Unload the Debugger and Try again
 

Hi
I've spent the last 2 days searching this forum to find an answer to my question but to no avail. I have High Heat 2003 which has SD 2.51.21. Every time I try to launch the game I get a window error that reads "Unload the Debugger and try again". I read that programs like Daemon tools etc. have been black listed. I have uninstalled everything pertaining to making backups and all emulators and still get the message. I installed from the original CD and tried to play from the original CD and still the same message. I was wondering if anyone knows what file(s) is causing Windows XP to detect a deuigger? Where can I find it and get rid of it? If not does anyone know how to make a fixed executable or a no CD patch for this game.
Thanks so much for reading this

Debugger
 

No, I actually don't have either installed. I really don't know what's going on.

is it legal?

Yes, it is legal. It's a store-bought game and was installed and (attempted) played with the original CD

I don't know about calling tech support since debuggers come up because of safedisc.

that was why i asked the question...

mmm in former time (when i was more intended in this topic :D) there was a tool called frogsice ... this may help you.
(but i'm not longer up2date in this topic)

InSOMniA

There are several ways that protection mechanisms look for debuggers running in the background.
Frogsice won't help as it's out of date (won't help with sd2), and useless if softice isn't running. (Although it will log sd2's attempts to detect a debugger and could give you a clue to what's happening)

In the end, if you are playing from an original cd on a machine without a debugger present, then this is definitely a problem for the tech support of the software developer.

Ring them and pick their brains

Unload debugger - who knows?
 

I have the same error message: A debugger has been detected - X "Unload the debugger and try again" for two games: MOHAA and Aquanox. Neither tech support for EA Games or Fishtank could help me. All they told me to do was unload all of the not essential processes running and try different compatibility modes of Windows XP, e.g. 98, 2000. These didn't work at all. I have search my hard drive for SoftICE, APS and other text that might give a hint of a debugger but to no avail. Is there a tool or a list of file names or registry keys available that can be referenced to find what is causing safedisc 2.51 to cause this error message to popup. I have legal CDs of both games. In fact, I played MOHAA 2/3 of the way through and than took a break for 3 weeks. When I started playing it again, this message came up. I uninstalled all the software I loaded since than and still get this message. I reinstalled the game and still this error message. I have found about 4 messages on various forums but no one has an answer. Does anyone have an idea how to deal with this?

Jerry:confused:

i know 1 more prog like frogsice...when i remember the name i will post it.....

Aquanox has 2.51 safedisc protection and I get the same error message when I try to start this game. I am hoping to avoid a clean reinstall of windows. Do you know of any "black list" for this copy protection?

Jerry:confused:

uninstall any emulator/decompilers, and then run regcleaner

Where would these be found? What names should I look for? I am not a programmer/hacker or cracker. I have checked my control panel uninstall service many times and can't find any such program that I think would be in this category. What name would appear in the task window under running processes for such programs?

Jerry:confused:

these would be things you installed to get around copy protections. you should know what they are. then, delete any folders in your program files directory, and use reg-cleaner to remove registry keys that are no longer in use.

I don't think Safedisc searches registry entries of debuggers.
SoftIce is installed on my computer, but it's not loaded now (I disabled it in my autoexec.bat), and I can perfectly run SD protected games.
If SoftIce is loaded, pressing Ctrl-D will take you to its main window (press Ctrl-D again to quit). If nothing happens, SI is not loaded.

FrogsIce will work with SD 1.xx.xx, but not with SD2.
If both SoftIce and FrogsIce are loaded, and you try to run a SD2 protected exe, the message 'Unload the debugger and try again' will NOT appear ! It will just quit, even before the cd-check.

Another debugger is TRW. If this program is loaded, SD2 will refuse to run too (I'm not 100% sure about that, as I always work with SoftIce).

themis_t, I think you mean 'Icepatch' as that alternative for FrogsIce...

Have a look at your autoexec.bat file to see if a debugger is loaded during startup.

If the message still appears, I suggest to mail to Macrovi$ion, not to the game developers.

Hope this helps,

then try everything you can think of...i think you are clever enough so one of your ways will work....

May be new infos ??
 

Hello all,

I'm new on this forum, and have the same problem. This problem occurs on Morrowind, Medieval Total War, Shogun Total War, Black and White (for my games) and comes from Safe Disc CD protection under Windows XP.
So, it is not really a game problem. If you re-install XP, then install the games, they will work again. Until you re-install the software which may generate this bug...
I have tried to stop each process and services, but no changes.
So, I am currently trying to find what is common in our configuration. Can you tell me if you are doing some Video Edition ? Do you have CD Burner, and what are your Burning Software ?
I've read in some forum that removing the file amdfix.sys (in C:/Windows/System32/Drivers) will solve the issue. I've tried and it changes the problem. I did not have this f...... message, but the game never start. But may be it can help someone.

By the end, I always download the nocd patch for each game and play in this config. But it is a problem when you want to install a patch.

