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Unable to initialize DirectX!!!

C

cpeder

Landlubber
I'm not used to dealing with DirectX problems, but when I try to start SMP all I get is this message:

"Unable to initialize DirectX."

What the F... does this mean??? Can anyone explain that to me in a langue which I can understand and how do I solve it?

Now I have read about all the problems for about two days PLEASE HELP ME!!!
 
can u post your graphics card and direct x version plz?

u need to have DX9.0c installed to run pirates.

in the meantime (i assume u run windows XP)

click START then RUN and type DXDIAG.exe in the dialogue box

check the direct version from here and run the tests on the DISPLAY tab see if they generate any errors.

Steve
 
Hello,

I have all ready done that and all succeded.

I'va also tried to run the test on MS' site. No problemos senor was the answer.

My graphics card is a 3D Prophet 4500 TV Out from Hercules.

I have DX9.0c installed and I run XP.

What do I do?

Casper
 
hmm i was not at all familiar with this card so i did an intermet search for it.

firstly its very old for a graphics card these days. roughly contemporary with geforce2. (please make sure u have the latest drivers for this card from the hercules.com site)

it most likely doesnt have any form of T&L shader capability. unfortunately pirates does state on the box and readme it REQUIRES T&L shader capability to run.

however there are a couple of things u can try:

1. does it run in "pirates Safe Mode" which can be accessed from the firaxis/pirates menu in your programs list?

or

2. try editing the pirates config.ini file (also accessed from firaxis/pirates) and change the
DisableShaders = 0
to DisableShaders = 1

and try booting that

if both of those fail then i am afraid its new card time for u if u want to play this (or to be honest if u want to be able to play alot of new stuff)

there are a few other people with the same problem as u on the atari tech support forum (albeit with different cards. but all older ones).

<a href="http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/" target="_blank">http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/</a>

thats about all i can think of for u to try

regards
Steve
 
Dear cpeder <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/hi.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":gday" border="0" alt="hi.gif" />

Your old fashioned 3D Prophet 4500 TV Out (with S3 Trio Chip on it) doesn´t support Direct X 9.0 and Hardware T&L which is needed for newer games. You have to buy a newer one wich supports both.

Hardware T & L means " Hardware Transform and Lighting". <a href="http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20000717/`radeon256-03`.html" target="_blank">More Information</a>

<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" /> Hafen
 
The problem is not his card its the game I am having the same problem and I have tryed everything to get it to work.

It was working fine to a week ago then its just would not work most of directX game seems on only SMP and Space Interceptor seem to have stopped working.

My system is a
AMD 64 3500+
SBAubidy 2 ZS
Geforce 6800 Ultra

and looking around the net I see lots of ppl with the same problem not all of them have old cards alot have up to date systems
 
I started to have the same problem as well and I have a similiar set up to you. I have a AMD 3800+ and a BFG Nvidia 6800 Ultra. All of a sudden, Pirates! stopped working. You get an "unable to initialize Directx" message. When you use the "dxdiag" program, under the display tag it says there is a problem with Direct 3d. I have a suspicion the problem is related to the "Windows Update" I performed on Saturday. It added some fixes to my system. I went to the Add/Remove programs and removed all the updates I could. I even went back to the old restore point to no avail. Can it be connected with the AMD chipset? It could be. Microsoft really made me mad when the NX bit enhancement in SP2 caused AMD computers to blue screen. I also updated to the latest Nvdia drivers to no avail.

Let me know if you find anything or point me to a place where this discussion is actively occurring.
I
 
are any of you peeps with the problems using a via based motherboard? i've had the same problem with Directx not initialising and i've somehow removed the problem, although i don't know for sure how. i think it stems from the older via motherboards having problems with AGP - i've read about this a lot on the internet and experienced it.

I've a Geforce 5200 fx (agp) and amd 1.2 running on a via m/b that's a few years old now.

My problem was (partially) solved by installing an older video driver and `re-installing` directx 9.0c fully and updating my bios (to try and resolve the video card conflict) unfortuantly i'm still having stability issues and my pc freezes whenever it likes, but pirates worked for at least a day. now it's started restarting pc the moment the game starts playing (i.e once loaded). anyway i hope this info helps and damn my computer.

grim leaper
 
hi im new to this thing n im stuck. odviously! but n e way yer my direct x is unable to initialize but i have windows 98se so help would b nice. thnx matt
 
Have any of you Geforce owners managed to solve this problem? I recently upgraded from a Radeon 9600 to a 6800 (`non-ultra`), and the game suddenly stopped working, giving me the "Unable to initialise DirectX" error every time I tried to launch it!

At least three people in this thread own NVidia cards, so I was wondering if this is specific to these cards.

I've tried 4 different versions of the Forceware drivers (including the latest beta), and they've all been giving me the same exact problem. Naturally, before upgrading, I completely removed my old Ati drivers by booting into Safe Mode and using Drivertool. My motherboard drivers are up to date too, as is Windows and DirectX: a recent fresh install using a CD slipstreamed with SP2.

