Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 This is an odd problem that I really can't understand. I am running windows 7 and geneforge is the GOG version. I've owned the Geneforge series for a few years but never played all the games; I've only ever actually opened the first 2 games. The last week I've decided to beat the whole lot of them starting from 1 again. Everything worked perfectly. I saved and quit the game. I came back today to continue my save and none of the keyboard keys are working. I can't press f to start a battle, I can't press f10 to quicksave I can't press esc to bring up the menu, etc. Geneforge 2 was the same when I tried to test a save file in there. If I start a new game it is also the same. I fired up geneforge 3 and 4 since I had never ever opened the files before. Each time I got a single button press and then the keys stopped working. The odd thing though, is that whatever button I pressed it would tigger the bottom right button on the GUI; quick action slot 4. In GF 3 pressed 'f' and quick action slot 4 triggered, then nothing else worked. In GF 4 I pressed esc and quick action slot 4 triggered but then nothing else happened. My keyboard is working, I can type this. I can alt-tab out of GF but that is the only command I can do. Nothing else seems to be affected and despite all my internet searches nothing seems to match my problem. (ie. I don't have quicken installed and nothing in my system has changed from this week to the last). EDIT: Nearly 30 views; does anyone have an opinion on this or what I can do? Even some sort of a guess as to how I can fix this would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk adc. Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 That's something unexpected, well, as usual, really, from unusual font sizes and things that don't respond well. The basic workaround there is usually by making a fresh install of the game, uninstall the whole series>defrag registry (optional)>reinstall it. After reinstalling it, it could, by a chance, work fine, if not, change your compatibility settings to Windows XP SP3 Right-click the shortcut>Properties>Compatibility then tick the box> Win XP SP3 or SP2, Vista would also work I think lol, just tinker around the settings. If everything else fails, I found this thread which seemed to solve the problem for the OP: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/245944-44-keyboard-issue-working-properly-games That's all I could say, I'm not a very techy guy, I could solve basic problems only. You could tell me details regarding this issue if there were any changes according to my suggestions. GL man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Thanks for the help. I've uninstalled a few times and did it again just now for completion's sake. I don't know anything about registry editing but had a look through and couldn't find anything relevant after the uninstall. I've tried most different compatibility modes but they don't seem to work either. Finally, I check out that website you linked. I seem to fall into the group of the final poster. I don't have any of those possible programs listed and can't seem to fix it. I even uninstalled my antivirus program just in case it was the cause. I've no other idea what could be causing this. But it is only the geneforge series that is having the problem. Other games and applications are working fine. Is there anything else you can think of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 You could try downloading a demo directly from Spiderweb. If the keyboard works on that but you still have a problem with the GOG version, then it's presumably a GOG-related issue. If that's the case, and GOG can't help, you might try emailing Spiderweb directly and seeing if they can help. (But do try GOG first.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Great idea. Unfortunately, the problem is the same in, at least, the geneforge 1 demo I just tried. How exactly do I email spiderweb directly? EDIT: I've sent one through from the main spiderweb page. I assume that is the correct link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Earth Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 yep, its correct and only link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Could you try some of the newer spiderweb demos, say Avadon 2 ? Might narrow it down to the old engine games, might not, worth a try I think. Aside from that, where did you install the games ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Nim, I tried the Avadon 2 demo and it works fine. All the hotkeys seem to work. Also looks like a fun game. Once I get all my geneforge problems sorted I'll seriously get into the rest of the various games and series. As for the Geneforge installation: I put it in the generic C:/GOG Games/Geneforge/ directory. But this hasn't changed from the time when everything was working to now when nothing is working so I don't think it is causing the problem. Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Nim, I tried the Avadon 2 demo and it works fine. All the hotkeys seem to work. Interesting. Could you try Geneforge 5 next ? Or A6. Those were major engine changes from the earlier games. Narrow it down as much as possible, this is a weird problem As for the Geneforge installation: I put it in the generic C:/GOG Games/Geneforge/ directory. But this hasn't changed from the time when everything was working to now when nothing is working so I don't think it is causing the problem. Didn't really think it was part of the problem, but it doesn't hurt to ask. The old games put the save folder into the game folder which can lead to problems on Vista (?) and later if you install into protected folders, program files and stuff like that I think. But, G4 puts their saves into my Documents iirc so that made it unlikely this is related anyway. Though if you have a second partition you could always try to put G1 on it just to make sure I guess ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 Ok, this is interesting. geneforge 5 works. All the hotkeys are fine. 1, 2, 3 & 4 all have the hotkey problem but number 5 is fine and unaffected. This still doesn't tell me what changed between when things were working fine and when it stopped working but it might narrow things down a bit for anyone who knows this kind of stuff. What is my next step? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Ok, this is interesting. geneforge 5 works. All the hotkeys are fine. 1, 2, 3 & 4 all have the hotkey problem but number 5 is fine and unaffected. Expected that one This still doesn't tell me what changed between when things were working fine and when it stopped working but it might narrow things down a bit for anyone who knows this kind of stuff. Well, one thing that didn't change in the last decade is the games themselves. So this seems to be a conflict/incompatibilty with some software/driver on your pc that changed since you successfully played them. Personal anecdote time: When I first got my current pc I had no problem playing the old engine games (G1-4, A4/5). At some point this changed and I had to use the MS ApplicationCompatibilityToolkit to get rid of laggy text/ESC menu. Then I upgraded my windows to a 64-bit version at some point and suddenly everything was fine again. As of now I'm reasonably sure that my problem was related to some driver versions for my graphics card not liking the old engines. Your problem seems somewhat similar ? What is my next step? Hope Jeff responds and has an idea. Maybe play around with the MS App Compatibility Toolkit. Look in the sticky up top if you're interested. Not sure how to figure out what SW/driver might be resposible, remote diagnosis is kinda difficult. I'm trying to think of more Blxz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 16, 2014 Author Share Posted July 16, 2014 I appreciate the help. Narrowing down the extent of the effects has been a big help. I'll post back in here if and when Jeff gets back to my email. If you think of anything else in the meantime don't hesitate to post it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Oh no worries, I'll be here if I find something. I tried G1 in a Virtual Machine earlier but the mouse started going crazy once the game changed resolution, might still be a possibility. An XP install on a spare HD if you have one is another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 At some point that might have been around G5, the games changed how they handled keyboard input at least slightly. We know this because with the later games you're able to change which keys do which commands. If that change did happen between G4 and G5, that is probably relevant. Still, if G1 was working previously and now it's not, something must have happened on your machine in between when it worked and when it stopped working. If you didn't install any software or system updates during that short time period, I'm sort of suspicious that GOG has something to do with the problem. Wouldn't be the first time things haven't worked perfectly with a GOG version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 If you didn't install any software or system updates during that short time period, I'm sort of suspicious that GOG has something to do with the problem. Wouldn't be the first time things haven't worked perfectly with a GOG version. You could try downloading a demo directly from Spiderweb. If the keyboard works on that but you still have a problem with the GOG version, then it's presumably a GOG-related issue. Great idea. Unfortunately, the problem is the same in, at least, the geneforge 1 demo I just tried. Someone's getting old . Unless the GOG installer screwed around in his system this is not a GOG problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 17, 2014 Author Share Posted July 17, 2014 My gog version has been around for quite some time and working fine. So far it really does seem like something I have done on my end (or an auto update) has caused a conflict somewhere. But I have no idea how to narrow it down any further. I might try it on my fiance's laptop later tonight to see if I can figure anything out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 20, 2014 Author Share Posted July 20, 2014 Well, I tried it on my partners laptop and it works fine. Not that I expected it wouldn't. But this essentially validates my gog copy and that the program itself is working. So the only question now is, what program on a windows 7 alienware laptop, that might have been installed recently, could be interfering with the keyboard inputs for geneforge 1, 2, 3 and 4 only? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 ...what program or driver on a windows 7 alienware laptop, that might have been installed or updated recently... Just for completeness. Testing programs shouldn't be too difficult, at least compared to driver stuff. You could start with this and maybe make a screenshot and post it here if you want Autoruns http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx Process Explorer http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 We are getting into the realm of the 'too hard/beyond my understanding' type fixes. I don't know how to use these programs or even how to understand the descriptions of what they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk adc. Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 We are getting into the realm of the 'too hard/beyond my understanding' type fixes. I don't know how to use these programs or even how to understand the descriptions of what they do. They take a log of what is running inside your laptop, so we can diagnose what programs might be affecting your Geneforge copy. They're quite simple actually, I bet you could figure out what to do in merely five seconds. Open up process explorer> Click "File" on the upper left corner > Save as > Pick a name > Post the log here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Ok, not sure if I did it right. But I ran process explorer and made a save of when I had geneforge 1 open and a separate save for when I had geneforge 5 open. Keyboard not working and keyboard working respectively. Geneforge1 http://speedy.sh/qZcEJ/geneforge1.TXT Geneforge5 http://speedy.sh/F58M2/geneforge5.TXT Let me know if this is enough to help you or if you need me to do something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Put G1.txt into spoiler+code, way easier than use that dl thingy. Process CPU Private Bytes Working Set PID Description Company Name System Idle Process 86.10 0 K 24 K 0 System 0.11 112 K 324 K 4 Interrupts 0.17 0 K 0 K n/a Hardware Interrupts and DPCs smss.exe 764 K 1,404 K 304 csrss.exe 2,764 K 5,956 K 436 wininit.exe 2,048 K 4,976 K 500 services.exe 6,760 K 10,368 K 560 svchost.exe 6,136 K 11,744 K 696 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation WmiPrvSE.exe 9,292 K 14,700 K 2876 rundll32.exe 2,712 K 7,272 K 1228 Windows host process (Rundll32) Microsoft Corporation unsecapp.exe 2,952 K 6,732 K 3656 Sink to receive asynchronous callbacks for WMI client application Microsoft Corporation nvvsvc.exe 3,368 K 7,920 K 756 NVIDIA Driver Helper Service, Version 332.21 NVIDIA Corporation nvSCPAPISvr.exe 2,744 K 5,928 K 784 Stereo Vision Control Panel API Server NVIDIA Corporation svchost.exe 5,948 K 9,636 K 828 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation atiesrxx.exe 2,272 K 5,088 K 888 AMD External Events Service Module AMD atieclxx.exe 3,256 K 7,152 K 1464 svchost.exe 26,680 K 26,044 K 976 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation audiodg.exe 0.37 22,196 K 22,628 K 4696 svchost.exe < 0.01 137,232 K 148,020 K 1016 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation dwm.exe 0.12 35,140 K 34,816 K 1064 Desktop Window Manager Microsoft Corporation FAService.exe < 0.01 15,848 K 24,124 K 328 FastAccess Sensible Vision svchost.exe < 0.01 10,916 K 18,140 K 844 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation svchost.exe 0.03 37,164 K 53,760 K 316 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation taskeng.exe 3,280 K 7,576 K 1480 Task Scheduler Engine Microsoft Corporation jusched.exe 1,428 K 528 K 4968 Java(TM) Update Scheduler Sun Microsystems, Inc. taskeng.exe 2,520 K 5,824 K 6136 stacsv64.exe < 0.01 13,300 K 9,212 K 1028 IDT PC Audio IDT, Inc. svchost.exe < 0.01 14,512 K 17,516 K 1332 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation spoolsv.exe 7,232 K 12,292 K 1524 Spooler SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation svchost.exe 15,000 K 17,472 K 1580 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation taskhost.exe < 0.01 9,660 K 13,508 K 1816 Host Process for Windows Tasks Microsoft Corporation AESTSr64.exe 1,868 K 3,520 K 2016 Andrea filters APO access service (64-bit) Andrea Electronics Corporation btwdins.exe 3,088 K 6,580 K 2224 Bluetooth Support Server Broadcom Corporation. OSD_Service.exe 1,816 K 5,232 K 2256 OSD_Main.exe 6,860 K 7,896 K 3516 NBService.exe 3,480 K 8,752 K 2316 Nero BackItUp Nero AG NvNetworkService.exe < 0.01 1,864 K 5,420 K 2364 NVIDIA Network Service NVIDIA Corporation nvstreamsvc.exe 4,084 K 9,744 K 2408 NVIDIA Streamer Service NVIDIA Corporation nvstreamsvc.exe 4,960 K 9,892 K 2220 SftService.exe 4,180 K 7,984 K 2452 UI0Detect.exe 2,912 K 7,844 K 3040 Interactive services detection Microsoft Corporation svchost.exe < 0.01 8,688 K 15,116 K 2080 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation SearchIndexer.exe < 0.01 24,036 K 16,464 K 4152 Microsoft Windows Search Indexer Microsoft Corporation SearchProtocolHost.exe < 0.01 3,240 K 8,828 K 5464 SearchFilterHost.exe 3,384 K 7,040 K 5484 wmpnetwk.exe 12,316 K 11,124 K 4444 Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service Microsoft Corporation svchost.exe 12,836 K 15,652 K 4476 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation IAStorDataMgrSvc.exe < 0.01 19,516 K 17,052 K 4076 IAStorDataSvc Intel Corporation svchost.exe < 0.01 49,584 K 46,404 K 3244 Host Process for Windows Services Microsoft Corporation AvastSvc.exe < 0.01 100,440 K 40,960 K 2900 avast! Service AVAST Software lsass.exe 6,424 K 14,180 K 580 Local Security Authority Process Microsoft Corporation lsm.exe 3,148 K 4,920 K 588 csrss.exe 0.08 4,116 K 12,072 K 520 conhost.exe 2,260 K 5,436 K 2008 conhost.exe 2,300 K 5,564 K 3744 Console Window Host Microsoft Corporation conhost.exe 2,304 K 5,512 K 3024 Console Window Host Microsoft Corporation winlogon.exe 4,040 K 8,340 K 932 explorer.exe 0.02 49,448 K 69,588 K 1084 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation SynTPEnh.exe < 0.01 10,196 K 15,560 K 3076 Synaptics TouchPad Enhancements Synaptics Incorporated SynTPHelper.exe 2,360 K 4,444 K 3816 sttray64.exe 7,900 K 16,832 K 3088 IDT PC Audio IDT, Inc. AlienwareAlienFXController.exe 34,584 K 36,752 K 3100 Alienware AlienFX Controller Alienware Corporation AlienFXHook32Mngr.exe 9,176 K 9,476 K 3752 AlienFXHook32 Manager Alienware AlienFXHook64Mngr.exe 33,880 K 15,564 K 3736 AlienFXHook64 Manager Alienware Skype.exe 0.02 91,344 K 103,944 K 3144 Skype Skype Technologies S.A. BTTray.exe < 0.01 8,380 K 14,212 K 3216 Bluetooth Tray Application Broadcom Corporation. chrome.exe < 0.01 74,988 K 117,236 K 4588 Google Chrome Google Inc. chrome.exe 0.01 142,760 K 161,204 K 2996 Google Chrome Google Inc. chrome.exe 0.05 69,060 K 68,008 K 5116 Google Chrome Google Inc. chrome.exe 84,260 K 91,360 K 3268 Google Chrome Google Inc. AvastUI.exe < 0.01 47,316 K 11,848 K 1728 avast! Antivirus AVAST Software procexp.exe 2,940 K 8,196 K 2480 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com procexp64.exe 0.34 25,208 K 43,308 K 2664 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com Geneforge.exe 12.55 58,124 K 45,064 K 4084 NvBackend.exe < 0.01 6,668 K 12,128 K 3016 NVIDIA GeForce Experience Backend NVIDIA Corporation STService.exe 6,520 K 13,284 K 2448 IAStorIcon.exe < 0.01 26,708 K 24,392 K 3384 IAStorIcon Intel Corporation FATrayMon.exe 1,816 K 4,884 K 3424 FATrayMon Sensible Vision FATrayAlert.exe 0.01 5,268 K 10,808 K 3840 FATrayAlert Application Sensible Vision WebcamInt.exe 30,552 K 8,504 K 3532 WebcamDell2.exe Creative Technology Ltd ctfmon.exe 2,848 K 4,984 K 4876 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 So does this actually mean anything to anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 So does this actually mean anything to anyone? It does. It's just a lot of stuff you have running that is difficult to read through in txt format and I didn't see many potential problems on a first glance. Will take a longer look later, maybe someone else can too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Well I concede defeat. I don't see anything in there that should lead to your problems (not 100% sure about that alienfx controller thing but that's it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 SynTPEnh.exe < 0.01 10,196 K 15,560 K 3076 Synaptics TouchPad Enhancements Synaptics Incorporated SynTPHelper.exe 2,360 K 4,444 K 3816 Did anyone else notice this? I know it affects touchpad input and not keyboard input, but it's not impossible that Jeff's older games use some esoteric input method that this would interfere with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Did notice it. Suppose it wouldn't hurt to to kill it and see if it helps. Blxz, if you could Right-click SynTPEnh.exe in process explorer, choose 'kill process' and confirm and then start Geneforge and see if that helps. If it doesn't you could also kill AlienwareAlienFXController.exe AlienFXHook32Mngr.exe AlienFXHook64Mngr.exe FYI, those programs will be back on once you either restart your laptop or if you restart them manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 I did that through the task manager. But so far there has been no beneficial effect; keyboard is still non-responsive in-game. I didn't realise you mentioned using process explorer until they were already shut down though. If you think using process explorer is critical to closing those processes then I will try that next time I start my computer. Otherwise I think we can say that those were not the conflicting issues. Any other ideas, keep them coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Nim Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I did that through the task manager. But so far there has been no beneficial effect; keyboard is still non-responsive in-game. I didn't realise you mentioned using process explorer until they were already shut down though. If you think using process explorer is critical to closing those processes then I will try that next time I start my computer. Otherwise I think we can say that those were not the conflicting issues. Nah, task manager is fine. Process explorer is basically a more potent task manager. Any other ideas, keep them coming. Convince your fiance to let you play GF on her laptop ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Out of curiosity, see what happens if you use the on-screen keyboard feature in Win7. I seriously doubt it'll make a difference, but it'd help narrow any culprits. You don't happen to have any joysticks or gamepads connected, do you? Historically some of these HIDs can cause drama (although I haven't heard of such with a SW game). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 I play with a mouse connected. I tried disconnecting and only playing with the touchpad but that didn't make a difference for keyboard input. No other peripherals connected to the computer. As for the onscreen keyboard, I can't get it to show up when I am in Geneforge. if you can figure that out I could try and test it. I really don't imagine it being a feasible way to play the game but it could help out with some sort of diagnostic if that thing starts working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Finally managed to test the plug in keyboard. Using that now to type this and it works fine normally, but inside geneforge it isn't working at all. Does this help narrow down the cause at all? Does anyone have any ideas left at all as to what can cause this or what I can do to try and figure it out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 If that isn't working, it's definitely a software conflict of some sort. You said there was only a week between when you used it and it worked, and when you used it and it didn't. Did you install ANYTHING, or change any system settings, during that time? I assume not, since this was already brought up and you didn't say anything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Earth Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I tried GF1-demo on my new comp with W7 64bit (and gotta say that outside game area graphics were very blurry (holding tab sharpened graphics)) and keyboard worked fine (at least g and tab) so its not W7's fault. if you have spare harddisk you could do fresh install of Win7 on that (assuming you have installation cd) and not to install anything else there except GF-games and see if they work properly and if they do then that would narrow problem source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Did you install ANYTHING, or change any system settings, during that time? Well I guess the answer is yes. I can't think of anything but I must have changed something to cause the conflict. The harddrive is relatively new so I have been gradually reinstalling my steam library when download limits allow each month as well as updating my virus scanner. But I don't think steam stuff would cause a conflict (especially since it worked long before on the old hardrive) and I have totally replaced my antivirus with a different program to see if the keyboard started working. Is there anything else in that information file I posted earlier that could cause a conflict or is the likely cause deeper in the system somewhere? Anything to recommend to how I should proceed to find the conflict? (and a system restore isn't on the cards. I've spent far too much of my download limit to just wipe out my steam games -> about $100 worth of data downloads in my country.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Whatever's causing the conflict is most likely a program (or a setting) that is neither harmful nor unusual, and just isn't playing well with old Geneforge. So we're not going to find it by looking through a list of everything on your hard drive or every open process at a given time. If you really want to find the conflict, you'd need to identify the SPECIFIC things you downloaded, installed, or changed during the week in question. Alternately, maybe some preferences file got corrupted? When you uninstalled, did you search out every possible GF file, even ones that aren't in the main Geneforge folder but are elsewhere on your hard drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk adc. Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I'm surprised anyone hasn't suggested using safe mode, well maybe because it won't work. But I'm not quite sure if Geneforge will run at all, since it is in Steam. Plus I tried opening Skyrim on a safe mode once, it was slower than flying turtle, it might be because Direct X wasn't started up or something. So I don't know if booting windows in safe mode can help or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Slartibus, not sure how I can find out every file. I had a casual scan through the registry and didn't find anything but I lack experience doing this kind of thing. With no other way to identify the error does this mean the troubleshoot is basically finished; there is nothing more that can be done? Witcher, I'm not using a steam version of the game. As for why skyrim ran so slow, it could well be because graphics cards don't load their drivers in safe mode and so you run on the integrated thingy instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 This might sound very weird, but it may be related to my issue. I decided to fire up and old GBA emulator for some oldschool fun and when I went to configure the keys I found that the F12 key is continuously firing on repeat. Is it possible that this is my problem? Could it be that the oldschool geneforge games don't handle multiple keypresses at once while geneforge 5, in the newer engine, can deal with it? If this is a possible yes, does anyone know how I can stop this key from firing? I tried removing the key and cleaning it. Doesn't appear to have stopped the issue. Could it be software related? Any clues on how I can disable the key? EDIT: I can't confirm this is happening all the time. It appears to only happen with the