Can't start game

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 6:09 pm

Originally posted by jokyonim

The copy protection check triggered a thought I hadn't mentioned so far (thanks gus!). When korsun didn't run the very first time I installed it, I uninstalled it and re-installed it. However, I didn't realize korsun.exe was still trying to run. So, when I re-installed and tried running a 2nd time (and a 3rd time after end-tasking the stuck menu program), I realized that there were 3 korsun efforts churning on my machine. I didn't see them at first cause when you hit Ctl-Alt-Del the korsun menu program is listed at the top of the list of active programs, but korsun.exe is listed at the bottom. I promptly closed them all, uninstalled and re-installed still to no avail.

Another important point might be that because korsun.exe was still running when I did my first uninstall, the uninstaller deleted all KP files except korsun.exe (can't delete a program that's running, but it didn't tell me). Since I changed paths on the 2nd install (from c:\program files\matrix.. to just default c:\matrix... thinking that was the problem) I didn't notice that korsun.exe from my first install was still there until I noticed the 3 korsuns churning at the same time. Could the fact that two different korsun.exe were trying to run at the same time on my machine have locked up the copy protection feature somehow?

Okay, I think I might have an answer here. Gimme a few, I´m currently awefully busy. Will get back to you later. Seems to be a problem with a not correct uninstall.

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 7:06 pm

@jokyonim:

Please first completly uninstall whatever you might have left of Korsun Pocket.

Then please open your registry (don´t worry, nothing major here

) with "regedit".

Click START, hit "Run" and type in "regedit", then okay.

open "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", expand "SOFTWARE" check for a folder "Matrix Games"

Let me know if under that folder the "Korsun Pocket" directory is still there.

gus · Post by **gus** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 8:44 pm

Originally posted by Marc Schwanebeck
No, keeping your sytem up to date with most recent drivers should be a standard procedure. Diver updates by the hardware manufactures are for most of the part bug or incompatibility fixes too. There are released for some reason .

An up to date machine is the very first thing you should be looking for. Yes, and that includes BIOS upgrades.

Hi Marc,

I guess we will have to respectfully disagree on this. That being said there is an avalanche of information supporting the position that constancy in the software environment rather than continual upgrading is key in limiting application problems, While this evidence primarily relates to the commercial sector it can be readily applied to home/personal use as well.

-g

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 9:01 pm

Originally posted by gus
Hi Marc,

I guess we will have to respectfully disagree on this. That being said there is an avalanche of information supporting the position that constancy in the software environment rather than continual upgrading is key in limiting application problems, While this evidence primarily relates to the commercial sector it can be readily applied to home/personal use as well.

-g

If you want to ignore bugfixes and compatibility upgrades for drivers, then you´re right. We´re supporting the position that you keep your system up to date.

I do this on a two weeks basis, needless to say that I never encountered any of those problems that kicked off with new game releases, I have yet to witness the situation were I bought a game and it would simply refuse to start up, or it crashed all the time. Well, unless it are obvious fat bugs of course

.

gus · Post by **gus** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 11:22 pm

Originally posted by Marc Schwanebeck
If you want to ignore bugfixes and compatibility upgrades for drivers, then you´re right. We´re supporting the position that you keep your system up to date.

I do this on a two weeks basis, needless to say that I never encountered any of those problems that kicked off with new game releases, I have yet to witness the situation were I bought a game and it would simply refuse to start up, or it crashed all the time. Well, unless it are obvious fat bugs of course .

Hi Marc,

I am not asking anyone to ignore bug fixes as you suggest but you are talking about two separate issues. There is a marked difference between upgrading a driver or patching an application when the the problem at hand and its solution has been identified vs. randomly applying them when the problem and its solution is still unknown as is the case here.

-g

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:53 am

There is a marked difference between upgrading a driver or patching an application when the the problem at hand and its solution has been identified vs. randomly applying them when the problem and its solution is still unknown as is the case here.

We have solved nearly 50% of all issues that popped up with Uncommon Valor and other releases by suggesting our customers to update there machines.

Driver updates by hardware manufacturers are in a lot of cases bugfixes too.

We´re tying our best to get this thing here solved, to encircle the problem we´re suggesting drivers updates.

