LotR:BfME noDVD 1.02 question

[kenmeller]

Bought game (DVD), arrived today.

Install on a Win2k setup which has CloneCD, Alcohol, etc.

Game objects to presence of CD/DVD emulation software.

Download and install official 1.02 patch and iND's 1.02 fixed file patch.

Game doesn't run - no error messages, warnings just a little HDD activity then zilch.

Repeat the whole process on 2nd HDD which boots into a minimal WinXP.

Game works fine - so all hardware is ok.

So why no go on the Win2k drive?

Does the noDVD patch remove sensitivity to blacklisted software? If so, what else could cause the problem?
If not, how can tell which software I need to disable and is there a quick way to do this eg. using task manager or do I have to uninstall such software?

As a matter of principle I object strongly to this copy protecction method.

I believe that by probing my machine EA have infinged my Human Rights to Privacy. There is no warning that my machine will be scanned on the packaging and once opened software cannot (under British/European Distance Selling regulations) be returned.

Someone aught to test this in court.

[DABhand]

You need latest service pack installed for 2000

[kenmeller]

I am using sp4.

[Joe Forster/STA]

What's the result with the official 1.02 update but without the no-CD patch for 1.02?

[kenmeller]

Hi Joe,

Using the officially updated game.dat, I get the the splash screen, the CD/DVD emulation software present warning, click ok and the game closes.

Using the noDVD version 1.02 game.dat, task manager gains an entry of lotrbfme.exe which disappears just over a second later - end of story.

Any ideas?

The hardware might be the same running under both Win2k and WinXP but there's a world of difference in the apps (and possibly drivers) installed in each partition.

Ken.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Hi Ken,

What I wanted to aim at is that, perhaps, something is wrong with your Windows 2000 installation and the game wouldn't run on it anyway. You know, an application, a driver, a config setting, whatever... I suggest that you temporarily remove CloneCD - or only its registry entries, after backing them up; see relevant threads on this forum! - and try again with or without the 1.02 update, with the original CD and without a no-CD patch. Does that work?

Joe

[DABhand]

I tried BFME on 2000, it worked fine both original and mini-image, but if I was on as a limited user, well all hell broke loose.

[kenmeller]

Joe,

I tried removing CloneCD - no change, I still get the CD/DVD emulation warning - but then again I do also have VirtualCD, Daemon Tools and Alcohol (plus various other CDRW tools) installed. I am loathe to remove them all in case I have problems re-installing - do we know to which apps the game specifically objects?

Last night I was going to try an LOtR:BfME installation on my second HDD under another (cloned) Win2k partition which sits alongside WinXP and then remove all of the CD/DVD apps from there. Unfortunately, that version of Win2k wouldn't boot - it looks like the registry hive is corrupted.

So it looks as though I'm going to have to re-think my setup and probably use an OS loader to keep the second Win2k (which is used as a testbed) and WinXP (also a testbed) completely independent.

I don't use copied games and I don't give them away but when publishing houses cause me so much grief, it makes me want to - just to get back at them.

Ken.

[pyrokinesis]

You are quite right that EA detects CD/DVD Emulation software. Only one it seems to ignore is Daemon Tools. You will probably also find that once you have installed the No-CD/DVD patch and regenerated the LOTRbfme.dat file the game will work, however other EA game's that you have installed and backed up, no longer work unless you use the original disc. So in this case it would be better if you continued to use the original disc, without the patch.
Maybe one day this problem will be fixed

[kenmeller]

Hi pyrokinesis,

There's something you said that I dont follow:

Originally Posted by pyrokinesis

once you have installed the No-CD/DVD patch and regenerated the LOTRbfme.dat file the game will work

At what point is this LOTRbfme.dat file regenerated (it's timestamped the day I installed the game)?

Do I need to do something to invoke the regeneration? What info does it store?

Fortunately (??), I don't own any other EA games and I'm not likely to either, it's only my obsession with LotR that has prompted me to buy this one. I have no real objection to putting the disc in the drive (although, being lazy, untidy and careless, I'd prefer not to) I'm just trying to get the game to work without having to uninstall useful utilities which have a legitimate purpose.

