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Background:
For those of you with an AMD/ATI card on Windows 7 getting a black screen - and then a CTD when trying to play the original Rainbow Six - this may fix your problem. If you check the sherman.log file and you see failed to initialize renderer at 640x480x16 and so on, it is - some of you already know - most likely due to a AMD/DirectX bug. If you view the program in API monitor, you can see repeated instances of IDirectDraw returning DDERR_NOEXCLUSIVEMODE. After doing some research on this, I figured the next step was to try and get the game to run in Windowed mode. Unfortunately, I could not find any start up parameters for RS6 that would lead to window mode without actually launching the game first. I decided to check the registry, but found RS6 does not write to the registry like it does in XP or earlier.

I stumbled upon a registry folder for DirectDraw with a "compatibility" folder containing reg keys for old games. I did some research on and found what led me to the program DXWnd: a link that I apparently cannot post.

Solution:

Using build v2.02.30 of DXWnd, I was able to get the game functioning. When you launch the program, you need to use Edit -> Add, and then you will be prompted to enter in the name of the application, and it's location. In the first tab, under 'Generic', check the boxes: 'Hook enabled', 'Run in Window', 'Hook all DLLs', 'Remap Client Rect' (ALL ARE DEFAULT). You can then enter the size of the window at the bottom in pixels. Under the 'Mouse' tab, check 'Correct mouse positioning' (DEFAULT). Under the 'DirectX' tab, select 'DirectX1~6'.

This will get the game running if you are running into the same problem. I was able to load all of the planning and run through the first mission without any problem. If there are any other bugs, I will find out in the future.

Notes:
Using a .bat file or the DirectDraw compatibility fix would not work in my case. The video card is an an HD5850, Catalyst 13.4 drivers - driver roll back not an option. Obviously, you can use VirtualBox/VMWare instead, but this is a good alternative. The tool could be useful for some other games and may allow hardware acceleration in RS6 with some tweaking. With my current DXWnd config, the game will not run with a resolution higher than 1024x768. This happens to be the same max resolution of the engine. I believe there is a way around this though, as the previous version of DXWnd would allow me to use my native screen res for the window.
Post edited August 22, 2013 by OfftheHeZie
Thanks for the fix man, I can now run R6 on Windows 7 instead of having to use an XP VM.
While this gets the game running, my frame rate hovers around 5
avatar
eaglesman888: While this gets the game running, my frame rate hovers around 5
Same, game is at least running now but this frame rate makes it unplayable. Hopefully messing around with the settings will fix it.

EDIT:

Got it working. My fix was to follow OP's suggestion and use DXWnd for the config but with some changes.

**Note** I am using the newer version of DXWnd

Changes:

* Under position change it to "Desktop"

* Input: Hide Cursor and Correct Mouse Position

* DirectX: Changed Emulation to Locked Surface
Post edited June 13, 2014 by wazanator
For some reason, after doing all of those things, right clicking the profile and selecting "run", I still get the black screen with mouse cursor, and if this fix is supposed to run the game in a window, it doesn't do that either. I still get the full black screen.
A big thanks to OfftheHeZie for the way to get the game running. Without it I would be SOL. It was still unplayably slow for me though, so I also want to thank wazanator. your solution to change the DirectX emulation was the key. For some reason changing it to Locked Surface didn't do anything for me, but it led me to try setting it to none, and that made the game game run smooth. Also, the selecting desktop under position tip is worth a thank you too. I really only like to game in full screen, so I was very happy about that one.
I just tried it with the most recent build of DXWnd (v2_02_79) and the most recent AMD driver (Catalyst 14.4). The game runs fine, thanks for the instructions to OfftheHeZie and wazanator.
It's not working for me. :( I wish I knew what I was doing wrong. I really miss this game and wish I could play it.
The game is starting now with DXWnd program however I have mouse trails and am unable to read the menu options. Is a rollback on ATI drivers needed..I have the most current drivers thus far. ATI 5850 under Windows 7 64 bit. I own the boxed copy but figured GoG may have worked some magic..still a no go with the graphic glitches.



