install it and everything, and I start it. Now, it works fine until the main menu. There I try to run the Road to Independence campaign, and after loading about 1/3 of the way, the game crashes with the infamous white screen, and the Windows message that ETW has encountered a problem and needs to close............
I restart the thing, and run it again, this time trying for a battle tutorial. Same results, it crashes after loading 1/3 of the way. Same thing happens with custom battles......any kind of battle for that matter. The Grand Campaign on the other hand starts and goes on smoothly. However, even in there, as soon as I engage in a battle, and it starts loading same thing.

Now I tried reinstalling the game.....updating my drivers etc etc.....it just isn't working. I even tried using the err........ahem .......for the game, off the net. Even it gives me the same results.
So any suggestions?

[rajpoot]

Oh come on! No one's going to help?

[Barkhorn1x]

Oh come on! No one's going to help?

I don't think anyone knows what is causing your issue. I for one do not.

[Barkhorn1x]

OK so a trip to the harware store is needed. i want to know if its worth it though. if i do get 4gigs of RAM will it work really smoothly or just on low? i might as well buy a new pc otherwise.


last question (i promise)...

thanks alot for your help.

You need both the RAM and a decent video card to get the most out of ETW.

[ZGahn]

Right, I don't this is a bug, but I'll leave that for the people here to judge.....it sounds something more serious to me anyway.
So, I finally get the game, I install it and everything, and I start it. Now, it works fine until the main menu. There I try to run the Road to Independence campaign, and after loading about 1/3 of the way, the game crashes with the infamous white screen, and the Windows message that ETW has encountered a problem and needs to close............
I restart the thing, and run it again, this time trying for a battle tutorial. Same results, it crashes after loading 1/3 of the way. Same thing happens with custom battles......any kind of battle for that matter. The Grand Campaign on the other hand starts and goes on smoothly. However, even in there, as soon as I engage in a battle, and it starts loading same thing.

Now I tried reinstalling the game.....updating my drivers etc etc.....it just isn't working. I even tried using the err........ahem .......for the game, off the net. Even it gives me the same results.
So any suggestions?

I have exactly the same problems ('cept for RtI, which I havent tried yet), and have tried reinstalling the game and updating my drivers and installing the newest directX, but it still doens't work.

Also, although i'm not sure it's related, I get the BSOD when I click the trade tab; maybe this can help identify the problem?

I play on a laptop, with a Geforce Go 7900 GS 265mb, intel core 2 2Ghz, 2 gigs of ram. I suppose it might be my graphics card, since it's a laptop card, and the latest drivers are only 179.xx (whereas most drivers are already at 184.xx), and dxdiag says the the DAC type of the card is 'integrated ramdac'. (although I am able to play games like M2TW and warhammer online at respectable settings)

India, what are your rig's specs? Maybe it can shed some light on this.

Does anyone know if this problem is fixable? Or maybe I have to wait for new drivers?

Thanks in advance

[rajpoot]

Well, I have a GeForce 8600 GT, (I updated the driver recently from the official site, to 182.something), 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, an AMD X2 2Ghz, not too shabby.....I was hoping that ETW would work.

I haven't tried hitting the trade button as yet, only the end turn button, but I guess I'll try that and get back with what happens.

Far as the OS is concerned, I have a XP SP2, 32 bit. I had tinkered with the registry to make GTA4 run though, changed a bit to make it think it was XP SP3.

[Babblearossa]

Well, I have a GeForce 8600 GT, (I updated the driver recently from the official site, to 182.something), 2 GB of DDR2 RAM, an AMD X2 2Ghz, not too shabby.....I was hoping that ETW would work.

Oddly enough sound seems to be a cause of many crashes, at least in the patch notes they've been referencing it a lot. If you have a realtek chip updating the driver from realtek is abysmal, took me about 12 hours with 'wget' restarting downloads after the connection would drop. The most up to date reasonably trustable source I've found for them is http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/Drivers/Realtek/

The latest patch is mar.30th and, for me at least it's reasonably stable, I have similar specs to you but an 8800 GTS 320mb. it's not perfectly stable but I don't get reproduceable crashes at least :) Oh, crud, ( knocks furiously on wooden desk ).

