SH3 exe suddenly stopped working??

[CaptBlanc]

I am at a loss as to explain or fix this.

Three days ago, SH3 ran fine. My other install, with GWX Gold, ran fine, too.

Today, when I click on the sh3.exe file to run the sim...I get zip! Nothing. Nada. Not even a CTD...It's like I never even clicked the icon. This is happening with both installs.

I'm running the no-starforce version. (The one in the two-disk set that has SH2 and SH3 on two different disks.) So It's patched up to 1.4.0.1 and the GWX is on a mirror-build of that.

I run Win7 64, NVidia GeForce 9400 GT card, standard monitor. (Not even a flat screen!...Just a big CRT.)

I have been up-and-down the forums and the rest of the internet for about 6 hours, trying to get this fixed.
I also now have a third, fresh, vanilla install, and the same thing occurs. I even put the original disk back in the drive....still no joy.

Anyone know about this kind of bug before?

-C.B.

[TwoGamers]

I dont have a disk one but maybe your computer isn't detecting your exe file? Try reinstalling or putting it on auto-run.

Welcome aboard it is always a pleasure to meet new kaluens:D

[VONHARRIS]

May I suggest cleaning the regisrty before reinstalling?

Good luck with that:D

Welcome to Subsim! :up:

[CaptBlanc]

Thanks, guys!

The really wierd thing is, all my other programs/sims/games run fine, four-A.

ONLY Silent Hunter III is failing to, not only load, but just plain not start-up.
I click on the icon and nothing happens. At all. Like it dosen't even exist. The file size looks okay. The install and registry show no oddities.

I'm running Direct-X 11 as of now, and that's the only thing that might have changed or been upgraded on the system. But, as I say, that gave no issues for anything else, (and many GPU intensive programs give better framerate with it.)

I've exhausted about 20 different forum threads in various places looking for a solution. Was primarily looking at the Starforce-issue threads, at first, but my copy does not have Starforce, and no sign of it being installed on my system from anywhere else. (I avoid it like a depth-charging destroyer.)

Silent Hunter IV runs fine, IL2 Sturmovik 1946 runs fine, so I figure it's not some odd Ubisoft issue.

:/\\!!:/\\!!:/\\!!

-C.B.

[sublynx]

Very curious. What happens if you try to run the game from a command prompt?

Another thing might be that change to Directx11 - maybe you could try installing DX9 and see if that helps.

[Raptor]

I'll assume you've already run your anti-virus program, an anti-maleware program (i.e. Malewarebytes or Spybot), as well as a registry cleaner (i.e. CCleaner).:rock:


If you haven't already done so, try right-clicking on the SH3 icon, then click on "Open".

If that also fails, right-click the icon again and click on "run as administrator".

If those fail and clean installs also fail, I can only assume BdU considers you unfit to command a u-boat. :/\\!!

[Jimbuna]

The SH3 game engine can be very unforgiving...I've had the same problem at least twice over the past couple of years and never figured out what the cause was.

[CaptBlanc]

Hmmm...jimbuna, how did you get around it?

Or did the problem just go away after a while? (Did you just not play for a few months and then, one day *poof* it worked again? ... Wonder if it's a Windows system change..hmmm..)

I've checked, cleaned, re-installed 7 times.

It's like my machine has simply said "I'm NOT going on another of those horrbile north-atlantic patrols again! ...Go play something else!"

I do sometimes run the sim to the point that my wife thinks it's a noisy screensaver...

But I'm cheesed off beyond all reason, now, as I put many,many hours, days, weeks in playing, tweaking mods, recording sound files, and painting the occasional sub, ect...you know. Now that is all useless.

(NOTE: Command line and Admin and compatibility running has failed, also. I'm trying everything and anything you guys throw at me to get my sim back!)

:wah:

-C.B.

[Jimbuna]

Hmmm...jimbuna, how did you get around it?

Or did the problem just go away after a while? (Did you just not play for a few months and then, one day *poof* it worked again? ... Wonder if it's a Windows system change..hmmm..)

I've checked, cleaned, re-installed 7 times.

It's like my machine has simply said "I'm NOT going on another of those horrbile north-atlantic patrols again! ...Go play something else!"

I do sometimes run the sim to the point that my wife thinks it's a noisy screensaver...

But I'm cheesed off beyond all reason, now, as I put many,many hours, days, weeks in playing, tweaking mods, recording sound files, and painting the occasional sub, ect...you know. Now that is all useless.

:wah:

-C.B.

A full reinstallation I'm afraid...was the only way.

[CaptBlanc]

When you say "Full reinstallation" do you mean simply uninstalling then re-installing?...Did you delete / destroy any secondary installs as well, or just your "main"? I kept my (ancient) old modded install on another directory. My "fresh" one is exactly that.

-C.B.

[CaptBlanc]

Hmmm...also, that means you had a different issue than mine, I guess. A re-install (Again, just 45 min ago,) has had no effect. It's like windows has decided that "sh3.exe" is no longer any kind of program.

But it's not the "name" that's causing the issues. I copied and re-named a few other apps "sh3.exe" - Sh3MissionEditor, for example. Runs just fine.

The actual game, however, is a dead-end.

I've even checked, and upgraded my anti-virus systems, wondering if a false result was blocking it. Nope. And no logs of any kind are being generated. And, everything else on this machine works great.

Big. Fat. Mystery.

-C.B.

[sublynx]

This is a bit of an extreme solution as it is both inconvenient and demands a lot of effort, but maybe you can make your computer dual booting. If you can run Windows 7 64/bit I would think that you might have room for XP running on the computer as well. If SH3 would then work in your computer in XP we would at least know the problem is not hardware related.

Before trying that I would download Directx9 and install that. I think installing DX11 messes up the older versions which can leave some games without the stuff they need to run properly.

Another thing you might try is to download H.sie\s realism oriented mod from SH3mod workplace. That mod writes a new SH3.exe. Maybe the newly written SH3.exe would work.

[TwoGamers]

I did some reasearching and SH3 does not like running DX11 on my computer. Go try DX9 as it seems to run fine with that:hmmm:

[Pisces]

...

Another thing you might try is to download H.sie\s realism oriented mod from SH3mod workplace. That mod writes a new SH3.exe. Maybe the newly written SH3.exe would work.It makes a new SH3.exe, but you need a good SH3.exe file to begin with. Since it is sort of a hexedit/patch.

I'm not saying the file is bad. But could be. If CaptBlanc could post the exact time/datestamp, filessize in bytes. Or even better, use a program to calculate an MD5 or SHA hash for it. Then people with the exact same release (install disk) would be able to verify that.

See: http://www.exactfile.com/

My money is on DirectX 9 vs 11 though. Or perhaps CaptBlanc installed a movie codec-pack he forgot about. Iirc, this could break the files that SH3 needs to play the intro video, or video in the menu. So it could be crashing silently on that. (unless I am mixing it up with other game's quirks)

[CaptBlanc]

Well.

I got it working again. And "how"...is really odd.

Was checking Windows, mainly to find out why ONLY "sh3.exe" was unable to run. Was getting ready to try Microsofts "System File Checker" to see if, for some reason, Windows had flagged my game as bad, or lost an association, blah, blah...

When searching my system to see if I already had that file, known as "SFC.exe"...I ran across the executable for the game "Starfleet Command"

It is also called "SFC.exe"

I blinked...thought for a moment. "If there is a program, somewhere else in the system called sh3.exe and it can't be run, hmmm...hmmm...Oh dear."

And went into Silent Hunter and renamed it, from "sh3.exe" to "SilentHunter3.exe"

...And it ran.

I installed GWX 3.0 Gold. .... And it ran.

The only issues I have now is the "FM_NewInterior_V1.0" mod is now, for some other reason, causing a CTD if I try a career or quick mission. No issues if I run it in a training mission using the Type VII.

As an aside, the Timestamp on my vanilla sh3.exe is Tuesday June 14 2005 11:54:24 AM - With a size of 1.26 MB (1,331,200 bytes)

The GWX version is the same as above.

PS: I have now gone insane, and need therapy.

-C.B.

[Jimbuna]

SINK EM ALL!! http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[sublynx]

Really strange....:timeout: anyways hopefully it runs from now on :up:

[CaptBlanc]

Tiny Update:

Programs and processes called "sh3.exe" do not always point at our favorite sub-sim. I did a bit of research and found that it could refer to:

-The main game exe for the PC version of "Silent Hill" horror-adventure game.

-A relatively new Microsoft Internet Explorer update client file.

-A network component file for use in Window CE service pack.

-A handful of various other software-related programs used by 3rd Party Windows developers.

Gah!

I suspect that, as I run my PC on "Paranoid-Maniac Security Levels"...something in my OS is tagging it as a security risk. Apparently, the I.E. file is a common target for security threats. I must track that down and figure out how to handle it, I guess.

At least I can play, now. (Sadly, I now have to tell SH Commander NOT to rollback on exit, as it only recognises the "sh3.exe" name. I now have two copies of it, one renamed, in the game directory. So I run SH Commander, tell it to run the game, it writes the files it needs, then as the standard file won;t run, thinks the game exits. Without auto-rollback, it leaves the setup correct. Then I run my renamed file and play. (*grumble-grumble*)

That'll get me by untill I can really fix the issue. (If possible.)

Thanks for the troubleshooting help guys! :salute:
Hopefully, anyone who has a similar issue can use what was learned here!

-C.B.