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FH2 Help / Support / [FIX] Alt-Tab leading to crash with BF 1.5 + FH 2.2
« on: 05-09-2009, 18:09:22 »
Hello guys,
although FH 2.2 is not released yet, this is a problem some of us experienced in the betatest since we switched to the BF2 1.5 patch. When minimizing the game via Alt-Tab, switching back into the game again will lead to a black screen ingame which cannot be dealt with except terminating the BF2.exe. This does not affect the game itself, but it is highly uncomfortable, as most of you may wish to minimize the game once in a while.
This mainly seems to affect players who use the new native widescreen support, and the causing factor is Anti-Aliasing.
EDIT: OFFICIAL HOTFIX, thanks Apo.
http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=159969
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Fix I. Press ESC to enter the menu before minimizing.
However, this only works for few people. You might give it a try, anyway.
For all others, there are two confirmed workarounds for this problem:
Fix II. Disable the AA ingame.
In the main menu, navigate to Options >> Video and set Anti-Aliasing to OFF.*
This will, of course, lead to a decrease of your video quality ingame (jagged lines on the edge of objects).
Fix III. You can Alt-Tab and use AA by replacing a DLL-file.
!!! WARNING! If you are using a widescreen resolution, the replaced DLL seems to fubar your FOV !!!
See here: http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5243/dllfov.gif
1. Follow this link http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-2/802783-alt-tab-bug-fix-community.html and download the file named RendDX9.dll through the link in the first post.
2. Navigate to your main Battlefield 2-folder (usually something like C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2).
3. Replace the original RendDX9.dll with the one you've downloaded. For safety purposes, I would recommend to rename the original file instead of deleting/overwriting it.
You should now be able to minimize the game while AA is on without experiencing problems.
Judging by the reports given in the link above, no side-effects should occur by replacing the original file. I have myself tried it on a server using punkbuster for about 30 minutes and didn't run into anything, hence, it should be safe to use the files. HOWEVER, there is no guarantee, so if any problems occur, for example you're getting kicked by punkbuster with an according error message (make sure you have PB updated to the newest version!), report this here immidiately!
----------------------------------------
I hope this helps some of you. If you have any remarks other further questions, post here or write me a PM, I'll try to keep the top post up-to-date. See you at the front!
Greetings, Schneider.
*You COULD try to disable your ingame AA and force AA with appropiate graphic driver setting (in your nVidia Control Panel, or the Catalyst Control Panel if you use an ATI card). However, the newer driver series of nVidia seem to prevent the Control Panel to force AA. You can circumvent this by using the Nhancer tool [http://www.nhancer.com/], however, first tests seem to indicate that this will also lead to a crash if you do not use the dll-file provided above. If you DO use the DLL and Nhancer, you can of course set your AA to a higher value than the ingame video settings allow. I do not know of any tests concerning this with ATI graphic cards, so feel free to test it and report it, I will add it to this post.
although FH 2.2 is not released yet, this is a problem some of us experienced in the betatest since we switched to the BF2 1.5 patch. When minimizing the game via Alt-Tab, switching back into the game again will lead to a black screen ingame which cannot be dealt with except terminating the BF2.exe. This does not affect the game itself, but it is highly uncomfortable, as most of you may wish to minimize the game once in a while.
This mainly seems to affect players who use the new native widescreen support, and the causing factor is Anti-Aliasing.
EDIT: OFFICIAL HOTFIX, thanks Apo.
http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=159969
----------------------------------------
Fix I. Press ESC to enter the menu before minimizing.
However, this only works for few people. You might give it a try, anyway.
For all others, there are two confirmed workarounds for this problem:
Fix II. Disable the AA ingame.
In the main menu, navigate to Options >> Video and set Anti-Aliasing to OFF.*
This will, of course, lead to a decrease of your video quality ingame (jagged lines on the edge of objects).
Fix III. You can Alt-Tab and use AA by replacing a DLL-file.
!!! WARNING! If you are using a widescreen resolution, the replaced DLL seems to fubar your FOV !!!
See here: http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/5243/dllfov.gif
1. Follow this link http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-2/802783-alt-tab-bug-fix-community.html and download the file named RendDX9.dll through the link in the first post.
2. Navigate to your main Battlefield 2-folder (usually something like C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2).
3. Replace the original RendDX9.dll with the one you've downloaded. For safety purposes, I would recommend to rename the original file instead of deleting/overwriting it.
You should now be able to minimize the game while AA is on without experiencing problems.
Judging by the reports given in the link above, no side-effects should occur by replacing the original file. I have myself tried it on a server using punkbuster for about 30 minutes and didn't run into anything, hence, it should be safe to use the files. HOWEVER, there is no guarantee, so if any problems occur, for example you're getting kicked by punkbuster with an according error message (make sure you have PB updated to the newest version!), report this here immidiately!
----------------------------------------
I hope this helps some of you. If you have any remarks other further questions, post here or write me a PM, I'll try to keep the top post up-to-date. See you at the front!
Greetings, Schneider.
*You COULD try to disable your ingame AA and force AA with appropiate graphic driver setting (in your nVidia Control Panel, or the Catalyst Control Panel if you use an ATI card). However, the newer driver series of nVidia seem to prevent the Control Panel to force AA. You can circumvent this by using the Nhancer tool [http://www.nhancer.com/], however, first tests seem to indicate that this will also lead to a crash if you do not use the dll-file provided above. If you DO use the DLL and Nhancer, you can of course set your AA to a higher value than the ingame video settings allow. I do not know of any tests concerning this with ATI graphic cards, so feel free to test it and report it, I will add it to this post.