This is just a quick post for the thousands of people struggling to run the recently released game, Bioshock, and hopefully, if you're searching for a solution, this might be the one for you. (If not, then there's little of interest below - sorry!)
For myself, this is the problem I've been having: In Windows Vista with a DirectX 10 graphics card, the game crashes to an faint (almost black) loading screen after I've chosen the difficulty level.
The first workaround was to run the game in DirectX 9 mode (right click Bioshock's icon in Vista's Game Profiles screen and choose 'Play DirectX 9'). This worked long enough for me to get to the Medical Pavilion, but then it crashed horribly, plus it was kind of annoying not being able to take full advantage of DirectX 10. The second workaround involved running the game in windowed mode, which for some reason worked fine.
Never mind all that though, because here is the 100% solution to the black screen hanging problem in Vista (the solution is actually step 4, but it's worth doing 1-3 while you're at it):
- 1. Firstly, if you're running an Intel based motherboard, download and install the latest INF files for it. This is very simple, thankfully, using Intel's INF Utility program.
- 2. Next up, make sure you're running the versions of the NVidia drivers listed for Bioshock on the NZone website.
- 3. Then make sure you're running the latest version of DirectX for Vista by installing the updater from Microsoft's website. (There was a recent update, so you should definitely do this.)
- 4. Go to Control Panel. Then choose Programs, followed by Turn Windows Features On or Off. Uncheck Tablet PC Optional Components and restart your computer when you're asked to.
Thanks to Nobula for discovering this and sharing it with us all! (Sadly due to the chaos of the 2k technical support forums, it was lost almost immediately.)
Incredible! This really worked after many hours of frustration! Thanks a lot! You're awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks here as well. I had spent about two hours at the 2K forums and did not see the Nobula(?) post, so this was a game saver for me.
ReplyDeleteNote, I had to undo the -dx9 -nointro edit to -dx10 -nointro to get it to work and it took a couple loads probably because of all the updates (including keyboard and mouse).
You know, I searched an search ed for a solution to this exact problem - I searched the 2K Forums, various other sites to look for clues / answers, and even emailed 2k and nVidia both in regards to the issue...
ReplyDeleteThanks, I feel like a retard because the answer to the problem lies in nothing more than my Wacom.
2K kept trying to tell me it was my DVD drive, who0 kept telling me it was SECUrom, who said it was nVidia who in turn said it was 2K. the entire time it was peripherals...
seriously, I can now sit back and enjoy the game as it was intended. Until now I had to run Dx9 on medium and owning an 8800GTOC ultra, it's a painful state to be forced into.
Youch! I feel your pain. I bought the game on release day, desperate to play it and I had the same problem.
ReplyDeleteSo glad this helped you!
Enjoy this brilliant game!
I just want to echo the words of the other commenters. Really, thanks for sharing this fix! I know I'm a little late to the party, but it helped me all the same.
ReplyDeleteAnd another late thank you. I hit this exact problem running vista on my Macbook Pro - assumed that Apple's bootcamp drivers weren't up to the task but luckily I found this. The game plays perfectly now, thanks.
ReplyDeleteNOPE
ReplyDeleteim running a toshiba salelite duo core made for such games and have a NVIDIA GeForce 8700M GT card with 7.15.11.138 driver version.
I reinstalled 4 times, each time it says my driver version has known campatability issues.
I think i have dx10 as I run COD4 just fine and when trying to download dx10 it says I have a newer version.
SO...I then run it in windowed mode, lower resolution, and evrything else found on forums. NOTHING. As always it goes to a black screen after the first movie after the second logo goes out. When I window mode it, then its a "bioshock.exe has stoped working" error.
ANY info would help.
You've got a very common problem that's found on the Toshiba X205 laptops. The problem is that Toshiba needs to update their drivers, but they haven't, AFAIK.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried the later 7.15.11.5664 drivers (presuming you have an X205 laptop) available here:
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/support/downloads/driver_video_nvidia_26726A.exe
If they don't work, simply right click the BioShock icon in the Games menu in Vista, and select "Run - DirectX9c". That should work ok for you.
Good luck!
If that link doesn't work:
ReplyDeletehttp://snipurl.com/2033u
It seems there many be an issue with games installing Dx9 as part of their install process. It messes up Dx10. More info here.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=515
This fixed Bioshock, on Vista and in Dx10 mode for me.
mmmmmMM thankyou :)
ReplyDeletethx man :D
ReplyDeleteall works now :D damn tablet xD I'll put a reference of your arcticle on the steam forum.. with the christmas sold a lot of people will buy bioshock, and will have problems xD (i'm part of it)
I cannot believe I actually found a solution to my problem... every time I tried to change my graphics settings ingame, the game would crash, so I used the default.ini to circumvent that problem. However, Bioshock still would crash randomly whenever I played it. After days of research and trial and error the only solution for me was to start the game in DirextX 9 mode... all my drivers are up to date and my hardware is far beyond Bioshock's requirements, so playing in DX9 sucks quite a lot...
ReplyDeleteToday I accidentally stumbled upon your little article here and what can I say, I gave it a try - and now I can play the game normally, no problem whatsoever!
Big thanks to you! Still can't believe it.
Works perfect on a Windows 7 64bit with the Steam Version of BioShock. Thanks!
ReplyDelete