John Pancoast · Post by **John Pancoast** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:25 am

Originally posted by Marc Schwanebeck
@jokyonim:

Please first completly uninstall whatever you might have left of Korsun Pocket.

Then please open your registry (don´t worry, nothing major here ) with "regedit".

Click START, hit "Run" and type in "regedit", then okay.

open "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", expand "SOFTWARE" check for a folder "Matrix Games"

Let me know if under that folder the "Korsun Pocket" directory is still there.

Marc, since it seems you haven't been answered on this, I tried it, maybe it'll help.

Maybe interesting stuff. After uninstalling, I have two seperate related folders per the above location. One for Korsun and one for Matrix.

In other words, the Korsun directory isn't in a Matrix folder. It and Matrix have their own folders.

I have attached the folders info. in text format.

Adam Parker · Post by **Adam Parker** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 6:14 am

John and Marc, I don't know if this helps but when I loaded my game I elected to choose my own location.

Say for example I use C drive and a folder called "war". I went into the browser that opens up when choosing the path and double clicked the existing folder called "war".

The path the game then automatically came up with was (I think) C:/War/Matrix Games/Korsun Pocket (it could have been just "Matrix". But it was /Matrix.../Korsun Pocket.

In other words, I didn't choose a sub folder called "Matrix..." the system came up with it itself.

I left this the way it was as with experience, sometimes fooling with a path like this can effect updates.

Adam.

jokyonim · Post by **jokyonim** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 6:35 am

Hi Marc,

Same as John P. I have two folders related to KP. Under Matrix Games there is only one row that says (default), (value not set). Under Korsun there are 7 rows:
(default) (value not set)
company "personal"
InstallDir "C:\Matrix Games\Korsun Pocket"
installed "TRUE"
InstalledEditor 0x00000000 (0)
username "[my name]"
version "v1.00"

The InstalledEditor row has a slightly different icon than all the others. I'm tempted to delete it all, but will wait patiently for further instructions...

One additional disturbing problem I noticed on the uninstall - My Windows arial.ttf font was actually a shortcut pointing to a font called menu1__0.ttf nested in the Korsun folder. No idea how that happened. The uninstall didn't delete this menu1__0.ttf file and I couldn't either. I cut/pasted that file to replace the arial.ttf shortcut in my windows/fonts dir. It now acts as my actual arial.ttf (just has a filename called menu1__0.ttf). I don't seem to have any problems as a result of this. Then I was finally able to get rid of the Korsun folder structure. Pretty strange...

John Pancoast · Post by **John Pancoast** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 7:12 am

Originally posted by Adam Parker
John and Marc, I don't know if this helps but when I loaded my game I elected to choose my own location.

Say for example I use C drive and a folder called "war". I went into the browser that opens up when choosing the path and double clicked the existing folder called "war".

The path the game then automatically came up with was (I think) C:/War/Matrix Games/Korsun Pocket (it could have been just "Matrix". But it was /Matrix.../Korsun Pocket.

In other words, I didn't choose a sub folder called "Matrix..." the system came up with it itself.

I left this the way it was as with experience, sometimes fooling with a path like this can effect updates.

Adam.

Interesting Adam, thanks. So far, I've just been using the default path.

gus · Post by **gus** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 7:26 am

Originally posted by Marc Schwanebeck
We have solved nearly 50% of all issues that popped up with Uncommon Valor and other releases by suggesting our customers to update there machines.

Hi Marc,

Do you think this 50% figure is reflective of the entire PC gaming industry or just Matrix published games? The reason I am asking is that it appears to be very high, I have literally bought hundreds of games from various publishers and excluding DirectX upgrades I have only had to upgrade a driver once and that was for UV, which BTW did not solve the issue

The figure I hear thrown around is 2-3%, I would be curious to know how you are measuring this.

-g

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:11 pm

Originally posted by John Pancoast
Marc, since it seems you haven't been answered on this, I tried it, maybe it'll help.

Maybe interesting stuff. After uninstalling, I have two seperate related folders per the above location. One for Korsun and one for Matrix.

In other words, the Korsun directory isn't in a Matrix folder. It and Matrix have their own folders.

I have attached the folders info. in text format.

