Empire Total War Freezes On Startup Screen - FINALLY A FIX!!!!!

12-07-2010, 12:04 PM

Hey all,

I recently bought Empire Total War off Steam and installed it. But every time I tried playing the game, the copyright screen would pop up, and after a few seconds, my mouse cursor would freeze. I wouldn't be able to move my mouse, get to task manager (ctrl + alt+ del), etc. The only way to get out would be to do a hard reboot by shutting down my computer manually.

Now, I have a pretty high end system, so I knew it couldn't be a problem with my hardware. I tried lots of quick fixes, but nothing worked. (The suggestions I found on the net and message boards about validating files and such all sucked) However, I did eventually find a solution. I'm not sure if it will work for everyone who has encountered this problem (which seems to be a lot of people), but it might help others who encountered this and met with the frustration I did.

Anyway, here's the low down:

The problem is with the RealTek HD Sound Drivers!

For some reason, Empire Total War didn't like the Realtek Drivers. If you're using a RealTek sound system, this could be the cause of your problem. When I disabled the RealTek drivers and tried running the game, it worked - all be it with no sound. So I figured that was the problem.

Here's what you do...

In Windows 7, go to the Control Panel from your start menu and select the "Device Manager" option. (I imagine this would be the same for Vista)

Under the "Sound, Video, And Game Controllers" drop down, check and see if you have a RealTek audio driver. If you do, right click and select the disable option.

Try starting Empire Total War. (You may need to reboot first for the audio driver disable to take effect.) If it works, the problem is with your driver.

Exit out of Empire Total war, re-enable your driver.

Then, go to this link:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...own=false#High

Download the latest driver for your RealTek audio. When you run the update, you'll need to uninstall your current driver, reboot, and then install the new driver. (This can all be done by running the update you just downloaded)

Once the new driver is installed, you should be able to play Empire Total War without any problem. It's been working great for me ever since I implemented this fix.

Hope this helps and saves people a lot of headache!

Matt

12-11-2010, 01:05 AM

Well I do have a similar problem, but instead of freez it just says there is an error and cant be launch after a few seconds on the license screen.

My system is:
* AMD Phenom II 955.
* Gigabyte M770TA-UD3
* 4 GB DDR 1666
* 500 GB HD
* ATI Radeon 5770 1 GB.
* Windows 7 64 bits

I have lates video / Audio drivers.

And I am pretty desperate.

¿Any help pls?

12-11-2010, 03:22 AM

Its working now, thre problem was a mod that was not updated (Darthmod), and I also was the problem for not updating it

Quote:

Originally Posted by selsetian

Well I do have a similar problem, but instead of freez it just says there is an error and cant be launch after a few seconds on the license screen.

My system is:
* AMD Phenom II 955.
* Gigabyte M770TA-UD3
* 4 GB DDR 1666
* 500 GB HD
* ATI Radeon 5770 1 GB.
* Windows 7 64 bits

I have lates video / Audio drivers.

And I am pretty desperate.

¿Any help pls?

12-17-2010, 04:33 PM

could you go into further detail on how to delete the driver and re-installing it?

btw! you've helped tons!

Anasazi · 12-18-2010, 08:49 PM

Sounds like a good fix... Though I downloaded the demo and have this issue where the mouse cursor changes to what I suppose is the Empire cursor, and I can alt+tab or open the task manager, but the game still won't advance past the splash screen.
I have "IDT High Definition Audio CODEC" and "Intel Display Audio" for my device drivers, both of which are deemed up to date by Windows 7 update tool. And disabling them didn't help my cause any.

Thinking of getting the game anyway for when I get my desktop set back up...

slashandtrash · 12-19-2010, 01:10 AM

This is odd because it works and I have a realtek driver audio.

Anasazi · 12-19-2010, 09:29 PM

I spent a while researching various fixes (installing certain files that were in the Empire folder, driver issues, updating the .NET Framework that was released over seven months ago, etc.) and one thing that keeps nagging me is how one common fix is to delete/edit the Script folder because of a certain file in there. Yet that file doesn't even exist for me. I could suppose it's because the game doesn't start for me in the first place but then I don't know, shouldn't it be there anyway?

