Can't Run on Legacy Windows XP3 Pentium III

[armando2002]

Hi All,
I am having a heck of a time trying to get Project 1999 to run on my legacy PC. I've tried using command line, adding "patch" to an eqgame.exe shortcut, as well as the Launch Titanium.bat.

All will simply crash before I can even view them in Task Manager. If I use command line and run Launch Titanium.bat, I simply get a "start eqgame.exe patchme" and then it just goes to the next line. Any ideas? I'm not going to switch OS just for this game, FYI. Thanks for any help!

Windows XP SP3
Pentium III 933mhz
512 MB PC100 SDRAM
64 GB SD HDD
Geforce FX5200

Here is a copy of a hijackthis.log that I ran for investigation:
Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.5
Scan saved at 10:45:39 PM, on 7/24/2020
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP3 (6.00.2900.5512)


Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wscntfy.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\RUNDLL32.EXE
C:\Program Files\EDIMAX\Common\RaUI.exe
C:\Program Files\MagicDisc\MagicDisc.exe
C:\HijackThis.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nwiz] nwiz.exe /install
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\WINDOWS\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - Startup: MagicDisc.lnk = C:\Program Files\MagicDisc\MagicDisc.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Wireless Utility.lnk = C:\Program Files\EDIMAX\Common\RaUI.exe
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Browseui preloader - {438755C2-A8BA-11D1-B96B-00A0C90312E1} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\browseui.dll
O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: Component Categories cache daemon - {8C7461EF-2B13-11d2-BE35-3078302C2030} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\browseui.dll
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe

--
End of file - 1992 bytes

[mcoy]

Can you see if Windows is logging anything about the crash in the Application or system log in Event viewer? It's been a while, but I used to play p99 on a WinXP sp3 netbook without issues (other than having to turn off spell particles etc due to it not having many horses). I just used the titanium install, and used launch titanium(dot)bat. No add-ons like wineq2 or anything.

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

Can you see if Windows is logging anything about the crash in the Application or system log in Event viewer? It's been a while, but I used to play p99 on a WinXP sp3 netbook without issues (other than having to turn off spell particles etc due to it not having many horses). I just used the titanium install, and used launch titanium(dot)bat. No add-ons like wineq2 or anything.

-Mcoy

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately there is nothing in either System or Application logs. I also cleared the logs and tried running "eqgame.exe patchme" as well as Launch Titanium.bat. Nothing appears in the logs.

I noticed on my Windows 7 install that it looks like the Command Prompt also quickly flashes and disappears but then after about 10 seconds the Everquest application loads. I'm wondering if there's somehow a disconnect there?

[quido]

This client is actually from 2006/2007, and is notoriously poor-performing, so I wouldn't be surprised if it just doesn't work.

[armando2002]

This client is actually from 2006/2007, and is notoriously poor-performing, so I wouldn't be surprised if it just doesn't work.

Thanks for the info, that's a real shame. Happen to know if it's specifically the EQ (Sony) client? I'm curious if there's another EQ server/shard I might be able to try.

For now I'll put it on a Windows 98 SD card and see if that works. If that doesn't work I'll try ME or Vista (uugh). :)

[mcoy]

Do you use this box for anything else? Is directx installed? Make sure it's a relatively recent (like Jeremy said 2006ish) version.

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

Do you use this box for anything else? Is directx installed? Make sure it's a relatively recent (like Jeremy said 2006ish) version.

-Mcoy

Yep, I just built it and have a few SD Cards/OS set up and working.

I've got a Windows 98 setup with a Roland SC-55 that runs DOS/Win9x great and I've got a Windows XP setup that runs Ultima Online (offical) and Diablo 2 over TCP/IP.

I double checked and I've got DirextX 9.0c installed in XP SP3.

[mcoy]

Working on copying my current P99 install (v53) over to my eeepc that has XP SP3 on it I don't miss the USB 2.0 days. I'm pretty sure I played on this one - it has an old Everquest (live) install on it still anyway.

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

Working on copying my current P99 install (v53) over to my eeepc that has XP SP3 on it I don't miss the USB 2.0 days. I'm pretty sure I played on this one - it has an old Everquest (live) install on it still anyway.

-Mcoy

Awesome, good luck and let me know how it goes!

