New game will not load: causes XP to reboot

C

cassrat

Chieftain
Joined
Sep 6, 2006
Messages
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I am running XP, 2002 Media Center Edition
Pentium 4 3.0
1 GB RAM
Radeon X1300 512MB DDR
DirectX9.0c (did the Start-Run-dxdiag test, everything appears to be working)

1) I installed Civ 3 about six months ago, played it maybe once or twice, seems to work fine.

2) One month ago, I installed the Civ 4 demo. It seemed to install normally. I tried to load the program but it caused my computer to immediately reboot without freezing or showing an error message. After multiple uninstalls, I gave up, leaving the program uninstalled.

3) Yesterday, I purchased a copy of Civ 4. Upon attempting to install it using the autorun, the computer rebooted.

4) I uninstalled Civ 3 and then managed to install Civ 4 by clicking on setup.exe directing from the disc. Civ 4 seemed to installed without issues, using both disc 1 and 2.

5) Civ 4 will not launch. It causes my computer to immediately reboot without freezing or showing an error message. I tried launching from shortcuts and directly from the disc, to no avail.

I am mystified. My system for all intents and purposes should be more than qualified to run the program. I have never had a problem installing a game before, yet clearly Civ 4 does not like my computer. What are my next steps?

Thanks, I'd appreciate any help... I'm an old Civ 2 fan, I'm dying to play...


Cass
 
1. Apply the latest patch: http://www.civfanatics.com/civ4/patch/
2. Enable logging (if possible): http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/support_logging.htm and post init.log
3. Post your dxdiag to give some info about your computer: Start, Run, dxdiag; hit the button "Save all information", attach the resulting file to your post

Your problem might be related to copy protection / compatibility of your CD/DVD drive. Or obsolete (graphics?) drivers. Or something else.

BTW, what happens if you try to launch the game without CD in the drive?
 
6) Uninstall Civ 4, reboot. Clean discs, install Civ 4. Reboot. Attempt to launch. Computer reboots itself.

7) Install Civ 4: Warlords. This adds the Warlord expansion and provides the patch to update me to version 1.61. Reboot computer. Attempt to launch warlords: computer restarts at exactly the same point that it restarts with the regular Civ 4. It shows the loading screen and appears to be loading. At about 30% of the load (exactly when Civ is loading "Init MP/Voice") the computer reboots itself.

8) I attempt to enable logging. I open my Civ4Config - the CivilizationIV.ini file - it appears to contain nothing. In Notepad it appears that the document contains about ten rows of spaces. No text. Judging from "http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/support_logging.htm" this is not normal? I enter ": Enable the logging system LoggingEnabled = 1" anyway; this has no effect, I attempt to launch the program and nothing is logged.

When I attempt to launch either program without the CD, I am told to "Please insert the correct CD-ROM."
 

Attachments

cassrat said:
I open my Civ4Config - the CivilizationIV.ini file - it appears to contain nothing.
Click to expand...
Right - the files are generated after you first successfully launch the game. Anyway, make sure that you enable logging to the correct game - there's a separate ini file for original civ and warlords.

Your graphics driver is fairly old: 9/21/2005. Perhaps you can find a newer one.
Your audio driver is also quite old. For troubleshooting, you can add the following line to the ini file: EnableAudio=0.

This ini file option cannot harm either... Given that you've got a problem with voice: EnableVoice = 0
 
Step 9) Defragmented my comp. No change.

Wow... I searched around looking for someone experiencing the same problem, couldn't find anything. Thanks a lot. I will do some stuff and update you... this guy Timonen did not seem to find a solution however... lol!

I just tried his "solution" and changed my settings to run my compatibility to Windows 2000... then I get the exact same error message that he did: "Please insert the correct DVD-ROM"

If I can just find out what Timeon and Cossack did, that will surely be the answer to my problem. In the meantime while I try to contact him, I will update my drivers. Since I purchased this computer six months ago, I assumed everything would be up to spec. I mean, the graphics driver is about the same age as the game, right, I would think it should be able to handle the game.

Step 10) I uncheck the combatility option to Windows 2000 (since after all it isn't helping anything right now and I have XP). As one of the civ fanatic posts suggested, I DO have my system set to automatically reboot in the event of an error instead of displaying an error message. I change this, and attempt to launch Civ. When I get to Init MP/Voice I recieve this error message:

An attempt was made to execute non-executable memory.

Check to make sure new software and hardware is installed correctly, blah blah.

***STOP: 0x000000FC (0xA844A43C, 0x35FE0963, 0xF796FE88, 0x00000000)
Click to expand...
 
Step 11) Update sound and video drivers. No change. New diag provided.

I am searching other computer forums for information on this problem and while others seem to have experienced this problem before, it's over a range of applications and doesn't seem to have a pattern... and no one seems to solve it. If this was any other game I'd give up by now, but I want to play Civ!
 
There does not appear to be any drivernames mentioned in the message. The numbers fluctuate; only 0x000000FC and 0x00000000 stay the same.

I've already searched for trojans, viruses and adware. Nada.

I will try reinstalling DirectX if you like, but I have other games that require DirectX9.0c as Civ does, and they work fine. I have games from Ubisoft, Rockstar games, EA Games, Atari, Stardock games, they all work fine.

Weeird... 4am and still no Civ :(
I'll look for motherboard drivers.

The 0x000000FC error is weird. Like I said, there's info on it to be had but it doesn't seem to be related to anything I'm doing. Y'know?

Thanks for all your help crunch. Even if I still can't play Civ, I recognize that my problem is unusual and I SHOULD by all rights be playing it right now with your patience. lol.

I sent an email to tech support with my dxdiag, msinfo, error message, and a recounting of the steps I've taken to identify the problem.
 
Ok I checked again.. it looks like I do have some logs now! Keep in mind this is a new install of Civ; I've only attempted launching once on this one if that means anything.

Here is what my log says:

[263.953] ERR: InitWinApp() failed, exiting
[263.953] ERR: CIV Init FAILED, exiting
Click to expand...

That is all. It doesn't look very informative to me.
 
Is that the init.log? Aha, right. This is probably still an init.log with the copy protection failure in windows2k compatibility mode. Normally, you should probably get something like this:
[4420.593] DBG: CIV Init
[4420.593] VERSION: App: C:\Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Civilization4.exe
[4420.593] VERSION: Build: Thu Dec 22 04:17:25 2005
[4420.593] VERSION: 1.5.2.1736 (42422)
[4420.593] VERSION: Mod Loaded: none
[4420.796] DBG: FILE Cat Init
[4421.078] DBG: NOT Using XML cache, failed to find crc.dat file
[4421.078] DBG: Game Init
[4421.093] DBG: Multiplayer Init BEGIN
[4421.187] DBG: Multiplayer Init END
...
I am not sure how will this help us but it would be a proof that at least something is working...
 
I hope the tech support gets back to me within a couple days. Otherwise I'll be forced to buy Age of Empires. :(

I just don't understand how this program will not run on my computer.
 
gr... well before I do that... I'll wait and see what Civ tech says.

I updated my bios btw. Just in case. Didn't work.

At least I'm getting my computer maintenance done.
 
Data execution prevention (DEP) is a set of hardware and software technologies that perform additional checks on memory to help protect against malicious code exploits. In Windows XP Service Pack 2, DEP is enforced by both hardware and software.
--Microsoft TechNet, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/sp2mempr.mspx[/i]
Click to expand...


Step 12) My error, "An attempt was made to execute non-executable memory", is the DEP interfering with Civ. I decided to follow these instructions to add "civilizationIV.exe" to the DEP's exception list. This did not work. I then chose to disable the DEP from everything but the essential processes. This also did not work.

According to Microsoft Tech, the DEP could be having an issue with Civ's coding, or it could be having an issue with the way one or more of my drivers was being forced to enable Civ's coding. Since the DEP was set to only deal with essential processes, and Civ itself is not an essential process, I decided that problem must be with the drivers, since they are probably deemed essential and thus still in the territory of the DEP.

Step 13) So, I disabled the DEP entirely. This is not an option provided normally, so I followed these instructions posted by crunch explaining how to disable the DEP from msconfig while in safe mode.

While this did not allow my Civ to launch, I believe the DEP was masking the real problem. Because now my error message has changed... to "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal". This problem has occurred for other users... no doubt users NOT running Service Pack 2 and its infuriating DEP.

So we're now down to the real problem which is a driver compatibility issue. Yay!
 
Nice progress! The "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal" error message should also show a driver name, isn't that so? Can that bring us further?
 
Today I purchased CivCity: Rome. This game calls for pretty much the same specs as Civ, and being associated with Firaxis, I was a little concerned that there would be problems. However the game installed and is able to run without any issue whatsoever. It proves to be a pleasant city builder and a nice change from my modern city builder from Monte Cristo, Citylife. While CivCity may not be the child of Civ that I thought it would be, the emphasis it places on research is interesting.

But I have not given up on Civ IV. Soo...

Step 14) I uninstalled my video card driver from ati and installed a driver provided by Omegadrivers.net. This has been suggested in other areas of the forum as a solution to driver compatibility issues which I may be suffering from. So, I uninstalled my ati driver, rebooted, used Driver Cleaner Pro to get rid of any remaining driver stuff. I attempted to run CivCity as my "control" subject while using a dll file as a driver... just on a whim. This did not work of course. So I installed the omega driver without issue, and CivCity was able to run. Civ IV however, stopped at Init MP/Voice. This time I did not recieve a specific error message such as "an attempt was made to execute" or "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal". Instead I received this:


...In particular, try a memory check, check for faulty or mismatched memory. Try changing video adapters...

***STOP: 0x0000007F (0x00000000, .....
Click to expand...

I am compiling a list of statistics that I find from civfanatics users who appear to be suffering from my problem: unable to load a new installed game, or recieving the irql error, or otherwise qualified machinery not being able to play. I am recording on Spreadsheet what kind of systems they are running and what measures they took to get the game to play. So far I have not found anyone who was able to solve the problem. I think this is a Civ IV bug. If I am able to provide more information, perhaps a patch can be formed.
 
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