READ THIS FIRST IF YOU WANT HELP - Thanks! - Updated 4/10/2008

[ÜberJumper]

Introduction

This is the Company of Heroes Technical Assistance Forum. If you have a problem with Company of Heroes, or a technical question about the game, you can post it here.

This forum is for Identifying Bugs and Assisting Users with Technical Issues/questions.

Be Advised this is a User to User support forum, and is NOT the OFFICIAL means of support for Relic's Company of Heroes. For official support, contact THQ via the methods outlined in your manual.

Any suggestions found here are to be used at your own risk. We assume no responsibility for any damage you do when attempting fixes provided by users to other users.


How to Post

Create a new thread for your issue, it's not nice to derail a user's thread with your problems! This way it's easier to help any user on his specific problem.

Include a detailed description of the problem:

- How to recreate it
- What you've done to attempt to fix it
- The EXACT details of any error messages

Include the following files:

- dxdiag.txt (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?100739-READ-THIS-FIRST-IF-YOU-WANT-HELP-Thanks!-Updated-4-10-2008&p=1626622&viewfull=1#post1626622)
- warnings.log (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?p=1626631#post1626631)
- Hijackthis log file (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?p=1655495#post1655495)
- error.log (http://forums.relicnews.com/showpost.php?p=2893472&postcount=9)

Attach them to the thread, or copy and paste their contents into your post.
To make reading those easier, please surround each file with the "code"-tags: (without the spaces)
[ code]your file[ /code]

Network Problems with Relic Online include the following:

- Router Model
- Winstun Info (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?p=1706637#post1706637)
- Hijack this log files, Winstun info and warnings.log files from ALL people involved in the problem (if possible).
- sometimes doing a ping/tracing to the server can be useful, infos here (http://forums.relicnews.com/showpost.php?p=2903902&postcount=6)


Graphic, Art, or Text Bugs:

- A screenshot (print screen) of the problem.



Things to Try First

Read the game's readme.txt BEFORE posting
Update everything. This sounds trivial, but is the solution to well over half of the problems people encountered. This means:
-updating your graphics drivers to the latest version.
-updating your sound drivers
-updating Windows to the latest version (WindowsXP SP3 or Vista SP1)
-updating your mainboard drivers
-patching the game to the latest version
If you bought your game from Steam, verify your game cache files (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335) from your Steam library.
If you are using Vista, make sure the account you install the game from has full Administrator privileges, and turn User Account Control off before installing.
Try a diagnostic startup (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=107785) to rule out conflicts with other programs.
Some software needs to be updated sometimes, have a look here (http://forums.relicnews.com/showpost.php?p=2941765&postcount=10).
In case of hardware issues, restore factory clock settings when you've overclocked your hardware.
Check your hardware's temperatures for overheating
Known Issues

If having Network Performance Issues (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=105988), ensure that the proper ports are forwarded (read the readme), and any bandwidth shaping apps are configured or removed (Net Limiter). Antivirus programs (nod32) will need to be configured properly.
Uninstalling McAfee Personal Firewall has helped several people with their online issues.
If having lockups, try underclocking your memory speed. See this thread (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=108447) for several people confirming the fixes.

Choppy Performance in Skirmish and Multiplayer (http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=109175) - with \My Documents\ Redirected to a network share. - Problem will also be evident if saving a single player game or loading single player levels which depend on data from a previous mission (IE: Mission 4)
Nvidia SLI users experiencing a slow framerate can try turning off post processing in the game's graphics options.
Reporting non-technical bugs
Bug reports should be submitted via the in game bug reporting link. When submitting a bug report

Give a detailed description of your bug. If possible, try to recreate it before posting. Tell us exactly under which circumstances the bug occured, what you did, and also what might be unique for your version of the game (e.g. mods you have installed)
If you can provide a screenshot or a replay, it will really help to identify the bug. Please do so whenever possible.
Additional Considerations

