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Messages - FinalFantasyRox

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1
Ahh, forget it! This new driver not only doesn't work with FF7, it doesn't work with any other game. That's it. No more. I am grateful that Software Rendering mode works on 2000. :D

Thanks everyone for all the information, help, tips, and etc. Out of all this I know that I'm never again going to purchase an ATI card. :erm:

See you guys around. Take care.  8)

2
Hehe. Yeah. It doesn't do anything. I just hope the "error" isn't a fake error and the ffviixp.exe does more things like a trojan.

anyway, i found a driver from a person called bigz and i installed it. i got extra, extra options in settings. im gonna try to play around with it and see if it works.

if i can't figure it out i might post screenshots of it and see if any of you know how to configure it.

3
I just tried that 9 MB XP patch. When I ran the .exe, I chose 'English', but then it gave an error saying I don't have FF7 installed.

I guess it really is for XP and nothing less.

4
Oh, so it enhances others things, too? I guess I didn't play it as much to notice those things.

Well, I'm not trying to get hardware acceleration working on my old Pentium computer. I just got it out of the garage, installed Windows 98 on it,  took my ATI card from the Windows 2000 system and temporarily installed it on the old system. I did this because I wanted to see if my CDs were damaged in anyway (I was curious when it was crashing in Windows 2000). It worked on Windows 98, with very bad performance though because it is a very weak system. So my CDs are okay. It is Windows 2000 that is giving me the problem.

I was thinking to upgrade to XP because I hear people are having better luck running older games on XP, but my system (450MHz; 128MB SDRAM) wouldn't handle XP well.

5
My card is exactly a 8MB ATI RAGE PRO TURBO 2X (AGP).

What is the "FFVII for WinXP patch"?

Is it the one around 9 MB? Wasn't there a post saying it was a trojan or a "fake patch"? I would try it out, but are you sure that it is really a patch?

6
Well, I got RivaTuner anyway just to see.

It installed. In 'Main' it says "RAGE PRO TURBO AGP 2X / NEC MultiSync XV17"

Below it, it says "No Additional Information Available"

And below, in the 'Driver Settings', it says "No supported drivers detected for this display adapter"

So I would assume that RivaTuner is incompatible with ATI cards? Or my ATI card?

7
Hmm, does RivaTuner work with ATI cards? I notice it says on the Web site that it supports Detonators? Is Detonator a type of card? I'm sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable about video cards. I'm learning more and more by trying to get FF7's Direct3D working. FF7 is the only game that I'm having trouble getting hardware acceleration working. :|

8
Yeah, I'm using Windows 2000, not XP :)

My video card is a ATI. Specifically, a 8MB ATI RAGE PRO TURBO 2X. Kind of old, like 1998-1999ish, but it still works beautifully on newer games such as FIFA 2002.

However, each time I launch ff7.exe it crashes (goes to a blue screen and reboots). It is the exact same effect on the original ff7.exe and the one supplied in the patch. Again, I am able to configure Direct3D Hardware mode in FF7Config.exe, but as soon as I launch ff7.exe, it crashes.

Unfortunately, the driver doesn't have relevant options in Control Panel > Display > Settings > Advanced. I can only change the color balance, the brightness, and things like that. It does support both Direct3D and OpenGL, though I cannot control/configure it.

I've tried other drivers. Well, two I've found. One on the Windows 2000 CD just doesn't work, and another one that a person "hacked" crashed my computer all together.

I am not a Windows 2000 or NT expert, but I think ff7.exe is trying to "talk" to a hardware that Windows isn't allowing. Sort of like a firewall for hardware communication. I don't know.

On my test machine w/ Windows 98, I did like the battle in Direct3D. It looked great. But the rest (like walking in area maps) is the same. I didn't notice any good changes. Well, the colors were a little better and the blue menus were actually blue and not blue stripped (you know what I mean?).

But if Direct3D on FF7 only enhances the battles, I guess it is not worth trying to get it to work. At least not to me. Can someone confirm that Direct3D *only* enhances battles?

Thanks.

9
Sir Canealot: Thanks for the tips. After many, many (and I mean many) weeks, I got Final Fantasy VII working on Windows 2000 without a problem. Now, I'm trying to get Hardware Acceleration working, but it is not really important, so if I don't get it working I will quit. At least Software Rendering is working. Oh, and I don't need a No-Cd crack because I reinstalled it (it was a registry problem). Now I know why the software gave a warning before cleaning my registry. :)

Qhimm: I had the same problem with the movies. Now the movies play without skipping and the sound is better (but that could be just my imagination). Read my post at http://forums.qhimm.com/viewtopic.php?t=1662 and go down to Section 2.6, Q-1.

nayoung: Yeah, maybe you're right! I guess it's worth a try to find other versions of my video card's driver.

Aaron: Hmm, did you try patching it with the Chocobo patch -- http://www.qhimm.com/ff7_chocobo_patch.zip. ? I obviously haven't reached that point yet, but I sure hope it works.

10
Okay, I got that CD thing fixed. I forgot that I ran a registry cleaner three or four days ago. It most likely wiped out my FF7 entries.

However...

Now, when I launch FF7.exe, it crashes. It goes to a Windows 2000 blue-screen-of-death, gives an error that says BAD_POOL_CALLER, and automatically reboots. If anyone has a solution to fix this, please let me know.

As a note, I got my old Pentium 100-something computer from the garage and set it up with Windows 98 to test. I got Hardware Acceleration working and it got into the game (the backgrounds had red and green lines, but I'm hoping those will go away in 2000).

So my CDs and installation isn't defected; good. I guess the crash is due to Windows 2000. What I'm surprised is why I'm the only one who is experiencing this. I never saw once a forum post talking about a blue-screen-of-death in Windows 2000 when FF7 is launched.

11
Hello everyone,

Regarding Final Fantasy 7, I found some interesting information on a forum (I forget if it was this one or the one hosted on Eido's site), and it said to extract the Riva_TNT file, but only use the FF7Config.exe file and *not* the FF7.exe (i.e., use the old FF7.exe). This worked. I got FF7Config.exe to select Hardware instead of Software, and when I launched FF7.exe I didn't get a blue screen of death.

However, it is asking me for CD 1, 2, or 3. I tried putting the first one (the installation one), and that didn't work. I tried the other three (game disc 1, 2, 3) and those didn't work either. I am looking at my CD-ROM when I click 'OK' and it doesn't seem it is trying to find it on the CD-ROM.

Any ideas? I tried messing around with CMOS, but that didn't work either.

12
Archive / FAQ: How to get FFVII PC running on Win2K/NT5
« on: 2002-10-27 00:51:05 »
HOW TO GET 'FINAL FANTASY VII PC' RUNNING ON YOUR WINDOWS 2000/NT 5 SYSTEM


1.1 Introduction
1.2 Document's Purpose
2.1 The 'Problem'
2.2 Is This Your 'Problem'?
2.3 My 'Problem' Is Different
2.4 How To Fix The 'Problem'
2.5 Other 'Problems' Now
2.6 Problems & Solutions
3.1 Open Document


1.1 Introduction

First of all, I would like to introduce myself as a person who loves the Final Fantasy series, especially Final Fantasy VII. I am also a person who had his Playstation console broken and couldn't play Final Fantasy VII anymore -- but -- like others during the time of Windows 98, I purchased the PC version of Final Fantasy VII. As the years went on, majority of people upgraded to NT 5 (i.e., Windows 2000, Windows XP) to take advantage of NT's power and reliability. A dream come true to Windows 9x users for sure, but a nightmare for those who play Final Fantasy VII for the PC. This documentation will help you run FINAL FANTASY VII PC on your Windows 2000 system and give insight to Windows XP users.

1.2 Document's Purpose

The reason I wrote this document is to help others who are having problems running FINAL FANTASY VII PC on their Windows 2000/NT 5 systems. I recently upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional from Windows 98 and I suffered greatly trying to get this game to run properly. I don't want any other Final Fantasy fan to suffer like I did. I hope this document will be deemed useful in the Final Fantasy community. (To read more information about this document, see section 3.1.)

2.1 The 'Problem'

Generally, the problem behind FINAL FANTASY VII PC is the fact that it was poorly ported from Playstation to PC by Eidos Interactive, Inc. The quick porting scheme resulted in the lack of backward-compatibility. It is worth noting that most old games run perfectly on Windows 2000 and Windows XP (with some exceptions, of course).

2.2 Is This Your 'Problem'?

For many people, the main problem to FINAL FANTASY VII PC on Windows 2000 is the crash during the first battle with the two MPs (Military Police). This usually occurs after the introduction movie ends, when the group gets off the train, and Cloud (the main character) has to fight the two MPs; a few seconds into the battle, the game crashes and returns you to the Desktop. If this is your problem, it is possible to fix it (see section 2.3). The game has other problems, too, but it is possible to fix those as well (see section 2.6).

2.3 My 'Problem' Is Different

See section 2.6 for a list of other problems and solutions.

2.4 How To Fix The 'Problem'

If your problem is of that listed in section 2.2, and you are running the Windows 2000 operating system (edition is irrelevant), then here is the solution to fix it:

* Make sure you are running Windows 2000 Service Pack 2. If not, upgrade (or downgrade from SP3) to Service Pack 2. Downloading and installing a service pack is provided by Microsoft for free. Visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/servicepacks/sp2 for more information.

