Black Screen
By
Captain Fabulous,
Posted on: 2009-05-24 14:51 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
I would use a utility like Driver Sweeper to clean out your video drivers after you've uninstalled them and then reinstall from scratch. Hopefully that will clear things up.
thanks i'll give that a try
ok...i completely obliterated my display drivers with driver sweeper, reinstalled them, then reinstalled the game. still same problem. i can hear the game, but there's no visuals. no loading screen of statesman and crew. no login screen. just black. music is going, i can hear the sound effects and everything, just can't see it. can't see the mouse either.
anyone else have any suggestions on how to fix this problem? I know the game runs with this hardware...after the reinstallation of the operating system is when the problem started. any help is much appreciated.
apologies. here's my CoH Helper Data, along with my HijackThis data. thanks to all, i appreciate this.
CoH Helper
---System information gathered by CoH Helper version 0.1.1.7---
DxDiag gathered at June 20, 2009 12:49 (-04:00)
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.090206-1234)
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Central Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2500+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 992MB
.Net Memory Report: 573MB out of 991MB available
Page File: 2053MB (338MB currently in use)
C Drive: (Promise 1+0 Stripe/RAID0 SCSI Disk Device) 63292MB out of 99998MB (63%) free
F Drive: (Promise 1+0 Stripe/RAID0 SCSI Disk Device) 231882MB out of 376931MB (61%) free
D Drive: (TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S162A) zero-size drive
E Drive: (SONY CD-ROM CDU5211) zero-size drive
Windows directory location: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DirectX Diag version: 5.03.2600.5512 (32-bit version)
Display Notes: No problems found.
Sound Notes: No problems found.
Input Notes: No problems found.
Monitor: Default Monitor
Monitor's Max Resolution: (blank)
Video Device Name: NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU
Manufacturer / Chip: NVIDIA / GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU
Video Memory: 32.0 MB
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9371
Driver Date: 10/22/2006 12:22:00 PM
Driver Language: English
Sound Device Description: NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio
Driver File: nvapu.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.2917.0000
Driver Date: 12/5/2002 12:01:00 AM
WMI Information
Motherboard Manufacturer: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD
Motherboard Model: (empty)
Motherboard Product: MS-6570
Motherboard Version:
BIOS Manufacturer: Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Name: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
BIOS Version: Nvidia - 42302e31
BIOS Release: 20031107000000.000000+000
Registry Information for Current User
Resolution: 800x600
3D Resolution: 800x600 (Not using renderscale)
Full Screen: Yes
Maximized: No
Screen Position: 0, 0
Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Vertical Sync Enabled: Yes
Physics Quality: Medium
Maximum Particles: 10000
Max Particle Fill? 10.000
Physics Card Enabled: No
Anti-aliasing: None
Anisotropic Filtering: None
Texture LOD Bias: Crisp
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: Unknown (3)
World Texture Level: Medium
Character Texture Level: Very High
World Detail Level (Vis_Scale): 0.595
Entity Detail Level: 0.595
Shadows Enabled: Yes
Gamma Correction: 1.000
Geometry Buffers (VBOs) Enabled: No
Suppression of Extra Player FX Enabled: No
Suppression of FX When Camera Close Enabled: No
Close Suppression Range: 3.000
Show Advertisements: Yes
Audio Mode: Performance
3D Audio: No
FX Sound Volume: 1.000
Music Sound Volume: 0.600
Show Advanced Graphics Options: No
Overall Graphics Quality: 0.600
Reverse Mouse Buttons: No
Save Login Username: Yes
Transfer Rate: 156347 bytes/second
Current Game Version: 18.20090422.5T
Installation Directory: C:\Program Files\City of Heroes
Mod files in the Data directory
No modifications found
Hijack This:
Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 12:51:12 PM, on 6/20/2009
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.6001.18702)
Boot mode: Normal
Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\hpztsb0 5.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\sstray.exe
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\VIPRE\SBAMTray.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
C:\Program Files\AIM6\aim6.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\pctspk.exe
C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\VIPRE\SBAMSvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\snmp.exe
C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Common\ViewpointService.exe
C:\Program Files\AIM6\aolsoftware.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis\HijackThis.exe
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://drudgereport.com/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings,ProxyOverride = 127.0.0.1
O2 - BHO: AcroIEHelperStub - {18DF081C-E8AD-4283-A596-FA578C2EBDC3} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelperShim.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [HPDJ Taskbar Utility] C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3\hpztsb0 5.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nForce Tray Options] sstray.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LiveMonitor] C:\Program Files\MSI\Live Update 2\LMonitor.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe Reader Speed Launcher] "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SBAMTray] C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\VIPRE\SBAMTray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\MSMSGS.EXE" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ctfmon.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Aim6] "C:\Program Files\AIM6\aim6.exe" /d locale=en-US ee://aol/imApp
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {0CCA191D-13A6-4E29-B746-314DEE697D83} (Facebook Photo Uploader 5 Control) - http://upload.facebook.com/controls/...oUploader5.cab
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/microsof...?1232926322875
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - http://fpdownload2.macromedia.com/ge...sh/swflash.cab
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: PCTEL Speaker Phone (Pctspk) - PCtel, Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\pctspk.exe
O23 - Service: VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware (SBAMSvc) - Sunbelt Software - C:\Program Files\Sunbelt Software\VIPRE\SBAMSvc.exe
O23 - Service: Viewpoint Manager Service - Viewpoint Corporation - C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Common\ViewpointService.exe
--
End of file - 4694 bytes
I would just like the add that I just downloaded the latest nVidia drivers and suddenly CoH is just giving me a black screen as well. Doesn't do this for other games. Just this one.
Haxi2
Don't use the 186.xx drivers. If you did, download the 185.xx drivers, uninstall the 186.xx, run DriverSweeper, and reboot. Cancel any Driver installations that come up, then install the 185.xx drivers instead.
The 186.xx drivers are causing problems for Windows 7 and Vista users. Another user downloaded the 186.xx drivers on XP and had no problems, so XP users should be fine.
The problem that mulletman has is different, especially since he is using the newest drivers for his video card already.
I'd recommend trying to run the game in Safe Mode to see if that will let you into the game. If it does, go into the Menu > Options and on the Video tab set it to run in Windowed mode.
If you can't get there using Safe Mode, download Tweak CoH and use it to set the graphics settings before loading the game. You should be able to set it for Windowed mode from there.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
[ QUOTE ]
Haxi2
Don't use the 186.xx drivers. If you did, download the 185.xx drivers, uninstall the 186.xx, run DriverSweeper, and reboot. Cancel any Driver installations that come up, then install the 185.xx drivers instead.
The 186.xx drivers are causing problems for Windows 7 and Vista users. Another user downloaded the 186.xx drivers on XP and had no problems, so XP users should be fine.
The problem that mulletman has is different, especially since he is using the newest drivers for his video card already.
I'd recommend trying to run the game in Safe Mode to see if that will let you into the game. If it does, go into the Menu > Options and on the Video tab set it to run in Windowed mode.
If you can't get there using Safe Mode, download Tweak CoH and use it to set the graphics settings before loading the game. You should be able to set it for Windowed mode from there.
[/ QUOTE ]
Repectfully, one problem with the above....CoH/CoV is the only problem that these drivers are causing problems with under Vista. Haxi2 has about a dozen other games (including other MMO's) which are not having ANY problems with the new Nvidia drivers. This is a CoH problem and not a Vista an Nvidia problem.
Frankly, I would not have advised anyone to download the new drivers since they are so new. This usually happens when new drivers are released. I doubt NCsoft has had a chance to see what the problems are that they have to address yet. Hopefully, they will release an update soon that will fix this issue. Haxi2 will not be rolling back his drivers for only one piece of software that does not play nice. If NCsoft refuses to fix the issues from their end then he will be cancelling his subscription as will I.
It's not just NCSoft fixing things on their end.
This is an OpenGL issue and NVidia has had several issues over the last few years with OpenGL games, not just CoH. It's not the coding of the game that changed, it's the coding in the drivers, and that isn't NCSoft's doing. And yes, if you go through the patch notes for various NVidia drivers over the past couple of years, you will find that they fixed things in different versions of their drivers not just for CoH, but also for other games.