[mcoy]

Ok, so my current P99 install wouldn't start - would just throw a generic 0xc0000142 error. So, I mounted my Titanium ISO and did a new install, and then extracted the P99 v53 files into it.

Launch titanium worked first try:https://imgur.com/ehrtWUZ.jpg

Yes it's P99:https://imgur.com/YJOHnxc.jpg

I forgot to run dxdiag to see what version it's running - waiting for it to boot up again and I'll get that info.

Edit: Looks like I'm also running DirectX 9.0c.

-Mcoy

[mcoy]

I should note that it took about a minute to startup - got the flash of the cmd prompt window appearing and then lots of disk activity. Probably because it's loading off a 5400RPM drive, or the 1.6GHz Atom cpu. Have you tried launching it (after killing any EQ process, or rebooting) and just waiting a while?

https://imgur.com/dkawym6.jpg

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

I should note that it took about a minute to startup - got the flash of the cmd prompt window appearing and then lots of disk activity. Probably because it's loading off a 5400RPM drive, or the 1.6GHz Atom cpu. Have you tried launching it (after killing any EQ process, or rebooting) and just waiting a while?
-Mcoy

That's great to hear! I did the exact same setup and also waited 5-10 minutes. If my Windows 98 try doesn't work, I'll do a format/reinstall and give it another try. Did you do anything besides install Titanium and copy the latest patch notes over and run "Launch Titanium.bat"?

[mcoy]

No, just installed from ISO and then extracted the zipfile. This isn't a clean XP install though - I used this thing for a couple years and it has numerous old games on it. There's a high possibility something I did to get Klingon Academy (picked that one because I remember it requiring some custom dx9 files) working is also affecting P99. I'm looking for the post I used to get KA working since they both released around the same time period.

-Mcoy

[mcoy]

Pretty sure this was it, but it's just a dx9 file in the KA directory so that wouldn't be impacting P99:

http://www.jiri-dvorak.cz/ka/#rendering

My XP is mostly patched - it popped up asking to install 92 updates so I'm guessing it was last used about a year before support for XP dropped. Not sure what patch level you're running, but if it helps I'm obviously not running the last patch bundle.

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

Pretty sure this was it, but it's just a dx9 file in the KA directory so that wouldn't be impacting P99:

http://www.jiri-dvorak.cz/ka/#rendering

My XP is mostly patched - it popped up asking to install 92 updates so I'm guessing it was last used about a year before support for XP dropped. Not sure what patch level you're running, but if it helps I'm obviously not running the last patch bundle.

-Mcoy

Awesome thanks! I actually have been trying to get KOG running anyways as I love Elite Force. Q'apla!

[mcoy]

I'm slowly working through getting all my Trek games running on my current Win10 system. Bridge Commander works great (but I can't get it to run windowed), Klingon and Starfleet Academy are iffy (sometimes they fire up fine but then crash randomly mid-mission which is very frustrating). Haven't tried Elite Force or EF2 yet. Been poking at ST: Armada II lately.

Note - all of these work fine on that eeepc. That's why I'm thinking something I did to that is also affecting p99's ability to run. Keep working on the Trek games and I'm sure you'll have p99 running as well!

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

I'm slowly working through getting all my Trek games running on my current Win10 system. Bridge Commander works great (but I can't get it to run windowed), Klingon and Starfleet Academy are iffy (sometimes they fire up fine but then crash randomly mid-mission which is very frustrating). Haven't tried Elite Force or EF2 yet. Been poking at ST: Armada II lately.

Note - all of these work fine on that eeepc. That's why I'm thinking something I did to that is also affecting p99's ability to run. Keep working on the Trek games and I'm sure you'll have p99 running as well!

-Mcoy

So I tried Windows 98 and got the unsupported dll error due to the anticheat, gave up on that. I tried Vista and I get a "illegal instruction 0xc00001d occurred in the application 0x6f34add6". I am about to give up at this point. I'm a little sad considering this is called Project 1999 and it can't seem to handle a computer/OS from 1999. :(

[BlackBellamy]

Yes it's P99:https://imgur.com/YJOHnxc.jpg

Another Quillmane poacher reveals himself through social media.

