Technical Queries (for PC Users) FAQ Note : When Playing CM, do not have any other programs running in the background, especially virus checkers as these can slow the game down considerably. Personally I have no problem running Winamp whilst playing the game. If the game crashes when you use alt-tab to switch to a different application then you must either play in windowed mode or use the GDI version (See A1) Unofficial Updates / Editors: Using unofficial updates and editors is unsupported - you use them at your own risk but they may well corrupt the database and render the game unplayable. Before applying data updates or using editors (in the official pre-game editor) you should make a copy of the Data folder in the CM directory so you can easily restore it if necessary.
It is advisable to run scandisk regularly and keep the drive defragmented. You should run Windows Update and an uptodate virus checker regularly. Q1. When using CM00-01 or 01-02, the game flashes back to the desktop at certain points such as when the ‘continue’ or ‘save’ button is pressed.
A1. Instead of using your normal desktop / start menu shortcut to run CM, you need to go into the directory where CM is stored (usually: C:\Program Files\Championship Manager 01-02) and find the file called CM0102_GDI.exe, double click on this to run the game.
If you have CM00-01 you will need to get the GDI patch to be able to use it:
ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2000-01/cm00_389_nodata_gdi.exe Q2. How do I take a Screenshot?
A2. Press the print screen button on the keyboard (Prt Sc(r) - next to F12). The image is now stored on the clipboard and you can access it by pasting (Ctrl+V) into Paint or other image-editing software. Q3. I have CM error messages such as Database...cpp
A3. It is almost certainly the case that the save-game is corrupted, most likely from using save-game editors and even in some cases using the Official Pre-game editor. If however you get database problems when loading up, it means the actual game database is corrupt. To fix this you should re-install CM. Q4. When I press "Continue" , the game crashes back to the desktop
A4. Your best bets are:
1. Get the latest path for your version of CM
2. Try using the GDI version as described in A1.
3. Update Windows from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
4. Get the latest drivers for your hardware from the manufacturer’s website Q5. Problems with network / Internet games under Windows XP
A5. It is quite likely that the Built in Win XP firewall is enabled and thus blocking the port CM uses. To disable it follow these instructions:
-- Go to the Setting section in the start menu
-- Click Network Connections
-- Right click on the Connection and click Properties
-- Go to the advanced tab and un-tick the ‘enable firewall’
A better option may be to open ports 6667 both TCP and UDP rather than to disable the firewall. You can add these ports by going to your Connection Properties --> under the tab ’Advanced’ > click settings in the
bottom-right hand corner and Add CM twice - one for port 6667 TCP and then one for 6667 UDP. It’s much safer this way because you don’t run the risk of being hacked. If you still have problems, post a message in the forum with the contents of the net.out file (found in the CM directory) as well as the usual details. Q6. How do I stop the game trying to install every time I put the CD in (only problem with Win XP I
think):
A6. Either: Press Shift and hold down when you put the CD in, until the drive stops reading the disc, or Disable Autorun. To do this, go to My Computer > Right click on CD drive icon > Click Properties > Autoplay tab > then configure it as you wish. Q7. Which is the best Save-Game Editor to use for CM01-02?
A7. IMHO Graeme Kelly's Save-Game Editor is the most reliable. I have heard of many reports of other editors corrupting save games, but remember using a save game editor is not in any way supported by SI Games. Q8. I have forgotten / Lost the password to my SaveGame is there any way to recover it?
A8. Yes! The default password is: sportsinteractive Q9. I am having trouble downloading the patches. I keep getting cut-off and have to start downloading again.
A9. Use a Download Manager like GetRight. You can get it here : www.getright.com Q10. Game freezes / stops when loading game / saving / end of season, if I press Ctrl+Alt+Del it says: Not responding
A10. Wait longer - Not Responding doesn't mean that it has crashed, it just means the program is too busy to respond to Windows. If you leave it, it will eventually get past this; the processing at the end of the season can take especially long. If it does crash, you usually get an error message or it crashes back to the desktop. Q11. My save-game file is getting larger and larger and now is a few hundred MB!
A11. This is the sign of a corrupt database because the game is producing duplicate records. This means the game is corrupt and there isn't much that can be done about it. Again, the main cause of such problems is the use of the Editors. Q12. Are save games compatible from an older patch to a new patch? e.g. from 3.9.62 to 3.9.65
A12. Yes, they are fully compatible. Save games from different versions of CM are not. Q13. Having general Network/internet game problems
A13. Try running ip.exe in the CM folder and disable any network cards in the device manager if you are trying to play an internet game. Try using the GDI version of the game as described in A1. If you still have problems, post a message in the forum with the contents of the net.out file (found in the CM directory) as well as the usual details. Q14. When installing data updates it says it cannot copy weather.cfg or similar..
