black screen :'(

so i bought a friend's laptop for cheap since i dont want to spend a ton of money on something new. (my old one's battery died and i dont wanna buy a new battery and i thought i'd go for somethin a bit newer than what i had before)
anyways!
so i install aom, woohoo everything's fine..... i start it up and go through the cinematics...then when i get to the main menu.... i hear the music.... i can click on the buttons..... but the screen is blank.... its just a black screen.... I can only exit because i start clicking at the bottom and slowly move up until i get to the exit button, since it's the bottom option.....

anyone know what is goin on?


it has windows 7.... is that causing a problem?

Did you try reinstalling?

ya several times

ive also tried all of these things: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814546

Try opening in safe video.
Start->Programs-> Microsft game->AOMT->Diagnostics->AOMT Safe video. If you can see the menu, then go to options and choose the correct settings.

This could be driver related. If the safe video mode doesn't work, update your video driver.

ah that sucks, on windows 7 u will also have texture issues, u will see what i mean if u get it too work(i tried for like 2-3 hours finding a solution with no luck) call microsoft i guess.

EDIT: - i found something that hopefully will work, go to the site below and scroll down a bit to read the answer

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-gaming/age-of-mythology-starts-to-black-screen/7d520850-c385-4ac5-84b4-8f54bd21805f

I have Windows 7 too, & AoM & AoT works normally..
Maybe graphics/resolution problem ? See if any other game(if you have) works fine too.

On W7 I can't change the graphic resolution online... but black screen looks like a wrong video driver.

Try to update it because W7 uses to install generic drivers : it works for most app but actually not for games.

graphics prob tottally... if u tell us the specs of the computer itself might help // mostlikely if it has Intel integrated graphics then ure srewed cuz prob wont work

btw, thanks for all your answers, guys

i've tried updating my drivers and stuff and it hasn't worked

i just had 4 windows updates that i just did (they seemed pretty big cuz it took a while to install and shtuff).
so ya i'm gonna try it again to see if it worked.

and ya i tried in safe mode and it doesn't work :'(.

im considering a reformat to clean up all the shit that was on it before.... i dont have windows 7 so i'd end up putting xp on as the OS, and ofc it works with xp

@smurf... i clicked the link... i dunno if it will work but i guess i can try lol

aww.... it didn't work.....

neither did the solution in your link, smurf hahaha


guys i think im gonna reformat

so i went through some shtuff and i'm missing a driver....

problems found: base system device doesn't have a driver

what does that mean? and the troubleshooter couldn't automatically fix it so im gonna search online or something for it

more info: Problem with PnP devices Detected

There are problems with some PnP devices. Windows will take additional steps to further troubleshoot these devices.


-_-

hmm, go to srtest.com and see if your pc even meets minimum system requirements for aom, if u have a issue with video then it will tell u ur issue there and the base system device thingy sounds like u just need to update all drivers, try a software that detects missing drivers or outdated ones and updates them for you.

the link below is from a guy who used the software called drivermax who are certified partners of microsoft, if u read he had some screen resolution issues and drivermax fixed it for him, the software updates all of your drivers so i would give that a try.

http://weblogs.asp.net/bhouse/archive/2009/01/15/how-to-find-missing-drivers-for-windows-7.aspx

below is the official drivermax site, u can download the trail and try to get a serial key from the net or something to get it free, if u dont know how to do that tell me ill try and find u something

http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/

the laptop is like 5 years old, so ya it meets requirements haha.
a guy on rtssanc sent me a link of a driver download, so ill try that one first(dling it now) and if not then ill try that 1st link

thanks man!

AoL_Iron_maiden wrote:

the laptop is like 5 years old, so ya it meets requirements haha.
a guy on rtssanc sent me a link of a driver download, so ill try that one first(dling it now) and if not then ill try that 1st link

thanks man!

no prob lil girl

click start->type dxdiag->go at display tab->see if the directx features are all enabled

Go to the manufacturer's website and try to find all drivers for your laptop then install them because it can be a chipset driver ou video card one lacking or outdated.

Otherwise, there are some websites to automatically scan the computer and give the available drivers.
Exemple in french (I use to go there) : http://www.touslesdrivers.com/index.php?v_page=30&v_forum=0

first find whats the problem then search for solutions

DRIVERMAXX are certified partners of microsoft, idk wht else i gotta say lol

k im gonna try the drvermax thing next (im just gonna try ppl's suggestions in order so i keep track of what i have done lol)



so in the dxdiag box, in the system tab it says im running DirectX 11. then i go to the display tab, and in the "directx" features part, there are 3 options: directdraw acceleration, direct3d acceleration and agp texture acceleration..... all 3 say 'not available' next to them.... what does that mean?

@ragenrox, which manufacturer's site? the gfx card(nvidia) or alienware?

so btw to get a key from the net, i just google 'drivermax serial key' or something?

AoL_Iron_maiden wrote:

k im gonna try the drvermax thing next (im just gonna try ppl's suggestions in order so i keep track of what i have done lol)



so in the dxdiag box, in the system tab it says im running DirectX 11. then i go to the display tab, and in the "directx" features part, there are 3 options: directdraw acceleration, direct3d acceleration and agp texture acceleration..... all 3 say 'not available' next to them.... what does that mean?

@ragenrox, which manufacturer's site? the gfx card(nvidia) or alienware?

ahh agp texture, u need that for aot, im pretty sure u need the other 2 aswell lol like i said use drivermax to update ur drivers.

"You can use AGP texture feature when the card itself support it and it is on AGP slot... If the AGP texture feature is gray boxed (meaning you can enable it), then either you do not have the driver installed correctly or the card itself does not support AGP texture feature. Given your graphic card is integrated and if you want more gaming performance out of it, a new video card is high recommanded for higher gaming performance..."

Source:http://www.computing.net/answers/gaming/agp-texture-acceleration-disabled/7595.html


judging from that reply i quoted above it looks like the drivermaxx update is really ur last chance, when drivermaxx fully updates all ur drivers and ur still not able to enable agp texture(meaning its still grayed out) then it means ur pc doesnt support that feature meaning aot wont be able to run unless u get a new video card..so i suggest u first update all ur drivers with drivermaxx, then find out how to enable it if u can if not then im sorry....goodluck...

shoot.... k

but theres no greay box to check..... it just says 'not availible' :'(

My link is 100% free for the same result