MechWarrior 4 Error Message: Exception: Access Violation in MW4 (287923)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Vengeance 4.0
  • Microsoft MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries
This article was previously published under Q287923

SYMPTOMS

When you play MechWarrior 4, you may receive one of the following error messages:
EXCEPTION: Access violation in MW4!

-or-

Access violation in mw4x! (+0xea6ae) address is 0x004EB6AE

CAUSE

This behavior may occur if any of the following conditions are true:
  • There is an IRQ conflict on your computer with your video adapter.
  • The video adapter that is installed in your computer does not meet the minimum system requirements for MechWarrior 4 (8 megabytes (MB) of video random access memory (RAM)) .

    NOTE: For MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, 16 MB of video RAM that supports Direct3D and is compatible with DirectX 8.1 or later is required.
  • The video driver that is installed on your computer is outdated.
  • You are running the game in a different screen resolution setting than your desktop.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, use the following methods in the order in which they are presented.

Check Screen Resolution

Make sure the screen resolution for your desktop is the same as the game. To check the screen resolution for your desktop, follow the steps below:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Display.
  3. On the Settings tab, note what is listed under Screen Resolution (Screen Area) and Colors.
  4. Make any changes necessary to match what the game is using. Click OK to accept the changes. Restart your system if necessary.

Resolve IRQ Conflict

Contact your hardware manufacturer to inquire about how to disable or use a different IRQ for the device that shares the IRQ channel with the video adapter.

To determine if your video adapter shares an IRQ channel with another device, use the appropriate method for your version of Microsoft Windows.

Windows 95

  1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Device Manager tab.
  3. Double-click Computer.
  4. On the View Resources tab, click Interrupt request (IRQ).
  5. Note if more than one device shares the same IRQ setting.
  6. Click OK, and then click OK again.

Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows XP

  1. Click Start, point to Run, type msinfo32, and then click OK.
  2. Click Hardware.
  3. Click IRQs or Conflicts/Sharing.

Make Sure the Video Adapter Meets the Minimum System Requirements

For additional information about the minimum system requirements for MechWarrior 4, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

279362 MechWarrior 4: Vengeance: Minimum System Requirements

To determine how much video RAM is installed on your video adapter:
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open box, type dxdiag, and then click OK.
  3. Click the Display tab.
  4. Under Device, note the amount of RAM displayed on the Approx. Total Memory line.
  5. Click Exit.
If you video adapter does not meet the minimum system requirements, you can upgrade your video adapter, or return the game for a refund or exchange.

Please contact Microsoft Customer Service at 1 (888) 673-8624 to request a refund.

Update Video Adapter Driver

If your video adapter meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements, and there is no IRQ conflict on your computer, you may need to update to the latest video driver for your video adapter.

To determine the version of your video driver:
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open box, type dxdiag, and then click OK.
  3. Click the Display tab.
  4. Under Drivers, note the values displayed on the Main Driver, and the Version lines.
  5. Click Exit.
For information about how to contact your hardware manufacturer, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

60781 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, L-P

60782 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, Q-Z

Install Latest Version of DirectX

If you are using the latest video driver available for your video adapter, download and install the latest version of DirectX from the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/directx/homeuser/downloads/default.asp

For additional information about how to install the latest version of DirectX, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179113 How to Download and Install DirectX

MORE INFORMATION

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps. To identify the manufacturer and the model of your video adapter:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System.
  3. Click the Device Manager tab, or click the Hardware tab and then click Device Manager.
  4. Click the plus sign (+) next to Display adapters to expand the branch.
  5. Under the Display adapters branch, note the manufacturer and the model of your video adapter, and then click OK.
  6. Close all of the open windows on the desktop.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/17/2005
Keywords:kbdisplay kbConfig kberrmsg kbprb KB287923
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.