Major problem reinstalling opf: systematic freeze

[ejanvi 0]

I had OPF from the first days and went without trouble through the first campaign (Cold War Crisis), the second one (Red Hammer), and went thereon with much merry playing.

Then, the s. hit the fan.

Slightly lengthy story, hold on.

1. Background

I recently purchased an MSI GeForce 4 TI4400 with 128 MB DDR to replace my aging GeForce 2MX.

Still no problem at all with OPF.

I had some graphic issues with Falcon (Microprose with SP3 patch), which I set to resolve. Forums were suggesting that it had to do with Anisotropy and Antialiasing. I upgraded my GeForce Drivers to the latest official ones (28.32) following the lengthy procedure of uninstalling the active ones, cleaning the disk & registry from all references to Nvidia, rebooting and installing the default VGA card drivers on reboot, then installing the up-to-date drivers. Then, I played with the parameters of the TI 4400 with RivaTuner, and achieved perfect graphics on Falcon after much perusing all specialised forums and quite some trials.

However, at this point, Falcon was systematically freezing after a few minutes of play. I tried to reclean & reinstall the Nvidia drivers, reset all parameters to default, but it did not help.

I then tried to uninstall & reinstall Falcon, but the SP3 Patch was then failing to apply (Microsoft C++ Runtime error).

2. OPF problem discovered: systematic failure

And then, I found that Operation Flashpoint (Version 1.46, having been upgraded through all versions) was also systematically locking after the Menu Page (Missions, Campaign, Setup…) had loaded and a few seconds of Video had played.

3. Resolution attempts unsuccessful

I tried to reset Nvidia parameters to default, to run OPF Config to “automatic preferences†(no T&L), played with various settings of AntiAliasing & Anisotropy (from none to full…). I tried to install it on my external Hard Drive, then back on the root drive. I tried to set the Windows Swap File to Manual & 1000. No way.

This had never happened before and, pooled with the failure of FS4 SP3 to reinstall, I thought I had screwed up something in Windows during my fooling around.

I uninstalled Operation Flashpoint and Falcon (with Windows Utility), deleted all files, cleaned the registry of all references, reinstalled Windows 98SE on top of my previous 98SE installation. I then further cleaned disks and registry with Norton Utilities, and set to reinstall OPF & Falcon.

Falcon installed OK, and now runs perfectly (no freezes, optimal image with all details to max…) and very smoothly. However, I am still stuck with OPF which freezes systematically after a few seconds of Intro Video.

I tried to uninstall and reinstall OPF 4 times: twice V1 (retail version) then V3/Red Hammer, then V1.46, once V1; then V2, then V3/Red Hammer then V1.46; and finally only V1. I tried it while quitting all background applications (no antivirus, no PGP, no Cougar loader app etc…). No change: still same systematic freezes. All my installs were naturally made with antivirus inactive (Norton).

Meanwhile, both Falcon & IL2 Sturmovik work flawlessly.

I want to point out that the only difference between when OPF was working & now is the update in the Nvidia drivers and the tweaking of the Card parameters. I am aware that I have PGP and a virtual CDRom software both active, but I had them for years and it never clashed with OPF.

I’ve spend days trying to troubleshoot the system, and I am getting desperate…

Thanks a lot.

PS: My config is:

·         Athlon 1800+

·         512 Mo RAM

·         SB Audigy sound card

·         MSI G4TI4400 with 128 MO DDR

·         Win 98SE

.         DX8.1

·         TM Cougar joystick & throttle

[Mister Frag 0]

Games using DirectX will freeze after a few seconds if the pre-render limit for the Detonator drivers has been set to 0 -- it must be set to 1 or higher. You also won't be able to complete the DirectX Diagostics (DXDIAG.EXE) video tests.

[ejanvi 0]

Thanks. I did not know that. However, mine is set to 3 (default, I think). And my other D3D applications work very well. So it must be something else. But what...

E.

[ejanvi 0]

Today, I tried to reinstall again, after having uninstalled PGP and removed all virtual CD drives (two things I had for months and that never caused any problem with OFP when it was running OK). I tried to install & run from my CD-ROM drive, with D: as drive letter (i.e. the first of the roster).

Again, same thing. The intro video freezes after a few seconds, at the Menu page.

Hopeless...

CodeMasters, can you help?

[ejanvi 0]

***

[ejanvi 0]

OK. Solved that one. Took me a week. It is 28.32 drivers from NVidia which conflict. 27.50 work fine!!! Will teach me to try to upgrade systematically to latest version...

E.