CtD after 'Sounds Initializing...' on Windows 95, and setting program won't run

[wryun]

System Information:

Game Version & Patch (incl. country):
1.05 US

OS & build/SP:
Windows 95, SP1 (I think... though for some reason it's reporting 4.00.950 rather than 4.00.950a)

Computer, CPU & speed:
Celeron 300 (overclocked to 450)

RAM:
192mb

Free HDD space:
500mb or so

Video (brand, model, driver, memory):
S3 Trio64V2/GX, 2mb RAM, latest driver from s3graphics.com

Sound (brand, model, driver):
Sound Blaster 16, non-PnP, latest driver from creative.com

DirectX Version:
DirectX 8 on installation CD. 8.1 won't install (needs win98, I think)

Things I have tried so far:

Clean install of win95.
Installed graphics, sound, DirectX 8.
Installed eu2.
Settings programs says it requires OLE32AUT.DLL or something.
Fixed that, but settings program won't run (appears in close programs box, but nothing comes up on screen, and refuses to terminate - have to wait for end task box).
On running EU2, says WS2_32.DLL missing. Fixed that.
Bink video runs fine (but later disabled anyway).
Game crashes to desktop after 'Sounds Initializing', giving GPF in explorer (module USER.EXE).
I disable everything... no sound/video acceleration (via dxdiag and control panel), change clock speed back to 300, and eventually remove the sound card driver.

Still crashes in the same place.

Help?

 

[viper37]

1) clock your pc at the speed it should run, i.e. 300mhz and try it that way.
2) WS2_32.dll is a winsock 2 dll wich requires Win95 OSR2 ("b").

 

[wryun]

Originally posted by wryun

On running EU2, says WS2_32.DLL missing. Fixed that.

'Fixed that' means I did... i.e. it now doesn't have a problem with the missing DLL after installing Winsock 2. This is not on OSR2... so are you sure about that info?

change clock speed back to 300

So, as I pointed out in the original post, I disabled the overclocking. And there was absolutely no difference (note that I've since installed other Direct X games on this clean install without problems, so it is very much EU2 specific).

 

[wryun]

Hmm, maybe I gave too much information. Basically, what I was trying to say was I tried everything suggested in the FAQ, but still have problems.

These problems are:

- the settings program won't start.
- EU2 crashes on startup (when the bar is about 1/3 through, after displaying 'Sound Initializing...')

 

[unmerged(6777)]

I gather from your initial post that you've also disabled the binkplayer by renaming the avi filder too, right?

Have you tried reducing system cache? If you let Windows manage it then it might very well be allocating all 500Mb remaining. Try restricting it to something like 200Mb.

Also...open the settings.cfg file in the EU2 folder with notepad and change it to read:

[color=yellow]1
0
0
"SCREEN_SIZE_X 800"
"SCREEN_SIZE_Y 600"
"MUSIC_OFF"
"europa.valkyrienet.com"[/color]

This wil disable sound for you (you could still use Winamp or another MP3 player to listen to the music).

Let us know how that works.

 

[viper37]

Re: Re: CtD after 'Sounds Initializing...' on Windows 95, and setting program won't run

Originally posted by wryun
So, as I pointed out in the original post, I disabled the overclocking. And there was absolutely no difference (note that I've since installed other Direct X games on this clean install without problems, so it is very much EU2 specific).

sorry I didn't see that part.

I am quite sure Winsock 2 requires OSR2 to work properly, but if I get time, I'll search MSKB; hopefully, T's suggestion will work for you.

 

[wryun]

Thanks for the help...

I finally managed to get it sorted out. Haven't bothered confirming that it was exactly this, but the main thing that I changed was installing more of the network stuff for windows (I'd just installed the TCP/IP protocal and the driver for my network card to get ws2_32.dll installed, without bothering to put a client in. I don't think it liked that).

Unfortunately the settings program still won't work. But that's a very minor problem, especially considering it runs like a dog in 1024x768, but quite reasonably in 800x600. Something to do with having a 2mb card? It ran quite well on the computer I used previously (PIII 550, 32mb graphics).

(re winsock2... it doesn't matter at all, thanks. This computer is not networked... it just wanted to find the dll on startup.)

 

[unmerged(6777)]

Don't worry about the "settings" program since it's easy enough to manually edit the cfg file (as above). The 2Mb video card is, as you guessed, the most likely the culprit for slow performance with higher res.

Glad you're up and running and able to get your portable EU2 fix. I travel on occasion as well and I know how you feel.