Direct Draw

[citycowboy 183]

I recently downloaded the game on a different computer, its the amazon version on a HP Touchsmart PC with AMD Athlon II and Win7.

Before the game starts, it says, "could not initialize Direct Draw"

It seems to be working fine, but what does this mean and should I be concerned?

 

[rsc204 21,808]

It means Direct X could not be started, indicating a compatibility issue with your GPU. Most likely it's running in software rendering. Perhaps a driver update or following the instructions here would help you.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Running software rendering has the disadvantage of not being able to use HD textured plugins.  On some machines this may cause a CTD (doesn't on mine, for example - AMD RS750 chip set).  It might be worth your while to try using OpenGL rendering.  The command line option is

-d:opengl

 

[citycowboy 183]

thanks.

 

[citycowboy 183]

      partialRule "Fast card" -any
         # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults.
         stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*"

 

IS THIS WHAT ITS SUPPOSED TO SAY?

The only thing I have in the plugins is the Lokee Appalachian Mod, and it says its 1024x1024, does that mean anything?

Right now it crashes everytime

 

[rsc204 21,808]

Yes. The point of the linked tutorial is to manually add your GPU to this list. You must update both the .sgr files, graphics rules and video cards.

If you look in the Apps directory, you should see a file named YOURCOMPUTERNAME-Config-Log.txt If you have done it correctly, you will see something like this:

sglDriverName = DirectX
sglDriverVersion = 2.0
driverName = nvd3dum.dll
driverVersion = 9.18.13.4052, GUID: D7B71E3E-50C0-11CF-F373-ACA40DC2CD35
cardName = NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
cardVersion = Vendor: 10de, Device: 1380, Board: 84ac1043, Chipset: 00a2
cardIdentity = NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti

The last 5 lines will reference your specific hardware and not mine though.

[El Chupalibre 0]

Hi there !

I'm encounting the same problem : Could not initialize DirectDraw then game starts without image and desk turns on a low resolution the I kill it with Task Manager.

I bilt a new gaming rig few days ago with a skylake CPU, 8 GB DDR4, a GTX 760 and Win10 (64) : SC4 is totally not working. However it works like a charm on my old 2007 plateform Core2Duo, 2 GB DDR2, ATI 4870, Win7 (32).

I tried to fix the problem by editing the Video Cards and Graphics Rules files, no improvements at all.

I use Steam to lauch SC4, do someone know where I should add the " -d:opengl " command line ?

 

Thanks for your reading

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

First, look in the ...\SimCity 4\Apps directory and make sure in the <system name>config-log.txt that the game sees your GPU correctly.

I believe the Steam version has a file for launch options and you could try -d:opengl there.  I can only go by hearsay here because I am not a Steam user, and rely on what I have read here.

If it is any help, here are the relevant lines from my config-log.txt

Quote

appName = SimCity 4
version = 1.1.641.0
osVersion = Windows NT 10.0
computerName = 14-04-lts $
CPU = AuthenticAMD
sglDriverName = DirectX
sglDriverVersion = 2.0
driverName = ati2dvag.dll
driverVersion = 6.17.10.1280, GUID: AEB2CDD4-6E41-43EA-941C-8361CC760781
cardName = ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
cardVersion = Vendor: 1002, Device: 9620, Board: 0000, Chipset: 0000
cardIdentity = ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics

You should see your particular information here (Strings section).

[citycowboy 183]

Strings
-------
userName = Owner
appName = SimCity 4
version = 1.1.641.0
osVersion = Windows NT 6.1
computerName = OWNER
CPU = AuthenticAMD
sglDriverName = Software
sglDriverVersion = 1.0
driverName = atiu9pag.dll
driverVersion = 8.14.1.6095, GUID: D7B71EE2-D552-11CF-8C73-8E0AAFC2CD35
cardName = ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics  
cardVersion = Vendor: 1002, Device: 9612, Board: 2a8e103c, Chipset: 0000
cardIdentity = ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics  
soundDriverName = 
soundCardName = Primary Sound Driver
buildType = Release

