Known issues and solutions - FAQ

[dan583]

Done it now. Installed that patch 9.3 and then it came up with an error message saying something about the graphics. Followed some instructions on here, downloaded something from windows and it works now. Thanks for your help.

[Neil Brock]

Glad to hear dan, any other issues please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thanks.

[Neil Brock]

please help, this is doing my head in, its back to the problem of my 1st post about the product key, n i also cant get on2 the next bit of the installation process as it says the message in my 2nd post,

thank you

Have you downloaded and tried running the fix as suggested in that link? Let me know either way, thanks.

[Funbags]

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z240/o_noes_str/games.png

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z240/o_noes_str/skins.png

can anyone explain to me how to fix this and yes they are in the right folders

[craig_cab10]

Marc,

the game loads perfectly and everything is fine until it comes to my first match, and as soon as i try to make a substitution the game crashes and a message comes up saying that a file has been created in the fm09 folder. this folder is a crash dumps folder and the files that are in there all read "FM 2009 v9.1.0.26064". after that comes up, the game automatically shut it's self down

hey, i also get that problem, ive uninstalled the game, exchanged it for new one, installed it and it still shows the same error on my screen.... i don't know what to do, can anyone help???

[Neil Brock]

hey, i also get that problem, ive uninstalled the game, exchanged it for new one, installed it and it still shows the same error on my screen.... i don't know what to do, can anyone help???

You need to install the latest patch, these can be found via this link - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=106355

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

[Welshman87]

Having problems installing game

Installer UI Mode Error

Installer User Interface Mode Not Supported

Unable to load and to prepare the the installer in GUI mode

i've updated my graphics cards and the specs on my pc are more then capable of running the game... i dont understand why it wont work as the demo worked fine help wud be much appreciated

[basquewolf]

Hi i am three quarters thru my second dseaon and i am suddenly getting this message

XML PARSING ERROR!

not well formed (invalid token) at line 1 of profile0 .xml

help please

[craig_cab10]

hi, please check out post no #4939. can anyone help?

[startom]

Ive got the mac boxed version and patched to 9.0.3. half way through the 1st season it stated my game needed activating after having the game from release day without any activation prompts what so ever. I entered the keycode on the back of my manual and it states

"The serial number validation failed. Please ensure you entered the correct serial number. Key is incorrect length"

any help......???PLEASE

[yoyohendo]

Posted this in the technical section but there seems to be more activity in here:

I see there are a couple of threads that sound similar but everything that has been recommended hasnt worked.

Ive tried full manual uninstall, cache, updated java and .net etc to no avail.

This is the error im getting on startup:

It was working yesterday but all of a sudden not today.

Please help, im on the couch for 4 more weeks due to a knee recon - this game is keeping me partially sane!

I have tried reinstalling from the cd and also downloaded from steam but both had the same error

[Neil Brock]

Hi i am three quarters thru my second dseaon and i am suddenly getting this message

XML PARSING ERROR!

not well formed (invalid token) at line 1 of profile0 .xml

help please

Delete the following folder:

XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009\settings

Vista: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009\settings

This may solve some issues regarding the XML Errors

[Neil Brock]

Ive got the mac boxed version and patched to 9.0.3. half way through the 1st season it stated my game needed activating after having the game from release day without any activation prompts what so ever. I entered the keycode on the back of my manual and it states

"The serial number validation failed. Please ensure you entered the correct serial number. Key is incorrect length"

any help......???PLEASE

Try entering your code here to see if it's correct: - http://keylookup.fm2009.softanchorinsight.com/

Let us know, thanks.

[startom]

i have entered it and it still says incorrect. had to delete and reinstall both the game and the patch... only9.0.2 as 9.0.3 still requires activation. :o(

[ScottyRFC9]

First post here!

Been trying constantly to get this to work. I first encountered the "Graphics system" problem and i followed the instructions and that was sorted.

