This post contains the following sections;
- introduction and additional resources
- general and game-specific tips
- troubleshooting method, and the most reliable way re-install the game
- manual install procedure, if the game will not install normally
- file verification, to check for corrupt files
[color:"#40FFFF"]introduction[/color] |
If you have problems playing or installing Divinity, there are a few things you can try. Larian has a readme text file accessible from the Divinity start menu folder (or in the root of install disc 1), a
Technical Support FAQ and a page with the latest
patch.
You can also
search the forum (to see if others have had the same problem, and if there is a solution). Also, check out any relevant sticky topics.
Note: You may find some older links to other topics which give an error. The forum server/domain was changed, so any links to "lariancom.siteprotect.net" just have to have that part of the URL replaced with "larian.com" to work properly.
For general troubleshooting, especially if you have problems in other games or applications that stress your computer, there are various web sites, such as those listed on this
Troubleshooting Resources page.
[color:"#40FFFF"]tips[/color] |
Check for a '
..\Divine Divinity\Run\error.txt' file. If present, it may include enough information to track down the problem, or at least point you in the right direction.
Perhaps the most general purpose advice for problems;
re-boot the computer (this can fix quite a few weird glitches in windows). Also,
shut down all non-essential programs before starting the game: anti-virus, chat, email, web browsers, audio / video players, screen savers, anything that pops up reminders / updates, wallpaper changers, etc. There are a few processes in Windows XP that are always running, but you don't need to worry about these. In Windows 9x/ME you can shut down everything but Explorer and Systray.
Run
ScanDisk to make sure there are no cross-linked files, etc. Also, some people have reported that weird glitches have gone away after
Defragging their hard drive. Right click on the drive in Explorer and select Properties; in the Tools tab you can check the drive for errors or defragment it.
If you have
Windows XP, make sure you install the game and patch from an account with
administrative privileges, and play the game from one that at least has read/write access to the folder Divinity was installed to.
Make sure you do not have the
Shift/Caps/Num/Scroll Lock enabled. Shift/Caps Lock lets you
move the screen focus away from your character (so you can see farther), but if accidentally clicked, it can make it look like your character ran off-screen or is missing. This can also cause problems with ladders/hatches (the mini map updates to the new location, but the main screen may not).
Make sure your desktop is set to
16 bit / high colour depth. I had no problems playing with mine at 32 bit / true colour, but some have.
Some problems with
cut scenes can be resolved by running the
configuration program and switching to software or DirectDraw mode (at least until getting past that point), and possibly lowering the resolution.
Some people have had stability issues playing with
DirectX 9. Un-installing version 9 and installing DirectX 8 may help, if that is the problem.
If the above (or checking for updated drivers, etc) does not help;
[color:"#40FFFF"]troubleshooting and re-install[/color] |
Troubleshooting TechniquesTry deleting all of the files in the '
..\Divine Divinity\Run\Dynamic' folder.
This folder is used as a
cache for the game. Files are created / copied there from the save game folder when you load, and written / copied from that folder when you save a game. The files will be re-created as required the next time you start Divinity. If there was a corrupt file in that folder, deleting the files should fix the problem.
After this, try starting a new game and see if the problem persists. If not, try your latest save. If the new game works, but the latest save does not, there may be a problem in the saved game folder itself. If neither work, it may be a problem with Divinity, in which case re-installing might help. A new game may not be feasible if the problem occurs later in the game, but you can try any older saves you may still have. If you just need to get to a specific location (and not have to do any long quests before being able to get to the problem area), you can use
iZakaroN's SaveEditor on a new game to bump up constitution, etc and maybe experience points (ie character level).
For problems loading a particular save, check the number of files in the saved game folder (in '
..\Divine Divinity\Run\savegames'). Missing files might cause the game to crash when trying to load. A new game should have 22 files, after going to either Verdistis or the Dark Forest it should have 27, after going to both it should have 32, after getting to the wastelands it should have 37, and after getting to the Black Ring dungeon it should have 42.
File extensions and the corresponding locations;
.0 / .x0 = Aleroth, Ars Magicana, etc
.1 / .x1 = Verdistis, Council Hall
.2 / .x2 = Dark Forest
.3 / .x3 = Black Ring dungeons
.4 / .x4 = Wastelands
To re-install the gameZip or otherwise backup your saved games folder to another location first, just in case. Then un-install, re-boot, shut down all non essential programs (especially anti-virus), re-install the game. You may be able to start the game and see if the problem persists (games saved under the 1.34 patch will not work in game version 1.29, but testing might work in a new game, depending on where exactly the problem occurs). This is usually not necessary, but would help identify problems cause by the patch. After this, re-boot, shut down all non essential programs, install the patch, re-boot, shut down all non essential programs, start the game. This procedure is a bit over-cautious, but the best way to avoid install problems.
If the game will not install, or there are CRC errors during the install, try a different optical drive (if available). Some drives have more trouble with some CDs than others. The SafeDisc copy protection added by CDV (the publisher) can also conflict with some drives. Check the CD for any physical damage; even a finger print or dust might interfere with it reading properly. Otherwise;
[color:"#40FFFF"]manual install[/color] |
Manual Install ProcedureNote: You will need a program to extract rar format archive files. The trial version of WinRar 3 can be download at
www.rarlab.com, as can the freeware command line unrar program (under the menu
RAR | Extras), a 131KB download.
