Episode 104 crashes at startup

Wildsparrow

Hi,

I downloaded the free version of Sam and Max 104. When I click on the Sam and Max shortcut a "reminder" pop up appears and that's it. Nothing more. In this "reminder" I can subscribe for a newsletter. The only way to get rid of this "reminder" is to kill it via the task manager. After that a white screen appears for half a second and aero is turned off. After that the screen disappears and aero is turned on again.

I checked the "run as administrator" check box in the properties but there was no improvement. I found in the FAQ that I should delete the prefs.prop file in the game directory, but doing that there was no improvement either.

What do I have to do to get the game started?

I'm using Vista x64 on an AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+, 3 GB RAM and a GeForce 6600GT (latest drivers)

Xan

I'm also having a startup crash of free version of Sam&Max episode 4. Downloaded it via Steam, and it refuses to run with a crash in DRM component (sammax104_drm.exe).
Game crashes right after Steam's "Preparing to run..." phase finishes.

Running Russian version of Windows XP SP2 on an Intel C2D E6600 / 2Gb RAM / 640 Mb GF8800GTS PC. English version of Steam.
Kaspersky AntiVirus (though I tried disabling it), Outpost Firewall.

Ready to provide any further details.

basic crash information: (
AppName: sammax104_drm.exe AppVer: 0.0.0.0 ModName: sammax104_drm.exe
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset: 00311379
)

Emily

This is probably the same problem in both cases, even though it manifests a little differently in the two versions.

Could you give us your other system specs (video card, directX version, etc.)?

EDIT: My mistake, I thought both of these posts had been made by the same person. :S

Xan

Emily wrote: »

This is probably the same problem in both cases, even though it manifests a little differently in the two versions.

Could you give us your other system specs (video card, directX version, etc.)?

I wouldn't be so quick to judge, I don't know if Steam is the only platform for free S&M ep, but the topic starter didn't mention Steam. Also, he gets something to load up and _hang_, while mine apparently dies at initial license check..

Sure, more specs:
latest DirectX, latest video drivers (I mentioned GeForce 8800GTS).. I keep my PC updated

Downloaded the game via Steam, local cache integrity verification succeeds, updates on, didn't launch at all. Steam language selected: English, tried shutting down antivirus/firewall.

Error type: Access violation, address 00711379.
If someone suggests that it is required to include a memory dump (and suggests how to do so, because I can't copy&paste from crash details and the corresponding file in Temp gets created yet is empty), I'll do so.

Anything else?

Wildsparrow

Thanks for the fast reply. I do not use steam for Sam and Max.

As I mentioned I'm using a GeForce 6600GT with the latest drivers 169.04 I'm also running the latest DirectX version (November 2007). Actually, anything is up to date.

There isn't any error message at all.

Will

Hey Wildsparrow, did you attempt to redownload and reinstall? There is a possibility that your download is faulty, causing your launcher to not be functioning properly.

As for Xan, sammax104_drm.exe is just the name of the game exe, so it isn't necessarily crashing during verification. As for your crash... hmm. Even though you are up to date and verified, I'm amazed at how often reinstalling the game and DirectX actually solves problems, so its worth a shot.

This might be a problem with their drm freaking out on your computer, but I honestly don't know their setup. Make sure you have nothing running in the background?

pipthepixie

I have the exact same problem as the original poster (Reminder screen appears, nothing else happens, need to terminate the process to close it), except that I'm running it under Ubuntu Linux using Wine

Apparently the CD-ROM of Season 1 works just fine.

I am using an AMD Athlon64 Processor 3400+ with an ATI Radeon 9800. Only obvious similarity in specs that I can see is the 64-bit processor.

JcaEtoF

I am experiencing the same issue as Wildsparrow and pipthepixie (the game hangs at the Reminder screen).

I have uninstalled, re-downloaded (from http://www.telltalegames.com/download/lincolnmustdie), and re-installed the game with no success. In between installations I also updated my graphics driver and reinstalled DirectX.

I am running 64 bit Vista on a nForce 680i motherboard with an Intel E6700 and two 8800 GTX's in SLI.

