Hi guys, dont know if this is really the right forum for this post but here goes. Ok, Arcanum wont run, its gets to the Loading Arcanum screen (with the nice picture of the train so u know which i mean) Then it does nothing for a few mins before cutting back to windows seemingly closing itself :sad: Any helP?? -Vellios
Three things: 1. Do you have any programs running in the background? 2. Do you have the latest DirectX + graphics card drivers installed? 3. Have you tried running in safe mode?
I had a similar problem. Go to your arcanummodules directory and check the size of arcanum.dat and compare it with arcanum.dat in your cd1. The problem with mine was the CD wouldnt read the file till the end, it just froze. So I had to disassemble the file and copy it by parts. Try opening the world editor and open the vomantown and arcanum modules, if it works in the world editor, then it must be a different problem than mine.
I'm having exactly the same problem with Arcanum. The game returns back to desktop from the "loading arcanum" screen. There is not even any helpful error messages, the game just won't run. My friend is able to run Arcanum from the same cd's, so the installation media isn't corrupted. I also tried to run Arcanum on winxp, win2000 and win98 (with old and new directx) and installed it 3 times, getting always the same result. Safe mode or 1.07 patch won't help. Any more suggestions how to get this game running?
As I said, try loading up the arcanum and vomantown modules from the world editor.. In my case I dont think it was anything wrong with the CD physically, but it just wouldnt read with my cd-rom. If I try to copy the file manually from the CD, it stops at 80% and if I take out the CD, you can fry an egg on it, it was sooo hot. Your problem could be different than mine but if you cant open the arcanum module from the world editor then its what happened to me. Same symptoms, it goes to the "Loading Arcanum" screen and crashes to desktop with no error message.
Same here. It just jumps to the desktop. I've reinstalled, installed a better version of directx, dl'd a newer driver for my videocard, and it still won't work. Safemode doesn't make a difference. I checked the WorldEditor and I was able to open the two modules, but they were empty maps... Is that the way they're supposed to be? I really have no more clue on how this could be solved. Perhaps a new driver for my soundcard, though I doubt that. And yes I have all the minimum requirements to run the game. *Sob* :sad:
This is what Sierra has to say about it: Q: The game won't start.... Installed it, tried to run it, it starts, says "loading Arcanum", then drops me back to the windows desktop. A1: If you are running Win98 as OS installing a newer version of the Windows installer may help. Thanks go out to Stone Courier for this advice. Go to the downloads section of http://www.microsoft.com and choose windows 98, where you can find Platform SDK Redistributable : Windows Installer Released 01-Jun-2001 version 1.50.2421.1 (8400 kb). Downloading this and installing version 1.2 may fix the problem. Here's the direct link to the Windows Installer. A2: Try to make a as clean installation on your computer as possible. 1. Uninstall the game (if you still have a former attempt on your comp 2. Defrag your hard disc you wish to install the game on 3. Make sure you don't have any program running in the background before installing the game. For this clean out your systray by hitting "alt-ctrl-del" and close the programs running in the background except "explorer" and "systray". Repeat this step until there are only those two left. 4. Install the game and directX8 from the cd 5. Reboot your comp 6. Clear out your systray again in the same way as mentioned before starting the game. 7. Start the game 8. Give it some time. There are a lot and large files which need to be loaded and indexed, so it may take up to 15 or even 20 mins until the loading is done for the first time, depending on your system specs. Do not hit "alt-ctrl-del" during this or all your former work will probably be ruined and you have to start all over again. No worries either. This will only last that long for the first time you start the game. 9. Hopefully the game will now run without problems. 10. Every other time you run the game, you should be able to start the game without cleaning up the systray. A3: There are a few systems that are having conflicts between some of their components and the new copy protection software (SecuROM) used with this game. Specifically the issues are with the CD-ROM drive, sound card, and some of the maintenance suite software packages. Some manufacturers, such as Kenwood, have resolved this issue with firmware upgrades for the CD-ROM drive. Contact either the computer or CD-ROM Mfg. for the firmware upgrade and instructions on applying this upgrade. The "Hourglass" problem can also result from conflicts with outdated or incompatible driver software for the sound or video card. Always be sure that the computer has the latest drivers for the video card and sound card. Drivers are frequently updated to keep the hardware current and to fine