Alkalinegirl 0 Posted January 12, 2005 When I load sims, place marker-like objects appear in the place of the tree graphics on the neighboorhood screen. When this happens, a white 3D card like object appears with text of the object name appearing through out the 5-6 cards marking where this object would be. As well as that, our game crashes when creating a new sim or lot...crashed before a reformat 30-40 minutes into every game...the other problems only started after reformatting my PC Our graphics card is relatively new and above the minimum requirements... Our software that is required to run the game is all updated and right... Welcome! Welcome to Electronic Arts System Information Utility, Easy Info. This tool can be used by yourself and our technical support representatives to help find a solution to any technical issues you may be experiencing with your game. Please make sure that your system meets the minimum requirements and that you have the most updated drivers for both your video and sound devices. If you need further assistance please click here. System Overview / Comparison Your System Game Requirements Operating System (Get Updates) Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Build 2600) Windows XP/2000/98/ME System Memory 512.5 256.0 Processor Speed 1716.9 800 MHz DirectX Version (Get Updates) 9.0c 9.0c Display Device (Get Drivers) NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 Display Memory 64.0 32.0 Display Driver 6.14.10.6177 Sound Device (Get Drivers) Avance AC97 Audio Sound Driver 5.10.3610 Operating System Information Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (Build 2600) Internet Explorer Information Version 6.00.2600.0000 Background Processes 38/38 System Process smss.exe Process winlogon.exe Process services.exe Process lsass.exe Process svchost.exe Process svchost.exe Process spoolsv.exe Process iSafe.exe Process Runservice.exe Process mdm.exe Process nvsvc32.exe Process svchost.exe Process VetMsg.exe Process vsmon.exe User Process explorer.exe Process VetTray.exe Process USISrv.exe Process soundman.exe Process zlclient.exe Process WinServAd.exe Process PPActiveDetection.exe Process WinServSuit.exe Process jusched.exe Process ctfmon.exe Process WkCalRem.exe Process Zmud.exe Process msnmsgr.exe Process ICQLite.exe Process YPager.exe Process IEXPLORE.EXE Process EasyInfo.exe Other Process [system Process] Process System Process csrss.exe Process svchost.exe Process svchost.exe Process wdfmgr.exe Process wmiprvse.exe System Device Information Processor 1/1 Intel Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 1.70GHz 1716.9 FPU True MMX True SSE True SSE2 True 3D Now False 3D Now Plus False SSE-MMX False TSC True IA64 False APIC True ACPI True MTRR True CMOV True Serial False Thermal True Extended Features Hyper Threading Support True MMX Plus False Logical Processors Per Physical 1 Voltage ID False Frequency ID False Temperature Sense Diode False Memory System Total 512.5 Virtual Total 2047.9 Pagefile Total 1250.0 Snapshot System Available 266.7 Virtual Available 2006.4 Pagefile Available 1028.0 Percent Load 47 Mass Storage Devices Drive A:\ Type Removable Letter A:\ VolumeName N/A FileSystem N/A TotalSpace 0 Bytes FreeSpace 0 Bytes Capabilities Read-Only False Compressed False Supports Compression False Supports Case-preservation False Supports Case-sensitive filenames False Supports Encryption False Supports Named Streams False Supports Object IDs False Supports Persistent ACLS False Supports Quotas False Supports Reparse Points False Supports Sparse Files False Supports Unicode False Drive C:\ Type Fixed Letter C:\ FileSystem NTFS TotalSpace 57.2 GB FreeSpace 41.1 GB Capabilities Read-Only False Compressed False Supports Compression True Supports Case-preservation True Supports Case-sensitive filenames True Supports Encryption False Supports Named Streams True Supports Object IDs True Supports Persistent ACLS True Supports Quotas True Supports Reparse Points True Supports Sparse Files True Supports Unicode True Drive D:\ Type CD / DVD Drive