Help an idiot (me)

MedicDance · Jun 28, 2005, 06:49 AM

[color=darkorange][color=red]Before reading the following, please remember:[/color]
[/color]I'm a newbie.
I'm an idiot.
[color=black]I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.[/color]

okay:

I bought BF2, but predictably it failed to install 5 times. When I finally managed to install the game, I found I couldn't even start it up. All it does is switch to a black screen and then back to desktop. While searching through EA's "support" they claim that my problem (the most prolific issue listed) is due to old video card drivers.

So I uninstalled my video drivers. At the time, I had the latest Omega drivers installed, so, using the uninstall feature, I got rid of it. I also noticed that I had some old Catalyst residue lying around, so I tried my best to delete all of that. Afterwards I installed the latest Catalyst drivers in hopes that that would allow me to play BF2. Of course, it didn't work

Then I went to majorgeeks and downloaded Driver Cleaner Pro, and used it to clean out all my Catalyst and sound card drivers. Then I installed the latest Catalyst again. Once again, nothing.

So I email them. No reply after 24 hours.

Now, my questions are:

1: What do I do?
2: Are the developers/publishers BS'ing me and should I just wait for a patch?
3: Is there an effective driver manager out there I can use to hunt down anything causing a conflict?
4: Is there an effective way to destroy all extra files or old Omega drivers I may have missed?

*My card is a 9800 pro 256mb
*I'll link to my dxdiag log if you want.

ChoGGi · Jun 28, 2005, 07:10 AM

watch the language please, theres young ones around

this might be of help

Quote:

Loading Issues: The most common problem with BF2 is that the game crashes to desktop or goes to a black screen when you first launch it. The reason for this is either incompatible hardware (make sure you meet all the minimum specs), or more usually the fact that you're not running at the default Windows XP refresh rate (60Hz). By default the game tries to launch at 800x600@60Hz initially, so your system must be able to run that same resolution and refresh rate, otherwise the game will abort. If you are using any refresh rate override program/method, disable it (e.g. if you're using Refresh Force, click the 'Restore Original Settings' button and apply). Once you've got the game running, you can then change the resolution to suit your taste in the in-game settings, and importantly you can select a higher refresh rate. Then you can reapply the refresh rate override and the game will launch without any problems. To set a non-standard resolution such as 1280x1024 see the Command Line options under the Advanced Tweaking section.

http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2_1.html

edit: oh and welcome to DriverHeaven

MedicDance · Jun 28, 2005, 07:26 AM

Hey thanks, and I'll watch the language.

Unfortunately, I still can't get it to work. I knocked my refresh rate down to 60, and lowered my res to 800x600, but still no success. However, I did notice this:

When I go to my display properties+settings I see a pull-down tab that lists:
1. Plug and Play Monitor on RADEON 9800 PRO
2. (Default Monitor) on RADEON 9800 PRO - Secondary.

I tired running it on both, but no success. What is the significance of the second option (I only have one card) and is there a way to remove it? Or does it refer to a non-existant duel monitor display?

Dark Lord · Jun 28, 2005, 07:31 AM

as far as i know, that secondary is for the dual monitor display.

my x800 has the same thing listed, so its nothing to worry about.

ChoGGi · Jun 28, 2005, 07:49 AM

its as another-user said, you can disable it from the device manager if you dont want to see it.
try going to start>run>type in dxdiag>goto more help>override put it at 85 or whatever you use and see if that helps any.
you could also try installing the drivers for your monitor.

edit: on the second page for that tweak guide it mentions a file called
Video.con maybe you can edit it to add a higher res (back it up first).

aoeu · Jun 28, 2005, 08:22 AM

Couldn't it be because of codecs? There are a few movies in the beginning. If you want to test it quickly, renaming/deleting the "Movies" folder should be enough.

ChoGGi · Jun 28, 2005, 08:29 AM

good point aoeu
the omega 5.6s are out, maybe they will help.

MedicDance · Jun 29, 2005, 12:38 AM

I tried uninstalling all video drivers and installing the 5.6- didn't work
I tried renaming the Movies folder to "fake_Movies" and that didn't work

Both options were tried after forcing a refresh rate of 60 and res of 800x600 using MultiRes, display properties and dxdiag

ChoGGi · Jun 29, 2005, 12:51 AM

so how about monitor drivers or dxdiag?
try not forcing any refreshrate, just set everything to defaults.

MedicDance · Jun 29, 2005, 01:29 AM

I just installed my monitor drivers, but it really didn't make a difference. And I set dxdiag's refresh rate back to default, and removed multires's refresh lock- still nothing.

aoeu · Jun 29, 2005, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedicDance

I just installed my monitor drivers, but it really didn't make a difference. And I set dxdiag's refresh rate back to default, and removed multires's refresh lock- still nothing.

Just to further test my theory, you could simply try and play those videos in the Movies folder with software of your choice.

BTW, why didn't it want to install? No files were corrupted?

MedicDance · Jun 29, 2005, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aoeu

Just to further test my theory, you could simply try and play those videos in the Movies folder with software of your choice.

BTW, why didn't it want to install? No files were corrupted?

Software of choice?

I downloaded a bink package hoping that it would somehow update bink player, but it didn't.

it kept failing to install the Objects_client.zip zip during installation. Finally after trying to install using a different CD drive, it worked. Since the second drive worked fine, I doubt there is any corruption. I will try reinstalling about 4 hours from now, I'll be back then.

aoeu · Jun 29, 2005, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedicDance

Software of choice?

I downloaded a bink package hoping that it would somehow update bink player, but it didn't.

