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tonawandares
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Fixes

Post by tonawandares »

Trench,

I'm going to reload Battlefield on a Windows 7 machine.
I saw this in the downloads and was curious what the fixes are related to?

Shutdown fix
Widescreen fix
crash fix

thanks,

~ tona
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Re: Fixes

Post by Trench »

Shutdown fix
This is in reference to the GameSpy master server shutdown. There are two aspects of the fix:
  1. The string "master.gamespy.com" has been replaced with "master.bf1942.sk", so that by default the game will now resolve AX's replacement master server.
    • The timeout has been shortened so that even if the new master server is unavailable for whatever reason, you won't experience the long delay/hang when trying to enter the "Multiplayer" server list.
    Widescreen fix
    The code was patched to actually present a list of the resolutions, refresh rates and bit depths being presented by the installed Windows display driver, rather than being a fixed list defined by the game. So whereas before in order to get a specific non-standard widescreen resolution or specific refresh rate to show up you had to edit your videodefault.con and mark it read-only, now you simply go to the "Video" menu in-game and select that resolution.
    crash fix
    Tuia was able to find at least a couple of the memory allocation-related crashes that make "crashed to desktop" a frequently reported issue, and are also the reason it's recommended (if not required) to run BF1942.EXE using "Windows XP SP3 compatibility mode" (or even better, "Windows NT 4.0 SP5" compatibility mode, if you're on Windows 7).

    There are still more crashes lurking in there, and it's still recommended to use compatibility mode when running BF1942.EXE. But he did address and prevent a couple of them in this updated BF1942.EXE.
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by Mali Mrav »

    thats all truth Trench but on w7 dont crash bf like win10
    win 7 i after xp best for bf42
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by tonawandares »

    Mali Mrav wrote: March 19th, 2019, 6:36 pm thats all truth Trench but on w7 dont crash bf like win10
    win 7 i after xp best for bf42
    I had my compatibility set to "Windows NT 4.0 SP5" compatibility mode" on my Windows 7 machine.
    It resolved the crashing I was experiencing.
    Then my grandson got on my wife's window 7 machine and did something network-wise so he could play BF on it and now my compatibility is grayed out and I can't set the compatibility back because "it's on a network drive." I'm crashing again and having conflict in TS

    So, I did have the issue resolved at one point.
    this isn't why I'm reloading the game, but it is a concern to me.

    ~ tona
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by Trench »

    tonawandares wrote: March 20th, 2019, 4:07 pm I had my compatibility set to "Windows NT 4.0 SP5" compatibility mode" on my Windows 7 machine.
    It resolved the crashing I was experiencing.
    Indeed, the "Windows NT 4.0 SP5" setting does a better job of preventing BF1942.EXE crashes than "Windows XP SP3". But "Windows XP SP3" is all that is available on Windows 8.1 and later. The difference just seems to be with the memory allocation behavior, and how long Windows will defer re-using memory which has been "freed" by the application.

    Bugs in BF1942.EXE that incorrectly attempt to continue referencing memory after its been freed are still there, regardless of whether you're running on Windows 7 or not. But mimicking the Windows NT 4.0 SP5 behavior apparently just maximizes how long Windows will leave the memory unused before finally using it to satisfy some new allocation request, which reduces (without eliminating) the ability to encounter an actual failure due to the BF1942.EXE bugs.
    tonawandares wrote: March 20th, 2019, 4:07 pm Then my grandson got on my wife's window 7 machine and did something network-wise so he could play BF on it and now my compatibility is grayed out and I can't set the compatibility back because "it's on a network drive." I'm crashing again and having conflict in TS
    Hmmm. What does the "General" tab say the location of the BF1942.EXE program is? Not obvious what he would have done "in order to play Battlefield" that would have resulted in "now its on a network drive." Usually when that tab is grayed out it's because you're looking at an application which is manifested as being compatible with Windows Vista or later. And Windows actually can store Compatibility tab properties for network applications, but only offered to do so in Windows 8.1 and later.

    Although we could point to some "how to set Compatibility mode for a network program even on Windows 7" discussions (run the Compatibility Troubleshooter on the existing "network" shortcut), I think a more productive use of time would be to figure out why its being reported as "on the network" now, and to eliminate that situation which presumably should not have to exist.