UPDATE!
I finally got it to work! I just about jumped out of my chair as I spent quite a long time messing with all the options with the DXWnd utility that was suggested in above posts. Nothing was working.
I am pretty sure what fixed it was under the DirectX tab Look at emulation...I believe default was Primary surface. I changed it to Primary Buffer (locked and none also works but Automatic and Primary surface does not work for me)
I also downloaded the latest ATI beta drivers but I think this change would work with the non beta drivers I had previously.
Post edited December 07, 2014 by Byeohazard
Didn't work for me, or in VM. Here's how I got it to work:

1) Click on the shortcut/exe, tick the "Run this program in compatibility mode for: WIndows 98 / Windows Me", then under "Privilege Level" tick the "Run this program as an administrator"

2) right click on the desktop > "Screen resolution" > Advanced settings > Monitor > Colors: "High Color 16bit" (going to have to do this every time you want to play the game unfortunately)

3) press the windows button, type in "regedit" in search and run it, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SOFTWARE -> Wow6432Node -> Red Storm Entertainment -> Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (start the game once for these entries to appear)

4) go to the entry named "FullScreen", double click on it and set the value data from "TRUE" to "FALSE", also change "VideoResolution" to "640x480" if it's not at that resolution already (actually, you can change this to whatever resolution you like, but considering you can only run the game in software mode, it's gonna look like a slideshow, at least it does on my PC, but you can try various resolutions, but it's only going to work in 640 x 480 or your native monitor's resolution, because of no aspect ratio option)

5) clicking on the option to turn off "software mode" and starting any map is just going to crash the game, so you're going to have to play in software mode

6) download "Windowless borderless gaming" app, start the game, right click on the app, press "add window", then go back to the game and press F3, type in 640 x 480 in the app.

7) exit the game and right click on the shortcut and tick the "Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution"

You can hopefully play the game now...

By the way, you can switch resolution in game, up to 1024 x 768, but it's just gonna look off-center. Maybe I'm missing something.

Anyway, this is with the US version of the game + Eagle Watch expansion (or mission pack, whatever), so I can't guarantee it will work on the GOG version of the game. It is kind of hard to spot enemies using this resolution (my native monitor's resolution is 16x10) that are hiding for example on balcony overlooking the hall in the first mission...
Guys why don't you guys come play this game live on www.voobly.com Come on over and play we have a gaming ladder for matching clans and tourneys come hit us up! www.vgnetwork.com also we have a updated version of the game for newer computers!
Post edited April 25, 2015 by VGN_Fantastik
I still have issues, the game works but I can see through stuff like walls and myself in third person, also the music stops working after I try a mission
avatar
OfftheHeZie: Background:
For those of you with an AMD/ATI card on Windows 7 getting a black screen - and then a CTD when trying to play the original Rainbow Six - this may fix your problem. If you check the sherman.log file and you see failed to initialize renderer at 640x480x16 and so on, it is - some of you already know - most likely due to a AMD/DirectX bug. If you view the program in API monitor, you can see repeated instances of IDirectDraw returning DDERR_NOEXCLUSIVEMODE. After doing some research on this, I figured the next step was to try and get the game to run in Windowed mode. Unfortunately, I could not find any start up parameters for RS6 that would lead to window mode without actually launching the game first. I decided to check the registry, but found RS6 does not write to the registry like it does in XP or earlier.

I stumbled upon a registry folder for DirectDraw with a "compatibility" folder containing reg keys for old games. I did some research on and found what led me to the program DXWnd: a link that I apparently cannot post.

Solution:

Using build v2.02.30 of DXWnd, I was able to get the game functioning. When you launch the program, you need to use Edit -> Add, and then you will be prompted to enter in the name of the application, and it's location. In the first tab, under 'Generic', check the boxes: 'Hook enabled', 'Run in Window', 'Hook all DLLs', 'Remap Client Rect' (ALL ARE DEFAULT). You can then enter the size of the window at the bottom in pixels. Under the 'Mouse' tab, check 'Correct mouse positioning' (DEFAULT). Under the 'DirectX' tab, select 'DirectX1~6'.

This will get the game running if you are running into the same problem. I was able to load all of the planning and run through the first mission without any problem. If there are any other bugs, I will find out in the future.

Notes:
Using a .bat file or the DirectDraw compatibility fix would not work in my case. The video card is an an HD5850, Catalyst 13.4 drivers - driver roll back not an option. Obviously, you can use VirtualBox/VMWare instead, but this is a good alternative. The tool could be useful for some other games and may allow hardware acceleration in RS6 with some tweaking. With my current DXWnd config, the game will not run with a resolution higher than 1024x768. This happens to be the same max resolution of the engine. I believe there is a way around this though, as the previous version of DXWnd would allow me to use my native screen res for the window.
Hey Man thx again for this post you help me very much