tune performance. To find the brand and model of the sound and video cards as well as the CD ROM: - Click the Start button, choose Settings, and then Control Panel. - Double-click the System icon. - Click the Device Manager tab. - Double-click the Display Adapters icon, then the icon of the listed device. - Make a note of the name and manufacturer of the device. - Double-click the Sound, video and game controller's icon then the icon of the listed device. - Make a note of the name and manufacturer of the device. Update the sound and video drivers Driver software is generally available for free as a download on the Web site of the card manufacturer. The particular Web site can be located by a Web search, although domain names are often the name of the manufacturer itself (just as Sierra On-Line is found at http://www.sierra.com). There are also general driver sites such as http://www.driverzone.com and http://www.windrivers.com When a driver file is found that is the latest for the particular model of card, select it for download. A window will come up asking what to do with the file; select Save it to disk. Find a place on your hard drive to download the driver software; be sure to create a new folder to contain the driver software. After the download, go into the driver software folder in the hard drive and double-click on the executable to extract the other files. There will be at least one README file with instructions on how to install the drivers. These directions are brief, and relatively simple to follow, but are extremely precise, so read and follow the instructions carefully. For further information on how to update the Video and Sound drivers, please contact the Mfg. of the computer or the specific hardware Mfg. NOTE* Users with the Creative PCI64 should download the latest PCI64 drivers from Creative Labs Support. The "Hourglass" issue may also be caused by the joystick port settings on some soundcards conflicting with the copy protection software. Please follow the instructions below to disable the joystick port. - Right-click on My Computer. - Left-click on Properties. - Click the + next to Sound, Video, and Game Controllers - Click on the sound card. - Click on Properties. - Click on Settings. - Put a check in the disable 'Joystick port' box. - Click on OK. - Start the game. This will disable the Game Port on the computer. If there is a controller plugged in it will now be disabled. To enable the Game Port for other games redo the above instructions and recheck disable 'Joystick port' box. This will not affect any USB controllers. Updating the drivers for the sound card will most likely solve this issue also but this will tell us if in fact the Game Port is the culprit. If these steps do not resolve the issue, please send an email with complete system information, including sound and video card brand and model names, as well as which drivers have been installed. This will be used in our troubleshooting database which is used to resolve issues such as this and to aid other customers who are experiencing similar problems. One final piece of information will help us in resolving this issue. The Direct X Diagnostic tool can provide us with valuable information. - Click on START, FIND, select FILES OR FOLDERS. - In the NAMED box, type in DXDIAG.EXE - Make sure that in the LOOK IN box it reads the C: or hard drive. - Click on the FIND NOW button to find the file in a white window down below. - Double-click on the DXDIAG file in the white window to open a gray box with several tabs across the top of the screen. - Click on the SAVE ALL INFORMATION box at the bottom of the screen. - In the SAVE AS box that appears click on the down arrow next to the SAVE IN line. - Click on DESKTOP from the menu that appears. - Click on the SAVE button in the lower right corner of the window. - Click on EXIT to close the DXDIAG window. - Close all windows back to the Windows desktop screen. - Fill out the pre-made email-form of Sierra's Technical Support and attach the DXDIAG.TXT file from the Windows desktop for further troubleshooting. Just thought I'd share it with you guys... I'm gonna try those out, and hope it'll work.
Like Milo said: It's not me you have to ask, it'd be Sierra, cuz I copypasted it of of their site. But I don't think Sierra will mind if you use it :wink:
Thanks for the info, but I'm still unable to run Arcanum. The world editor works ok, but just in case I copied the data files manually. No luck, I'm still getting the back to desktop bug. I don't think this is the problem, since I can't get the game running on win98, win2000 and win xp. I made a clean installation, but the game still doesn't work. I don't think the securom is the problem, since the game at least starts. With a wrong cd, it says that there is a wrong cd inserted. And the Arcanum demo works perfectly, but the full game doesn't. My graphics card is 16mb voodoo3. There shouldn't be any problems with this card, since other voodoo3 users have been able to run the game. My sound card is via ac97 (integrated on the motherboard). Sound works ok on the logo animations... What else could be done to get arcanum running?