Numbers
-------
cpuSpeed = 2793
memory = 3840
freeMemory = 2000
screenWidth = 1024
screenHeight = 768
screenBPP = 32
videoMemory = 16
textureMemory = 16

[rsc204 21,808]

@citycowboy Your machine is still using Software rendering. I've linked to a tutorial which explains how to find the settings to use for your system. Along with instructions on how to edit the necessary files. If you have a specific question or problem with this process, then please let us know. Otherwise the solution to your problem is sitting in front of you. I can not know what strings you need, without sitting in front of your machine, no one is going to be able to edit these files for you.

1 hour ago, El Chupalibre said:

I tried to fix the problem by editing the Video Cards and Graphics Rules files, no improvements at all.

I use Steam to lauch SC4, do someone know where I should add the " -d:opengl " command line ?

Find SC4 in the games library, right click/properties/Set Launch Options. Pretty much any SC4 switch can be used here. Have you checked the log file Nonny mentioned? It could be using the iGPU from the Intel processor by default, so it's best to check which card SC4 is running with here.

[citycowboy 183]

Spoiler

partialRule "Fast card" -any
         # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults.
         stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*Radeon*HD*3200*"

vendor "ATI" 0x1002
   card 0x4158 "Mach 32"
   card 0x4354 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4358 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4554 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4654 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4742 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4744 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4747 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4749 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x474c "Rage XC"
   card 0x474d "Rage XL"
   card 0x474e "Rage XC"
   card 0x474f "Rage XL"
   card 0x4750 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4751 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4752 "Rage XL"
   card 0x4753 "Rage XC"
   card 0x4754 "Rage II"
   card 0x4755 "Rage II+"
   card 0x4756 "Rage IIC"
   card 0x4757 "Rage IIC"
   card 0x4758 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4759 "Rage IIC"
   card 0x475a "Rage IIC"
   card 0x4c42 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c44 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c45 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c46 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c47 "Rage LT"
   card 0x4c49 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c4d "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c4e "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c50 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c51 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c52 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c53 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c54 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4d46 "Rage Mobility 128"
   card 0x4d4c "Rage Mobility 128"
   card 0x4c57 "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x4c58 "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x4c59 "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x4c5a "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x5148 "Radeon FireGL"
   card 0x516c "Radeon"
   card 0x5159 "Radeon 7000"
   card 0x515a "Radeon 7000"
   card 0x5144 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5145 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5146 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5147 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5157 "Radeon 7500"
   card 0x514C "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x514E "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x514F "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x4242 "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x4966 "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x496E "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x4967 "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x496F "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x4C67 "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x4C6F "Radeon 9000" 
   card 0x5960 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5940 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5961 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5941 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5964 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5D44 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x4144 "Radeon 9500"
   card 0x4164 "Radeon 9500"
   card 0x4150 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4170 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4151 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4171 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4152 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4172 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4E46 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4E66 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4e44 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4145 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4146 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E64 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E45 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E65 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E48 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4E49 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4E68 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4E69 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4148 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4168 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x5041 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5042 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5043 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5044 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5045 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5046 "Rage Fury"
   card 0x5047 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5048 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5049 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504a "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504b "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504c "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504d "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504e "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504f "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5050 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5051 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5052 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5053 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5054 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5055 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5056 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5057 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5058 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5245 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5246 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5247 "Rage 128"
   card 0x524b "Rage 128"
   card 0x524c "Rage 128"
   card 0x5345 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5346 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5347 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5348 "Rage 128"
   card 0x534b "Rage 128"
   card 0x534c "Rage 128"
   card 0x534d "Rage 128"
   card 0x534e "Rage 128"
   card 0x5354 "Mach 64"
   card 0x5446 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x544c "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5452 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5453 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5454 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5455 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5654 "Mach 64"
   card 0x5655 "Mach 64"
   card 0x5656 "Mach 64"
   card 0x9612 "Radeon 3200"

ok, i think i followed the directions but it still won't work right. 

