"How To" KOTOR 2 On Vista

[Choccy Biscuits]

Thank you for the guide

I have followed to the letter and the game crashes after character creation.

 

I have tried the game with no sound and no movies

I have entered the information into Creative Alchemy and activated the game there (I have an Audigy 2).

I have tried it patched to 1 1a and 1b and still the same issue

 

I mailed support@securom.com and they told me it was an issue with my Graphics card (after a few million emails - bless them they wanted to help!).

 

I get the following error come up

 

Thread stuck in device driver (Q293078)

 

I am running NVIDEA drivers 7.15.11.7516 and have an 8800 GTX card

 

The issue comes once I have created the character - I get 2 choices:

I get a completely black screen but if I press space it comes up with game paused.

or I get a crash to desktop

 

If I try to adjust the graphics settings in game it crashes out and often locks the pc up and causes BSOD and the resulting error message.

 

Any ideas on next steps? All advice greatly appreciated before I jump off the nearest tall building!

 

Choccy Biscuits

[Deadly_Nightshade]

...any other use of a so-called No-CD crack is unacceptable...

 

I believe they are perfectly legal if you have a genuine copy of the application or game - not that I wish to debate the subject in this topic. As far as the EULA goes, there has been legal decisions on both sides of the argument and thus that area is extremely murky and uncertain. Also, to quote Wikipedia -although I hate doing so- "...No-CD cracks have legal uses, such as creating backups of legally owned software (a user right by law in many countries)."

Edited August 18, 2008 by Deadly_Nightshade

[Bass-GameMaster]

Mhmm, well this is a tough one there was someone with that exact problem he fixed it himself. You might have to play the game in performance mode which sucks because you have a high end card. But kotor 2 fails to recognize some newer cards, sorrry dude..

[Choccy Biscuits]

Appreciate the advice - how do I run it in "performance mode"?

 

At least to see if I can get it to work at all would be a step up

[Bass-GameMaster]

Just run the configuration and turn down every thing in regular and advanced graphics settings. It wont look to good but it will still run..

[FullMetalHollow]

Driver Version: 7.14.10.1409

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Basic* , (6.0.6000) (Oh yea this is 32 bit but i've tried running the game on 16 bit)

Default Language: English

DirectX* Version: 10.0

Physical Memory: 3061 MB

Minimum Graphics Memory: 8 MB

Maximum Graphics Memory: 358 MB

Graphics Memory in Use: 130 MB

Processor: x86 family 6 Model 22 Stepping 1

Processor Speed: 1995 MHZ

Vendor ID: 8086

Device ID: 2A02

Device Revision: 0C

 

 

* Accelerator Information *

 

Accelerator in Use: Mobile Intel

Edited August 19, 2008 by FullMetalHollow

[Bass-GameMaster]

Thanks for some of the info, but I fail to see what Graphics Card you have? And have you tried talking with SecuRom they can do an analysis. And it seems you havent replaced the ms32.dll? I placed a link in original post.

[FullMetalHollow]

Thanks for some of the info, but I fail to see what Graphics Card you have? And have you tried talking with SecuRom they can do an analysis. And it seems you havent replaced the ms32.dll? I placed a link in original post.

 

I already dealt with the ms32dll problem, in fact it kept telling that i had more missing files, so eventually i did a few other things and i ran it as adminstrator again and it let me reinstall the game again.

 

Display adapter type Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family

Total available graphics memory 358 MB

Dedicated graphics memory 0 MB

Dedicated system memory 128 MB

Shared system memory 230 MB

Display adapter driver version 7.14.10.1409

Primary monitor resolution 1280x800

DirectX version DirectX 9.0 or better

 

 

I hope thats the right stuff. I think my stuff is 'intergrated' not sure, i'm still very unfamilar with windows vista espiciallly right now, missing XP alot.

[SteveThaiBinh]

KotOR2 doesn't really work with integrated graphics - there may be some exceptions, but a lot of people have come to these boards with integrated graphics and I don't remember them getting the game to run very often. You need to get a graphics card - these days, probably even the cheapest of budget cards will run KotOR2 successfully.

[FullMetalHollow]

So in short i'm basically screwed unless I can dish out more excess cash that I don't have? Great...

[Zulk]

G'day, I signed up to these forums just to post this

 

I purchased KOTOR II the a few days ago and proceeded to install it, only to be denied the ability to play by all the "This program has stopped working" messages, which is quite annoying.

 

I have read numerous forums on the internet on how to fix this and the most notable fix people recommended was the new mss32.dll file, which I tried, and failed. I eventually came across these forums with your original post and I followed all the steps as they were written with no alterations... Without success.

The SecuROM email only returned to me with;

"Hello,

 

Thank you for your e-mail. After careful inspection of the analysis file and

due to your error description, it appears that the issue is not SecuROM

related."

 

So they were no help.

 

Just a few things I would like to point out:

My computer is fairly new and can run Crysis on high without dramas.

The first time I played KOTOR II it loaded and ran through the first movies and into the game but for some reason the image flickered. Just imagine every 2nd frame being black and you'll understand what I'm talking about. That was the only time that the game managed to work (had to turn off sound to get that far).

When I next tried to play the game, I had to start a new game as the previous game's auto save wouldn't load, the loading screen would come up and load to about 75% and freeze and a loading picture also came up. Now when it loads, no picture comes up and it gets to about the some point as before but instead of freezing, it just comes up with the "this program has stopped working" error.

I have tried everything people have suggested (re-installing with instructions in the OP, mss32.dll replacement, run in compatability mode, run as administrator ect) and none of it has worked so far.

