Medieval Total War CTDs and Solutions

[edyzmedieval]

HELP ME!!!

Im really desperate. I'm getting a CTD when I enter the campaign. My settings:

- unit size: HUGE
- camp map resolution: 1152x8(something)
- battlemap resolution: 1280x1024

Intel Pentium IV 3.2
512MB DDRII
ATI RADEON X700 256MB

Help me please. It's patched to 2.1

[brkill]

HELP!!

Guys, I'm new to the forum. And I need your help desperately.

My problem is I have just recently bought a copy of Medieval Total War (Gold Edition) which includes the Viking Invasion pack but it will not run for me.

I have a Pentium 3 with 933mhz processor, WinXP Home (SP 2), and GeForce 2 graphics card with 256mb of RAM. I know it is an old machine but I am well over the specs to run the game. But when I double click the start icon the screen goes black for a few moments and then a warning dialog appears telling me the I am running a debugger and the game won't go any further.

How do I know if a debugger is actually running and how do I deactivate it?

I am dying to try out my game and I'm getting very frustrated as I have tried everything. I hope someone on this forum can help and my apologies if I am posting in the wrong section of the forum.

Many thanks in advance.

[caravel]

i can't believe my noodles!! it actually works!!
you've just saved my soul!! i am so much into the worship of you..

Glad you got it working icarus0626

It would be helpful to others if you could detail exactly what you did and what it was that worked?

but now i'm thinking of getting a new vid card and scrapping the old one..
*smash!!

any suggestions? hopefully something i can use to play MTW2 and other modern games that needs pixel shaders, etc and at the same time run MTW..
preferably something that can run MTW on a more recent driver... or something..

In doing this you will open up the "new graphics card won't run MTW" can of worms. Also, and I'm going by your 1.1GHz AMD Duron CPU here, you system seems rather low end, and probably doesn't have a motherboard with PCIe slots? In all honesty you're looking at a new system. If you want to get a cheap, not quite as dated, stopgap card to replace that one (though I'm not even sure that's worth it) post up a new thread in the hardware and software forum and see what suggestions people come up with.

HELP ME!!!

Im really desperate. I'm getting a CTD when I enter the campaign. My settings:

- unit size: HUGE
- camp map resolution: 1152x8(something)
- battlemap resolution: 1280x1024

Intel Pentium IV 3.2
512MB DDRII
ATI RADEON X700 256MB

Help me please. It's patched to 2.1

Which ATI driver version? If it's the latest drivers, that could be your problem. That is not to say that the latest drivers or newer cards are always the cause of this but it is very common.

Is it an AGP card? If so disable the "AGP Texture Acceleration" from dxdiag.

Try lower resolutions, such as 1024*768. Set your desktop (temporarily) to the same (and 16 bit colour) and see if that eliminates it.

When exactly does the crash occur? Check your MTW error.log file and post up contents here.

Add the "skipcredits.txt" file to the MTW working directory if you haven't done so already.

HELP!!

Guys, I'm new to the forum. And I need your help desperately.

My problem is I have just recently bought a copy of Medieval Total War (Gold Edition) which includes the Viking Invasion pack but it will not run for me.

Welcome to the .org brkill

I have a Pentium 3 with 933mhz processor, WinXP Home (SP 2), and GeForce 2 graphics card with 256mb of RAM. I know it is an old machine but I am well over the specs to run the game. But when I double click the start icon the screen goes black for a few moments and then a warning dialog appears telling me the I am running a debugger and the game won't go any further.

How do I know if a debugger is actually running and how do I deactivate it?

I am dying to try out my game and I'm getting very frustrated as I have tried everything. I hope someone on this forum can help and my apologies if I am posting in the wrong section of the forum.

Many thanks in advance.

Do you have Nero Burning ROM installed? I believe this to be due to a "conflict" between the supposed "debugger" (something to do with the video codec) in Nero and the safedisc copy protection software (basically the idea seems to be that a debugger may allow someone to trace the program execution and perhaps observe how the safedisc works, so to be safe it disallows it (yes it's crapware that tells you what you can and cannot run on your own computer and it doesn't work properly either )). If you do have Nero installed go to start -> run and type (you can copy and paste):

regsvr32 /u "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ahead\DSFilter\NeVideo.ax"

This will unregister the component (the video decoder) that is causing the problem. If it fails it may be because you've installed Nero to a different location to the one above. In this case you'll need to edit the path to match your location or it won't do anything. Reboot after this and try to run MTW again.

