Error creating Direct3D 9 graphical engine.

[purepassion 22]

Here's what I did:

I took the original arma2oa exe and replaced it by the arma2oa beta exe. Then I made a shortcut and added all the mod parameters to the beta exe which is now located in the main arma2 oa directory. The game starts, the version says 1.61.94997 but I have 1-62 features such as the GUID FXAA etc.

Edited July 27, 2012 by PurePassion

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

I took the original arma2oa exe and replaced it by the arma2oa beta exe.

Could you be more specific with the details? Did you do a full install of the beta, copied its beta-exe, and then reinstall the new patch over the top of the beta's contents, and then swapped out the arma2oa.exe with its beta version?

And which beta are you using?

What a confusing mess.

[purepassion 22]

What a confusing mess.

indedd indeed :D

I actually uninstalled the beta via the "uninstall_oa_beta" exe in the "expansion-beta" folder. Then I took the original arma2oa.exe from the "ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead" folder, moved it to somewhere else and replaced it with a copy of the arma2oa.exe from the "expansion-beta" folder. After that, I made a shortcut to this new exe and added all the mod and other parameters into it so it looks exactly like the one you used in the past. :)

I hope it helps for you as well!!

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

I hope it helps for you as well!!

I won't be able to find that out till later tonight.

So, all that I really need to do is copy the arma2oa.exe from the expansion-beta directory, and use that in the swap, right?

Which version of the beta did you use?

Also, what do you think BI did wrong? Overwrote our .exe with a poorly designed one, or...?

[purepassion 22]

So, all that I really need to do is copy the arma2oa.exe from the expansion-beta directory, and use that in the swap, right?

Yup, that is basically all it took for me.

Which version of the beta did you use?

I don't remember exactly but it was a fairly recent one.

Also, what do you think BI did wrong? Overwrote our .exe with a poorly designed one, or...?

Hmm that is really hard to tell. It worked for some time after the patch but then it just appeared. Reasons could be everywhere and nowhere ^^

I hope you will be able to play again soon, Kyle! :)

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

Well, this sucks.

I used 7zip to extract Beta Patch 95248's ARMA2OA.EXE.#OA, and then I deleted the ".#OA" from the end of it. As soon as I did that, the file's icon changed appearance to the the "soldier-aiming-leftward" image that we all know well and love.

I moved the .exe that was left behind after the 1.62 patch was installed, and I copied/pasted the beta patch's .exe in its place.

I then created a shortcut from it, and I copied/pasted the Target info from the shortcut that used to work, to the new beta-shortcut. I started it up, and a Windows 7 popup appeared, asking me if I wanted said program to make changes to this computer, to which I agreed (this was a first for me, by the way, as Win. 7 has never asked that of me for starting up ArmA II CO before).

It took far longer to get the Error Message than before, but it's the same one as before, that went... "Error creating Direct3D 9 graphical engine."

So, is 95248's .exe not working because of how I used 7zip to extract it from the patch rather than having the patch create it itself?

I'm nervous about having the patch "do its thing," because I'm worried that it'll overwrite "good" 1.62 material, and lead to even more complicated issues. I'd rather just copy its .exe and go from there. The size of the beta's .exe is very similar to the 1.62 one that used to be there.

Do you think that there's a chance that my Direct3D 9 is somehow missing, and if so, how would I check for it? When I check my DXDiag, it comes up (rightfully) as "11" for both the 32 and 64 bit scans. But...is it possible for a portion of Direct3D to get fouled up, or...?

[BasileyOne 10]

rename it back and use shortcut/icon properties to pick particular icon to represent it on desktop/in explorer/folders.

[LastRoman 10]

I have this problem too. Had 1.60 and updated to 1.62, tried to launch the game - got this error. No dsound.dll or jayarma2lib.dll files were in my ArmA 2 folder - I've tried updating DirectX, no effect. Deleted savegames, removed modfolders (I only use mods in modfolders), config files. I'm really desperate. I have NON-STEAM VERSION. Arma X Anniversary Edition. Have not installed any beta patches at all. Somehow managed to get it running by using some startup parameters and its showing correct version (1.62.something), but when I look into video options, ATOC and PPAA boxes are empty, and when I click it, it shows few options beggining with "MISSING STRING...". What should I do?

I run CO.

My default starting parameters (used with 1.60)

"C:\Hry\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2oa.exe" -world=empty -nosplash -mod=@CBA;@PerformanceBoosts;@SmallAddons;@ASR_AI

Specs:

System: Win 7 Ultimate SP1

CPU: i5-2380p

GPU: GTX 670

RAM: 8GB DDR3

Edit: Did a clean reinstall, started the game and no errors. Now I'll return the mods back and try it again.

