"Failed to initialize COM."

...hopefully it's something with my system that i've missed...

System Specs?

Also is there a Problem code? I remember having a 0088 Error with some software once , that had a VERY similar error message, I recall fixing it by reinstalling the Microsoft .NET Framework.

I know I currently have Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 on my PC for awhile now ,even before the beta came out. I do not know of Sins requires files from Microsoft .NET Framework or not.

Oh and ...... Go into your XP Control Panel then to Administrative Tools and then to Event Viewer. And look for an error log file. Is any more detailed information related to this error?

Stupid question, but did you try re-installing ?

Athlon XP 2.2GHz, 1.5Gb RAM, Gefoce 7800GS AGP, Creative SB Live! 24-bit, XP SP2/DX 9.0c, Forceware 101.09...haven't tried reinstalling...yet.

Specs are good, either there is a problem with XP or Sins didn't install right...

After the game fails to load again, go into your XP Control Panel then to Administrative Tools and then to Event Viewer. And look for an error log file.

re-installed...no dice. no log in event viewer. smartexception doesn't catch anything. it's the very first thing that happens. also interesting to note (though unrelated i'm sure) that my return key doesn't work in these posts.   

In a few hours someone for SD/IC will be on to help, I don't have a clue...

Failed to initialize COM error, does it have a code? I've never seen a microsoft error without a code.

Sorry about your problems Spud, we'll do our best to get you going. I've seen this before with a corrupt download so I would try redownloading it from Stardock Central but you might want to wait until tommorow when we launch the first beta 2 patch so you don't have two hefty downloads to make.

The new patch is a full download?

Just in case its a hefty download, I haven't counted the total yet

i've re-installed a couple of times, installed .NET 2.0 (though i'm certain that has nothing to do with it) and updated my Forceware to 160.02. after that, my gf demanded time and i haven't had a chance to start it up again yet.

if there's a patch coming today, i'll try a full re-install tonight and hopefully that will fix things.

it's an odd error...i don't really think it's a Microsoft error, per se. i've never seen one like this. there's no code of any kind. a box is opened with 3 buttons and the message in it; the buttons are "skip", "skip all", and "break". all of them result in the same action: the screen goes black (like it's changing resolutions) and i *think* one of my optical drives spins up, or at least that's what it sounds like, and after about 3 seconds the screen reverts to my desktop with no further info.

i'll check back in tonight after the new download/install.

thanks for the help.

Try turning off the intro movies as well. Open C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Ironclad Games\Sins of a Solar Empire\Setting\user.setting in notepad and change ShowIntroMovies TRUE to ShowIntroMovies FALSE.

Patch has been delayed until Tuesday, sorry gang.   

kk mate its ok look on the bright sins its sins so it will be good and at least we getting a patch

*looks for pitchfork and torches.....*

And when you say Tuesday, do you mean 12:01 am ?

ah, thanks...i was wondering where the settings files were stored, but i didn't think to associate "ironclad games" with SSE. i'll poke around in there later and see if i can make some progress that way.

part of the difficulty is that i can think of 3 different "COM" things related to this: "Component Object Model", COM ports, and the Stardock "ComponentManager" (registry entries i found relating to SD central). if only i could figure out which of those the error was referring to.... it seems like it would have to be Component Object Model.

ok, after latest re-install, same problem, BUT there's no Ironclad Games folder in my Application Data folder. don't think there ever was one, either. there's one in the "All Users\Application Data" folder (with one file in it, "sig.bin"), but that's it.

i'm guessing that this is at least part of the problem. i'm going to try installing SSE under Vista and see if that works correctly or not.

We have a special exe for you to try, but it won't work until you get the patch data. Please email support@ironcladgames.com once you have patched (unless that fixes your problems) and we'll send you back the exe.

great! i will do that. in the meantime...i installed it under Vista and it works!! w00t! i can play now, at least, and it'll be useful to be able to compare the two versions on identical hardware. plus i can copy the AppData folder from my user account to the one in XP and see if that fixes the problem.

thanks again for the help.

alrighty, worked great under vista. nice to finally get to check it out a bit. i'm definitely impressed with the performance under vista, so far, but i haven't really put it to the test too much, yet.

going back to xp, i'm still at the same point. i tried another install and still get the COM error.

UPDATE (12:20 PM PDT): ok, i installed the patched version, and i noticed some different stuff, including a whole new error (this one even has a number!), but ended up at the same place again.

before this patch, when the download finished, there was some drive activity and then a dialog would pop up asking if i wanted to create a desktop shortcut, then ask if i wanted to run the game.

this time, (post patch) it finished downloading, then there was a bunch of decompression that happened which listed its progess in the download box. i saw lots of file names, then it deleted temporary files, so that's something different...the enumeration of files didn't happen the first time. i suspect something may have been whack with the download/install process.

so, after this part, i got a whole new error:

"There was an error activating Sins of a Solar Empire. Error: 6

Excessive activations (#) - Multiple activation requests for this product have arrived and been processed. This has triggered the threshold for potential errors. If you are having problems activating or need to reset the activation count, please email this log file to support@stardock.com from the email address you ordered under."

i click OK, it asks if i want to create a shortcut, then if i want to start the game.

when i go to start the game, i get the COM error again.

is there a way to completely remove everything related to this game, as if i had never installed it, and try again? also, if there's supposed to be an "Ironclad Games" folder in my user's "Application Data" folder, one has yet to appear. i haven't had any luck locating the one from my Vista install for SSE, unfortunately.

any ideas?

Looks like you've simply tried activating the game too much in too short a span. Please send that info to support@stardock.com and they'll reset your account.

figured out the COM error....or i think i did.

so, yes, i have activated too many times. but the COM error was a hardware configuration issue, so it must have been a Windows error. it appears to be fixed now, as i unplugged the front USB header cable from the COM port on my board (OOPS! the USB and COM headers look nearly identical, i got sloppy when i switched cases recently.) now i get an activation dialog when i start the game in XP.

YAY!

Please, please tell! We are kind of baffled...   

Edit: Oh i posted this before you added in the reason Nice work on the find!

it was a really strange error, i just lucked into figuring it out. i find it really strange that vista had no problems with the same situation. right now i'm not 100% certain it's fixed because i had to wait until today to get activation reset. i'll have to check tonight after work to make sure it's going to start, but getting the activation dialog is a new thing, and i think that means it's fixed.

meanwhile, i've been playing in vista! it's sweet and runs quite well on my "ancient" Athlon XP 2800+ machine. i'm starting to learn my way around the interface with the basic navigation tutorial. this weekend i should have a whole bunch of time to play and compare vista vs. xp and stuff, so i'll post anything interesting.

thanks for the efforts in helping with troubleshooting.

Don't forget to download today's hotfix too