You will lose some functionality of Nero but you can re-enable this functionality when necessary by doing:

"regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ahead\DSFilter\NeVideo.ax"

To disable it run the first command again (at least I think that will work, but have your Nero CD handy just in case).

If Nero isn't causing this then it could be another program, though it's usually Nero 99% of the time, depending on what you have installed on your PC?

[edyzmedieval]

Which ATI driver version? If it's the latest drivers, that could be your problem. That is not to say that the latest drivers or newer cards are always the cause of this but it is very common.

Is it an AGP card? If so disable the "AGP Texture Acceleration" from dxdiag.

Try lower resolutions, such as 1024*768. Set your desktop (temporarily) to the same (and 16 bit colour) and see if that eliminates it.

When exactly does the crash occur? Check your MTW error.log file and post up contents here.

Add the "skipcredits.txt" file to the MTW working directory if you haven't done so already.

Something like 6.5 I think. Dunno, I have to check this. It's a PCI Express 16x card, really new. Lower resolutions, will try it.

Ok, will check everything and post.

[caravel]

Something like 6.5 I think. Dunno, I have to check this. It's a PCI Express 16x card, really new. Lower resolutions, will try it.

Ok, will check everything and post.

If that fails try following the instructions in this post:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...&postcount=140

Considering your card does fit the category of the pre X1xxx series mentioned, it may do the trick.

Good luck.

[Arruda]

Hello, new to the forum, glad I found it because everyone here seems helpfull.

I just bought Total War: Eras

I have a graphics problem wich I can't find a solution. I installed Shogun TW and Medieval TW (the problem is exactly the same for both games). When I try to run the games, I receive an error prompt that says something like "To run this software your screen resolution should be no less than 800x600".

That's just it. The game simply doesn't launch, I never got to see the main menu. I already had bought RTW so, thus far, buying this box was totally uselless to me :(

I obviously have a much higher resolution than 800x600 and I tried lowering it and switching to different display settings but nothing worked.

This seems to be a different problem than many of the posters here refered, so I haven't tried the steps in the first post regarding cleaning the drivers and installing old ones. Should I???

My computer is a Pentium IV 2.8 GHz with 1GB of Ram.

The graphics gard is a Nvidia Geforce FX5500 (oh noooooooooooo...)

Well, if you need more information about my system please ask, I know very little about computers but I'll sort it out.

Thank you all.

[caravel]

Hello, new to the forum, glad I found it because everyone here seems helpfull.

Welcome, Arruda, to the .org

I just bought Total War: Eras

I have a graphics problem wich I can't find a solution. I installed Shogun TW and Medieval TW (the problem is exactly the same for both games). When I try to run the games, I receive an error prompt that says something like "To run this software your screen resolution should be no less than 800x600".

That's just it. The game simply doesn't launch, I never got to see the main menu. I already had bought RTW so, thus far, buying this box was totally uselless to me :(

I obviously have a much higher resolution than 800x600 and I tried lowering it and switching to different display settings but nothing worked.

The only obvious thing I can think of at the moment is drivers, which version are you running?

Also it may be that the the game is trying to display on the primary/secondary head. That is, since the card is dual head perhaps the game is trying to output to the other unused head? A long shot but I can't think of anything else off hand. Is you monitor an LCD or CRT?

This seems to be a different problem than many of the posters here refered, so I haven't tried the steps in the first post regarding cleaning the drivers and installing old ones. Should I???

First find out which version of the drivers you are using currently using.

My computer is a Pentium IV 2.8 GHz with 1GB of Ram.

The graphics gard is a Nvidia Geforce FX5500 (oh noooooooooooo...)

Well, if you need more information about my system please ask, I know very little about computers but I'll sort it out.

Thank you all.

That is an older NV34 based budget line card but should still run the game. The only other thing I can suggest is enabling the 2x AA and leaving it enabled. If it makes no difference still leave it enabled. Some more system info would be useful, and particularly which head you've connected the graphics card to. Also did you try the "skipcredits.txt" fix mentioned above in case it's just the intro video causing the problem?

