Mass Effect (solved)

[iSuck]

After downloading the wrapper, missing dlls, and putting them into the Mass Effect Binaries directory, I can actually get the game to start. However, I'm having two problems with the game. One is minor, the other is major.
Minor Problem: In the middle of cut scenes, the game can freeze for a minute or two. Simply waiting it out seems to be a valid work-around.
Major Problem: The second after all the cutscenes are finished, and my character is about to land on the planet, the game had one of those freezes, but waiting five minutes did nothing, and it screwed up the graphics in all my background windows.

I WILL beat to the pulp anybody who tells me to make sure my computer meets the requirements of the game, because it does, other than Windows 2000.

[code="win2k_xp_kernel32.ini"]









[win2k_xp_kernel32]
majVer=5
minVer=0
buildNum=2195
verifyVersion=0
versionFaking=exclude
geoNation=244
geoRegion=244
geoISO2=US
geoISO3=USA
SystemDirectory=C:\WINNT\system32
Load_ACLayers=0
GetModuleOriginal=0
RewriteExportTable=0
debug=0

[win2k_xp_user32]
UseDirectInput=1





[/code]
If anything else might help solve these problems, tell me.

[OldBoy2k]

Hi iSuck,

welcome to win2kgaming forums.Please let us know which missing dll-code errors you encountered and what you did (which dlls you used from the wrapper) to get the game running.We would like to add your fix to the backporting game section,thanks.

Related the game problems:
I know,it seems too straight forward but newer games won't run smooth without the latest driver updates.Please make sure and check that you have these drivers installed.

In case you have a Nvidia gcard,download the 175.19whql driver:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.19_whql.html
Don`t worry if it doesn't mention Win2k anywhere,the Win2k driver is still availible in the XP driver package!Please also check for latest ATI drivers if availible in case you are running a ATI card.

Download the latest OpenAl driver from here:
http://connect.creativelabs.com/develop ... ndows.aspx

Download the latest DirectX9c June 2008 update from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

Most important:
Download the WMP9 codecs (WM9Codecs9x.exe) for Win9x/Win2k from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window ... nload.aspx

Hope that these drivers fix your problems...

[iSuck]

I solved all the missing dll errors by downloading the required ones. As for the wrapper, I just used all the dlls.

Video card drivers are the newest ones which will install for my video card (ATI Radeon Omega 4.8.442, based on Catylyst 7.12). I have no problem in other games, such as BioShock, Crysis, and Half-Life 2.

The latest versions of Open AL, DirectX, and WMP9 codecs are all already installed on my computer.

I have applied a different fix for several games by downloading dll files and editing xinput_1_3.dll. The games are AudioSurf, BioShock, and Crysis. All three work flawlessly. I tried the same fix for Mass Effect, but it uses a Kernel 32 dll function. After trying and failing by putting an XP kernel32.dll into the game's binary directory. About a week later, I found out about this site and figured that the wrapper would work. I tried it, but got a GPF. It turned out that this was because of the changes in xinput I made. Redownloading the dll fixed the GPF.

The only problem with this game is the freezing issue. This may be caused by a bug in one of the wrapper's functions. It occurs during the in-game cutscenes rendered in real-time with the in-game models, not during the main-menu or pre-rendered videos.

[OldCigarette]

Hmm it's hard to say if the wrapper could be causing the problem without knowing which functions from the wrapper are being used. Try removing all or renaming the wrapper dlls and only use the ones you need.

My only guess because it sounds graphics related might be if you needed the user32 rawinput stuff. Maybe the directinput use is messing it up. Try changing your config like this

Code: Select all

[win2k_xp_user32]
UseDirectInput=0


that's all you should need in the ini file.

[iSuck]

Wrapper dlls it needs for sure:
advapi32.dll - TraceMessage (In xinput1_3.dll)
kernel32.dll - GetProcessId
shell32.dll - SHCreateShellItem (In MassEffectConfig.exe)

Other dlls it needs for sure:
dbghelp.dll

Needs for sure means that it gives explicit error messages saying error with this dll if not present.