02-03-2011, 02:15 PM

Thanks a lot for sharing this solution! It is amazing

I was about to smash the game into the dustbin, because I tried about 3 days all possibilities... I reinstalled the game, updated, downgraded and reinstalled the graphic driver, changed configurations a couple of times and everything did not help...
And all this just because of the *** audio driver!

So I just can say thank you

(I think the game too for staying intact

)

02-17-2011, 03:18 PM

This worked for us, too! And we even had a brand new laptop that upon a auto-check for the latest drivers claimed it had the latest ones. So we had to manually grab the latest update from the Realtek site you provided, and that site was a little confusing, but eventually I figured out which version was their latest (dated 12/10, I believe).

Thanks so much for solving this mystery--and what a good sleuth you were!

02-28-2011, 04:52 PM

BUMP BUMP STICKY PRZ!!!

This worked like a champ. The MS driver updater DOES NOT indicate the new realtek audio driver.

Btw, on Realtek's website it's under HD audio codec driver...HOORAY!

03-07-2011, 01:51 PM

thanks for the info i have been trying to get my game going for a week now. Now all i have to do is figure out which of the long list of updates for real tek will work for my computer.

03-12-2011, 05:30 AM

i got the same problem, so this means if i update my audio drivers will work? my computer is getting crazy with this forced shutdowns

03-12-2011, 08:54 AM

ok i just updated my realtek drivers by winodws (it auto searched and uptaded drivers) and game was working fine i did no system restart

*a note on game main menu... it crashes a lot on my comp but in game runs good

Me Setup:
Core i3 3.20Ghz
Gainward Nvidia Gforce GTX 460 2GB
12GB Ram

EvilKnivel2 · 03-14-2011, 03:08 AM

I managed finally

to start the game.

I changed the setting of my steam account to "english" and suddenly it launched.

Anasazi · 03-14-2011, 03:20 AM

I've posted in here twice, just wanted to let people know I found a good fix (if the sound drivers fix doesn't work for you).

Download the newest version of Microsoft C++ Visual Redistributable for your OS. Install.

That's seriously all I had to do to solve the case of the freezing-on-loading video game.

12-07-2010, 12:04 PM	#1
mjk234 Guest Posts: n/a	Empire Total War Freezes On Startup Screen - FINALLY A FIX!!!!! Hey all, I recently bought Empire Total War off Steam and installed it. But every time I tried playing the game, the copyright screen would pop up, and after a few seconds, my mouse cursor would freeze. I wouldn't be able to move my mouse, get to task manager (ctrl + alt+ del), etc. The only way to get out would be to do a hard reboot by shutting down my computer manually. Now, I have a pretty high end system, so I knew it couldn't be a problem with my hardware. I tried lots of quick fixes, but nothing worked. (The suggestions I found on the net and message boards about validating files and such all sucked) However, I did eventually find a solution. I'm not sure if it will work for everyone who has encountered this problem (which seems to be a lot of people), but it might help others who encountered this and met with the frustration I did. Anyway, here's the low down: The problem is with the RealTek HD Sound Drivers! For some reason, Empire Total War didn't like the Realtek Drivers. If you're using a RealTek sound system, this could be the cause of your problem. When I disabled the RealTek drivers and tried running the game, it worked - all be it with no sound. So I figured that was the problem. Here's what you do... In Windows 7, go to the Control Panel from your start menu and select the "Device Manager" option. (I imagine this would be the same for Vista) Under the "Sound, Video, And Game Controllers" drop down, check and see if you have a RealTek audio driver. If you do, right click and select the disable option. Try starting Empire Total War. (You may need to reboot first for the audio driver disable to take effect.) If it works, the problem is with your driver. Exit out of Empire Total war, re-enable your driver. Then, go to this link: http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...own=false#High Download the latest driver for your RealTek audio. When you run the update, you'll need to uninstall your current driver, reboot, and then install the new driver. (This can all be done by running the update you just downloaded) Once the new driver is installed, you should be able to play Empire Total War without any problem. It's been working great for me ever since I implemented this fix. Hope this helps and saves people a lot of headache! Matt

12-11-2010, 01:05 AM	#2
selsetian Guest Posts: n/a	Well I do have a similar problem, but instead of freez it just says there is an error and cant be launch after a few seconds on the license screen. My system is: * AMD Phenom II 955. * Gigabyte M770TA-UD3 * 4 GB DDR 1666 * 500 GB HD * ATI Radeon 5770 1 GB. * Windows 7 64 bits I have lates video / Audio drivers. And I am pretty desperate. ¿Any help pls? Last edited by selsetian: 12-11-2010 at 02:29 AM.

