Known issues and solutions - FAQ

[JHHH]

I've got a problem with the game. I'm using a Mac and immediately after I installed the game, I downloaded the 9.3.0 patch for mac. The game worked fine and I wasn't asked for activation whatsoever until half the first season was over and the game asked me for an activation to continue.

I entered the activation code and was told that the code length was invalid. I was advised to check the code and it's correct. I'm not really sure what went wrong but I uninstalled and reinstalled the game. When I uninstalled the game, I manually deleted all FM2009 files so that the system would be clean and reinstalled the game.

The game wouldn't start now and a window pops up to say "The application Football Manager 2009 v.9.0.0 f 23553 quit unexpectedly."

Please advise.

[Dal3]

I've got a problem with the game. I'm using a Mac and immediately after I installed the game, I downloaded the 9.3.0 patch for mac. The game worked fine and I wasn't asked for activation whatsoever until half the first season was over and the game asked me for an activation to continue.

I entered the activation code and was told that the code length was invalid. I was advised to check the code and it's correct. I'm not really sure what went wrong but I uninstalled and reinstalled the game. When I uninstalled the game, I manually deleted all FM2009 files so that the system would be clean and reinstalled the game.

The game wouldn't start now and a window pops up to say "The application Football Manager 2009 v.9.0.0 f 23553 quit unexpectedly."

Please advise.

1. Right-click on the FM 2009 shortcut.

2. Choose "Properties" from the pop-up menu. In the "Target" field, add the --reset_preferences command line option after "fm.exe", so it should look like this:

"C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009\fm.exe" --reset_preferences

3. Press OK and then try to run the game as normal, using the shortcut.

4. You'll want to remove the command after you run the game, as otherwise it will continue to reset your preferences every time you launch.

[JHHH]

Thanks dal3, however your info wouldn't apply to my system because I'm running it on a mac, not windows.

[Richard 24]

I purchased football manger 2009 just after it was released. I activated it through steam and have been playing it ever since recently. It has stopped working. Everytime I try and load the game I keep getting the message SI intaller has stopped working. Then I get asked to type in my code which I do then A a message comes up saying the program football manager 2009 had to close. I have tried all the recomended things on the technical forums. I have un-installed all the game files of my computer then re-installed the game. But I keep getting the same message SI installer has stopped working. I have downloaded your football manager 2009 activate tool. But this has not solved the problem. I keep getting the error code 255.

I have trawled through all your support forums and have not found a solution to this problem. I have rung Sega's support line twice only to be on hold for over an hour both times and give up on anybody answering me.

I really enjoying playing this game online with my mate and I'm baffelled to why it has suddenly stopped working when I have been playing it ok since october November time.

Please sort this out for me. When I pay £30 for a game I don't expect it to stop working after 6 months. I'm gutted.

Rich.

Rich.

[bjj503]

Originally Posted by millsey89

just did all of that,

just too make sure ill try and explain my problem in full,

i click on launch game in steam

get another page and click launch page

then i need to give permission to use it as an admin

it then goes to performing first time setup...

Installing: activator.exe (step 1 of 1)

then a window pops up

SI activator has stopped working....

a problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and will notify you if a solution is avaialble

it then closes and goes on to the page where to input the activation code but half way through this it fails aswell and has a similar message

it just happened out of the blue after working near perfectly for months, i havent done anything differant from normal to cause this.

i am having this exact same problem, any progress on a solution?

[kelveen]

Try getting it to run in windowed mode using the advice given in the following thread.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=64783

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

Hi, i already did that but no worries. I actually went to SEGA help to get it sorted.

Thanks anyway, i am glad that i am enjoying the game.

I have to say i was <> that close to literally boycotting all SI and Segas product in future. <> that close! Nonetheless, thanks for the brilliant game.

Good luck guys with your problems. I might be back here soon, lol

[little rat]

I was so excited yesterday to get to playin fm2009 for the first time, i installed the game (which was bought, for what i thought was a bargain at £20.00 (how wrong was I!!!!!!!)) and then it asked me to activate it, which was no biggie; as i could activate it by phone, as there's no internet connection at my girlfriends house where we both love playin it together.

So i put a fiver on my mobile and did the phone thing, which took me forever with all it's riduclous amount of number business goin on! i was told on the phone and on my screen the game had been activate, GREAT!!!

Not so......

I double clicked it to get the show on the road and low and behold i'm being asked to input my product key and activate the software!! As you can imagine i was pretty pi*sed off, but i kept my calm and wasted the rest of my credit to phone up again for a second time to be told activation is succesful once again by both phone and screen and only to be asked for my product key and activation when the fm09 icon was double clicked!!!

all i wanted to do was play the new game that i have been so loyal to for the last 11 years!!

SI you do wonders, but this ain't good customer service AT ALL!!!!! sort it out will ya??? doubt it!!!

so people what do i do?

waste more money trying to activate it to be told it needs doing again??

someone out there help me, all i want to do is enjoy my easter with fm09!!!!!!!

[dhop]

Originally Posted by millsey89

just did all of that,

just too make sure ill try and explain my problem in full,

i click on launch game in steam

get another page and click launch page

then i need to give permission to use it as an admin

it then goes to performing first time setup...