A14. Select the entire data directory (Ctrl+A), right click on one of the files, click properties and un-tick the read-only box. Then press OK. Q15. Having trouble installing off the CD?
A15. Copy the contents to a place on your hard drive and install the game from there by running setup.exe. Q16. I am getting errors such as: v.3.9.60 file_list..cpp161(file_list::add note:cannot open file and Championship Manager has been unable to write data to disk., Reasons for this could be
1) lack of disk space,
2) file locked by system,
3) bad sectors on disk being written to
A16. Free up space on your windows partition.If CM is on a different partition, free up space on that one
as well. Q17. Can the resolution be changed from 800*600
A17. No, I'm afraid not, you are stuck with it - Marc Vaughan has promised multiple resolutions for CM4 though! \o/ Q18. Can't run cm2 series on XP or 2k
A18. If you only have NTFS partitions on your hard drive, then create a small FAT32 partition, insert a Windows 98SE bootdisk and load the game up from there. Also required are DOS mouse drivers (you may have a problem if you have a USB mouse), which will have to be loaded up each time you wish to play
unless you amend the autoexec.bat file. Failing that, the trickier option is to install and configure a DOS emulator. Other option is to try using a bootdisk from www.bootdisk.com Q19. The game freezes / crashes with XP or 2k with around 512 MB of RAM "Out of Memory Errors"- if greater than 512 follow:
http://community.sigames.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=66919117&m=3321921233
A19. Try lowering the size of your page file to around 400MB (if it isn't already that or lower) - this stops the total memory available being over 1GB and stops the error. It will (hopefully) stop the "Out of Memory
errors" as well. The new location for the Win Qfixapp: http://www.aliashunter.com/act20.exe Note: this is an alternative solution to applying the QfixApp for those with less than 1 GB but more than
512MB - as long as you make your virtual memory low enough so that the sum of the RAM and the virtual memory does not exceed 1GB.
To get to the page file settings: Right click on my computer > Click Properties > Advanced Tab > Performance settings > advanced tab > Change button Q20. The PC restarts itself when playing CM
A20. CM cannot restart the computer on its own (except in XP where it will restart by default after a critical error). As a result, the problem is usually related to overheating and restarting is the computer’s way of telling you that it is getting too hot. The best fix is to get some more case fans. Q21. My save-game no longer appears in the restore list.
A21. This means that the file header has become corrupt and your game is beyond repair. Again, the most likely causes for this happening are bad sectors (run scandisk) or data updates / save-game editors. Q22. Can CM3 be run on Windows XP?
A22. Yes, but you must have the latest patch: ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%203/cm304e.exe Q23. Cannot host an internet game from within LAN
A23. The following threads explain how to get around this problem.http://community.sigames.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=66919117&m=7831963975
http://community.sigames.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=66919117&m=1691905875 If you have any further queries start a new topic in the technical queries forum.
If you are having problems and have a VIA Chipset, the following is for you:
http://community.sigames.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=66919117&m=7331963763 If you are running out of memory with Win2k / XP, the following is for you:
http://community.sigames.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=66919117&m=3321921233 Locations of Various useful files etc.
CM01-02, Latest Patch, Data : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2001-02/cm0102v3965.exe
CM01-02, Latest Patch, No data : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2001-02/cm0102.zip
CM01-02, Latest Patch, No Data, GDI : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2001-02/cm0102_GDI.zip
CM00-01, Latest Patch, Data : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2000-01/cm00_389.exe
CM00-01, Latest Patch, Data, GDI : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2000-01/cm00_389_gdi.exe
CM00-01, Latest Patch, No Data : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2000-01/cm00_389_nodata.exe
CM00-01, Latest Patch, No Data, GDI : ftp://ftp.sigames.com/official/CM%2000-01/
cm00_389_nodata_gdi.exe Kris Dorey's FAQ :
http://community.sigames.com/1/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=21019056&f=66919117&m=5061908315 --These FAQs do cover some of the same ground, but as the overlap isn't complete, it is a good idea to read both. Any CM related downloads: www.thedugout.net - these downloads are NOT supported by sigames. Windows Update : http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ DirectX : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.asp If you still have problems then post your message on the board making sure to answer the following questions in your post:
A) Your version of Championship Manager and any Patch installed
B) A complete specification of your PC, including any soundcards etc.
C) Any other programs running at the same time as Championship Manager
D) Steps to replicate this problem (so we can replicate it on our machines),
E) Have you used any editors or updates (official or unofficial)?
Last Update: 4 September 2002
Written By: Edward Lambert
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