Black screen of death

[Rastamage]

I am playing a 1.0b patched version of the game. I just finished Telos as a Sith. After beating the Echani sisters I decided to bid farewell to the polar region. I board the Ebon Hawk and zoom off for adventure... Or so I expected.

 

After the cutscene of the Ebon Hawk leaving the planet the game loads, presumably into an Ebon Hawk scene. I believe I am supposed to face Visas now. Alas, I can't as my game won't continue. The game loads and I get a black screen with only the pointer showing. I can pause the game and I can enter the menus. The game itself is just a black screen, though.

 

If it helps, I am running Windows XP with the latest Service Pack. As I mentioned the only modification I have made to the game is to install patch 1.0b. Any help would be appreciated. I want mah lightsaber!

 

EDIT:

 

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System Information

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Time of this report: 4/11/2009, 21:35:59

Machine name: BABYLON

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)

Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: RD480_

System Model: AWRDACPI

BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.2GHz

Memory: 2046MB RAM

Page File: 701MB used, 3237MB available

Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS

DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

DX Setup Parameters: Not found

DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

Edited April 12, 2009 by Rastamage

[cogadh]

Video hardware/driver version?

[Rastamage]

I have a GeForce 7600 video card. I took this opportunity to update to the latest driver. I am now running the 182.50 version of the driver.

 

Well... things have gotten worse now! Now the game starts to run normally. After the splash screen with the Sith I get the same results I used to get after loading the save game. I get the "black screen of death" and can't select a new game, load game, etc. After a minute or two the game crashes and I get the message to error report to Microsoft.

[Rastamage]

Well this has been a frustrating evening. Having updated my drivers and reinstalled KotOR2 twice now I'm still having this problem. I tried reinstalling with and without the 1.0b patch. On a hunch that my save game was corrupted I cut/pasted the save files to another directory as well. I'm still getting black screen to game crash after the Sith splash screen.

 

I don't think it is my drivers. Trying to guess my way out of my dilemma I loaded up Eve Online. Not only does the game run but it looks better then before with the new drivers. Any additional ideas would be most welcome.

[Rastamage]

I've gotten another thing to check off the list as "not the problem." I just upgraded my sound drivers to latest. I am now using Realtek 218 drivers. I really thought this may be the problem as I was having a minor sound driver issue. Alas... I still get the game to crash before I get to even load a save. The really weird thing is that this is the same desktop I played KotOR2 on back when it was new! Any help would be appreciated.

 

EDIT: On this page there is a note in the comments at the bottom that there is a "known" issue that Nvidia drivers past 178.24 will not work with KotOR2. Can anybody more reputable then this website confirm or deny this rumor?

 

EDIT 2: Well... it seems there may be something to this being an Nvidia driver issue. I rolled back my video drivers to 178.13. The game would then get to the menu after the splash screen (an improvement). However, when I go to load my save to pick up where I left off before all the goofy system problems I get my original bug. I can load the game but when I go to leave the polar base and return to the Ebon Hawk (presumably to face Visas) the game flakes out on me still. I get music, the ability to pause, and the ability to enter the different menus. The regular game screen is black, however, and if I use WASD to try to move around nothing happens, the screen stays black, and there is no sound as if I am walking. So I'm back to square one, but at least I am getting some progress after that hideous crash at main menu situation I was having!

Edited April 13, 2009 by Rastamage

[harritan]

did u find a solution?

[Sakkosekken]

Found one that worked for me, reload your auto save and do not fight the Echani sisters, just head directly to the Ebon Hawk after talking and setting your crew members free.