rom running but not when I only run the emulator BIOS. May or may not be related. EDIT2: Seems it will start happening as soon as I press a key even when running the BIOS. This may explain why I can get a single button press in geneforge 3 and 4 before everything locks up. Provided that this is the same issue across the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 while it's happening, unplug your keyboard. if it stops, it's something in the keyboard messing with it. Othwrwise, it could be a whole host of things Wait, you're on a laptop aren't you? That might make unplugging a bit more complicated... :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I decided to fire up and old GBA emulator for some oldschool fun and when I went to configure the keys I found that the F12 key is continuously firing on repeat. This may explain why I can get a single button press in geneforge 3 and 4 before everything locks up. Wait a sec, this is TOTALLY what's going on. Earlier you said: "The odd thing though, is that whatever button I pressed it would tigger the bottom right button on the GUI; quick action slot 4." That sure sounds like a button that's keyed to F12 to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk adc. Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Wait a sec, this is TOTALLY what's going on. Earlier you said: "The odd thing though, is that whatever button I pressed it would tigger the bottom right button on the GUI; quick action slot 4." That sure sounds like a button that's keyed to F12 to me! SLART! You have cracked the case! Elementary, my dear Witcher So, what can we do about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Earth Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 SLART! You have cracked the case! Elementary, my dear Witcher So, what can we do about it? take laptop to repairshop. I'm surprised anyone hasn't suggested using safe mode, well maybe because it won't work. But I'm not quite sure if Geneforge will run at all, since it is in Steam. Plus I tried opening Skyrim on a safe mode once, it was slower than flying turtle, it might be because Direct X wasn't started up or something. slowness is because safe mode has basically only vga-adapter in use aka no graphic card used much. adc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 29, 2014 Author Share Posted July 29, 2014 Well, I'm glad we have finally figured it out. Now I just need to try and disable that key. I've tried using a remapping program to disable the key but it doesn't seem to be stopping it. This might be tricky. Going to take a while to figure this out. Feel free to let me know if anyone knows some special program that might work. (currently trying MapKeyboard 1.5 with no effect) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Mea Tulpa Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Maybe it's a buggy keymapper, but if one didn't work it's probably more likely that this is a software-generated keypress event (in which case keyboard maps aren't going to have any impact). I think you've said this occurs when nothing else is running, so I'd suspect first either a system setting or a GOG wrapper (if there is one for these games; I know GOG has sometimes used those in the past, but don't know what their current policy is). Of course, it could also be a virus although that seems like a strange effect for a virus to have, and you said you've run antivirus scans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted July 29, 2014 Share Posted July 29, 2014 Both programs could also be bypassing the abstraction layers remappers use and accessing the hardware directly. This is pretty common in emulators iirc, although it's a tad weird for Jeffers to be doing that as well. Unfortunately, without knowing how Jeff is accessing the keyboard inputs, we're kind of in the dark here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 30, 2014 Author Share Posted July 30, 2014 The key itself is physically fine. Its got to be some software thing. No idea how to stop it though. Maybe I could uninstall the keyboard drivers temporarily? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk adc. Posted July 30, 2014 Share Posted July 30, 2014 The key itself is physically fine. Its got to be some software thing. No idea how to stop it though. Maybe I could uninstall the keyboard drivers temporarily? I don't know if it will work, but I would recommend these steps: Go to Device Manager Look for your keyboard driver (be careful in this one) If you have found it, uninstall the driver, but do NOT check the box Then click action>Scan for hardware changes I did this to my Wi-fi driver as it screws up alot recently, I think it will simply return the driver to some default state, but I'm still not sure if it works actually like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody Blxz Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 There are 5 drivers under the keyboards part of the device manager. I think I might give Dell support a phonecall on monday and see if they can do anything. I don't want to ruin anything unintentionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Earth Posted July 31, 2014 Share Posted July 31, 2014 that's 4 too many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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