[Smytt]

Hey!

I have this problem... I've installed Medieval: Total war once again. I've played it many times but I wanted to play it once again. But I have this problem. When I run the start icon the only thing I get is music on a black screen. When I press alt+tab I get to see a picture for less than a second.
How can I fix this problem? How can I get a picture so I could play?

p.s. I've installed patch 1.1, I've done the thingy with this NERO problem, but the screen is still pitch black.

[caravel]

Welcome Smytt

I have this problem... I've installed Medieval: Total war once again.

p.s. I've installed patch 1.1,

Do you have just Medieval Total War or MTW and Viking Invasion?

When I run the start icon the only thing I get is music on a black screen. When I press alt+tab I get to see a picture for less than a second.
How can I fix this problem? How can I get a picture so I could play?

Did you add the "skipcredits.txt" text file to the Medieval Total War working directory?

I've done the thingy with this NERO problem, but the screen is still pitch black.

What have you done as regards Nero?

Post up your system specs.

[Anzcsas]

Hi, i have the gold Total war, and when i go to play the cam(pain in the ass)
it crashes me to desktop, i can play quick battles and all that well, but when to playing on the 2D map it just crashes to desktop, help please

[caravel]

See post #32 your solution is there near the bottom. Follow the instructions from the third paragraph from the bottom that starts with "Do you have Nero Burning Rom Installed?".

[Mithrandir]

Haven't read this entire thread, but I've searched the fora and it came up with nothing...

I installed MTW and VI yesterday with the official 2.01 patch but when I try to start MTW it says "This application cannot start because it couldn't locate BugslayerUtil.dll. Reinstalling this application may help to solve this problem."

WinXP btw.

[BIGFATWOB]

Hello, I'm surprised you guys aren't sick of this by now, but here goes. I am trying to play MTW vanilla 1.1, but when I try single player it crashes to desktop and when I try campaign tutorial it just returns me to the main menu with the bottom 1/4 of the screen missing.

I am running it on a Dell Laptop with
intel celeron 1.4Ghz
528(ish) meg of ram

and an integrated chipset which seems to be something like this:
DirectX* Version: 9.0
Physical Memory: 503 MB
Minimum Graphics Memory: 8 MB
Maximum Graphics Memory: 128 MB
Graphics Memory in Use: 9 MB
Processor: x86 family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8
Processor Speed: 1396 MHZ
Vendor ID: 8086
Device ID: 2592
Device Revision: 03

I think it's called
Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express chipset family


Can anyone help me out?

[caravel]

Hello, I'm surprised you guys aren't sick of this by now, but here goes.

Welcome to the .org BIGFATWOB, we're not sick of it just trying to find a solution for everyone on all types of platforms.

I am trying to play MTW vanilla 1.1, but when I try single player it crashes to desktop and when I try campaign tutorial it just returns me to the main menu with the bottom 1/4 of the screen missing.

I am running it on a Dell Laptop with
intel celeron 1.4Ghz
528(ish) meg of ram

and an integrated chipset which seems to be something like this:
DirectX* Version: 9.0
Physical Memory: 503 MB
Minimum Graphics Memory: 8 MB
Maximum Graphics Memory: 128 MB
Graphics Memory in Use: 9 MB
Processor: x86 family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8
Processor Speed: 1396 MHZ
Vendor ID: 8086
Device ID: 2592
Device Revision: 03

I think it's called
Mobile Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express chipset family


Can anyone help me out?

I'm afraid it's the integrated Intel graphics problem again. I wish there was something I could suggest but we've had little feedback either way on these chipsets. It would be great if someone would help us out more with this.

[Leveller Mutineer]

Wotcha Caravel

Rolled back to a previous driver and it now works on both games. Forgot I was attempting to get another game to work and updated the graphics driver (which wasn't the problem anyway).

Thanks for your time.

