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Could not initialize direct3D and error message

samwizesamwize
edited September 2012 in Game Support
Hi,

i brought cultureshock a few days ago by downloading the demo and unlocking the full game, but when i go on launch game it comes up with an error message saying 'ithis program has caused an error in USER.EXE. or KERNL.EXE.' Then after doing this it says it could not initialise direct3D but i have installed directX and Nvidia. Please could you help me i've waited a decade to play this game.

p.s. i have windowsME not XP
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Comments

  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2006
    WindowsME may be the problem. :( The game is only supported on XP.
  • samwizesamwize
    edited November 2006
    so their is no way of getting the game on windowsME, because i have tried to install XP for my Pc many times but it hasnt worked!
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2006
    It may run on ME, but it's not an operating system we've tested with the game.

    What kind of video card do you have?
  • samwizesamwize
    edited November 2006
    its a NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 100/200 software version 4.0
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2006
    I have a GeForce2 card (on an XP machine) and have received the "Could not initialize 3D" error when I installed new drivers. Rolling back to older drivers helped me in that situation, so you could try that. But I still think the error in USER.EXE or KERNL.EXE is due to your operating system.
  • samwizesamwize
    edited November 2006
    ok thanks alot this has really helped, ill keep u posted if i get it to work.
  • mduganmdugan
    edited December 2006
    I'm having the same problem -- "could not initialize direct3D."

    I have Windows XP.

    I have a GEForce Video card. Direct3D version 9c is running. dx whatever that is says it is working fine on versions 7, 8, and 9, and I see the spinning cube just fine.

    I don't know how to "roll back to old drivers."

    Help???
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2006
    Do you know what type of Geforce video card it is? To find out: right-click on your desktop, go to Properties, go to the Settings tab, click Advanced, and then the video card should have its own tab that tells you what type of Geforce card it is.

    Also, on the Settings tab, make sure your Color Quality is set for 32 bit, not 16 bit.

    And also make sure the game is NOT in compatibility mode (right-click the game .exe, select Properties, and go to the Compatibility tab).
  • mduganmdugan
    edited December 2006
    Oh, excellent, changing color quality to 32 worked!

    By the way - My video card is GEForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X. And, I'm probably doing something wrong, but when I go to the game .exe, and right-click it, and select Properties, there is no Compatibility tab. I have Windows XP Home - could it be that this tab is available only on Professional version?

    Thank you so much for solving this!:p
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited December 2006
    I'm glad that fixed it!

    I'm not sure why you wouldn't see the Compatibility tab. I have XP Home myself and it's there. Anyway, probably not something to worry about... if you ever do need to use compatibility mode, there are other ways to do it.
  • mat79mat79
    edited January 2007
    I'm now having the same error!
    The game worked before (Ep. 1 worked fine too) but now I get the Direct3D error.

    Running WinXP SP2, Geforce 6600GT, latest DirectX & drivers :(

    Edit: nevermind, a reboot fixed it
  • GlenwingGlenwing
    edited January 2008
    Mine says 'could not initialize direct 3D. You may want to check that the latest version of DirectX is currently installed on your system. Also make sure that this program as compiled with header files that match the installed DirectX DLLs.'

    -I installed DirectX 9 and 10.

    -I have no idea what the last part means.

    -I switched graphics quality to 32 bit

    -Game is not in compatibility mode

    -Video card: GEForce 2 MX 100/200

    -Operating System: Windows XP Pro

    Please offer some suggestions.
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2008
    Have you tried updating your graphics card driver? You should be able to get it here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_93.71_2.html
  • SegSeg
    edited January 2008
    Glenwing:

    Your video card, the GeForce 2 MX, is a DirectX 7 class of graphics card and doesn't meet the minimum requirements of DirectX 8 class or better. I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for you with that hardware configuration.
  • GlenwingGlenwing
    edited January 2008
    Ah. Well, thanks for the help.
  • ShermSherm
    edited January 2008
    I'm getting the same error message. All the above stuff has been checked and I'm good for all of it. I have XP and an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100. Any idea what the problem is?
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2008
    Did you try updating DirectX even if it looks like it is up to date? DX is extremely deceptive and it's always worth updating it again. Plus, so many programs modify it that it gets easily corrupted.
  • ShermSherm
    edited January 2008
    I tried, but it just keeps saying that a newer or equivalent version of DirectX is already installed. I can't find it to uninstall so I can reinstall either.
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2008
    My guess is that your Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 will not run the game. In general, integrated graphics are not supported for our games (although the games will sometimes run with them).

