The Most Frustrating Problem EverFollow

If you can't get FFXI configured, then your registry entries are probably not configured properly, which is causing the crash. Are you running as Admin? If that doesn't allow the access, there may be some corruption tied to the keys or possibly even more deeply rooted in the NTFS system itself.

You could try editing the screen settings manual by following the details at the wiki to see if that gets past the D3D init error.
http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Graphics

That is the wiki page I used to set up my graphics via registry. I just set both fields to match my monitor's resolution (1024x768). Maybe I am using an unsupported resolution or perhaps doing something wrong? I input the values in the field marked "0001" and "0003" as 1024 (decimal) and the fields "0002" and "0004" as 768. Are there any other fields that pertain to graphics in that sense? The wiki page helps but nothing beats personal advice from someone who is experienced and can help explain it more. Thanks a lot!

I'd also like to bring to attention again the fact that my FFXI Config menu doesn't work. Not sure if that helps indicate the issue or is just some random malfunction with the current version of FFXI or something. I've had a few people suggest editing setting from said config menu which I cannot do.

I was afraid of that, though these steps will definitely help me out. Any idea what my issue might be or where it might be rooted? Seen or experienced anything like this before? Wild guess? Haha

I can't thank you enough for your help so far, everyone!

I've had what sounds like the same problem before, had to go into FFXI config and change the resolution. Don't remember exactly what I changed to, but if someone can show you how to change it through the registry you can try it and see if it works.

Is there a way to use the SE forums without an active character?

Edited, Apr 29th 2012 1:29pm by brettxtucker

After trying asking the same question on a couple other forums, I still have yet to find a solution to my problem. I really don't want to give up but it seems that it may be my only option. :(

Have you tried using older graphics drinvers as well? the game can be a bit finicky, just throwing that out there as something to try if you haven't.

Also for future reference brettxtucker, please edit your previous post if you have something new you want to add rather than just making another post right after it. There are several times in this topic where you posted 2x-3x in a row with no one posting in between. In those circumstances, you should have just edited the first post of that group, adding what you posted in the 2nd and 3rd posts to that first one.

I was having the same issue after re-installing on a new HDD. I went through the steps of installing new drivers, installing DX9.0c, reducing resolution in registry etc.

In the end, what solved it for me was simply setting Final Fantasy XI to 'Run as Administrator'

I'm sure you know how, but for the record:

1. Go to Start > All Programs > Playonline > Final Fantasy XI
2. Right click on 'Final Fantasy XI', and click Properties
3. On the Compatability tab, tick 'Run this program as an administrator'

Hope this works for you.

EDIT:

After posting that, I went back and removed the 'Run as administrator' tick to check if it then didn't work. Turns out it still works..
Possibly it needs admin rights the first time it runs to set up its references to DirectX folders, or equally possibly it was something else I did at the same time.

Steps I went through:
Installed new graphics drivers (didn't seem to make a difference)
Installed DirectX 9.0c (from here)
Ran dxdiag
Played with windows display settings (Primary/Secondary screen identification for what its worth)
Changed background resolution from 3840x2100 to 1920x1050. Tried to run and didnt work.
Set POL and FFXI to Run as Admin
Tried to run and did work
Changed background res back to 3840x2100 and could run fine
Removed Run as Admin on FFXI and can still run ok


Edited, May 5th 2012 8:28pm by Pud

Edited, May 5th 2012 8:33pm by Pud

I would say that setting it equal to your foreground resolution is the safest bet.

Stupid question: When you change the registry settings, you are using decimal rather than hexidecimal?

wow... been away for a while... surprised this is still going on. A few thoughts:

Just out of curiosity, when you reinstalled did you make sure you did a clean wipe of all FFXI files, folders, and registry keys to make sure you didn't have any mismatches? Also, make sure you are loading the Vista/Win7 compliant POL when loading from the ISO you downloaded. Think it's only included in collections released after 2008, forget exactly.

IDK if the FFXI Config uses it, but have you made sure your .NET is up to date as well (more people are using this framework these days, who knows if SE is on the bandwagon yet--could explain your screwy issues with the FFXI Config).

When you re-installed the DirectX to test for the missing DX9 files, did you use the web-installer, or the offline full distribution package. This is an important point. The web-installers tend to skip files once it detects a newer version of DX present. The offline install typically just copies them over regardless. This package was roughly a 100MB download if I remember right.

You mentioned earlier you switched back to Intel Graphics. If your system has both, one needs to be disabled or FFXI WILL have issues with D3D. This is a documented issue with the nVidia/Intel setups where people had to disable the nVidia and run on Intel. Think nVidia put out a beta last year that worked around it somehow, but the performance was still shotty either way on them. So, you may have to force it to run on Intel only by disabling ATI until a driver fix comes out if this is the same issue. If you are disabling the Intel and running on the ATI, the newest drivers may not be the ones to use. FFXI is notorious for having issues with the latest and greatest hardware and drivers. It's basically linked to the shift to DX10/11 compliance (DX9 and older is run in emulation at the Windows level, causes all kinds of wonkiness). On the newer hardware, older drivers often have to be used.

is your FFXI Config still not loading properly? There is more than just the resolutions that need to be set properly. There may be more issues bound to the registry keys than just 001-004 values. If FFXI Config is still knackered up, then there may be something missing, corrupt, or not registered properly at the system level. Hate to say it, but I've heard horror stories of people actually having to go back to an OS install to resolve some issues. Could try grabbing everything you can via Windows Update I guess to see if that fixes any potential issues like maybe a RAMDAC or VB or something bizarre like that.