    You said this was your wife's Windows 7 computer... that's where your Battlefield 1942 is actually installed? Or do you have Battlefield 1942 installed on your computer, and he setup some kind of network share to reach your installation from her computer?

    If the "General" tab on that shortcut doesn't list "C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\" as the location for BF1942.EXE, whatever drive letter its showing instead of "C:", take a look in Windows Explorer to see what it indicates that drive is mapped to. e.g. The mapped drive can be shown as "GAMESHARE (\\ComputerName) (X:)" to confirm which computer and share that drive is mapped to.

    And if the inability to modify the "Compatibility" tab is actually an issue you're having on your computer rather than your wife's computer, perhaps clarify that too.
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by tonawandares »

    Trench wrote: March 20th, 2019, 4:49 pm Hmmm. What does the "General" tab say the location of the BF1942.EXE program is? Not obvious what he would have done "in order to play Battlefield" that would have resulted in "now its on a network drive." Usually when that tab is grayed out it's because you're looking at an application which is manifested as being compatible with Windows Vista or later. And Windows actually can store Compatibility tab properties for network applications, but only offered to do so in Windows 8.1 and later.
    C:\Users\Home_01\Desktop
    So is this what he was accessing? The game is installed on E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES
    Trench wrote: March 20th, 2019, 4:49 pmYou said this was your wife's Windows 7 computer... that's where your Battlefield 1942 is actually installed? Or do you have Battlefield 1942 installed on your computer, and he setup some kind of network share to reach your installation from her computer?
    The game is installed on my computer, Home_01.
    I'm positive he was trying to reach mine from hers so he could play the game. Hers is named Home_02
    The compatibility issue is on the shortcut I use from my machine
    Trench wrote: March 20th, 2019, 4:49 pmIf the "General" tab on that shortcut doesn't list "C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\" as the location for BF1942.EXE, whatever drive letter its showing instead of "C:", take a look in Windows Explorer to see what it indicates that drive is mapped to. e.g. The mapped drive can be shown as "GAMESHARE (\\ComputerName) (X:)" to confirm which computer and share that drive is mapped to.
    So the file path on the general tab should be C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\

    I don't know if he ever accessed the game. I'm just finding out about this. He was here at Christmas.
    I knew I had an issue and found the compatibility greyed out and asked my wife about him being on her machine.
    It's always the stuff that they "don't" tell Grandpa that gets them in trouble
    So I accessed my wife's computer and went to the network and found Home-01.
    \\Users|Home-01\Desktop
    It's shared so this is how he was attempting to access the game...correction...the game runs
    To coin my friend Rye..."Why I Outta..."
    Killing the share

    thanks Trench

    ~ tona
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by tonawandares »

    So I do have a quick question... can I remove the permissions from home_02 to access this game? I don't mind having access to Home-01 from Home-02 but If I restrict permissions wouldn't that cause an inherited permissions issue?
    I'm more of a software guy, not a networker
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by Trench »

    tonawandares wrote: March 20th, 2019, 6:12 pm
    Trench wrote: March 20th, 2019, 4:49 pm What does the "General" tab say the location of the BF1942.EXE program is?
    C:\Users\Home_01\Desktop
    So is this what he was accessing? The game is installed on E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES
    Okay, that helps to confirm too, but I screwed up. I incorrectly recalled "Target:" was on the "General" tab, but it's on the "Shortcut" tab. It's the path that is in "Target:" that I was looking to confirm. Meaning on your machine, HOME_01, the shortcut on the desktop for launching BF1942.EXE on which the "Compatibility" tab is grayed out, what path to BF1942.EXE is in the "Target:" field at this point?

    ("C:\Users\Home_01\Desktop" is just the location of the shortcut file itself; i.e. it's an icon on your desktop.)
    tonawandares wrote: March 20th, 2019, 6:12 pm So the file path on the general tab should be C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\
    No, if you have the game installed on a physical E: drive, then the "E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" directory is where the shortcut should be pointing to. I just didn't acknowledge the possibility that you might have overridden the path during installation, or would have put your Program Files directory on an alternate drive.

    And that's what I'm trying to confirm in the previous paragraph; what path is showing for "Target:"? Since ostensibly that's the path Windows 7 is now saying "I consider that to be a network path, so I can't let you change the Compatibility tab."

