BF2142 crashes on startup after new TFT monitor

[MohicanGR]

I've already read the postes and faq in various places but nothing seems quite right, so here it is (I'm sure many others have it too):

I played BF2142 for more than a year in an old 17" CRT monitor (1024x768 @ 85Hz), 8800GTS and 2GB RAM, I've had some problems but nothing out of the ordinary as I can see. A few days ago I replaced my monitor with a LG-L1900EQ (19" TFT) and tried to play again, but the game refuses to start.

I have tried everything, from changing the settings manually in the video.con file to the program shortcut options, tried to run in compatibility Windows 2000 mode, re-installed the game + patch 1.40, NOTHING. After the startup banner, the screen flickers twice (changes resolution) and then crashes back to the desktop with no error message, no log file, nothing.

I've read that there is an issue with the refresh rate in TFT/LCD monitors when lower than 60Hz, but I've tried 1280x1024 and 1024x768 at 60Hz and didn't work. Nothing else has changed in s/w or h/w since the game was playing, it seems *unbelievable* that DiCE had written code that sloppy (depending on monitor's refresh rate) when they're using DirectX anyway.

If someone has found a solution to this, please replay soon before I burn trash my CD.

:shakehead

[Trevortt]

I doubt it has got anything to do with the monitor although i will ask, did you install any new monitor drivers? If so, remove them & try again.

[MohicanGR]

I know this is a major issue for some people, so here is the answer. It took EA Support almost 10 days to find it, however it's not as simple as it seems:

1. Uninstall the game completely, delete any temp and cache files.

2. Install the game again clean and upgrade with patch 1.40.

3. Make sure the BF2142 profile folder has been deleted from My Documents.

4. The game should be able to start now at default settings (800x600 @ low refresh rate), you can change them in-game to the appropriate ones.

For some cases, deleting cache files and the BF2142 profile without uninstalling the game may work too, so make sure you try it first.

Another nice story provided by DiCE...
:yay: