Help Please. Cannot get FFXI to work

[Hank]

Does your laptop have two gpus? FFXI may have defaulted to the built in one. If so, there is probably some built in software that lets you assign software to your video cards.

[Gwynplaine]

Can you run other graphically intense games on your laptop? I mean does it work normally otherwise? It just does not sound like a FFXI issue, sounds like hardware/software/drivers etc.

[Byrthnoth]

Again, going to recommend running a benchmark for another game. You don't have to download or install the game to run the benchmark and it will probably (if it's working?) have similar requirements to the game.

[emerle]

I dont play any other games at all. FFXI is the only one. And like i said before, this computer has run FFXI before. I havnt changed any of the hardware.

I do not know how to check if it has 2 GPUs. But the laptop is nothing special so i doubt it. I bought it for 600$ about a year ago. It is a dell.

To me the issue sounds like something with the hardware also. But what im saying is... This laptop has run FFXI before, i played for like 4 Months and i never had this issue, ever. First thing i did when i bought this laptop was install FFXI and play. Didnt have to change anything. I have since reformatted my computer to clear everything off it. And when i did that, it removed the Factory restore option so i had to call Dell and they sent me a USB drive so i could Factory restore it again like a month ago.

Now when i try to install, i keep having the problems. I know this laptop can run FFXI. I have done it. And when i did run FFXI, the graphics wern't chopppy, i mean they were outstanding, i took Envirotmental effects off, took footsteps off. I disabled all the unnecisary things to make it easier on the laptop so the FPS were better. I know i won't be able to make the game look amazing, i just want to play and have fun lol.

I think im going to call dell and bitch them out and have them send me something to make it restore to exactly how it was when i bought it. Im sure the USB drive they sent me had some updates on it.

It still blows my mind that a 1 year old Laptop will not play a 10 year old game. It should be as simple as installing the game and push update then play.................

[emerle]

Sorry for double post but i wanted to say again that i appreciate everyone trying to help with my issue.

Still open for more suggestions

[Sithel]

Have you tried searching for different drivers for your video card? Plug into google exactly what card you have and see what problems or drivers come up? Sometimes an older driver will work rather than a newer one ect.

You could also check what card you have by going to,
Start > Right Click Computer > Properties > Device Manager > Under Display adapters is where your card is listed.

You could run windows update and see if there's any different drivers available under custom and software. You could right click your video card under device manager and click Uninstall and reboot your PC for a generic driver. It just seems like whatever you have going on is hardware/driver related.

[Fereydoon]

I dont play any other games at all. FFXI is the only one. And like i said before, this computer has run FFXI before. I havnt changed any of the hardware.

I do not know how to check if it has 2 GPUs. But the laptop is nothing special so i doubt it. I bought it for 600$ about a year ago. It is a dell.

To me the issue sounds like something with the hardware also. But what im saying is... This laptop has run FFXI before, i played for like 4 Months and i never had this issue, ever. First thing i did when i bought this laptop was install FFXI and play. Didnt have to change anything. I have since reformatted my computer to clear everything off it. And when i did that, it removed the Factory restore option so i had to call Dell and they sent me a USB drive so i could Factory restore it again like a month ago.

Now when i try to install, i keep having the problems. I know this laptop can run FFXI. I have done it. And when i did run FFXI, the graphics wern't chopppy, i mean they were outstanding, i took Envirotmental effects off, took footsteps off. I disabled all the unnecisary things to make it easier on the laptop so the FPS were better. I know i won't be able to make the game look amazing, i just want to play and have fun lol.

I think im going to call dell and bitch them out and have them send me something to make it restore to exactly how it was when i bought it. Im sure the USB drive they sent me had some updates on it.

It still blows my mind that a 1 year old Laptop will not play a 10 year old game. It should be as simple as installing the game and push update then play.................

Bolded is most likely your problem, you almost definitely don't have drivers, reformatting removed them, and the factory restore is probably didn't install them.

[The Stig]

"1 year dell laptop"

Hm, what laptop is this? We'll probably be able to redirect you to some drivers right away.

Give us the model number (not just the series)

i.e. Dell Latitude 6500

[Hank]

My computer is some cheap $600 one and it has two video cards. One for average things and one for more intense programs. But yeah, I'm guessing you just need to download drivers.

