Can't start GoW -- bad media or bug?

[blueser]

Hi,

I've just bought GoW for PC, and have been able to play it a couple of times -- awesome graphics and gameplay =)

However, it's been harder and harder to get the game started, dvd keeps spinning and nothing happens. Task list shows Startup.exe and ~e5.0001.exe running, and after a couple of minutes Statup.exe aborts execution. This machine is a Core 2 Duo with 2G, NVidia 8600GT (latest drivers) running XP SP2.

I checked Event Viewer and saw a lot of cdrom errors. I had Nero's InCD installed, and after removing it cd errors almost disappeared, but I can still see one or two listed there occasionally.

I would usually guess media is damaged (even though there are no visible defects), but since I've seen tons of complaints around here about the game not working, since I've already been able to play the game right after I installed it, and since uninstalling InCD seems to have improved things, I'm wondering if it's not a software issue of any kind.

Anyone experienced anything similar? I' ve just installed official patch, and I will try a reboot to see it things improve. Next step will be a complete reinstall and, if it doesn't work, ask for a media replacement.

TIA

Andre

[blueser]

Replying to myself: I'm really tending to consider this a defective media, considering GoW gives me cd-rom errors, but other games don't (I often play Rainbow6 Vegas and, as I write this I am installing all the games from the OrangeBox -- 2 dvds -- and no problems so far). GoW media gives errors even if I try to open it on Linux.

Some additional weird facts: sometimes I insert the dvd and, when I run the game from the desktop icon, it tells me to "put the right media on the drive", as if it didn't recognize the media. Trying to explore the dvd from Windows Explorer also fails. If I eject and reinsert the dvd it works.

The only thing that's keeping me from doing this is that I was wondering if it couldn't be any copy protection scheme that could be messing with standard cd-rom operations, the same way that copy-protected audio cds mess with some cd players. If it so, I'm likely to experience such issues with any copy I get...

Anyone knows anything about this? Does it make any sense? Or should I just replace the media?

TIA

Andre

[creepygrog]

nop this isnt media, i have had this problem from the start, return 1 disk for a new one, does the same thing everytime. I think something must be screwed with cd protection or something, the only way that i've been able to play gow is with a no-cd.exe, and since i couldnt get the game started long enough to register with window live, the only way to play and get savegames, iis to go through the checkpoint folder, and rename the chapter were i left off, chapter 0. You're game is getting more and more corrupted, slowly but surely, and this is something that has been posted many times on this site. One day it works but that doesnt meen tomorrow it will. Welcome to a 50$ pos !!!

[blueser]

Hi creepygrog, thks for sharing your experience.

I was afraid I would confirm this... this is totally f* up, I can't believe legitimate customers who bought the game are being exposed to this. Shouldn't this be the other way around? (I mean, people who copied the cd would have trouble)

I just hope the next patch will fix this (considering it can be fixed) along with the other issues people are reporting. It's a shame such a nice game is plagued with so many troubles. How did all this pass QA?

Regards,

Andre

[creepygrog]

be careful not to screw around too much with your os trying to get this thing to work, i almost had to reinstall mine. The problemS arent on our end, whatever some people might say, just wait for a patch.......hopefully someday. It's been a month since i bought it and no word from anybody. I'm convinced the problem is with microsoft and that Live piece of crap, if the problem was with the game itself, i wouldnt be able to play at all, imho.

[blueser]

Thks, I really don't intend to mess with my OS Yes, I agree, once the game starts it plays just fine. I'm not sure the Live connection is the one to blame for this specific issue (errors accessing cd-rom), but, who knows...

I guess all we can do is join the crowd waiting for a decent patch that will fix this and other annoying issues. Then GoW will be all its been designed to be: a great FPS, with awesome graphics and cool gameplay. Games should be hard to play, not to run...

[creepygrog]

Since you've had the exact same experience as i did, i'd really like to know your config. Here's mine: hp x2 5600+ 2.8 mhz, soundblaster x-fi extreme gamer, evga 8800 gts 640mb (tried all drivers), windows vista home premium 32bits, avg 7.5 (antivirus), adaware (lavasoft), uac and defender are off, internet connection is cable and i'm also behind a router, hdd is partitioned, c is os and everything else, d is windows ghost only, 4 gb of ram, mobo is asus nforce 430 chipset with onboard video and sound, both are deactivated.

[creepygrog]

bumpy bumped

[creepygrog]

bump again

[blueser]

Hi creepyrog, sorry for the silence, been away for the weekend.

I am at work now, so I don't recall all the details about my configuration at home, but here's some I do recall: it's a Core 2 Duo E6600 at 2.4GHz, mobo is Intel (I guess it's a DG33BU model), 2G RAM, OS is Windows XP SP2 Home Edition (32bits), onboard sound, Nvidia 8600GT (w/ latest drivers), 250G SATA HD (running with IDE emulation because of stupid XP), 650K cable connection, also behind a router (D-Link DI-624).

The only game that gives me problems is GoW, I already played on this same system GRAW, Rainbow6 Vegas (which also uses Unreal engine), World in Conflict, FEAR, Half Life 2, none of them gave me any problems. My guess is that it has something to do with copy-protection (problems were much more frequent when I had Nero's InCD installed), but this is just a guess -- it could also be the "MS Live Whatever" thing, it's the only one that uses it. Weird fact: even though the game came with a keycode, I never had to type it, which is weird for a MS software.

Regards,

Andre

[creepygrog]

yeah, i know what you mean, here's the list of games running perfectly on my comp as we speak: graw, graw2, bioshock, crysis, quake 4, call of duty 4, medal of honor aiborne. Since so many people seemed to have problems with bioshock, i uninstalled and reinstalled it just to see if there's something wrong with my system, but it installed perfectly in less than 10 min. Only gow is giving me a headache, and the fact that you are having exactly the same symptoms as i do, well, i still cant believe the problem is on our end.

[blueser]

Agreed. Since so many of the "latest and greatest" games install and play successfully, I also believe GoW is the one to blame for its own problems. This is a major PITA and a major disappointment, I bought this machine so that I could run the latest games painlessly

[PURE SCOTTISH]

My Gears of war is not working and can any one help me and tell me what is going on ? Since i got my new xbox i put my Gears of war in my xbox and my xbox says "To play this disc, put it in an xbox 360 console." Could any one help me because i reely want to play Gears of war again. thnx

[creepygrog]

wtf???????????

[illegal youth]

i've got the same exact problem as the opening post. startup.exe hangs and leaves a file titled ~e5.0001 in my task manager. here are my system specs:

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.53GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Card name: RADEON X850 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor AGP (0x4B49)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6734 (English) *catalyst 7.11 installed*

another thread wrote something about editing a startup.xml file to fix the problem, but i can't find that file in any of my game folders. does anyone know where this file should be?

[phenix21au]

For anyone who is having trouble with the game stopping at clicking startup.exe we have just found the solution. Some of you have a temp file in ya task manager well we didnt BUT... click on Applications tab in windows task manager and you will see startup.exe. looks like nothings happening. Well its actually a hidden message waiting for your action. Right click on startup.exe and left click on MAXIMISE. A message box is there telling you why it wont start. In our case it wants updated VIDEO drivers. (Yes it will tell you EXACTLY what you need to do.) Thankfully it is even giving us a option to install them right now. Biggup to the live afterall i guess There ya go we signed up just to tell you all having trouble. ENJOY!!!!