<Note: Be sure to read everything here! Especially if you do have this problem!>I just can't believe the amount of people that doesn't read the Tremulous.net forums FAQ here:
http://tremulous.net/forum/index.php?topic=1206.0
The above link contains the answer to this problem, but I've felt that a topic is required explaining a bit more in-depth about it, because obviously a handful of members isn't reading the stickies and continues to keep questioning this problem.
Whether this topic should exist/move or not is debatable with the moderators.
I say you should read everything on the FAQ before posting anything on the forums, this will help new members from the forums asking questions when the questions are already answered.For every person who has a problem when they try to start Tremulous and when the console window appears (basically that white/blue box that shows a bunch of text) and get a message like this:tremulous 1.1.0 win_mingw-x86 Feb 28 2006
----- FS_Startup -----
Current search path:
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\vms-1.1.0.pk3 (4 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-uncreation-1.1.0.pk3 (110 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-tremor-1.1.0.pk3 (45 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-transit-1.1.0.pk3 (135 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-niveus-1.1.0.pk3 (134 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-nexus6-1.1.0.pk3 (151 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-karith-1.1.0.pk3 (118 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-atcs-1.1.0.pk3 (87 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\map-arachnid2-1.1.0.pk3 (67 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous\base\data-1.1.0.pk3 (1229 files)
C:\Program Files\Tremulous/base
----------------------
2080 files in pk3 files
execing default.cfg
couldn't exec autogen.cfg
couldn't exec autoexec.cfg
Hunk_Clear: reset the hunk ok
...detecting CPU, found generic
------- Input Initialization -------
No window for DirectInput mouse init, delaying
Joystick is not active.
------------------------------------
----- Client Initialization -----
----- Initializing Renderer ----
-------------------------------
----- Client Initialization Complete -----
----- R_Init -----
Initializing OpenGL subsystem
...initializing QGL
...calling LoadLibrary( 'C:\Windows\system32\opengl32.dll' ): succeeded
...setting mode 3: 640 480 FS
...using desktop display depth of 32
...calling CDS: ok
...registered window class
...created window@0,0 (640x480)
Initializing OpenGL driver
...getting DC: succeeded
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 32, 24, 8 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 32, 24, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...failed to find an appropriate PIXELFORMAT
...restoring display settings
...WARNING: could not set the given mode (3)
...setting mode 3: 640 480 FS
...using colorsbits of 16
...calling CDS: ok
...created window@0,0 (640x480)
Initializing OpenGL driver
...getting DC: succeeded
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 16, 16, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...GLW_ChoosePFD( 16, 16, 0 )
...35 PFDs found
...GLW_ChoosePFD failed
...failed to find an appropriate PIXELFORMAT
...restoring display settings
...WARNING: could not set the given mode (3)
...shutting down QGL
...unloading OpenGL DLL
...assuming '3dfxvgl' is a standalone driver
...initializing QGL
...WARNING: missing Glide installation, assuming no 3Dfx available
...shutting down QGL
----- CL_Shutdown -----
RE_Shutdown( 1 )
-----------------------
GLW_StartOpenGL() - could not load OpenGL subsystem
Questions and Answers to this problem:Wow, what does all of this mean?What does all this confusing text means? Well, it means your video card does not support OpenGL, thus Tremulous shuts down because it uses OpenGL to render 3-D models in the game.
What is OpenGL?OpenGL (
Open
Graphics
Library) is a cross platform API for writing applications that require 3D models to be rendered in the computer. The wiki about OpenGL can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenglWell, why doesn't my computer support OpenGL?Probably because:
A) Your graphics card does not support it;
B) Your graphics card could support OpenGL but it does not have the drivers installed properly;
C) You did not update your drivers so your graphics card doesn't know it could use OpenGL;
D) Your computer does not have a graphics card, so simply it doesn't support OpenGL.
What is a 'Driver'?A driver is basically the software that tells your video card what to do and how to do it. You can download drivers as either a .zip/.rar file or as a .exe file. A driver can only work if you have the appropriate card for it, if not, it won't work.
How could I fix these problems?To fix:
A) Install the drivers from your card's manufacturing site, below is the list of popular manufacturers;
B) Install the new versions of your drivers from your card's manufacturing site, below is the list of popular manufacturers;
C) Get a new graphics card that does support OpenGL;
D) Get a graphics card from the list of popular manufacturers below;
List of popular card manufacturers:ATI:
http://ati.amd.com/products/Nvidia:
http://www.nvidia.com/page/home.htmlS3 Graphics:
http://www.s3graphics.com/en/index.jspIntel (Note: It uses Adobe Flash to display the first page):
http://www.intel.com/Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS):
http://www.sis.com/Hopefully I got all the popular card manufacturers, you can download the drivers off their site, but you gotta find out how though, look around on their site and hopefully you'll find it. If you want to get a card, you could either buy it off at the manufacturers website or at another website with a Paypal account. Also, you could try buying a card from a computer store nearest to your home.
Why can't I just 'download' the graphics card?Believe it or not, people actually asks this question. Thing is, a graphics card is an object that you install physically into your computer, you don't download it. Just like how you can say "I could download a desktop or a monitor!", it doesn't work that way.
How do I know what manufacturer/the name of my graphics card?For Windows 200/XP/Vista(?) users:Go to:
Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware tab > Device Manager > Display Drivers
Under display driver should be the name of your video card. Go to
www.google.com and type in the name of your card, it should show give you results and a link to the download of your card's driver. But be aware of sites telling you to download a "Driver Client" that installs the drivers for you, because most (if not all) are fake applications that installs spyware/adware into your system!
For Linux users: (This is the best thing I could get, may change without notice) * Get drivers from the website
* Command: telinit 3
* login and cd to where you downloaded the drivers
* Command: chmod +x <Drivername>
* Command: su -c "./<drivername>" or if you logged in as root just do ./<drivername>
* follow the prompts
* type cd /etc/X11
* use your fav console text editor (i use mc for ease - so this example will too)
* Command: mc
* navigate to xorg.cfg and edit
* goto the "device" section of the file and change driver to nvidia (its proberly vesa or nv at the time)
* Command: telinit 5 (4 for BW64/Slackware. 5 is most common)
* unless if youve really screwed up you should have X back up
Also a note about passing single to the boot loader will give them a single user command line interface if they do screw up would probaly be good.
I'm not the best at making things easy to follow so you might wanna clean it up before adding it.
I still have questions concerning this issue!Well, you can post it here and maybe the me or the tech-nerds of the Tremulous forums can help you. But thing is, we're not dedicated tech-nerds, we're just here to help players with technical problems with running Tremulous. You might want to go to another forum that has (most likely) more "techy" nerds to help you out:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/menu9.htmlIts called TechSpot.com, and the forums has people that are very willing to help you (They solve your problems like its s test against their computer knowledge) and the link is the section where its best to post your questions there regarding graphics cards. I recommend registration an account to their forums and asking your question there. And for the record, I'm not
advertising the site, I'm
recommending it.
FAQ:What about Macintosh PCs? What shold I do if Tremulous doesn't run on it because of the lack of OpenGL support?According to what I have been told and what I've read, OpenGL was supported for ALL Macs since the first release of the Apple computer, so you shouldn't have any worries.
My computer totally supports OpenGL and I know it for a fact, but it still gives me that message!That may not even be OpenGL causing the problem then, it may be a screen resolution problem which almost gives the same message. You'll have to edit your Tremulous configs and change your screen resolution to one supported by your computer.