Page 1 of 1

Game not starting under Windows 2008 server

Posted: Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:35 pm
by Lagen
Hello,

I couple of months ago bought a new, better computer for gaming and after I installed NCP it didn't start. Not either before or after patching.Now, I have rather unusual OS: Windows 2008 server 32-bit version(students can get free from Microsoft), but this is the first game that I have had serious trouble. Installing, pathing or startting as adminstrator don't change what happens. Compatibility modes weren't use either. There was no logs of any kind in ncp folders. After digging around I found that NCP.exe generates following error messages:

This is after the current patch:
Faulting application NCP.exe, version 0.0.0.0, time stamp 0x2a425e19, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 6.0.6001.18000, time stamp 0x4791a76d, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x000bf285, process id 0xc30, application start time 0x01c9ac630ae4201b.

This is from fresh install:
Faulting application NCP.exe, version 1.0.2.3, time stamp 0x2a425e19, faulting module kernel32.dll, version 6.0.6001.18000, time stamp 0x4791a76d, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x000bf285, process id 0x968, application start time 0x01c9a6676a3c5213.

Google told me that exception code 0xc0000005 is Access Violation, which has couple reasons: memory, windows, drivers, malware or software. As I don't have some problems with other games/programs I suspect either windows or NCP not supportting it. Note that World war 1 demo starts and runs just fine. And the older computer runs NCP just fine, just little too slow for comfortable game play.

Hope this helps. I can try provide more information if needed.

Lagen

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:43 pm
by Pocus
Can you alter <game path>\NCP\settings\general.opt by editing the LogBatch entry to LogBatch =1 and restart.

Tell us if there is a log generated.

Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:26 pm
by Lagen
Did just that and no files at \NPC\Logs\

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:52 pm
by Nikel
No idea if the problem is related with your version of Windows or with NCP, but is your windows version up to date?


If it is and you cannot wait you could try the SP2, note that it is still RC though should be RTM soon

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=dca54ecc-362a-4b4d-b62b-22780e839a7e


The list of fixes is here. There are some compatibility items (in may, august and december 2008), but if you use windows update you should have them already installed

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=143706

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:13 pm
by ShovelHead
You might want to install the latest version of DirectX 9.0c 9.26.1590 released last week. I'm not sure but Server 2K8 might not have DirectX 9 installed by default.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3#QuickInfoContainer

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:45 pm
by Lagen
Nikel: Windows was/is updated, no change and I don't want to risk the sp2 beta. I can wait for it.

ShovelHead: My copy installed directx10 as default and for example I use directx9 in Lord of the Rings Online and some other games.

Thank you for advice, even if weren't much help

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 5:38 pm
by Pocus
Have you tried disabling for a test some TSR apps? It has been known (rarely) that the game can crash if there is a multi-media application in memory (Winmap, WMP...) or an anti-spyware. It can be worth the try to run without anything fancy in memory.

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:34 am
by Lagen
I removed every non-essential process from memory and it didn't help at all.

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:29 am
by Nikel
Where did you download your Windows server 2008?

Yesterday I tried to install it but could not because the setup could not find a file :bonk:


From here?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B6E99D4C-A40E-4FD2-A0F7-32212B520F50&displaylang=en

Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 11:20 pm
by Nikel
OK, managed to install it in a different partition.

Unfortunately I get the same error here, the game will not start. Not even installing directX 9 and SP2 RC solves it :bonk:



[ATTACH]6876[/ATTACH]




Found this site, perhaps it is useful for you, convert your WS 2008 into a workstation with some tips, including a section for compatible games

http://www.win2008workstation.com/wordpress/

Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2009 5:04 pm
by Lagen
http://www.win2008workstation.com/wordpress/2008/03/29/disable-data-execution-prevention/

I tried disabling DEP, but it didn't help. But unrelated to this I found how to calibrate joystick from that website and it looks otherwise as quite useful for learning that OS.

And it is good to hear that the problem probably isn't in my hardware.

I got my version of windows 2008 from [url]dreamspark.com[/url].