Problem with games and DirectX in Windows 10 Technical Preview

IMPORTANT; Please note that I've some difficultly with my hands after working on systems all day, so I'll be using CAPS to emphasize some points that should be given extra attention to detail, not to be rude or shout, just type more easily and clearly.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Okay, covering this at large because I've found this issue with two classic Star Wars Games that I dug out (I've got the patches for updating saved in an archive) and used for testing because the arts department needs access to just about every API there is going forwards and backwards.

That being said, using a few games for testing is the best option, and most perform quite well.

Here are the titles:

1 - Star Wars Battlefront II (Non-Steam, Non GoG - Worked fine on 7 64-bit)

2 - Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds (Non-Steam, Non GoG - Worked fine on 7 64-bit)

Both have patches that update them to v1.1. and the patches have been installed.

Drivers, registry entries, etc. have been gone over with a fine toothed comb; including with SysInternals and manual edits of registry and file placements for related files as needed.  In short, the aim is for a perfect corporate image and we've been testing for three weeks.

Here's what we know will NOT, does NOT, and will NEVER work:

1 - Stop discussing the June 2010 libraries' web installer and limit the discussions to the parameters shared here in item " 4 - ".  EPIC FAIL because:

A - DXDiag does not give the whole story of all of the DirectX files on any system, but rather ONLY reports whatever the highest version is that the OS has installed.

B - The libraries will at least install when using the offline installer (the one that unpacks DXSETUP.exe)

C - The DXWebSetup.exe (has to be run as Admin to ever start) will not move through the install procedure after clicking "next" and gives the following message:


2 - It's clear that many of the people here... (not all the people, just a lot of the people) ...have limited experience with hardware.  My employer requires 10 years of hardware experience in a PC environment just to get into the software development or the administration departments for the very reason that's likely caused a lot of the misinformation being tossed around on this post.

Please bear in mind this is just polite observation at work, so if this doesn't apply to you, then just dismiss it.

Here's what everyone needs to know about hardware:

A - Test it.

B - Our new workstation build's hardware was previously tested on Windows 7 64 bit, and the above games worked fine as did all DX9 and above apps.

C - Drivers are SOFTWARE and have NOTHING to do with HARDWARE.

D - The PURPOSE of DRIVERS is SOLELY to assist the operating system (ANY OS; All Windows Versions, Linux, Mac, etc.) in understanding what the HARDWARE's limits are.  DRIVERS ARE SOLELY A SOFTWARE BRIDGE BETWEEN THE OS AND THE HARDWARE.

E - Just like iMovie or any Apple editing suite SOFTWARE products can't be run on Windows, some DRIVERS will have VERSIONS that are NOT COMPATIBLE WITH A NEWER VERSION OF WINDOWS.

F - If the HARDWARE FUNCTIONS in ONE SOFTWARE OS environment, it is CAPABLE of FUNCTIONING in ANY SOFTWARE OS ENVIRONMENT IF ALL THE SOFTWARE FOR THE OS IS COMPATIBLE WITH BOTH THE OS AND EXPLOITING THE HARDWARE'S FEATURES ALL DONE AT THE SOFTWARE LEVEL through COMPATIBLE SOFTWARE DRIVERS.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  "Software Drivers" and "Virtual Drivers" FOR "Virtual Devices" are NOT THE SAME.  Apples and Oranges by comparison where the only thing they have in common is that they both have seeds (They both are PROGRAMMED SOFTWARE of DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATIONS in that "Virtual Drivers" FOR "Virtual Devices" are essentially SOFTWARE TO SOFTWARE Drivers, and" "Software Drivers" are actually programmed for a piece of HARDWARE).

3 - Windows 10 is still an evolving platform, and many people and businesses will test the software (Windows 10) prior to fully migrating to it using upgrade options, but rather performing cold installs on blank or newly formatted hardware to learn what their options are for the tasks they perform and what adaptations need to be made such as not using an older version of AutoDesk or some such adjustment to estimate costs for new software as well.