Trying to compare how CoH runs to how other games run is much like comparing apples and oranges. Now, if you want to compare it to another game running on the Cryptic engine that CoH runs on I won't complain since that is comparing apples to apples. Unfortunately, there are no other games running on that engine that I know of.
As far as nothing else being affected by the NVidia drivers, have you looked at the NVidia forums? There are problems in WoW, LoTRO, CoD4, and Warhammer that I remember seeing the name of the game more than once.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Haxi2
Don't use the 186.xx drivers. If you did, download the 185.xx drivers, uninstall the 186.xx, run DriverSweeper, and reboot. Cancel any Driver installations that come up, then install the 185.xx drivers instead.
The 186.xx drivers are causing problems for Windows 7 and Vista users. Another user downloaded the 186.xx drivers on XP and had no problems, so XP users should be fine.
The problem that mulletman has is different, especially since he is using the newest drivers for his video card already.
I'd recommend trying to run the game in Safe Mode to see if that will let you into the game. If it does, go into the Menu > Options and on the Video tab set it to run in Windowed mode.
If you can't get there using Safe Mode, download Tweak CoH and use it to set the graphics settings before loading the game. You should be able to set it for Windowed mode from there.
[/ QUOTE ]
Repectfully, one problem with the above....CoH/CoV is the only program that these drivers are causing problems with under Vista. Haxi2 has about a dozen other games (including other MMO's) which are not having ANY problems with the new Nvidia drivers. This is a CoH problem and not a Vista an Nvidia problem.
Frankly, I would not have advised anyone to download the new drivers since they are so new. This usually happens when new drivers are released. I doubt NCsoft has had a chance to see what the problems are that they have to address yet. Hopefully, they will release an update soon that will fix this issue. Haxi2 will not be rolling back his drivers for only one piece of software that does not play nice. If NCsoft refuses to fix the issues from their end then he will be cancelling his subscription as will I.
[/ QUOTE ] That's a very silly thing to say considering you can easily get it to work just fine by rolling your driver back with little effort and little to no loss of performance in the other games.
You admit that glitches in drivers happen from time to time. It's no big deal. The next version usually straightens things out. Case in point.. the NVidia 177.79 that can completely screw up this game as well. CoX didn't do anything to fix that problem either. We just wait for the next driver to release, and in the meantime, we just roll back to the previous driver.
Sure, CoX may have it's issues, but for all we know, it may require reprogramming the whole client just to get it to work correctly when these driver issues happen. CoX doesn't even support the use of Windows Vista or Windows 7 ... and this is probably why. Don't expect there to be a fix from CoX on this one... at least not until they officially support your operating system. If you want to cancel your accounts over it.. that's your own business... but I would hope you don't do it over something as silly as this... especially since the driver in question is only a few days old at this point. Like you said, anybody obligated to fix it wouldn't even have a chance to do so by now (which doesn't include NCsoft anyway), so implying that NCsoft (or anybody else) would "refuse to fix the issue" is premature at this point.
Easier thing to do.. use the drivers that make everything work, and stick with them... read feedback on new drivers before you upgrade next time, or be willing to roll back when things don't go your way.
i used TweakCoh to have the game start in Windowed mode...still the same old problem. The game will load, but I'm unable to see anything...just a black screen. Thank you all for the replies! I'm wondering if I should try rolling back to a previous display driver?
I just looked over your logs and saw these:
Water Effects: High Quality
Bloom: 1.000 (turned on)
Depth of Field Enabled: Yes
Desaturation Effects (Sepia) Enabled: Yes
Shader Detail: Unknown (3)
I'm betting it's a shader issue since you have a very old graphics chip. Set the Advanced Graphics to on, and set Water Effects to none, Bloom, Depth of Field, and Desaturation to off, and Shader Detail to lowest.
See if that works. Alternatively I would try starting the game in safe mode (there is a checkbox for it when you launch the updater) and seeing if that works.
If you still get a black screen then yes, roll back to an older driver.
i made the changes you suggested, still no luck. i can't bring it up in safe mode either. here's a screen capture of what i'm talking about web page
as for rolling back to an old driver, i just tried, and there's no record of any older driver on this machine...which makes no sense, especially if i've updated to the latest one for that videocard.
