Windows 7 fix for Max Payne 2

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-01-2010, 01:45 PM

Update for those that are on Windows 7. (Should also work for Vista! Please verify.)

IF you have the latest video drivers and IF you are running Windows 7 or Vista and are having problems starting either of these games or Midnight Club 2 or Manhunt, then you may be the victim of DEP and/or ASLR.

These basic instructions are telling you to hex edit the executable from steam for these games. This particular thread is directed towards Max Payne and Max Payne 2. If you don't happen to have a hex editor, the one I use is freeware and is very basic.

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~prewett/hexedit/

Here are the hex changes necessary to make DEP AND ASLR disabled for Max Payne and Max Payne 2!

Based on the Manhunt patch, here are the full changes necessary for the Steam version of Max Payne and Max Payne 2.

For Max Payne: (maxpayne.exe)

At 0150... The following line of hex should be change like so.

Code:

FROM:
0000150 00 d0 4c 00 00 10 00 00 fa 37 4c 00 02 00 00 00   

TO:
0000150 00 d0 4c 00 00 10 00 00 aa 36 4c 00 02 00 2a 20

For Max Payne 2: (maxpayne2.exe)

At 0960... The following line of hex should be change like so.

Code:

FROM:
0000960 00 00 17 00 00 10 00 00 a9 f5 16 00 02 00 00 00  

TO:
0000960 00 00 17 00 00 10 00 00 59 f4 16 00 02 00 2a 20

I keep THREE versions in my game directory. For example:

maxpayne.exe
maxpayne.exe.old
maxpayne-fixed.exe

This way, if Steam updates the file or I need to verify files, I still have the original and 'fixed' version to refer to.

DarkjeThe2nd · 05-01-2010, 01:58 PM

Exactly what problem does this fix?

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-01-2010, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkjeThe2nd

Exactly what problem does this fix?

In Windows 7 Ultimate (at least on my system) the combination of DEP AND ASLR keep the games from even starting up. They start, I get the 'please wait' mouse pointer and then ... nothing.

These changes allowed the games to run without admin permission changes or any of the other work arounds that are out there.

My extremely limited understanding is that the small changes I've made tell the Operating System NOT to try and relocate the code sections after starting them as well as telling the Operating System that this is legacy code and should NOT be subject to DEP.

DarkjeThe2nd · 05-01-2010, 03:05 PM

Oke, maybe you are on track of something, some people reported it working for some time and then suddenly not working, without much changes to their system, so if this fixes it... would be great!

spyrochaete · 05-01-2010, 03:05 PM

Did you turn your Windows security settings up or something? I have no such issues with Win7 x64.

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-01-2010, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyrochaete

Did you turn your Windows security settings up or something? I have no such issues with Win7 x64.

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit and I believe all the security settings are unchanged from fresh install. However, I have been getting all critical updates, so maybe something altered a security setting that way.

In any case, Max Payne, Max Payne 2, Midnight Club 2 and Manhunt ALL would not fire up and the Manhunt 'patch' turned a small light bulb on in my head. And I figured, what the heck, maybe it will work for the other three. And it did!

The down side was, I had to manually hex edit the files and locate the correct locations for each of those games. Midnight Club 2 already had it's location identified, but not the entire four byte change and would still not run on my system.

DarkjeThe2nd · 05-01-2010, 03:20 PM

If it works for you, maybe it's helpful in other cases too... so thank you for posting.

I can't test/verify it as the problem does not seem to occur in my machines, but I'm mainly on x64 and some xp ones.

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-01-2010, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkjeThe2nd

If it works for you, maybe it's helpful in other cases too... so thank you for posting.

I can't test/verify it as the problem does not seem to occur in my machines, but I'm mainly on x64 and some xp ones.

That was my main reason for posting in the first place. I was getting very frustrated with the games not starting up and all the admin privilege and compatibility mode fixes were not working at all.

That's when I stumbled upon the Manhunt patch that let it run without DEP (Data Execution Prevention) and ASLR (Address space layout randomization) interference.

I used a side-by-side hex comparison program to see the changes made by the Manhunt patch and extrapolated from there. The hard part was locating the right bytes to change.

I hope people that have problems running any of those four games under Vista or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit) chime in with their results of trying this fix.

Cheers!

raijian · 05-01-2010, 05:13 PM

Could you explain what file im editing? OP didn't give much info on that.

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-01-2010, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raijian

Could you explain what file im editing? OP didn't give much info on that.

My apologies... that would be maxpayne.exe and maxpayne2.exe respectively.

I'll update the OP.

raijian · 05-01-2010, 07:22 PM

Thanks a lot man.

I had no troubles running Max Payne 2 on Vista 32 though, I can start it and it hasn't crashed.

Not sure why o.o

Edit: It was downloading when I asked what file to edit

mathesar · 05-01-2010, 10:08 PM

I couldnt get max payne 2 to run in win7 64bit ultimate but all I did was download the latest nvidia 197.45 drivers and it works fine now. (GTX 260 videocard).

05-01-2010, 10:51 PM

ok now i feel kinda stupid but, what am i sopposed to do here?

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-02-2010, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeatsjoe

ok now i feel kinda stupid but, what am i sopposed to do here?

IF you have the latest video drivers and IF you are running Windows 7 or Vista and are having problems starting either of these games or Midnight Club 2 or Manhunt, then you may be the victim of DEP and/or ASLR.

These basic instructions are telling you to hex edit the executable from steam for these games. This particular thread is directed towards Max Payne and Max Payne 2. If you don't happen to have a hex editor, the one I use is freeware and is very basic.

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~prewett/hexedit/

Hope that helps.

MMZ>TimeLord · 05-02-2010, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mathesar

I couldnt get max payne 2 to run in win7 64bit ultimate but all I did was download the latest nvidia 197.45 drivers and it works fine now. (GTX 260 videocard).

That was actually the first thing I tried. Grabbed the latest video drivers from nVidia myself, also 197.45.

I have a GeForce 8800 GTS and it's been fine for most games. Only the later GTA games and some of the latest games (in the last 2 years) have really started to show it's age.

Alas, it was not the drivers preventing the games from starting.

05-01-2010, 01:45 PM	#1
MMZ>TimeLord Join Date: Nov 2008 Reputation: 49 Posts: 48	Windows 7 fix for Max Payne AND Max Payne 2 Update for those that are on Windows 7. (Should also work for Vista! Please verify.) IF you have the latest video drivers and IF you are running Windows 7 or Vista and are having problems starting either of these games or Midnight Club 2 or Manhunt, then you may be the victim of DEP and/or ASLR. These basic instructions are telling you to hex edit the executable from steam for these games. This particular thread is directed towards Max Payne and Max Payne 2. If you don't happen to have a hex editor, the one I use is freeware and is very basic. http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~prewett/hexedit/ Here are the hex changes necessary to make DEP AND ASLR disabled for Max Payne and Max Payne 2! Based on the Manhunt patch, here are the full changes necessary for the Steam version of Max Payne and Max Payne 2. For Max Payne: (maxpayne.exe) At 0150... The following line of hex should be change like so. Code: FROM: 0000150 00 d0 4c 00 00 10 00 00 fa 37 4c 00 02 00 00 00 TO: 0000150 00 d0 4c 00 00 10 00 00 aa 36 4c 00 02 00 2a 20 For Max Payne 2: (maxpayne2.exe) At 0960... The following line of hex should be change like so. Code: FROM: 0000960 00 00 17 00 00 10 00 00 a9 f5 16 00 02 00 00 00 TO: 0000960 00 00 17 00 00 10 00 00 59 f4 16 00 02 00 2a 20 I keep THREE versions in my game directory. For example: maxpayne.exe maxpayne.exe.old maxpayne-fixed.exe This way, if Steam updates the file or I need to verify files, I still have the original and 'fixed' version to refer to. Last edited by MMZ>TimeLord: 05-02-2010 at 01:56 AM. Reason: Update

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05-01-2010, 01:58 PM	#2
DarkjeThe2nd Join Date: Apr 2009 Reputation: 370 Posts: 515	Exactly what problem does this fix?

05-01-2010, 03:05 PM	#4
DarkjeThe2nd Join Date: Apr 2009 Reputation: 370 Posts: 515	Oke, maybe you are on track of something, some people reported it working for some time and then suddenly not working, without much changes to their system, so if this fixes it... would be great!

05-01-2010, 03:05 PM	#5
spyrochaete Join Date: Feb 2007 Reputation: 362 Posts: 3,814	Did you turn your Windows security settings up or something? I have no such issues with Win7 x64.

05-01-2010, 03:20 PM	#7
DarkjeThe2nd Join Date: Apr 2009 Reputation: 370 Posts: 515	If it works for you, maybe it's helpful in other cases too... so thank you for posting. I can't test/verify it as the problem does not seem to occur in my machines, but I'm mainly on x64 and some xp ones.

05-01-2010, 05:13 PM	#9
raijian Banned Join Date: Aug 2008 Reputation: 8 Posts: 624	Could you explain what file im editing? OP didn't give much info on that.

05-01-2010, 07:22 PM	#11
raijian Banned Join Date: Aug 2008 Reputation: 8 Posts: 624	Thanks a lot man. I had no troubles running Max Payne 2 on Vista 32 though, I can start it and it hasn't crashed. Not sure why o.o Edit: It was downloading when I asked what file to edit

05-01-2010, 10:08 PM	#12
mathesar Join Date: Nov 2004 Reputation: 15 Posts: 861	I couldnt get max payne 2 to run in win7 64bit ultimate but all I did was download the latest nvidia 197.45 drivers and it works fine now. (GTX 260 videocard).

05-01-2010, 10:51 PM	#13
bobeatsjoe Guest Posts: n/a	ok now i feel kinda stupid but, what am i sopposed to do here?