[rajpoot]

Hey, thanks, you might have something there . Sound drivers are the only thing I haven't tried updating after installing ETW.

[Barkhorn1x]

Hey, thanks, you might have something there . Sound drivers are the only thing I haven't tried updating after installing ETW.

Sorry to pour cold water on the proceedings but I have had zero luck with any sound related changes. Since day one I have had horrible audio hanging/skipping with the intro. pieces and the cut scenes.

- I originally was using on board Realtec audio - d/l'd latest drivers from March and no change
- Someone stated that OB sound could be an issue
- So I installed a Turtle Beach Riviera card - same issues - and no recent drivers to try

My gut tells me that the bink.dll is still corrupt (an older one used to work better) and these are specific to each game we will have to wait for CA/Bink to address - if they get around to it.

[Mongoose]

Not really sure where to ask this, but is there any kind of fix for Radeon 4800 cards yet?To my knowledge the game presently does not work with them at all when a battle is loaded (you just get a lot of flashing light). I was not able to find any help about this on the ATI website so any help would be very appreciated.

[MikeV]

For those of use with nVidia graphics cards, the instructions here may be helpful:
http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/48873#reply-666351

I tried them, and performance on my laptop picked up a bit. (The game bugs didn't go away, though.)

[Vealer]

I bought a new computer to play this game but it keeps failing me! Mostly I get the following errors


- Battle screens have flashing green lines on the terrain which wont go away. (seems to have maybe gone away perhaps the patch helped but cant be sure)
- MASSIVE crash to desktop if I change graphics setting in a battle (usualy to get rid of the green lines or some other hanging problem). shows the message NOT ENOUGH MEMORY
- when loading a battle (usually with reinforcements if that means anything) The bar gets stuck half way and vibrates back and forth. The sytem just hangs.
- Crash to desktop upon loading a battle with the same message not enough memory.

my system

- Intel i7 920 CPU
- Gigabyte x58 MB
- 3 BG DDR3 Ram
- 1000GB HD
- 295 GTX Graphics card (I think the best you can get??)
- Vista Ultimate 32 bit


-> DO i realy have not have memory with this sytem?
-> I know nothing about Vista, is the 64 bit one "better" for games or no impact?
-> How do I know if I have the patch loaded with this stream thingy..
-> what can I do to fix it? Just more ram?

this is entirely ruining the game for me..

THANKS ALL!

[Barkhorn1x]

- Crash to desktop upon loading a battle with the same message not enough memory.

Try this fix:


http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=238484

[Barkhorn1x]

For those of use with nVidia graphics cards, the instructions here may be helpful:
http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/48873#reply-666351

I tried them, and performance on my laptop picked up a bit. (The game bugs didn't go away, though.)

Battles play smoother for me. Good tip.

[Vealer]

Thanks you and this madboris and a gift, hats to you both!

runs like a dream now

[Terry]

Every once in a while I get the screen start to flash or jump on the campaign map. If I open certain windows, I can get it to settle down, but I was wondering if this is caused by a video setting that I need to adjust? I have a nvidia 9800 series with a gig of memory. Any thoughts on this?

Terry

[Barkhorn1x]

I get that when a duel scene window opens. I've had it with two cards now (an 8600 GT and my new 9800 card). I don't think it is video related but sound related.

I am convinced - from the evidence available - that the sound DLLs are corrupt and need to be fixed. These DLLs are causing the pauses on the campaign map and the bad cut scene sound issues.

Here's hoping that this issue is addressed in an upcoming patch.

[Peasant Phill]

I checked the system requirements and I should be able to run the game although just barely.

I installed the demo to check this in practise, this is what happens:

The game starts. The video flickers between the shots of the ship and the intel logo. I push escape and I get to the main menu. I quit because of real life.
Later I start again but the game always freezes up (doesn't respond) on the 'credit screen'. It does this every single time I try this.

What could be the problem? why did the game work on the first try?

[Barkhorn1x]

Umm...what - specifically - are your system specs.? Don't make us guess.