ATTN firaxis! Render prob... New Info

[maxrots]

RENDER ERROR

running 9600 256mb sapphire. anyways after trying everything with no results, and i already did have 9c before first try at installing civ 4 but let it try upgrading anyway.

i uninstalled my directx and rolled it back to 8.1(used dxbuster in safemode) ran dxdiag to check wipe was good, it was.

then i uninstalled Civ 4. started a reinstall it instantly asked to upgrade dx i said ok. it gets to the data bar pauses for a sec then says done... never actually see any data bar movement.

it says done upgrading... i run dxdiag... no new files.
then used the explore cd and ran the dx9 from the folder. again no new files.


SO heres what i want... firaxis to point me to a place to get the correct dx9 file off the web. Not the reg dx9c file off the windows site... forget it we all have tried it.

If the firaxiz cd dx9c and the windows site dx9c are the same... its patch city..


trust me been fixing comps for many years. ive tried every uninstall reinstall driver upgrade/downgrade. all agp settings fast writes on off etc. etc.

Hope this helps.

and btw i have the mislabled play disc.

[gingergus]

Is this rendering problem and error you guys get, or the fact that the program seems to look weird when it runs?

I got it to play today using the advice from someone else on this list (downloading a driver update from a source other than ATI).

But, when I play the game, it moves for like 3 seconds and has a little jump. It is quite annoying. Anyone else having this issue?

Ginger

[maxrots]

the render error stops the game loading at the init engine screen. no getting past that point for any of the render error ati users yet that i know of.

[Sikta]

I also think its an error with the dx9 installer. I rolled back to dx 8.1 and then tried reinstalling dx9 (after deleting the d3dx9_26.dll file). When I reinstalled dx9 this file didnt get added so I know that dx9 isnt installing properly. Only way to get the file back was to undelete it (installing from windows site didnt add this file back either).

[Sikta]

Hmmm....when I install dx9 from microsoft website it doesnt update any file either. I have a bunch of dx9 files on my computer but runing dxdiag says I have dx8.1 installed. Any ideas on this?

[warlordship]

You know, they haven't even verified if that .DLL file is necessary. All I got from the fireaxis poster was a question about if we even had the file. No suggestion about what to do with it.

[Sikta]

It is necessary. When I deleted it and then tried to run the game you get a new error message immediately. The error states you are missing that file.

[Bowley]

Yea man I think you're right.
I am willing to put money on a screwed up dx9 installer being the problem here.

With all the other problems they had with the shipment it wouldn't be far fetched to think that the installer is corrupt...there are even cds that don't work for some people.

Game development and production/testing is by no means my expertise, but I would think that if the Firaxis guys can't recreate our failed render error AFTER updating drivers to 5.10, then they probably were using their own cds with a perfect working dx9 installer and not the ones the rest of the consumer base are using from the recent shipment with possible corrupted dx9 installers...would make sense right?

They really should try posting a link to a download page with a good version of the dx9 they want us to install, not the microsoft page one. I'd give it a shot.

Hope this gets sorted out

[GBOB_68]

Just a question, but if it were a true DX9 installer issue, would it operate correctly with NVidia cards?

[Bowley]

Ah, yea good point sir...back to the drawing board.

[Sikta]

I rolled back to dx8.1. Reupdated using doom 3 dx installer and that brought me back up to dx9.0b. Using microsofts site and the civ disc will NOT update me to 9.0c. But 9 days ago I have a dxdiag log showing I was at 9.0c.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

10/18/2005, 00:24:04
YOUR-22CA86D5C4
-

Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)

English (Regional Setting: English)
Compaq Presario 061
PJ530AA-ABA SR1214NX NA440
Rev. 3.10
AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2900+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
1024MB RAM
311MB used, 2150MB available
C:\WINDOWS
DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Not found
5.03.2600.2180
1
0


-------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/27/2005, 14:47:06
Machine name: YOUR-22CA86D5C4
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Compaq Presario 061
System Model: PJ530AA-ABA SR1214NX NA440
BIOS: Rev. 3.10
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2900+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 234MB used, 2227MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

[sNoFoX]

Had the same problem - apparantly dx 9.0c won't install on SP2. I found a way to do it though: You have to get 9.0b installer, and copy all the cab files from 9.0c folder to 9.0b folder. Then run the 9.0b installer - Voila! You've got 9.0c again

[brill]

9.0c installed fine on my computer running sp2. I think I might have already had it though, I dunno.

[PBN]

Now THAT is an interesting tidbit.

the installer did copy some files (about 8-12 as others have said) - perhaps it missed some...

something else to try, at least

[Sikta]

Ok. Finally back to 9.0c (civ 4 version) thanks to sNoFoX. Didnt help me any with getting the game to run as I still get the failed to render error.

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 10/27/2005, 15:24:15
Machine name: YOUR-22CA86D5C4
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Compaq Presario 061
System Model: PJ530AA-ABA SR1214NX NA440
BIOS: Rev. 3.10
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2900+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 232MB used, 2229MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode