TS2010:EE Fails to Launch

[Bananimal]

Hi everyone. It's my first post here and unfortunately it's related to my inability to get TS2010 to launch. I'm running TS2010:EE + SP1 + SP2.

Basically, what I'm dealing with here has me stumped. I can only suspect that there is a corrupted file somewhere on my PC that Trainz does not like as I have only seen one other person have this issue on the forums. Unfortunaltey no solution was ever yposted.

Here's what happens. I launch the game from the shortcut on the desktop. The cursor goes into "wait" mode with a spinning circle, cursor goes away and then nothing. About 60-90 seconds later, the TS2010 version number comes up on the screen in a black bar and there is a Trainz app on the TaskBar in Windows. Problem is, the launcher screen never draws. However, the "Launcher.exe*32" process is running in task manager.

Now here's the interesting part. I uninstalled my 197.xx nVidia drivers last night, ran Nasty File Remover to delete any unwanted/lingering nVidia files, rebooted my PC and installed the latest nVidia 257.xx driver. I launched TS2010 and it ran all night last night. When done, I shut down my PC and turned in for the night. So, thinking I have it licked, I come home from work today, fire up the PC and it's back to not launching.

I've been a PC Hardware/Software tech for 20 years. I cannot nail this one down. I suspect Auran is going to have a hard time with it too. It's as though installing video drivers and then immediatley running the sim works but if I reboot, it fails to launch. Software usually doesn't behave this way. It either works or it doesn't. Perhaps a busted DirectX install? Guess I'll pull that right now and see.

It's seems to be directly related to my GPU and drivers. But why? Anyone have any ideas? Here's my system specs below.
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 6/24/2010, 17:01:30
Machine name: VISTA-CONROE
Operating System: Windows Vista ™ Ultimate x64 (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.100218-0019)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: 122-CK-NF68
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6700 @ 2.66GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: 4094MB RAM
Page File: 2179MB used, 6181MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 64bit Unicode
------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Display Tab 2: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: The file ctaud2k.sys is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 2: The file ctaud2k.sys is not digitally signed, which means that it has not been tested by Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL). You may be able to get a WHQL logo'd driver from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 3: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
---------------

 

[gary6204]

do you have trainz running as an administrator? i believe this has to be done on both vista and win7.

 

[Bananimal]

Ya, I forgot to mention that. UAC is turned off on my system. When I installed Vista I took complete ownership of every file/folder on the drive and file indexing is turned off as well. As mentioned, it ran all night last night right after I installed nVidia 257.xx drivers. Reboot and it breaks. None the less, I did right-click the shortcut and selected "Run As Administrator" just to be sure. No dice!

The only thing I haven't done is install TS2010 with my internet connection disabled. Guess I could try that but it takes 1.25 hours to install SP2 for some reason. Is that normal?

 

[gary6204]

yes, it is normal for sp2 to take that long. it takes longer if you have a bigger database

 

[Bananimal]

Well I may have stumbled upon the fix. AVG 9.0. I uninstalled AVG 9.0 and the sim starts right up. Hmmmm. Interesting.

Here's the bad thing I noticed about AVG 9.0. Yuo can't turn it off when you launch an app. In previous version of AVG, you could right-click the icon in the system tray and select "exit." Can't do that in 9.0. There's no way to turn it off. I wanted to to test but couldn't. So, I uninstalled it and walla! fixed.

I have used AVG for years. I even had the Trainz.exe excluded from resident shield and had AVG set to go into "Game Mode" when launchng full screen apps. Guess it ain't working. So, now what do I do for AV protection? Uggggh!

 

[JCitron]

Well I may have stumbled upon the fix. AVG 9.0. I uninstalled AVG 9.0 and the sim starts right up. Hmmmm. Interesting.

Here's the bad thing I noticed about AVG 9.0. Yuo can't turn it off when you launch an app. In previous version of AVG, you could right-click the icon in the system tray and select "exit." Can't do that in 9.0. There's no way to turn it off. I wanted to to test but couldn't. So, I uninstalled it and walla! fixed.

