Known Issues - FAQ

Post here your proposed Q&A, regarding the known problems with MTA:SA DM and their solutions, especially problems we're encountering now, that might be also encountered by users in the final release. You're also welcome to edit them grammar/style wise.

Client

General

Does MTASA:DM work with v1.01 or v2.00?

No. Please see this forum topic for instructions on patching the exe:

Initial black screen/hanging GTA splash screens

• MTA shows a permanent black screen or hanging GTA splash screens.

It may be necessary that during/after the logo splash screens in Grand Theft Auto you have to give some input in order to skip the videos correctly. Try to click your left-mouse button a few times, or tapping a few keys.

• MTA shows a permanent black screen after the GTA splash screens (possibly with text in the bottom right corner).

This can be related to a lack of support for DirectX or video card features, on your system, which are needed to run the dynamically rendered menu. This dynamic menu is enabled by default. Try disabling the dynamic menu by downloading the adjusted coreconfig.xml file and placing it in our GTA San Andreas\MTA directory (overwriting any existing files).

Halt after MTA splash screen

• Nothing happens after the 'Stop playing with yourself' splash screen

If you use nVidia GeForce, try turning off nView Desktop Manager before starting MTA.

Also try deleting GTA San Andreas settings file ("gta_sa.set") in "Documents\GTA San Andreas User Files" folder

Crash after MTA splash screen

• MTA crashes after the 'Stop playing with yourself' logo. Both single player and the MTA: Race ran fine before.

Try downloading the latest DirectX Runtime files from Microsoft. Also check in Task Manager, if gta_sa.exe process isn't already running.

If you run at any substandard resolutions (e.g. 960x720), try to change your resolution to a commonly supported one (e.g. 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×1024) by launching Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in normal mode, setting the new resolution and exiting.

Assertion in CMainMenu.cpp line 106 upon launching MTASA

• I'm getting an assertion in CMainMenu.cpp (line 106) after I have launched MTASA. I'm able to ignore it, but then game crashes after I try to connect to a server.

This is likely caused by GTASA or MTASA being installed in a path that contains non-ASCII characters (eg. Cyrillic, Polish, Japanese) in it.

To resolve this, you need to uninstall MTASA and GTASA, then install them in such paths that don't contain such characters.

Controls not working

• My controls don't seem to work as they should.

Try using the 'copygtacontrols' command in the console.

Incorrect models

• Woman model's breasts look awkward ingame / I'm seeing odd, spider-like shaped player models.

This is caused by the way GTA handles player stats. To fix this, be sure to set both fat and muscles player stats to 0, when you're changing player skin.

Incorrect drive-by functionality

• Drivebys arent working as they should

Drivebys are handled by script, and will change depending on the loaded gamemode.

Unsaved settings

• My MTA setting(s) didn't get saved (...) I crashed.

First, configure the MTA the way you want to, then exit the game and launch it again. Settings should get saved. Alternatively, try removing the coreconfig.xml file, then configure it and quit the game.

Gamepad support

• MTA doesnt recognise my gamepad

This is a known issue - MTA's keybinds system does not support direct input. As an alternative, XPadder can be used. This emulates joypad buttons as keyboard/mouse so that it can be used in MTA. Please refer to this forum topic for a brief guide on how to use XPadder.

Sky flickering

• My screen/sky flickers when weather or sky effects are enabled.

MTA:SA DM uses a new text rendering system from race, which is much more efficient in terms of FPS. However, this can cause conflicts within the game, particularly with ATI based cards. To fix this, bring up the console with F8, and type the command ceguitext 1. This reverts the rendering method to that of Race. All glitches should no longer happen, at the cost of lower FPS.

Invalid serial number

This seems to happen randomly to a few people. The best way to fix this is to install without a serial number at all (choose the bottom option on the MTA accounts page of the installer). We'll be looking into fixing this as soon as possible.

