Possible Fixes for "Failed to Initialize Renderer" Startup Error

Disk Killer · October 26, 2005, 23:23

I posted earlier about maybe trying an older ATI driverset as a test for someone technical enough to fix anything that could go wrong.

Now a Civfanatics poster says he was running on his ATI, albeit slowly, and then updated to Catalyst 5.10; now he gets the render error and cannot play.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=133336

Interesting.

adarel · October 26, 2005, 23:27

ok goodnight everyone - i pray with all my heart that by 4:25pm tomorrow when i get home, i will be able to play. please, gods, please!

Ad

Simpleton · October 26, 2005, 23:28

Originally posted by adarel

Non-civilization information??? No!!!!!!!!!

BleckLord · October 26, 2005, 23:37

Sure, they can't patch if they don't know what's wrong. But I still have a whole laundry list of questions:

1. Why was this feature not discovered until wide release?

2. Approximately what portion of the ATI user base is reporting this problem?

3. Where is the official support page, and where is the official acknowledgement of this issue?

4. Has the support team been able to recreate the issue?
4a. If not, what info do you need from us, above and beyond complaints, to recreate this failure?

Added: 5. What do the errors reported in posted log files mean? What is flag 0x8 and such?

I'm cutting myself off here cause I don't want to sit here and flame about a developer I like and game that will hopefully be total awesome.

All that aside, I did get to play the game on my other computer, and I really like it so far. I feel bad for everyone who bought it today only to find out that it doesn't work.

jadelith · October 26, 2005, 23:48

it seems highly unlikely that the beta's didn't notice this before. maybe they had to because the publishers forced them to? happens a lot.

though I find it outrageous that they can simply rely on our goodwill and release a game that doesn't work on some systems (inspiron 9100 / rad 9800 256mb ram here, and I have 8.18 and 9.0c).. also, there is no information about such a popular bug in the website; people shouldn't be forced to search their way through finding apolyton/civfanatics

I thought it was about my computer and I formatted it just because of this :/

but then I love civ and I can wait for the hotfix/patch

keep up the good work debuggers

Strapp1969 · October 26, 2005, 23:48

Just popping in to say that I am having the same problem as so many others.

Tried everything that has been suggested and a few others but it still wont work.

Im having flash backs to MOO3... sigh

Not happy right now, but I will hold off on getting p***ed off for a day or two, give the guys time to fix it.

warlordship · October 26, 2005, 23:48

Surprisingly enough, a demo works great as a mass market beta test. Aw well.

BTW, was running old 4.12 drivers, and still got the problem, even after updating the drivers.

jadelith · October 26, 2005, 23:58

Originally posted by warlordship
Surprisingly enough, a demo works great as a mass market beta test. Aw well.

BTW, was running old 4.12 drivers, and still got the problem, even after updating the drivers.

As I've told you, they probably knew about these problems before retail

they wouldn't risk giving out a demo under such circumstances ;p

Simpleton · October 27, 2005, 00:00

Originally posted by jadelith
it seems highly unlikely that the beta's didn't notice this before. maybe they had to because the publishers forced them to? happens a lot.

though I find it outrageous that they can simply rely on our goodwill and release a game that doesn't work on some systems (inspiron 9100 / rad 9800 256mb ram here, and I have 8.18 and 9.0c).. also, there is no information about such a popular bug in the website; people shouldn't be forced to search their way through finding apolyton/civfanatics

I thought it was about my computer and I formatted it just because of this :/

but then I love civ and I can wait for the hotfix/patch

keep up the good work debuggers

It is very difficult to believe that this problem was never encountered before considering how widespread it appears to be. The most disappointing aspect of this problem is that it's not as though ATI Radeon cards are some obscure backwater card maker, I think they're the biggest in the world are they not?
I really hate to be critical of Firaxis because it seems as they're working hard to get the problem fixed but I'd really like to know how this could have gotten missed.

codechino · October 27, 2005, 00:03

ok INTERESTING, it installed and ran perfectly on my girlfriends computer, which is a vanilla ATI radeon 9800, but I didnt install the cd's directx, and was never prompted to.

hmm

too bad taking that 9800 outta her system would mean my other games would run crappy =X

notyoueither · October 27, 2005, 00:08

Originally posted by Simpleton
So sad.

I Have the game but I'm also stuck with an 9550 ATI card!!! As with everyone else, it screws up during startup while rendering.

Perhaps it's for the best, I need to study......

Dawg!

Where did you get it?

Simpleton · October 27, 2005, 00:12

Originally posted by notyoueither

Dawg!

Where did you get it?

