27 replies to this topic

[rjeroense]

Dear all,

I am new to GPL. Recently bought the sold out CD. I just have a new pc, with windows 7 and the latest ATI grafix card (directx 11, etc).
Games like rFactor, GTR2 and GTR Evolution run without any problems.

I have installed the all in one installer from GPLPS, and also the D3D and CPU patches. As you have to choose a graphix configuration during the full installation from CD rom, I choose software at the beginning. After the patches, the app.ini has been properly updated though. When I run the GPL Inspector, everything seems fine (incl. the 3draster driver file).
When I run GPL.exe as administrator though, the screen just flickers once, and nothing happens. Looking thru all topics and troubleshooting guides on the web, I just get very confused.
There are a myriad of all in one installers, and numerous hints on how the core.ini should look like. The weblinks to the OpenGL patches don't seem to work anymore, and along with all the readings on GEM+, I am not sure if need all this stuff anyway.

Is this a known problem? Any ideas for solution?
Thanks,

Rich

[Bernd Nowak]

Please remove the GPL directory with the help of the explorer. Normal it should be C:\SIERRA\GPL.

Put your Sold Out CD in the CD/DVD drive and if there's an Autostart please quit it.
Start the gplinstallmax_0.97 exe file. In short you can mostly click next/next/next etc until you need to select the drive which contains the original cd. LEave all the defaults for a first try.
Next, after you have done that, don't start GPL. Just start the gplrast_v2.5.exe and let it install. It will correct an entry in the core.ini which is fine.
After the installation you should be able to start GPL.

The GPLPS Installer has every official patch included. No need to try to apply one of the original patches after you have installed GPL with the help of the GPLPS installer.
If it don't run this way please report back. There will be some settings for the ATI cards but it should run in D3Dv2 or OpenGLv2.

[Bernd Nowak]

sorry DP

Edited by Bernd Nowak, Jan 17 2010 - 11:51 AM.

[rjeroense]

Hi Bernd,

first of all, thanks a lot for taking the time!
I have followed your procedure exactly, still same issue though. The only thing that happens if I start gpl.exe after all, is a 1 second black screen flicker, and nothing happens after that.

Some more details:
When I run the GPL installer first, as you described, in the end it asks me to restart. I did this first.
After the restart, I ran the gplrast_v2.5.exe without any problem. Indeed it gave me the message that it was replacing the core.ini, literally though it said "gplrast_v2.5.exe corrected Core.ini was made and saved as Core.ini_Fixed.
Does this mean now that GPL looks at the new Core.ini file, or that the correction was made to the Core.ini but saved in a file called Core.ini_Fixed? In other words, has the Core.ini changed, or do I than manually need to overwrite the Core.ini still with the file Core.ini_Fixed?

If you have any more ideas, I would be very grateful.
Thanks,
Rich

[Bernd Nowak]

The fixed one is created to give you a corrected core.ini in case you need it later.
But the changes are applied to the core.ini.

I redid the installation like I told you how I would do it on my Windows 7 notebook. No problems. GPL is starting without problems with the D3Dv2 rasteriser.

Have you changed anything on your Windows 7 services like stopping index service to gain speed ? Your error sounds like the typical NTFS indexing error. Please take a look in the GPL program folder (Windows Symbol/All programs/GPL) and open the Grand Prix Legends help. Do a search for NTFS. We have included some help how to check this.

[rjeroense]

Hi Bernd,

thanks for your response. No, nothing wrong with the NTFS, indexing is checked. I checked again via the Patch Inspector, and this also reports that NTFS indexing is on.
However, there is also this program GPLNTFSCheck.exe in the GPL directory. I am not sure what this does, but if I run this, than this reports "There is something wrong, check the calling function!". No idea if this is bad, or what it means.

When I run the GPL installer, I did restart the computer as it asked me to, before running the gplrast_v2.5.exe (I did not run GPL though). After restarting, I executed the gplrast_v2.5.exe. Than nothing really happens, decide a short flickering screen. I have the latest ATI multiscreen graphix card, with DirectX11 apparently, would this have anything to do with this?

Thanks again,
Rich

[Bernd Nowak]

Forget the GPLNTFSCheck.exe. It's done by me and need some command line arguments.

What about the Anti Virus you use ? Maybe it's a problem with the AV ?

[Bernd Nowak]

And maybe change the rasteriser to the new OpenGLv2 might be some thing to try too. Open your app.ini and replace the current rasteriser entry to this one:

[ Graphics ]
lastRasterizerDLL = roglv2.dll		  	; Last rasterizer DLL selected

[rjeroense]

Hi Bernd,

wow, changing indeed the rasterizer to the OpenGLv2 in the app.ini worked. At least I can see the GP Legends game now. It starts, but it is very slow, and the grafix are also not too great (but the game is pretty old of course). There doesn't seem to be any music with the menus, but the cars make sound. I have a logitech G27, but there is no way that the Controls menu recognizes my wheel at all, when I click on calibrate joysticks or so.

2 questions:
is the game simply that slow due to all the simulations calc (other sims like rFactor/GTR2 are quite fast on my new pc)

how can I get the wheel to work, do I need another patch or file?

Thanks a lot already for your help so far!

[Bernd Nowak]

You need to download and install the latest GPL Shift utility for your G27. You can get it here: http://www.gplshift....shift/index.htm

What graphic card do you have ? Normaly I would suspect OpenGLv2 and D3Dv2 to run on a modern graphic card but other might enlighten me

There's also a 60 FPS v2 patch. Easy to install

[brr]

There have been performance problems with modern PCs, you just need to find what works on your system by trial and error and reading the forums. Try different rasterisers, rasteriser options, video card configuration etc.

[rjeroense]

Hi Bernd,

with GPL shift, indeed it recognizes my shifter. It still doesnt't recognize any wheel movement or pedal movement.
I have an ATI Radeon HD5800 card.
I will browse thru the forum more, and keep on trying ..

[Bernd Nowak]

Do you have other USB game devices attached to your computer ?

Is it a notebook because I only find references to an ATI mobility 5800 ?

[rjeroense]

Hi Bernd,

it is a - ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 graphics
- Microsoft® DirectX® 11 Support
- ATI Eyefinity Technology for 3-monitor output!
- HDCP compliant
- ATI CrossFireX™ Technology
- Dual-link DVI Support
- ATI PowerPlay™ technology

It is a tower, not a laptop.
I somehow still don't get the steering to work. In the calibrate joystick, it works, but than I can't assign the steering to the wheel in the below menu (where normally it says axis 0.
If I exit the calibration joystick window, by default the Steering function needs to be assigned in the underlying window, and this can only be assigned to a button somehow, not the actual wheel.

[rjeroense]

Hi Bernd, the grafix work fine now. after some restarts. G27 wheel issue remains. The buttons on the G27 work, it is really the wheel and pedals...