Letter D:\ VolumeName N/A FileSystem N/A TotalSpace 0 Bytes FreeSpace 0 Bytes Capabilities Read-Only False Compressed False Supports Compression False Supports Case-preservation False Supports Case-sensitive filenames False Supports Encryption False Supports Named Streams False Supports Object IDs False Supports Persistent ACLS False Supports Quotas False Supports Reparse Points False Supports Sparse Files False Supports Unicode False Drive E:\ Type CD / DVD Drive Letter E:\ VolumeName N/A FileSystem N/A TotalSpace 0 Bytes FreeSpace 0 Bytes Capabilities Read-Only False Compressed False Supports Compression False Supports Case-preservation False Supports Case-sensitive filenames False Supports Encryption False Supports Named Streams False Supports Object IDs False Supports Persistent ACLS False Supports Quotas False Supports Reparse Points False Supports Sparse Files False Supports Unicode False Monitor Information 1/1 Monitor Name Plug and Play Monitor Refresh Rate 60 Hz Network Adapter Information 1/1 Network Adapter Name Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC IP Address 0.0.0.0 Subnet Mask 0.0.0.0 Gateway N/A Primary WINS Server N/A DHCP N/A Media Device Information DirectX Information Version 9.0c Long Version 4.09.0000.0904 Display Device 1/1 NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 Local Memory: 64.0 Driver Version: 6.14.10.6177 Device Description NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 Manufacturer NVIDIA Corporation GUID D7B71E3E-42C5-11CF-B063-00206EC2CD35 Driver Version 6.14.10.6177 Module nv4_disp.dll Date 7-15-2004 Memory Total 64.0 Available 62.6 Non-Local 62.0 Texture 124.6 Sound Device 1/1 Avance AC97 Audio Driver: 5.10.3610 Device Description Avance AC97 Audio Manufacturer Avance Logic, Inc. GUID BD6DD71A-3DEB-11D1-B171-00C04FC20001 Driver Version 5.10.3610 Module ALCXWDM.SYS Date 9-19-2001 Capabilities Max 3D Buffers 0 Supports Mono Output True Supports Stereo Output True EasyInfo 2 © 2004 Electronic Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved. Share this post Link to post
Chii 0 Posted January 12, 2005 Quote: do other games freeze? it could also be a heat issue. now I have noticed that sometimes when saving the game seemed to freeze up on me but if I waited a while it would be okay. Next time it happens (when saving) try waiting a bit to see what happens Well I also have The sims double deluxe. I used to play it fine without problems, but now that game freezes too! That's all I play...Sims lol..It freezes the whole computer...I've tried everything Share this post Link to post
Chii 0 Posted January 12, 2005 Quote: A game freezing does not mean that you need more RAM. What it does mean is that something is wrong with your computer. When it "freezes" can you press NUMLOCK and see the green light? If you see the green light then it usually means that your computer didn't freeze, just the game. (If so press, CTRL+ALT+DEL and end the SIMS 2 task) So what we need to determine is if the computer itself freezes or just the game. If it is the computer then I would recommend removing all memory except for one stick and then trying your game. If it hangs on that memory stick then take that one out and try another one. Thanks, I'll try pressing NUMLOCK to see if it's the game or the whole computer..But I think it's the computer! Share this post Link to post
Chii 0 Posted January 12, 2005 Ok, I just tried that, It's the whole computer that freezes. After about 10-15 minutes of playing. I can save a few times, but after like 5 or 6 times, I save and it freezes! What can I do?? I spent a lot of money on this game... Share this post Link to post
Bibsta 0 Posted January 12, 2005 ok im not to good at this kinda stuff so here goes... im not to good w/ computers and i recently got sims 2. It says i need a Direct X 9.0 c graphic adapter and i dont know what to do.... im so confused! help me pls! Share this post Link to post