As for your suggestion, it made no difference, I still get the freezes.

EDIT: I was actually able to last past the cutscenes and in game, shortly before a GPF occurred. I've also noticed that the freezes are less common and last less time. This was with directinput disabled.

EDIT2: Opening the 2D map after trying to play again got me this GPF which actually gave me a command name:

[OldBoy2k]

Hi,you could try the Catalyst driver patch i found this morning to patch some newer driver:
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33894589

Maybe theres a new Omega Driver released soon and based on the 8.7 Catalyst driver:
http://www.driverheaven.net/windows-xp- ... hread.html

[iSuck]

For the video drivers, I have to wait until the next version of Omega Drivers. The newer ATI drivers don't work on 2000 (even if hacked onto it), and the patch only works with older version of the drivers, older than the drivers I have now. The maker of the Omega drivers said he'd release new ones sometimes this month, according to his web page.

[OldCigarette]

I searched google for the error code there and a bunch of hits come up. It makes me think it's not a problem with the wrapper. Maybe try changing the graphics settings, some people have reported success it seems.

[iSuck]

I did some research of my own, and I discovered that this error may be caused by incorrect amd dual-core drivers or me needing to use the dual-core optimizer. Both of these refuse to install on windows 2000, so I used the wrapper to install the drivers and the remove msi version check script for the optimizer.

If you don't hear from me again, you know why.

[DosFreak]

I did some research of my own, and I discovered that this error may be caused by incorrect amd dual-core drivers or me needing to use the dual-core optimizer. Both of these refuse to install on windows 2000, so I used the wrapper to install the drivers and the remove msi version check script for the optimizer.

If you don't hear from me again, you know why.

Internet went down?
Nuclear strike?
Abducted by aliens?
Sinkhole?
Tornado?
Supernova?
Heart attack?


Why not just post back if it worked, that way we get confirmation instead of assuming that something worked?

[iSuck]

I did some research of my own, and I discovered that this error may be caused by incorrect amd dual-core drivers or me needing to use the dual-core optimizer. Both of these refuse to install on windows 2000, so I used the wrapper to install the drivers and the remove msi version check script for the optimizer.

If you don't hear from me again, you know why.

Internet went down?
Nuclear strike?
Abducted by aliens?
Sinkhole?
Tornado?
Supernova?
Heart attack?


Why not just post back if it worked, that way we get confirmation instead of assuming that something worked?

I somehow ended up screwing up my windows 2000 installation, and right after reinstalling it, my hard drive died. I just now got a new hard drive and installed 2000. It will be a while until I install Mass Effect again.

[OldBoy2k]

I somehow ended up screwing up my windows 2000 installation, and right after reinstalling it, my hard drive died.

Ohhh sorry to hear that.For the installation of the wrapper please make sure no wrapper files are copied to your WINNT or system32 directory.

[iSuck]

I somehow ended up screwing up my windows 2000 installation, and right after reinstalling it, my hard drive died.

Ohhh sorry to hear that.For the installation of the wrapper please make sure no wrapper files are copied to your WINNT or system32 directory.

I am so sick of hearing the insanely ****ing obvious being stated. Stop before I do something I'll regret, like transforming into the hulk and going on a destructive rampage.

Now that that's off my chest, let me explain what happened. I installed the dual-core drivers no problem, but dual core still wasn't working. I then realized why. In my device manager, I had the Single Processor driver installed. So I reinstalled the driver and set it to use the Multi-Processor driver. During installation, it asked if I wanted to overwrite an existing file that's newer than the one from the driver. I said no. Because of that, my windows 2000 installation screwed up. Had I said yes, everything probably would have been fine until my hard drive died.

With this reinstallation of windows, the multi-processor driver auto-installed. I have yet to put it to the test though. I haven't even finished installing any of my games.

[iSuck]

I got this game to work, and posted a new thread in the backporting games section. This thread can now be locked or left to die.

[OldCigarette]

Thanks for posting your results!

I'll leave this post here, it's a decent reference.