Video driver problems...

[Tesla]

I am having problems with running certain games on my laptop...When I try to run Red Alert 1, I get a black screen with an error saying, "Unable to locate primary video buffer.", and when I click "OK" it exits to windows. When I try to run the newer C&C games, it runs them fine, except there are no graphics. When I try to run Worms Armageddon (if you have never played this, then you don't know what you are missing), it says "WA.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. Please send and error report (blah blah blah)". I think this happened after I installed the drivers for the BelkinG wireless card.

Note: These programs run fine on my desktop computer (which has EXACTLY the same operating system on it [Windows XP home with SP2]). I am using a Toshiba laptop.

[MaXiMuZZZ]

I suggest installing the latest DirectX/Graphic Drivers if you haven't done already.

Head over here, find the Laptop you have, then download & install the drivers. Reboot, test the games and tell us the result. :p

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_modSel.jsp?


Btw, which Toshiba is it exactly?

[Tesla]

It is a Toshiba Satellite model A45-S121. By the way, I went to the link you suggested, and didn't find the drivers I was looking for. It's not the graphics drivers; it's the video drivers. But thanks anyway.

[MaXiMuZZZ]

Graphic drivers and Video drivers are two words that are the same thing, basically. ;)

You might want to try the 'Display Driver' showed on this page. They're compatible with the Satellite A45-S121.
Clicky (http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_modItemList.jsp?ModelDLOS=null&ModelDLCat=Driver%7C520715&BV_SessionID=%40%40%40%400354331336.1180140685%40%40%40%40&BV_EngineID=cccfaddlddkdkfgcgfkceghdgngdgnj.0&ListType=Model&ct=DL&moid=626341&rpn=PSA40U&OrderBy=D&PublicStartIndex=0&PrivateStartIndex=0&PublicCutOff=&PrivateCutOff=&AddOldPublicItems=false&AddOldPrivateItems=undefined&all_docs=false)

[Tesla]

I tried that one, and nothing happened.

[Soviet779]

Apparently it has "Intel Extreme Graphics with 32MB Shared Memory"

That could be the problem right there, if it only has shared memory then it has no actual graphics card memory of its own (if it had a combination of shared and actual memory then it probably would have mentioned it), it merely uses system ram. My theory is these games cannot locate any graphics memory to write to or read from so they dont work. Back when RA1 was made i dont think shared memory was around then so they never factored i.

If im right then its somthing that cannot be fixed to my knowledge. Did RA1 ever run at all at any point on the lappy?

[Tesla]

yes, when there was a different version of Windows XP on there. (this is the "The First Decade" version of Red Alert.)

EDIT: oops, sorry for reviving a 6 day old thread, but...woohoo! I have 400 posts! I am now a Colonel! Anyway, thanks to everybody who replied to this thread trying to help me. I really appreciate it. I now have everything working fine. I had to go to the Intel home page and download a Media Accelerator driver.

[Soviet779]

Ah, kewl. Glad it got sorted :)