Thank you for your time.

Wildsparrow

I deinstalled the game, downloaded it again (this time from the telltalegames site, first time from chip.de) and installed it again (this time I checked "run as administrator").
Now I have three options to start the game:
Just click on the shortcut - same problem
Run as administrator - same problem
Compatibility mode: WinXP SP2 and run as administrator - same problem


So .... I think I (we) have to wait for a 64bit patch? ;-)

Will

Out of curiosity, have any of you guys played any of the other games in x64? If not, would you mind downloading a demo from one of the other episodes and seeing if that works?

Also, try disconnecting your internet before starting it up. The wrapper behaves differently if you are offline.

JcaEtoF

I just downloaded the demo of episode 6 and it worked fine. In the reminder screen of the demo there are two buttons on the right side ("Play the FREE TRIAL", and "Play the $8.95 FULL VERSION"), but there's no "play" button on the reminder screen of episode 4. I am not currently able to disconnect from the internet. However, I did notice that even though I am online that the reminder screen of episode 4 had boxes that indicated it was in offline mode.

ixis

I'm having the same problem as everyone else, but I was able to run the game before last night. I downloaded the full version the day it came out and last night (around the time the Telltale site went down for maintenance) the game wouldn't go past the reminder/update screen.

So I don't think it's a hardware issue, but something on Telltale's end that's causing the reminder/update screen to not run.

Windows XP 2002, Intel Pentium 4, 512 RAM and... I can't figure out what kind of video card is in this thing, but it's some kind of generic nVidia I believe (but again, it's not the computer that's the problem.)

TelltaleTool

Does it work now? There was indeed a server problem that made the launcher not work (Sorry!) but it should be fixed now.

JcaEtoF

I just downloaded and installed it and am still running into the same problem. I've tried running it both online and off. When offline, I see a black box below the game title that says "Offline Mode," and when online it's just the background picture. In both cases there are two more "offline" boxes below it that indicate that I cannot use the comic browser or view the latest blog entry.

deleted_kuhyqvdm19241

I had the same problem and I found a solution- you need to delete the temp file the game creates. Right click the reminder window and choose properties, the address there will show the file you need to delete and where it is on your computer (probably something like C:\Documents and Settings\Local Settings\Temp\HTM74.tmp). Each time you try to launch the game it creates another one of those files so you need to delete all of them (HTM73.tmp, HTM72.tmp etc.)
You'll need to do this every time you launch the game...

EDIT: bleh. It worked every time I tried it before but when I tried again just now it didn't work. It can't hurt to try, though,

Xan

As for me, the problem is solved. By itself. I can't really tell what solved it, maybe just a reboot, maybe Steam updated something while I wasn't looking. Everything works now, so sorry for the fuss.

Menor

I've got the same problem. I downloaded originally from FilePlanet, then twice from Telltale. I've installed to two different locations. Updated my video drivers. Same thing every time.

Thanks in advance!

Pentium 4
Windows XP Pro SP2
ATI Radeon X850

Emily

Sorry I'm a little slow on the uptake today. For those who are getting no launch button when online, if you go offline are you then able to launch the game? I know the links to the blog, etc. won't work while offline, but I want to know if the game itself will run for you when you're offline.

If someone could post a screenshot of what you're seeing in the reminder window, that might help us narrow this down.

Also - when you are on the reminder window and the button won't load, try hitting F5 to refresh a few times. Does that change anything?

TelltaleTool

This should be fixed now, actually. It was totally my fault after the site update, sorry

(Actually, it was fixed about an hour ago, but I'm just posting that fact now)

Jake

One more note on this: The other reason people might not be getting a "Launch" button is if they have JavaScript disabled in their Internet Explorer options. Lincoln Must Die's launch screen is very web-centric, and requires JavaScript enabled to run properly.

Menor

Yep, working now. Thanks, tabacco.

ixis

Working here too! Awesome!! ^_^

But it says I'm in offline mode when I'm clearly online... Though it's probably some problem on my end.

