The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

The Ur-Quan Masters Re-Release => Technical Issues => Topic started by: jimb00 on March 16, 2004, 02:27:50 pm



Title: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: jimb00 on March 16, 2004, 02:27:50 pm
Hi, just downloaded and installed all components of UQM 0.3.

When I try to run it a black window appears for a second then dissappears. I've tried turning off all hardware acceleration, running in compatibility mode, in 256 colors, in 640x480 screen res and disabling visual themes (all in a variety of combinations). Still just got a black screen  :-/

Any ideas?
Thx muchly

(WinXP, 32MB geforce2)


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Deep-Jiffa on March 16, 2004, 03:46:10 pm
It is a known problem(for some reason). It has nothing to do with the hardware, just with the driver's type: NTFS. But to be sure that it is that problem, give us the error messege it writes before it get closed, and trust me there is one.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: FalconMWC on March 16, 2004, 05:11:35 pm
A hint - Press, the pause/break button in order to read it, unless you watn to watch it go by a a bunch of times.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Terminator on March 16, 2004, 08:22:16 pm
I ran XP for about a month (didn't like it) see if u can find a dos prompt (I'm uncertain weather it has it or not from what I've seen DOS programs don't seem to work) or do a serch for command.com It won't close the window till u tell it to.
here's how u must type in DOS cd\progra~1\the_ur~1
press enter
uqm press enter
note the number for (the_ur~?) may change if u have it installed more than once.



Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Zeep-Eeep on March 16, 2004, 09:09:46 pm
Yes, WinXP ha a command line. It's called cmd.exe, not command.com.
If you open a Run dialog box and type "cmd.exe" you'll get that evil black box.

I haven't tried running UQM on Windows, but I assume there is a shortcut on the desktop invloved. If so, you can bring up the properties of the shotcut and make sure the "close on exit" button isn't checked. This will leave the DOS
window open after UQM cashes and you can copy the error message.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on March 16, 2004, 11:04:21 pm
Quote
It is a known problem(for some reason). It has nothing to do with the hardware, just with the driver's type: NTFS. But to be sure that it is that problem, give us the error messege it writes before it get closed, and trust me there is one.

It is a known problem?
It has something to do with NTFS?
I'm sure you mean well, but if you don't know what you're talking about, please don't confuse other people.

jimb00:
"downloaded and installed all components", does that mean you didn't use the installer? Chances are you put something in the wrong dir then.
I suggest you follow Zeep-Eeep's directions, that should provide some more useful messages, if not for you, then for us here.



Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Deep-Jiffa on March 17, 2004, 04:36:46 am
Quote

It is a known problem?
It has something to do with NTFS?
I'm sure you mean well, but if you don't know what you're talking about, please don't confuse other people.

jimb00:
"downloaded and installed all components", does that mean you didn't use the installer? Chances are you put something in the wrong dir then.
I suggest you follow Zeep-Eeep's directions, that should provide some more useful messages, if not for you, then for us here.


Forgive me if I am wrong, but I thought that his problem is with the key.cfg . If I am wrong, I am sorry.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on March 17, 2004, 05:09:39 am
It *could* be a problem with the key config, if you're using a 0.2 config with 0.3 or messed yours up manually. But "It's a known problem" suggest to me an unfixed bug in uqm, while you probably mean that some other people have had the same problem. It also suggests that you're pretty sure of what you're saying, while there are other, (imho more likely) explanations. I personally suspect that the game can't find the content files.

I'm curious, you say you thought this was a problem with key.cfg (it's "keys.cfg" btw); where does NTFS come in?



Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Deep-Jiffa on March 17, 2004, 06:40:45 am
I have no clue, but I know that when I had that problem (with 3.0) it was fine when it was fat32 and got messy when it coverted to NTFS.  :-/


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Mark Vera on March 17, 2004, 05:31:11 pm
Quote
I have no clue, but I know that when I had that problem (with 3.0) it was fine when it was fat32 and got messy when it coverted to NTFS.  :-/


Well, I don't have any problems with 0.3 and I got XP and no Fat32 drives at all. I think the error message would be nice to hear before assuming anything.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Jofan on March 23, 2004, 09:33:16 pm
I have the same problem. I get that error:
"Error: Could not copy default key config to user config dir: No such file or directory."

I install the game in: D:\Juegos\The Ur-Quan Masters


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: ihaka on April 06, 2004, 02:37:01 pm
Just search your Ur-Quan directory for the file starcon.key and copy that to C:\Documents and Settings\User\Application Data\uqm (where user = your user name).


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Patrick on April 26, 2004, 10:32:07 pm
I am getting the same error on Win2k.  Copying starcon.key into uqm creates a complaint that it didn't understand a single line of the cfg file(which is what I got when I tried to put in my 0.2-era keys.cfg from a previous install).  Then it renames keys.cfg to keys.old(which is odd since i technically didn't have a keys.cfg in there) and retries, upon which I get Error: Something went wrong and we were looping again and again so aborting.  Possible cause is your content dir not being up-to-date.  
I imagine the reason I am looping is that it isn't renaming starcon.key, just copying it into keys.old and so it hits the same thing over and over.
I used the Windows 0.3 installer.  Can someone just provide a 0.3 era cfg, or explain the format so I can create one that 0.3 will accept?  