Now it was running up and i was getting all excited lol then it says Football Manager is running dangerously low on memory. it then shuts down.

I have tried freeing up disk space etc but i have 20g or more space??:confused: I am not techinical with the runnings of a computer. What else can i do??

PLEASE HELP ITS DRIVING ME MAD!

[CFC1983]

Wonder if someone could give me some help.

I installed fm09 back in november through steam and it worked fine apart from a little bit slow during the game. I recently got a new laptop which is in windows vista so i wanted to install the disc on the new laptop, i tried through steam first and it installed but an error message come up saying 'couldn't install steam library'? or something like that, so i unistalled it and tried through unloc and it installs fine but once i start the game and come to my first game and it freezes and goes back to my desktop, i can reload it from where i last saved it but freezes again and goes back to the desktop.

Can someone just help me out, i would prefer to run it through steam but not too bothered if have to go through the other one.

Many Thanks

[Neil Brock]

First post here!

Been trying constantly to get this to work. I first encountered the "Graphics system" problem and i followed the instructions and that was sorted.

Now it was running up and i was getting all excited lol then it says Football Manager is running dangerously low on memory. it then shuts down.

I have tried freeing up disk space etc but i have 20g or more space??:confused: I am not techinical with the runnings of a computer. What else can i do??

PLEASE HELP ITS DRIVING ME MAD!

How much Ram does your system have? What are you system specs? Also when did it crash? Was it at the very start or after you loaded up the game and started? Let me know, thanks.

[Neil Brock]

Wonder if someone could give me some help.

I installed fm09 back in november through steam and it worked fine apart from a little bit slow during the game. I recently got a new laptop which is in windows vista so i wanted to install the disc on the new laptop, i tried through steam first and it installed but an error message come up saying 'couldn't install steam library'? or something like that, so i unistalled it and tried through unloc and it installs fine but once i start the game and come to my first game and it freezes and goes back to my desktop, i can reload it from where i last saved it but freezes again and goes back to the desktop.

Can someone just help me out, i would prefer to run it through steam but not too bothered if have to go through the other one.

Many Thanks

I would suggest completely uninstalling both Steam and Football Manager. Also when deleting FM also delete the following folder:

First of all you need to turn on hidden files and folders. Go to My Computer and at the top select 'Tools' the 'Folder Options'. The go to the 'View' tab and select 'Show hidden files and folders'

Windows XP:

1. Open “My Computer”

2. Navigate to : “Documents and Settings\<Username>\Application Data\

3. Go into the “Sports Interactive” Folder.

4. Go to the “Football Manager 2009” Folder, and delete it

Wndows Vista:

1. Click “Start”

2. Click your username on the start Menu

3. Click on “AppData” and then “Roaming”

4. Go into the “Sports Interactive” Folder

5. Go to the “Football Manager 2009” Folder and delete it

[Neil Brock]

i have entered it and it still says incorrect. had to delete and reinstall both the game and the patch... only9.0.2 as 9.0.3 still requires activation. :o(

Delete the following folder then try again:

First of all you need to turn on hidden files and folders. Go to My Computer and at the top select 'Tools' the 'Folder Options'. The go to the 'View' tab and select 'Show hidden files and folders'

Windows XP:

1. Open “My Computer”

2. Navigate to : “Documents and Settings\<Username>\Application Data\

3. Go into the “Sports Interactive” Folder.

4. Go to and delete the “Football Manager 2009” Folder.

Wndows Vista:

1. Click “Start”

2. Click your username on the start Menu

3. Click on “AppData” and then “Roaming”

4. Go into the “Sports Interactive” Folder

5. Go to and delete the “Football Manager 2009” Folder.

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

[ScottyRFC9]

How much Ram does your system have? What are you system specs? Also when did it crash? Was it at the very start or after you loaded up the game and started? Let me know, thanks.

248mb of RAM

Thats obviously a problem!