You can also try to login into your account on www.mtabeta.com, there you can read your serial number. Then open " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas/" in your registry. There you have to create the string "Username" with your username as value, and the string "Serial" with your serial number as value.

'Network module could not be located'

• I am getting 'Network module could not be located' error message upon launching MTA:SA DM

Copy the file 'net.dll' from your GTA:SA/mta directory into your GTA:SA directory, overwriting existing files.

Windows Vista®-related

Crash on launch

• I've successfully upgraded from MTA Race to MTASA DM on Vista, but it seems to crash on launch.

Go to your Program Files\MTA San Andreas\mods\race directory, and rename client.dll to something else.

Crash on connect

• I seem to crash whenever I connect to a server just before I go in-game on Vista

This seems to be an issue with the Microsoft DirectX April 2006 SDK Redistributable DLL file (d3dx9_30.dll) when running in compatibility mode. Please make sure that compatibility mode is competely turned off for both your GTA_SA.exe and Multi Theft Auto.exe executables.

Invalid or disabled serial error

• MTASA DM installer complains about wrong serial provided. I'm running it for the first time.

You need to run the installer with Administrator privileges. To do so, right click on the installer executable, choose 'Properties', go into 'Compatibility' tab and tick the check box on the last field.

Some have found that setting compatibility to Windows XP/2000 have fixed the problem.

If User Account Control is disabled, you might need to enable it and run the installer with admin privileges (like said above) in order to install MTA:SA DM.

• I am getting 'invalid serial' when I try to connect to a server

After some research we have found that in most cases this problem occurs if registry data has not been set for some reason. To fix this problem, take the following steps:

Open regedit (start > run > regedit)
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas
Create a new string key called Username and fill there the username you have on mtabeta.com
Create one more string key called Serial and paste there the serial from mtabeta.com

If you have no serial at http://community.mtasa.com (mtabeta.com) to complete the last step, register on our forums and request one here

• I am getting 'disabled serial' when I try to connect to a server

If you receive this message, your serial has been banned (most likely for cheating). There is nothing you can do to fix this. Registering a new account does not unban you.

Clock manipulation error

• I am getting 'Clock manipulation detected!' error message upon launching MTA:SA DM

Further info coming soon.

Halt on launch

• When I launch MTA:SA DM, nothing happens (GTA_SA.exe is running but not loading up)

Run MTA:SA DM with Administrator privileges. To do this, right click on the installer executable, choose 'Properties', go into 'Compatibility' tab and tick the check box on the last field and try again.

General GTA problems

• I have unexplainable GTA problems or crashes

Make sure your computer as well as your GTA install meet the minimum requirements and that you are not running in any 98/2000/XP/2003 compatibility modes.

Also try the solutions from these pages:

• http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=273549&view=findpost&p=4537502
• http://pullmonkey.com/2007/4/30/how-i-got-gta-san-andreas-to-work-with-a-crappy-os-vista

Server

General

Fatal error 3

• I'm getting Fatal Error 3 whenever I connect to my server

This error happens when the server you are trying to connect to is unable to provide you the required downloads, because it does not have http downloading enabled. Be sure to set the httpdownload configuration tag in your configuration to 1.

Download error 9: Error downloading requested files

• I'm getting Download Error 9: Error downloading requested files whenever I connect to my server

This error happens when the server you are trying to connect to is unable to provide you with a valid link. This results in a 404 (Not found) HTTP error and an error at your end.

• If you are running the built-in server (httpserver is set to 1 and httpdownloadurl is empty), make sure that your HTTP server is accessible (you can try to access it by using a browser) for everyone.

• If you have configured an external web server (httpdownloadurl is set to your custom URL), make sure that your HTTP is accessible and make sure you have read the Configuring an external web server guide.

Windows-related

No known reported issues in the version 1.6.0.

Linux-related

Default nohup creates infinitely big nohup.out

Temporary fix, disable the nohup file: 'nohup ./mta_server > /dev/null &'