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ADayToRemember9's avatar
5 years ago

Command and Conquer 3 Directx9 error

I cannot launch my command and conquer games that I purchased through origin in the Command and Conquer ultimate collection, I recieve a directx error telling me to install directx9 and make sure hardware acceleration is not disabled. I have gone through a multitude of forums on this topic and have tried every suggestion I can find, I'm using a brand new hp laptop with 9th gen I5 processor and GTX 1650, I have made sure all drivers are up to date on the display and sound and have gone and downloaded and ran the DirectX web installer and redist packs, I have also tried Running in various compatibility modes, run as admin, and set the program to launch in window mode on my pc's recommended resolution. Nothing fixed my issue please help.

6 Replies

  • I have this exact issue, if anyone has anything on it please let us know.

    Mahalo

  • @ADayToRemember95 


    @ADayToRemember95 wrote:

    and have gone and downloaded and ran the DirectX web installer and redist packs.


    Which one, specifically?

    The issue with this problem is that just updating DirectX to the latest version doesn't help; the games specifically need the latest version of DirectX 9, and that's a different thing than the newer DirectX 10/11/12. So the solution is to install DirectX 9 specifically.

    • Download the DirectX Redistributables package from June 2010. Be sure to uncheck any other junk they want to add to it. It should be a file called "directx_Jun2010_redist.exe".
    • Run the downloaded file. It'll ask for a folder to unpack in. Make a new folder somewhere on your disk and unpack it there. It doesn't matter where you unpack it; it can be deleted afterwards anyway.
    • Go to the folder where you told it to extract.
    • Find "DXSETUP.exe", and run that to install the missing components.
    • After the installation finished, delete the folder you unpacked everything in.

    Since this is a completely separate thing, it will not interfere with your installed higher-version DirectX.

    Tagging @GodzillaG1 too so they both see this.

  • @ADayToRemember95 

    Thanks for tagging me, and linking to this.  Your solution here was one of the first I tried.  Installed this and other packages, in regular and compatibility modes.  Nothing worked for any version, disc, steam, or origin.

    Did installing this fix your C&C RA?

    I got my disc and origin version running, but it was very peculiar.  It wasn't until I used run in a window command at a lower resolution that the game created the options file and profile, which then allowed both versions to run, but not the steal version.

  • The game startup sequence needs the screen to switch to a 800 x 600 resolution.
    However, on newer intel graphics cards this resolution does not exist by default. Because of this the game throws us a directx error message, but it's actually not able to swith the displat to 800 x 600

    .
    1. Open Intel Graphics Control Panel
    2. Click Display
    3. Click Custom Resolutions
    4. Click Yes
    5. In Width, type 800
    6. In Height, type 600
    7. In Refresh Rate, type 60 / 40
    8. Click Add at the bottom of the page

    This should allow it to run. For me the game after start will automatically select my higher resolution.of 1920 x 1080..
  • for those who still searching :

    execute the game with parameters  CNC3.exe -win xres 1920 yres 1080

    it will open the game in windowed mode

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