Mysterious Problem - Pirates of the Caribbean Online Fansite & Forums

caddolake · #1 02-11-2008, 07:40 PM

POTC works on only one of my four computers. All are Dell. The one that it works on is the oldest. All are hardwired with Cat 5e cable to a home network. None are wireless. The one that works is not the main computer for the home network.

Here are the specs for the one we CAN play on.

Dell Dimension 8300
Windows XP SP2
Processor - 3ghz Intel Pentium 4
Graphics Card - Radeon 9800 128mb
Ram - 1 gig
Hard drive - 150gig (138gig free)
All Drivers are up to date per Driver Detective

Here is the specs for the three that Crash as soon as you click on "Play".

Dell Dimension 9100
Window XP Sp2
Processor - 3.5ghz Intel Pentium 4
Graphics Card - Nvidia 6800 256mb
Ram 1 to 1.5 gig
Hard drives - All over 150 with at least 125gig free
All Drivers are up to date per Driver Detective.

I have changed Modems and Routers, but nothing helps. The answer has to be simple but POTC support hasn't got a clue. All they keep saying is it has to be my ISP. I told them if one runs, they all should run. I even by-passed the router and that didn't work either.
HELP!!!!!
Sorry for the double post. Wasn't sure where to put this.

Davy · #2 02-11-2008, 07:56 PM

Sorry, not sure what to do. It could be graphics card.

Bilgepump · #3 02-11-2008, 10:19 PM

Try installing the graphics card from the machine that is working into one that isn't.

If it suddenly starts working, problem solved.

caddolake · #4 02-12-2008, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilgepump

Try installing the graphics card from the machine that is working into one that isn't.

If it suddenly starts working, problem solved.

Thanks all, but have already lowered resolution on all things I could, but nothing works. I may have to take Bilgepump's advice and try that. Yuck.
Any other sugestions?

shadowypirate · #5 02-12-2008, 04:19 PM

I've gotten that message a couple of times. It's not graphics card. Your internet connection was broken. Simply stated, it's your connection.

Either your isp has problems or the computers, but since your other pc works ok, i'd say no.

Your connection to the isp is flakey, try moving one of the non working pcs to where the good pc is. if it still dcs all the time, it's the computer, if not, it's the connection where you plug it into the isp.

If it is the computer, we'll go from there, but try this first and see how it works.

Pirate Rose · #6 02-12-2008, 04:23 PM

Isn't there a known bug that causes crashing when making your pirate? I'll do a search and see what I can find.

Aww I can't find it. The only thing I can find is using the up/down arrows when making a new pirate in basic access mode. You might want to try talking to support again and let them know it's happening during 'making a new pirate', if you haven't already.

Marrrrni · #7 02-12-2008, 06:58 PM

Is this a new problem for you? Two of my friends, who were Beta Testers, recently have only been able to log onto the Open server with one single laptop in their household. Their other computers have not been able to log on since an update about three weeks ago. They contacted Pirates and tried to troubleshoot the problem, but were told that the problem must be on their end. They are able to play on the Test server without any problems.

There was also a post on Toontown Central by another person with a similar problem.

Bilgepump · #8 02-13-2008, 05:05 PM

Oh yeah. How are they all connected to the Internet?

Is everything hard-wired, or are you using wireless?

Are you connected via Internet Connection Sharing in Windows?

Marrrrni · #9 02-13-2008, 10:23 PM

As far as my friends are concerned, the husband is a computer expert. He maintains computers of a very sensitive nature at his place of employment, and builds computers himself. He had even disabled the firewalls without luck.

caddolake · #10 02-13-2008, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilgepump

Oh yeah. How are they all connected to the Internet?

Is everything hard-wired, or are you using wireless?

Are you connected via Internet Connection Sharing in Windows?

Yes everthing is hardwired with CAT5e cable.
I have changed routers from Lynksys to Belkin.
I have changed ISP from DSL to Cable.
I am connected to the Internet via Home network, and the main networking computer is one of the ones that cannot play POTC.
I have uninstalled all my security (Mcafee) and none of this does any good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marrrrni

As far as my friends are concerned, the husband is a computer expert. He maintains computers of a very sensitive nature at his place of employment, and builds computers himself. He had even disabled the firewalls without luck.

Does anyone know if POTC has a problem with nVidia Graphics Cards?

Marrrrrni, If your friends husband ever figures this one out please let me know.
Thanks to all you guys for you help.

Marrrrni · #11 02-14-2008, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caddolake

Yes everthing is hardwired with CAT5e cable.
I have changed routers from Lynksys to Belkin.
I have changed ISP from DSL to Cable.
I am connected to the Internet via Home network, and the main networking computer is one of the ones that cannot play POTC.
I have uninstalled all my security (Mcafee) and none of this does any good.

Does anyone know if POTC has a problem with nVidia Graphics Cards?

Marrrrrni, If your friends husband ever figures this one out please let me know.
Thanks to all you guys for you help.

They both play POTCO and each has an account here, so I will ask him to post if he manages to figure it out. I doubt he will though; he spoke directly to people at POTCO with no success, and they have decided to replace their computers.

Bilgepump · #12 02-14-2008, 02:29 PM

Weird. I wish I could offer more help. Maybe turn off Windows Firewall?

Quote:

Originally Posted by caddolake

Does anyone know if POTC has a problem with nVidia Graphics Cards?

I'm using an nVidia card and it works just fine.

caddolake · #13 02-14-2008, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilgepump

Weird. I wish I could offer more help. Maybe turn off Windows Firewall?

I'm using an nVidia card and it works just fine.

Thanks Bilgepump. Windows firewall is turned off on all my computers.
Just a very weird problem.

Bilgepump · #14 02-19-2008, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caddolake

Just a very weird problem.

I had a thought this morning.

Do the user accounts you're running under have Administrator access?

This game writes stuff to the Program Files/Disney/blahblah directory (logs and screenshots). This is a poor design, as normal accounts do not have write access to that directory. So if the one that works is an administrator, and the others aren't, that may be the problem.

Marrrrni · #15 02-20-2008, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilgepump

I had a thought this morning.

Do the user accounts you're running under have Administrator access?

This game writes stuff to the Program Files/Disney/blahblah directory (logs and screenshots). This is a poor design, as normal accounts do not have write access to that directory. So if the one that works is an administrator, and the others aren't, that may be the problem.

My friends can't log on with XP, the problem you are describing would be expected with Vista.