Can't Start Civ 4

Tiger47

Chieftain
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Messages
5
hey,
I just got Civilization IV, but I'm having major problems with it. When I start the game everything is going fine, I can establish scenarios and go through pregame options fine. But, usually, whenever a game tries to load my computer freezes up, the mouse disappears, and I have to reboot. Sometimes I can get past the load screen and see the opening info box with my leader and such, but the map behind it is blacked out and the game quickly freezes the computer again. What can I do? Here are my system specs:

Type : HP Notebook zx5000
OS: Windows XP sp 2
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 gHz
Ram: 512 mb (I believe it's DD RAM)
Video Card: ATi Mobility Radeon 9200

Here's My DxDiag file:
 

Attachments

can anyone give me a hand? I've tried running it with the lowest graphics setting and I'm still having the same problem.
 
I'm having exactly the same problem. Updating the driver doesnt help. Instead of black map, the sound loop then crash/ reboot. This game is really annoying. My system is Intel Celeron D 335 Prescott (~2,8 Ghz) w/ 512 MB DDRam, Gigabyte GeForce 4MX 4000 64MB AGP 8x with Detonators 77.76
 
Hi,

Try running the CIV4 in non-full screen mode. You can set this up from advanced options. It worked for me (I have also HP's laptop). You can then maximize the CIV4 window, so this doesn't really decrease the gaming experience that much.

Regards,
Pyrbe
 
This seems to be a reoccuring theme with HP Laptops with ATI Radeon 9200 video cards. I have the same problem and the patch did SFA to solve it. Misery loves company I guess. :sad:
 
Same thing happens to me. Got very frustrating. You go through the single game load then bam - the black screen comes and the monitor shuts down with no signal. I can get back to windows with CTRL+ALT+DEL though. For me however, prior the the shut-down, the game does an autosave for 4000 BC. If I load that game from the autosave location after restarting CIV, everything works fine. Annoying but temporary fix.

Not running patch yet.

eMachines Minitower - Sempron 3100+, 768MB, Radeon 9200, ME-home
 
Pyrbe said:
Hi,

Try running the CIV4 in non-full screen mode. You can set this up from advanced options. It worked for me (I have also HP's laptop). You can then maximize the CIV4 window, so this doesn't really decrease the gaming experience that much.

Regards,
Pyrbe
I did, still didn't help.

Has anyone gotten it to work with a mobility 9200 card on an HP?
 
i have the same problem too and am runing also Radeon 9200 SE card , windows xp pro service pack 2 , 512 ram ,Intel(R)pentium(R)4 geniune intel , but on a computer not a laptop allthough i only have this problem with patch 1.52 not with patch 1.09.... very strange .... with patch 1.09 i could play very well with lowest graphic settings , with patch 1.52 i get a vpu recover sayin that the game has reset my graphic card and game crashes .
 
I´m also having problems with starting the game...

I installed it today and loaded and installed the newest patch. But when I start the game, loading crashes always when there comes box : init MP/Voice. After that screen comes black ja machine reboots...

P4 3,2GHz
1024 RAM
Connect3D Radeon X600Pro 256Mb
Realtek HD Audio
DirectX 9.0c
XP SP2
I have all the latest drivers.

Maybe it was mistake to purchase this game... :sad: Or is there some genius to tell me, how I can get the game loaded? :)

Edit 2: I have now unistalled the game and done as told by support 2k (ATI Graphics card). Result: loading crash at "check XML" and rebooting. Then I loaded patch 1.52 and rebooted and tried to load again. Result: loading crash at "init MP/Voice" and rebooting.

I have the latest driver for my Realtek sound card. Oh, I almost forget... I also loaded Catalyst 4.12, but it helped nothing... So I´m back using Catalyst 5.13. :mad:
 
Tiger

Could you please post your Dxdiag ?

EDIT: oppps - seen bakin 2

Regards
Zy
 
Your basic problem is the Radeon 9200 Mobility graphics -its on board graphics, will therefore have considerable performance problems without the help of a graphics card

We may be able to get it to run, but it will be slow(ish), unlikely be able to play at the larger/huge map sizes, will need to reduce video quality/textures/resolution etc, and I think you will have increasing problems with Civ IV as the game develops over time. Without a Video Card to help overall processing power, you troubles can only increase over time with 3D games

I would seriously think about getting a mid range card to replace it, you will notice a significant performance increase, and much less hassle, mid range cards are not too bad in price these days. However I could not find any info on your motherboard, you would need to contact HP and talk it over with them, depending on the motherboard, it may or may not be worth it - which would mean a PC upgrade. If however the motherboard is suitable - and there is roomin the laptop - and no heating issues - then you maybe lucky and only need a Video Card.

Your Laptop Specs are here:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&cc=us&product=425541 Handy to keep a note of that if you talk to anyone about this

Meanwhile ..... Can try these, all will reduce the load on your graphics

Make sure you have loaded Patch V1.52, but, also ensure that the memsaver switch in the ini file is set to 0 (figure 0 not a letter O). The reason is that 1.52 placed more load on video cards to help those with low main RAM, if memsaver is switched on (using a 1 in the ini file entry) it switches on that feature which you dont want as your graphics card is your weak spot.

- Turn off textures in the game Options menu
- Set the game resolution to as low as possible
- set your desktop resolution to the same as you are going to use in the game
- set the desktop refresh rate to 60Hz
- Turn off any background application or services running that you dont really need (via MSconfig). That includes going off line to play Civ, and turning off Anti-V & Firewall.
- Set your pagefile to 2000mb, min=max

Video Drivers
The Video drivers you have are outdated (2004), download new drivers from here
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
Scroll down that page until you see Radeon Omega Drivers 2.5.97a (Catalyst 4.12) they are not the latest,but they are a very stable reliable set, and probably better for your older setup. If they dont work properly, try Radeon Omega Drivers 2.6.83 (Catalyst 5.11) at the top of the page

Thats a fair number of changes, if you are not confident on some post again we will try to help. If you are not confident on most, it may be better to get a friend to help with the changes. Post again with concerns etc we will try to help.

Cannot guarantee the above will solve your 9200 Mobility hassles, but if you want to try, keep in mind your aim is to reduce as much as possible the video load, and try to get the on board chip working as efficiently as you can vis drivers etc.

If you still have no significant performance increase, and I have doubts that you will, in my opinion it will be a PC upgrade if you cant fit a suitable graphics card as your graphics setup is bare minimum on a 3 year old laptop.

Regards
Zy
 
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