DosFreak 2 Posted January 12, 2005 Originally posted by Chii: Quote: Ok, I just tried that, It's the whole computer that freezes. After about 10-15 minutes of playing. I can save a few times, but after like 5 or 6 times, I save and it freezes! What can I do?? I spent a lot of money on this game... Read the post I posted earlier about your memory. There's also a post at the end of page 2 suggesting that it may be a heat issue. Sims 1 doesn't really push the memory that hard though it is possible, it's about 50/50 either way. Either memory or a heat issue. Did your Sims 1 problems start happening after you added more memory? This could be it. Likely conflicting memory timings or bad memory. Share this post Link to post
blugirlami21 0 Posted January 12, 2005 I took your advice and everyhting is as it should be. Right after I posted I downloaded ServoPro and found that I didn't have enough RAM I'm supposed to have 256 RAM and that's what my computer says that I have when I look at the properties for my computer but when did ServoPro it said that I only had 254 RAM. Now can I get the 2 MB back or do I have to buy so more memory. I'm pretty sure that I have to buy more memory but I wanna be sure before I spend a whole lot of money on something I might not really need. Share this post Link to post
DosFreak 2 Posted January 12, 2005 No your good. The "lost memory" is usally taken up by your computer bios. Nothing to worry about Depending on the bios it could also be how the bios calculates the amount of memory. Share this post Link to post
Chii 0 Posted January 12, 2005 Originally posted by dosfreak: Quote: Originally posted by Chii: Quote: Ok, I just tried that, It's the whole computer that freezes. After about 10-15 minutes of playing. I can save a few times, but after like 5 or 6 times, I save and it freezes! What can I do?? I spent a lot of money on this game... Read the post I posted earlier about your memory. There's also a post at the end of page 2 suggesting that it may be a heat issue. Sims 1 doesn't really push the memory that hard though it is possible, it's about 50/50 either way. Either memory or a heat issue. Did your Sims 1 problems start happening after you added more memory? This could be it. Likely conflicting memory timings or bad memory. I'm really not sure when Sims 1 started freezing, It might be a little before I formated, or after I formated... Sims 2 works fine though...The graphics are awesome, the speed is good, but it just freezes my whole computer. Actually, now that I think about it, my computer freezes randomly sometimes...It never did that before I formated. Share this post Link to post
blugirlami21 0 Posted January 13, 2005 Me again, When I looked at the dxdiag again it says that Hardware accelerated Direct3D 9+ is not available because the display driver does not support it. You may be able to get a newer driver from the hardware manufacturer. And I believe that I did get the updated version of my driver but it still says the same thing. My driver is Intel 82845G/Gl/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller, Internal, 64 MB memory, 1024x768, Plug and Play Monitor. The Main Driver is ialmrnts.dll, version 6.14.0010.3943, WHQL Logo'd: n/a, Mini VDD: ialmnt5.sys, DDI Version 7. Now what do I need to get to make this work? Share this post Link to post
DosFreak 2 Posted January 13, 2005 Well your DDI version is 7. If you have DX9 installed and DDI is reporting 7 then it's saying that your video card driver only supports up to Directx 7. Where did you download these drivers? Intel? Share this post Link to post
blugirlami21 0 Posted January 14, 2005 Well my computer came with that driver and I installed an update of that driver on intel. Share this post Link to post
0MG iTz l a c e y* 0 Posted January 16, 2005 0KAY GUYS...I HAVE THE WAY T0 FIX THE DIRECT X THING...IF Y0U GUYS ARE STILL TRYIN` T0 FIGURE IT 0UT...G0 HERE & READ THE DIRECTI0NS...IT 0LNY TAKES LIKE 2 MINS. S0 D0NT BE LAZY...!! & READ THE STINKIN` DIRECTI0NS...& MY C0MPUTER IS KINDA STUPID & LIKES T0 FREEZE AL0T BUT IT NEVER HAS WHILE IM PLAYING 0N THIS GAME...0LNY WHEN I AM 0N THE INTERNET 0R S0METHING, BUT WHEN I PLAY THIS GAME IT G0ES SL0W...I D0NT KN0W IF THATS BECAUSE THE C0DE IS STUPID 0R MY C0MPUTER IS...S0 IF Y0U ARE DESPRATE LIKE I WAS T0 PLAY THIS GAME (BECAUSE I SPENT $50.00 0N IT) THEN TRY THIS C0DE...!! SIGNED: L A C E Y* THE LINK & I D0NT KN0W H0W T0 POST THAT C0DE BUT I THINK THAT SH0ULD BE IT WAIT I KN0W IT IS...C0PY & PASTE IT IN THE ADRESS BAR 0R WHATEVER... H0PE IT W0RKS...!! Share this post Link to post