TelltaleTool

The offline mode thing is probably the result of having to do online checking by fetching a url with a short timeout. It's kind of unreliable

All you're missing out on is a forum and blog tracker, and since you're here anyway, you're likely not missing much

Wildsparrow

Yeah, it's working now. I just tried to start the game again, then hit the F5 button several times and then it started

JcaEtoF

Hmm, that didn't seem to help. However, I started clicking where I expected a "Launch" button would be and can ultimately get it to run. I'm still not sure why the button doesn't appear, but now that I have figured out how to start the game it's hardly an issue.

Thank you for your time.

Jake

Sorry for the funky bug! Fortunately it's in the free version, and even more fortunately, you can work around it! Hopefully we can correct the weird issues people are having at some point here.

Jazzax

I am still getting the same problem. I have checked my ie settings. I can occasionally see the launch button if i refresh the loader and tab down, but i cannot launch the game.

As with many other people who posted in this thread I am running x64 vista

Can someone maybe post a screenshot of where i should be clicking (if i can indeed launch the game without seeing the button?)

Cimmo

some things:
I'm playing ep.4 under kubuntu 7.10+wine 0.9.49 it works great, the first page is displayed in html format (the code I mean), however just pressing ok run the game.

Another thing: why make available the game only in english? Subtitles I think are not so big to add.
Or why don't let download a separate package? Will be helpful, I know english, but some slangs are not so easy for non-native

TelltaleTool

Actually, with free 104, closing the launcher window using the normal 'Close' button on the top right should also launch the game.

Jazzax

Nope, the reminder screen does not have a close button. The only way i can quit it is through the task manager. When i do this, it loads the telltale splash screen like it is going into the game, and then quits out.

TelltaleTool

Oh right... Have you tried Alt-F4?

Jazzax

Sure have

prongs43

For some reason, whenever I go back to the office, it crashes. Anyone else have this happen to them?

Will

Hmm, it's likely you have a corrupted installation (reinstalling would fix this).

theJPster

Hi,

I bought E201, which ran fine on my laptop. I finished it and all was good. While I'm waiting for E202, I thought I'd try E104 (Abe Lincoln Must Die). However, when I run it it pops up a box straight away that says

"SamMax104.exe has stopped working. A problem has caused the program to stop working. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."

I've tried running as admin and XP SP2 compatibility mode, but they didn't help.

Spec:
Acer Extensa 4220 laptop
Vista Home Basic x86
Celeron M 530
Intel 965 Express Graphics (driver v7.14.10.1244 WHQL)
Realtek audio (driver v6.0.1.5423 WHQL)

I've shut down my AV and spyware programs temporarily, as well as Google Desktop and Updater. Still no joy.

Thank goodness Season 2 is OK

theJPster

theJPster

Fixed it

(76c.97c): Unknown exception - code c0000096 (first chance)
(76c.97c): Unknown exception - code c0000096 (!!! second chance !!!)
eax=564d5868 ebx=00000000 ecx=0000000a edx=00005658 esi=00228ef0 edi=00005f4e
eip=002036ee esp=0012e798 ebp=0012e7a0 iopl=0         nv up ei pl zr na pe nc
cs=001b  ss=0023  ds=0023  es=0023  fs=003b  gs=0000             efl=00210246
002036ee ed              in      eax,dx
0:000> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Exception Analysis                                   *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for image00400000

FAULTING_IP: 
+2036ee
002036ee ed              in      eax,dx

EXCEPTION_RECORD:  ffffffff -- (.exr 0xffffffffffffffff)
ExceptionAddress: 002036ee
   ExceptionCode: c0000096
  ExceptionFlags: 00000008
NumberParameters: 0

FAULTING_THREAD:  0000097c

PROCESS_NAME:  image00400000

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000096 - {EXCEPTION}  Privileged instruction.

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  STATUS_PRIVILEGED_INSTRUCTION

NTGLOBALFLAG:  70

APPLICATION_VERIFIER_FLAGS:  0

IP_ON_HEAP:  002036ac
The fault address in not in any loaded module, please check your build's rebase
log at <releasedir>\bin\build_logs\timebuild\ntrebase.log for module which may
contain the address if it were loaded.

