WereMage
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 19 Jun 2002 |
 Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 03:55AM |
Since I can't play the game I've so anxiously anticipated, I decided I'd channel my frustration into doing something useful and providing Bioware with a thorough description of my version of the (apparently popular) startup hang problem.
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First off, my system specs:
EVGA 650i Ultra motherboard w/current drivers
On-board Realtek HD Audio w/current drivers, using 5.1 audio output
Core 2 Duo E6750
4GB DDR800 memory (2.75GB available due to OS)
Foxconn 512MB GeForce 8800GT w/current drivers
Windows XP 32-bit OS
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With that out of the way, here is my issue:
I haven't gotten a successful startup of Mass Effect yet, despite many tweaks and updates. However, the behavior of the failure has changed somewhat based on the settings I use in the Mass Effect configuration tool.
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With all settings at maximum, my resolution is at 1680x1050, which is also my desktop resolution. In this case, the "Mass Effect" splash logo appears center-screen while my HD light goes active, as if the game were loading. After about 30 seconds, my mouse cursor disappears, and the HD light becomes much less active, blinking in a steady cadence.
The game hangs in this state until I open Task Manager and close Mass Effect from there. When I do so, I can see that Mass Effect is taking about 65% of my processor and about 380MB of RAM.
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With settings reduced, the situation is similar but slightly different. At any resolution under 1680x1050, the "Mass Effect" splash logo appears for only a short time, and is quickly replaced by a black screen showing only my hourglass cursor. After about 30 seconds, this disappears and the game hangs on a black screen. Task Manager reveals the same CPU/RAM usage, and is my only way of exiting the game.
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When starting the game at any resolution in WINDOWED mode, the result is similar, except that instead of a black screen, a "Mass Effect" window opens that is entirely empty (i.e. solid borders, but showing my desktop through). My cursor disappears, and I must use Task Manager to exit again. Same resource levels consumed by MassEffect.exe.
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I have, once, been able to get a different result. I'm pretty sure I was using bare minimum settings. In that case, instead of hanging at a black screen, I got a "General Protection Fault" error which required a reboot to recover from. I have not been able to replicate this error since.
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IN ALL CASES, Mass Effect generates an essentially identical log file, which reads as follows:
[0.010] Log: Log file open, 05/29/08 23:23:06
[0.010] Init: BioWare Final Build Version: 1.0.14184.0
[0.010] Init: Command line:
[0.010] Init: Base directory: C:\Program Files\Mass Effect\Binaries\
[0.378] Init: CPU Page size=4096, Processors=2
[0.378] Init: High frequency timer resolution =2666.730000 MHz
[0.378] Init: Memory total: Phys=2097151K Pagef=4194303K Virt=2097151K
[5.024] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[5.024] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[5.024] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[5.024] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[5.024] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[5.027] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[32.827] Log: Unsupported Audio Device: Realtek HD Audio output
[32.827] Init: Audio Driver: Realtek HD Audio output (RtkHDAud.sys)
[32.876] Init: Audio Device: Generic Software
[32.976] Init: 64 Free Sources, 2 Reserved
[35.435] Log: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Initial startup: 35.44s <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[36.576] Log: Bio2DA.cpp::CheckedGetIntEntry(): Failed to read row(1902, isNum=0), column(4) in Bio2DA(Talent_TalentEffectLevels)
[36.576] Log: Bio2DA.cpp::CheckedGetFloatEntry(): Failed to read row(1918, isNum=0), column(4) in Bio2DA(Talent_TalentEffectLevels)
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In terms of seeking a resolution, I've reinstalled Mass Effect, checked to make sure that all drivers were up-to-date, and made sure that no non-vital processes were running . I've also tried running both the launcher and MassEffect.exe in Windows 2000 compatibility mode. I've used HijackThis and Spybot to ensure that I have no malware interference. None of these changed my results.
I have tried editing BIOEngine.ini to remove the line "NoHALSupport2=Realtek HD Audio output", as suggested by other forum posters, but that also did not change my result.
I suspect that the last two lines of the log file are telling of SOMETHING, but I don't know what. The game being unable to read particular lines of code must be either a symptom of some other problem, or an installation problem in itself.
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As I stated at the start of the post, I am eagerly awaiting my chance to play this game. I love Bioware and have full confidence that they can resolve our issues quickly. However, I do implore them to communicate with us their suspicions and progress in this regard, because leaving this problem unaddressed is a terribly disappointing thought.
