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kenabbottFlag for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Software Installation

I have been trying to load Trainz Railway Simulator 2004 and during installation I keep getting the message

 'CRC error.  The file c:\etc\trains.ja doesn't match the file in the setup cab
file.  The medium which you are running maybe corrupted'.

The message is always the same although it is not always the same file name.  I have also encountered the same problem when trying to install MS Flight Sim 2002 but not when installing any other software.  I am not convinced that the problem is with a corrupt CD but I think something else is causing it to happen.

I have both Norton Antivirus and Firewall but during installation I've disabled NAV auto protect and Script Blocking as well as disabling Norton Firewall.  I have tried the instllation from the cd drive (Samsung CD-R/RW SW-240B0) and the DVD drive(Toshiba SD-M1712).  I've have also copied the files from the CDs to temp folders on the Hard Drive and run setup from there but everytime the problem is the same.

The OS is XP Pro.

A solution would be greatly appreciated.

Ken

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Tomeeboy
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If these are store-bought retails CDs, then I wouldn't think there was much chance of them both being corrupted.  If these are burnt CDs / backups, then I would say there is a good chance that they are corrupted, either from the burner, software, or original CD image.

If they are original retail CDs, then I would do the following:

1. Full virus scan (just to be safe).  Try using Housecall from TrendMicro (http://housecall.trendmicro.com).

2. Try changing your CD drive settings from DMA to PIO mode:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwdev/tech/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx

3.  If you have recently installed any new memory on the computer, try removing it to see if the problem goes away, you might have corrupt memory.

4.  You may have a bad IDE controller or cable.  If this is the case, you might need to get a new IDE cable, motherboard, or get an IDE PCI controller card.  See the following post on Experts Exchange which discusses a similar problem:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/20917422/CRC-Errors-Every-Time-I-Try-To-Install-A-Game.html

If the CDs are backups/copies, do the following:

1.  Try installing from the originals, or try to install something that you do have the original CDs for.  If the problem still exists with an original retail CD, go to step #1 above.

2.  If you don't have the originals, but have the CD images, try burning them to CD again with different software, or a different burner if available.  You may even try burning them onto a different brand of CD-R.  If none of this works, then the images are likely corrupt and the cause of the problem.

Hope this info helps!

Tom

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eric888

go here and click on the tech support section:

http://www.auran.com/TRS2004

if none of them work, email their helpdesk... helpdesk@auran.com
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ASKER

The cd's I'm using were retail bought a week ago.  Also I've loaded them on my laptop without problem.  I haven't recently added any memory.  Also as the installation also failed when I tried it direct from the hard drive wouldn't that rule out cable problems?
Did you take a look at that web site?  Since Auran developed the simulator, I'd assume they've seen that message or a similar one since they released the retail version.
I've had a look at the web site but can't find the answer.  There is one post on the forum in January of the identical problem but no replies.
copy and paste your msg from here to an email to their helpdesk.  it's worth a shot.
any news?
No - I have emailed Auran technical support but no reply yet.  I have also posted the problem on the Auran forum but none of the replies have helped.

I have however made some other progess of sorts.  I managed to load Trainz without any problem in Safe Mode.  However when I try to run it I get a fatal error as follows:

Class:Hardware
Reason:Access Violation
Recoverable Exception:Yes

This is followed by various call stack information.  So I don't know now whether this error is connected to the original problem or whether I have now encountered a seperate (possible hardware) problem.  This is so frustrating!

well if they work on your laptop, i'd say the cds are clean.  

have you installed all critical and a few of the recommended updates from windows update?  did you install DirectX 9? If not then you need to from the TRS2004 CD.

what is your video card model?  you can go to their website, download and install the latest drivers for your specific card.
The installation failing when you run it directly from the hard drive would not rule out a faulty IDE controller or cable.  If one of those is the cause of your problem, then it's likely that the files would be corrupted as you copied them to your hard drive from the CD, which would result in the same error when you tried to run the installation.

Did you try switching to PIO mode as I suggested? or did you look through the other EE post that I linked to?  Some of the suggestions posted there might help you diagnose the problem.

Tom
Another thing you might try... If you still have the installation files on your hard drive, you might try going into that directory, right clicking on the Install executable, and going to "Properties".  Click the "Compatibility" tab and check the box to run the install in compatibility mode.  Select whatever operating system your laptop is running and then run the install again to see if the problem is fixed.  This is probably a shot in the dark, but you might as well try it if nothing else is working.  The fact that you're having this problem with two different games that are from two different companies pretty much rules out problems with the CDs or installation software.  It's most likely a hardware problem, or even an O/S or driver related problem.