Joe,

Ok, I uninstalled CloneCD, Alcohol and Daemon Tools - using the original game.dat, the splash screen fires up then closes down again a second or two later, no CD emulation window but nothing else either - just like with the no CD/DVD patch. I guess therefore that the problem lies elsewhere. I am using an old Matrox G450eTV graphics card with the latest drivers from Matrox on the Win2k setup but WinXP installed its own drivers which are slightly different. I have DirectX 9.0c in Win2k, I'll have to check on the WinXP version.

I hadn't expected the game to run at all using the Matrox card and was planning to upgrade to an ATI 9800Pro AIW (I know that gamers would prefer the nVidia 6600GT but I can't justify the extra costs involved) so I was pleased to get anything at all from it. At least I can just about play the game (unlike Myst IV which is still waiting in its box).

Thanks both for your input.

Ken

[pyrokinesis]

First you need to find a file called LOTRbfme_inst.exe. This is the file that generates the LOTRbfme.dat file. This file is generated according to the properties of the installation, ie. Registry settings, Game.dat file information. Whenever you make any changes to these eg. change the registry if you want to move the location of the installation etc, as well as replacing the Game.dat file, this file needs to be regenerated. All the security of LOTRBFME is linked to this file it seems. So the procedure is the following:

Install the Game.
Update the game to V 1.02
Backup the Current Game.dat file (Will need this for future updates), as well as the LOTRbfme.dat file (Probably better to rename these to .bak).
Now replace the Game.dat file with the one in the NO-CD/DVD patch.
Delete the LOTRbfme.dat file (Unless you renamed it - or you will not notice the replacement)
Run the LOTRbfme_inst.exe file and you should see a new LOTRbfme.dat file.
Run the Game and you should have no further problems.

[kenmeller]

Thanks pyrokinesis - I'll give that a whirl later today.
Ken

[kenmeller]

Nope, tried that - no change - splash screen fires up then dies again.

Oh well, thanks for suggestion.

[zacqzzz]

My lotrbfme_inst.exe has a problem therefore it dosent run when I click on it. So I get the splash screen, and then after a while, it closes. Well this is what I think. So, can anyone send me their lotrbfme_inst.exe please? Send to zacqzzz********com
Thanks!

[pyrokinesis]

It doesn't seem as if it is running. (At least you see nothing pop-up). However if you delete the original LOTRbfme.dat you should see a new one. It is possible that it creates the New file in a directory other than your install directory. I had it that the new one appears in the parent directory of my installation dir. Also check your registry. make sure it contains all the following:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\The Battle for Middle-earth]
"Language"="english"
"InstallPath"="D:\\GAMES\\LOTRBFME\\"
"Version"=dword:00010000
"MapPackVersion"=dword:00010000
"UseLocalUserMaps"=dword:00000000
"UserDataLeafName"="My Battle for Middle-earth Files"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\EA Games\The Battle for Middle-earth\ergc]
@=" Your Serial Number without the '-' "

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES\The Battle for Middle-earth]
"DisplayName"="The Battle for Middle-earth (tm)"
"Installed From"="C:\\121212\\"
"Registration"="SOFTWARE\\Electronic Arts\\EA GAMES\\The Battle for Middle-earth\\ergc"
"CacheSize"="3351006208"
"SwapSize"="0"
"Language"="English US"
"Locale"="en_us"
"CD Drive"="C:\\"
"Install Dir"=" 'Your installation Directory' "
"Product GUID"="{3F290582-3F4E-4B96-009C-E0BABAA40C42}"
"Region"="Europe"
"Folder"="C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Start Menu\\Programs\\EA GAMES\\"
"Patch URL"="http://transtest.ea.com/Electronic Arts/The Battle for Middle-earth/Europe"
"Suppression Exe"="rtsi.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES\The Battle for Middle-earth\1.0]
"Language"=dword:00000001
"DisplayName"="The Battle for Middle-earth (tm)"
"LanguageName"="English US"

The Version may differ depending on witch update you have installed.

Possible fix: After installing the game (1.0) Copy and edit the above txt and import into you registry. Thereafter install the update and then follow the instructions as in the post Regenerating the DAT file