Install problems with SH4

[abel29a]

I succumbed to tempation and ordered SH4 the other day. Got the disc in the mail today and eagerly popped it into the drive, only to be greeted with a big nothing.. No auto run opening. Okay, explored the disc, chose setup.exe (after waiting a minute or so for explorer to work on.. something...) and then got a "This is not a valid win32 app".

Not to be outdone by a piece of plastic, I made an attempt at copying setup.exe, then the data.cab file to the hard drive, and then I got CRC errors.

Next step, spinning up Iso Buster to see if I can get the data to the hard drive and install it that way - no luck.

So - the disc appears to be undamaged, no scratches to speak of. Did a seach here and on ubi.com, and somebody were complaining about the same problem - this was sort of - maybe - related to a Securom issue.

Therefore - in my desperation to get this game installes so I can play it - has any of you skippers had any issues with installing SH4, or do you have any suggestions for what could be wrong?

It certainly isnt the DVD drive itself, as I tried other game install discs after this, just to make sure.

[SteamWake]

I succumbed to tempation and ordered SH4 the other day. Got the disc in the mail today and eagerly popped it into the drive, only to be greeted with a big nothing.. No auto run opening. Okay, explored the disc, chose setup.exe (after waiting a minute or so for explorer to work on.. something...) and then got a "This is not a valid win32 app".

Not to be outdone by a piece of plastic, I made an attempt at copying setup.exe, then the data.cab file to the hard drive, and then I got CRC errors.

Next step, spinning up Iso Buster to see if I can get the data to the hard drive and install it that way - no luck.

So - the disc appears to be undamaged, no scratches to speak of. Did a seach here and on ubi.com, and somebody were complaining about the same problem - this was sort of - maybe - related to a Securom issue.

Therefore - in my desperation to get this game installes so I can play it - has any of you skippers had any issues with installing SH4, or do you have any suggestions for what could be wrong?

It certainly isnt the DVD drive itself, as I tried other game install discs after this, just to make sure.

Not so fast... if it is indeed a secure rom issue the most likely suspect is your drive. Although I had been lead to believe that all traces of securerom had been removed.

First off where did you get the disk from?

Secondly what made you think copying the .cab files to a fixed disk would help?

What good is isobuster going to do you when the data was never copied in the first place?

Lastley have a look at this thread http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=133290

Im not suggesting anything but it all sounds a little fishy.

Myself and thousands of others have had no problems with installations.

Its entirely possible that you have a corrupted disk. Id try to get an exchange. Although youve diddled around doing so much weird **** who knows now.

[abel29a]

Thanks for the reply.


Not so fast... if it is indeed a secure rom issue the most likely suspect is your drive. Although I had been lead to believe that all traces of securerom had been removed.

First off where did you get the disk from?


I got the disk from play.com, so it's the UK edition if that makes a difference.

I'm not sure what you mean about Securerom has been removed, all the forums I've visited says SH4 uses the Secure Rom 7.3 something something version. Could it be that there is some sort of incompabality between my disk drive and the newest Secure Rom?


Secondly what made you think copying the .cab files to a fixed disk would help?

What good is isobuster going to do you when the data was never copied in the first place?

Maybe I wasnt clear enough - I tried manually copying some data files off the disc to the hard drive, to see if I could. Just as a way of testing wheter data could be copied off it without flaw. I then got CRC errors while copying.

Iso Buster is a program for getting data off damaged discs, and was suggested on antother forum as a way of testing wheter it was the disc or something else that was the problem. It didnt work tough.

Lastley have a look at this thread http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=133290

Im not suggesting anything but it all sounds a little fishy.

Myself and thousands of others have had no problems with installations.

Its entirely possible that you have a corrupted disk. Id try to get an exchange. Although youve diddled around doing so much weird **** who knows now.

I saw that thread, the problem is I can't get it to install at all, trying to run the setup just results in all sorts of errors, and whenever I try to browse the disc the whole system is sluggish...

I'll probably have to send it back and hope I get a replacement, but it's usually a two week process and I want to play it now :) Oh, and all the diddling I did was simple read attempts from the disc - I've yet to try the magical marker pen trick or similar things :)

[Arclight]

Securom was removed starting with version 1,4. You don't need to have the disk in the drive anymore to play the game. But it is probably still present on the disk (as that likely is version 1.3 or lower).

If it's a conflict between Securom and your disk, you could try updating the firmware for the drive.

Sounds like a bad disk to me. :hmm:

[abel29a]

Tried firmware update of the disc drive - no avail. I'll send the disc in and see what the verdict is.

Excellent news on Securerom being removed from 1.4 onwards, tough - makes everything so much easier :)

[Arclight]

It's a sign that the developers listened to their customers as well. Complaints about Securom messing up people's systems are widespread.

Personally, I remember buying Medieval 2 Gold edition and not being able to play either Med 2 or Kingdoms. Luckily the guys from Securom were forthcoming with modified .exe files, which solved the problem. Lately more people have been complaining about Spore and Crysis Warhead because of Securom issues.

I'm really glad Ubi realized customer abuse caused by invasive anti-piracy software is not the way forward. Most of the time Securom causes more problems for legal owners then the pirates...

[SteamWake]

complaining about Spore and Crysis Warhead because of Securom issues....

Actually those are not securerom issues rather its DRM or digital rights management. Basically you 'rent' the game with a limited number of installs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

[Arclight]

You mean like Bioshock? Heard about that before, frickin ridiculous. :huh:

[rascal101]

I note with interest your comments below - You shed some light on an issue that I thought was not really discussed, ie anti piracy software actually preventing legitimate users enjoying their game

I have had terrible trouble with Medieval Total War, it wont patch, either from the net or from Kingdoms I always get some corrupt language file- SO I play unpatched but then the game just crashes all the time the logner I play with 'unspecified error' meassage = There are numerous references to this 'unspecified error' on the forums but it never seems to have been solved and SEEGA dont seem at all interested - Can you tell me if your experience with MTW2 matches my own

Now I have a new problem I have a store bought copy of SH4 and the UBOAT missions disk - I can install SH4 but cant seem to patch it and therefore cant install Uboat missions and therefore cant play any oif the newer Atlantic Thetre mods-

I decided to get a new copy hoping that it would have all the latest patches but - no one seems to stock the game any more, at least not in Australia where I live, can you give me some advise I'm pulling my hair out!!


It's a sign that the developers listened to their customers as well. Complaints about Securom messing up people's systems are widespread.

Personally, I remember buying Medieval 2 Gold edition and not being able to play either Med 2 or Kingdoms. Luckily the guys from Securom were forthcoming with modified .exe files, which solved the problem. Lately more people have been complaining about Spore and Crysis Warhead because of Securom issues.

I'm really glad Ubi realized customer abuse caused by invasive anti-piracy software is not the way forward. Most of the time Securom causes more problems for legal owners then the pirates...