LM

[caravel]

Thanks for the feeback Leveller Mutineer, it seems that the older drivers may do the trick for Intel chipsets also. Anyone with Intel integrated graphics may want to try this.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hullo,
I'm sorry to irritate you guys with an annoying request, yet please may I request information on the newest available ATi drivers that are suitable for use in Vista with an ATi Radeon Xpress 200M 319MB (integrated graphics chip) and with M:TW. I recently bought a laptop to play M:TW and similar older games on and it, unfortunately, came with the wrong specs. Kindly though, the retailer offered me a partial refund for keeping it in my possession, so I'm not willing to give it away. I've found a very useful list of drivers somewhere, although, most unfortunately, they are not named or described for their suitability and age. Thanks very much for any help provided, cheers!

[Sandeu]

I too am having this CTD, I can't even start a Campaign the game CTD. I can play hours of quick battles, historical battles, custom battles, but as soon as I start a campaign it crashes. I've tried the 2X AA fix, tried old video drivers, as far back as my card would go back too.

Anyway here is the error file generated.

Errors for session started: Fri Jul 20 20:34:08 2007

C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\HillyCoastal07.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
Errors for session started: Fri Jul 20 21:13:33 2007

C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\frontend_globals.cpp(1074) : Error : "No such file or directory"(2)
C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\flatinland17.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\flatinland17.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\FlatToHillsInland06.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
Errors for session started: Fri Jul 20 21:43:11 2007

C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\HillyCoastal10.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)

Win XP Home SP2
ATI Radeon X1300 Pro (CAT 7.6, just drivers no CCC, I use ATI tool tray)
1.2 Gig RAM
Audigy 2
DirectX 9.0c

[Sandeu]

I too am having this CTD, I can't even start a Campaign the game CTD. I can play hours of quick battles, historical battles, custom battles, but as soon as I start a campaign it crashes. I've tried the 2X AA fix, tried old video drivers, as far back as my card would go back too.

Anyway here is the error file generated.

Errors for session started: Fri Jul 20 20:34:08 2007

C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\HillyCoastal07.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
Errors for session started: Fri Jul 20 21:13:33 2007

C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\frontend_globals.cpp(1074) : Error : "No such file or directory"(2)
C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\flatinland17.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\flatinland17.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\FlatToHillsInland06.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)
Errors for session started: Fri Jul 20 21:43:11 2007

C:\Med_Patch\Crusaders_TW\bmradar.cpp(287) : File Error : fopen(".\RadarMap\HillyCoastal10.map", "wb") - "No such file or directory"(2)

Win XP Home SP2
AMD 64 3200 (2.2 Ghz)
ATI Radeon X1300 Pro (CAT 7.6, just drivers no CCC, I use ATI tool tray)
1.2 Gig RAM
Audigy 2
DirectX 9.0c

[caravel]

If you only run Medieval Total War and no newer games, then downgrading the driver may be the answer.

2x AA won't help you, that fix is only for Nvidia based graphics cards.

Get driver cleaner pro here http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745, uninstall your ATI drivers, run driver cleaner and remove everything ATI related. Download and install the Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.53 (Catalyst 5.7) drivers from here http://www.omegadrivers.net/archive.php

If that doesn't work you're probably out of luck.

[Carcanus]

Hello everyone.

I was recently cleaning my basement when I stumbled across MTW. I hadn't remember ever playing it before. Much to my dismay, I learned about the CTD problem the hard way. It crashes every time I try to start a campaign or the campaign tutorial. I've done some research, and the problem seems to be my graphics chip. I havent gotten around to purchasing a card.

So I'm stuck with the Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV for now. I've heard that MTW actually runs with this if used with the proper driver. I have one of the newer drivers for this chip actually. I tried an earlier driver version, but it wasnt even compatible with Windows (go figure). I can't really "Roll Back" my drivers because I already downloaded the nonfunctional one and re-downloaded this one twice.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could confirm that MTW will actually run with this chip, and if so, I was wondering if anyone happened to have the driver version (and a download link if possible).


The campaign mode of this game seems incredibly fun and deep, and I wanted to get started on it. Any help would be appreciated. Until then, I'll keep looking for old drivers.

[caravel]

If no one can recommend the version that works best then maybe you can try to find it yourself? This is the driver archive for the Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV.

1) You should download the previous driver first, and start with that one and work backwards.

2) Go to add/remove programs and remove all of the Intel Extreme graphics drivers and control panels

3) Download driver cleaner Pro install and run it. Remove the "Intel Extreme" this will remove all of your current drivers. Reboot and when the new hardware found appears, leave it.

