Direct 3D error with Sam & Max games.

Croutons

Whenever I try to start.. well, any of the Sam & Max episodes I get this error: Could not initialize Direct 3D. Make sure you have the current video drivers and you close any current applications that may be running.

My specs:

Radeon x1600 512 mb
3 gb ram
Windows Vista Ultimate
I have a sound blaster audigy 2, but it's not installed. I use USB headphones.

It wasn't doing this a week ago :(

Will

Hmm, have you installed any new programs in the past week? And does it do this after a fresh reboot?

fpostma

Is that the complete error text? Not some error complaining about ' d3dx9_29.dll ' perhaps? That one is a common Vista problem, easily solved by download/installing directx9 from Microsoft.com (Vista doesn't have a full X9 install build in)

Croutons

Will wrote: »

Hmm, have you installed any new programs in the past week? And does it do this after a fresh reboot?

No, I have made no changes to my system in the past week except updating my graphics card drivers, but I was getting the error prior. Rebooting does not help

fpostma wrote: »

Is that the complete error text? Not some error complaining about ' d3dx9_29.dll ' perhaps? That one is a common Vista problem, easily solved by download/installing directx9 from Microsoft.com (Vista doesn't have a full X9 install build in)

That is the complete error text, however, there is a secondary error that says 'Unfortunately, this error can not be fixed'. It says nothing about a DLL. I went ahead and tried this solution, but I can't get Dx9 from their website anymore It just gives me a 404, yet I'm clicking on the result in their own search engine :mad: I found it on another website, but it said I already had it or a newer version, and refused to install.

I still get the same error.

fpostma

Croutons wrote: »

I went ahead and tried this solution, but I can't get Dx9 from their website anymore It just gives me a 404, yet I'm clicking on the result in their own search engine :mad: I found it on another website, but it said I already had it or a newer version, and refused to install.

I still get the same error.

You can get an up-to-date directX set directly from Microsoft here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en

Also this thread might be usefull: http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1465

Whatever you do, do NOT download seperate directX9 dll's and copy them to your windows directory manually. That will just screw things up.

There was something about Ati card using another driverset that helped sometimes, but I forgot the name since I always use nvidia cards

Croutons

That DXsetup still says it can't install because theres a newer version or something. I went into my DX Diag and noticed something odd... It says my version is DirectX 10 My video card doesn't support DX10 and I've never installed it. I know this is a risky move to take, but is there any way to 'uninstall' or delete the current DirectX and reinstall it using the package I downloaded?

fpostma

Windows Vista by default comes with DirectX 10, that is normal. DX10 will fall back to DX9 if required either by the game or the videocard. No problems there. If DX Setup already says you have a full dx9 install (which is installed 'under' dx10 so to speak) then it's not the missing d3d dll problem I thought of.

Croutons

That's interesting. So, any other ideas? I really want to get these games running again Especially with Season 2 coming out soon!

Emily

Support FAQ wrote:

When I launch the game, I get an error message about Direct3D. What does this mean?

There are a few reasons this error could occur. To resolve the problem:

* Make sure you have DirectX 9.0 (or higher) installed. To do this, click Start, select Run, type 'dxdiag' (without the quotes) and click OK. In the window that opens, look for the DirectX version. If you do not have DirectX 8.1 or higher, you can get the latest version from Microsoft's website.

* Make sure your computer's color quality is set to 32 bit. To do this, right-click the desktop, select Properties, and go to the Settings tab. Look for "color quality" (also called "color depth") and set it to 32 bit if it isn't already. Then click OK.

* Make sure you're not running the game in compatibility mode. To do this, right-click the game executable (you'll find it in the game folder), select Properties, and go to the Compatibility tab. Make sure nothing on this tab is checked off.

* Update your video card's drivers. This error sometimes occurs if you're using older drivers.

You've already tried some of these, but checking the color depth and compatibility mode is worth a try.

Croutons

My colour depth is 32 bits. So that's fine. Compatibility mode is essentially impossible for me, since I use the gametap versions. They don't give you the EXE. I know it's not a gametap problem either, every other gametap related game is running fine. I've tried fixing the games integrity as well, doesn't do much.

I hope we eventually solve this problem! Thanks for all the help and suggestions though

Emily

I didn't realize you were using GameTap's versions. Have you contacted them about the problem? If it wasn't happening before and suddenly is now, and it's not due to a change on your machine, I'm wondering if there's any chance it's due to a change on their end...?

Croutons

I have not contacted them. I don't think it's them, because I haven't changed their program either, and as I said, everything on their end is working except sam & max, and it works right up until the program tries to start. In fact, gametap doesn't even seem to notice the fact that it won't start right. But maybe that's an error too, since GameTap usually says the next time you try to start it that the game didn't close right. I heavily doubt that it's a GameTap problem, but I'll pop over there and see, as it never hurts to check. Assuming that is that they have a forum. When it comes to those wonky support FAQs I've been through that a million times

[EDIT]Gah! Their website is a POS. It's impossible for me to contact them. As I said, I've been through their wonky support FAQs a million times, they weren't help. I found their forums, and whenever I post a new thread, they tell me to login, and it says that I suceeded at logging in, my account is displayed in the corner but when I select "Post new thread" it tells me to login again.

