Can't Start BI - Help Please!

Hello everyone,

Never had this problem before but just now I double-clicked my BI icon, the little title screen came up, the credit screen came up -- and then I was dumped to desktop without getting to the main menu. I tried a couple more times, tried ejecting & re-inserting the CD, tried restarting the computer -- nothing.

Then I tried Run, and got an error message saying the application couldn't start because MSS32.DLL was not found, and that reinstalling the application could fix it.

Do I have to re-install BI? What is MSS32.DLL anyway? Why did it disappear between now and this morning, when I was able to play BI?

Only thing I can think of is I went into the program files today and noticed some of the files and folders had light BLUE text, which was odd. I double-clicked on something in the data folder that said "update_bi", which had a black screen and a bunchof white text. It closed itself spontaneously after a few seconds.

What the heck is going on here?:wall: Any advice please.

CountMRVHS

Does that mss32.dll error come up every time you try and start BI now? If so, somethings gone badly wrong somewhere.

However, if it was a one-off, and BI still loads but crashes like you mentioned before, it suggests there's a problem with one or more of the data files. It could be as simple as a mistake in the export_descr_unit.txt file, or something more serious. The game checks the data txt files when it starts up, and even a little error in the export_descr_unit file is enough to cause the game to crash to the desktop before reaching the menu. Hopefully you made backups when editing and if you revert to the original edu.txt file or anything others you've messed with, then hopefully the problem goes away.

Also, are you using the -show_err switch? If you had been using it, the game will (usually) report what is wrong when it crashes. There are about 4000 threads mentioning how to use the -show_err switch, and it's crucial anyone modding uses it.


As to the update_bi file. This is a batch file and runs a series of commands when clicked. It doesn't appear to be for general use, more for the developers and mistakenly left in, or part of the patching process. By the looks of things, it may have deleted stuff you need to play the game, namely everything to do with .item files. Never click on a batch file when you don't know what it does. This could be the root of your problem, and if so, a re-install looks extremely likely.

Someone more knowledgeable about this kind of stuff could probably be of more use though.

Thanks for the reply.

The error message comes up only when I attempt to start the game using Start/Run. Otherwise there's no message. But regardless, what happens ultimately is the same: I get as far as the "credits" screen and, before I make it to the main menu, it CTDs.

I myself now highly suspect it's that batch file. BI ran perfectly well this morning, but this afternoon as I was poking through I noticed it (because it and several other files and folders were blue for some reason) and clicked on it. I had no idea I could mess things up this badly just by opening a file!

I haven't been using -show_err, because the last thing I had modded (the Romano-British) was working fine. I assumed you only needed -show_err when you were actively modding.

I imagine then the only thing to do is back up what I've modded and reinstall. Thanks again,

CountMRVHS

By the way, the Mss32.dll file should be in your main RTW folder. If it's missing, then crikey! It's a crucial file for the Miles Sound system I believe which is obviously what RTW uses.

Interesting that you mention that. I just checked and *found* mss32.dll where you said it should be. On a hunch, copied and pasted it into the BI data folder, tried BI again -- no luck, of course. Well, mss32.dll is *there* after all, but I'm not sure where BI wants it to be. Off to reinstall.

Edit: Problem resolved! At least for now.... In My Computer I noticed that, in addition to simply uninstalling BI, I could reinstall/repair it. I went with that option and got everything back.

This has been enough to scare me away from modding for awhile, I must say. It would have been a mini-disaster if I needed to reinstall, as my wife was on a roll with her German campaign and would have lost it, but now all is good in the household.