What is the First Version of Maximum Football?

[marcntx]

I recently tried to run Maximum Football and it wouldn't work. No problem, was going to re-install and start over. One problem, I can't remember what the "first" setup file was called. I have setup release v1095DR, but that won't work. After the game installs and I try to run the game, it gives me an Automation Error Specified Module could not be found and Database error. Anyone know what file I need, and if I deleted it, how I get a new one, to re-install? I really wish the patches were all encompassing, since I have about 10 files now, and I'm not sure which ones I need anymore.

[garysorrell]

MaximumFootball-SetupRelease-v1080DR.exe

Thats the original purchased download I have, the base game.

MaximumFootball-UpdateRelease-v13176Comp.exe is the most recent update, and so far its very stable

[garysorrell]

v13176Comp is all you need to update. A fresh install of the base game,
then MaximumFootball-UpdateRelease-v13176Comp.exe

I dont think any of Davids updates required any previous updates. There was one release of an incremental update for the 1.3.176, but it was in error. David so far releases patches that dont require any previous ones.

If you dont have the actual game download anymore, you can get it by going to the Matrix store. You need your order information.

I burned my original game to a CD, and also keep a hard copy of the most recent updates.
I paid good money for it, not gonna lose out because of hard drive failure or any other reason.

[marcntx]

Gary, thanks for your help.  I look forward to getting the game up and running again.

[marcntx]

Well, I've downloaded the original file and installed it, with and without the patch and I'm getting the same error message and the game won't run.  I'm not sure what to do at this point....

[garysorrell]

Thats weird. What windows are you running, and when the original game installs, did you allow it to install the directx componensts and stuff, thats usually the last thing it does.

[Marauders]

Well, I've downloaded the original file and installed it, with and without the patch and I'm getting the same error message and the game won't run.  I'm not sure what to do at this point....

 
What is your OS?
 
Which graphics card do you have?
 
Did you uninstall all of the old files and the Maximum-Football folder prior to re-installing?
 
Did you install all three components: game, .dll files, DirectX?
 

[marcntx]

I'm running the same setup as I was before.  Nothing has changed on my computer.  It ran fine until one day I started getting the error.  I thought I would just re-install and everything would be fine.  I'm running Windows XP home SP2, with an ATI graphics card with 256 of RAM, and I deleted all files in the old MF directory prior to re-installing.  And I installed game, .dll and direct x.  When it gets done installing, it says it was installed fine.  I can get the main menu, when I chose PLAY, that's where I get the error.

[marcntx]

I'm so defeated.  I've installed and re-installed the game about 20 times now, re-downloaded it, ran regedit to remove all references to MF, and it still won't run.  Sent Matrix and email, never heard back.  Time to move on to second and ten..... 

[marcntx]

By the way, it's so nice that Matrix never responded to my emails about the problem either.  I won't buy another Matrix Game for as long as I live...

[David Winter]

Well, matrix hasn't sent me any emails asking for assistance with the problem (which is something they sometimes do), so I'm not sure what is going on form their end.

Is there any chance that you installed something else (knowingly or otherwise) inbetween the day the game worked, and the day it didn't?

The only thing I can think of is that something installed a different version of a shared system file and it's causing this problem. Although, I don't even know the exact error message.

[marcntx]

Thanks for responding, I really appreciate it.  I've uninstalled the game, ran regedit to remove all references to Maximum Football, Wintervalley, and whatever else I thought might be stuck in there.  After I install the game and try to run it, the game menu come up as usual.  When I hit play or Utility Set I get an error that says:

DB Engine Automation Error The Specified Module Could not be found.  There is an OK button and when I hit it another error message opens and says Maximum-Football (red X symbol) Couldn't Open Database.  FYI:  All the other buttons seem to work on the Game Menu.  I downloaded the original file from the webstore called MaximumFootball-SetupRelease-v1095DR just to make sure it wasn't the file I had.  I even tried installing different patches over this file, but got the same error messages.

[marcntx]

Here is a screenshot of the first error message

[marcntx]

Here is the second one.

[David Winter]

Maximum-Football uses the JET database engine. DAO 2.5/3.15 specifically. It's an older version of the library, but I chose it because it's a very small memory footprint, and Windows XP machines have it installed already.
 
Some possible things to check into....
 
The problems looks to be that common system DLL's for accessing databases have been changed by some other process. I'm not sure what would cause that. Perhaps something you've installed or uninstalled.
 
Are you using Open Office or any program like that?
 
Can you also check to see if there is a file called SCRRUN.DLL in your Windows\System32 folder. That's a common windows file so it should be there, but check just to make sure. This is a library used to create and manage files and folders and the game uses it for several purposes.
 
Do you have administrative rights to the system? Some user accounts with Windows XP do not allow writing data to the system registery, and this could prevent the DLL from working.
 
One possible way to test all of this is to check the scheduleeditor.exe file. This is the little application that was installed (by version 1.3) to allow you to edit schedules in league files. If that starts and allows you to open databases and allows you to edit schedules, then your database system files would seem to be intact.
 
David

[David Winter]

If you care to try, the link below is the download side for the microsoft database files the game makes use of.
 
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=83e8f178-94c9-4e7d-b0b6-a8a94c4eb912&DisplayLang=en
 
I can not say for sure if this will work, but it's worth a try, especially if the scheduleeditor.exe fails to load any league files.

[garysorrell]

Hey marcntx,
What is the size of your v1095DR file? The original base game should be upwards of 157megs.
Just curious. The original version I downloaded was MaximumFootball-SetupRelease-v1080DR.exe

[marcntx]

I tried all your suggestions, even uninstalling programs that I have installed after MF, with the same errors. When I run the Schedule Editor, I get this error:

[marcntx]

Gary, the version I have is 148 MB.

[marcntx]

David, when I try to install the program on the link, it tells me it's already installed under Windows XP.  I was hoping I could re-install it, but it won't let me because it says it's already there.