[steve_newport]

i have a problem... my game has given up and died... worked fine until the other day, so instead of crying i installed the latest patch, which caused it just to crash and display a loading symbol in the corner after the opening credits then quits out... then i though, i will empty the cache etc and reinstall and everything all over... no luck there.

are there any fixes to this or has anyone using a mac experienced anything like that?

thanks

[stothy]

Ok so I deleted the settings folder to solve the XML error but now it's left me with another error

'Load Game

'The save game could not be loaded

Help!

[hulmebantam]

My FM09 has started to minimize immediately on launch now, regardless of where I launch this from, and then cannot access it at all. Been working fine for over four months until now.

I have tried launching it through Steam, from a desktop short cut, from the program files etc etc

Anyone else with this problem and know how to solve it ?

[ridiniho]

I can't play the game due to an XML parsing error i have tried the solutions but the game still dont work any other way to fix it please

[Chochip]

Ok. this is weird. I had activated my game through uniloc. I played the game yesterday without any problems. In fact, I played the game without problems for months now. But just today, when I try to load it up, it suddenly asked me to activate the game again!

So I was like WTH, then tried my serial key, but of course it said that code is already activated....

So what's going on with this?

Fix it or I want my money back.

[FMarg]

I buy the game for Steam a long time ago, and i play without problems but now in my pc i cant play anymore, the game requires the cd key and not accept my cd key

i try to online activate, for me is impossible the fone activate, i live in Argentina

The Error is a [-819]

PLis Help and sorry for my english.

[harry63]

i keep getting error 1004 saying it has been activated on too many computers! I bought the game and am trying to install it on my own computer. I had previously installed it and it had run fine, but uninstalled it when steam caused my computer to run slow. I have just tried reinstalling and keep getting this error message.

[Alex1980]

Problem signature:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH

Application Name: fm.exe

Application Version: 9.0.0.23544

Application Timestamp: 48ff2377

Fault Module Name: fm.exe

Fault Module Version: 9.0.0.23544

Fault Module Timestamp: 48ff2377

Exception Code: c0000005

Exception Offset: 00bfbf57

OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.256.1

thats what happened to mine, any solutions??

[Alex1980]

look:

what can i do?

[o-O]

I play WFM 09 (v. 9.30) online with my friend, I use a MacBook while my friend has a PC (host);

Every so often (couple of matches a season) actual match is played one way, while after the game, News shows completely different scoreline to my original match, for instance when my team Udinese beat Plaermo 3-0, the next day after the match News shows that Udinese lost to Palermo 0-1, it is as if the exactly the same match is played in parallel (one that I thought was legitimate match and other with different scoreline that computer accepts as legitimate after match is over).

This happened couple of times only to my matches ( my friends match for that day was OK), then several times to my friends matches (although my match for that day was OK) and when when my friend was "watching" my match. It freaks me out, as me and my friend thought I won the match only to find-out that I actually lost it.

What is going on? How can I fix it?

[startom]

Delete the following folder then try again:

First of all you need to turn on hidden files and folders. Go to My Computer and at the top select 'Tools' the 'Folder Options'. The go to the 'View' tab and select 'Show hidden files and folders'

Windows XP:

1. Open “My Computer”

2. Navigate to : “Documents and Settings\<Username>\Application Data\

3. Go into the “Sports Interactive” Folder.

4. Go to and delete the “Football Manager 2009” Folder.

Wndows Vista:

1. Click “Start”

2. Click your username on the start Menu

3. Click on “AppData” and then “Roaming”

4. Go into the “Sports Interactive” Folder

5. Go to and delete the “Football Manager 2009” Folder.

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

Thanks for the help but as i stated in my earlier post i have a mac.

Thanks

[Arsenal_fc]

This has happened to my friend When i clicked to start FM09...it said "performing first setup"...then a pop-up said "SI Activator has stopped working".