Upps, forgot abou the "Korsun Directory". That´s okay. It is there for a reason. For checking if the uninstall has been correctly completed, this one would have to be deleted also of course.

note: just to make it clear, I´m doing support here for one guy, not that everybody deletes the registry keasy now

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:15 pm

Originally posted by Adam Parker
John and Marc, I don't know if this helps but when I loaded my game I elected to choose my own location.

Say for example I use C drive and a folder called "war". I went into the browser that opens up when choosing the path and double clicked the existing folder called "war".

The path the game then automatically came up with was (I think) C:/War/Matrix Games/Korsun Pocket (it could have been just "Matrix". But it was /Matrix.../Korsun Pocket.

In other words, I didn't choose a sub folder called "Matrix..." the system came up with it itself.

I left this the way it was as with experience, sometimes fooling with a path like this can effect updates.

Adam.

Yes, that is an installer feature, the "Matrix Games/Korsun Pocket" part is "pinned" so to say. However, you can type in whatever you want there, KP doesn´t care where it is installed. When the installation is finished the install location (customized or not) gets written to to directory. The EXE picks it from there then.

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:23 pm

Originally posted by jokyonim
Hi Marc,
One additional disturbing problem I noticed on the uninstall - My Windows arial.ttf font was actually a shortcut pointing to a font called menu1__0.ttf nested in the Korsun folder. No idea how that happened. The uninstall didn't delete this menu1__0.ttf file and I couldn't either. I cut/pasted that file to replace the arial.ttf shortcut in my windows/fonts dir. It now acts as my actual arial.ttf (just has a filename called menu1__0.ttf). I don't seem to have any problems as a result of this. Then I was finally able to get rid of the Korsun folder structure. Pretty strange...

The font thing is a known issue, that will get fixed with the patch. We´re sorry for this.

Same as John P. I have two folders related to KP. Under Matrix Games there is only one row that says (default), (value not set). Under Korsun there are 7 rows:
(default) (value not set)
company "personal"
InstallDir "C:\Matrix Games\Korsun Pocket"
installed "TRUE"
InstalledEditor 0x00000000 (0)
username "[my name]"
version "v1.00"

Okay, I think we´ve found the culprit.

Please do a complete uninstall of KP. Then go to the registry, check if the reg entries are still there, if yes delete both paths. The "Korsun Pocket" one and the "Matrix Games/Kosrun Pocket" one. Delete everything that could be left of KP in the game directory.

Then reboot, do a fresh and clean install (just to make sure turn of any possible Anti virus or firewall / Security applications during the installation)

Let me know what happens, if the game still refuses to start , then please check your registry and post the values in both path. Also please post where you installed the game to.

thanks

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 2:25 pm

Do you think this 50% figure is reflective of the entire PC gaming industry or just Matrix published games?

It´s reflective of Uncommon Valor issues.

jokyonim · Post by **jokyonim** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 5:50 pm

Originally posted by Marc Schwanebeck
The font thing is a known issue, that will get fixed with the patch. We´re sorry for this.

Let me know what happens, if the game still refuses to start , then please check your registry and post the values in both path. Also please post where you installed the game to.

I wonder if the font issue messes with how the game is uninstalled in the registry. Or possibly, interferes in some other way with repeated installs/uninstalls of KP.

OK. I uninstalled KP and deleted the two registry keys. I rebooted. I turned off my firewall (little nervous about that

). I ran the install CD from my D drive. I installed KP. I closed the install menu. I clicked my start button and immediately got a windows error message. "Explorer - This program has performed an illegal function and will be shut down...". I hit the close button on the error dialogue, but each time I hit the start button it re-appeared. I re-booted from shut down and everything seemed fine and restored. I tried running KP and still nothing.

I'm fairly certain the Explorer error was a result of the KP install, but it seems to have been cleaned up on the reboot. I didn't have this on previous KP installs. Could that have been due to messing with the registry (something I have never done)?

I installed to C:\Program Files\Matrix... (not the default). Registry files attached...

If it was a registry and install/uninstall issue that still wouldn't explain why it didn't work on the very first install (unless upgrading drivers was a 2nd problem that got solved since then but I kinda doubt it).

I'm pretty stumped...