A - In November of 2015, Windows 10 changed drastically as was noted through various sources and articles we've found through our own testing process.  Far too many to list, so don't ask.

B - One of the major changes was that Microsoft is trying to completely automate Windows Updates.  As an Admin, I think this is a great idea; however it comes with several disadvantages for everyone including Microsoft;

1B - Microsoft has not kept up its drivers catalog since about 2004 as was able to be used in Internet Explorer in Windows 98 through XP.  It's still present, and accessible if you know how to get IE to access it, but the drivers kept within it are very old and outdated.

2B - Many software developers don't bother purchasing certificates that are Trusted so as to be able to sign drivers triggering many problems with both new OS'es (not just MS) and API's such as DirectX.  At SLI (My Employer), we've an X.500 ID that allows us to run an ANSI certified TLD that we keep largely internal, so we may perform this task.  Since we own the rights, costs are low, and as a result developers have gotten fired for not E-Signing their work with applicable SLI credentials.  If other companies were as strict as SLI about this, DirectX would never have a problem verifying WHQL data, and Microsoft would likely not have abandoned their driver Catalog for so long, that is otherwise an excellent feature.

3B - Microsoft is not ready to take on the responsibility of system drivers because a PC marketplace has far too much software and hardware variety for such an undertaking short of starting a brand new MS Driver Catalog with a full time team that updates it 24/7/365 to keep up with the PC industry while Apple is so inflexible with limited variety such a goal as is already in place is more realistic at the cost of having much choice in software and hardware configuration to the consumer and/or enterprise.  MS please stop trying to be something that you're not because the thing that you're not is actually why many of those in the PC marketplace choose Microsoft.  :D

C - If anyone does a clean install of Windows 10 using the installation media that was setup before November of 2015, DirectX 9.0C libraries MAY work TEMPORARILY, but as soon as all November 2015 updates and after are installed, the same problem WILL OCCUR AGAIN.

***SIGH***

4 - Now that hopefully everyone has learned something helpful that is beneficial to understanding the fundamental issues at hand with this problem I will note what has been observed so far in testing the apps I mentioned in this post first:

A - Unpacking the June 2010 libraries for DirectX 9.0C will be part of the solution.

B - Unpacking the CABS (Not sure which ones yet) AFTER the unpacking of the June 2010 libraries for DirectX 9.0C will be part of the solution.

C - Running the "DXSETUP.exe" of the June 2010 libraries is part of the solution since it will fully run, and it is always wise to make Windows perform its own maintenance whenever possible.

D - Running the "DXSETUP.exe" of the June 2010 libraries only results in a partial install of DirectX 9.0C because upon inspection of either the C:\Windows\System32 or C:\Windows\SysWOW64 folder it's very noticeable many essential DirectX 9.0C Dll files are missing and further; do not have counterparts (FILES WITH THE SAME NAME) such as were included with DirectX 11 and below.

E - Depending on whether a system is running on 64-bit Windows 10 or 32-bit (x86) Windows 10 will have an impact on which DLL's need to be manually transferred to either C:\Windows\System32 , C:\Windows\SysWOW64 , or both.

We'll keep everyone here posted on the solution's specifics once we find it at SLI, or perhaps maybe even find, there isn't one.  If there's a real solution though, we'll find it.

SLI - IT Deployments - Chief Analytics Officer

I have been playing Star Trek Online for, But since I have installed widows 10 (clean Install) it crashed during launch and comes up with this. --- ERROR: Direct3D Returned error code: (DXGI_ERROR_DEEVICE_REMOVED) While Presenting. Reason: Dx887a006 (DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG)

ERROR TICKET* 72494781

P.s My world of Warships and World of tanks works just fine.

******@live.com

I have been playing Star Trek Online for, But since I have installed widows 10 (clean Install) it crashed during launch and comes up with this. --- ERROR: Direct3D Returned error code: (DXGI_ERROR_DEEVICE_REMOVED) While Presenting. Reason: Dx887a006 (DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG)

ERROR TICKET* 72494781

P.s My world of Warships and World of tanks works just fine.