      partialRule "Fast card" -any
         # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults.
         stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*"
         stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*Radeon*HD*3200*"

vendor "ATI" 0x1002
   card 0x4158 "Mach 32"
   card 0x4354 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4358 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4554 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4654 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4742 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4744 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4747 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4749 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x474c "Rage XC"
   card 0x474d "Rage XL"
   card 0x474e "Rage XC"
   card 0x474f "Rage XL"
   card 0x4750 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4751 "Rage Pro"
   card 0x4752 "Rage XL"
   card 0x4753 "Rage XC"
   card 0x4754 "Rage II"
   card 0x4755 "Rage II+"
   card 0x4756 "Rage IIC"
   card 0x4757 "Rage IIC"
   card 0x4758 "Mach 64"
   card 0x4759 "Rage IIC"
   card 0x475a "Rage IIC"
   card 0x4c42 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c44 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c45 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c46 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c47 "Rage LT"
   card 0x4c49 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c4d "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c4e "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c50 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c51 "Rage LT Pro"
   card 0x4c52 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c53 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4c54 "Rage Mobility"
   card 0x4d46 "Rage Mobility 128"
   card 0x4d4c "Rage Mobility 128"
   card 0x4c57 "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x4c58 "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x4c59 "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x4c5a "Radeon Mobility"
   card 0x5148 "Radeon FireGL"
   card 0x516c "Radeon"
   card 0x5159 "Radeon 7000"
   card 0x515a "Radeon 7000"
   card 0x5144 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5145 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5146 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5147 "Radeon 7200"
   card 0x5157 "Radeon 7500"
   card 0x514C "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x514E "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x514F "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x4242 "Radeon 8500"
   card 0x4966 "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x496E "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x4967 "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x496F "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x4C67 "Radeon 9000"
   card 0x4C6F "Radeon 9000" 
   card 0x5960 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5940 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5961 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5941 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5964 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x5D44 "Radeon 9200"
   card 0x4144 "Radeon 9500"
   card 0x4164 "Radeon 9500"
   card 0x4150 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4170 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4151 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4171 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4152 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4172 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4E46 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4E66 "Radeon 9600"
   card 0x4e44 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4145 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4146 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E64 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E45 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E65 "Radeon 9700"
   card 0x4E48 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4E49 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4E68 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4E69 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4148 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x4168 "Radeon 9800"
   card 0x5041 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5042 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5043 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5044 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5045 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5046 "Rage Fury"
   card 0x5047 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5048 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5049 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504a "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504b "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504c "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504d "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504e "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x504f "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5050 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5051 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5052 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5053 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5054 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5055 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5056 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5057 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5058 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5245 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5246 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5247 "Rage 128"
   card 0x524b "Rage 128"
   card 0x524c "Rage 128"
   card 0x5345 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5346 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5347 "Rage 128"
   card 0x5348 "Rage 128"
   card 0x534b "Rage 128"
   card 0x534c "Rage 128"
   card 0x534d "Rage 128"
   card 0x534e "Rage 128"
   card 0x5354 "Mach 64"
   card 0x5446 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x544c "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5452 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5453 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5454 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5455 "Rage 128 Pro"
   card 0x5654 "Mach 64"
   card 0x5655 "Mach 64"
   card 0x5656 "Mach 64"
   card 0x9612 "Radeon 3200"

ok, i think i followed the directions but it still won't work right. 

how do i do the opengl thing?

 

[citycowboy 183]

is this a command prompt command?

 

[rsc204 21,808]

Sorry, it just occurred to me that your system is already configured to use your Radeon card, no further editing of these files is necessary. Did you enter the game and switch Direct X on? Top right from main menu, then graphics properties.

You'll need to restart the game, if all is well, great. If that gives you problems, check once more the config-log file (it updates on every run of SC4). Is this line:

"sglDriverName = Software"

changed to

"sglDriverName = DirectX"?

