Playonline Viewer Crashes while trying to open

Details:
I have been attempting to come back to FFXI however after installing Playonline viewer from Vanadiel Collection 2008 on Feb 27th, 2011 attempting to open playonline viewer leads to playonline popping up all black and after 5 seconds and then would get a message saying "Playonline viewer has stopped working" " A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available". Following this I uninstalled tried again same error. I then downloaded the vista/windows 7 viewer from the FFXI website and installed only to receive the same error. Allowing for administrator did not fix the problem or changing what version of windows is compatible. However when attempting to open Playonline in safe mode it did in fact work. However i could not get it to function otherwise. On May 18, 2011 I downloaded and bought the new Vanadiel Collection with abbysea from steam hoping that it may in fact fix the problem but the same error still occurs. Updating my videodriver to the FFXI website specific Windows 7 compatible driver for my card did not fix the issue.
Steps:
1. Installed Playonline via VAnadiel Collection 2008 Disk
2. Attempted to open playonline
3. Crashed right away with a message saying it "Stopped Working"
4. Same error occured with both the windows 7 compatible dl from website and the Abbysea Collection downloaded from Steam.
5. Tried to run program as administrator
6. Installed compatible videodriver
7. Worked in Safe Mode
Date & Time:
Feb 27th, 2011 & May 18th, 2011
Frequency: Always
Platform: PC
PC Manufacturer & Model Number: Homebuilt Computer
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1 Build 760).
Graphics Card: Two ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
ISP: Videotron
Type of Internet Connection: Cable

Trailgaze,

We’re sorry for the problems you are experiencing trying to play FINAL FANTASY XI. At this point, we’d like you to effectively start from scratch. Please uninstall all versions of the PlayOnline Viewer and FINAL FANTASY XI from your machine. Having both the disc-based version and the Steam version on the same machine will prevent the game from running properly, so you will want to ensure that they are both completely removed before starting again.

Once you have removed all previous traces of PlayOnline and FINAL FANTASY XI from your machine, we would recommend installing through Steam, as FINAL FANTASY® XI Ultimate Collection Abyssea Edition is the most recent version available. A clean install of the most recent version should address your problems. If it does not, then please, contact the SQUARE ENIX Support Center directly for further assistance.

The SQUARE ENIX Support Center can be found at this link:
SQUARE ENIX Support Center

I had the same problem with it saying that is stopped working. I checked out Steam support and it gave me the steps to fix it. There may be a file that you'll have to delete after you uninstall the game. After the file is deleted the clean install should fix the problem.

Check out Steam support for Final Fantasy XI for the steps.

I'm having the exact same issue on my new Alienware m14x with a fresh install out of steam (i believe it's the non-abyssea version though).
Windows 7 64 bit
Nvidia 555M video (latest drivers)


WolfBro, could you provide a link to the steam site? Or the steps to get there?

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...2292-OAKZ-7524

The section titled:

"I just reinstalled the Steam version of FINAL FANTASY XI and receive "Error code: POL-5312" or “Error code: POL-1158”."

Should be what you're looking for. I didn't get either of those error codes but following the steps provided fixed my problems.

Tried that. Did a complete reinstall with the ultimate collection, still causing issues.

Checked the error log, and it says "Faulting module path: C:\Windows\system32\nvumdshim.dll" - which seems to be related to the optimus tech on my nvidia card. Seeing if I can disable that somehow and get it to work then. Will keep tinkering but if a representative will help out that'd be awesome as well.

Hello,

I have the same problem though I didn't bougth the game through Steam. Everything was ok until yesterday. Now, I can log in the game till I see my character however when I try to move, I have got the message "Playonline viewer has stopped working" " A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available".
Do yoou think I need to reinstall? If so when does the problem come from?

Thank you for your help!

This is most likely a driver issue of sorts(has been the culprit far more often than not). If the game was working before and isn't now, check if your drivers have been updated (Automatic Updates may have done it)--if so, roll them back.


Apperently, nvumdshim.dll has been causing issues for quite a while now, and not just on the 540m chipsets. Here's a thread I found real quick at Microsoft regarding DX9 HW acceleration:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/i...7-d8d385dcbb12

The work around there was to disable hadware acceleration. This may also apply to FFXI's mixed up directx implementaion. If you are running it in windowed mode, and it is crashing on game init (D3D failed to init error) try changing it to full screen, or double check your background/foregraound resolutions--it sometimes doesn't like custom values (use ones in the drop menus in FFXI config--if that fixes it, make sure to use standard sizes if you manually edit registry settings).

One thing you could try also is running the offline DX9 installation in case some of the files are still missing in the Win7 loadout (was an issue with Vista, may have carried over):
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/e...1-50ceb6d8fa8d

Thank you for your answer. I am uninstalling the game at the moment.
I did check that my "graphic card" driver was up to date before starting.
I'll try to follow your comment when I'll have the game installed once again.

My problem seems solve with reinstalling the game =)

I am Having the same problem i have upgraded my card and direct x this is so frustrating since i just bought this computer yesterday what are you saying about the 540m chip because thats what i have

I have the exact same problem with my alienware m14x with nvidia gt 555m... if I can't get it fixed, I'm returning it lol. I disabled the HD intel drivers and pol worked but it looked absolutely awful. Anyone find fix yet?

I had to disable the nvidia card in device manager and make sure the intel HD card drivers were updated to make it work.