03-14-2011, 03:08 AM	#14
EvilKnivel2 Join Date: Mar 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 6	Solution? I managed finally to start the game. I changed the setting of my steam account to "english" and suddenly it launched.

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12-17-2010, 04:33 PM	#4
timboslice11 Guest Posts: n/a	could you go into further detail on how to delete the driver and re-installing it? btw! you've helped tons!

12-18-2010, 08:49 PM	#5
Anasazi Banned Join Date: Dec 2003 Reputation: 31 Posts: 434	Sounds like a good fix... Though I downloaded the demo and have this issue where the mouse cursor changes to what I suppose is the Empire cursor, and I can alt+tab or open the task manager, but the game still won't advance past the splash screen. I have "IDT High Definition Audio CODEC" and "Intel Display Audio" for my device drivers, both of which are deemed up to date by Windows 7 update tool. And disabling them didn't help my cause any. Thinking of getting the game anyway for when I get my desktop set back up...

12-19-2010, 01:10 AM	#6
slashandtrash Join Date: Jul 2010 Reputation: 4 Posts: 107	This is odd because it works and I have a realtek driver audio.

12-19-2010, 09:29 PM	#7
Anasazi Banned Join Date: Dec 2003 Reputation: 31 Posts: 434	I spent a while researching various fixes (installing certain files that were in the Empire folder, driver issues, updating the .NET Framework that was released over seven months ago, etc.) and one thing that keeps nagging me is how one common fix is to delete/edit the Script folder because of a certain file in there. Yet that file doesn't even exist for me. I could suppose it's because the game doesn't start for me in the first place but then I don't know, shouldn't it be there anyway?

02-03-2011, 02:15 PM	#8
ITiBoI Guest Posts: n/a	Thanks a lot for sharing this solution! It is amazing I was about to smash the game into the dustbin, because I tried about 3 days all possibilities... I reinstalled the game, updated, downgraded and reinstalled the graphic driver, changed configurations a couple of times and everything did not help... And all this just because of the *** audio driver! So I just can say thank you (I think the game too for staying intact )

02-17-2011, 03:18 PM	#9
rogersfamily06 Guest Posts: n/a	This worked for us, too! And we even had a brand new laptop that upon a auto-check for the latest drivers claimed it had the latest ones. So we had to manually grab the latest update from the Realtek site you provided, and that site was a little confusing, but eventually I figured out which version was their latest (dated 12/10, I believe). Thanks so much for solving this mystery--and what a good sleuth you were!

02-28-2011, 04:52 PM	#10
Elemancer Guest Posts: n/a	BUMP BUMP STICKY PRZ!!! This worked like a champ. The MS driver updater DOES NOT indicate the new realtek audio driver. Btw, on Realtek's website it's under HD audio codec driver...HOORAY!

03-07-2011, 01:51 PM	#11
jasac Guest Posts: n/a	thanks for the info i have been trying to get my game going for a week now. Now all i have to do is figure out which of the long list of updates for real tek will work for my computer.

03-12-2011, 05:30 AM	#12
LSKtf2 Guest Posts: n/a	i got the same problem, so this means if i update my audio drivers will work? my computer is getting crazy with this forced shutdowns

03-12-2011, 08:54 AM	#13
LSKtf2 Guest Posts: n/a	ok i just updated my realtek drivers by winodws (it auto searched and uptaded drivers) and game was working fine i did no system restart *a note on game main menu... it crashes a lot on my comp but in game runs good Me Setup: Core i3 3.20Ghz Gainward Nvidia Gforce GTX 460 2GB 12GB Ram

03-14-2011, 03:20 AM	#15
Anasazi Banned Join Date: Dec 2003 Reputation: 31 Posts: 434	I've posted in here twice, just wanted to let people know I found a good fix (if the sound drivers fix doesn't work for you). Download the newest version of Microsoft C++ Visual Redistributable for your OS. Install. That's seriously all I had to do to solve the case of the freezing-on-loading video game.