*** Email address is removed for privacy ***

Just to advise on our progress for your concern because we felt attempting to replicate the error you mentioned regarding Star Trek Online ( "STO" ) may be worthwhile in testing DX9;

While we have not performed much additional troubleshooting of the DLL's themselves that will have to be discerningly placed in the appropriate directories to ensure detection by DX9 applications (no worries, more updates to come), we did test STO as a reference application.

STO was downloaded from https://www.arcgames.com , and we installed the Arc DRM utility.  It's a little tricky to configure when using a tight Windows Firewall configuration, so if anyone needs help with that, let us know here.  We can't promise a quick response, but a response will be given to help.

The first time configuration of STO was tricky (it launched in a ridiculously low resolution); however if your video card's drivers are up to date, Windows and related applications will know what DX API versions your system's video hardware can handle.

During configuration that requires going back to the main menu of STO (creating a character is not required for this step), the configuration menu must be accessed where there is a drop down in one of the tabs that allows for the selection of the video hardware and its DX version (i.e. DX9, DX10, DX11).  Performance for all three DX versions on our end was flawless on our system build, and further, we did allow one of our fellow admins to create a character for themselves because it's almost impossible to work within our IT department without being a fan of Star Trek.  :D  STO also worked wonderfully within the game itself when configured to use any of the available DX API versions.  Nope, we're not going to give out their character name, that's their business, sorry.

If you continue to receive the error, take the following steps that often resolve DX errors even though some of these recommendations for the installation of runtimes do not readily appear to be related to DirectX in any way, it has been our experience that not having them for whatever reason, can affect some applications and/or DirectX itself to perform at optimal compatibility (we honestly don't know where the following runtimes cause problems by not being installed, or if not having the runtimes affects DirectX or the applications more... "Chicken or the egg?" ...but we do know the runtimes being available has in the past prevented problems with DirectX and Applications that utilize the DX API) ;

1 - Install all Visual C Runtimes from 2005 to present (Be Sure to Install both the x86 & x64 versions if running a 64-bit OS)

2 - Install the most up to date Java Runtimes (Be Sure to Install both the x86 & x64 versions if running a 64-bit OS)

3 - Make sure you're running the most up to date Software Drivers for your Video Hardware.

4 - Make sure you're running the most up to date Software Drivers for your Sound Hardware.

5 - Make sure you're running the most up to date Software Drivers for your Keyboard, Mouse and/or Game Controller Hardware (this step is the most commonly overlooked of all when troubleshooting DirectX issues).

Performing all of the above steps should solve the problem, and of course, it is important to make sure that you're running the copy provided by the Arc DRM utility, and that STO has also been patched accordingly.

If the above steps do not work, then uninstall and reinstall STO using Arc.

We hope these steps and suggestions are helpful for STO.

Best Regards,

StepLadder Inc Admin Team ( Completed 70 Day Audit of Windows 10 )

i GET A FEW BUGS IMPOSSIBLEW TO TRACK AS THE WINDOWS 10  (ALL VERSIONS), Do Not, before restart leave you time view 0xa000*&?* and yes installation woes, but worst during installation of os some time you choose one option to realize it was the wrong one and no back button exit whatever.

messages of error sometime are not considered cause: no time to copie them to paper. no copy paste in many apps and windows news example: beyond copy wright. online dépendance for setup is a drag cause: kit assembly with software that work do not exist.

assemble all files then start a solid installation offline, then connect. version HDD\SSD formatting. even dongle (USB freezes CMOS on gigabyte dual BIOS, it's a compatibility issue, with several hardwares, Nvidia GeForce 610 another. what incentive do hardware developers have to update programming of hardware...???)

long haul win 3.1 user, 3.11, 95, 98, millenium, 7 8 8.1, 10 ,nt, xppro... on and on. visio, streets... lots of $$$ better than Vehicle smart car with square wheels (things will round out with time :)