[hoak]

Several multimedia applications and games have this issue (though many do not), and I'm not the first to experience it... None of the applications known to have the issue have any problem running on Server 2003 prior to SP1... In essence if you try to run the game or application on Server 2003 with SP1 installed you'll get the message:

Quote

This application requires DirectX version 8.1 or greater to run.

No error messages of any kind appear in the Event Viewer.... The problem can be resolved by using a utility like DirectX Happy Uninstall, at the cost of $12, by uninstalling and reinstalling DirectX 9c... It would seem that most of the MM applications and games are older, circa DirectX 8.1 or older -- and that this must be some very simple registry entry issue that is corrected when DirecX 9c is reinstalled.

A sort of neat freak for solving problemes like this; I find uninstalling and reinstalling sort of a crude solution and wonder if anyone might know how I can troubleshoot the issue, and find out what exactly is causing it -- or knows what's going on outright and has a simple solution?

This post has been edited by hoak: 03 February 2006 - 02:59 AM

[hoak]

Here's something interesting that may be related; take a look at your driver properties sheet; for NVIDIA its the top of the control panel tree; and then look at the DirectX version it reports... Many will see "DirectX 3"...

Perhaps this is a driver issue post SP1 for Server 2003 in what NVIDA drivers are able to see...

[RJARRRPCGP]

hoak, on Feb 5 2006, 08:47 PM, said:

look at the DirectX version it reports... Many will see "DirectX 3"...

Something's fishy about this. Wonder if Microsoft was using some NT4 code in Windows 2003's DirectX?!
I hope not! I know that NT4 didn't support any DirectX version later than DirectX 3x! Did Microsoft get lazy and "borrowed" code from NT4?

This post has been edited by RJARRRPCGP: 07 February 2006 - 01:59 PM

[hoak]

Could be, but it all worked before SP1... Perhaps it's Microsoft found the broad enthusiasm for 'Server 2003 As A Workstation' putting Windowws XP in well earned bad light and took steps thwart it; ATi drivers no longer install properly without a lot of manual dorking around -- and now this DX issue would seem to suggest something's amiss...

This post has been edited by hoak: 11 February 2006 - 10:46 PM

[hoak]

Anybody know what's different about how DirectX installs on Server 2003 SP1 then how it installs on Server 2003 sans SP1 and XP?

[softice]

My experience:
1. minish Version from "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectX".
2. to find a Windows Security Update CD, Which contained directX 9.0B, install directX 9.0B.
3. update to directX 9.0C.

[hoak]

Ok I found a DirectX 9b redistributable install -- but what does "minish" mean?

[cluberti]

DirectX 9 is removed when installing SP1 - this is a "by design" thing. I second the recommendation for using DirectX Happy Uninstall, as it's the only sure-fire way I've found to reinstall DirectX 9.0c. Don't be surprised if it breaks again when the next SP comes out, but until then it'll get DirectX 9.0c back on the box.

[hoak]

Thanks apokok and softice -- I did get it to work... cluberti I do not believe that SP1 "removes" DirectX 9, but I do believe it somehow criples it; if you look at the status information reported by the DirectX Diagnostic Tool DirectX 9 appears in order on Server 2003 SP1, and in fact many games and applications that require DirectX 9 run fine.

The problem appears in driver properties that report DirectX 3, and many older games and applications that specifically require DirectX 8.1 either are not seeing correct registry information they need to find what they need, or are not seeing file/file versions they need to run...

This is a job for one of the Windows System Internals Gurus like the famous Gurglemeyer, he could get to the bottom of something like this and have it more sorted out then Microsoft.

[cluberti]

DirectX on Windows 2003 SP1 is listed as 9.0c, but if you look closely at the files they're different minor version numbers than XP SP2 with 9.0c. It's like a mixture of 9.0b and 9.0c (I'm not in the DX dev group, so don't quote me on it), and it requires using something like happy uninstall to remove and reinstall the proper DirectX 9.0c. Otherwise, it'll report quite a few different versions to programs - which is odd, and I don't know the reasons behind the crippling, but it is indeed not the same after SP1.

[RJARRRPCGP]

hoak, on Feb 23 2006, 06:50 AM, said:

Thanks apokok and softice -- I did get it to work... cluberti I do not believe that SP1 "removes" DirectX 9, but I do believe it somehow criples it; if you look at the status information reported by the DirectX Diagnostic Tool DirectX 9 appears in order on Server 2003 SP1, and in fact many games and applications that require DirectX 9 run fine.

The problem appears in driver properties that report DirectX 3, and many older games and applications that specifically require DirectX 8.1 either are not seeing correct registry information they need to find what they need, or are not seeing file/file versions they need to run...

This is a job for one of the Windows System Internals Gurus like the famous Gurglemeyer, he could get to the bottom of something like this and have it more sorted out then Microsoft.

But I believe Microsoft said that the problem is a bug.

[hoak]

Is there any manner of 'official statment' to that effect (I couldn't find anything)? It seems pretty odd as even Microsoft promots Server 2003 as a robust 'mission critical' client and DirectX is essential for so many multi-media applications...

[nmX.Memnoch]

What about the Feb06 DX9.0c redistributable? Will that restore things after an SP1/R2 install?

[hoak]

Well I tried it using softice's proceedure on the previous page with the Feb06 DX9.0c redistributable and it seems to have messed up things even more -- now DiretX apps that were fine CTD...

Apparently SP1 'locks' some DirectX component files so they can't be upgraded properly with any of the current DirectX distros out there. It's looking more and more like the Happy DirectX Uninstall tool might be the only sure path... Though I can't feature spending $12 to fix something Microsoft has broken...

Surely someone on these forums knows what's going on between SP1 and DirectX 9 on Server 2003 and will eventually post... I hope!

This post has been edited by hoak: 27 February 2006 - 06:35 AM

[Muppet Hunter]

Just a couple of suggestions:

Try extracting all of 9.0b and 9.0c to separate directories and copy the following from 9.0b to 9.0c

dxsetup.exe
DSETUP.dll
dsetup32.dll

Apparently the 9.0c installer has a bug of some kind.

Slipstreaming SP1 (with nLite) may work?


Hope this helps.

[quinriva]

I have Win Server 2003 slipstreamed with SP1 and I had these problems at first but I figured it out.

• Go to Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> Troubleshoot, and set Hardware acceleration to full
  
• Run dxdiag, go to Display and where it says direct draw acceleration click enable. Direct 3D acceleration and AGP texture acceleration should also be enabled now.

That's it, everything should work. Although you should probably make sure that direct sound acceleration is also enabled by going to the sound tab in dxdiag.

It took me ages to work this out, but it is very simple and does not require any work arounds/restarts/regedits/etc.

[hoak]

quinriva, yes I'm well aware of the default DirectX configuration on Server 2003 and have reset these.

But as I said earlier in the thread; depending on your video card and driver (typically Nvidia) you will see DirectX 3 reported in the driver properties, and all DirectX 9 files in the DirectX control panel. The issue is only with some application and games built for DirectX 8.1 and older...

Muppet Hunter, I have tried slipstreaming SP1 (see the title topic post), this is where the problem began, as Server 2003 sans SP1 does not have issues iwth any older DirectX applications. I have not tried your intall trick and will give that one a whirl.

softice offers another rout that seems to get DirectX 9c updated correctly (on SP1), but does not resolve the compatability issues with some older DirectX applicatons.

[Muppet Hunter]

Just a thought, but since SP1 'locks' some DX files, I wonder whether SFC (system file checking) is at work here. This can be disabled with nLite (or other methods).

[cow]

just figured i would add to the mix that i have this problem as well of nvidia reporting directx 3. i'm running windows server 2003 enterprise w/sp1 and nvidia forceware 84.21. i have been able to play older games like far cry and command and conquer generals but i just tried the tomb raider legend demo and it crashed to desktop.

kinda bums me out because i had the option of installing windows xp pro or server 2003 when building this machine and chose server 2003 because this is primarily a work machine and i will be doing .net development with sqlserver 2005 and figured the server os would be the way to go... i just do casual gaming at work but it would be nice if all games worked natively in server 2003 instead of having to dual boot with xp pro.

[fdv]

This may or may not be relevant, but HFSLIP about a month back added DX9c RE-slipstreaming to Windows 2003 specifically in order to fix this problem. Might want to give it a try. Download the 2003 hotfixes and the DX9c files. Although we added this, none of us have tested it (we've been busy with other things in the forum).

DX9c and instructions

Nothing to lose by trying!

(If you're ready to hit 'reply' and tell me Win2003 already has DX9c, re-read this post, but slower this time).