4) Install the driver you downloaded and reboot again. Test MTW campaign game and see if it works.

If it doesn't work move on to the next (older) driver and repeat steps 2 to 4.

[Ace of Spades]

I just recently decided to play MTW:VI again but I ran into a problem. The intro plays & I pick an era & a faction to play. The loading screen comes up (where it says "Medieval Total War" on the background and a red bar that fills up as the game loads up). As soon as the red bar fills up, I get a CTD!!! The last I played MTW:VI was around the end of 2005. I had to get Xp re-installed because of some other problem & just never reloaded it. The only thing that I had done since then to my comp was doubled my RAM and upgraded my graphics card. I had seen in prior posts about a problem with newer NVIDIA cards & drivers, but it seemed those posters were at least able to play a little before the CTD. Could this be the same problem? I never had a problem playing MTW before & don't have any problems with any other games I'm playing.


My specs:

Dell Dimension 4500
Windows XP
2.26 GHz Processor, 1Gb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6200 with 256 Mb RAM

Any help would be appreciated!

[Dutch_guy]

I had seen in prior posts about a problem with newer NVIDIA cards & drivers, but it seemed those posters were at least able to play a little before the CTD. Could this be the same problem? I never had a problem playing MTW before & don't have any problems with any other games I'm playing.

My specs:

Dell Dimension 4500
Windows XP
2.26 GHz Processor, 1Gb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 6200 with 256 Mb RAM

Any help would be appreciated!

Well, I suppose trying the AA fix wouldn't hurt. Your problem does sound like those experienced by many, including myself, at some point - so I'd simply try and see if it works out.

[caravel]

You don't seem to have gotten skipcredits.txt in the right place, but as you've now found the videos, simply rename them from a .mpg extension to a .mp_ extension. This should bypass them entirely. If that still doesn't work then it's on to the drivers:

There are two pages of drivers here, start with the previous version to your current version and work backwards. http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Filt...eng&sType=prev

Follow the same instructions as above in my response to Carcanus...

If no one can recommend the version that works best then maybe you can try to find it yourself?

1) You should download the previous driver first, and start with that one and work backwards.

2) Go to add/remove programs and remove all of the Intel Extreme graphics drivers and control panels

3) Download driver cleaner Pro install and run it. Remove the "Intel Extreme" this will remove all of your current drivers. Reboot and when the new hardware found appears, leave it.

4) Install the driver you downloaded and reboot again. Test MTW campaign game and see if it works.

If it doesn't work move on to the next (older) driver and repeat steps 2 to 4.

[loopy00]

Caravel, you are my hero for the day!

I renamed the intro.mpg to intro.mp_ (this is the movie intro file) and it worked!! Wahoo!

Loaded beautifully, and I can play now! In fact, for some reason, the load times are much quicker on my laptop than on my desktop. Didn't need to start messing with the drivers either. You are the best. Thank you so much for your assistance on this.

Loopy

[phowa]

erm i got a nvidia 6100 and im trying to do that second solution but when i click proerties settings advanced and my gfx card on the left i dont see a box for setting and quality =/

[edyzmedieval]

DELL XPS M1710
Windows Vista Business
nVIDIA GeForce Go 7900GS 256MB
4GB of RAM

=> MTW will go up to the presentation, and then CTD saying MTW has stopped working.

Any possible help?

[caravel]

@phowa: Not sure as I don't use Nvidia cards at home. If the settings aren't there are you sure you have the correct drivers installed? Perhaps you have only the driver that came with your OS?

@edyzmedieval: If the 2x AA or higher fix won't work then I'm not sure what will sorry. Your biggest problem is that Vista doesn't have older drivers that may fix the problem so you're not even going to have the option of trying that.

[mitza64]

I had the same problem, when starting a new campaign, mtw crashed to desktop and i tried the AA fix, but not the older drivers fix. It didn't work. I solved the problem by switching game resolution to 1280x960 (which is my desktop resolution too) AND by running the game in Win 2000 compatibility mode. I don't know if one of these things fixed the problem or both of them but since it works i won't temper with it! :)

I have a NVIDIA 8600 gt glh 256 mB, Win xp SP2 Build 2600, Nvidia drivers 163.71, and medieval total war vikings expansion, version 2.1.

I hope this will help others too!