BigFatDumbHead

Hi all, I bought ArmA through Steam. The issue I am having is that when I try to run the ArmA program through Steam, nothing happens. No process is invoked that I can see through the Task Manager. When I invoke the .exe directly (it's in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\armedassault or something like that), I get an error message saying "Cannot initialize DirectInput. (DirectX 8 required.)" I have updated my machine to the latest DirectX from the MS website (March 2008 patch), I have updated my video card drivers to the latest from the NVidia site, I have updated my soundcard drivers, and even my motherboard BIOS. The same error keeps popping up. I tried installing the Beta of ArmA and the same error occurs, although it is now preceded by the error message "Add On DBE HotFix requires...". When I click OK on that, it seems to proceed, but then I get the same DirectInput error as above. I did have daemonTools installed once upon a time, but I've since uninstalled it and removed the entries in the registry for it as per instructions I found on the web. I don't think I have any other device emulation programs running or even installed. I have rebooted since the registry was changed to make sure the changes took effect. My PC is a P4 3.2GHz w/ 2GB RAM, and a NVidia GeForce 6800GT (256MB). I run Windows XP Home and have it patched up to the latest Windows updates. I run a 19" NEC LCD monitor. Here is a quick dump of my dxdiag (I can provide the whole thing if anyone needs it): ------------------ System Information ------------------ Time of this report: 3/28/2008, 07:42:53 Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254) Language: English (Regional Setting: English) System Manufacturer: Alienware System Model: Alienware BIOS: BIOS Date: 11/28/06 19:03:00 Ver: 08.00.10 Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs) Memory: 2046MB RAM Page File: 363MB used, 3067MB available Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) DX Setup Parameters: Not found DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode I sure would like to play this game - any advice would be very helpful! Thanks in advance, - A Big Fat Dumb Head

That could very well be the one. All the fies I have on my disc are dated 11/20/2006. Anyway I hope someone else finds this info useful.

No ... that update doesn't work for me. I think I talked about this in my previous posts in this thread. The *only* way I was able to get ArmA to run was to "update" DirectX to an older version, the one that was contained on the Rainbow 6 Vegas game disc. You can't get that older version on the MS website anymore, at least not anyplace I looked. They only want you using the latest files and they don't work for me. So, I was just wondering if anyone had the capacity to archive these files somewhere in case anyone else ran into this same issue. It would be a shame to have someone unable to play this great game because of a silly issue like this.

So, I've been able to identify the folder on my Rainbow 6 Vegas disc that contains the DirectX "update" that fixes my issues in being able to start ArmA. I was wondering if anyone here would like to take the initiative to host the folder on an FTP server somewhere. The folder includes a bunch of dlls and some other files, along with an .exe that installs everything. After running this .exe and a reboot, I can then play ArmA.

The fun continues!! I rebooted my PC today and tried to play again and Voila' - it works. In singleplayer, at least. But seriously, WTF - I can't say with any confidence that this will stick. I'll try again in a couple of days after I get back from a vacation and the phase of the moon is different and I install a left handed mouse and defrag my USB ports and see if that fixes anything. :-0 Other than that it seems to be a guessing game. I also gotta say - I'm surprised nobody else has had this problem? I feel like I'm talking to myself here. :-(

Well, you all are not going to believe this. The problem came back. I was playing ArmA fine on Sunday afternoon (multiplayer), and Monday night (single player). Today is Tuesday and I came home from work and tried to play and WHAM - "Cannot initialize DirectInput. Requires DirectX 8." I have not installed anything new since I last played. The ONLY thing I did was to defrag my HDD. Why would that make a difference? No files should have been changed. I also don't have Windows automatic updates turned on so there is no way a DirectX "update" snuck by me. I even tried the original trick of intalling the DirectX drivers off the Rainbow 6 Cd and still no dice. I'm at a loss. I sure would like it if some devs could look at this issue for me. What are the chances of that happening?

I've solved the issue. Or, should I say, it solved me. :-) I bought the game Rainbow 6: Vegas and installed it today - I figured if I can't play ArmA, why not some other nice shoot-em-up. Anyway, as part of that install, my DirectX was "updated" (even though I had the latest DirectX update available from the MS site). And lo and f***ing behold the game now runs! I'm not sure why but it worked, my frustrations seem to be now over. I hope the game devs look into this. I doubt I'll be the last to come across this issue. Later