* Make sure you have the rights to login as Administrator (if not, ask your Administrator to do the following). Simply login as Administrator and enable compatibility support on the system. This is done by typing the following command in the Command Prompt or in the 'Run...' dialog box located in the Start Menu: regsvr32 %systemroot%\apppatch\slayerui.dll

* Download and install Microsoft's Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit 1.1 located at http://msdn.microsoft.com/compatibility/act.exe.

* Reboot (restart) your system.

* After rebooting, launch the program called 'QFixApp' located in Start Menu > Programs > Application Compatibility Toolkit. From here, simply 'Browse' to the ff7.exe application (assuming you've already installed FINAL FANTASY VII PC), select 'CheckWriteFileBuffer.dll' and 'VirtualRegistry.dll' *only*, and click 'Run'. You should now get passed the first battle and play the game in its entirety.

Note: It is very important for all Windows 2000/NT 5 users to patch their ff7.exe with the Chocobo patch. See section 2.6 (A-4) for more information.

2.5 Other 'Problems' Now

If you have successfully launched ff7.exe via 'QFixApp' (as directed in section 2.4), but you are encountering other problems (e.g., movie not playing, no sound, etc.), there is no need to fear! These are easily fixed. See section 2.6 for a list of other problems and solutions.

2.6 Problems & Solutions

The following contains a list of common problems and solutions to various issues with FINAL FANTASY VII PC (in Question and Answer format):

Q-1: "How come the movies won't play (I see a black screen)?"
A-1: The reason the movies won't play is because you do not have the proper codecs installed for Windows Media Player. For this reason you see a black screen when you launch the game or elsewhere. Simply download and install Microsoft's Windows Media Player Codecs located at http://download.microsoft.com/download/winmediatech40/Install/8.0/WIN98Me/EN-US/wmpcdcs8.exe.

Q-2: "How come I don't hear the audio in the movies?"
A-2: The reason audio won't play in the movies is because you are missing a codec, have a bad codec, or in need of an updated codec. See A-1 to download and install Microsoft's Windows Media Player Codecs. This usually fixes all audio/video problems.

Q-3: "How come the movies and/or movie audio skip?"
A-3: Besides the obvious reason of a low-end system, this might also be caused by bad or outdated codecs. I suggest downloading and installing Microsoft's Windows Media Player Codecs. This usually fixes all audio/video problems. See A-1.

Q-4: "How come the game crashes during the Chocobo races?"
A-4: This is caused by a bug. Fortunately, a patch has been developed and is located at http://www.qhimm.com/ff7_chocobo_patch.zip. The Final Fantasy community is still thanking its developer for supplying us with such an outstanding patch!

Q-5: "How come I don't have the option to play in Direct3D mode?"
A-5: Assuming you do have a 3D video card, it is possible to use an updated ff7config.exe file to set up hardware acceleration. Visit http://www.eidosinteractive.com/support/search.html?gmid=44 and look for the nVidia Riva patches. It is also advisable to experiment with other drivers for your card. Getting hardware acceleration to work with FINAL FANTASY VII PC is a challenge and a game of its own!

Q-6: "How come I wasn't provided the solution to my 'problem'?"
A-6: Many people have varying computer specifications and configurations. It would be impossible to list *every* possible scenario. I would suggest you to visit http://www.eidosinteractive.com/support/search.html?gmid=44 and see if a patch for your 'problem' exists. I would also recommend searching Web sites, newsgroups, forums, and etc.

3.1 Open Document

As a closing note, I would like to mention that this document is strictly an "open document." By that I mean anyone is free to copy and post (or even modify) this document anywhere he or she likes. For the sake of integrity, all I ask is the original text be left unchanged and any modifications clearly stated as so.

I hope this documentation has helped people. I wish everyone the best of luck with FINAL FANTASY -- the best RPG in the past, present, and future!

- created 26 October 2002, <FinalFantasyRox>

13
Archive / Final Fantasy VII (I'm about to go CrAzZy!)
« on: 2002-10-27 00:48:10 »
I finally figured out how to run FF7 on Windows 2000!! :D

In short, there is nothing wrong with QFixApp. I just didn't enable NT5 compatibility mode. Then I got lucky when I noticed that compatibility mode is only enabled with Administrator rights. So when I enabled it with Admin it worked. I chose specific settings in QFixApp and it's working like a charm! Oh yeah, I really did need to downgrade to SP2. SP3 doesn't seem to like compatibility mode. I reformated two times trying to figure that one out.

I wrote up a document to help others who have similar problems. I will post it here in a minute with the title HOW TO GET 'FINAL FANTASY VII PC' RUNNING ON YOUR WINDOWS 2000/NT 5 SYSTEM.