So, if you can give me your config (software), may be it can help.
Does anyone ask Microsoft about that ? THis error only occurs with Windows 2k and XP.

Elros :rolleyes:

all i've noticed is that it started happening about hte same time they checked for cd-r media, duno what else to say.

At the edn of the day, there are many ways that progs can check for debuggers like SIce.
Checking Int handlers, driver names, vxds, softice dlls, etc etc etc. I would expect that since they've never installed sice or similar debuggers, then sd2 may be falling down over interrupt handlers in winxp (unless by some bizarre coincidence they have 3rd party software installed with the same named dlls, vxds etc as sice or similar debugger)

BUT, if these guys say they aren't running, or never have run SIce or any other debugger, then the people to call are the tech support of the games' publishers.
It's their problem for using a buggy and paranoid protection mechanism in the first place. And sadly if they can't help ya, it's gonna be difficult for us to sort you out at a distance.

This worked for me.
 

Hi All.

I have experienced the same error message when trying to run my original copy of Sid Meier's Sim Golf. It has been very frustrating trying to solve the problem, but with a combination of some of the information on this thread and a bit of though, I was lucky enough to come across a solution. Well, it worked on my machine at least.

I am running XP Professional with a host of software, including a bunch of trial software. I also run Norton Anti-Virus.

1) Disable Norton AntiVirus
----------------------------------
I have disabled Norton by running 'msconfig' and disabling navpw32 under the Startup tag. I also disabled 'Norton AntiVirus Auto Protest Service' under the Services tag.

2) Remove amdfix.sys
---------------------------
I got this one from you guys. I have renamed it to a .bak file. I tried this at the beginning, however it didn't seem to work. All that happened is that the message went away, but when I ran the game, a task appeared in my task bar but nothing ever ran. It did work though after step 3 below.

3) Run Ad-aware to remove spyware
----------------------------------------------
I was struggling to figure out what debuggers or similar services may be running. I then found a tool at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/aaw.html called Ad-aware. What it does is it identifies any advertising spyware that is installed on you machine and removes it for you.

After these three steps, my game finally works.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Derf.

spyware is not a debugger ;)

another thing that may be happening is that sd2 finds some kind of emulator you may have installed. not like nesticle, but daemon tools, or something. if you dont keep your DT version later than the safedisc version, you might find that the game is finding DT. just a thought....

searched lately ? this has been a thread before - this may even be the one im thinking of.....

I didn't say spyware was a debugger. I just detailed what worked for me. :)

The fact is that some spyware runs as a background process monitoring your machine for certain events or actions. eZula is an example. This may be incorrectly interpreted as a debugger. Whatever the case is, I had tried everything else before, to no avail. It was only after I got rid of the spyware AND did the other things that my game worked.

;) :D ;)

Hi all,

Finally, it works. You just have to rename the file
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\amdfix.sys (to amdfix.sys.save for example).
Then, reboot the PC and try again.
For me, with Morrowind, Medieval Total War, and the original CD, it works perfectly.

Does anyone knows what is this file :confused: ?

Elros

the name implies its a fix for amd processors.

so,how did you found this out?

Another possibility
 

if you install MIcrosoft Office 2000 or XP and also install the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) files, the Visual Studio debugger program will be installed as well. This debugger is set to run at startup by default and you will have to disable it for Safedisc games to work.

are you sure about this or is it just a possibility?

I am sure.
 

100% sure. I have seen this personally.

then houston we have a problem....

funny that - all my safedisc games still work :P

The solution of(some of)the problems!!!
 

Hi, Ladies and Gentleman,

I also had problems with the damned "debugger detect"!
But I found after a long search the solution!

I am proud owner of a Soundblaster Audigy2(it's the same for Audigy)!
But the DVD-Player released with the Software is detected as a debugger.
Just uninstall the DVD-Player from the "Software"-Menu in the system-properties!

I hope, I could help some of you!
I was also quite astonished, when I found out what was the reason!

Greetings
Whiteknight:cool:

Hi all,

Same problem, but... on windows ME icw GhostRecon. Support says uninstall McAfee, I did. But, still same problem.

:(

Well, I've just now experienced my first case of this. My boys wanted to play the Harry Potter games they I got them some months back. They had already finished the games, but with the new book out, wanted to try again.

However, when we tried to play them (the original CDs), we got this "Debugger has been detected" problem.

I tried the games on two other computers before I found one that worked. The two problem machines have this in common:
(a) both have CDRW drives (but I was playing in the CD rom drive, as before)
(b) I had tried installing "Triple Play 2001" on both, and it failed on both.

I'm using windows 2000, and again, these are original CD's. I have no debuggers that I've put on, and I have no emulators running.

Weird thing is, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, Civ 3, all my other games work. The only ones that don't are the two Harry Potter games, and Red Alert 2.

Hey, all three machines have Office 2000 on them. How would I disable the VB debugger?