Troubleshooting – ArmA: Armed Assault
Troubleshooting FAQ
This article's main purpose is to document common problems and solutions to fix those problems in ArmA. If none of the problems here describe your situation then please check the BI TroubleShooting forums.
Getting Support
Please note below the official support information for the particular versions of the game:
European Version (505 Games)
The full list of countries where 505 Games will distribute the game (in no particular order): United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Ireland, Andorra, San Marino and The Vatican City, Greece, Portugal, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Israel, Middle East, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Japan.
German Version (store bought or downloaded version from Metaboli)
Email supportvente _AT_ metaboli.com Metaboli's support Email (use if you have any problems buying ArmA from Metaboli).
Czech Version (store bought or downloaded version from Sprocket)
Email ArmA _AT_ IDEA-Games.com
At this moment in time, the BIS troubleshooting forum is not an official means of support, you're welcome to post your problems here and perhaps you can help each other out but for official support you should use the above information.
System Drivers
Stay current! Make sure you have the most recent drivers available for your hardware. Older drivers often contain bugs and can cause various performance issues and bugs while playing the game. Hardware manufacturers often work to improve performance through driver updates.
General
- Update DirectX
Note: you may need to reinstall DirectX even if you already have 9.0c or Windows Vista - the most recent DirectX 9.0c release is from June 2007.
Audio
- Install OpenAL updates
- Update Creative Audigy drivers
- Update Creative XFi drivers
- Updated RealTec Drivers (April 08/2007)
Video
- Update ATI drivers
- Update nVidia drivers (Windows Vista users see note below)
Patches & Updates
Patches contain various bug fixes and other improvements.
Patches and updates for Armed Assault can be obtained on the ArmA website.
Note When you apply an official BI patch, make sure you have all the original game files intact, if you've altered any of the official game files the patch is prone to failure. (Such as the language patch by SickBoy).
Demo as Dedicated Server 1.03
BIS released build 5116 of ArmADemo.exe on the 12th January 2007 to address a dedicated server crashing with the original multiplayer demo and to improve the server performance.
Patch Issue 64bit systems and v1.02
Upon patching users would get the message ...\sara.pbo not found. Here are to fixes that have proven to allow installation for most users.
- Fix steps
- Download updated patch from Morphicon forum
- Right click the file (patch), then Run as... select the administrator account in the bottom and type in the correct password. Then hit Enter. Patch should apply.
Install Issues
ArmA won't install from DVD
I put the ArmA DVD into the drive and nothing happens. Opening explorer and clicking onto DVD drive returns nothing.
Solutions
- If the game won't install try setting the DVD's region code to 2. Checking the instruction manual or manufacturers website for your DVD should tell you how to make such a change.
- Update DVD drive firmware.
ArmAENG.exe is not a valid Windows 32 Application
I've downloaded the Sprocket version of ArmA when I goto run the ArmAENG.exe installation file, I receive an error:
ArmAEng.exe is not a valid Windows 32 Application
Solutions
The problem is the file becomes corrupt during download, even downloading the file multiple times the file is still corrupt.
Some users report changing their Temp (or TMP) windows environment variable will fix this problem.
An excellent way to make sure the file is complete is to use a download manager to download the file.
Game Crashes
ArmA won't start
ArmA fails to load and crashes immediately.
Solutions
Here are some things to try that have worked for other people.
- Have the latest drivers for your hardware. Updating sound, motherboard, video and network drivers have all had some success with some people.
- Try running the ArmA game as an administrator, right-click the arma.exe and choose Run as.. and then choose the administrator account.
Profiles
How do I backup my profile?
Make a copy of your \My Documents\ArmA folder. When you uninstall the game this folder remains.
Controls
I have a 5 button mouse and I can only get 3 to work
Use mouse configuration program the comes with your mouse to map keyboard keys to the mouse buttons.
ArmA doesn't seem to recognize my TrackIR device
Ensure you have the latest version of TrackIR software and latest game list update. Information can be found here.
How do I bind right-ctrl?
Since 1.05 you can't assign the right ctrl to any actions.
5117 -Changed: Right Ctrl used for key combination instead of left one. (Right Ctrl no longer mapped to any actions.)
Open your Profile file xxx.ArmAProfile in a text editor (like notepad) and search for the line your looking to change, this example uses keyToggleWeapons. Replace it with:
keyToggleWeapons[]={157};
How do I invert mouse for aircraft only?
