ATI Graphics Card Owners: re FAILED TO INITIALIZE RENDERER

[Zoomba]

dll is there.

[RickJay]

Originally Posted by Trip

Those who are still having problems please look in C:\windows\SYSTEM32 and see if "D3DX9_26.DLL" is there.

We seem to be following each other. It might be a useful thread in both locations, though, if this turns out to be the issue. I would guess most people are just looking to see if they have "DX9.0c" and not actually checking to see if they have Firaxis's version of 9.0c.

In any case, yes, I have that file in that directory. Don't hold us in suspense; what does it mean?

[Infinit1]

I got my hands on the game, but doesn't work.
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT
ATI Catalyst 5.10
Not Working

Funny thing is that I have a 'copy' of Longhorn beta 1 on the system and if I boot that and try running the game it works!!!
I'll try and check the video drivers on there (although I know it's Vista Drivers off of ATI.com).

[RedWormCharlie]

it's there

[Foximous]

X800XL
Cat 5.10
Doesn't work

[RedWormCharlie]

turned off DX graphic s exceleration, music and sound...

still nothing

[RedWormCharlie]

reduced apg multiplier, disable everything but directdraw...

nothing...

[SlayerofDeitys]

I am running the game fine except for hiccups with a Nividia Quadro2 MXR 32Mb with H&l. So if this card can run it without issue...

[ainwood]

Originally Posted by RickJay

I've found ajn interesting phenomenon.

When I install Civ4 on my laptop, where it works (sort of) the DirectX9.0C installer adds 9 new DirectX DLLs to the list, with today's time stamp.

When I install Civ4 on my desktops, where it doesn't work, those files never appear.

I have no idea how to resolve this. I've run the DX installer on the Civ4 disk five times. The new files simply do not appear.

What OS are you running? Maybe something in the OS Security is preventing the files being installed.

[notoptimal]

I don't have the game yet (it's on the way ), but have an ATI Radeon 9550 with 128 MB so I've been keeping watch on this thread with keen interest in the developments.

I noticed in a post on another thread addressing the ATI issues that some people were running the game in a high resolution (e.g. 1280 x 720 or 1152 x 864) but the error message produced by the Civ IV debug log showed it was attempting to initialize a 1024 x 768 renderer.

See kinjiru's post here for an example of the log:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showth...=133003&page=2

He tried to initialize in 1280 x 800 (probably meant 720) but the program attempted to start a renderer using 1024 x 768. Could the program be incorrectly choosing a renderer, and then crashing when the renderer's resolution doesn't match the current resolution DirectX is expecting?

notopt

[Lahdoz]

Card: ATI x800 Pro, 256, AGP (note: ATI brand card, not MSI, Sapphire, etc."

Driver Version: 6.14.10.6497 (using Catalyst Control Center)

Works fine

[Crusis]

I just registered so I could post here too.

ATI Radeon X800XL 256MB (ATI brand, not other.)

SP2

DX 9.0c

Athlon 64 3000+

1GB DDR400


One annoyed customer. I passed up CoD2 today to buy this game, now I'm playing neither. Not happy about it at all.

[CactusBastard]

Card: Radeon 9600xt 256mb
Driver: Cataylst 5.10
DLL: d3dx9_26.dll found

Used Driver Clean to remove old drivers (following included instructions, safe mode, etc), reinstalled latest from ATI site. Uninstalled, reinstalled Civ.

Status: Not Working

Editorial: This is what makes a person want to abandon PC gaming. I'm tempted take back my copy of Civ and put it towards an Xbox360.

[Jon Shafer]

Originally Posted by RickJay

We seem to be following each other. It might be a useful thread in both locations, though, if this turns out to be the issue. I would guess most people are just looking to see if they have "DX9.0c" and not actually checking to see if they have Firaxis's version of 9.0c.

In any case, yes, I have that file in that directory. Don't hold us in suspense; what does it mean?

It's just a file that's included in the DirectX update.

We are still looking into DirectX issues. There may be a problem with it being updated correctly which we are investigating.

[RickJay]

Originally Posted by Trip

It's just a file that's included in the DirectX update.

We are still looking into DirectX issues. There may be a problem with it being updated correctly which we are investigating.

May be. I still have no files, according to DxDiag, with today's timestamp, no matter how many times I run the DXSETUP on the Civ DVD.

[RedWormCharlie]

Ya can't take back yer copy of Civ 4, it's opened. Screw you Anti piracy laws and movement.

I'm more than one annoyed customer, I'm down right pissed.

I just recently bought Battlefield 2 with no troubles. Previous to that was half life 2 with no troubles...

this is just rediculous. I had this f'n game reserved for a month just to play today...

[stumben]

Ive posted this in 3 other places, so forgive me. ATI 9800 and its working great....


Ok guys, there is hope! Heres my scoop.

First off, I have windows 2k. I just did a CLEAN install of windows 2k. I had to do it anyway, my machine was a mess - I did not even ATTEMPT to run this game before. I am getting a new machine in 3 weeks so I did not bother to get windows xp.

All I did since the fresh install
1.Download windows 2k service pack 4.
2.Downloaded the latest ATI driver. - 5.10. Note I am not sure if this is the same as the "latest" release to patch quake 4.
3.Downloaded the latest SB live sound card drivers ( I have the OLD sb live )
4.Installed Civilization IV - let it install direct X. Express install I did not check the multiplayer firewall option.
5.Ran Civilization IV
6.Prayed
7.Watched the breathtaking opening music,movie, started up a single player game, ran quite GOOD so far! Nice graphics, NO ERRORS at all. granted I played for a whopping 2 minutes.
8. Came right to post this

Now for some system specs.
Athalon 1.8 thunderbird ( oldy but a goody )
512 Ram
ATI Raedon 9800 128mb
Soundblaster Live
Fresh install of Windows 2k service pack 4 as stated above.

I might note, that of late I have had some bizarre driver issues since I attempted to play F.E.A.R and let it install the latest direct X. Certain games would pop up strange ati errors and nothing I could do fixed it until this fresh reformat. I am not saying this is at all related.

I am also not implying that a fresh re-format should be required to fix the renderer issue so many are having.

But, I am implying, it may require specific drivers with specific video cards with specific OS - until they patch and get it straight.

Hope this helps, I just want to add, the game looks amazing...so far.

**edit - I will stick around for a little while in case anyone wants some more info. I really really REALLY feel for the frustrated people who cant run the game yet***

[drolltroll]

Trip,

Yes, d3dx9_26.dll is there on my machine.

[DarkSchneider]

I think what's the most depressing about this is that Firaxis and Take 2 knew about this problem and decided to do nothing about it. As far as I know, ATI still has a resonably good percentage of the market share, I also know that if I created a piece of software that didn't work on 33% of the machines it was supposed to, I would be fired.

As a sidenote, after reinstalling the 5.10 drivers, I tried changing the resolution on my computer to 1024x768 before starting the game. Although it still did not load, displaying the 'Failed to initialize renderer' message, it did not flicker back and forth into full screen mode.

[nanoboy]

I have a Radeon 9800 Pro. It more than meets the system requirements.

After playing for a couple of hours, the screen started getting wobbly, and artifacts appeared. (It's not the heat problem, as I solved that months ago.) After shutting the program down, I restarted Civ IV, and immediately, I saw the same problem. I then rebooted, and the problem still persists. It is rather strange. I even upgraded to SP2 and updated the driver.

(Copied from another thread in the Technical Support forum of this same site.)