Then another pop-up game up saying "enter your code"...so i did but obviously it didnt work becasue I'd already used it before.

Does this mean my FM has broke

I've had the game for months and this has never happened

[chibbydude]

Hey guys, every time i try to play the game i keep gettin a message sayin invalid token of last saved game. i have tried unistallin and installing the game but the same problem occurs! any help would be much appreiciated!!!

[RowRow78]

Hi guys

Really sorry - I'm sure this has been covered but I couldn't find a reference to it...I am trying to install FM09 to my G5 Mac and every time I try and load the game I just get a grey screen and nothing happens.

This is my spec:

OSX: 10.5.6

Processor: Dual 1.8GHz PowerPC G5

Memory: 4.5 GB DDR SDRAM

Video card: GeForce FX 5200

Having read the back of the box I notice that min requirement is for an intel processor, but can this REALLY be the only problem as it's a pretty new fast running Mac and it seems crazy that SI wouldn't accommodate non intel macs?

If this is the problem, are there any work-arounds as I'm not keen on spending £2k on a new mac!!!

[RDXCougar8173]

Ok. this is weird. I had activated my game through uniloc. I played the game yesterday without any problems. In fact, I played the game without problems for months now. But just today, when I try to load it up, it suddenly asked me to activate the game again!

So I was like WTH, then tried my serial key, but of course it said that code is already activated....

So what's going on with this?

Fix it or I want my money back.

i had this problem last thursday and i did the following and now it works as good as ever Fix: You need to delete the certificates and re-activate the game

2) Please navigate to the following directory:

XP users: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate

Vista users: C:\Program Data\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009 Certificate

3) Please ensure that it is the \certificate directory you are located in

4) Delete all content

5) Reboot the machine

[Trikeabout]

Hi folks,

I bought FM2009 a few weeks ago. Last night, finally tried installing. My key will not validate through Steam, both throught the DVD install and when I tried activating directly through Steam. I've tried the key checker from the support site, and pasted the output back to the validator, and still no go. Tried calling Sega Australia's support line, and a very pleasant voice told me they were going to charge me $2.48 a MINUTE to talk to them. I hung up - I work IT support and know how long even simple things can take. Already paid $74 for the game, not paying another $30 in phone charges to get a valid key, thanks.

What else can I try? SEGA Australia have no email support line. I've looked through several tens of pages on these forums, and only seen the solution to email Marc Duffy with a picture of the key - something I'll gladly do if invited to do so.

System info just in case: I7 920, 6GB RAM, ATI 4870x2, Vista x64 SP1, Steam installed and up to date.

Cheers for any assistance - been playing since CM 99/00 apart from 07 and 08, but now the Dons are back in a supported league (and sponsored by SI!!!) I want to start managing again!

Charlie.

[kelveen]

HI,

I'm in need of help. Ive just bought the game, and i have been trying to install the game for the whole night, and i can never do it.

Ive tried installation as an administrator, and followed the instructions given in the FAQ. Yet, i receive a series of errors, -51, 1003, and 703.

Can somebody please help me?

I have deavtivated, reinstall, restarted the computer, over and over again, and nothing seems to work. I have even tried validating the correct keycode, with the website you have provide, and it doesnt seem to work as well.

Please advise!!!!

[roverboy]

Hi all,

Hoping this will be a quick and easy one (!)

My preferences reset every (in game) day, which means it always resets to 'albanian lek' as currency (which means all players have at least 5 seros after their names and big players are worth 50 billion lek!) and slows the game down heaps by saving everytime I move the game forward.

If anyone can tell me how to fix this I will be etternally grateful as it is really screwing with my enjoyment of the game.

Thanks in advance.