Thank you, and I hope this helps you reach a solution. EDIT: Also, I'll be watching these boards rabidly, so feel free to ask any questions or suggest anything I can do to help resolve the issue.Edited By WereMage on 05/30/08 04:09 |
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mavblur
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 25 Aug 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:04AM |
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exact same problems here. |
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cdefazio
Game Owner
 Mass Effect PC
Joined: 28 May 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:08AM |
Have you tried disabling your sound card drivers in device manager?
I have the same problem, and I have a realtek on board sound card. When I disable it the game runs.
Obviously this isn't a solution, since I'm not going to play the game without sound, but it might help us narrow down the problem, because I'm pretty sure that most people with realtek on board sound are all having this problem. |
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mavblur
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 25 Aug 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:11AM |
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can't speak for the original poster but I've tried disabling sound, no effect. The exact same problem occurs. |
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Werbal
Game Owner
 Mass Effect PC
Joined: 29 May 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:14AM |
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Thanks for the detailed work! This game seems to have a number of errors afflicting many different users in different ways. I too await Bioware's response to these issues. |
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WereMage
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 19 Jun 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:27AM |
Quote: Posted 05/30/08 04:08 (GMT) by cdefazio
Have you tried disabling your sound card drivers in device manager?
I just tried this, and it had no effect, even after a reboot just to make sure the driver was disabled.
I took an extra step, and disabled the onboard audio in my BIOS settings. This also had no effect on my startup hang, but it did change the log file generated:
[0.160] Log: Log file open, 05/30/08 00:20:53
[0.160] Init: BioWare Final Build Version: 1.0.14184.0
[0.160] Init: Command line:
[0.160] Init: Base directory: C:\Program Files\Mass Effect\Binaries\
[0.821] Init: CPU Page size=4096, Processors=2
[0.821] Init: High frequency timer resolution =2666.720000 MHz
[0.821] Init: Memory total: Phys=2097151K Pagef=4194303K Virt=2097151K
[7.373] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[7.373] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[7.373] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[7.373] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[7.373] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[7.447] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[37.180] Init: Audio Driver: Primary Sound Driver ()
[37.181] Log: FBinkGearsMovieSupport:: StaticInitialize(): DirectSoundCreate8() failed! Error code = 0x88780078
[37.181] Log: Make sure your sound card and drivers are installed properly and that no other application has the audio focus.
[37.181] Log: FBinkGearsMovieSupport:: StaticInitialize(): Failed to initialize Bink Audio
[40.122] Log: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Initial startup: 40.12s <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[40.697] Log: Bio2DA.cpp::CheckedGetIntEntry(): Failed to read row(1902, isNum=0), column(4) in Bio2DA(Talent_TalentEffectLevels)
[40.697] Log: Bio2DA.cpp::CheckedGetFloatEntry(): Failed to read row(1918, isNum=0), column(4) in Bio2DA(Talent_TalentEffectLevels)
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As you can see, it loaded NO SOUND DRIVER at all, and ran into the same errors in that last two lines of the log. I can't say for sure if that rules out the Realtek connection, but perhaps the devs can. |
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Squire0
Game Owner
 Mass Effect PC
Joined: 29 May 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 05:07AM |
Hello. I have the exact same problem only my system is not as high end as yours. I don't have a realtek sound card but I have the exact same problem. I'm not sure if this rules out the sound card theroy but my log file shows that it was able initialize my sound card (unless im mistaken).
while reading through all the logs that have been posted so far I have noticed that ALL of our logs show the eaxct same error on the last two lines.
Here is my log:
[0.019] Log: Log file open, 05/29/08 18:47:12
[0.019] Init: BioWare Final Build Version: 1.0.14184.0
[0.019] Init: Command line:
[0.019] Init: Base directory: C:\Games\Mass Effect\Binaries\
[0.337] Init: CPU Page size=4096, Processors=2
[0.337] Init: High frequency timer resolution =3.579545 MHz
[0.337] Init: Memory total: Phys=1047020K Pagef=1732728K Virt=2097024K
[8.417] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[8.417] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[8.417] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[8.417] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[8.417] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[8.439] Log: Failed to load 'Material None.': Failed to find object 'Material None.'
