Directx / Simcity 3000

[stav]

I installed DirectX 9.0b, and dxdiag says everything's
ok, but if i open the dxdiag for DirectX 7 from the SC3k
CD, it says, there are some Drivers for Direct3D missing,
and when i test D3D in DX7, the program crashes. But i
can't reinstall DX7 neither uninstall DX9.
This Compatibility thing doesn't help either.
My Graphic Card: nVidia GeForce4 MX440 with AGP8X. I
guess that's somehow the problem.

Any Ideas???

 

[Jimmy S.]

Hi Stav,

Don't use DX 7 diagnostics on a DX 9 system.
If you are having any graphics issues with SC3000, try this...

Updating video card drivers can solve most gaming issues. Here's some
rules of thumb though to always keep in mind. Shut DL accelerators, fire-
walls and antivirus programs off while downloading or installing drivers and
updates. Also check the game's website (or Fileplanet.com) for patches.

1. Before you update your drivers, I recommend that you install DirectX 9.0b*:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/9/c/c9c8a1d4-7690-4c98-baf3-0c67e7f3751f/dx90b_redist.exe

Here are the steps I recommend you use to update your driver. If you've
never done this before I recommend you also look over the Installation hints
and Release Notes both of which are linked to from their download page.

2. Download the latest driver v. 52.16 for your Nvidia Card Win XP/2000:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_53.03

Win98/Me: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win9x_53.04 (yes, it's .04 not .03)

3. Save the .exe driver in My Documents\My Drivers\Nvidia 5303

4. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.

5. Click Start / (settings) Control Panel / System / Hardware
Device Manager / expand +Display Adapters / right click on
the adapter, pick "Uninstall", and click No if asked to reboot.

6. Use Control Panel / Add-Remove programs to uninstall the
previous driver (exe)software which may have been installed.

7. Restart the computer in Safe Mode by pressing the F8 key
about once every second as it's rebooting to pick Safe Mode.

8. If Windows prompts you to install the adapter, click "Cancel".

9. Double click the 44.03 driver we saved to My Documents\
Drivers\Geforce folder in step 3 to install.it. If it complains about
Windows Logo Certification just click "Continue". This is normal.

10. After you reboot, go to Control Panel / Display / Settings and
choose 32 bit Color Quality, and 1024x768 Screen Resolution.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

Test your drivers using DXDiag: Click Start / Run / type: DXDIAG
Click the "Test" buttons in the Display, Sound, Music & Network Tabs;
If any of the Display options are Disabled and you cannot Enable them,
your most likely solution would be to update your Chipset Drivers as per
my website: http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11

Along with your Video card, Sound Cards, Motherboard Chipsets,
and Video Monitors may also require updated drivers. Even your
motherboard's BIOS may need to be updated for compatibility with
your Video card. These steps are listed at: http://NibblesNbitsVideo.tk

Perhaps the old Nvidia drivers did not completely uninstall. If that's the
case, use this utility to completely uninstall the drivers and go to step 7:
http://content.guru3d.com/index.php?page=detonatorrip&menu=0

The latest video drivers sometime don't work with a particular game.
(Check the Video suggestions in the readme.txt file in your game folder/CD)
If there's no suggestions, try an older (WHQL) driver, and/or if you still
experience problems try a Beta driver, or even an Omega driver instead:

BETA Drivers: http://download.guru3d.com/
OMEGA Drivers: http://www.omegacorner.com/

There you have it, if you have any questions feel free to post them!

--
Cheers,
Jimmy S.

Additional Support Resources: My Zone.com Helpsite: http://nibblesnbits.tk
Microsoft Online Tech Support: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=376
Game FAQ's: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

|I installed DirectX 9.0b, and dxdiag says everything's
| ok, but if i open the dxdiag for DirectX 7 from the SC3k
| CD, it says, there are some Drivers for Direct3D missing,
| and when i test D3D in DX7, the program crashes. But i
| can't reinstall DX7 neither uninstall DX9.
| This Compatibility thing doesn't help either.
| My Graphic Card: nVidia GeForce4 MX440 with AGP8X. I
| guess that's somehow the problem.
|
| Any Ideas???

 

[Nick Kritselis [MS]]

Stav,

If DirectX 9.0b says everything's ok, then everything's ok, no matter what
the DX7 version of DXDiag says. DirectX is constantly being streamlined and
expanded, older files may have been removed or combined with other files, so
older versions of DXDiag may mis-report errors.

What is the exact nature of the problem you are having with Sim City 3000?
Have you installed the version 1.1 patch? Have you tried running the game
in Compatibility Mode?

If you could reply with answers to these questions, and also post a copy of
your DXDiag text, we will try to work with you to resolve whatever issues
you are having.

To reply with a dxdiag text:
Click on Start -> Run and type 'dxdiag' in the run box, then click 'Ok'.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears you will see tabs across the
top click each tab and run the diagnostic tests on each. Then click the
'Save All Information' button, which will create a text file on your system
where you specify, as in My Documents or Desktop. Open that text file, copy
the contents and paste it to a reply.