CMSF crashes when it tries to start

[Ruthless]

Something recently updated on my PC. Zone Alarm definitely just updated, but there may have been some minor WinXP update or something that also occurred in the background. Now, when I double-click on the executable or the shortcut to start CMSF, I get the "CM Shock Force.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close" before even seeing a splash screen.

This problem has never occurred before and AFAIK all my other applications work fine.

I tried uninstalling, deleting the directory, then re-installing. Still doesn't work. Tried same but patched to 1.08 version (was previously successfully running 1.20 version with Brits and Marines modules), still crashes when I try to start it.

[Schrullenhaft]

Have you disabled your ZoneAlarm security ? I'm not that familiar with using the current package, but you may want to add an "exception" for CMSF and for a file "\Windows\Runservice.exe" which is a service involved with eLicense that should be running to allow any eLicense game to run. Some anti-virus programs may interpret 'Runservice.exe' and Battlefront games as virus/trojans due to the way the eLicense system works (it hides itself in a manner similar to trojans).

I'm not aware (at this point) of any Windows updates to Windows XP that would cause problems with CMSF. ZoneAlarm is the most likely culprit, unfortunately.

[Ruthless]

I should have mentioned I've tried running with Zone Alarm turned off (and I tried manually shutting down all background processes that look like they might possibly interfere.) I have not previously had any problems with Zone Alarm interfering with CMSF, so I tend to think that some update maybe modified a file CMSF shares with other programs. I should also add that CMBB and CMAK both start just fine.

[Schrullenhaft]

CMBB and CMAK are DirectX games, while CMSF is an OpenGL game. Are all of your games based on eLicense or are your copies of CMBB and CMAK using disc-based copy protection ?

I'm not specifically aware of a system file that CMSF is particularly dependent on that would cause a problem other than video drivers and possibly some of the Microsoft OpenGL DLLs associated with them. I'm not quite sure if CMSF is dependent on any of the Microsoft supplied OpenGL DLLs either.

If you believe it is a Windows update and not ZoneAlarm, you could go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs control panel > make sure that "Show updates" is checked and then look through the Microsoft-related updates most likely those under "Windows XP - Software Updates", though not all updates seem to appear in this list. If you find a recently installed update, you can possibly uninstall it and see if CMSF behaves differently.

You could possibly update your DirectX (this is NOT reversible, typically). This installer is just a partial web-based component that will download the necessary modules to update your install of DirectX. Of course CMSF is only based on OpenGL rather than DirectX, but it MAY be worth doing.

[Moon]

My bet would be on ZoneAlarm any day of the week. I don't have ZA so I don't know if it's the worst documented piece of software on the planet or not, but it definitely pops up in support issues very often, blocking processes without telling the user what to do and apparently with no easy way to even deactivate it. There is a test (not too easy unfortunately) which usually shows that ZA is the problem: uninstall ZA or configure it to not boot up when you reboot the PC. For 99% of the support cases where similar issues popped up, this has helped.

[Ruthless]

Originally Posted by Moon

My bet would be on ZoneAlarm any day of the week. I don't have ZA so I don't know if it's the worst documented piece of software on the planet or not, but it definitely pops up in support issues very often, blocking processes without telling the user what to do and apparently with no easy way to even deactivate it. There is a test (not too easy unfortunately) which usually shows that ZA is the problem: uninstall ZA or configure it to not boot up when you reboot the PC. For 99% of the support cases where similar issues popped up, this has helped.

Ok, I think I found the answer; it wasn't Zone Alarm proper, but Zone Alarm's new toolbar ("Forcefield") thing that caused the problem. I uninstalled that and CMSF started up no problem. No idea why that would interfere, but there ya go. I had also previously shut down the process for that and CMSF still didn't start, so an uninstall is required.

So if anyone else has this problem, you can tell them to try uninstalling the ZA Forcefield toolbar first, rather than ZA itself.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[SABER66]

Hi folks,

I recently purchased a new Sony laptop with Win7 loaded and 1GB ATI card. I loaded CMSF from CD...licensed it, patched it to 1.10 then loaded CMSF Marines and BF bundle. All liecensed easily and will open without problem....the pain comes approximately 10-12 minutes into the BF campaign. The program locks up and is forced to exit. I am in the process of running marines, and CMSF to see if the same happens...not sure yet. I will also throw all back onto my older less capable XP laptop and see if the problem persists....just for testing purposes. If anyone has any advice on how to fix this issue, it would be much appreciated.

Machine specs are as follows...

1GB ATI Radeon HD4650
Windows 7 Home premium 6.1.7600 build 7600
Intel Core Duo P8700 @ 2.53Mhz
4Gb of RAM


Regards, MC

[Schrullenhaft]

SABER66 - your crashing has to do with ATI video drivers. Please install the 9.10 Catalyst drivers (these are for Windows 7 32-bit). This should fix your crashing problem.

The one caveat to these drivers is I don't know how well they may work with your Sony laptop. It may not recognize the video chip in the laptop (different IDs, etc.), which may require that you modify the driver with the Mobility Modder tool to modify the INF files of the 9.10 Catalyst driver in order to recognize the chip in your Sony laptop.

[Sarjen]

Ruthless: You are my savior Thanks to you i uninstalled the zone alarm toolbar and i can again enjoy CMSF. \o/

[chris talpas]

Ruthless,
Thanks to you I was quickly able to restore my ability to play CMSF after a Zone Alarm update.

Chris