Installation - none of the Bioware advice has worked!

[TeeJay]

Please could someone help me with a BG2 + TOB installation problem.

My system is specified as follows:

OS Windows 98 SE (4,10,0,2222) (upgraded from win95)
CPU AMD 1.1 GHz Duron
CPU fan Coolermaster k6-600 (rated up to SoA 1.2GHz)
Mobo Gigabyte GA-7ZXE w/ VIA KT133A + 686B AGPset, FSB 200/266, 3 DIMM,
AC97 Audio, ATA 100
Mobo drivers from Gigabyte: Via 4 in 1, f9 bios, VIA 686 sound driver
version 2.20a
Memory 384Mb (3 x 128Mb pc100 SDRAM CL=2 Non-Parity from Crucial)
Graphics Hercules 3d Prophet 4500 64MB (Kyro II) with driver version 15.84
(02/05/02) from Hercules
Sound onboard AC97
HDD Total 8.4Gb "Generic IDE Disk Type 47" [Dell OEM] with 3.3Gb free
Free space 2.63Gb is on E:\ drive (install destination)
515MB is on C:\ drive
100MB is on D:\ drive
CD-ROM - TOSHIBA XM-6202B (14/32x)(designated as H:\ drive)
Other stuff: Altec Lansing 495 speakers, V90 PCI modem, PS/2 mouse, Logitech keyboard, Floppy [Dell OEM], PC World case/PSU, Dell badged (Nokia?) Trinitron Ultrascan 17".

Baldur's Gate 2 & Throne of Bhaal box set - European version.

Before installation I tried the following workarounds as recommended by the Bioware website:

- I set the CD-ROM to 'no read ahead'
- I updated the CD-ROM firmware (to version 1512/ae80703.hex). I was sucessful in running Alpha Centurii from disk after this (as a test) and confirmed the change using 'Nero InfoTool'.
- I cleaned the disks
- I turned off DMA for the CDROM (nb 'disconnect', 'sync data transfer' and 'auto insert' are also all turned off)
- I checked for any references to 'cd1' in config.sys & autoexec.bat (none found)
- I checked for any references to 'bg2' using regedit (none found)

I then ran Setup.exe from disk 1

- The install wizard started, I specified drive E:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII-SoA (full install)
- Installation got up to 34% before prompting me for disk 2
- I ejected disk 1 & inserted disk 2. I let the CD-ROM 'spin/stop' for 5 minutes before pressing 'OK' for disk 2 (although I'm not sure what the CD-ROM was doing as the system is fairly noisey. I seemed to be able to feel some kind of vibration from the drive but the light was out for at least five minutes.)
- When I clicked OK (the path dialogue box was H:\) it didn't install from disk 2 but immediately made a single 'ping' and said 'insert disk 3'. When disk 3 was inserted it repeated itself and asked for disk 4. The same thing happened with disk 4 - it asked for disk 5. At this point I tried all the disks (including ToB) in turn but it couldn't find any files. When I exit from install shield it said 'Please insert CD-ROM with serial number 8B7B-36FD', but again it didn't respond to any of the disks.
- I repeated this for a minimum & recommended but found no differences

- I noticed that in 'My Computer' Bg2_cd2 (H was 'recognised'
- Before I exited the install shield I had two folders in E:\Program Files\Black Isle\BGII-SoA - 'cache' and 'characters' although only the formed had a file (cache2ea.rra 150MB). Afterwards there was nothing there.

I haven't updated DCOM for Win98 as install shield seemed to work.

I noticed that my Toshiba XM-6202 CD-ROM is supposed to have issues with Throne of Bhaal, but I can't install the 26498 patch until I have installed SoA/ToB. Ditto the SoA 23037 patch.

The only thing I haven't done (I think) is to copy the files to my HDD to install from there, but I don't think I have enough free space.

Please could you advise me what I should do now.

[Vedran]

Welcome to Escape forums.
You have more technical knowledge than me. I can suggest only simple tests to find the cause of the problem:

• Check if CDs work on some other PC.
• Check if they work with another CD-ROM (borrow it somewhere) on your PC.

[andrewas]

The BG2 CDs are straight CDFS - no copy protection of any sort. Therefore they should read easily enough. They are not particularly high quality though, so a CD-ROM which can read other CDs might not be able to handle them. Try cleaning the lens in your CD-ROM. Can you see the files on CD2 in windows?

Also, there are no "bg2" entries in the registry. You have to search for "baldurs gate" "bioware" and "interplay". Woudnt think it would have any effect though.

The ToB CD is protected (laserblock). This protection is so feeble I didnt even notice it was present until after I made my backup, but some older CDROMS may have trouble reading it. It might be worth replacing your CDROM if you hav trouble with it, although problems usualy arise with playing the game rather than installing though, so a no-cd patch may work just as well. You need a full install for that though.

[Bokken]

Another thing you may want to try out is first copy the disks to your hard drive in (for example) E:\CD1 ,CD2, CD3 etc etc and try instaling the game from there. When prompted to insert CD2 just change it from H:\ to E:\CD2.
I'm not sure if this will work with this game but I'm pretty sure you should have a problem with it. Worth a try.

btw once the game is instaled it will run off the CD's in the CD Rom but if you do a full instal of both BG2 and TOB you will only need the TOB CD and it will save you a lot of disk swapping. If this works successfully, be sure to delete the files you instaled from as they are not needed any longer.

Best of luck!

[ 10-20-2002, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: Bokken ]

[TeeJay]

Thanks for the reply...but...

I have just tried copying the disks to my hard drive. While copying disk 1, about 40% of the way through, while copying data2.cab I got the message "Error Copying File: Cannot copy data2: The system cannot read from the specified media".

I managed to copy all the other files from all the disks except this one. I then tried to copy data2.cab again, by itself, and got 80% of the way through before getting the same error message.

I have noticed that in Explorer all the other data.cab files are indicated as being last modifed on 12/09/00 while data2.cab has 20/10/02 (ie today!) although in properties it also has the earlier date.

I tried running the installation without this file but almost straight away I am prompted for disks 2,3,4 & 5 (ie like the original problem except I happens alot sooner.)

data2.cab is 523MB

Anyone know what I should do now? (PS I bought this on eBay so I can't take it 'back to the retailer')

[andrewas]

Acquire data2.cab from someone and install using that copy. Unfortuantley its too big to email, even with a fast connection, but hopefuly you can find someone else with Bg2. IF all else fails Bioware will replace your CD, but I think they charge for it.

And try cleaning your CDROM lens. Could be one dodgy section of the disc that cant be read without a perfect laser. CD-ROM cleaners are about 5 quid.