(Solved) Castle Wolfenstein on Win XP - OpenGL error

[Gram123]

Hi,
I can install and play Return to Castle Wolfenstein on my Win 98 machine, using the original drivers that came with the graphics card: an Excalibur Geforce 2 MX400 (nVidia).
My brother has the same graphics card, but the driver files have been updated from the nVidia site. He is running Win XP, and although the game installs, it will not run.
I keep getting an error stating "Glide file missing" and "Could not run OpenGL subsystem" or words to that effect.
The original CDs do not run on the XP machine either - it says "Disc Corrupted".

I have visited a couple of game sites and they say that all I need to do is install the latest drivers from the manufacturer, but the opposite appears to be true - the old drivers work and the new ones do not.

All other games tried worked fine, although this may be to do with their use of Dirext X as opposed to OpenGL? (not really my area)

Any help?

Ta,
Gram

 

[brianF]

you must have previously had a 3dfx card
Do a search and find this file glide3x.dll , rename to .old

Now see if the game will run
My son is running it with winxp, gforce3 ti200 no problem

If you are using a video card which supports dual monitors, the secondary monitor must be disabled for OpenGL to initialize correctly.

 

[Gram123]

Brian,

Yeah, my brother removed an old 16Mb graphics card in favour of this new 64Mb one.
I installed the glide3x.dll file and tried to run the game. The error was a little different (i.e. the missing Glide file error was gone), but still could not run OpenGL subsystem.
I tried renaming the file to glide3x.old (is that what you were saying?) and the original error came back.

I'll post the full error msg tomorrow.

Cheers.
Gram

 

[Marc123]

Hello,

I'm Gram123's brother, as I'm sure he will back me up.

Just to give a little more info regarding the XP problems we are having. I noticed something when I checked the properties for my graphics card through,

The desktop,
Then settings
Then advanced.

I no longer get a set of tabs which allow the user to modify the Direct X and OpenGL settings, (which were available on the previous operating system). All I got was a properties window telling me that the 'device is working normally' despite the obvious flaw. Could this be symptomatic of the problems we are encountering or does XP simply try to find the best performance options automatically and not allow the user to fool around?

I have my suspicions that OpenGL was deleted by XP, as there are only a few files that share its name which can be found, post upgrade. If that is the case then does this mean that OpenGL has incompatabilty issues with XP?

 

[Marc123]

Here is that fault Gram was talking about in full,

Wolf 1.0.0 win-x86 Nov 13 2001
----- FS_Startup -----
Current search path:
C:\PROGRA~1\RETURN~1\main\sp_pak2.pk3 (232 files)
C:\PROGRA~1\RETURN~1\main\sp_pak1.pk3 (1342 files)
C:\PROGRA~1\RETURN~1\main\pak0.pk3 (4775 files)
C:\PROGRA~1\RETURN~1/main

----------------------
6349 files in pk3 files
execing default.cfg
couldn't exec language.cfg
couldn't exec wolfconfig.cfg
execing autoexec.cfg
Hunk_Clear: reset the hunk ok
...detecting CPU, found Intel Pentium III
Bypassing CD checks
----- Client Initialization -----
Cmd_AddCommand: map_restart already defined
----- Initializing Renderer ----
-------------------------------
----- Client Initialization Complete -----
----- R_Init -----
Initializing OpenGL subsystem
...initializing QGL
...calling LoadLibrary( 'C:\WINDOWS\System32\opengl32.dll' ): succeeded
...setting mode 3: 640 480 FS
...using desktop display depth of 16
...calling CDS: ok
...registered window class
...created window@0,0 (640x480)
Initializing OpenGL driver
...getting DC: succeeded
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 16, 16, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 16, 16, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...failed to find an appropriate PIXELFORMAT
...restoring display settings
...WARNING: could not set the given mode (3)
...setting mode 3: 640 480 FS
...using colorsbits of 16
...calling CDS: ok
...created window@0,0 (640x480)
Initializing OpenGL driver
...getting DC: succeeded
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 16, 16, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 16, 16, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...failed to find an appropriate PIXELFORMAT
...restoring display settings
...WARNING: could not set the given mode (3)
...shutting down QGL
...unloading OpenGL DLL
...assuming '3dfxvgl' is a standalone driver
...initializing QGL
...calling LoadLibrary( 'C:\WINDOWS\System32\3dfxvgl.dll' ): failed
...shutting down QGL
----- CL_Shutdown -----
RE_Shutdown( 1 )
-----------------------
GLW_StartOpenGL() - could not load OpenGL subsystem

 

[brianF]

The only way to get open gl support back is to install the nvidia drivers.

I really thing you need to redownload and install drivers from www.nvidia.com

 

[brianF]

don't install the drivers from nvidia

Install these older ones and see if it works

http://www.m3dzone.com/files.php?directory=Videocards/nVidia/2183

Seems to be a problem with the 23.11's and opengl

 

[Marc123]

Right well I've got the older driver version (21.83) saved on my computer anyhow, so I'll give them a try.

 

[brianF]

Let us know what happens, little strange but I have been seeing people with the no opengl problem, generally the fix is drivers.
Was this card working before the upgrade to xp???

Beginning to wonder if it's a bios setting issue.

By the way, glide was a proprietary api for 3dfx only. With them out of business nobody is coding in glide anymore. To run glide you had to have a 3dfx card.

 

[Marc123]

Yes, the card was working fine prior to installing XP, and on Gram's PC, he has the same graphics card, but uses Win98 and the old drivers, and Wolfenstein plays fine.

Marc

 

[brianF]

this error "failed to find an appropriate PIXELFORMAT" is generally associated with the game not being able to find the install directory.

Can you start the game in the safe mode state, if so, go to options and set everything back to defaults. There should be one button or option to select to do it. Then exit and try to run the game in normal mode.

First if your desktop is set to 32bit change it to 16bit and see if it will run. If not I think I would try to uninstall and then remove the directory where it initially installed to. Once everything was removed I would reinstall the game, make sure if you specify a directory that the full path is listed.

 

[Gram123]

Brian,

We reinstalled the original nVidia drivers followed by the 'intermediate' (i.e. not the latest) drivers and the game runs fine.
However, I have installed Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX on the machine and it will not run.
The two games seem to be at odds with one another - see this thread for details.

Thanks,

Gram

 

[DJ P@CkMaN]

this could be way out of whack but i dont think its the nVidia drivers because i can play it fine with the new drivers, downloaded after i read this message on WinXP with a nVidia TNT2

 

[Gram123]

Problem has been solved, by WinXP and newest nVidia drivers. Both games now work on the same machine.
Thanks guys.

Gram