Let us know what you find out.

Tom
One last idea for now.... If you have your laptop and desktop computer networked, copy the installation files to your laptop, then transfer them to your desktop computer via the network (to avoid corrupting the files by copying them to the hard drive with a possibly faulty controller or cable).  If you did this and the installation then worked on your desktop PC, then I would say the problem is almost definitely IDE controller or cable related.

Tom
one quick way to test the ide controller... try to install another app from the cd rom
I have installed many many apps from the cd rom without problem.  My guess is that installing in Safe Mode may have got around the original problem.  I feel the problem now maybe to do with video drivers etc.  I will now install the latest drivers for the video card (Radeon 7500)
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Tomeeboy
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I suggest you try and install those programs to make sure something isn't wrong with the CD's them selves becuase if it doesn't do it on another computer then you know it is something wrong with your computer and if it does it again on someone elses computer then take it back and let then know something happend to those disks and get replacements for them.  Other wise it proably has someting to do with your computer not likeing the programs for some reason it could be hardwear or even a softwear incompatibility that is causing that error to come up.
in his second post, he said "The cd's I'm using were retail bought a week ago.  Also I've loaded them on my laptop without problem..."

it could be anything, but since he's loaded the software on his laptop, i'd say the cd itself should be fine... unless he loaded it on his laptop first and somehow it got scratched before he tried to install it on his pc.  if he can load other programs or access other files via the cd player... i'd say the cd player is fine.

here's a link to another forum i found for Trainz Railway Simulator 2004:

http://forum.justflight.com/forum/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=12

not a whole lot of info, but someone had the same hardware error that you mentioned.  that happened after he installed the software though.

what is your system board manufacturer's name?  maybe a bios or chipset update would help.  be very careful and follow the instructions to the T when flashing your bios.
I'm fairly sure now that whatever caused the CRC problem was got round by installing in safe mode and that the problem is with the video card.  I have installed the latest drivers for the Radeon 7500 but when I opened the app I get sound but a totally blank screen.  I've found a number of similar problems on the Auran forum and the general consensus seems to be that Trainz (and other games) just don't like ATI cards and that GeForce cards are a much better bet for games - is this a generally held view by gamers??
what is your refresh rate, how many colors and what is your screen area?  some programs won't run in 256 colors, but it's worth a try to fiddle with the settings.  i've corrected several video issues in the past with refresh rate changes.  any errors in device manager?  any new errors in event viewer?

i'm not a gamer, so i can't tell you much about what their preferences.  from what i've heard though, the ATI radeon 9800 series is supposed to be rated near the top, with nVidia GeForce FX 5900 right behind it.  i say it's a tossup.  here's a link with some reviews:

http://www.techspot.com/reviews.shtml
maybe run some directx tests:
start->run>dxdiag->ok->display tab

how old is the card?  is that Radeon a 64mb or 128mb card?  it might be time for an upgrade, unfortunately.  http://www.pricewatch.com/ has good prices.  you can get a GeForce4 MX series 128mb for less than 50 bucks.  i wish this could be resolved without spending any money.  the only other good test that i know of, however, is to try another card.

if someone lets you borrow a card, make sure you completely uninstall all old drivers before trying a different card.  that goes for updating drivers too.
I am rapidly coming to the same conclusion.  I have already run the directx tests and everything seems to be ok so I may well bite the bullet - in the uk the same card is around £50, things are more expensive here!
One further thing - when I run the game using directx I get the blank screen, when I run it using opengl I get a fatal access violation erro and the following in event viewer:

The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source (   ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: 7.

So is this a problem with opengl??
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Problem solved!  You were right it was the driver.  I thought I had update the video driver but on checking the version I found it hadn't seem to update - so I did it again and finally(!!!) Trainz is working.  Thanks for all your help
i thought i suggested that back on 4/22.  shouldn't that be the accepted answer?
Yes - apologies,  although you did mention the driver in the accepted answer.
Ok, I was just wondering why the accepted answer was "I would be extremely surprised if updating the video drivers fixed the problem" and mine was an assisted answer... when I made the driver suggestion before anyone else did last week.  No problem, this is just my first active month here and I guess I'm point-greedy :)  I'm glad everything is working.  Take care.

Eric
I am fairly new to EE and maybe not used yet to allocating points - I split the points to reflect the number of answers I had got - also as this problem had covered a number of differnet thinhs I felt that there wasn't simply one answer.

But thanks for your help

Ken