Just to make sure my DirectX installation wasn't corrupted, I took out the 6800 and reinstalled my old Ati card, and the game once again worked perfectly!!

Any advice?
 
I've just purchased this game earlier today. Everything ran fine through installation till the time I save/quit the game. And I'd like to mention that I played it for about 4+ hours with out a single problem. But when I want to start up the game again, I got the "Unable to initialise DirectX" error. Which now I see seems to be a quite common issue. I spent about 3 hours now reading up on this issue and found no solution. I've got all my drivers updated, and I'm not about to roll back on my drivers just to make one game work, cause I've read a few people have done that and it seemed to help...but that would be rediculous in my mind.
As of now I'm left with no solution and in utter frustration.. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_twisted.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":twisted:" border="0" alt="icon_twisted.gif" />
Here are my specs for comparison with others to see if we can figure this out.

Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.60GHz
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (version 6.14.0010.6490)
SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio (version 5.12.0001.3630)
Windows XP Prof. (SP 2)
1 GB of RAM
 
I just realized something. I don't know about you guys. But when I bought the game...inside the box it had a Mail In Rebate for ATI X800 cards and other ATI cards I believe. I'm not too sure since I don't have it in front of me...but since this game is optimized for ATI cards for one thing and I'm sure they've tested this on newer ATI cards...in all it doesn't make sense to why older cards seem to run this game perfectly and the newer cards doesn't...Just common sense when you think about it isn't it? so I believe the video cards might not be the issue.
 
Unable to initialize DirectX Solved

Here is exactly what I did and it's simple but it worked for me.
I uninstalled the game, including my saved files from when I initially played for the one time and one time only.
I reinstalled it. I clicked the shortcut and it worked without error.
And I made sure that the<b>only thing</b> I changed in the video settings was my <b>resolution size</b> and I <b>checked the box for Advance Lighting</b>. And I didn't mess around with any of the levels for Water Detail, etc etc, I just left the <b>rest at default</b>.

Basically I adjusted as little as to what I needed for me to enjoy the game. My gut feelings tell me that when we adjust the Water Detail level that is when the error message will occur the next time you launch it. Cause the first time I installed it, I had Water Detail to the max along with few things but since I left those other things at default...the game runs fine. Honestly, the only thing I noticed with the graphics cranked was the water didn't look so cartoony but who cares...the darn thing works.

Good Luck!
 
Also forgot to mention this but I defragged my computer after I uninstalled it and again after I installed it. I'm sure this isn't a crucial thing but just one of those things that just might be it.

I feel like I've been talking to myself here on this forum.
But oh well, stress therapy I guess you can say is what you've just witnessed here. lol.
 
"Unable to Initialise DirectX" - Solved!

I think I've cracked it: I started the game in safe mode, and it worked. While in safe mode, I went into options and changed the resolution and detail levels to the maximum (except for water detail which it wouldn't let me adjust). Then I exited and started the game again normally, and it worked. I adjusted all the remaining graphics sliders to the maximum, exited again, and now it works every time.

I think it may be an issue of the game loading the wrong textures, and it seems to remember which ones to load in between sessions. So if you get it to load the minimum detail ones once (by starting it in safe mode), then next time it'll search again for the highest maximum your system will support, and (hopefully) get it right this time.
 
My game is still starting up with no errors. I'm going to take a risk and adjust everything to high as well except for Water Detail. Cause that is the one that I think gives it the error message...I'll post and `re-edit` this post with my findngs.
 
I have the same exact problem with "Unable to initialize DirectX". I also have a Prophet 4500 video card. Are there any more suggestions? What would be a good bang-for-the-buck replacement video card (something "not-so-new" that I can get off ebay)? I was thinking about the VisionTek Xtasy 6564 GeForce3 Ti 200
 
Recommend a FX5500 ur better mate fer play'n SMP,Resources are a factor play'n SMP,even with this card ye need ter play wid yer game video settings,Only card so far as Iv'e played this game with video setting maxed out is a 6600GT 128MB,no lags,game freezes,ur other nasty little probs <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
Intel 1.6 GhZ
512MB RAM
MB Gigabyte intel 865 chipsaet
6600 GT 128MB
winxp Pro SP1

game runs smooth and all visual affects,hope that helps ye out <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
 
<!--QuoteBegin-skull+Jun 2 2005, 02:09 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(skull @ Jun 2 2005, 02:09 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Recommend a FX5500 ur better mate fer play'n SMP,Resources are a factor play'n SMP,even with this card ye need ter play wid yer game video settings,Only card so far as Iv'e played this game with video setting maxed out is a 6600GT 128MB,no lags,game freezes,ur other nasty little probs <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
Intel 1.6 GhZ
512MB RAM
MB Gigabyte intel 865 chipsaet
6600 GT 128MB
winxp Pro SP1

game runs smooth and all visual affects,hope that helps ye out <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheers" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />
<div align="right">[snapback]108934[/snapback]</div><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

So I do a search on eBay for "FX5500" and I'll find exactly what I need?
 
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