Marc von Martial · Post by **Marc von Martial** » Thu Aug 14, 2003 11:21 pm

I wonder if the font issue messes with how the game is uninstalled in the registry. Or possibly, interferes in some other way with repeated installs/uninstalls of KP.

Nope, that doesn´t interfere. It´s a really simple bug there.

OK. I uninstalled KP and deleted the two registry keys. I rebooted. I turned off my firewall (little nervous about that ). I ran the install CD from my D drive. I installed KP. I closed the install menu. I clicked my start button and immediately got a windows error message. "Explorer - This program has performed an illegal function and will be shut down...". I hit the close button on the error dialogue, but each time I hit the start button it re-appeared. I re-booted from shut down and everything seemed fine and restored.

Odd, but I had that with XP two times too allready (although long ago). Would be interesting to know if that´s a known XP issue.

I'm fairly certain the Explorer error was a result of the KP install, but it seems to have been cleaned up on the reboot. I didn't have this on previous KP installs. Could that have been due to messing with the registry (something I have never done)?

Nope, what I asked you to do was really simple stuff , that can´t break anything of the actual OS. (Otherwise I wouldn´t have asked you to do it

)

Your registry looks all fine, I ´m stumped for the moment too. Will dig further into this.

John Pancoast · Post by **John Pancoast** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 5:29 am

Originally posted by Marc Schwanebeck
The font thing is a known issue, that will get fixed with the patch. We´re sorry for this.

Same as John P. I have two folders related to KP. Under Matrix Games there is only one row that says (default), (value not set). Under Korsun there are 7 rows:
(default) (value not set)
company "personal"
InstallDir "C:\Matrix Games\Korsun Pocket"
installed "TRUE"
InstalledEditor 0x00000000 (0)
username "[my name]"
version "v1.00"

Okay, I think we´ve found the culprit.

Please do a complete uninstall of KP. Then go to the registry, check if the reg entries are still there, if yes delete both paths. The "Korsun Pocket" one and the "Matrix Games/Kosrun Pocket" one. Delete everything that could be left of KP in the game directory.

Then reboot, do a fresh and clean install (just to make sure turn of any possible Anti virus or firewall / Security applications during the installation)

Let me know what happens, if the game still refuses to start , then please check your registry and post the values in both path. Also please post where you installed the game to.

thanks

Marc, I tried this with no luck. Running 98. Installed to default path, attached are the regsitry values.

This install, I had a seperate Korsun folder, and below it, a Matrix folder with a Korsun directory in it.

The MatrixKorsun registry values are from this directory, the Korsun values are from the seperate Korsun folder, with the Matrix line below, from just the Matrix folder itself.

Thanks for your help.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Korsun]
"version"="v1.00"
"installed"="TRUE"
"InstallDir"="C:\\Matrix Games\\Korsun Pocket"
"username"="John Pancoast"
"company"="me"
"InstalledEditor"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Matrix Games]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Matrix Games\Korsun Pocket]
"version"="v1.00"
"installed"="TRUE"
"installed to"="C:\\Matrix Games\\Korsun Pocket"
"username"="John Pancoast"
"company"="me"

jokyonim · Post by **jokyonim** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 7:00 am

Odd, but I had that with XP two times too allready (although long ago). Would be interesting to know if that´s a known XP issue.

Interesting, but I'm on 98SE. Thanks for your help, and I look forward to hearing any other ideas.

Adam Parker · Post by **Adam Parker** » Fri Aug 15, 2003 10:50 am

John I saw your post on the News Group regarding this. What exactly do you get when you try to install - an error or simply nothing after loading?

Do you run a partitioned drive or some sort of compression? Did your DX diag show anything funny in the graphics test?

Do you run a firewall or anti-virus software when you're installing?

Have you recently run a full defrag and scan disc, it may be worth doing that now anyway before your next attempt?

I ask these things for with my new WinXP machine I had to upgrade my sound driver to assist with a Panzer Campagins title (and that was a brand new machine!). It happens.

Every EA sports title used to give me problems under Win98. I could never get La Grande Armee to run on my Win98 machine either. But luckily I've been ok with UV and now KP. Do you have UV and does that run being a heavier taxing program?

Adam.