ArmA will not start up.

[Flogger23m 2]

First of all, I'd like to say hello to everyone, this is my first time posting on these forums.

Now, onto my problem:

I've recently bought ArmA: Combat Operations, the boxed version by Atari.I Bought it on Thursday, and tried installing the game for the first time on Saturday. The install went good, but when I tried to run the game, it would simply not load. So far, I've never even got it to load to the main menu. The loading bar comes up, but the last two boxes never get checked before an error message comes up. The error message doesn't mention anything specific, just your normal "ArmA has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

When I click "View technical information", I get this (note, the top part says V1.8 because I copied it after I applied the V1.08 patch, the bottom part was copied when I had V1.06):

AppName: arma.exe AppVer: 1.8.0.5163 ModName: arma.exe

ModVer: 1.8.0.5163 Offset: 000b3b02

C:\DOCUME~1\Username\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER1E.tmp.dir00\appcompat.txt

In the appcompat.txt (application compatability?), it mentions ArmA.exe:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>

<DATABASE>

<EXE NAME="arma.exe" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_PRIVACY">

<MATCHING_FILE NAME="arma.exe" SIZE="10625024" CHECKSUM="0x79E63743" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.6.0.5151" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.6.0.5151" PRODUCT_VERSION="1.06" FILE_DESCRIPTION="ArmA" COMPANY_NAME="Bohemia Interactive" PRODUCT_NAME="ArmA" FILE_VERSION="1.06" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="ArmA" INTERNAL_NAME="ArmA" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright © BIS 1996-2005" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x65F905" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.6.0.5151" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.6.0.5151" LINK_DATE="03/30/2007 13:36:16" UPTO_LINK_DATE="03/30/2007 13:36:16" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />

<MATCHING_FILE NAME="ifc22.dll" SIZE="196608" CHECKSUM="0xA2575C94" BIN_FILE_VERSION="2.2.8.0" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="2.2.8.0" PRODUCT_VERSION="2.2.8" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Immersion Foundation Classes" COMPANY_NAME="Immersion Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Immersion Foundation Classes" FILE_VERSION="2.2.8" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="IFC22.dll" INTERNAL_NAME="IFC22" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright © Immersion Corporation 1999, 2000" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x1" VERFILETYPE="0x1" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x0" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="2.2.8.0" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="2.2.8.0" LINK_DATE="04/20/2001 21:39:41" UPTO_LINK_DATE="04/20/2001 21:39:41" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />

<MATCHING_FILE NAME="ijl15.dll" SIZE="352256" CHECKSUM="0x5CC5195" BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.51.12.44" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.51.12.44" PRODUCT_VERSION="1,51,12,44" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Intel® JPEG Library - Retail Version" COMPANY_NAME="Intel Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Intel® JPEG Library" FILE_VERSION="1,51,12,44" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="ijl15.dll" INTERNAL_NAME="ijl15" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="Copyright © Intel Corporation 1998 - 2001" VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x5C30D" LINKER_VERSION="0x40000" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="1.51.12.44" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="1.51.12.44" LINK_DATE="05/30/2001 21:37:47" UPTO_LINK_DATE="05/30/2001 21:37:47" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />

<MATCHING_FILE NAME="UnInstall.exe" SIZE="552960" CHECKSUM="0xDBB71042" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0x8AE02" LINKER_VERSION="0x0" LINK_DATE="03/19/2007 13:34:50" UPTO_LINK_DATE="03/19/2007 13:34:50" />

</EXE>

<EXE NAME="kernel32.dll" FILTER="GRABMI_FILTER_THISFILEONLY">

<MATCHING_FILE NAME="kernel32.dll" SIZE="928768" CHECKSUM="0xC1B9AD9B" BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.1869" BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.1869" PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.1869" FILE_DESCRIPTION="Windows NT BASE API Client DLL" COMPANY_NAME="Microsoft Corporation" PRODUCT_NAME="Microsoft® Windows® Operating System" FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.1869 (xpsp2.060704-0019)" ORIGINAL_FILENAME="kernel32" INTERNAL_NAME="kernel32" LEGAL_COPYRIGHT="© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved." VERFILEDATEHI="0x0" VERFILEDATELO="0x0" VERFILEOS="0x40004" VERFILETYPE="0x2" MODULE_TYPE="WIN32" PE_CHECKSUM="0xE5832" LINKER_VERSION="0x50001" UPTO_BIN_FILE_VERSION="5.1.2600.1869" UPTO_BIN_PRODUCT_VERSION="5.1.2600.1869" LINK_DATE="07/05/2006 10:46:36" UPTO_LINK_DATE="07/05/2006 10:46:36" VER_LANGUAGE="English (United States) [0x409]" />

</EXE>

</DATABASE>

I have no idea what this means or how I can fix this.

And I'd also like to mention, I've tried both ArmA demos and have had problems with both. With the original demo, the first time I downloaded it, it would not run. The exe would run in the background, but the game would not load. So I uinstalled it, redownloaded and reinstalled. Then it worked fine after that until I uinstalled it.

When the second ArmA demo came out, I downloaded and installed it. It worked fine the first time, and worked for quite a while. Then about a month or so after not playing it, I tried to play it again, and I got the same problem (or similar) to the one I am getting with my full retail version of ArmA. I tried reinstalling, but that did not help. I figured these were just problems with the demo, and uninstalled it and bought the full game. But this problem still exists (or it is a different one).

I've tried reinstalling ArmA three times already, each time deleting all profiles and other left over files under My Documents like the Readme says to do. I've tried running the game unpatched, with V1.08, and with the V1.08 Hotfix, and they all have the same problem. As of right now, I have not even got the game to load to the main menu even once.

System specs:

AMD 2500+

7600GS 512MB GDDR2 BFG overclocked in AGP

1.5GB of PC 2700 RAM

Windows XP Pro

Audigy SE sound card

120GB Maxtor hard drive

250GB Seagate hard drive

Its slow, old and crap, yes, but it did run the demos decently well on low settings. My system should at least be able to load the main menu.

I'd be thankful if someone can help me to get this game running, when the demos worked they were extremely fun, and there really is no other game like this. I don't want to be forced into exchanging this for another game either.

Hopefully I will soon be having a great time playing ArmA: Combat Operations.

Thanks for your time.

[Flogger23m 2]

Bump. If anyone can help me, please do ASAP. I need to know if I can fix my problem or not; if I can't I have to exchange this game for something else.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Have you tried adding the maxmem command at the end of your schortcut? (Use the search for more details)

[Flogger23m 2]

Have you tried adding the maxmem command at the end of your schortcut? (Use the search for more details)

I've searched for it, but I am confused on how you're suppose to do it.

Should my desktop shortcuts "Target" line look like this?

"E:\Program Files\ArmA\arma.exe"-maxmem=512

Because when I try to click apply, it says that it can't find a path or file with this name. Do I also have to rename the .exe to this as well? Do I put the -maxmem=512 before the "? If you can explain it more clearly that would be helpful.

[Flogger23m 2]

Thanks to everyone who helped, I found out what my problem was. I had to add -dsound at the end of the command line. The game is working now.

Thanks for your time.