Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) Technical Problems Do I give up with the game not working in my pc ?

I have more than 1 week trying to make this game work.
I tried different ways to install the game, reinstalling, using utilities Larian Support sent me.
In one of my tries suddenly the window told me invalid disc, I sent the report to larian support, they sent me a key, the key was accepted by the game, but the game did not work.
I am being helped from larian support, but no luck yet.
The game open the first window, at 25% close and nothing happen, no errors are shown, just the game does not start.
There is no error files in beyond divinity directory.
I uninstalled most of the software for a possible conflict with the game.
I have a DVD and a CD Drive and in boths drives the game just does not start.
All my drivers and firmwares are updated.
I tried everything written in this forum.
How Can I know if the problem is hardware or software ?

What Can I try next, before I give up ?
Thanks

[color:"orange"]How Can I know if the problem is hardware or software ?[/color]

Unfortunately, the only reliable method to tell for sure is to fix the problem; if you have to replace something to do so it is a hardware problem, otherwise it is software. It is most likely software, though, since it sounds like it is getting past the CD check.


When you ran dxdiag to see if it reported any problems, did you try running the tests in the Display tab?

If you start the configuration program, can you run the test and save?

I once had a problem with cut scenes crashing a game, but after trying it on a laptop and having them work, I noticed one of the differences was that VSync was enabled on the laptop. Enabling this on my desktop cleared up the problem (under Display Properties, Advanced, and with Radeon drivers in the 3D tab, Direct3D settings). I do not have VSync enabled any more, so this is not an issue with BD, but that could be the kind of thing causing your problem.

Can you boot into Safe Mode? Another person had a corrupt monitor driver, resulting in a crash whenever the screen tried to switch to 640x480 (Safe Mode or for the inro video).
In Windows Explorer, if you browse to the '..\Beyond Divinity\Static' folder, can you view the 'intro.mpg' video?


The install program should report any problems, such as CRC errors, during install. However, if it fails to do so, or a file becomes corrupt after installation, the integrity of the files can still be verified using a program such as FileCheck; download (194KB). This is a small freeware program (no install required) to calculate the CRC-32 values (the cyclic redundancy check used in zip files) of a number of files. It can also compare a previously calculated CRC file with a set of files/folders.

After doing a clean install of BD and rebooting, I deleted the files in the '..\Beyond Divinity\DirectX9' folder (since they are not needed if/once DirectX 9 is installed). Then I used FileCheck to create a crc file of the game folders, installed the 1.45 patch and did so again, both before starting the game. If you compare the appropriate CRC file to your install, it should tell you if there are any corrupt files. You do not need to worry about moving any saved games out of the savegames folder or deleting the files in the dynamic folders, since new files will not be tested by FileCheck, just those listed in the crc file. If you have started the game and changed any options, there will be differences reported in the config.div and keylist.txt files. In my install the '..\Beyond Divinity\Editor\dgen_themes.000' file was also reported to be different.

There are several files in the Beyond Divinity folder created when the game is started or options are changed, including init.cfg, mapids.000, persist.dat, sinfo.000, slashed-d3d6.cfg, slashed.cfg, sound.cfg and starlog.txt. A couple other files are also added, but another crc file including these wouldn't help much, since most or all are system or option dependent, so these files would usually be reported as different regardless of being valid or corrupt.
At least the config.div, slashed.cfg and slashed-d3d6.cfg files in the Beyond Divinity folder can be deleted, and the configuration program / game will recreate them the next time it is started.

Beyond Divinity CRC files (190 KB)
[*] These crc files are based on the UK English version; the North American version should be the same, I think, and the Australian version not too different (it uses a different copy protection).
[*] FileCheck expects the files to be in the original locations to verify, so if you installed BD to a location other than the default (C:\Program Files\Larian Studios\Beyond Divinity), open the CRC file in Wordpad (for example), and do a search-and-replace so the file/folder paths match your install.

If your CRC values match, it is not the game itself, but likely a conflict with something else in your system or a problem in the saved game folder. When examining the list of 'errors' FileCheck produces, potential problem files would be those with an error trying to read, or with a large size difference (especially zero byte files) from the known good install.

> When you ran dxdiag to see if it reported any problems, did you try running the tests in the Display tab?

Yes, I run the tests and everythink is ok. all tests passed.

> If you start the configuration program, can you run the test and save?

Yes, I run the configuration program, run test and save.

> I do not have VSync enabled any more, so this is not an issue with BD, but that could be the kind of thing causing your problem.

After disabling VSync, the difference is the fps I received in the test of the configuration program
With VSync enabled 60 fps, with VSync disabled 558 fps.

> Can you boot into Safe Mode?

Yes I Can

> In Windows Explorer, if you browse to the '..\Beyond Divinity\Static' folder, can you view the 'intro.mpg' video?

Yes I Can

> crc errors ?

No CRC Errors.

When I first installed BD several Weeks ago I had Many of the Same Problems You describe. After it was installed and all tests were checked and Passed and I tried to Start the Game I got the Message--"Invalid key" with Instructions to:---"Look on the Disc labeled BEY_DIV for the Key Code and enter here" --I looked at both Discs--Neither was labeled as such. This drove Me nuts for 2 Days. It was then that I Discovered something:
1.I was trying to start the Game from the Disc in the CD-ROM (Autorun)
2.When I used the Desktop Shortcut that is placed there by the Installation Routine--"C:\Program Files\Larian Studios\Beyond Divinity\div.exe" it would say "No DIsc Found"---I had Always been trying with Disc # 1 in the CD-ROM Drive. Then when I placed Disc # 2 in the CD-ROM ( After first Clicking the Desktop Shortcut) it WORKED!
I Suggest You try starting the Game from the Desktop Shortcut and when you get the MSG "No Disc detected" put the # 2 CD in the Drive and click OK.

Good Luck.

My problem is different.
I am using the shortcut in my desktop.
After the game is just installed with the disc2 in my drive, maybe and I say maybe, I receive the message invalid disc detected.
but most of the time what really happen is, the window validating the disc2 just close at 25% and nothing happen.
After trying and trying to make it work, 1 day, I received the message invalid disc, I generate the report.txt file and sent it to [email]support@larian.com.[/email]
They sent me a key.
I wrote the key in the window. The key was accepted, but this did not solve my problem.
the window validating the disc2 was opening and closing and nothing happened.
and I say was, because I changed my mouse, and I changed it because my mouse was not working.
After changing my mouse, the key I entered was invalid.
I wrote to support@larian.com, and they said I needed a new game because I changed hardware in my pc.
Well, I have a game never played and I need a new game now.
After dealing with some problems with the key they sent me, now, I sent them again the report.txt for a new key I am waiting....
I hope they are going to send me that new key, and I guess I am going to need to uninstall the game and reinstall it again, because in this moment, the window with the disc error message is not appearing, just open and close.