[mcoy]

Lol yup - I'm bound there from the last time I tried camping her a couple weeks ago. Every time I leave SK I get a couple zones away and then someone dies in Paw and I end up gating back.

Tried putting together a few hunting groups for her, but other than the initial one I've had no luck.

-Mcoy

[mcoy]

So I tried Windows 98 and got the unsupported dll error due to the anticheat, gave up on that. I tried Vista and I get a "illegal instruction 0xc00001d occurred in the application 0x6f34add6". I am about to give up at this point. I'm a little sad considering this is called Project 1999 and it can't seem to handle a computer/OS from 1999. :(

A lot of the random "client fails to launch" errors are related to screen resolution. Have you tried editing the eqclient.ini under the [VideoMode] section, enabling windowed mode, and setting it to something straightforward like 800x600?

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

A lot of the random "client fails to launch" errors are related to screen resolution. Have you tried editing the eqclient.ini under the [VideoMode] section, enabling windowed mode, and setting it to something straightforward like 800x600?

-Mcoy

Thanks, I gave that a try and no luck. As a final attempt, I installed Windows 7 Super Lite x86 and installed Project 1999. When I launch it, it at least tries to load the client and then crashes with a generic error.

Looking into the Event viewer, there seems to be an issue with DSETUP.dll (surprise surprise) that's causing this. Here's the details from Event viewer:

Faulting application name: eqgame.exe, version: 0.0.0.0
Faulting module name: DSETUP.dll, version 3.49.0.0
Exception code: 0xc000001d

[mcoy]

Any kind of AV running? Make sure your eq folder is excluded from real time scans.

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

I don't use AV or Firewalls for this since it's on it's own network. It's the DSETUP.dll that is causing issues with these machines. Is there a specific requirement for the latest version in the patch notes? I was able to replace it with an old DSETUP.dll from Joe Leonard's Getting Started YouTube video and it launched fine, simply just said my spell files need updated. Any reason there is such a huge difference in file size (96kb vs 3400kb)? That seems huge for a DLL file, but what do I know. Either way I still can't launch the client with the latest patch due to the DSETUP.dll.

I'd be curious of anyone else has actually run the latest version with any of the following as I get a very similar error. I have installed all of the latest C++ runtimes. .NET, and DirectX on each system as needed. All are x86 as I'n running a 440BX board. I don't run firewalls or any AV on any of these systems. I should also note that I've tried fresh installs/updates with each of these OSs and have not installed any other games/software while trying to get this to work.

Windows 98 SE
Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista
Windows 7 Super Lite


Anyone we can call in here with a Bat signal? :) Thanks!

[mcoy]

So, that DLL is part of the anti-cheat/exploit/boxing/<insert purpose here>. Were you actually able to get in-game running the older version?

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

Correct. I am able to boot to the character selection screen with the old DLL.

[mcoy]

Interesting - you may want to start a new thread asking about the DLL and Windows XP so the admins see it, or try asking about it in the discord channel. Wish I knew what change on my XP box is allowing it to function normally. I'm waiting for a new external hdd to arrive and then I plan on P2V'ing that box so I can try using process explorer and see what EQ is touching and maybe get a better idea. Will report back in a couple days.

-Mcoy

[armando2002]

Thanks, is there a section that I missed where I can submit a bug report for consideration for the next release? In the meantime I am going to decompile this DLL and try to get to the bottom of this.

[mcoy]

There's a bug report section of the forum at the bottom of the main forum page, but I've no idea how you'd classify a compatibility issue with the options provided:

https://www.project1999.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6

My drive arrived today, but unfortunately I cannot get my Win10 system to connect to my XP laptop despite enabling smbv1, various old protocols and ciphers, etc; so now it's running over USB 2.0 to p2v. Looks like it's going to be about 5 hours to finish, so I'll mess with it tomorrow.

-Mcoy

[xaix1999]

if you are using old hardware and old windows software, i would use a Linux os over old windows any day. if you are wondering about compatibility issues, there is almost none.

the wiki has a guide for you.
https://wiki.project1999.com/EverQuest_in_Linux_Guide
the winecfg can set your windows version to XP if you like but not necessary.
ubuntu and debian have recent releases that will support your hardware.

i am also using linux and i am willing to assist you in your adventure.