Sweet16_07 0 Posted January 17, 2005 HI LIKE EVERY ONE ELSE I AM HAVING THE SAME THING SHOW UP WHEN I TRY TO PLAY THE SIMS 2 I AM SO MAD ;( BECAUSE I HAVE HAD IT SINCE CHRISTAMS AND IM STILL UNABLE TO PLAY. I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING ON HERE AND IT STILL HAS NOT WORKED. I READ WHERE SOME PEOPLE SAID ABOUT BUYING SOME THING AN ADAPTER I THINK. I DON'T REALLY KNOW TOO MUCH ABOUT COMPUTERS I THOUGHT THIS SIMS 2 THING WOULD BE SIMPLE. BOY WAS I WRONG. SO CAN ANY BODY WHOS KNOWS ABOUT COMPUTERS AND KNOWS WHAT TO DO HELP ME PLEASE. I AM VERY DESPRATE FOY YOUR HELP Share this post Link to post
ak0303 0 Posted January 17, 2005 Okay i seem to be having the same problems as many others. When i try to play the sims 2 on a new (to my house not right off the shelf)computer, i am getting the message that says that i dont have the necessary DirectX 9.0c... But i looked at many other posts and it said to go to start, run and then type DXDIAG then to the display tab...but before i went to the display tab i looked at the system tab, and at the bottom it said: DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) Isn't that what i am supposed to have? just in case this is what was on the Display tab: Device Name: Intel Corporation 810 Graphics Controller Hub Manufacturer: Intel Corporation Chip Type: Intel 810 DAC Type: Internal Approx. Total Memory: 4.0 MB Current Display mode: 1024 x 768 (24 bit)(75 Hz) Drivers Main Driver: i81xdnt5.dll Version: 5.11.0001.0133 (english) Date: 6/19/03 6:05:04 WHQL Logo'd: yes Mini VDD: i8xnt5.sys VDD: n/a DDI Version: 7 DirectX Features DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled Direct 3D Acceleration: Enabled AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled What do i need to do? Should I get a new video card or should i upgrade? please help. Share this post Link to post
thatsteveguy 0 Posted January 17, 2005 Originally posted by ak0303: Quote: Okay i seem to be having the same problems as many others. When i try to play the sims 2 on a new (to my house not right off the shelf)computer, i am getting the message that says that i dont have the necessary DirectX 9.0c... But i looked at many other posts and it said to go to start, run and then type DXDIAG then to the display tab...but before i went to the display tab i looked at the system tab, and at the bottom it said: DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) Isn't that what i am supposed to have? just in case this is what was on the Display tab: Device Name: Intel Corporation 810 Graphics Controller Hub Manufacturer: Intel Corporation Chip Type: Intel 810 DAC Type: Internal Approx. Total Memory: 4.0 MB Current Display mode: 1024 x 768 (24 bit)(75 Hz) Drivers Main Driver: i81xdnt5.dll Version: 5.11.0001.0133 (english) Date: 6/19/03 6:05:04 WHQL Logo'd: yes Mini VDD: i8xnt5.sys VDD: n/a DDI Version: 7 DirectX Features DirectDraw Acceleration: Enabled Direct 3D Acceleration: Enabled AGP Texture Acceleration: Enabled What do i need to do? Should I get a new video card or should i upgrade? please help. Your answer is right there actually. your video card does not meet the minimum specs. You will need new video card or need to upgrade your system. S Share this post Link to post