I found it at EB games in Kingsway mall (Edmonton). That being said, that was their last copy of the special edition. The the rather rude/grumph girl working there told me they are getting another shipment of the normal (non special edition) in tommorrow (Oct 26). I don't know about any more special editions though. You might also try Best buy or Staples as they have Oct 26 listed as the date they are expecting it in.

Good luck!

LongTom · October 27, 2005, 00:13

I have a 9800 Pro 128MB. When I initially installed, the game would not start, gave a DX-sounding error message (I had skipped the DX 9.0c install during civ install as I thought I already had that level of DX). I ran DXsetup of the Civ CD. Then game started up OK and played the opening movie. At the main menu I went to options, and selected to up resolution from 1024x768 to 1280x1024 which I usually use for my LCD screen. At this point, tried to start tutorial. There was a quick message about restarting to load tutorial, but it never came back. Tried a couple time to start after that, no joy. Tried setting to 1024x768 via INI file, no joy. Finally I gave up and erased the game, then reinstalled. Game started working properly again. Ran tutorial at 1024x768, worked fine (other than a few points in tutorial where Sid seems to get stuck and won't say what to do next, but got past those with some Esc keys and trying operation (e.g. double-click on city) again. Tried changing resolution in tutorial, got message that that isn't supported in tutorial (maybe that was problem, maybe tutorial can only play at 1024x768?

I then came here checking for info. My ATI drivers were 5.8 catalyst, 6.14.10.something, not quite the latest, so I did catalyst uninstall, reboot, install latest versions, started game again, worked fine, ran tutorial again at 1024x768, worked fine. I'm about to cross my fingers and try 1280x1024 again.

Bottom line - if you changed resolution from default, that may your problem...

kverdon · October 27, 2005, 00:26

ATI 800 XL AGP here. Tried 5.10 and Omega 5.10 both give me the rendering error. I uninstalled the drivers, ran Drive Cleaner Pro and re-installed. Still No-Go.

ASUS P4P800E w/3.2 ghz Prescot
1gb 800mhz ram
ATI 800 XL AGP
SB Audigy 2 Platinum

brill · October 27, 2005, 01:09

ATi Mobility Radeon 9200 64mb running on a 1.8 ghz pentium M HP pavilion zt3000 laptop. 1 ghz ddr, updated the drivers from HP's site today, no reason this shouldn't work.

And yet...

Run the game, the music and sound play, but all I've got to look at is a blue screen. Hit esc, and click the mouse, and the Civ 4 title screen comes up, except guess what: no menu to choose anything from. So I randomly click under the title, and hear a noise. After trying a whole bunch of things, I figure I should just press enter a whole bunch of times, as that will select whatever is the default on each subsequent menu that I can't see. Finally, the soothing voice of Leonard Nimoy, talking over a blank, black screen. This video finishes (or I esc out of it, it is mad long), and I get to see some litte indian kid's head for about half a second, and then the game just crashes to the desktop - as if it were never running at all. Just right out, no wait or nothing. I can click on **** right away and it runs like there has never been a single system process ever on this computer.

So, in short, WTF? How could the publishers release a game with so many screwups? I hope this company is public and they take a beating on the market for this. Seriously.

killjoy72 · October 27, 2005, 01:10

Radeon 9600 here, i have tried everyhting listed in the forum, nothing is fixing it. Talk about disapointing, I actually traded in my City of Villans reserve to get the last special edition copy of this game, and now I cant play, and I'll miss out on CoV pre-release to boot. Hoep this gets fixed soon =/

I'm actually thinking about wipin my OS and installing my old copy of Windows 2000.

Philciv4 · October 27, 2005, 01:35

I am getting the same error message running my Radeon 9550: Error: failed to initiate renderer - Check DirectX Version and graphics settings.

I have taken the steps described by Trips but no change.

Is it my understanding that no one has fixed the problem with Trips method?

Capt Dizle · October 27, 2005, 01:39

Last minute tweaks and changes can cause things like this to happen. Solver, for example, said he didn't have the retail version. Solver, why don't you wipe and install the retail version and see how it works for you?

alva · October 27, 2005, 01:59

He doesn't has the retail version yet.

Is it my understanding that no one has fixed the problem with Trips method?

Some have, so it's certainly worth trying. Keep checking this forum for a solution and like we all do, hope they come up with one soon.

srhawk64 · October 27, 2005, 01:59

Okay, throwing my name in the "can't get it to work" lot.

As most others, I have an ATI card and am getting the "Failed to initiate renderer" error... no matter what I seem to do. Updated from Catalyst 5.8 to 5.10. Ran the DirectX setup from the Civ 4 Install CD (multiple times). Tried different screen resolutions in both default Windows XP settings and in Civilization4.ini. Uninstalled and reinstalled Civ4. No luck getting past that error message.