Will

Actually, if there is a D3D conflict, it very well might be a conflict within GameTap. If they aren't releasing the process properly, it could prevent you from starting up Sam & Max.

You might check and make sure you aren't blocking their cookies, which could prevent you from posting. If all else fails, try their forum from a different web browser (Firefox is always a favorite if you aren't already using it).

[edit] Also, its always worth deleting the game and re-downloading it. Thankfully it is quite easy to do in gametap.

Croutons

Will wrote: »

Actually, if there is a D3D conflict, it very well might be a conflict within GameTap. If they aren't releasing the process properly, it could prevent you from starting up Sam & Max.

You might check and make sure you aren't blocking their cookies, which could prevent you from posting. If all else fails, try their forum from a different web browser (Firefox is always a favorite if you aren't already using it).

[edit] Also, its always worth deleting the game and re-downloading it. Thankfully it is quite easy to do in gametap.

Firefox is my browser of choice for some time. I tried their website a second time in IE, I had already thought of that.

Uhm, I didn't even know you could delete games in GameTap without uninstalling the whole program. In fact, that was actually one of my only negatives with gametap was the fact I never knew how to remove games! :eek:

I have tried this though by reinstalling gametap and the game though

Will

heh, well ok, for future reference, you can delete games in GameTap by going to the user settings. That's the blue ring on the left. I forget which tab you go to in there, but I'm pretty sure its either the first or second tab. Says something along the lines of Harddrive Management or something. In there you can either delete all of your games, or choose a specific game from the list to remove.

Anyway, I'll keep thinking of possible solutions.

Croutons

Problem solved. It wasn't a problem with GameTap or the game, it was actually something a lot more serious. I updated my virus scanner and ran a deep scan, and found a worm lying on my hard drive :eek: I can't remember it's name, but it was in the folder where DirectX was installed and it had corrupted [thankfully not all of] some of my DirectX files, but I guess the worm was smart enough to trick windows into thinking that everything was A-OK when I would go into DXDiag. Unfortunately, after I got rid of the sucker windows still wouldn't let me reinstall direct x, so I had to do a fresh install of windows :mad: Oh well, thankfully I keep all of my important files on an external hard drive And It's not the end of the world to reinstall my games.

Anyways, I can now play Sam & Max again! Just in time too, I can't wait too play Ice Station Santa tomorrow

Will

Boo for viruses, yay for computers working again!

nepa30male

i am having the same trouble. i get the direct 3d error message. i have gone through all the steps with 32 bit an compatibility. my video driver is a geforce 4 420 60. i dont know how to check my drivers or how to update them if thats the trouble.

fpostma

nepa30male wrote: »

i am having the same trouble. i get the direct 3d error message. i have gone through all the steps with 32 bit an compatibility. my video driver is a geforce 4 420 60. i dont know how to check my drivers or how to update them if thats the trouble.

For nvidia that's fairly easy, just go to http://www.nvidia.com/drivers then select 'Legacy' as card type. This will get you the combined driver package for ALL Gforce4 and *older* cards.

For a Gforce4 on XP that would be this page: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_93.71_2.html

Remember to re-install (just install it again) directX after a driver update.

p.s. you seem to have a version 60 driver, the newest is 93 so the update is worth trying

LordErok

What is the folder where the directx fiels are located in in vista? i would like to virus scan them

fpostma

LordErok wrote: »

What is the folder where the directx fiels are located in in vista? i would like to virus scan them

Errm?? Those are system-level files, even they were infected you couldn't fix those anyway It's easier to update/re-install directX over it. Any new game has the setup on cd/dvd, or download the installer directly from Microsoft.

LordErok

I tried that, but then my cousin screwed with my cpompy and the installer won't work

fpostma

LordErok wrote: »

I tried that, but then my cousin screwed with my cpompy and the installer won't work

You probably have bigger problems than directX in that case. Sure you not to just re-install the computer to make sure it's more or less stable? There are entirely unsupported directX removal tools around, any google search will find them, but as said I'm not to sure all your problems will be solved doing that.

LordErok

What should I do then? I also have dirctx problems trying to run rhe orange box. ANy SPecific suggestions?

JeanAHough

fpostma wrote: »

Is that the complete error text? Not some error complaining about ' d3dx9_29.dll ' perhaps? That one is a common Vista problem, easily solved by download/installing directx9 from Microsoft.com (Vista doesn't have a full X9 install build in)

Hi fpostma,

Here is the d3dx9_29.dll : http://www.d3dx9.net/download-missing-d3dx9_29-dll/…download it and then extract the downloaded zip file to the system32 folder which is located in windows folder (that is located in your main drive which contains the installed windows)