 

My system is as follows:

CPU: Intel E8400

GPU: Asus HD3870x2

RAM: Patriot 4GB DDRII

Mobo: Gigabyte EX38-DS5

OS: Vista 64-bit

 

Needless to say, my system will be able to run the game without any hardware strains, if it were to work...

 

Any ideas?

[samm]

It says KOTOR II was taking up 70-100% CPU O_o

This is normal for every game. Also, KOTORII is an old game, you should be able to buy a very cheap graphics card (30$ or something like that) that can run the game.

 

Zulk: Could the problem be related to crossfire? A 3870x2 alway runs in crossfire mode (unless you own one of these special ASUS cards where you can turn it off), so maybe there's a driver or another workaround that will work. Probably google for crossfire issues with KOTORII.

[FullMetalHollow]

Where the heck can you find a 30 dollar graphics card? The cheapest one i've ever seen is 200 bucks

 

Also, I'm not sure as i'm a new laptop user. But can you even put in new graphics cards into a laptop? I bet if you do you have to get it done by someone as they would have take the bugga apart which i think would be different that a 'regular computer'

[Zulk]

Well, I managed to get it to work. Went into the configuration, turned sound back on, game crashed, turn sound back off, game crashed, turned it back on, game crashed and finally I turned it off once more and it worked! Managed to get a few good hours of gameplay in, was quite fun. However, I just did the quick character creation to save myself a couple of minutes and it worked... so now I have a black guy with silly first off stats =(

 

On another note, the flickering of the game was still there when it played. Screen constantly flickering black and white. Was very annoying to start with but I got used to it. Only happens in game play, when you go into the menus for items, saving games etc the screen is completely normal. Looks like I'll have to go google some stuff :<

[samm]

Also, I'm not sure as i'm a new laptop user. But can you even put in new graphics cards into a laptop? I bet if you do you have to get it done by someone as they would have take the bugga apart which i think would be different that a 'regular computer'

Oops, yeah, can't change laptop cards normally, unless you've got a "gamer" laptop anyway. Just a proof that cards for $ 30 do exist: click me

[Bass-GameMaster]

Some people fail to grab the concept that Kotor 2 isnt friendly with intergrated physics card. Zu, im happy you can run Crysis, I can aswell but that is actually the cause of your trouble is the cards so damn new it outdates kotor 2. MAke sure you follow this guide step by step, if you do then 8 times out of 10 you will be able to play. And Securom was no help because there was nothing they could do, what they actually told you was "Your doing something wrong, we cant help you"

[FullMetalHollow]

Some people fail to grab the concept that Kotor 2 isnt friendly with intergrated physics card.

 

Well Perhaps they should put a large obvious warning on the box or something. Something along the lines of "DOES NOT WORK WITH INTERGRATED GRAPHICS" even if your system more than meets minium requirements.

[Bass-GameMaster]

its was something discovered after release, you cant just release a game then right on the box, Sorry doesnt work with SOME intergrated physics/graphics cards.

[ryane]

Bass-GameMaster if you wrote this instructon munual thing your a god

 

 

 

but im haveing issues the new dll. file didn't work nore did changeing the compatability or turning off al the start up programs like activision tells you to im in austraila and i can't get it to work is the re anythig else i could try?

 

 

 

"any help here would be hot" jar jar in ota gunga

 

 

from ryan

[Bass-GameMaster]

well try reinstalling it, or using the old ms32.dll sometimes it still works.

[Saerain]

Strangely, I've never had to take any of these actions to run it on Vista, but I have noticed that swkotor2.exe will not execute (rather, it will crash immediately upon executing) if I am running Xfire or uTorrent. I can't imagine why this is, but it definitely is the case for me, so I would recommend closing any other programs.

[ryane]

hay

 

 

my computer is stuffed! i can't right click on any aplacations what do i do? and is there another way into program files?

 

if so please help!

 

 

 

from ryan

[Deadly_Nightshade]

my computer is stuffed! i can't right click on any aplacations what do i do? and is there another way into program files?

 

I am not exactly sure what your problem is, nor can I tell if it is related to either Kotor II and Vista. Could you re-post and try to be a bit clearer?

[NiklzNDimz]

Hello hello! I'm in need of some help here. I just got KOTOR II today and have been trying all day to fix things so I can actually play it. Aaaaany help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Initial issue:

 

I had the game installed but when I clicked 'game' to play it, it would crash. I did the setup and it reported that I didn't have up to date drivers (using Nvidia 175.19, latest available short of beta drivers)

 

So I came here and decided to give the OP steps a go. I tried to uninstall but it only partially completed that then stopped. Removed most of the files and folders but in program files, it still shows the generic installer shield with SW KOTOR II. I cannot get rid of it no matter how many times I try to uninstall from that point, logged in as an admin account, still no dice, it just won't remove itself.

 

Current issue:

 

I can't get the bloody game to install at all now. I've made sure to set it to admin, tried the compatibility, etc. All that happens is the install wizard pops up, I click to run it aaaaaand nothin'. So I try it from the cd, run setup, get the wizard then it disappears aaaaaaand again, nothin'.

 

If someone would help me fix the current issue, I'll go back to working on the installation advice provided by the OP and hopefully that'll fix my initial issue. Otherwise, I'll be back!

 

___________________________

Specs from dxdiag posted below:

 

------------------

System Information

------------------

Time of this report: 8/26/2008, 15:12:08

Machine name: TEACUP

Operating System: Windows Vista

[Bass-GameMaster]

Ah, another 8800 card.. but this seems to be a big issue. Is it a legal copy?