    I'm wondering whether the shortcut is still showing your local "E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" directory (or your local "C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" directory, if that had been where you installed it) as the "Target:" path. Which would mean Windows is now saying "that's a network path", even though we humans would say that's a local drive & local directory.

    Or, does your "Target:" now show an actual UNC path for accessing the game, or some mapped drive other than E:, or "anything" other than the "E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" directory you are expecting it should be using for launching BF1942.EXE.
    tonawandares wrote: March 20th, 2019, 6:35 pm So I do have a quick question... can I remove the permissions from home_02 to access this game? I don't mind having access to Home-01 from Home-02 but If I restrict permissions wouldn't that cause an inherited permissions issue?
    I with there was a simple answer to that. If he had used the "normal sharing" (which Microsoft calls "Advanced sharing" now) I could say definitively what it did and what we need to undo. But the "Homegroup" mechanism, especially back in Windows 7, did a lot of really weird things. That Microsoft doesn't try very hard to "explain", under the guise of trying to make home networking "easy for users who don't know how to setup sharing."

    If the machines are participating in a Homegroup (either before, and/or maybe now, as part of what he did), then I believe the users on those machines have permission to define what should be shared. It's weird; as I recall, it creates some Homegroup-specific user account and multiplexes everyones access through that. Not what I call "normal Windows sharing" at all, but it's what they're doing to try and make networking "easy" on desktop systems.

    Open up the "Network & Internet Settings" control panel, and in that settings page use the "Network and Sharing Center" link to bring up the older network control panel. See whether that page describes your machine as being member of a "Homegroup". Versus "ready to join" Homegroup, which means you're NOT part of one already. If it turns out you're part of a Homegroup, I'll just need to do some more research on what we need to look for, since that's not a mode I can definitely say "what it did" in response to him trying to get access.
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by tonawandares »

    Trench wrote: March 20th, 2019, 11:03 pmAnd that's what I'm trying to confirm in the previous paragraph; what path is showing for "Target:"? Since ostensibly that's the path Windows 7 is now saying "I consider that to be a network path, so I can't let you change the Compatibility tab."

    I'm wondering whether the shortcut is still showing your local "E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" directory (or your local "C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" directory, if that had been where you installed it) as the "Target:" path. Which would mean Windows is now saying "that's a network path", even though we humans would say that's a local drive & local directory.
    "\\Home-01\e$\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe" +game DesertCombat +restart 1
    Trench wrote: March 20th, 2019, 11:03 pm Open up the "Network & Internet Settings" control panel, and in that settings page use the "Network and Sharing Center" link to bring up the older network control panel. See whether that page describes your machine as being member of a "Homegroup". Versus "ready to join" Homegroup, which means you're NOT part of one already. If it turns out you're part of a Homegroup, I'll just need to do some more research on what we need to look for, since that's not a mode I can definitely say "what it did" in response to him trying to get access.
    So Home-01 was a member of a Home Group and I removed it (prior to my posting about this) in an attempt to undo what was done.
    It may be easier if I were to connect you to my machine and let you poke around on it. I still have TeamViewer (TV) installed from when I worked remotely.
    I think you can go to teamviewer.com
    I can provide my TV id and pw
    Just an option if we need to.

    thanks

    ~ tona
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by Trench »

    tonawandares wrote: March 21st, 2019, 4:50 pm "\\Home-01\e$\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942\BF1942.exe" +game DesertCombat +restart 1
    There is the part that makes sense. I don't know why the existing desktop shortcut would have been "automatically changed" to this, but maybe he manually changed it for some reason. Either way, indeed Windows is correct, "this shortcut is to a network path." "E$" is a default administrative that Windows itself creates for each drive, so that share still exists even though you have "un-joined" from the Homegroup.

    Make a copy of that shortcut, and then in the properties change the "Target:" and "Start in:" paths on the "Shortcut" tab to start with "E:\..." again instead of "\\Home-01\e$\..."

    That should address the "Compatibility" tab access, and the fact you have un-joined from the Homegroup should have turned off the access from HOME_02 that had been enabled via the Homegroup.
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    Re: Fixes

    Post by tonawandares »

    Trench wrote: March 21st, 2019, 6:38 pmThat should address the "Compatibility" tab access, and the fact you have un-joined from the Homegroup should have turned off the access from HOME_02 that had been enabled via the Homegroup.

    All better now. thanks for the help Trench

    ~ tona
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