FRAME_ONE_INVALID: 1

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from 002036ac to 002036ee

STACK_TEXT:  
WARNING: Frame IP not in any known module. Following frames may be wrong.
0012e7a0 002036ac 00005f4e 00228ef0 00000000 0x2036ee
0012e7f0 77b22d96 77b26cf4 0012658b 0012eb80 0x2036ac
0012ecd4 774320e4 77481438 0026523c ffffffff ntdll!_SEH_epilog4_GS+0xa
0012f718 00af8870 0012f744 00400000 0020236e comdlg32!SHFusionInitializeFromModuleID+0xae
0012f780 00af9dbe 00000000 00000000 7ffdc000 image00400000+0x6f8870
0012fee0 00af9e8c 0012ff14 00afa6aa 00000000 image00400000+0x6f9dbe
0012fee8 00afa6aa 00000000 00b37f24 00000000 image00400000+0x6f9e8c
0012ff14 00b0e1d9 00400000 00000000 0025211b image00400000+0x6fa6aa
0012ffa0 76623833 7ffdc000 0012ffec 77afa9bd image00400000+0x70e1d9
0012ffac 77afa9bd 7ffdc000 001272f3 00000000 kernel32!BaseThreadInitThunk+0xe
0012ffec 00000000 00b0e10b 7ffdc000 00000000 ntdll!_RtlUserThreadStart+0x23


PRIMARY_PROBLEM_CLASS:  STATUS_PRIVILEGED_INSTRUCTION

BUGCHECK_STR:  APPLICATION_FAULT_STATUS_PRIVILEGED_INSTRUCTION_CODE_RUNNING_ON_STACK

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
comdlg32!SHFusionInitializeFromModuleID+ae
774320e4 83f8ff          cmp     eax,0FFFFFFFFh

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  3

SYMBOL_NAME:  comdlg32!SHFusionInitializeFromModuleID+ae

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: comdlg32

IMAGE_NAME:  comdlg32.dll

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  4549bd09

STACK_COMMAND:  ~0s ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  comdlg32.dll!SHFusionInitializeFromModuleID_c0000096_STATUS_PRIVILEGED_INSTRUCTION

BUCKET_ID:  APPLICATION_FAULT_STATUS_PRIVILEGED_INSTRUCTION_CODE_RUNNING_ON_STACK_comdlg32!SHFusionInitializeFromModuleID+ae

Followup: MachineOwner

Turning off DEP (Right Click 'Computer', Properties, System Protection, Advanced, Performance Settings, Data Execution Prevention) for SamMax104.exe allows it to run.

Hurray!

theJPster

kent007

I have downloaded it too, but this is working properly.Lucky one.

cybot

My Specs:
OS: Windows XP Professional SP3
ATI Radeon X1650 PRO AGP 8x (running at agp 8x) 512 MB
drivers ver.
catlyst 09.1
2d: 6.14.10.6903
d3d: 6.14.10.0636
opengl: 6.14.108395

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Barton)
1280MB DDR PC2100
Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 PCI
driver version (through dxdiag): 5.12.0001.5017
(last mfg. driver update 2002 - no new drivers - have "latest")

I installed sam & max 104 through steam and it opens fine and starts the intro scene right during the scene with the talking bug, it goes bsod on me with an 0x0000008e. no device driver or reason is given on the screen. event viewer gives this:

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Save Dump
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1001
Date: 2/13/2009
Time: 7:36:31 PM
User: N/A
Computer: COMPUTER
Description:
The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000008e (0xc000001d, 0xe246a86a, 0xa4db588c, 0x00000000). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


i tried updating video drivers from 8.12 to 9.1, but it still happens i don't know whats causing it because of the lack of info on the BSOD.
Please help!!!!
P.S. BSOD = Blue Screen Of Death

Will

Have you tried updating your DirectX? http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en

cybot

DXDIAG.exe reports version as DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904). i've tried dxwebsetup.exe program last week an it reported "all files were up to date".

Will

If you haven't, you should definitely try reinstalling the game. Assuming that doesn't work, try using Omega's version of the drivers: http://www.omegadrivers.net/ati_winxp.php