FarCry freeze on startup; running out of ideas | Forums

[AlbuquerqueFX]

Hardware:
Dell Inspiron e1505
Intel Core Duo T2300
1GB DDR2 memory at 667mhz
ATI x1300 Hypermemory - 64 onboard, 192 shared
Toshiba 80GB, 5400 RPM, 2mb cache SATA HDD
TSSTCorp DVD+-RW TW-l532B drive; firmware DE03 dated 07/28/05
SigmaTel High Definition Audio
BroadCom 440x wired nic, Intel 3945 A/B/G

Software:
WinXP Media Center SP2
DirectX 9.0c
OmegaDrive 6.3
I've unloaded all the Dell bloatware

Problem:
I'm installing FarCry for the first; got it cheap at Target. Because I know this game has been out for eons, my idea was to perform the install first, all the patches next, and then start running. And so I did -- install first, patch 1.1, then 1.3, then 1.31, then 1.32, then 1.33. I found out later I didn't need to install 1.1, but oh well.

With the patching done, I placed Disc 1 in my tray and selected Play from the menu. The splash screen comes up... and... the CD reads itself silly for a few seconds... and... about a minute later it bombs with:

Event Type: Information
Event Source: DrWatson
Event Category: None
Event ID: 4097
Date: 5/21/2006
Time: 9:29:06 PM
User: N/A
Computer: LOUJDP5928-DELL
Description:
The application, C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Crytek\Far Cry\Bin32\FarCry.exe, generated an application error The error occurred on 05/21/2006 @ 21:29:06.031 The exception generated was c0000005 at address 1008B829 (~df394b!CModuleMonitor__IsModuleWithinLimits)

What? Huh?

Originally I was using the Dell video drivers that came with the unit, so I replaced them twice -- once with updated ones from Dell's site, and again with the latest Omega Drivers. This IGP isn't supported by ATI's official Catalyst driver set, so I didn't go there (but I tried...)

Next I opened up the FarCry configurator and cranked everything down to the lowest settings possible. No luck there either.

I uninstalled FarCry completely, blew away the associated InstallShield files and the Ubisoft directory, then reinstalled and tried launching without any patches -- that failed too.

I went so far as to log into Microsoft and download Vista 5381 from the MyConnect site. And while the 5381 build is actually quite stable and I just might stick with this one, it still didn't fix my FarCry issue either. Another OS reinstall with XP Pro Sp2 slipstream did nothing either.

I've turned DMA off and on, I've gone looking for updated firmware for my DVD drive, I've even updated the BIOS on my machine. There's exactly jack squat that I've been able to find to make this thing budge.

But do you want to know what's really irritating?

I can "play" the game via the Sandbox editor. I can load up any map I want, flip to "Enter Game Mode" (or whatever it's called) and play right there inside the editor. I can hear the guards, I can walk around, I can drive vehicles... But I can't really play the game, as I'm "stuck" here in the editor which breaks things like being able to go to the next level or change key mappings or video settings or load saved games.

So, what am I missing? Anyone?

[AlbuquerqueFX]

Ha. Shows you how carefully I searched...

I found my issue, it's called Draconian Copy Protection I went and searched for my Dr Watson error that I pasted above, low-and-behold I find it is related to optical disc reader hardware that chokes on certain DRM / copy protection schemes. I found out these TSSTCorp drives have some serious issues with that...

So, ten minutes talking to a Dell Dude (TM) and they're sending me a new drive. Keeping my fingers crossed that they don't send me just another TSSTCorp unit...

[AlbuquerqueFX]

Thought I'd just follow up in case anyone ever reads this in the future...

Dell's replacement for my TSSTCorp drive was an NEC ND6550 8x DVD+-RW DL that actually has slightly more dual layer write functionality than my previous unit. It also had no problem with the copy protection; it booted FarCry faster than even my desktop does.

As for my x1300, the performance isn't stellar but is certainly useable. Medium settings are certainly playable within Vista, but I'm willing to bet that I could turn up one or two of the settings to high if I were on an XP box.

Why you might ask? Because none of the ATI Vista drivers have any support for SM2.0 or later; I'm stuck in SM1 mode. As such, I lose most of the cool pixer shader effects. Oh well, such is the life of early adoption I suppose.