# [Resolved] direct x



## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

I downloaded direct x 8. One test failed: direct 3D test results: Failure at step 5 (Get Device Caps): HRESULT = 0x8876086a (3D not available). How do i fix this? Or how do i get it off and download direct x 7?


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Problems here. Microsoft hasn't left you anyway to uninstall DirectX 8.0 or above so you have 2 choices. Download and install a 3rd party remover which some are good and some aren't or download and install DirectX 8.1 which is a considerable improvement over 8.0 and 8.0a which were full of bugs.

I can direct you to an uninstaller but I would recommend installing 8.1 first.


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Sorry it is 8.1 that i have. I also tried an overinstall of direct x 8.1 and still the same thing.


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## brianF (Dec 2, 1999)

You should install new video and sound drivers before messing with the direct x. If your drivers are older they may not be able to work with direct x as it is giving you a 3d not available error


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Have you tried disabling the acceleration components in the Dxdiag test, and then re-enabling them? It seems to have worked for others. There may be a bug which shows it enabled by default, but it is really disabled. Following that procedure seems to fix it.


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

LOL. sorry i took so long but once i tried disabling it, i couldn't get the enable back. so i overinstalled it again and tried the test again and the computer froze up while the testing was going on.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Sorry, advice was based on many successful efforts of that nature as reported here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&q=disable+"+HRESULT+=+0x8876086a+(3D+not+available.

Are you sure your video drivers support DirectX 8.1? You would have to check their version numbers at the vendor's page to know.

Also, was this pc ever formatted? If so, the motherboard drivers may not have been reinstalled if required. Or you may need to update them. It depends on the motherboard chipset -- eg, Via, Ali, SiS, etc...


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Yes the computer was reformatted a few weeks ago because i was getting alot of illegal operations and page faults and freezing up. Now about the video drivers, i have no idea. LOL. How can i find out about the video drivers?


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

When you run Dxdiag and click on the Display tab, what does it tell you for "Device" and "Drivers"?

You will also need to provide info on your motherboard chipset, this can definitely be a factor. 

The computer make and model number may lead us there, if you don't know.


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## Preston Tyson (Apr 18, 2002)

I believe you CAN uninstall DirectX;

http://www.directxbuster.de/index_e.html


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Under Device:

Name: ATI 3D Rage Pro (atir3)
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies
Chip Type: Mach64:RagePro
DAC Type: Internal
Approx. Total Memory: 8.0MB
Current Display Mode: 800x600 (32 bit) (default refresh rate)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor

Under Drivers:

Main Driver: atir3.drv
Version: 4.10.00.1720 (English)
Signed: Yes
Mini VDD: atir3.vxd
VDD: *vdd,*vflatd

How do i find out about the motherboard chipset? How do i find the computer make and model number? Pentium III 800 windows 98 se is all i know.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Try the utility on this page. It can be "run from current location" or saved to a convenient folder on the hard drive and run from there.

http://www.unicore.com/biosagent/index.cfm

Once it opens up, click on "get bios information". You then have an option to save it. By default it will save as: c:\bios.txt

This you can copy paste the Notepad text file to a reply or upload it as an attachment.

And it appears you have the latest and greatest drivers for that ATI card:

http://www.ati.com/support/products...S=Windows+98&cboProducts=RAGE+PRO&cmdNext=GO!

However I did find this on their site, no indication of whether the problem is known to occur with DxDiag...

http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/2862.html


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Program: Unicore BIOS Wizard Version 1.8
Program: Unicore Chip Detect v0.72 2000.03.10
BIOS Date: 08/16/00
BIOS Type: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
BIOS ID: 08/16/2000-694X-686A-6A6LJQ1BC-00
BIOS Eval: P6V694X Advance 10E BIOS V2.2SLC Aug.16,2000
Chipset: VIA 82C691 rev 196
Superio: VIA 686 rev 34 found at port 7h


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

When you did the "format" was it done using the format command and a Windows CD, or did you use a vendors recovery/system restore CD?

If it was a recovery type CD, then the Via drivers would have been included. Otherwise you need to reinstall them.

