Halo Demo not loading....

[SteveK]

due to:
A problem occurred initializing Direct3D.
Hardware acceleration maybe disabled, please run DXDIAG

my box:
WinXP SP2, Radeon 9600pro 256MB

the hotfix seems only for the full version game - for the demo no fix?

any help?

 

[Chris H.]

Have you disabled the hardware acceleration on your graphics card? I would
look there first, and also make sure you've got the latest driver from the
manufacturer's web site.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -


due to:
A problem occurred initializing Direct3D.
Hardware acceleration maybe disabled, please run DXDIAG

my box:
WinXP SP2, Radeon 9600pro 256MB

the hotfix seems only for the full version game - for the demo no fix?

any help?

 

[Paul Smith]

due to:
A problem occurred initializing Direct3D.
Hardware acceleration maybe disabled, please run DXDIAG

my box:
WinXP SP2, Radeon 9600pro 256MB

the hotfix seems only for the full version game - for the demo no fix?

Hello!

Have you got the latest drivers for your video card?

http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html

As far as I know if you're using the demo that's currently available for
download it has the 256MB SP2 "patch" with it.

This sort of error can also be caused by applications which force monitor
refresh rate too, so try restoring them to the default Windows setting (you
can control refresh rate from inside Halo anyway) and the newer drivers can
control refresh rates at a driver level rather then registry hacks.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[SteveK]

Have you disabled the hardware acceleration on your graphics card? I
would look there first, and also make sure you've got the latest driver
from the manufacturer's web site.

Nope, HW accel. is set to Full
Otherwise, I hardly could play Doom3 ;-)

 

[SteveK]

Hello!

Have you got the latest drivers for your video card?

http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html

I got version 4.12 - latest!

As far as I know if you're using the demo that's currently available for
download it has the 256MB SP2 "patch" with it.

oright, then - does not work for me..

This sort of error can also be caused by applications which force monitor
refresh rate too, so try restoring them to the default Windows setting
(you can control refresh rate from inside Halo anyway) and the newer
drivers can control refresh rates at a driver level rather then registry
hacks.

Yes, my refresh rate is set to force desktop-rate (85Hz). However, it's set
inside the Ati driver and should not affect Halo!? I guess I can toss this
demo in the bin?

 

[Paul Smith]

Nope, HW accel. is set to Full
Otherwise, I hardly could play Doom3 ;-)

Well DOOM 3 doesn't use Direct3D. Have you tried running the tests
inside DXDIAG does it all check out ok?

Got anti-aliasing turned off?

Could also try running Halo with -vidmode 1280,1024,85 where 1280,1024
is the desired resolution with 85 the refresh rate. This has been reported
to solve some cases of it thinking acceleration is off.

If you're not sure how to do this right click the shortcut and add that line
the end of the target box, outside the ""s

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[Chris H.]

Sorry, but you didn't mention Doom in your first post and the crystal ball
is off for the holiday weekend. Just out of curiosity, are you running
any type of themes on your system?
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Hi Steve,

Give this a try and see if you can then successfully run the demo (I am
assuming that you have successfully installed it):

Right-click the Halo shortcut icon, select Properties and Shortcut tab. In
the Target field, following the path to the game's executable file, key
in -vidmode followed by game resolution and refresh rate....for example, if
you want to set the resolution to 1024x768 with a refresh rate of 85, you
would key in:
-vidmode 1024,768,85
so that the entire line in the Target field would look something like this:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo Trial\halo.exe" -vidmode 1024,768,85

Click on Apply then OK.

See if you can now successfully play the demo.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User

due to:
A problem occurred initializing Direct3D.
Hardware acceleration maybe disabled, please run DXDIAG

my box:
WinXP SP2, Radeon 9600pro 256MB

the hotfix seems only for the full version game - for the demo no fix?

any help?

 

[SteveK]

Sorry, but you didn't mention Doom in your first post and the crystal ball
is off for the holiday weekend. Just out of curiosity, are you
running any type of themes on your system?

.....

Don't worry about the crystal ball
I am using WinXP default theme with some minor alterations like wallpaper
etc.

 

[SteveK]

Well DOOM 3 doesn't use Direct3D. Have you tried running the tests
inside DXDIAG does it all check out ok?

Yep, DXDiag's two DX tests run just fine

Got anti-aliasing turned off?

Nope, it's always set to 2x (temporal AA)

Could also try running Halo with -vidmode 1280,1024,85 where 1280,1024
is the desired resolution with 85 the refresh rate. This has been
reported to solve some cases of it thinking acceleration is off.

...done this - no joy, same problem!