jbgator777 0 Posted January 17, 2005 For those who have the DirectX 9 problem. I finally solved mine. I guess that the people who have problem never come back to tell how they got their's fixed so I did. Hope this helps. I purchased a brand new Multimedia Computer with a Radeon X300 SE Video Card with 128mb memory on board, one of the approved ones. One I knew should play the game, it did not. I did the dxdiag thing and knew directX was not the problem. I still had the DirectX 9 problem. After many hours of trying to find help, I had an idea. 1 - I uninstalled thesims2 and rebooted. 2 - then reinstalled the program. To be safe I did not play the guessing game thingy this time. 3 - then rebooted. 4 - then put in disk 4 (cd version) 5 - installed the utility update from thesims2.com. 6 - then rebooted. 7 - put in disk 1 and 8 - then ran the game. Now it runs great. My kids are finally happy. Before, I tried to install the utility, but it had an error message. I guess by not playing the game and then installing the utility worked for me. I took the extra steps of always rebooting inbetween to play it safe. The kids moved in yestarday. John Share this post Link to post
ak0303 0 Posted January 17, 2005 Sorry, it's me again. What are the minimum specs for the Sims 2, so that i know exactly what i am looking for. What type of Video Card do you prefer? And do you know the price on a new video card, that might make my decision a whole lot easier. Thanks for the help. Share this post Link to post
reaper6662k 0 Posted January 19, 2005 Hi everyone, I am having problems with Sims 2 just like everyone else. I have a geforce fx5200, and my pc is completely fast enough, the directx is fine, have no popups or anything, but the screen goes funny when I load it up. It seems like it is directx problems, but I have updated that and the display drivers for my graphics card, but the problems are still occuring! As I have said, the screen looks as if there is a big problem with the graphics and direct x. I shall describe the screen for you: the screen is different shades of blue with lines across the screen, and if I do it in a windowed mode, it shows different triangular shapes, which is why I thought it was a directx problem! Can anyone help, hope I have described it well enough for you guys. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks Reaper6662k Share this post Link to post
gone_to_stay 0 Posted January 21, 2005 ugh i hate to be so repetitive and i know u all are probably reallu mad.. but im having the same DirectX 9.0c problem. I have windows XP. but see the thing is.. i dont know how to give u all the information every1 else has given. i know i have installed directX 9.0c but im not sure what else to do. I've tried a few other things that other people have suggested.. no luck. i basically need to be told step by step what to do. im really sorry but im dying to play this game. Thanks- Sara Lyn Share this post Link to post
thatsteveguy 0 Posted January 22, 2005 Originally posted by gone_to_stay: Quote: ugh i hate to be so repetitive and i know u all are probably reallu mad.. but im having the same DirectX 9.0c problem. I have windows XP. but see the thing is.. i dont know how to give u all the information every1 else has given. i know i have installed directX 9.0c but im not sure what else to do. I've tried a few other things that other people have suggested.. no luck. i basically need to be told step by step what to do. im really sorry but im dying to play this game. Thanks- Sara Lyn no problem Clic on start>run in the open field type without the quotes 'dxdiag' and clic ok that will give you the directx diagnostic tool. S Share this post Link to post
gone_to_stay 0 Posted January 22, 2005 okay i can get to that.. so what do u need to know to help me? well heres like the first part System Manufacturer: eMachines, Inc. System Model: L7VMM2 BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz Memory: 480MB RAM Page File: 276MB used, 848MB available Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904) DX Setup Parameters: Not found DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode ------------ DxDiag Notes ------------ DirectX Files Tab: No problems found. Display Tab 1: Hardware-accelerated Direct3D 9 is not available because the display driver does not support it. You may be able to get a newer driver from the hardware manufacturer. Sound Tab 1: No problems found. Sound Tab 