Software of your choice, I though the videos were .avi-s, I didn't get a good look, quickly tried the game and uninstalled it

I'm quite sure they were regular video files, you could simply open them (Windows Media Player for example) and see if they play.

BTW, there are no .log files in some of the directories? (excluding install.log)

MedicDance · Jun 29, 2005, 08:46 AM

Hey guys, thanks for all your help. I uninstalled everything: the game, video drivers, audio drivers, and reinstalled everything. Then I carefully started up BF2 under the recommended settings, and bam! it worked.

I feel dumb, but relieved.

ChoGGi · Jun 29, 2005, 08:54 AM

im guessing it was probably bf2 files that were messed up, but hey who knows.
long as it's working

aoeu · Jun 29, 2005, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChoGGi

im guessing it was probably bf2 files that were messed up, but hey who knows.
long as it's working

I couldn't join online servers at first and had to reinstall also, thankfully only once was enough for me. Rather annoying I might say, companies should do more testing, hell, how does a simple reinstall help for a clean-install..

Jun 28, 2005, 06:49 AM	#1
MedicDance DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Help an idiot (me) [color=darkorange][color=red]Before reading the following, please remember:[/color] [/color]I'm a newbie. I'm an idiot. [color=black]I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.[/color] okay: I bought BF2, but predictably it failed to install 5 times. When I finally managed to install the game, I found I couldn't even start it up. All it does is switch to a black screen and then back to desktop. While searching through EA's "support" they claim that my problem (the most prolific issue listed) is due to old video card drivers. So I uninstalled my video drivers. At the time, I had the latest Omega drivers installed, so, using the uninstall feature, I got rid of it. I also noticed that I had some old Catalyst residue lying around, so I tried my best to delete all of that. Afterwards I installed the latest Catalyst drivers in hopes that that would allow me to play BF2. Of course, it didn't work Then I went to majorgeeks and downloaded Driver Cleaner Pro, and used it to clean out all my Catalyst and sound card drivers. Then I installed the latest Catalyst again. Once again, nothing. So I email them. No reply after 24 hours. Now, my questions are: 1: What do I do? 2: Are the developers/publishers BS'ing me and should I just wait for a patch? 3: Is there an effective driver manager out there I can use to hunt down anything causing a conflict? 4: Is there an effective way to destroy all extra files or old Omega drivers I may have missed? My card is a 9800 pro 256mb I'll link to my dxdiag log if you want. Last edited by MedicDance; Jun 28, 2005 at 07:27 AM.

Jun 28, 2005, 07:31 AM	#4
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	as far as i know, that secondary is for the dual monitor display. my x800 has the same thing listed, so its nothing to worry about. __________________

Jun 28, 2005, 07:49 AM	#5
ChoGGi DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,209 Rep Power: 0	its as another-user said, you can disable it from the device manager if you dont want to see it. try going to start>run>type in dxdiag>goto more help>override put it at 85 or whatever you use and see if that helps any. you could also try installing the drivers for your monitor. edit: on the second page for that tweak guide it mentions a file called Video.con maybe you can edit it to add a higher res (back it up first). __________________ specs Common Problems and Fixes for your Radeon Last edited by ChoGGi; Jun 28, 2005 at 07:54 AM.

Jun 28, 2005, 08:29 AM	#7
ChoGGi DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,209 Rep Power: 0	good point aoeu the omega 5.6s are out, maybe they will help. __________________ specs Common Problems and Fixes for your Radeon

Jun 29, 2005, 12:51 AM	#9
ChoGGi DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,209 Rep Power: 0	so how about monitor drivers or dxdiag? try not forcing any refreshrate, just set everything to defaults. __________________ specs Common Problems and Fixes for your Radeon

Jun 28, 2005, 07:26 AM	Thread Starter #3
MedicDance DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Hey thanks, and I'll watch the language. Unfortunately, I still can't get it to work. I knocked my refresh rate down to 60, and lowered my res to 800x600, but still no success. However, I did notice this: When I go to my display properties+settings I see a pull-down tab that lists: 1. Plug and Play Monitor on RADEON 9800 PRO 2. (Default Monitor) on RADEON 9800 PRO - Secondary. I tired running it on both, but no success. What is the significance of the second option (I only have one card) and is there a way to remove it? Or does it refer to a non-existant duel monitor display?

Jun 28, 2005, 08:22 AM	#6
aoeu DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Couldn't it be because of codecs? There are a few movies in the beginning. If you want to test it quickly, renaming/deleting the "Movies" folder should be enough.

Jun 29, 2005, 12:38 AM	Thread Starter #8
MedicDance DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I tried uninstalling all video drivers and installing the 5.6- didn't work I tried renaming the Movies folder to "fake_Movies" and that didn't work Both options were tried after forcing a refresh rate of 60 and res of 800x600 using MultiRes, display properties and dxdiag

Jun 29, 2005, 01:29 AM	Thread Starter #10
MedicDance DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I just installed my monitor drivers, but it really didn't make a difference. And I set dxdiag's refresh rate back to default, and removed multires's refresh lock- still nothing.

Jun 29, 2005, 08:46 AM	Thread Starter #14
MedicDance DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	Hey guys, thanks for all your help. I uninstalled everything: the game, video drivers, audio drivers, and reinstalled everything. Then I carefully started up BF2 under the recommended settings, and bam! it worked. I feel dumb, but relieved.

Jun 29, 2005, 08:54 AM	#15
ChoGGi DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,209 Rep Power: 0	im guessing it was probably bf2 files that were messed up, but hey who knows. long as it's working __________________ specs Common Problems and Fixes for your Radeon