USE PROPER ENGLISH. Posts that are deemed illegible due to excessive use of l33t, "txt msg shorthand" such as "m8", "b4", "plz" and "u", will result in locked threads and deleted posts.
No rants. If you are upset about your game not working properly, it is perfectly understandable. However, this is NOT the place to blow off steam. These forums are dedicated to helping people, they are NOT a complaint department.
Be nice. Even if you spot what you believe to be the dumbest mistake in the history of the internet, be nice. Don't call people idiots. Point out their mistake, and suggest a solution.
Please only post if are actually contributing. You may ask questions, although you should start your own thread if you have a problem and don't hijack other's threads. Do not post useless comments like "lol" or "that sucks".
Useless posts and threads WILL be deleted.
Check if somebody else has previously reported the same problem. Use the search function. Look at the thread titles, see if they describe your problem, then check to see if any solutions have been suggested. Try them out before posting.
Even if you think you've found a post that's the same as another, post a new thread.. The thread title should be a short description of your problem, e.g. "Game won't start" or "Graphical glitches".
Be polite. This forum is run by fans for fans. If somebody suggest something that you think won't work, don't call them a dumbass - do it. We have had success with some very unconventional methods before. If you get crabby and yell at people, your thread will be locked.
Be patient. The sheer number of threads prevents us from adressing every problem within minutes. Usually, somebody will post within a few hours, but if that doesn't happen, do not bump your thread with comments like "anyone?" or "please help". Also, do not pester people with private messages saying "please look at my thread". If nobody has posted in your thread after three or four days, you may ask for updates on your problem in a polite fashion.
**** WARNING IF YOUR POST DOES NOT CONTRIBUTE TO A SOLUTION FOR A PROBLEM, IT WILL BE DELETED ****

(This thread is the latest version of the standard technical support guidelines with contributions from UberJumper, Moe, and others)

[ÜberJumper]

dxDiag (short for DirectX Diagnostic) is a commonly requested file when dealing with tech problems. It contains information about the hardware your computer has and all sorts of other helpful information. This file does not contain any sort of personal information other than your computers "name".


How to obtain your DxDiag file:

1. From the desktop click: Start > Run (or windows key + r).

http://img331.imageshack.us/img331/3002/startrunro1.gif
If you use Vista, type "dxdiag" in the search in the start menu.

2. In the blank text field of the window that appears type “dxdiag” without the quotes. Press run or hit enter.
http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/9343/run.png

3. Another window should appear titled DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Near the bottom of the window click on “Save All Information…”
http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/8453/directx.png

A popup should appear with a progress bar, this may take a few minutes.

4. After it completes a dialog should appear asking you where to save the file, I would recommend saving it to your desktop (automatically selected) with the default name and file type.
http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/7758/notepad.png
5. Open the file on your desktop (or wherever you saved it) and select all (ctrl + a) and copy (ctrl + c).
http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/7451/selectall.png

http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/4972/copy.png

6. Paste the information in the
tags (ctrl + v) as it can be quite heavy. That is it.
http://img427.imageshack.us/img427/9549/onforums.png

If you do not want the Computer name to be shown, simply go to the fifth line of the document, and where it says "Machine Name:", replace the computer name with "*". Note, this information could not be used against you in a hacking attempt,


Originally posted by zbobet2012.

[ÜberJumper]

A "Warnings.log" is a file that keeps a log of your last session in Company of Heroes. This is very important as it can be used for figuring out why you're having problems with the game.

The warnings.log file is located in your \My Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes\ directory. It can be opened in notepad.

Be warned that warnings.log is overwritten everytime you start up CoH. So you had a problem with your last session of the game, please make sure you make a copy of it BEFORE you restart the game.

[NovaBurn]

Company of Heroes features the most advanced technology ever seen in the RTS genre, and therefore is pretty demanding. Still, we feel the game performs adequately on the following minimum spec: Pentium 4 @ 2.0 GHz (or equivalent AMD processor), 512MB of system RAM, and a 64MB DirectX 9.0 compatible video card that supports pixel shader 1.1. You’ll have to refer to the game’s Readme for a full list of supported graphics cards.

However, for the best experience of Company of Heroes, we recommend the following spec: 3.0 GHz CPU, 1GB of system RAM, and an nVidia GeForce 6800 with 256MB of RAM (or equivalent).

BE AWARE THAT IF YOU DO NOT MEET THE SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THE GAME WILL WORK. REGARDLESS IF OTHERS BELOW THE REQUIREMENTS HAVE IT WORK.

[EDIT] updated to reflect new system requirements.

[ÜberJumper]

Hijack this is a program that we sometimes ask people to use to help us resolve issues.