Edit: Deleted ShackTak FT hud mod, oktane's no blur mod and sap clutter mod, then returned the remaining addons. No problems.

Edited July 29, 2012 by LastRoman

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

After reading the comments here, I went and tried something that I hadn't done before: tried directly launching the game from the renamed beta 95248's .exe, and it WORKED!

To be clear, I wasn't using a shortcut, so no mods were being loaded up.

I was stunned to see that Huey helicopter come roaring out of the upper left-hand corner of the startup-screen across the desert, as I was expecting to see the usual aircraft carrier out at sea. The little "1.62..." patch number was in the lower right-hand corner of the startup-screen. So the new, non-beta patch, IS being applied to the game. :D

So, what should I do now? Obviously, the system I used for creating a shortcut + mods didn't work, so how should I go about doing this so that I can get my mods back?

.

.

.

LastRoman, you stated...

Deleted ShackTak FT hud mod, oktane's no blur mod and sap clutter mod, then returned the remaining addons. No problems.

So, are you saying that ALL of those mods were keeping the game from fully launching, or...?

If so, then I have to hunt through my mod folders, and extract them myself.

Perhaps this is the key for us non-steam Combined Operations players who are having the "Error creating Direct3D 9 graphical engine" error message? It would be nice to come to a "final" statement of what has to be done for players in our position.

Right now, we know for a fact that we have to use a beta .exe, but there's some question as to how to generate a shortcut to add mods to, and then perhaps there's a list of mods that'll trigger the error message.

Hmm...

[styxx42 0]

For me it was the oktane's no blur mod. I removed that from my launch line and BLAMO worked first time.

Makes sense as it says it is only for a specified version.

Try removing that and give it a go.

Good luck.

Scared the CRAP out of me.

Thanks for the work so that I could read what you have done and all the suggestions from others.

Cheers

Styxx42

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

For me it was the oktane's no blur mod.

So, to be clear, after you first swapped the 1.62's .exe for a beta's .exe, you still had to remove the blur mod---is this correct?

That blur mod's been a game-saver for me. My framerates without it are pretty bad. I know that the 1.62 patch supposedly added more options in regards to the level and type of effects one wanted, and I took only the briefest glance at them before I exited to write my previous post.

When I clicked on that new entry in the GUI, something close to 20 different options, all heavily abbreviated scrolled up. Does anyone have any idea what all of those options mean?

If the blur mod's no longer needed, it would be nice to know what one's settings should be to approximate what that great mod achieved while it was still installed.

Once my kids are in bed, I'll remove the blur mod (*sniff-I'll miss you man!*) and see how things go. Styxx42, if you could respond to my question, and if I confirm your findings, then we can write up a "final" summary statement as to what has to be done in regards to Steam-free installations of ArmA II CO, to get them working again.

---------- Post added at 21:36 ---------- Previous post was at 20:09 ----------

.

Finally! My non-Steam ArmA II Combined Operations is running (almost) as before!

For those whose specs meet the above statement, here's what was done to get the game working again after installing the botched Patch v1.62...

Use 7zip to extract the BETA patch, v95248. There are files within files, so keep poking around till you find the following named file: ARMA2OA.EXE.#OA.

Extract it.

Make sure that you've enabled your system so that you can see the name and its file extensions. This is very important!

If the above line is true, then proceed to rename ARMA2OA.EXE.#OA to ARMA2OA.EXE. "Yes," that means that you're going to simply delete the ".#OA" from the end of its name. Do NOT forget to delete the "." before the "#" sign.

Once that's done, make a backup of your nerfed v1.62 .exe that's in your C Drive directory.

Delete the original .exe from your C Drive.

Now move or copy/paste your renamed beta-.exe to the C Drive.

Make a shortcut of it, so that you can alter its Properties/Target line for any mods that you plan on using.

Now, if you start your game, and you still get the "Direct3D 9" error, look for the "Blur" mod, and remove it. If your game starts up right away, and you don't have any "remove world" parameters in your shortcut, then you'll see a Huey helicopter come swooping down from the upper left-hand corner across a desert field. In the lower right-hand corner you'll see the patch version # 1.62...

Your game should start now. :)

That said, for me, I'm still having some weird issues, such as my avatar won't crouch or go prone anymore. I didn't have time to see if some of my keybindings were weirdly altered, but for now, I'm thrilled that I can at least get a mission started in the trusty Editor.