If the log confirms DirectX is active, and detects your ATI GPU (which it is doing), but you still have problems. It could be a setting in ATI's Catalyst control centre - usually found in control panel. A number of 3D settings are usually available to customise each game. Find SC4, turn everything to off here. Usually that will force everything to work, after that you can use trial and error to see which settings your system will support.

If that also doesn't improve things, you can try updated, or in some cases older, drivers for your GPU. Sometimes older software is better supported by older drivers.

[citycowboy 183]

It keeps popping back to software mode, the game won't even fire unless I accept that it has popped back to software version. 

I went to device manager but there isn't any list for the Radeon 3200. Im trying to update it and see if that does anything. 

I appreciate your help. 

 

Its saying the driver is up to date with the latest version.

 

[rsc204 21,808]

Sounds like a case of unsupported hardware/drivers to me.

Not every setup can support SC4's implementation of DirectX properly or well. In these cases it's necessary to switch to either OpenGL, or as a last resort software rendering. OpenGL is a mixed bag, it's technically hardware rendering (like DirectX), but it doesn't work the same. All hardware rendering means is that your GPU is handling the display during play. When you use software rendering, your CPU does it instead. It's not always pretty, but the CPU should always work unlike the GPU.

OpenGL is only selectable via a command line switch. Right click the SC4 icon on your desktop, select properties. On the "Shortcut" tab, find the line "Target". Add to the end of this line "-d:OpenGL". Now SC4 will try to initialise OpenGL rendering. In practise you may not find this improves things however. OpenGL has some quirks, so HD textures may still not be an option even if it works.

Your computer doesn't really know if your driver is up to date. Check that at ATI's website and see if there is a newer version to the one installed. Failing that, sometimes when drivers are updated, they remove support for legacy features, to better support modern games. In such cases, you may find an older driver actually works better for you. Again ATI's website probably has a number of older revisions. Again it's trial and error I'm afraid, ultimately some systems just won't work to their full potential. As you have a laptop, there really isn't anything you can do about the hardware.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Aha!  You have an AMD780 built-in GPU (Radion 3000), and you cannot use hardware rendering because that chip set is no longer supported by AMD and the catalyst service no longer recognizes it.  I know this because I am in the same situation.

I have had to back off from the latest version of Ubuntu because the default driver support on Linux was removed from the distribution.  I backed out to the last Long Term Support release Ubuntu 14.04.03 LTS to get hardware rendering to work with the X-org driver Gallium 0.4 (a beta at best, but it works).

I should think that you do not have the Catalyst control panel in your system because your chip set has no AMD support, and AMD supplies the Catalyst software.  Both of us need a new GPU, but I am good until 2017 so I am in no rush.  This is going to cost you some serious $$, so get the best GPU you can afford, or (gasp) a new box of tricks.  Take a look at the strings in my last post and you'll see the we have the same chip set.  BTW, I've set my windows decor to Windows 10 and things seem a little faster.

[rsc204 21,808]

6 hours ago, A Nonny Moose said:

Aha!  You have an AMD780 built-in GPU (Radion 3000), and you cannot use hardware rendering because that chip set is no longer supported by AMD and the catalyst service no longer recognizes it.  I know this because I am in the same situation.

But is it not possible to find an old driver, from when Catalyst was supported on that chipset? I've probably got something suitable, since I used to have an EAH 3780 until it started overheating. - Just checked, my driver doesn't cover the 3000 series. I'll have a look online and see if I can't dig out a link to an older version. In the meantime, best place to find such a thing is the original driver disk, if you have it? - And click here to find the Legacy driver on ATI's website. Simply replace the existing driver with this package and all should be well. Don't let Windows update install a newer update though - it will try.

I know Linux requires you to install a specific version to use an old driver, but Windows doesn't, ATI drivers for Windows7 will go back a long way and still work fine.

This solution is not always ideal, if you only are interested in playing SimCity, go for it and think no further about it. But if you play more modern games too, that older driver may cause undesirable effects.

