[svpewing]

Here's one to rattle your brains. Today I installed the sims 2 and ALL the expansion packs. Upon completion and an attempt to start the game I get an error message telling me that it can't find any graphics card compatible with directx 9 features! This is a complete shock to me as I have a brand new (purchased last month) Intel i3 with Directx 11. I have tried all of the following with no luck thus far: Reboot, Update Drivers (already up to date), Install Sims 2 Patch, Sims website troubleshooting & uninstall/re-install everything. Here are some specs that may be helpful.




Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.110408-1633)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
System Model: Satellite L675
BIOS: Phoenix SecureCore Version 1.80
Processor: Intel® Core™ i3 CPU M 370 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 3890MB RAM
Page File: 1879MB used, 5899MB available
Windows Dir: C:\windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11




Display Devices

Card name: Intel® HD Graphics
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel® HD Graphics (Core i3)
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_FD001179&REV_02
Display Memory: 1696 MB
Dedicated Memory: 64 MB
Shared Memory: 1632 MB
Current Mode: 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)

[svpewing]

Oh and just so we are clear about the requirements of the game its self, here is what "can you run it" has to say.



CPU
Minimum: Pentium III or Athlon
You Have: Intel® Core™ i3 CPU M 370 @ 2.40GHz
PASS

CPU Speed
Minimum: 800 MHz with a T&L capable Video Card (2.0 GHz without Hardware T&L Video Card)
You Have: 2.4 GHz Performance Rated at: 4.32 GHz
PASS

RAM
Minimum: 256 MB
You Have: 3.8 GB
PASS

OS
Minimum: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7
You Have: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (build 7600), 64-bit
PASS

Video Card
Minimum: 32 MB 3D accelerated video card (NVIDIA GeForce2/ATI Radeon VE/Intel Extreme Graphics or better)
You Have: Intel® HD Graphics
PASS
Features: Minimum attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 32 MB 1.7 GB
3D Yes Yes

DirectX version
Minimum: 8.1 (included)
You Have: 11.0
PASS

Sound Card
Minimum: Yes
You Have: Realtek High Definition Audio
PASS

Free Disk Space
Minimum: 3.5 GB
You Have: 354.5 GB
PASS

DVD-ROM
Minimum: 8X DVD-ROM (This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some CD/DVD-ROM, CD/DVD-RW and virtual drives.)
You Have: MagicISO Virtual DVD-ROM0000
P

[Tripredacus]

DirectX is like .NET Framework. Just because you have a higher version installed doesn't mean you have the correct version. Install DirectX 9.0c onto your PC with DirextX End-User Runtime Web Installer or you can find the full download somewhere. Even there might be the DirectX 9.0c redist on your Sims 2 media.

[svpewing]

Did that this morning, still no luck. Same error message.

[Tripredacus]

Some important things I've found...

1. Sims 2 is known to have problems on Intel video chipsets on notebooks?
2. Did you try just install Sims 2 and run it? Also some say you need to install all the mods in order.

But EA support has some things you can try out too:
http://forum.ea.com/.../15/345112.page

[svpewing]

Well I've contacted EA to hear what they have to say, and its a possibility that it just wont run on an Intel chipset. Which is a little unreal given the quality of the videocard for a laptop. I could run the Sims 2 Complete on my old desktop dell inspiron with and OLLLD standard factory chipset with little issues. Guess I shouldn't have bought a toshiba. Anyway, I appreciate your assistance, however I think I'm just gonna find a new game. Thanks.