Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Forum

Hello,
I have the three-disc version of Vampire Bloodlines, and got overjoyed when I found out that some have managed to install it on OSX.

The Crossover Games version I'm using is 8.1.3.
I'm using a MBP from 2006, with 4gb ram, 2,4ghz and Snow Leopard 10.6.4.

This happens when I try to install VtMB:

• If I try to install with the CDs, I get to the step when I'm supposed to switch to CD2, which doesn't work.
  I use the Eject button in Crossover, but the installer never starts up the second cd. Nothing happens.

• If I put the content of all threee CDs into a folder and try to install from there, choosing Setup.exe, I don't even get to the cd-switch. I'm including a screen shot of the error message I get. It always stops at the same place, and once that error message has appeared I can't do anything but have to force-shut down the Cross-Over program from Finder.

My error message (picture)

Any other suggestions?

Regards,
Stefan

Hey there Stefan, unfortunately, I'm not really familiar with CXgames 8.1.3. And my testing has been done with later versions ie. 9.0-9.2.

By any chance have you left it installing when that error pops up? I mean, try not closing the error box and see if it's still installing by the lower left installation progress bar. It seems to me that when that used to happen to me it's not actually the installation that crashes and causes the error. Also, another option would be to press the button then walk away from the computer for about a half an hour in case it is installing in the background then kill then attempt to kill the wineserver from the command line. You won't be able to see it, but it might be working in the background.

Hi, thanks for looking into my problem.
The first part of the installation (before the error message appears) finishes in just a few seconds, so I would presume it wouldn't take more than maybe 5 minutes to install this game if everything were to run smoothly? I've left it for about 15 minutes now, and nothing seems to happen. I'm gonna watch a movie before I look at it again, but it seems like nothing is happening in the background.

James wrote:

Also, another option would be to press the button then walk away
from the computer for about a half an hour in case it is installing
in the background then kill then attempt to kill the wineserver from
the command line. You won't be able to see it, but it might be
working in the background.

Kill the attempt to kill the wineserver? I'm afraid I have no idea what you mean.
What do I type in the command line, and what does that command do?

Stefan

Hmmm, I wish I knew. I use linux. On linux there are a few different ways. "wineserver -k" "killall IDriver.exe". Perhaps if you can open up a system monitor to tell you what services or programs are running... I'm not sure, maybe it doesn't work with the version of crossover you are using.

I updated my version of Crossover Games to 9.2.

There are more options now, but sadly, the same problem comes up again.
I read a debug log, which said that it couldn't copy that specific music file showed in my screenshot. It's probably corrupted or something. I guess it's in one of the package files, but removing the content from my three-disc folder and copying the contents from the discs again doesn't help.

EDIT:

I found this website, and downloaded the downtown file, put in the installation directory where the debug report said it would be looking for it, and the installation process skipped it! ...however it immediately got stuck on the next audio file: hollywood_theme. I'm gonna try and download them all and see what happens. Progress! ....perhaps.

Hope that works. I myself have had issues when copying files from discs to the HD. Another option would be to try cleaning the disc before you copy.

I did another try with installing from the CDs, and it actually worked just fine with cd switching in Crossover 9.2.
However, in the exact end I received another error message. I hoped it would be the same crash that you mentioned in the "Tips & Tricks" so I ended the installation myself.

Trying to see if the game starts, I receive an error saying that there's a problem with Vampire.exe.
Trying to apply the first official patch (1.2), I get an error message saying it doesn't know which version of vampire I'm running.

So... I search the registry to see if I can locate any thing that says "Version"...

I've so far returned empty.

Damn, I think the 1.2 patch rewrites vampire.exe and other files, so perhaps if I manage to get the patch starting, perhaps it will fix my broken vampire.exe...

Did crossover finish installing when you killed IDriver.exe? Or were you forced to quit that as well? What is the new error?, Did you try to install dx9 (it's unnecessary) When does it happen, you said right at the end. Is there an error box?

It's a possibility, you might also want to try to 7.1 unofficial patch to see if there is any change. (it includes the official patch in it)

The installer never finished, but the bar showing the installation progress reached the end. Then I received an error message similar to what I had before (I think... now I don't quite remember, perhaps I should do it all over again just to be sure).

I didn't kill any "IDriver.exe". I don't even know what it is or how to do that. I know of no way to see ongoing processes on a mac (similar to the windows task manager?). When the error message appeared, I clicked "ok" (from this point nothing happens) and looked at the window for the installation progress (can be highlighted if you click the menu Configure->Install Software). The progress bar had got stuck at about 4/5 and had an "x" beside it. I clicked the X and it seemed to finish up the installation.

I cannot install the official 1.2 patch since it overwrites the vampire.exe file. And my vampire.exe cannot tell the patcher what version it is, so the patching never takes place. That's why I tried to look for registry values to see if I could edit that myself.

As far as I know, no unofficial version (neither wesp's "Unofficial" patch, nor Tessera's "True" patch) ever changes the exe files, they just extract the newly edited content files the modders changed?

I'll try to reinstall Vampire again tomorrow and see what the new error message said. However, version 9.2 of Crossover Games have no problem whatsoever with the cd switching during installation.

Stefan

Yeah, I would try it again. Perhaps even try to rip the discs to iso's at a slow rate if possible then mount or extract them, cause I would guess that either there is a bug with this on a mac, or you have some sort of corruption on your hands.

The newer Unofficial and True patches include the official 1.2 patch within them which is why I suggested that. It really sucks that you are having so many issues with this. Wish they would allow the owners of the disc version of the game to register the steam version... Would make things much easier.

I looked it up and the best I could come up with as far as a task manager for mac is try Activity Monitor in Applications => Utilities.

Also, one last option I can think of is to copy and paste/overwrite the vampire.exe from the disc to your installation. It's found under "Setup" -> "Data" on one of your Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines disc.

Hrrmmm... I seriously hope this helps...

I just reinstalled the damn thing. Same scenario. The error message is the same as in the picture I posted before.
I managed to find the built in windows task manager in the bottle created for the installation. When the error message appeared, I shut down the process IDriver.exe. What happens is that Crossover tells me that the installation could not complete. It finalizes the process, but I'm stuck at the same place again. Whenever I try to start up the game, it Crossover tells me that there is a problem with vampire.exe. I tried copy/paste/overwrite it from the cd, but no change.

I give up. Thanks for all the effort James.

Sorry it won't seem to work for you. Try filing a ticket/bug about it.