Here is the page for it; read the installation guide and follow the directions.

http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=2

If you still have the problem after that, it may require a different set of ATI video drivers; see the last note I posted in the previous response.


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

It was done using the format command and windows cd. And all the other cd's were reinstalled also.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Not sure what you mean by "all the other cds". Were the Via drivers specifically reinstalled from a Motherboard or Drivers CD?

There is a "miniport" driver which is a part of the Via 4in1 set that may or may not be installed as well as the AGP driver.


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

There is a disk thats called International installation cd which says Installation software utilities and operating drivers. Another disk thats called Legend QDI Driver CD 2000 which says For VIA, SIS, AMD, Chipset Mainboard V1.2. It also has on it, chipset drivers, device drivers, PC-Cillin, Microsoft Direct X V7.0a, QDI Manage Easy V2.0, Utilities. I also did a system file checker that restored two files.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Ok, if you installed the Via drivers from: Legend QDI Driver CD 2000

Then you should have what you need there, and I would not mess any further with that.

The only other thing I can suggest then, if you want to enable 3d acceleration, is to try the alternate set of Video Drivers from ATI -- which may specifically address that problem. Otherwise, just disable it.

http://www.ati.com/support/infobase/2862.html


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Hey thanks a bunch. That site you gave me worked. I downloaded it and tested out direct x 8.1 and all tests passed. Now i will have to play the games i was having trouble with to test them out. LOL. Thanks again, you were a great help.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Hey, I'm as pleased as if it were my own


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Well spiderman works now. I still can't play cubis on realarcade and i still can't play Loopylandscapes from rollercoaster tycoon. I am still getting GSK Exception Trapper, Exception Raised - Access Violation when i try to install Loopylandscapes. Oh well at least I can still play rollercoaster tycoon. I might have to check out rollercoaster site for that one i guess.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

A quick plug into google turns up this...

http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/test/info/faq.html

... second to last q and a on the link

some patches available here...

http://www.rollercoastertycoon.com/test/downloads/patches.html


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Q. The game only runs for a few minutes before crashing with a 'GSK Exception Trapper' message. How do I get the game to work properly?
A. There are a number of problem Windows sound and video drivers which don't properly support some DirectX functions used by the game. In most cases all crashes can be solved by installing the latest Windows driver updates for your sound and video cards from the manufacturers. 

Does that mean i have to buy new sound and video cards? The odd thing is it played before the format. Both rollercoaster tycoon and loopylandscapes, i was able to install and play. Now i can only play rollercoaster tycoon but not loopylandscapes.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I'd look into updating the sound card drivers first of all. I doubt you need a new card. 
Not being familiar with the game, in fact not being a gamer at all, I don't really know the install processes. Do you install Roller Coaster Tycoon first and then loopylandscapes? Does the second require the first? If so, there's a patch for RCT that you might need first.

Dxdiag > sound will also give you the equivalent info for your sound card -- and you can check the vendor's site there for the latest Win98SE compatible drivers.

Also as a general rule when installing anything from a CD-ROM, it's a good idea to have as many background applications turned off as possible. For example by doing a ctrl-alt-del and end-tasking everything but Explorer and systray.


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Well the patch worked. First rollercoaster tycoon is installed then loopylandscapes for it is an add on to rollercoaster tycoon. Well you made my son very happy  because he can now play spiderman and loopylandscapes. LOL. He thanks you very much. Now if only i could play cubis on realarcade LOL.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

If there is any kind of error message or specific fault that can be concisely described, we can try to find something on it. As you've probably seen by now, google, google> groups, and vendor's websites and support groups are the best resource for these kinds of problems.

But it's great we've gotten this far; let me know if you want to put a "resolved" on it or keep pluggin'


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

How do i update the sound card? I don't know what kind of sound card i have. I think i will try cubis one more time now that everything else it working and see what happens. Thanks again.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Check the dxdiag sound tab. Under "device" it will give you the basic Vendors driver type info. And the driver side will give you the version. Then you just have to find the vendor's site and check for the latest Win98 driver versions compatible with the driver type.

List it here and I'll see what I can dig up.