I have an ATI X700 Pro 256MB card in an Athlon 64 3200+, 1GB DDR RAM machine. Recently installed Quake 4 with no problems. Recently updated my monitor to a 21" LCD from Gateway that runs 1680x1050 natively. Brought it down to 1024x768 to get Civ4 running... still no luck.

One thought I had: Is it possible that with all the other release production erratta (e.g., French trees, "Play Disc 2" not actually being the play disc), perhaps the production discs did not contain quite the right or complete set of latest DirectX 9.0c update files?

And, BTW, I am posting my DxDiag log file if someone at Firaxis wants to peruse it and see if it might help isolate the problem.

Thanks.

Philciv4 · October 27, 2005, 02:31

Note 1:
Not that this is encouraging but I get the same error message, using a Geforce 2 on a completely different system.

Note 2:
I got the game to work using my computers onboard video, only I got a black screen with visible units and game options. Upon installation of the superior AGP Radeon 9550, game gets the error message.

System with ATI Radeon:
AMD Semptron 2600
512 MB RAM
ATI Radeon 9550
Windows Service Pack 1 (got an error message with SP2 during onboard video testing)
I have downloaded all windows updates but not d/l new Service Pack

badave · October 27, 2005, 04:13

Does disabling virus scans during this entire process change a thing?

ERLoft · October 27, 2005, 04:45

I get the same problem, system specs if it matters:

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition (c) 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.01.347
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Report Wizard
Computer E-PUTER (Eric's Computer)
Generator Eric Loft
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2005-10-27
Time 01:44

--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name E-PUTER (Eric's Computer)
User Name Eric Loft

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2800 MHz (21 x 133)
Motherboard Name Abit AI7 (5 PCI, 1 AGP, 4 DDR DIMM, Audio, LAN, IEEE-1394)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Springdale i865PE
System Memory 2048 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award (11/03/04)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter RADEON X700 Series Secondary (256 MB)
Video Adapter RADEON X700 Series (256 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon X700 Pro (RV410)
Monitor NEC LCD1935NXM (Analog) [19" LCD] (47203093TA)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Intel 82801EB ICH5 - AC'97 Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
IDE Controller Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Maxtor 6Y200P0 (200 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Disk Drive Maxtor 6B250R0 (250 GB, 7200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/133)
Disk Drive Disk drive (232 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive SONY DVD RW DRU-710A (DVD+R9:2.4x, DVD+RW:16x/4x, DVD-RW:8x/4x, DVD-ROM:16x, CD:48x/24x/48x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
Optical Drive SONY DVD-ROM DDU1622 (16x/40x DVD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 138999 MB (123475 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 102398 MB (101709 MB free)
E: (NTFS) 100366 MB (63245 MB free)
F: (NTFS) 92067 MB (58361 MB free)
I: (NTFS) 103324 MB (80698 MB free)
J: (NTFS) 71680 MB (33352 MB free)
K: (NTFS) 63459 MB (33713 MB free)
Total Size 656.5 GB (483.0 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Keyboard Logitech PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse HID-compliant MX518 Optical Mouse
Game Controller Microsoft PC-joystick driver
Game Controller Microsoft PC-joystick driver

Network:
Network Adapter Microsoft TV/Video Connection (0.1.0.4)
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC (192.168.1.101)

Peripherals:
Printer hp officejet 5500 series fax
Printer hp officejet 5500 series
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller Intel 82801EB ICH5 - USB Universal Host Controller
USB1 Controller NEC PCI-USB Open Host Controller
USB1 Controller NEC PCI-USB Open Host Controller
USB2 Controller Adaptec AUA-3121 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
USB2 Controller Intel 82801EB(M) ICH5(-M) - Enhanced USB2 Controller
USB Device General Purpose USB Hub
USB Device Generic USB Hub
USB Device Logitech Extreme 3D Pro USB
USB Device Logitech USB MX518 Optical Mouse
USB Device Nostromo n52 HID SpeedPad 2.0 Mouse Wheel
USB Device Nostromo n52 HID SpeedPad 2.0
USB Device USB Composite Device

Radeon Info:

Driver Packaging Version 8.18-050914a1-027256C-ATI
CATALYST™ Version 05.10
Provider ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version 6.14.10.6575
2D Driver File Path System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Video\{BB09512B-4036-4880-B762-A292D2205098}\0000
Direct3D Version 6.14.10.0347
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.5396
CATALYST™ Control Center Version 1.2.2084.76
AIW/VIVO WDM Driver Version 6.14.10.6238
AIW/VIVO WDM SP Driver Version 6.14.10.6246

Guess I was prepared for this, as I was at work all day with my copy of the game reading about this problem, but iit sure is dissapointing. I hope it gets corrected soon!

decloak_once · October 27, 2005, 04:50

Something I went through with civ3 and ATI 9200SE (AGP, 128M) might help.