Why can't you go into safe mode? What happens when you try?
To go back to an older driver it's best to uninstall the current driver, use driver sweeper, reboot, and then install the older driver.
when i click the check box for safe mode i still get the black screen. i'll have to try using driver sweeper to help reinstall the old driver.
Your log above says you're using 93.71, from 2006. I checked and it is indeed the latest driver for your card.
I would try using this one:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_84.21.html
It's going back a few years, but I remember having all sorts of problems with the 9x.xx series of Nvidia drivers. The 8x.xx series worked much better.
Captain thanks a lot! I rolled back to that driver and it now works...schweet. Thanks everyone for your feedback and help!
Glad I could help. Y'know, you really should consider getting a dedicated video card. I know your system is old, I get that, but even a $40 card is going to run circles around what you have now. The GF 4 MX is very limited in what it can do, and there is so much you're not getting to see because of it. It's literally like night and day.
[ QUOTE ]
The GF 4 MX is very limited in what it can do, and there is so much you're not getting to see because of it. It's literally like night and day.
[/ QUOTE ] Then again, with that processor and ram, they might not be able to up the preferences too much anyway without slowing the performance even more.
My server box has a 1.8 GHz single core Sempron paired with an AGP GF 6600GT that I bought used for $20, and it actually plays pretty well. Obviously I can't max everything out, but even on medium settings it's quite playable. Keeping antialiasing and anisotropic filtering off and the particle count low (like around 5000) are the big keys to getting decent performance.
One big advantage to getting an add-in card (besides the enhanced visuals) is the onboard memory. My 6600GT has 256 MBs, which is a whole lot more than his 32MBs, which is most likely system memory.
i hear ya. the computer in question is a family computer...it'll get upgraded when my dad tires of its performance. my college computer is much faster, and it's what i play on a majority of the time, but when i'm home i'd like to be able to play coh, hehe, so for now the slow pc will do.
Similar problem, so I thought I'd ask in this thread.
Brand new install, computer built from the ground up. Will not run CoH. Black Screen when I do. I load the older Nvidia drivers, and I get this:
You card or driver doesn't support GL_ARB_multitexture
You card or driver doesn't support GL_ARB_texture_compression
I've a geforce GTS 250. If I load the most recent drivers, I just get the black screen. Roll back, and I get the preceding messages.
I got the game to run at one point, but I had to reset the resolution and haven't been able to get back in.
Safe mode doesn't work either.
xen10K,
I just got an I7 machine that behaved exactly as you mentioned (same video card too) when I uninstalled the drivers but didn't get it cleared completely.
I'd recommend making sure the drivers are gone and using the 185.* version drivers. That fixed it for me.
Just so it's clear, here's my chain of events:
- Install CoH, spend forever downloading crap (~2 hours).
- Run Game ;; black screen with noise
- Uninstall 186.* drivers
- Install 185.* drivers ;; errors exactly like yours
- Uninstall 185.* drivers
- Reboot
- Install 185.* drivers
- Run game ;; Success!
Anyway, hope it helps.
I did a fresh Windows 7 install, and installed a few games. CoX has all settings obviously at default, and I get the black screen with the 186.18 drivers. Its pretty frustrating that this is the only game that I play that REGULARLY has problems with the latest drivers. I'm considering rolling back to 185.85, but it is very frustrating that I have to do this type of procedure with just about every other driver update.
While I know Win7 is not supported, its so much less problematic on Co* than Vista.
My system, which is setup for much more resource intensive games than CoX:
Q9550 O/C to 3.4 on an ASUS P5Q Turbo (P45)
8GB of RAM running at 1066
EVGA GTX285 vid w/1GB
Fresh install of Win7 Ultimate beta
While its the driver that did it, its still mainly because Co* is an old game with a relatively small player base, meaning it does not get the same testing as WoW or several of the FPS games.
I stopped playing coh after Issue 14, and afterwards my computer crashed. Now, I'm coming back to Coh, I reinstalled it, and I've downloaded the latest nvidia driver. I get to the login screen and my screen is black. The game is running, but the screen is black. Even the loading picture of statesman and his crew that normally displays is black. Any suggestions as to how I can fix this?