ATI Graphics Card Owners: re FAILED TO INITIALIZE RENDERER

[Greywolfe]

Card: Radeon 9600 Pro
Driver Catalyst 5.10
DirectX 9.0c ( from Civ4 DVD )
Status : Don't work

Tried 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, and 5.10

I was told by their tech support to installed Catalyst 5.2 from Guru3d And that didn't work either. Each time it opens the splash screen and gets to "Check XML" on the status bar it closes.

 

[Anglo]

Radeon X800
Most recent Omegas
Doesnt work.

 

[Hermes]

Trip from Firaxis has just posted this in the Main Forums:

Firaxis is currently looking into the startup issues people are experiencing.

One possible problem may be older versions of ATi drivers. I have been told installing a NEWER version of the ATi drivers over an old version does not completely remove the older version and this might be the cause of the problems.

Something people should try is to completely uninstall ATi video drivers and reinstalling a new version.

Any help in tracking down the issue is helpful. Thanks everyone, hopefully we can get the problems taken care of quickly.

So you need to completely uninstall you graphic card drivers.... I'm not sure exactly how to do that... but someone here might....

 

[Kinjiru]

2 systems:

Does NOT work:
CPU: Dell 9100 P4 3.2 Laptop
Card: Radeon 9800 Mobility 256Mb
Wide aspect monitor
Driver Version: Both Dell release 5.8 and Omega 2.6.75a
Doesn't work: After Init Engine step, the screen flickers a few times with the compass pointer showing and ends with a "Failed to Initialize Renderer - Check DirectX Version and Graphics Settings" dialog.

Running DirectX 9.0c

All other games run fine. This is a gaming laptop.


Does Work:
CPU: AMD64 3200+
Card: Radeon 9800 256 Mb
Driver Version Catalyst 5.10
DX 9.0c

 

[Traelin]

Card: Radeon X850 XT PE
Driver: 6.14.0010.6490 (English)
Driver Release:10/26/2004
Result: Doesn't work

 

[MotorRalf]

i get the renderer startup error

ATI Readon 9600 256 MB
Catalyst 5.10
DirectX9.0c - tried to install it from the game setup as directly from the cd


Win2K SP4
Atlon 2400 - 512 MB Ram

 

[McGlu]

My 2nd machine (First was posted above):

CPU: Intel P4 2.4 512Mb RAM
Card: Radeon 9800 Pro 128 Mb
Driver Version Catalyst 5.10
DX 9.0c

Works fine!

 

[ainwood]

Trip from Firaxis has just posted this in the Main Forums:



So you need to completely uninstall you graphic card drivers.... I'm not sure exactly how to do that... but someone here might....

Darn-good point.

I suggest people go here:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/Driver-Cleaner.shtml

It is a program specifically designed to remove parts of drivers that don't get removed on the install. Instructions are on the download page!.

If anyone has any success, then please let us know!

 

[invoke41]

Ok someone from Firaxis mention to cleanout all drivers. I dont know if this will work for you but its the tool to clean. Its just kinda fiddly requiring safemode. You can read the instructions (and follow them step by step)

Get DriverClean here, it clears out all remnants of old drivers

http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=745

 

[The Great Apple]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=3214647&posted=1#post3214647

Sorry to muck up the thread - but I'd check this if you have problems

EDIT: Arrrgh, forum is so slow the same stuff keeps getting posted in several posts!

 

[Traelin]

This may be a dumb concern, but I wonder if uninstalling my current ATI drivers is going to affect me in any other areas, since I have Windows XP MCE. MCE is very touchy sometimes, and I'm wondering if the current driver is primarily for MCE.

 

[jdogster]

I have a Radeon X850 XT (AGP ver.) and I am running the Omega catalyst drivers 2.6.71 and the game runs fine.

 

[brown_mudante]

I have solution that MAYBE will help you. Try to run game not from desktop shortcut, but find exe file in game folder and then click it to start game. Maybe it will work!

 

[oldStatesman]

Card name: RADEON 7500 SERIES
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 7500 Series AGP (0x5157)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5157&SUBSYS_013A1002&REV_00
Display Memory: 64.0 MB
Current Mode: 1152 x 864 (32 bit) (75Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6561 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/3/2005 23:10:36, 205312 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
Mini VDD Date: 8/3/2005 23:10:16, 1273344 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-1217-11CF-136A-3021A1C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x5157
SubSys ID: 0x013A1002
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D

Works/Doesn't Work: Do not get the init error - game loads fine. But I am getting the 'only teeth and eyes' leaderhead show and the fog of war is not centered so when I zoom to my units they are in the dark.

I haveto go eat dinner - I will be working on this later and will let you all know any results.


Addendum: Other DXdiag info if needed:
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: ECS
System Model: M848A
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 292MB used, 2169MB 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

 

[Chieftess]

This just in -- Try this:

- If you have an ATI monitor, try running Civ4 in Win2K compatibility mode. Right click the game icon, and go to properties, then click on the compatibility tab. Next, select the checkbox, then Windows 2000 from the drop down box. See if that helps.

- Also, see if there's an updated driver available.

 

[Mark1031]

A potentially usefull tool for laptop users since some won't let you install new drivers. http://www.driverheaven.net/patje/

Radeon 9000 mobile working now that I went to Catalyst 5.10. I hope it lasts.

 

[Zoomba]

If I run in compatability mode, it can't find the CD in the drive so it won't start period.

Running straight through the exe instead of the shortcut also doesn't do any good. The fix Soren posted on the Tech forum also does not work.

 

[RedWormCharlie]

Windows XP
AMD Athalon 3200 XP 64
gig of ram
256 mg radeon 9550
cat 5.10
dx 9c
spits out video to dvd
cranks out RTS at 60 fps
can't f'ing start Civilization 4


did compatibility win 2k thing got cd error.

if I lower to 16bit color it starts to render then KAPLOW!! crash to evil message denying me or world conquest...

I did the driver clean thing. Uninst drivers and even removed the hardware till XP shut itself down. Used DC and got all files. Reboot and reload drivers. NO FRIGGIN' START!!! blah.. worms 3d all over again...

tried direct start from directory....

tried loading entire exe and games in to ram...

reduced color quality and refresh...

encreased refresh...

pulled hair...

cursed poor beta testing..

still no civ...

awaiting solution...

 

[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.

 

[Jon Shafer]

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