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Under Device it says:

Name: SoundMax Digital Audio
Device ID: PCI\VEN_1106DEV_3058SUBSYS_53401
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM

Under Driver it says:

Name: smwdm.sys
Version: 5.12.01.3039 (English) 
Signed: No
Other Files: smwdm.sys
Provider: Analog Devices


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Well I've rooted around the web for info on these and from what I can garner Analog Devices, the maker of the SoundMax chip does not provide drivers themselves. My perception is that you have the right drivers for the operating system and there are no "updates". I could be wrong, but I think it's best to stick with what was supplied by the orginal vendor's CD.

The closest I can come is the support page for Compaq. I would bet these are compatible with your system (not the farm though) -- but the installation routine is probably designed specifically for Compaq. I think I would stick with what you have.

http://www.compaq.com/support/files/desktopiPAQ/us/locoscat/4_1.html


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Ok i will stick with what i have then. As for cubis on real arcade its a webgame played with colored cubes. Some of the cubes have stars on them. I can play the first few levels with no problems then some of the cubes disappear and some of the star cubes are not visible and it freezes up. I used to be able to play it for longer before but not now. Oh well.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I took a brief look at it, and the web based version appears to run as a java program. I keep mine disabled and did not enable it to test further. I see there is also a downloadable version; I don't know if you want to go for that -- I'd run a "spyware" scan with Ad-Aware immediately after any install if I did 

It could well be a resource issue for you in terms of the web based problem. You might have better results after a fresh boot. Make sure unnecessary applications are not running in the background.

One thing which will help you monitor resources is the Resource Meter. Start>Run> rsrcmtr

Hold your cursor over it; you should have at least 80% after a fresh bootup and it should not drop below 20% during normal activities.

If it does, you need some help trimming your startups and background applications.

http://www.aumha.org/a/resource.htm

Also for Java based applications (Virtual Machine), it might be a good idea to install the latest version from MS:

http://www.microsoft.com/java/

It includes an important security update for some as well.


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## griffinspc (Nov 16, 2001)

Rog and Lynne or Lynne and Rog. I've sort of been following but things were going well so I stayed back but I saw that finding drivers was a problem so I searched DriversGuide and found this. You can choose to install or not but look at Analog Devices.

If you're not familiar with DriversGuide you click on the small arrow at the top to sort whatever you want. There is a driver update rated for XP and in a lot of cases it's backward compatible with 98, ME, etc.

Next I will post the page URL right now but since it's a membership site (free) it may not come up for you so I'll check it and if it doesn't work I'll post the URL to the home page where you can become a member, get a incredibly simple login and password emailed to you, go back, login and in the search type in Analog Devices. Here Goes:

http://www3.driverguide.com/betav2.php?action=dosearch&qa5=19&qa6=82&dp=1&ob=2

EDIT: It not only worked but stayed with my sort, cool


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

rsrcmtr didn't work, it said cannot find file. I do have the latest virtual machine. I went to the site that griffinspc said and i downloaded smwdm.sys and it asks to open with and i don't know what to open it with. Or do i even need to open it? I saved it to my briefcase. There is a downloaded realarcade version for some games but some have to be played on the web. I have realarcade downloaded and all the games play good. The downloaded one and all the web ones except for cubis which is a web game. I wish they had a downloaded cubis one.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

I suspect smwdm.sys is probably the same as you already have. I think Griff and I agree (we exchanged some PMs on it), that if you are not having specific, sound related errors, it's better not to fix what ain't broke. The problem with download sites like Driverguide is that what gets posted there can be a melange of different drivers which folks have put up there trying to be helpful. When one doesn't know exactly what one is looking for, it's best to avoid them.

For the Resource Meter, try going to programs > Accessories > System Tools.

You should find a shortcut there; If you want to do like I do, you can place a second shortcut in your Programs>Startup folder and always have it sitting in the System Tray. Or you can just put a shortcut on the quicklaunch bar. Funny though, the exe is C:\WINDOWS\RSRCMTR.EXE, and I can just run it directly from Start>run

If it is not in System Tools, you may need to go to Add/Remove Programs > Windows Setup > System Tools and install it. If it is already checked, uncheck it, click apply, then check it again and click OK. You will be prompted for an install disk or restore from location. If you have cab files on the hard drive, those can be used (c:\windows\options\cabs).