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on April 28, 2004, 02:26:02 am
In the uqm-0.3-content .zip file there's a starcon.txt. Copy that file out of the archive and put it as keys.cfg in the config dir.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: mshieh on April 28, 2004, 04:17:15 pm
I manually copied over starcon.key to keys.cfg and it now gives me a new error.  I installed by only installing the executable, then unzipping the content .zip into the package directory.  I also tried installing by downloading the content .zip, and received the same error.  I am running XP.  Is there a single file installer?

Initializing SDL (pure).
SDL driver used: directx
SDL initialized.
Initializing Screen.
Set the resolution to: 640x480x32
Initializing SDL audio subsystem.
SDL audio subsystem initialized.
Initializing MixSDL mixer.
MixSDL using driver 'SDL_audio'
MixSDL Mixer initialized.
   opened dsound at 44100 Hz 16 bit stereo, 4096 samples audio buffer
Initializing sound decoders.
Sound decoders initialized.
0 joysticks were found.
Kernel failed to load!


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on April 28, 2004, 04:32:27 pm
Ah, there's your problem. Don't unzip the content file, put it unzipped in the content/packages/ directory.

Edit: I corrected the location. It used to (incorrectly) say content/


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Buschflip on May 28, 2004, 08:39:53 am
I get the same problem as Jimb00 when i try to play UQM on XP with the same message.

"Error: Could not copy default key config to user config dir: No such file or directory."

Its really annoying because i haven't played SC2 in years and its beginning to look like i not going play it anytime soon. Please Please Help Us :'(


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: ionfish on May 31, 2004, 07:48:11 am
Having the same problem as mshieh; kernal fails to load.

Have already tried meep-eep's suggestion, but no dice.

Suggestions?

Cheers.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on May 31, 2004, 08:30:30 am
I use Linux myself, so this may not be completely accurate, but if I'm not mistaken, this is what you should have.

A directory "The Ur-Quan Masters" in "C:\Program Files\" (or wherever you installed UQM).
In that directory you have files "uqm.exe", and a directory "content", and nothing else.
In the directory "content" you should have a file "version", and a directory "packages", and nothing else.
In the directory "packages" you should have the file "uqm-0.3-content.zip", and optionally "uqm-0.3-voice.zip" and "uqm-0.3-3domusic.zip". You may also have the remix packs here ("uqm-remix-pack1.zip", "uqm-remix-pack2.zip", and when it is released "uqm-remix-pack3.zip").
If you've installed 3rd party add-ons, you also have a directory "addons" there with stuff in it. But for the rest, the packages dir should have no other files.

Any files you have that you shouldn't have should be removed. Any non-optional files you don't have should be downloaded.

Please let me know if you manage to get things to work using these directions, and also tell me what was wrong. I'd like to know how it is possible that you got into this non-working situation, in particular to see if there's anything wrong with the installer (that we don't know about yet).

A more structured list of the files you should have:
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\uqm.exe
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\version
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\uqm-0.3-content.zip
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\uqm-0.3-voice.zip  [OPTIONAL]
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\uqm-0.3-3domusic.zip [OPTIONAL]
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\uqm-0.3-remix-pack1.zip [OPTIONAL]
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\uqm-0.3-remix-pack2.zip [OPTIONAL]
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\uqm-0.3-remix-pack3.zip [OPTIONAL (not yet released)]
C:\Program Files\The Ur-Quan Masters\content\packages\addons\... [OPTIONAL (3rd party addons)]




Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: ionfish on May 31, 2004, 08:35:07 am
Working now; I'd put the zips in \content\ rather than \content\packages

Thanks for the help; much appreciated!


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on May 31, 2004, 08:38:49 am
Quote
Working now; I'd put the zips in \content\ rather than \content\packages

Sorry about that. I have corrected my earlier note now.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: ChonkE on November 19, 2004, 11:57:54 am
Meep-eep is a genius! Pure genius!
*bows before Meep-eep's installation instruction prowess*


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: carnage991 on January 22, 2005, 10:46:33 am
Thanks for installation ptocedure gam now works pefrectly.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Sage on January 24, 2005, 05:35:36 am
You know, with all of these problems out of the Windows installer, I'm half tempted to resurrect my reverse engineered Blizzard installer so that I can build one for UQM.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Novus on January 24, 2005, 02:25:42 pm
Quote
Ah, there's your problem. Don't unzip the content file, put it unzipped in the content/packages/ directory.

Surely you mean zipped or ununzipped, not unzipped.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: Atgeirr Flø Rasmussen on February 10, 2005, 05:58:17 pm
Quote
In the uqm-0.3-content .zip file there's a starcon.txt. Copy that file out of the archive and put it as keys.cfg in the config dir.


You should copy the starcon.key file, not starcon.txt!

Atgeirr


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on February 10, 2005, 06:31:59 pm
I live to confuse ;)


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: danjpo on February 25, 2005, 06:12:35 am
I still get the " kernal fails to load" error.

I have tried to move the zips to /content/ and I have also copied the starcon.key to keys.cfg in the config dir.

Pls help.


Title: Re: Can't run 0.3 at all on winXP....
Post by: meep-eep on February 25, 2005, 07:01:19 am
I think this should help:
http://uqm.stack.nl/wiki/index.php?title=The_Ur-Quan_Masters_Technical_FAQ#When_trying_to_start_the_game.2C_a_message_.22Kernel_failed_to_load.21.22_appears