6 hours ago, A Nonny Moose said:

Both of us need a new GPU

This is one of the problems with planned obsolescence, if you can't make it work, you'll have to buy a new one, right? However, try not to forget that a system will always work in every way it did when shipped. If you choose not to upgrade/change everything, you can limit your exposure to this cycle of replacement. If the user has a laptop (I'm pretty sure they do), then you can't replace the GPU. Meaning it's a new machine to circumvent the problem.

Otherwise, faced with a similar problem a few years back, just get a more compatible GPU for SC4. The amount of GPU this games needs is very minimal, anything from a few years back should be able to run it very well. Meaning you may be better off buying a decent second hand older card, than a new one, due to more chance of compatible drivers.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ Well, yes.  I am in very poor health at the moment and the last thing I want to do is spend money on a hardware upgrade I may not get to use very much.  So, if I make it to 2017 (my 80th year), then there is a crunch on upgrading or going out of support.

[NCGAIO 562]

Just a bit information. ... to avail the appropriate title of topic

Direct draw problems has to do with the MS OS updates therefore is more difficult to try solve with solutions that will work only in some specific conditions.

The game should be run in windowed mode for current compatibility ( DWM ) so if there is not the knowledge to do it yourself just use any existing SC4 launchers in the download section.

As recommendations is better; disable the sound, the video introduction and not select high priority for the game (all for compatibility issues and performance)

Regarding the core affinity choice : in fact the game realy uses multiple threads but due to other updates of current OS maybe it fail... unfortunately ... so if you still have problems even with the sound off try setting the processor affinity to one unique core.

citycowboy There is a serious problem with this

.video Memory = 16 <<<
.texture Memory = 16 <<<

This happened due to cited integrated chipset graphic have use of Hypermemory technology AMD (Use shared RAM as video memory) but poor old SC4 due to the different current DD behavior in the OS see only the video memory available on the chipset.

In this case - HP Touchsmart - HP informations
* Integrated video is not available if a graphics card is installed.
Interface: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics integrated onto motherboard
Memory: Shares memory with system (not user adjustable) <<<<<   big problem!!
 
The minimum required by the game to use well the hardware is 32 mb and more some conditions of the graphic hardware that are utilized to configuring the graphics perfomance on start of the game.

Exist some solutions for this but not is very simple and at their own risk to implement . PM for sugestions

And more one time: .... is totally useless the inclusion of card model in SGR file to try make game's code be able for identify the video card used, this recognition occurs within DX calls that occurring before the processings to this script in the execution of the game

perhaps this change can be perceived by those who have tried wrappers or instal AMD / Nvidia control panels that intercept to emulate the old DD calls that generate the recognizing of adapter for the SC4 code ( as write >>>log.txt ) but not counting with those try change the adapter only editing SGR file continue as useless.

a note: many suppliers of hardware receives OEM versions of drivers for graphs that optimize for use in your specific graphic hardware and often the update to drivers can be problematic so always results in the supplier's recommendation to reinstall the original driver provided.

It was not for nothing that some manufacturers distributed OEM_OS with option of updates disabled to avoid problems.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

By default, the RS780 chip on my machine uses 512MB of the system's RAM.  This is settable in the boot, but beware.  When I tried it, I had to have the bios restored.

[NCGAIO 562]

Unfortunately it does not seem to be useful to the above case according to what is reported in the HP documentation for the equipment related by him.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I suspect that HP purchased the mother board from the same manufacturer as mine.  They are not known for doing much except Bowdlerizing others' work.  The last HP box I had was exactly that.

[NCGAIO 562]

I doubt very much as it is an owner chassis but even if it were the same board
this does not mean that the firmware would be the same.

alias as stated in the equipment documentation cited above

""Memory: Shares memory with system (not user adjustable)""

So for you it is possible to adjust the video memory but for him it's not possible thus at least in this case the two firmwares are different.

and as this is the basic point on the case seems  useless  practice evaluate different behaviors of the same integrated video chipset on different equipment

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Agreed.  It really depends on whose boot firmware you have.  Older machines will have BIOS, while newer ones have the one for large architectures.