[55.070] Init: Audio Driver: SoundMAX HD Audio (ADIHdAud.sys)
[55.131] Init: Audio Device: Generic Software
[55.359] Init: 64 Free Sources, 2 Reserved
[58.590] Log: >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Initial startup: 58.59s <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[59.327] Log: Bio2DA.cpp::CheckedGetIntEntry(): Failed to read row(1902, isNum=0), column(4) in Bio2DA(Talent_TalentEffectLevels)
[59.327] Log: Bio2DA.cpp::CheckedGetFloatEntry(): Failed to read row(1918, isNum=0), column(4) in Bio2DA(Talent_TalentEffectLevels)
[233.584] Uninitialized: Log file closed, 05/29/08 18:51:06
as you can see my log is pretty much the same everyone else only I don't get an error when it tries to initialize my sound card.
I hope we get some answers soon |
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dislexic0
Game Owner
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 29 May 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 05:55AM |
There are several threads reporting this same problem and so far I haven't seen any response from Support on the matter.
Quad core vista64 soundmax integrated audio crossfirex and exactly same issue as you described.
I use coaxial for audio to my stereo, I have the game on an independent drive formatted to 32kb clusters, I dual boot vista32 and vista 64. They're all S-ATA but set up as IDE atm because Vista was screwy with my Raid0 install.
Not sure if there's any common thread there since there doesn't seem to be with OS or processors or video cards.
-dis  with i could get $$ from a digital download- this has given me far too much of a headache. |
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Black59
Game Owner
 Mass Effect PC
Joined: 30 May 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:03PM |
I heard that the 8800 GT card users have problems, though I'm not sure if thats the case.
I was able to get to the character creation screen until I updated my video drivers and now it just hangs on startup |
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caplab
Game Owner
 Mass Effect PC
Joined: 12 Jan 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:11PM |
I have the exact same problem, splash screen, then hung up on a black with Windows timer and I have to use task manager to close. My video card is a a GeForce 9600 GT OC. I also tried to disable my Windows User account as they suggested, but that didn't help either and I've re-installed this program three times. I don't know how to produce a log file, if that would help I'd be happy to share my data if someone could tell me where to find it.
Thanks
CaplabEdited By caplab on 05/30/08 16:13 |
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WereMage
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 19 Jun 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 04:22PM |
Quote: Posted 05/30/08 16:11 (GMT) by caplab
I don't know how to produce a log file, if that would help I'd be happy to share my data if someone could tell me where to find it.
Mass Effect generates log files in the following directory (in XP):
My Documents\Bioware\Mass Effect\Logs\
I'm not sure what the exact directory is in Vista, but it should be the equivalent to "My Documents," whatever that is.
They're labelled with the date and time that you attempted to start the game.
It may help if you post one, so we can see if you have the exact same errors popping up as the rest of us. |
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WereMage
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 19 Jun 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 05:00PM |
In the interest of complete information sharing, one small update on my issue:
While attempting to start the game at my full desktop resolution, I again had the game hang at the splash screen. However, I tapped my arrow keys rapidly, and background music began to play (which I assume is the main menu music in the game). No other sound could be generated by pressing keys or mousing around.
When I used Task Manager to close Mass Effect, this time it was using 95% or more of my processor, instead of the usual ~65%.
Hope this helps, and I'm hoping for some kind of response soon. |
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caplab
Game Owner
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 12 Jan 2008 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 06:22PM |
I got it to work!!
I got passed the black screen, it hung for about 15 seconds (I thought it was gonna crash) and then it started!
I turned off Vsync in Configuration > Video. That did it for me. Give it a try.
C |
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WereMage
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 19 Jun 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 06:53PM |
Quote: Posted 05/30/08 18:22 (GMT) by caplab
I turned off Vsync in Configuration > Video. That did it for me. Give it a try.
I just attempted this, and it didn't affect the game's startup behavior in any way. At any resolution, the effects were the same as in the OP, as is the log file generated. 
Still hoping for an official response before the weekend. I'd really love to play this game on my first weekend after my finals are done!
EDIT: Caplab, would you mind posting an exact rundown of the video/audio settings you are using, as well as a quick list of your system stats? I'd like to try doing exactly what you did and see if I can get it to work.Edited By WereMage on 05/30/08 18:55 |
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mavblur
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
SW: KotOR PC
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 25 Aug 2002 |
Posted: Friday, 30 May 2008 07:35PM |
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Ditto Weremage. Hope there is a resolution soon. This is my only day off for about 2 weeks so if it doesn't get fixed soon I'll probably put it away for a couple of months then see if it's fixed by then. |
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