Problems installing Black Country

[energize]

Hello all,

Today I tried installing Black Country 1. I inserted the DVD in my PC's DVD drive, and the menu came up giving me two options: view the Readme or install Black Country. I clicked on the latter, but nothing appears to happen. Whenever I move the menu, it stops responding (the message "Not responding" appears since I use Vista Home Premium). After about 10 minutes, the "Run setup.exe?" box appears: I click on "Run", nothing happens (the box remains in place for about two to three minutes), then nothing happens for another 10 minutes, until I receive an error message stating that the setup files are corrupt!

I have tried navigating to the setup file on the DVD through Explorer, in an attempt to copy it to the Desktop and run the setup file from there, but when I tried it, the Explorer box showing the file froze for no apparent reason.

My PC has 2048MB of RAM, a 2.67Ghz Intel Dual Core processor, and a Nvidia GeForce 8600GT graphics card. It hasn't had any problems playing MSTS in the past apart from a few performance issues. I think my DVD drive - a TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S182M ATA Device [CD-ROM drive] (copied and pasted from Belarc Advisor) might be the weak link in the chain though I'm not sure. The DVD itself isn't damaged.

Is there anything that can be done to resolve this problem?

Thanks,

Tom

[Lad491]

Very occasionally some DVD drives have difficulty reading disks that have been burned using a high speed burner. It is pretty rare though. Have you got another PC or laptop you can use to view the files on. If it works on another machine then your drive looks to be the problem.

From memory though (its been a while since I installed BC) it took me a couple of attempts to get the installer to run and, as you found, you need to be very patient and give it plenty of time. Ignore the not responding message since Vista gives that if its too busy to respond to its internal "staying alive" check. Hope that helps.

[energize]

I ran the Black Country DVD on my laptop and the menu came up offering the opportunity to install Black Country. I clicked on it, and after a minute the setup wizard started up! However I didn't install it since MSTS isn't installed on my laptop

My laptop has a 800mhz AMD Mobile Sempron processor, an onboard graphics chip, a DVDRW drive, and 512MB of RAM so it's a lot less powerful than my PC. Yet because the setup wizard loaded without any problems, I'm beginning to wonder whether it's the CD/DVD drive on my PC that's causing the problems.

[Lad491]

Did you try to explore it on your laptop? That would be the real test since any imperfections would normally stop that too. If you can explore the cd too on the laptop, I fear you are right about your DVD drive.

I think I would raise a support ticket as I know Pete (UKTS CD Central) will sometimes be able to provide a low speed burned version which might suit your DVD drive better. You can but ask I think its support@uktrainsim.com but a moderator will correct the link if im wrong.

[dorlan]

Alternatively, go to http://support.atomic-systems.com/ and submit a ticket.

[Lad491]

I knew it was something like that

[energize]

As a work-around, I accessed the setup.exe file from the DVD through my laptop, copied and pasted it onto an external HDD and then copied and pasted it onto the desktop on my PC. I then ran the setup file without any problems.

However, I appear to have problems using the Mini-Loader utility included on the DVD. I clicked on the "Black Country" shortcut on the desktop and then clicked "OK" at the next screen, which brought up the following message: "You do not appear to have chosen a Route?". Following the instructions in the Mini-Loader PDF, I clicked on the "bc1_Mini_Route" folder while using the Mini-Loader, navigated to the "ROUTES" folder, and found the BC1 folder. I clicked on "Confirm Route" as per instructions, but I received the same error message. When I navigated to the "Activities" folder, highlighted an activity and clicked on "Activate Selected Activity", I got an error message stating "Run time error: 76. Path not found". I then clicked on OK and the program closed.

Is there a cure for this?

Thanks,

Tom

[emrhd01]

Hi Tom,

However, I appear to have problems using the Mini-Loader utility included on the DVD. I clicked on the "Black Country" shortcut on the desktop and then clicked "OK" at the next screen, which brought up the following message: "You do not appear to have chosen a Route?".

Have a read of this Thread if you haven't 'sussed' it yet.

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... &sk=t&sd=a

I clicked on the latter, but nothing appears to happen. Whenever I move the menu, it stops responding (the message "Not responding" appears since I use Vista Home Premium). After about 10 minutes, the "Run setup.exe?" box appears: I click on "Run", nothing happens (the box remains in place for about two to three minutes), then nothing happens for another 10 minutes

Just as a matter of interest, when you had problems installing BC1, you did install it by right clicking and using 'Administrators rights' didn't you?

[energize]

Hi Tom,

However, I appear to have problems using the Mini-Loader utility included on the DVD. I clicked on the "Black Country" shortcut on the desktop and then clicked "OK" at the next screen, which brought up the following message: "You do not appear to have chosen a Route?".

Have a read of this Thread if you haven't 'sussed' it yet.

http://forums.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic. ... &sk=t&sd=a

I've followed the advice in that thread and Black Country's loaded without any problems. I selected the "London Connection" activity and decided to explore the route using a class 104 DMU. However, when I released the brakes, put the reverser into forwards and opened the throttle, nothing happened. Does this mean I need to install MSTSBin for the route separately? (I've installed it for my main MSTS installation). The activity itself works without any problems.

[emrhd01]

No, if installed correctly the latest version of MSBin should be installed with the BC1 Mini Route.

decided to explore the route using a class 104 DMU. However, when I released the brakes, put the reverser into forwards and opened the throttle, nothing happened.

Not much of a Diesel man myself, but does the 104 have Gears (Key 'E')that you have to select?

[energize]

Yes, I've pressed E to use the gears properly and it now moves. I'm somewhat surprised in that it doesn't appear to be making any sound.