If your current zip / archive manager program can not handle rar files, there are several freeware alternatives, including;
7-Zip (930KB),
Filzip (1.5MB),
ICEOWS (740KB),
IZArc (2.7MB) and
WinImp (314KB).
7-Zip is open source and looks promising, though the windows version can not extract multiple files at a time.
The smallest program with good context menu integration is ICEOWS; you can select multiple files, right-click-drag and select 'extract files here' when you drop them into the desired destination folder. However, this program rudely takes over file associations without asking when installed; it is easy to change this in the options, but it does not restore the previous associations. Unless your current archive program can re-associate itself from its options (which is not uncommon), you might need to reinstall it if you don't want to switch to ICEOWS.
In any case, there are not that many rar files that it will make a huge difference if the program used can extract multiple archives at a time or if it has context menu support (most programs remember the last folder(s) extracted to, so you would only need to browse there once anyway).
Note: You might as well download the
patch before getting started, as well as the
registry file (right click and select 'Save Target As'). This file needs to be merged into the registry in order for the patch to be able to find the install path.
Installation:
1) Insert the
Installation Disc 1 CD into your optical drive, and cancel the installation if it starts automatically.
2) If the install had previously run but not completed, it should have created the path (by default) '
C:\Program Files\Divine Divinity\Run', as well as possibly other files and folders. If not, using Windows Explorer you can browse to wherever you want to install the game, and create a folder '
Divine Divinity', then a subfolder '
Run'. The relative path does not matter, though if you change it from the default, you will have to edit the registry file slightly (described below).
3) In Explorer, open/select the '
disc1' folder on the CD. Extract both
imagelists.rar and
executable.rar to '
..\Divine Divinity\Run' on the hard drive (ie. extract them into the 'Run' subfolder under the 'Divine Divinity' folder).
Optionally, copy the
readme.txt file from the root of this CD into the 'Divine Divinity' folder for easier access to the contained instructions, troubleshooting tips and corrections/additions to the printed manual.
Note: If you are prompted about overwriting existing files (now or later in the procedure), say 'Yes to All'.
4) Insert the
Installation Disc 2 CD and open/select the 'disc2' folder. Extract all 5 rar files to '
..\Divine Divinity\Run'.
5) Insert the
Game Disc CD and open/select the '
disc3' folder.
5
a) Copy the '
localizations' folder from the CD into the '
..\Divine Divinity\Run' folder on the hard drive.
Select the '
..run\localizations\english' folder on the hard drive, then highlight all of the files, right click, hit Properties, and on the General tab, clear the read-only attribute (there should be no checkmark, either black or greyed out).
5
b) Select the '
disc3\static' folder on the CD, and copy the
objects.000 and the 5 *.tga files into the already-created '
..\Divine Divinity\Run\static' folder on the hard drive. The 5 *.bik files are not required, and would just take up an extra 76MB of hard drive space if copied.
Select the '
..\run\static' folder on the hard drive, and clear the read-only attributes, as above.
5
c) Select the '
disc3' folder on the CD and extract the remaining 10 rar files to '
..\Divine Divinity\Run'.
6) (optional) Select the '
..\Divine Divinity\run' folder on the hard drive, right-click drag-and-drop the
div.exe file to the Windows Desktop, and pick 'Create Shortcut(s) Here' from the popup menu.
7) Leaving the
Game Disc CD in the drive, start Divinity and make sure the game loads properly, but do not create a permanent character yet.
8) Execute the
divinity.reg file, either by double clicking or by right clicking and selecting Merge. If you did not install the game to the default folder, you will first need to edit the registry file (in any text editor) so that the '
target folder' points to your install path (see below).
9) Install the patch, then start Divinity and play.
(if all goes well)
FYI the registry file works under Windows 9x/ME/XP, and consists of the following;
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CDV Software Entertainment AG\Divine Divinity]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\CDV Software Entertainment AG\Divine Divinity\English]
"target folder"="C:\\Program Files\\Divine Divinity"
"group folder"="C:\\WINDOWS\\Start Menu\\Programs\\Divine Divinity"
"language"="English"
"version"="1.0"
If you installed the game to '
E:\games\Divine Divinity', then the target folder would have to be edited to read (note the use of double back slashes);
"target folder"="E:\\games\\Divine Divinity"
[color:"#40FFFF"]file check[/color] |
Install VerificationThe 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.
I ran this program on my game folder with various patches installed (normal and manual installs), after deleting the files in the dynamic folder and moving all of the saved game folders to another location. If you compare an appropriate CRC file to your install, it should tell you if there are any corrupt files. There will, of course, also be differences in the config.div file, etc.
Divine Divinity CRC files (58KB)
FileCheck expects the files to be in the original locations to verify, so if you installed Divinity to a location other than the default (
C:\Program Files\Divine 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. One person who used this verification method in the old forum found the following files which were different, but still valid (ie they stored different options, hotkeys etc.);
..\Divine Divinity\Run\mapids.000
..\Divine Divinity\Run\persist.dat
..\Divine Divinity\Run\shroud.tmp
..\Divine Divinity\Run\sinfo.000
..\Divine Divinity\Run\dat\usernotes.bin
..\Divine Divinity\Run\main\startup\shroud.x0
..\Divine Divinity\Run\main\startup\shroud.x1
..\Divine Divinity\Run\main\startup\shroud.x2
..\Divine Divinity\Run\main\startup\shroud.x3
..\Divine Divinity\Run\main\startup\shroud.x4
The zero byte file causing the problem was identified, and he was able to replace the file with a good copy.