    Sorry. :(
  • JesWHJesWH
    edited January 2008
    Hi,

    I can't run Sam and Max ep. 202.

    When I first tried to run the game, the program crashed. The error report told me that there was a problem with d3d8.dll. When I tried to launch the game again, I was told that Direct3D couldn't be initialized.

    - All the games from Season 1 + ep. 201 run perfectly well on my computer!
    - I use 32-bit colors and don't use the compatibility mode.
    - I've tried to delete the prefs.prop file as well as reinstalling the game.
    - I use Windows XP Professional on an IBM Thinkpad T43 with an ATI Mobility Radeon X300 graphics card (apparently same setup as this guy: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3844).
    - I've updated DirectX and the drivers for my graphics card.
    - I've tried to disable my antivirus software as well as other resident programs without any luck.

    Do you have any idea why I only encounter this problem with ep. 202?

    And do you have any further ideas/suggestions? Thanks!
  • ShermSherm
    edited January 2008
    Thanks anyway guys.:(
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited January 2008
    Hey Jes,
    One thing you could try is rolling back to an older graphics card driver. I'm not sure I entirely trust the drivers on those things, based on what I have heard.

    Another thing you could try, and I have no idea if this will work, but try moving d3d8.dll to another folder and then try updating DirectX again. Just in case the file is corrupted and isn't getting fixed by updating.
  • JesWHJesWH
    edited January 2008
    Thanks, Will! I finally made the game work by uninstalling the display drivers and installing them again from scratch. Apparently, driver updating doesn't work.
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    Where could I find the display drivers for vista? I have the same problem
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    onlky my problem is wiith all the episodes
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    WHen I try to launch Sam& MAx (any episode) It comes up with this error:Direct3d could not be initialized.
    THen: unfortunately this error cannot be recovered. I am running Windows Vista and my graphics card is a intel 82945G express chipset family.

    Please help! :(
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2008
    Hey Erok, that really depends on what type of video card you have. If you don't know which one you have, go to the start menus then go to "Run." In the Run window, type "dxdiag" (minus quotes) and hit enter. This should bring up a window with all of your various computer settings. If you go to the tab that says "Display," you should see a video card name in the Device box on the upper left. That's your video card.
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    MY graphics card is an Intel 82945G EXpress Chipset Family
  • fpostmafpostma
    edited November 2008
    LordErok wrote: »
    MY graphics card is an Intel 82945G EXpress Chipset Family

    Well that's easy then, on the intel website :)

    Here they are: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2102

    You could try re-installing DirectX as well (esp. after a driver update/rollback), directX installer download here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    Tried to reinstall Directx, just got a fatal system error and told me to dheck the error logs.
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2008
    Hmm, if that happens again, you might have larger issues. I would suggest being on the safe side and running some antivirus software.
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    like norton?
  • WillWill Telltale Alumni
    edited November 2008
    So long as it is up to date, that would work.
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    cool,i'm using the one that came with my computer.
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    Yes, it's up to date and it said there were no viruses and it still won't work
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    should I try another scan or what should I do?
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    maybe i could put direct3d manually where the game looks for it. does anyone know where it looks fo it?
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    Wait, the above install error was a n internal system error, not a fatal one. Does that change anything?
    Sorry about all of the posts, I'm just really worried. give me all the things i could try
  • fpostmafpostma
    edited November 2008
    LordErok wrote: »
    Wait, the above install error was a n internal system error, not a fatal one. Does that change anything?
    Sorry about all of the posts, I'm just really worried. give me all the things i could try

    Internal errors are usually bad, it's a way of saying 'something unexpected went wrong somewhere'. Internal errors usually ARE fatal btw :)

    DirectX lives on top of your drivers (which live on top of your video hardware basically), so if directX fails to even install I would suspect the drivers. Re-installing those might help, link posted a couple of messages back.
  • LordErokLordErok
    edited November 2008
    fpostma wrote: »
    Internal errors are usually bad, it's a way of saying 'something unexpected went wrong somewhere'. Internal errors usually ARE fatal btw :)

    DirectX lives on top of your drivers (which live on top of your video hardware basically), so if directX fails to even install I would suspect the drivers. Re-installing those might help, link posted a couple of messages back.
    I reinstalled the drivers and no dice Now what?
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