Game freezes at startup

Blu3)Marine( · Post by **Blu3)Marine(** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:14 am

Hi, i tried to search for this issue but found nothing.

After a long time and a new PC i wanted to get some smooth play of this game, but after i installed it and ran it, my CRT monitor just goes black like if it was wanting it to run at 200hz or so. Happens also in Safe Mode and also with patches/fixes.

The game contiunes, i can hear the credits sounds and menu music, but monitor acts as if it was turned off.

My graphic card is GeForce 7900GT with a CRT monitor capable of 100hz at 1024x768.

Thanks for any constructive comments

riotfellow · Post by **riotfellow** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:43 am

Have you tried alt-tab out of the game and then alt-tab into it again. Worked for me before i patched it.

If that doesn't work then check if you have the latest drivers for your card.

Blu3)Marine( · Post by **Blu3)Marine(** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:45 am

hmm when i alt+tabbed first time i saw the starting credits, but when the menu should start, it happened again and alt+tab no longer works...

darksfallen · Post by **darksfallen** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 9:55 am

I don't remember off the top of my head what it is but I would suggest resetting your screen resolution to 640/480 or 800/600 before starting the game so that the game doesn't have to swap the monitor resolutions.

I've done this in many games that didn't seem to work in the past and he's got rid of the problem.

Worth a try.

Blu3)Marine( · Post by **Blu3)Marine(** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:25 am

updated drivers, tried lower resolutions also with different refresh rates, not a single change.. =(

All the time all the same, i start up the game, monitor LED lights red instead of green(monitor also starts to emmit some terrible audio noise), when i alt+tab to windows and back, i can see the starting cinematics clearly, but on the menu it happens again and when i alt+tab to windows and back, it remains the same..

darksfallen · Post by **darksfallen** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 10:44 am

Aww that's too bad, but the trick is to find the resolution that the game uses, not just picking a lower resolution so that when the game starts, it doesn't have to mess with your monitor at all and just launches...

I was hoping that would work for ya, sorry about that.

Blu3)Marine( · Post by **Blu3)Marine(** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 11:14 am

hmmmm any idea what is bloodlines default resolution, refresh rate and color quality?

Jhereg · Post by **Jhereg** » Wed Nov 08, 2006 8:02 pm

Blu3)Marine( wrote:hmmmm any idea what is bloodlines default resolution, refresh rate and color quality?

MY guess would be 800x600, but your comment about awful audio noise worries me greatly. Normally a monitor will only whine when it's degaussing. Awful audio noise would typically mean that the power supply was stressing, the flyback was well over nominal current (probably because of the power supply), or the electron cannon was firing at the walls (which would typically mean the flyback was messed up).

Does this happen with anything else? It might not hurt to have your monitor looked at. If there is nothing wrong with the monitor, then my second guess would be that something in the video card settings is set outside what the monitor is capable of handling, and it's whining because, from it's point of view, it's being beaten about the head and face with an Ugly Stick.

I'd be very careful if I were you. If a monitor starts screeching at you, it usually means it's ready to release the Magic Smoke. You don't want it to do that. At the very least, if you can borrow a friend's monitor and substitute it for your own, you might be able to either confirm or deny that possibility. It's a minor inconvenience for both of you, and it might allow you to avoid major problems. Good luck.

Blu3)Marine( · Post by **Blu3)Marine(** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 12:49 am

The noise is only for a few seconds, i start up the game, LED is still green, noise for ~5-10seconds, than LED turns red. This is the same thing that happens when i try to set higher Refresh rate than the monitor is capable of.

Sadly i don't have another monitor to try it on, but around a year ago i played V:TMB on the same monitor without problems.

Really looks to me as if it was trying to run at some insane refresh rate. I cant get to any configuration window, the 'normal' game mode is 1024*768(i guess) and 'safe' is in 800*600, but happens at both resolutions.

Blu3)Marine( · Post by **Blu3)Marine(** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 1:00 am

Ok, problem solved.

Was the *great and allmighty* Nvidia drivers/control center. Never had any monitor drivers installed, but this card thought its some 'badass' monitor because when the field "show only values monitor can handle" was checked, it shown up to 200hz refresh rates. I picked a random monitor that i know was similar to mine from the choose monitor list, it than was capped @ 75hz, ran the game, worked.

So i guess he really was trying to run it at 200hz.. sheesh...

Well thanks for replies guys, cant wait to start playing

captainbrumble · Post by **captainbrumble** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:14 pm

Jhereg wrote:I'd be very careful if I were you. If a monitor starts screeching at you, it usually means it's ready to release the Magic Smoke.

This is very, very true and I know because it happened to me recently. If the noise level is that high, i'd have your monitor looked at, pronto. Once that magic smoke begins to pour out- fixing the monitor becomes almost as expensive as buying a new one. At least it was in my case anyhow.

Pain in the ass...

Jhereg · Post by **Jhereg** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 6:16 pm

captainbrumble wrote:This is very, very true and I know because it happened to me recently. If the noise level is that high, i'd have your monitor looked at, pronto. Once that magic smoke begins to pour out- fixing the monitor becomes almost as expensive as buying a new one. At least it was in my case anyhow.

Ever so true. For a run-of-the mill monitor, replacement is probably cheaper than repair. You've got to have a right zoot-capri monitor to make repairing it worth your while. Heck, it'll cost you more than $300 in labour alone, forget about actual parts.