I have used AVG for years. I even had the Trainz.exe excluded from resident shield and had AVG set to go into "Game Mode" when launchng full screen apps. Guess it ain't working. So, now what do I do for AV protection? Uggggh!

I'm glad you have the problem solved, but not fixed perse. You could disable internet access while using Trainz, so you don't need to worry about malware coming in while running unprotected. Since CM works fine, you can turn on your AV when you're using that to download and manage content since you'll have your Internet connected then. I know it's not an ideal situation, but perhaps there are others reporting issues with AVG 9.0 and game start up and performance issues. If anything I smell a patch coming along from them soon for something like this.

The totaly alternative would be to switch to another malware prevention tool. Personally I use Sunbelt Software's Vipre 4.0, which has very little system overhead and does a nice protection job.

PS I also noticed you're using an EVGA motherboard. I used to use the same motherboard until a few months ago when I decided to upgrade.

John

 

[ct_krogen]

Well I may have stumbled upon the fix. AVG 9.0. I uninstalled AVG 9.0 and the sim starts right up. Hmmmm. Interesting.

Here's the bad thing I noticed about AVG 9.0. Yuo can't turn it off when you launch an app. In previous version of AVG, you could right-click the icon in the system tray and select "exit." Can't do that in 9.0. There's no way to turn it off. I wanted to to test but couldn't. So, I uninstalled it and walla! fixed.

I have used AVG for years. I even had the Trainz.exe excluded from resident shield and had AVG set to go into "Game Mode" when launchng full screen apps. Guess it ain't working. So, now what do I do for AV protection? Uggggh!

some thing is wrong, i use avg. when i istalled trainz 10. i uninstalled avg and reinstalled avg... i had no problem with avg running & trainz 10

 

[ct_krogen]

The totaly alternative would be to switch to another malware prevention tool. Personally I use Sunbelt Software's Vipre 4.0, which has very little system overhead and does a nice protection job.

PS I also noticed you're using an EVGA motherboard. I used to use the same motherboard until a few months ago when I decided to upgrade.but


but what if he wants to iportal, he needs the acess to the net

 

[ColPrice2002]

Hi,

Just a couple of additional thoughts...

TS 2010 uses a database manager program which runs in the background - but uses internet ports for communicating. Make sure that your virus checker allows this (or there will be problems!).

IIRC Trainz uses Direct X 9 - you can install 9 and 10 on the same PC - some people have found that having DX 9 is essential.

From personal use, I use the Trend (PC Cillin) protection software - it's not free, but the personal licence allows 3 computers simultaneously, so we have 3 computers all with the same protection =- behind our router firewall - seems to have worked well to date!

Colin

 

[KenRuof]

I have another thing for you to try. I build a new system last night and my main monitor runs at 1920 x 1200 resolution. Trainz does not like that, if your monitor is higher that 1024 x 768 change you monitors resolution (tempory) to ~1440 x 900 or less, bring up Trainz go to options, set the game screen resolution to 1024 x 768 and turn on full screen, exit the game reset you monitors screen resolution back to where it was and try again. Also there is a file named trainzoptions.txt in the TZ2010 folder. Edit this file and change your width and height setting to match your monitors settings.

I also use AVG and had is running while installing Trainz and had no problems. Ken

 

[JCitron]

Hi,

Just a couple of additional thoughts...

TS 2010 uses a database manager program which runs in the background - but uses internet ports for communicating. Make sure that your virus checker allows this (or there will be problems!).

IIRC Trainz uses Direct X 9 - you can install 9 and 10 on the same PC - some people have found that having DX 9 is essential.

From personal use, I use the Trend (PC Cillin) protection software - it's not free, but the personal licence allows 3 computers simultaneously, so we have 3 computers all with the same protection =- behind our router firewall - seems to have worked well to date!

Colin

Good point, Colin regarding the UDP ports that the program uses.

I used Trend for years, but their program has gotten slower over time. Vipre seems to be a bit lighter on the system resources and is rated up in the upper tier by the antimalware ratings. Vipre is also available for a home license for as little as $29 and sometimes less.