Roverboy

[CFC1983]

I'm trying to gwt some help.

i bought the game back in november and it installed through steam and was fine but recently got a new laptop (which is in windows vista) so tried to install it on the new one but steam faild to load saying 'error, win32 error 5' or something along them lines. i tried it through uniloc and it installs ok and is fine untill i start a game and then it freezes, i posted something a week ago and someone replied with a solution but didnt work, to be honest i'd prefer to install with steam as was quite impressed with this before. i'm looking forward to getting up and running as soon as possible so if someone could help me i'd be grateful.

Many Thanks

[jwrangers]

i have been trying to install fm 09 since the day it came out it seems to work for a while then crash dumps message comes up even though i delete the file crash dumps this is the message i get it is as follows:

A serious error was encountered and the application will close. An error file was generated in myname-pc/c:/users/myname/documents/sports interactive/football manager 2009/crash dumps

this is the message i get even though i delete the crash dumps does anyone know what is wrong

[bearsdenred]

i have been trying to install fm 09 since the day it came out it seems to work for a while then crash dumps message comes up even though i delete the file crash dumps this is the message i get it is as follows:

A serious error was encountered and the application will close. An error file was generated in myname-pc/c:/users/myname/documents/sports interactive/football manager 2009/crash dumps

this is the message i get even though i delete the crash dumps does anyone know what is wrong

Dont delete the error dump then )

Take screen shots using ALT + prtscn and post it up

[jwrangers]

you had askedme to take screen shots how do u do it i tried that it dont seem to work

[o-O]

I play WFM 09 (v. 9.30) online with my friend, I use a MacBook while my friend has a PC (host);

Every so often (couple of matches a season) actual match is played one way, while after the game, News shows completely different scoreline to my original match, for instance when my team Udinese beat Plaermo 3-0, the next day after the match News shows that Udinese lost to Palermo 0-1, it is as if the exactly the same match is played in parallel (one that I thought was legitimate match and other with different scoreline that computer accepts as legitimate after match is over).

This happened couple of times only to my matches ( my friends match for that day was OK), then several times to my friends matches (although my match for that day was OK) and when when my friend was "watching" my match. It freaks me out, as me and my friend thought I won the match only to find-out that I actually lost it.

What is going on? How can I fix it?

[Fedex14]

i have activated the game with 9.3 update running.

im using vista starter and it tells me that "fm.exe" stopped running, each time i run it...

any solution? played ok before on this laptop but had to reinstall since they changed HDD for a prob, but now i cant...

oh, and no steam

thank you very much

[Kyouya]

Hello;

I wasn't able to update Mac version to 9.3 properly...so I decided to re-install the game. Uninstalled it but now I cant re-install.

When I try to launch the installer, I get "Unable to launch java application, missing lax.class property" error. I have no idea what causes this as the game was working/installing properly before.

Thanks.

[chopperphil]

Can someone help me please?? I have been playing the new update fine and went to play today and its now saying FM has encountered a problem and needs to close. It did this when the game was new but stopped a couple of months ago.

I have re installed it and deleted all the files but that hasnt worked.

Please help!...

[vivaenespana]

have just downloaded the new patch 9.3.0 and now football manager starts but nothing happens just get a black screen.have tried reinstalling it to and still get black screen. when you click on football manager to start it starts to load the game but it just goes black and nothing happens and if you move the mouse it cuts off

[Geoff Lowe]

i have had my 2009 installed via steam since it came out it plays fine no problems i hadnt played it for sometime because ive been wrapped up with fm live iwent to play it yesterday and noticed that it was still running the original version it hadnt updated any of the patches and its telling me that the game is updated its sup

posed to do it automatically when i try and update from another source it takes me back to my steam page any thoughts please help getting a bit frustrated at the moment

[millsey89]

i have read othe people have had the same problem as me but i couldn't see the solutions, so sorry for posting this again,

the game used to work fine, except would crash on the information page on a club page. however now when ever i go to start up the game it says si activater has stopped working, this is starting to frustrate me as it has been happening for a couple of weeks now. any help would be much appreciated,

[o-O]

Is ANY body from SI reading these monologues?