Good luck to you all, and a BIG thank you to those who helped me put all of the pieces together ! ;)

Now, let's hope that BI comes up with a bug-free patch!

[BasileyOne 10]

no "-winxp" switch ?

if so, try w/o it.

flush/disable excessive/any background appliactions/services, not essential for you/gaming in particular time/day.

[LastRoman 10]

So, are you saying that ALL of those mods were keeping the game from fully launching, or...?

No. Sap clutter works well with new patch, the problem was most likely oktane's no blur mod, since it was for 1.60 only. Even thought you could try deleting ShackTac FT hud mod, because I got errors (that this mod needs Extended_Eventhandlers) even when I launched the game from clean shortcut without any modfolders and mods (and got error).

[Kyle_K_ski 1]

.

the problem was most likely oktane's no blur mod, since it was for 1.60 only

That's what I figured after I tried launching the game with his No Blur mod active. Once I removed it, my game loaded up.

I checked my keybindings. Prone and crouch were just as I left them, but I "reset" them to the same keys as before, and I had no problem with my avatar afterward.

When I loaded up the mission I was working on in the Editor, the load time was awful. But that was only initially, as after that the framerates stayed high.

I don't want to sound like I'm beating up on BI in any way, so I'm now going to give credit where it's certainly due.

This new patch is ASTOUNDING. I no longer have the advantages of the No Blur mod, but then again, I now don't need them, and in a big way. I set my antistropic filtering to "Normal," turned on ATOC for all trees and plants, set the PPAA to "FXAA Sharp Filter High," and the Post Processing Effects to "High," and I really can't believe my eyes. Yes, the loadup time is longer, but my game is running smoother than ever before, and that's with a near doubling of the bushiness of the trees and shrubs, smoke that looks like it could make you cough, motion blur that doesn't trigger choppiness, and the AI that I'm using is an amalgam of GL4+SLX+ZeusAI, and all of it is silky smooth.

ALL

of

it!

Before this mod, my game would've been chugging at 10 frames a second with just bumping up the Post Processing Effects to "High," so, to say that I'm stupefied and greatly impressed is an understatement of EPIC proportions. It's like they installed another graphics card to my system! Hey, how'd they squeeze that through my coaxial cable? ;)

If they're applying all of this knowledge to ArmA III, then I have high hopes that I'll still be able to use my current rig (now 1 year old) on that title, and still get a decent looking game.

BI, I really do LOVE you.

Smoochie!

Smoochie!

You ROCK!

[genpatton043 10]

indedd indeed :D

I actually uninstalled the beta via the "uninstall_oa_beta" exe in the "expansion-beta" folder. Then I took the original arma2oa.exe from the "ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead" folder, moved it to somewhere else and replaced it with a copy of the arma2oa.exe from the "expansion-beta" folder. After that, I made a shortcut to this new exe and added all the mod and other parameters into it so it looks exactly like the one you used in the past. :)

I hope it helps for you as well!!

I just had to pass on a message because something happened overnight and A2 CO was working fine until this morning and I had the same issue these guys did and so after working my way through this thread I came across your mention of the beta patch. I didn't have to go in and change/add any extensions, I just used the actual shortcut that the beta must have created after it installed so i just swapped them out.

Anyway, I'm not going to write a book here, just know that myself AND more IMPORTANTLY my 42" LG TV, say "Thank you"

[purepassion 22]

I just had to pass on a message because something happened overnight and A2 CO was working fine until this morning and I had the same issue these guys did and so after working my way through this thread I came across your mention of the beta patch. I didn't have to go in and change/add any extensions, I just used the actual shortcut that the beta must have created after it installed so i just swapped them out.

Anyway, I'm not going to write a book here, just know that myself AND more IMPORTANTLY my 42" LG TV, say "Thank you"

yeah it's really strange that this happens in such unpredictable manners.

Tough glad to hear I could help you :)

Have fun with that freakin badass screen! :D

[genpatton043 10]

yeah it's really strange that this happens in such unpredictable manners.

Tough glad to hear I could help you :)

Have fun with that freakin badass screen! :D

Oh, no worries there, I just need to start deciding on a new PC that'll work for Arma 3. The current one I have now a friend of mine and myself, built in large part just to play Arma II, but I don't see their being much chance for it to run Arma 3 with any great deal of success.

But, the extent of me building a new one is not going to cut it this time around. The extent of me building a new one from scratch only goes o having one built for me by newegg or similar site. Just don't have the time as well as a lot of faith in eBay when it comes to that. Both the PSU as well as my hard drive died barely six months after we finished assembling it No desire to go that route again.