2: No problems found. Music Tab: No problems found. Input Tab: No problems found. Network Tab: The registry information for the DirectPlay application 'Sorry' is missing or damaged. You should reinstall that application. Display Devices --------------- Card name: S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR Manufacturer: S3 Graphics, Inc. Chip type: S3 ProSavage DDR DAC type: S3 SDAC Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_5333&DEV_8D04&SUBSYS_0A851019&REV_00 Display Memory: 32.0 MB Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (16 bit) (60Hz) Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200 Driver Name: s3gnb.dll Driver Version: 6.13.0010.1083 (English) DDI Version: 7 Driver Attributes: Final Retail Driver Date/Size: 7/12/2002 23:26:58, 361728 bytes WHQL Logo'd: Yes WHQL Date Stamp: n/a VDD: n/a Mini VDD: s3gnbm.sys Mini VDD Date: 7/12/2002 23:27:04, 155008 bytes Device Identifier: {D7B75DD3-CE44-11CF-9277-8F2AA2C2CB35} Vendor ID: 0x5333 Device ID: 0x8D04 SubSys ID: 0x0A851019 Revision ID: 0x0000 Revision ID: 0x0000 Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_D Deinterlace Caps: n/a Registry: OK DDraw Status: Enabled D3D Status: Enabled AGP Status: Enabled DDraw Test Result: Not run D3D7 Test Result: Not run D3D8 Test Result: Not run D3D9 Test Result: Not run Share this post Link to post
Bobby Boy 0 Posted January 22, 2005 Hi all, I've read the posts and I think thi may be a new variation on the theme: We bought Sims2 CD ROM version at Christmas but have not yet got it to work - it plays through the intro but gets stuck when "Blurring Reality Lines" then the system drops into safe mode and displays "The ialmrnt5 display driver has stopped working normally" with an error sugnature of: BCCode: ea BCP1:82C296C8 BCP2: 82CE3418 BCP3:82BA2208 BCP4: 00000001 OSVer:5_1_2600 SP:2_0 Product:256_1 We are running XP service pack 2 on a Pentium 4 CPU with 2.4GHz & 512 MB of RAM The graphics card is Intel 82865 and we have run DXDiag and downloaded DirectX 9.0c again just to be sure. Seems to me that we meet the requirements but then I'm not very technical. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers! BB Share this post Link to post
vrykolakas 0 Posted January 22, 2005 I got that same message about not having a compatable Direct X graphics driver or whatever, which I realised was a graphics card, so I asked my friend for a graphics card. He came over, eventually worked out how to get into the computer and tried to put it in, but apparently my computer is un-upgradeable... which my dad thought was odd (computer geniuses surrounding me) but I went with what my friend said cause he's more reliable. I was thinking I could just buy a new computer as my friend's spare computer needs a new hard drive and even if I get one for it, I'll have to give him his computer back eventually. Is there any way I can temporarily sort out this problem while I'm waiting to get my new computer? It probably sounds like I'm just buying a new computer because I want to play the game, but I do need a better one, as mine is not particularly good and has alot of problems, but it may be a good few weeks before I can get a new computer. I heard about some way to fool the computer into thinking you have a graphics card... I'm sure it's not a good idea but possibly a temporary solution until I get a new computer? Help, anyone? Share this post Link to post
thatsteveguy 0 Posted January 22, 2005 First off 'Gone_to_stay' I don't think your card does support the game. try running the tests that can be run with the DXdiagnostic tool. It will probably fail on the DX9 test. Bobby_Boy. I am not familiar enough with those Intel Integrated graphics and how well they run the games that support the latest hardware but my feeling is it's not supported as well. try running the DXdiagnostic tool mentioned above and run the tests. vrykolakas You won't be able to 'fool' the game to play if your computer isnt up to spec. You might just have to wait till you upgrade.. sry s Share this post Link to post
