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ravagur58
ravagur58
Join Date 07/2008
0

Out of ideas

July 27, 2008 5:33:58 PM from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

it's been about 4 days since I installed sins but it keeps running into some problem, it simply will not run.  I updated the game, I uninstalled and reinstalled a few times, and I keep getting a wait cursor for a few seconds then nothing

I found that when I change the resolution in the properties a black screen comes up and then disappears and only enlarges my icons to the point I have to restart my computer

I have a Inspiron 1521 vista home edition, and the hardware meets all of the requirements, as well as there is more than enough room on my laptop for it to run.

I'm out of ideas I wanna say it has something to do with the resolution but I'm not sure what I should set it to specifically or if it will even help, if anyone has any ideas I would really appreciate it.

technical
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ravagur58
the_Monk
Join Date 01/2008
+222
Reply #1 July 27, 2008 6:48:32 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums

Sounds like a video driver issue to me...

Unfortunately notebooks (unless they run the latest video chips) are usually left behind in driver-support.

1. Check to see if the driver from Dell's site is newer/older than the one on ATI/Nvidia's site (whichever chipset you have).

2. Sometimes installed video codecs (like the one's that come with DivX for eg.) can cause game - resolution issues.


Here's a quote of a post I made to another thread:


Tankdogg26,

Sometimes uninstalling the video driver completely helps in clearing out "old" driver data.

something to try:

1. go to "add/remove programs" and uninstall your video driver.

2. go to "device manager" and actually uninstall your video card.

3. reboot the machine, wait for it to "detect" your video card, then re-install the latest ATI drivers. Then reboot again.


Something else. I help out in several flight-sim communities as well and one issue that has been plaquing these communities is intro-movie-crashes (ie. the gamer never gets to see the main game title screen)

One culprit has been a certain video codec called DDFshow which can either be installed by itself or along with other codecs from a codec pack (ie. like the DivX codec-packs etc.) Once this codec is removed, everything works as it should.

Check into it and post back.

thanks,

the Monk



See if one of those suggestions helps and post back...

the Monk
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ravagur58
ravagur58
Join Date 07/2008
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Reply #2 July 27, 2008 7:57:41 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
though i can find the device manager and uninstall the driver no problem I can't find the add/remove program, any where, i searched through control panel, and other places it might be but instead I found uninstall or change a program, but it won't list drivers or anything. so the fact that I can't find it must mean i just need to uninstall in the device manager, right?
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ravagur58
the_Monk
Join Date 01/2008
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Reply #3 July 28, 2008 2:23:56 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums


Yes. Sounds like you were using the latest DELL drivers (which in my experience are quite often very out-dated).
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ravagur58
GeneralNapoleon
Join Date 07/2008
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Reply #4 July 29, 2008 1:15:58 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
yeah, u need the uninstall/change...

but i think you can get add/remove from start menu

good luck

Napoleon, Foreward!
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ravagur58
ravagur58
Join Date 07/2008
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Reply #5 July 29, 2008 2:15:16 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
yea guys thx for the help, haven't fixed it yet but it feels better knowing that it's the graphics card, I tried running w.o.w. but the error was mroe specific in saying "cannot detect graphics card" lol if only sins was that more specfic from the get go.

I also uninstalled the driver from the device manager, it reinstalled at startup but no changes, same error,

I went to dell solution center but it doesn't have the graphics driver listed but it did have "chipset" I installed it but same beef =P

is it possible that the driver is irrepairable and that I should send my laptop in?
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ravagur58
Kitkun
Join Date 06/2008
+175
Reply #6 July 29, 2008 2:51:56 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Check the Nvidia/ATI website (Whichever yours is) for the latest drivers. Dell's are likely outdated.
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ravagur58
ravagur58
Join Date 07/2008
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Reply #7 July 29, 2008 3:29:55 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
my computer uses ATIx1270, but can't seem to find it on their site, and nvidia sends me to dell support center because it says dell.support requires me too...

my driver is a Standard VGA graphics adapter
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ravagur58
Bill Mortley
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #8 July 29, 2008 3:38:48 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
This is how you can get the latest device drivers for the hardware on your computer .
First click on the Start button, then click on Computer, then click on device Manager, then click on Display Adapter. That should show you your Video Card. From there you can download the latest driver….hopefully.
Let me know if that helps.
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ravagur58
Bill Mortley
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #9 July 29, 2008 3:59:15 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
oops I should have read all the messages. I see you know where the device manager is. Forget what I said then.
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ravagur58
Bill Mortley
Join Date 04/2006
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Reply #10 July 29, 2008 4:08:31 PM
from Sins of a Solar Empire ForumsSins of a Solar Empire Forums
Have you tried going into the control panel and clicking onto the Windows Update icon? Vista will sometimes will have the latest Video Drivers for downloading. One of the plusses with Vista.
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