Swap mouse inputs mapped to Airplane Nose Down / Nose Up like this:
Nose down 'W','UP',Mouse up, Stick Y- Axis Nose up 'S','DOWN',Mouse down, Stick Y+ Axis
Default mapping is:
Nose down 'W','UP',Mouse down, Stick Y- Axis Nose up 'S','DOWN',Mouse up, Stick Y+ Axis
Sound Issues
OPENAL32.DLL Error
When trying to start ArmA you receive an error Unable to open dynamic link OPENAL32.DLL
When trying to start ArmA you receive an error Unable to install OpenAL / Returned value was: SomeNumber
Solution:
Download latest OpenAL installer from the OpenAL Website, install it and reboot.
Performance issues
Bad performance with 1.05 patch
The 1.05 introduced a bug related to Postprocess effects computation. To avoid the bug, either set Postprocess to Low, or you could try the 1.05 Beta Patch
Various Graphics Card Related Issues
"D3DX9_30 Not Found"
Download the latest version of DirectX 9.0c from Microsoft[1]. As of writing (Dec 2006), the December 2006 version includes D3DX9_30.DLL.
This solution also applies to Windows Vista - the installation of DirectX 9.0c (Dec 2006) corrects this problem.
Forget about Vista, according to system requirements this game runs only on Windows 2000 and XP.
djRob
"Display adapter does not support format D24S8 for X8R8G8B8"
Go to your display properties, open the troubleshooting tab, and set the Hardware acceleration to "Full".
"Cannot create 3D device" (D3DERR_INVALIDCALL)
Upgrade video card. Card with Shader Model 2 or higher is required to run ArmA.
Change the desktop resolution to be the same as the in-game resolution and then re-launch ArmA.
You may also try to update drivers of your graphics card.
"Cannot create system memory surface: 8007000e"
If you are using 1.05 version, use -maxmem=512 command line option to reduce memory footprint.
ATI Crossfire Mode
The Armed Assault demo v1.03 may not run with ATI cards in Crossfire mode. If attempting to run the multiplayer in crossfire mode, the program may start up but hang before loading any graphics but the mouse pointer. If this happens, Esc can be used to end the program. Upon exiting, windows claims that the error was caused by memory not being able to be written. The Armed Assault report file will allude to a driver problem. Turning off Crossfire will allow you to load the demo and play normally. - Plaintiff1
Graphical Issues
Strange Lines In Game
I have a problem in game, there's a double line of shadows that follows me everywhere.
Solution
If you have a nVidia video adapter then anisotropic mip filter optimization enabled from the nVidia driver settings, set it off.
If you have an ATI video adapter, force the trilinear mipmapping but leave the trilinear optimization enabled because image degrade is almost null but performance take a big drop)
How do I disable the HDR Lighting?
You can't. There are no other light calucations in ArmA than the High Dynamic Range Lighting (HDR Lighting) which also adds environmental immersion, the visual effect also influences the way that the game is played. All models and textures are designed to take advantage of HDR.
Multiplayer Issues
Can't use Multiplayer Setup Dialog
Can't use Multiplayer Setup screen. Can't select roles for a mission, can't vote for a mission, and hitting OK will not do anything.
Solution
This issue can usually be traced to nVidia's nForce networking controller. The solution is to use a different network card, if available.
Work around to be traced back
Enable native XP2 firewall, or, if using 3rd party firewall, enable Arma and uPnP architecture.
Can't find servers
No servers show up in the serverslist.
Solution
Open the file hosts in the directory "C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc" and delete all entries except "127.0.0.1 localhost".
Can't connect on servers
Every attempt to connect to a server fails with an error message saying that the attempt to connect failed.
Solution
Execute
netsh winsock reset
with cmd.
If it still does not work, make copy of your registry and do the following:
Start Windows in safe mode, go to device manager, show hidden devices and delete the following non-PnP-drivers:
- HTTP
- AVMPORT
- NetBios over TCP/IP
- TCP-IP
- Driver for automatic RAS-connection
- Windows Socket 2.0 Non-IFS
Arma crashes when connecting to servers
Any attempt to connect to a server crashes ArmA with an error message "arma has encountered a problem and needs to close"
Solution
Solve it by deleting some troublesome MP cache files ~
C:\Documents and Settings\user profile\local settings\application data\ArmA
Delete the ArmA folder, and try to connect to some servers.