I hope that Lethal's new link works for you.
I have noticed that some Vista installations include DirectX 10 but are missing some DX9 files.

I think there is a redistributable version of DX IN the Vegas 2 DVD. You might also try that one.

Another thing is the video driver. Sometimes NEW driver break support for an "old" game. Try an older driver, maybe 6 months to 1 year back.

Did you have a virus problem lately?
Sometimes if your antivirus program finds an infected file it just deletes it. Even if it is a critical system file. If that happened to you, is almost impossible to know what exactly was erased so it would be best to just reinstall Vista.
If you notice another program also has problems they might also be related to a missing system file.

I know I'm grasping at straws here... but just trying to help and this has happened to me in the recent past.

Best of luck!

At this point it is only a guessing game as there are many things that could be causing this problem.

If the Vegas 2 DVD has the redistributable version of Direct X, it would be a year old, so the new link I posted would be much more up to date.

I noticed that the first link I posted (1 year old) was 69.5 MB.
The new one is 92.4 MB.
So that would be 22.9 MB of new files .. if my math is correct!!

Hopefully, there will be something included that will be of some help.

Here is the link again since this thread went to page 2:
Direct X Redistributable March 2009

================================================

According to Microsoft's site, these are the systems that this version is compatable with:

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows Vista 64-bit Editions Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Business N; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Home Basic; Windows Vista Home Basic 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Home Basic N; Windows Vista Home Premium; Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Starter; Windows Vista Starter N; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition; Windows XP; Windows XP 64-bit; Windows XP Home Edition ; Windows XP Home Edition N; Windows XP Media Center Edition; Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional N; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ; Windows XP Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 3; Windows XP Starter Edition; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Another hint to figure out sound board compatibility issues:

Disable the sound board in the BIOS or alternatively in the Device Manager and start the game again to see if it works now, without sound.

If yes, your sound board is the problem, regardless of the driver. If no, it's a entirely different issue.

Hey all,

I installed XP as a dual boot and the game works flawlessly in XP, under Windows 7 or Vista I have this black screen problem.
I really think it is the Direct3D Sound that gives the problem though, not the computer, video card or the game it self.

Just my .02

Richard

Glad you got it working Richard!!

I didn't make that suggestion because most here wouldn't know how to setup dual boot, and most wouldn't have or wouldn't purchase another OS just to play a game.

I run a dual boot with XP Pro and Win 7 beta.

I still much prefer XP Pro for gaming over Vista, but you will find some here who love Vista and have no problems running V2 on it.

I do have a couple of systems running Vista Ultimate, but only because I got the disks free in a Microsoft feedback program.
(There is nothing free for testing Win 7)

I do believe there are more issues with 64 bit than 32 bit versions though.

It's good to hear that you got it solved!

The funny thing is: You said it did work initially, so I wonder what broke it? Maybe one of those updates.

In both XP and Vista, whenever is necessary I do a clean reinstall, add SP2 to XP or SP1 to Vista and DISABLE the automatic updates. That seems to be the way the system lasts longer.
If I enable the updates, sooner or later one of them causes trouble.

Yes, I'm running xp pro with sp2 on a ssd I just bought, I might try to install vista clean and than install directx 10 and see if that is the problem, I really don't want to run dual boot, but I will if i have to to play the game.

I like windows 7 although it's getting sluggish after using it for about a week.

Thanks all for the tips and see you online "RIP rperre"

Richard

thanks for the ideas for messing with the sound.

My brother in law will not run a dual boot system. Not worth the hassle for him. I am pretty sure it is not a video driver issue as we both use the same video drivers and it works fine for me. Not really a vista issue either as my best friend runs it on vista 64 bit with no issues at all.

So seems likely a hardware issue and sound is the next thing I will try when I can.

You could try disabling sound in BIOS to see if that helps.

You could also try a sound card.
But still disable onboard sound in BIOS.

You are on the right track with a process of elimination.

Good luck!

Disabling the sound in Bios doesn't work. If the game doesn't see sound, it will not start.

I'm really starting to think it is the Directx Sound that is messing up things, not the sound cards and drivers we use. It might be a combination.

Does everybody with this blackscreen problem have problems with Vegas 2 giving the Sound problems while playing, like a gun shooting continuously etc....

Don't want to point fingers, but...... Directx????

Richard

quote:

Originally posted by rperre:
Disabling the sound in Bios doesn't work. If the game doesn't see sound, it will not start.

Ah, sorry to see that - didn't try it myself for that game, but for another one, where this method helped to single out the problem.

quote:

(...)

Don't want to point fingers, but...... Directx????

Nah, then you would have the problem with (almost) every game you own.

Trust me, its the game.

But I also experienced with some friend, that he could play EVERY game, but one (ET:QW) on his computer, because the game cocked up with his on-board sound.

The machine gun loop is one that everyone experiences online.
In fact, I have had it happen on a LAN!

That is a bug in the game and has been present since Vegas 1.

Ubisoft finally fixed it though!
They abandoned the game and the gaming community!

If no one plays the game any longer .. no one will hear it!

bmw_hg did you get the problem solved?

Sorry for hijacking your thread like this, really should have started my own.

Richard

no luck yet, updated the sound card driver and tried disabling the sound card, no luck.

Hey, I still have problems, now my computer keeps resetting. Strange.....

I really think it's my power supply now, it is only rated at 20A on the 12V, I think I need more like 30A to run everything smoothly.

I tried testing this by disconnecting a few of my hard drives and DVD drives and fans. It worked for a little, than it reset when the 3D graphics got heavier.

Maybe something for you to look at too.

My power supply is an ANTEC TRUE 430P, looks to me like to little for my Q6600 system with the 8800GTS installed.

Richard