For detailed information about the program see:

http://www.whatthetech.com/hijackthis/

Download from here:
http://www.whatthetech.com/hijackthis_v2/
(link includes a description on how to use it)

What we normally ask you to do is run the program, then select "Do a system scan and save a log file". The program will automatically run, and open a text file window for you to look at. You can copy and paste that information into a post here, or attach the file to your post for analysis.

We normally look at the running processes to see if you have antivirus or firewall programs running, and to see if your system is configured with "local" dns servers. Sometimes we might spot a virus or spyware and suggest you remove it.

If you would like to analyze it yourself, paste the contents into the window at http://www.hijackthis.de (http://www.hijackthis.de/) and it will warn you if there is anything wrong with your system.

[Alexei]

Troubleshooting connection problems with WinStun

With increasingly large numbers of different network devices used by game players it is impossible to test all possible combinations of equipment. When two clients are located behind firewalls, routers or any other type of network device implementing NAT (Network Address Translation) they cannot connect directly. In order to facilitate such connections most game applications use different NAT traversal solutions.

In many cases connectivity depends on the type of NAT implemented by a network device and it configuration. WinStun is one of the tools you can use in order to obtain extended information about your network device. You should run it on the same machine where the game is installed. You can download the WinStun client here: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=47735&package_id=102146

When you launch WinStun it should look like this: (please see attached image - WinStun-screenshot.JPG)

Click the “Run Test” button, copy the results displayed in the output window and attach it to your post when you have connectivity problems. Even if this information does not make much sense for you it may be very helpful to developers who are trying to investigate connectivity problems.

Update: If you get the message "Could not reach the stun server - check server name is correct" , put "stun.ekiga.net" in "Stun Server".

[Bonnet]

If we suspect you are having an issue with computer hardware we may ask you to run two different programs. They are memtest86+ (sometimes just called memtest) and prime95.

You can download the latest version of memtest86+ here (http://www.memtest.org/#downiso). This program test your memory in a very comprehensive manner for errors (if you don't know what that means that is ok). This (http://forum.canardpc.com/showthread.php?t=28864) thread on the memtest forums (http://forum.canardpc.com/forumdisplay.php?f=73) has great instructions for using it.

Prime95 is available here (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103). This tests for system stability and helps determine if you have hardware conflicts, etc. A comprehensive guide to its usage is here (http://www.playtool.com/pages/prime95/prime95.html).

[Maniac]

In some cases CoH will create an error.log after a crash, it can be very useful to find out the reason for this game crash.

The error.log file is located in in your "\My Documents\My Games\Company of Heroes\" directory.

If an error.log will be created, it will be named with the exact timestamp of the crash, so its easy to find the correct one, it will look like this:
"2-3-2008_01_25_38_ErrorLog"

[Maniac]

Some application errors can be fixed with some software updates, check if you can use one of those:

- Microsoft XNA Framework Redistributable 1.0 Refresh (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A7DA4763-6807-4BD5-8D18-18C60C437F93&displaylang=en)

Install the latest Microsoft .NET Framework

.NET Framework v3.5 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en)

.NET Framework v3.5 SP1 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ab99342f-5d1a-413d-8319-81da479ab0d7&displaylang=en)


Update Microsoft Visual C++

32bit version (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9b2da534-3e03-4391-8a4d-074b9f2bc1bf&displaylang=en) and SP1 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=A5C84275-3B97-4AB7-A40D-3802B2AF5FC2&displaylang=en)

64bit version (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=BD2A6171-E2D6-4230-B809-9A8D7548C1B6&displaylang=en) and SP1 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ba9257ca-337f-4b40-8c14-157cfdffee4e&DisplayLang=en)

If you use Vista, make sure to have this hotfixes:



Hotfix for GeForce customers running DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 applications:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940105 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940105) .
This hotfix resolves abnormal application behavior such as crashes and extremely low frame rates when running some 3D applications at very high graphics settings. This issue is not limited to, but has been most commonly noticed on high-end graphics cards and the following applications: Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2142, Civilization IV, Company of Heroes, Half-Life 2, Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II, Supreme Commander, and Tom Clancy\'s Rainbow Six Vegas.


Also make sure these are installed: (those come with the windows update anyway, which should be acitve!)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938194
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938979

If you have SLI (2 cards) you will also need:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936710

UPDATE: All these hotfixes are included in SP1 for Vista, installing it is highly recommended!

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