When I first installed the card, civ3 stopped working. It would just show the splash screen and reboot my machine (pentium 2GHz 1GB, winXP).

Tried different versions of the ATI driver. No joy.

Then found a tip for another game that finally got civ3 to work with the card:

Find cat 4.1 on the ATI site. Extracted just the atioglxx.dll file, put it in the same directory as the exe for civ3, and viola. (Older version of the file also works.)

I don't know if civ4 is still using openGL. If so, this might worth a try. Best of all, it does not involve (un-)installing any driver, and it does not affect your other games.

Good luck.

(No, I don't have civ4 yet. Not gonna plunk down 50+ just to play a hunch. Besides, civ3 is still doing it for me :-)

KunoNoOni · October 27, 2005, 04:55

Of all the computers I have around me only 2 can actually run this game.

My main system spec are:

Athlon 64 3700+
2 Gigs of Ram
120 GB HD
Sound Blaster Audigy ZS
ATI 800XL 256mb

My other system specs are:

Athlon Thunderbird 1.4
512 Megs of Ram
40 GB/80 GB/80 GB HD
Sound Blaster Audigy ZS Gamer
ATI 9700 Pro 128mb

Both systems are running WinXP Pro w/SP2.

Main Systems video driver is 6.14.10.6575 (v5.10)
Other Systems video driver is 6.14.10.6517 (v5.3)

Main System gets the "Failed to Initialize Renderer" error
Other System DOES NOT.

So I uninstalled the v5.10 video drivers from main system and installed v5.3. Rebooted and BAM!

"Failed to Initialize Renderer" ... sigh...

So I uninstalled v5.3 and reinstalled v5.10. Game still doesn't work on my main system but atleast I can still play my other games on it...

I'm totally confused as to what the problem could be. Oh both of my video cards are true ATI cards.

atb · October 27, 2005, 05:06

it's definitely some kind of directx problem. i was receiving the renderer error as well. i let it try and update my dx during the install and then afterwards i tried running it manually off the disc as well. i updated my catalyst drivers and i was still having problems. i discovered a post where someone said they reverted their dx to 8.1 and then tried again and it worked.

i followed their instructions and ran it after my system booted with dx 8.1 and it runs fine. i launched a tutorial mission and it looked fine, but who knows how it'd run in the long term with dx 8.1.

so far, that's the only thing that's gotten it to work on my system.

edit: just to be clear, i tried updating my dx from 8.1 using the version on the civ disc. it updated and i rebooted. i checked dxdiag and it reported that i was now running dx 9.0c.. and civ4 wouldn't run. if it matters, in dxdiag under files the most recent files in that list are all from 2004. none from 2005 if there should be..

so, simply, civ4 only works for me when i'm running directx 8.1

TomBombadil · October 27, 2005, 05:28

Just to get on the list ...

eMachines T3265
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
2.20 GHz, 1.5GB of RAM
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256MB 8xAGP
Catalyst 5.2
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
Latest Driver

Get the "Failed to initialize renderer ..." error too. Tried all the fixes (uninstall and reinstall drivers, played around with card settings and resolutions, etc).

No luck

Rheassi · October 27, 2005, 07:19

Radeon 9600. Followed all the above instructions and I still get the Rendering Error.

Solver · October 27, 2005, 07:53

Originally posted by Capt Dizle
Last minute tweaks and changes can cause things like this to happen. Solver, for example, said he didn't have the retail version. Solver, why don't you wipe and install the retail version and see how it works for you?

I don't have the retail version yet (surprise), and I wouldn't have any trouble anyway, because I am running a real video card from nVidia

.

HoTCiGar · October 27, 2005, 08:27

Wow, I can finally play with ATI !!!

I have two ATI Radeon 9600 cards:
1- Desktop (Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB AGP): I upgraded to the latest catalyst drivers, but without uninstalling the previous version prior to installation. The game throws the Failed to Init Renderer issue. I haven't tried the steps mentioned by the OP yet.

2- Laptop (Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro Turbo 128MB AGP) - I didn't change any drivers. I installed the game's directx (from the cd) when it asked me to. It works. BTW, this is a dell inspiron 8600. Many have had issues with this. They should be using the following driver from http://www.omegadrivers.net

Omega Drivers for ATI Radeon cards version 2.6.71
This is actually an ATI driver version 8.172.0.0 dated 8/30/2005.

I believe if the game is completely uninstalled, the right drivers put in place, the directx used off the cd for installation, the game should work.