And if you like, we can take a look at your startup configuration to see if there are any obvious issues there such as advertising, spyware or known resource hogs. You can display this by going to Start>Run and entering *msinfo32*, then click on Software Environment and Startup Programs. Click Edit>Select All>Edit>Copy and paste the copied text in a reply


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

I had to go to add/remove programs. It says system 71%, user 71%, GDI 81%. 


PowerReg SchedulerV2	Startup Group	C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\PowerReg SchedulerV2.exe
ATISched	Startup Group	C:\ATI\ATIDESK\atisched.exe
Watch	Startup Group	C:\WINDOWS\TWAIN_32\S6U12BX\WATCH.exe
PowerReg Scheduler	Startup Group	C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp\PowerReg Scheduler.exe
WinPopup	Startup Group	C:\WINDOWS\WINPOPUP.EXE
Yahoo! Pager	Registry (Per-User Run)	C:\PROGRA~1\YAHOO!\MESSEN~1\ypager.exe -quiet
MSMSGS	Registry (Per-User Run)	"C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
ScanRegistry	Registry (Machine Run)	C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun
SystemTray	Registry (Machine Run)	SysTray.Exe
StillImageMonitor	Registry (Machine Run)	C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
LoadPowerProfile	Registry (Machine Run)	Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
LoadQM	Registry (Machine Run)	loadqm.exe
NAV Agent	Registry (Machine Run)	C:\PROGRA~1\NORTON~2\NAVAPW32.EXE
TkBellExe	Registry (Machine Run)	C:\Program Files\Common Files\Real\Update_OB\evntsvc.exe -osboot
TaskMonitor	Registry (Machine Run)	C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
AtiCwd32	Registry (Machine Run)	Aticwd32.exe
AtiQiPcl	Registry (Machine Run)	AtiQiPcl.exe
QD FastAndSafe	Registry (Machine Run)	
AtiPTA	Registry (Machine Run)	Atiptaxx.exe
LoadPowerProfile	Registry (Machine Service)	Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
SchedulingAgent	Registry (Machine Service)	C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mstask.exe
ScriptBlocking	Registry (Machine Service)	"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Script Blocking\SBServ.exe" -reg
SymTray - Norton SystemWorks	Registry (Machine Service)	C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\SymTray.exe "Norton SystemWorks"
CSINJECT.EXE	Registry (Machine Service)	C:\Program Files\Norton SystemWorks\Norton CleanSweep\CSINJECT.EXE


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Although not everything there needs to be enabled, powerreg (tells you when you need to register software), tkbellexe, loadqm (many uncheck this) -- to name a few -- there are no obvious nasties; and while cleansweep is occasionally an issue for some, you haven't reported any symptoms associated with it (such as slow opening folders)

And your resource figures are just fine.

If you want to learn more about those programs, you can review what is said about them at the site here:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm

Most folks use msconfig (start>run > msconfig and click the "startup tab") to enable/disable loading of applications. Some, like tkbellexe (RealPlayer updates) may need to be disabled through the program's preferences dialog.

So in short, were no wiser about the problem with cubis. They do have a user forum for the web games there -- nothing specific for Cubis yet, but I noticed some posts in the General Discussion forum. If your hooked, it's probably your best bet comparing notes with those who play.

Real.com Games Message Boards


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## Lynne Hamilton (Jun 1, 2001)

Okay i unchecked what you suggested including cleansweep because my hotmail is slow in pulling up mail. Thanks for the realarcade site because i typed in cubis then search and it seems several people have had the same problems with it. I guess it is a game full of bugs. So i guess i will just have to quit playing it. LOL. It was such a good game to play. Oh well, i will live. LOL. Thanks for everyone who helped especially you Rollin' Rog. I greatly appreciated it and so does my son who hasn't stopped playing spiderman since you fixed the problem. Thanks again. I may be back with some other problem or other if i have more troubles. LOL.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

You're welcome Lynne; I only did a cursory search there so I wasn't sure what if anything you might find. Anyway at least you know it's not you, but them.

Cleansweep can always be re-enabled before an install, which is what its for anyway -- no need to keep it always running. Good luck and cya


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