[Brill Weave]

And not a single one of you suggested a water bottle. I am disappoint

[Ratatapa]

damn you brill

[Gwynplaine]

I dont play any other games at all. FFXI is the only one. And like i said before, this computer has run FFXI before. I havnt changed any of the hardware.

Yes but the point is that most likely something has changed since you last successfully ran FFXI. Looking at what you described probably something with drivers that the factory restore didn't include.

http://www.piriform.com/speccy
Go here and download Speccy, it's a nice little program that automatically shows you all your stats of your computer. Then it will show you exactly what GPU you have and all its stats.

[dannyl]

I have since reformatted my computer to clear everything off it. And when i did that, it removed the Factory restore option so i had to call Dell and they sent me a USB drive so i could Factory restore it again like a month ago.

This is more than likely the issue. Whatever you restored your computer with, the newly installed ffxi isn't liking.
If its giving you that error message you posted on the OP, best bet is your graphic drivers are old or need updating. I'm pretty sure many have already stated this.

You will need to update your drivers and any other chipsets. My recommendation, since its a dell, go to their website, search for your model and just download the latest drivers for all components and update them.

GL

[emerle]

My Laptop is a Dell Inspiron N5110

This is what that Program speccy gave me:


Operating System
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i3/i5/i7 @ 2.10GHz 53 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
6.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 034W60 (CPU 1) 54 °C
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor (1024x768@1Hz)
Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Hard Drives
625GB Western Digital WDC WD6400BPVT-75HXZT1 ATA Device (SATA) 44 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRWBD CT30N ATA Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device


Graphics
Monitor
Name Generic PnP Monitor on Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Current Resolution 1024x768 pixels
Work Resolution 1024x728 pixels
State enabled, primary, VgaCompatible
Monitor Width 1024
Monitor Height 768
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 1 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
Standard VGA Graphics Adapter
Memory type 2
Driver version 6.1.7600.16385
OpenGL
Version 1.1.0
Vendor Microsoft Corporation
Renderer GDI Generic
GLU Version 1.2.2.0 Microsoft Corporation
Values
GL_MAX_LIGHTS 8
GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE 1024
GL_MAX_TEXTURE_STACK_DEPTH 10
GL Extensions
GL_WIN_swap_hint
GL_EXT_bgra
GL_EXT_paletted_texture
GL_EXT_bgra

[Sithel]

With the Model you gave, plugging that into Dell's website gives this.
http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/555

By the specs you gave, it looks like you just have all generic drivers because of a reformat. By the looks of it from Dell's website, you have a few options, but you need to find out which video card you have. Maybe a sticker on the laptop or a receipt showing exactly what you have.You have mentioned Intel video before so its possible its the last one in the list, the Intel HD graphics/3000.

Options showing are.

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 7650M

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6470

GeForce GT 525M

HD Graphics/3000

[emerle]

Ya i just talked to Dell, they were very helpful and said that one of the drivers that deals with graphics for the computer wasn't installed because of the factory restore. So they pointed me to the driver i needed and it is downloading now. Ill let you guys know the results. Again, thanks for the help everyone.

[emerle]

Hi i recently have had problems running FFXI but i have seemed to get everything fixed (needed to install a driver. Thanks again for everyone who helped).

Now that i have everything working correctly i will need to redownload the updates for FFXI. However, i saved the ROM0-9 files on a seperate harddrive. I heard you can just copy and paste them into the correct folder and you wont have to update. I am not 100% about this just heard you can do it. If you can do this, would you please let me know the steps taken to do this successfully. Thanks again guys for your help. It is greatly appreciated.

[Gwynplaine]

That's true. Although there may be a small handful of files that will still update download. But if it's on another HDD you need some way to transfer it. You could just put them onto a USB or DVD I guess. Otherwise there is a BG thread that has a torrent to download all updates up to date which might take like an hour.

[emerle]

Ya they are on an external HDD with a usb port... so no problem there. So i just delete ROM and Rom1-9 and then paste the ROM files i have saved on the other HDD?

[Kohan]

You don't even need to delete the ones from your installation. You can if you want, but it's an unnecessary step. Just copy and paste the folders into the FINAL FANTASY XI directory and you'll be good to go.