Cannot launch game -- Black screen then minidump.

What should I do?

from Sins Forums
Everytime I launch the game I get a black screen which goes to a minidump. I never actually see the main menu, or anything for that matter.

System Specs:
nVidia GeForce 8600 -- Latest Drivers from nVidia
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8GHz
2 GB PC6400 DDR2 Ram
Direct X 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

I've installed the game on a separate HDD that has over 100GB of free memory.

Any help / tips is greatly appreciated, I'd like to play the game!
4,035 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Hi, please send us the minidump and your dx output and we'll take a look at it right away. In the meantime, try disabling the movies. It will be in something like C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Setting\user.setting. It can be opened with notepad and you want to change ShowIntroMovies TRUE to ShowIntroMovies FALSE.  Also try dropping the MULTISAMPLETYPE to 0.

*If you are using Vista, the directory is likely C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
Changing ShowIntroMovies to FALSE did not fix the issue. I also tried setting it to start in a windowed mode which also did not work. Changing MULTISAMPLERATE also did not work.

Minidump file: http://www.4shared.com/file/19693973/18ad1548/Sins_of_a_Solar_Empireexevb3307112043.html

DxDiag file: http://www.4shared.com/file/19693846/4228d833/DxDiagAndy.html

When you go to these URLs, please wait a moment for the download link text to appear.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

Thanks we have them. Get back to you shortly.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Also -- and I don't know is this effects anything -- I was able to load the game yesterday, and amidst my playing, I tabbed out and force-quit the program while on my desktop. This is when the issue started, and I've reinstalled the game 5 times now, the fifth time was installed on a completely different harddrive.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
It looks like a direct input problem. Can you join me on IRC to track it down. irc.stardock.com /join #sins.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Yes, I'm on now.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Ok for future reference here is how this one was fixed. Make sure you can run dxdiag. If dxdiag complains about a directinput problem you likely have some weird USB device plugged in or you recently changed keyboard/mouse/webcam or any of their drivers. If directx can't provide Sins with access to directinput, it will crash. In this case, and I kid you not, the culprit was a USB Missile Launcher. LOL Check it out here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/86b8/

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Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Ok for future reference here is how this one was fixed. Make sure you can run dxdiag. If dxdiag complains about a directinput problem you likely have some weird USB device plugged in or you recently changed keyboard/mouse/webcam or any of their drivers. If directx can't provide Sins with access to directinput, it will crash. In this case, and I kid you not, the culprit was a USB Missile Launcher. LOL Check it out here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/86b8/


B




that is freaking hilarious