By the way, I also figured out why Windows XP users have less problems than Windows 2000 users. Windows XP has compatibility mode turned on by default. Windows 2000 is set off as default.

Thanks again guys for all info. When I get free time I'm going to try to see if I can use my ATI video card with FF7. But for now I don't care. I'm just glad I can run it.

14
Archive / Final Fantasy VII (I'm about to go CrAzZy!)
« on: 2002-10-25 10:25:59 »
Thanks for the info, guys. But I still couldn't seem to get passed the first fight sequence.

Tomorrow I will reformat my hard drive and install Windows 2000 without Service Pack 3 as I am starting to believe SP3 is the cause of my problem. Today I read in newsgroups that SP3 is not only a privacy violation for Windows 2000 systems, but also contains code that doesn't make every application function properly.

Hopefully Serivce Pack 2 would fix everything and get FF7 working.

Note to <nayoung>: How were you able to get Direct3D working with your ATI card? Would it be possible if you give me the exact version of your driver, please?

Thanks.

15
Archive / Final Fantasy VII (I'm about to go CrAzZy!)
« on: 2002-10-22 05:33:59 »
I know dual-booting would work since FF7 worked on Windows 98. However, for miscellaneous reasons, I won't be able to dual-boot.

Nevertheless, I don't believe my problem is with the operating system, but rather the ACT. I'm either using it incorrectly, or I'm missing a step.

If many people who have Windows 2000 are able to play FF7 (I've even heard Windows 2000 SP3 works), then theoretically every Windows 2000 user should be able to. I don't believe this is a hardware issue. Since Microsoft software is the same for everyone, I would suppose that those (including me) who are unable to play FF7 are doing something wrong.

That's why I'm here. To see what I did wrong. :)

16
Archive / Final Fantasy VII (I'm about to go CrAzZy!)
« on: 2002-10-21 21:51:54 »
Hello,

I really hate to post another FF7 "Help Me!" topic, but I *really* do need help. For the past four weeks I've been trying to get FF7 to work on Windows 2000. I've read numerous forums, newsgroups, Web sites, and even IRC. I'm about to go NuTzZ! :isee:

I managed to get FF7 running to the point where it loads and plays the intro movie. But when the group gets off the train and Cloud has the fight the two blue policemen, that's where the problem starts.

As soon as Cloud is hit by one of the men or Cloud is about to hit one of the men, the game crashes; it goes back to the Desktop with no error dialog box or anything.

I know that I have to use the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) in order to make FF7 work on Windows 2000. And I've tried, tried, and tried! Either I'm doing something wrong, or I'm missing some knowledge to get ACT running properly.

As far as I understand, there are three solutions to get FF7 working on Windows 2000:

1) AppFix
2) QFixApp
3) AppCompat

I've tried all (details below).

AppFix - I ran C:\Program Files\ACT\Applications\AppFix.exe and it copied some files somewhere and popped up the command prompt and immediately closed it (it was like for one second, I couldn't see what happened). I then ran FF7 and it crashed during the fight sequence. I tried rebooting and running FF7; it crashed during the fight sequence, too.

QFixApp - I ran QFixApp and chose ff7.exe. First, I selected all the checkboxes and ran FF7. It crashed during the fight sequence. And second, I selected only 'CheckWriteFileBuffer.dll' and 'VirtualRegistry.dll' (as specified by 'Check Exisiting Fixes...'). It crashed during the fight sequence as well.

AppCompat - I ran AppCompat and chose ff7.exe. I selected 'Windows 98' and experimented with the check boxes. I couldn't even get FF7 to run this time. As soon as I clicked OK, I got the following two error dialog boxes:

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
MSVCRT.DLL for Win32
Error: MSVCRT.DLL is not compatible with Win32s.


--AND--

ff7.exe - Application Error
The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000142). Click on OK to terminate the application.

I've tried several dozen times now, failing each time during the fight sequence. I've read all that I could find. Please help! I would *REALLY* appreciate any help to fix this issue.

Computer Specifications:

Windows 2000 SP3
450 MHz (Intel)
128 MB SDRAM
8MB VIDEO CARD (ATI RAGE PRO TURBO 2X)

Note: I've been running FF7 with 'Software Rendering' mode. Even though I have a 3D video card, it does not recognize it since ATI cards have a problem with 8-bit palletized textures. I tried applying the Riva patches from Eidos' Web site, and even though FF7Config accepts Direct3D support, when I run FF7 I experience a fatal crash (Windows 2000 blue screen of death, power down, and automatic reboot). But I don't mind that I am unable to use hardware acceleration. I only care that I can play FF7 on Windows 2000 and get passed the first fight sequence!

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