 

[SteveK]

Hi Steve,

Give this a try and see if you can then successfully run the demo (I am
assuming that you have successfully installed it):

Right-click the Halo shortcut icon, select Properties and Shortcut tab. In
the Target field, following the path to the game's executable file, key
in -vidmode followed by game resolution and refresh rate....for example,
if you want to set the resolution to 1024x768 with a refresh rate of 85,
you would key in:
-vidmode 1024,768,85
so that the entire line in the Target field would look something like
this: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo Trial\halo.exe" -vidmode
1024,768,85

Your given syntax is not valid for me - I altered it to read:
"D:\Games\halo.exe -vidmode 1024,768,85 "

However, no joy - same problem!

 

[Chris H.]

What happens if you allow it to install to the default folder, instead of
the D: drive?
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -

 

[Patti MacLeod]

Your given syntax is not valid for me - I altered it to read:
"D:\Games\halo.exe -vidmode 1024,768,85 "

However, no joy - same problem!

I didn't know the exact path to the executable on your system, but figured
you would know to alter it to suit your configuration.

The extra line (i.e., -vidmode 1024,768,85) should reside outside the
quotation marks, not within. If altering the extra line to be outside the
quotation marks still gives you no joy, I'm sorry but I currently don't have
any more ideas of what to try to make it work.



Regards,

 

[Jimmy S.]

Hi Steve,

Is AGP Acceleration Enabled?
It's the 3rd button on the Video Tab in dxdiag.

You might need to update your chipset drivers.
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11

--
Cheers, Windows XP MVP Shell / User
Jimmy S. http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Game FAQs: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=FH;[LN];gms
Visit my MSN Zone.com and Gaming Help Site: http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits
MS Assisted Support: http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=assistance
My advice is donated "AS IS" without warranty; nor do I confer any rights.
_________________________________________________________

 

[SteveK]

Hi Steve,

Is AGP Acceleration Enabled?
It's the 3rd button on the Video Tab in dxdiag.

AGP texture acceleration is enabled - yes!

You might need to update your chipset drivers.
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/Video.html#v11

I am using the latest VIA chipset driver version 4.55
which leaves the XP SP2 AGP driver in place.

 

[SteveK]

I didn't know the exact path to the executable on your system, but figured
you would know to alter it to suit your configuration.

The extra line (i.e., -vidmode 1024,768,85) should reside outside the
quotation marks, not within. If altering the extra line to be outside the
quotation marks still gives you no joy, I'm sorry but I currently don't
have any more ideas of what to try to make it work.

I can do it as u say but the quotation marks then will be removed as soon as
I press "Apply". However, Halo still shows the original problem - no joy!

BTW, Happy New Year 2005 to EvErYoNe here and...

greetings from Brisbane(Australia)

 

[RonK]

Have you tried re-installing DirectX 9c ?

I can do it as u say but the quotation marks then will be removed as soon
as
I press "Apply". However, Halo still shows the original problem - no joy!

BTW, Happy New Year 2005 to EvErYoNe here and...

greetings from Brisbane(Australia)

 

[SteveK]

Have you tried re-installing DirectX 9c ?

Trying to re-install DX9 just tells me that I already have DX9c installed
and exits.
No more worries - I uninstalled Halo! I bet if I had a Nvidia card it would
work fine.
But for now, I am caught with an ATi card and its crappy Radeon driver. This
is the second game refusing to work with the Ati driver - Far Cry Demo won't
load either due to an critical exception error.
The Driverheaven forum (Ati driver section) is the living proof about all
the driver problems Ati is currently facing - too many janitors working in
the Ati driver development department. It's a pity!

 

[Paul Smith]

Trying to re-install DX9 just tells me that I already have DX9c installed
and exits.
No more worries - I uninstalled Halo! I bet if I had a Nvidia card it
would
work fine.
But for now, I am caught with an ATi card and its crappy Radeon driver.
This
is the second game refusing to work with the Ati driver - Far Cry Demo
won't
load either due to an critical exception error.
The Driverheaven forum (Ati driver section) is the living proof about all
the driver problems Ati is currently facing - too many janitors working in
the Ati driver development department. It's a pity!

Tried uninstalling the drivers, booting into safe mode and re-installing
from there?
--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
http://www.dasmirnov.net/
http://windows.dasmirnov.net/ Windows XP Resource Site.

*Replace nospam with smirnov to reply by e-mail*

 

[Patti MacLeod]

I can do it as u say but the quotation marks then will be removed as soon as
I press "Apply". However, Halo still shows the original problem - no joy!

BTW, Happy New Year 2005 to EvErYoNe here and...

greetings from Brisbane(Australia)

Did you try d/loading the strings.dll file for the trial version? If not,
give that a try:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/halo/downloads.asp

And Happy New Year to you, too!



Regards,