Installing: activator.exe (step 1 of 1)

then a window pops up

SI activator has stopped working....

a problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and will notify you if a solution is avaialble

it then closes and goes on to the page where to input the activation code but half way through this it fails aswell and has a similar message

it just happened out of the blue after working near perfectly for months, i havent done anything differant from normal to cause this.

i am having this exact same problem, any progress on a solution?

I've had this problem for the last 6 weeks or so, so I slated si on here and got banned for nocdcode whatever that is, anyway I contacted sega help and after numerous email's trying uninstalling reinstalling etc. nothing happened. I got an email last week with a new key code and didn't try it till this morning and I couldn't believe it but it worked unfortunately I had to go out so switched off my computer and you'll never guess what happened when I tried to play it again....same old problem!!!! I would suggest that the problem here is a security issue but the answer to the problem is to give genuine users 1000's of key codes which is why the whole issue happened in the first place (piracy) and the only people affected by this are us loyal football managers.I think the game is fantastic when it works but on the other hand the most frustrating when it doesn't.I bought the game through steam and have got to say the customer support both at sega and steam are atrocious and unless thing's change will never buy from either again.

[kitch31]

steam updated my football manager 2009 to 9.0.3 and now it just crashes when i try start a new game my old games can no longer be loaded and also i get a xml parsing error i tried what it says above but it just says file name and somet are differant hope anyone can help thank you

[g_richards]

Hi,

I'm running FM2009 on a iMac and every time i click the right button on it I can't seem to get out of it. It stays with the right button in which makes it near impossible to play the game.

Has anyone come across this before and is there a patch and if there is how do I go about incorporating the patch into my game.

Thanks

G_Richard

[Bunio]

hi,

i have a strange problem with my FM09. few days ago i formatted and reinstalled my system and since then i experience computer crashes during matches in 3D (before then everything worked perfectly).

Sometimes it happens during first match, sometimes during second or, in best case, third. suddenly my screen goes all black, then it goes back to the game like nothing happened and few moment later my computer freezes. to reset it is the only option.

i tried different versions of Directx and graphic drivers but it didn't help.

Please, help.

My computer: Radeon x1950, Windows XP SP3, FM 09 with patch 930 installed.

[fastprop]

Really sorry if this has been mentioned before guys but please can you help me?

I play fm on a mac and recently updated my game to the 9.3.0 patch.

Everything works fine apart from the 3D match engine which has suddenly started getting massive lag and has a really jerky motion.

I was on 9.1.0 and the match engine was fine before, all running very smoothly.

Anyone know how I can solve this?

The mac I am using has the following specs:

imac 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo

3GB ram

Currently running Mac OS X 10.5.6

Graphics card is the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT.

Thanks in advance, hope someone can help!

Cheers,

Will

[kakadinho12]

hey can someone please tell me how to get player pictures in the game. eg i want a pciture of davide santon on the game how can i get a picture of him so that when i view his profile theres a picture of him

[giglet13]

I've got a problem with the game. I'm using a Mac and immediately after I installed the game, I downloaded the 9.3.0 patch for mac. The game worked fine and I wasn't asked for activation whatsoever until half the first season was over and the game asked me for an activation to continue.

I entered the activation code and was told that the code length was invalid. I was advised to check the code and it's correct. I'm not really sure what went wrong but I uninstalled and reinstalled the game. When I uninstalled the game, I manually deleted all FM2009 files so that the system would be clean and reinstalled the game.

The game wouldn't start now and a window pops up to say "The application Football Manager 2009 v.9.0.0 f 23553 quit unexpectedly."

Please advise.

EXACT SAME PROBLEM! solved initally by installing the patch again but then back to square one of this problem again!

[Mufckingud7]

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!!!

try looking and asking at this site http://www.insanelymac.com/

thy may have crossover work around to play intel based games in a non intel i feel they could be more hlep in this.

that is if you have tried to get the latest java/graphics/directx etc

[MFisher18]

I'm stuck trying to register my game. I have installed using both Uniloc and Steam now and both times my product key has failed to work. I type it into the Liscense Key lookup site and it says invalid. I don't know what to do next as i have followed the instructions on all of the other sites. Any ideas???

Thanks

[Neil Brock]

Hi,

I'm running FM2009 on a iMac and every time i click the right button on it I can't seem to get out of it. It stays with the right button in which makes it near impossible to play the game.

Has anyone come across this before and is there a patch and if there is how do I go about incorporating the patch into my game.

Thanks

G_Richard

Install the 9.3 patch which can be downloaded via links found in this thread - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=106355

Let us know how you get on. Thanks.

[Neil Brock]

steam updated my football manager 2009 to 9.0.3 and now it just crashes when i try start a new game my old games can no longer be loaded and also i get a xml parsing error i tried what it says above but it just says file name and somet are differant hope anyone can help thank you

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

Let us know how you get on, thanks.

[Neil Brock]

I'm stuck trying to register my game. I have installed using both Uniloc and Steam now and both times my product key has failed to work. I type it into the Liscense Key lookup site and it says invalid. I don't know what to do next as i have followed the instructions on all of the other sites. Any ideas???

Thanks

I would suggest contacting Sega support and getting a ticket regarding your issue (this means someone will look at your issue and get back to you.)

They can be contacted via this link - http://help.sega.com/?group=default&t=EnglishUK

Let us know how you get on - I also suggest anyone else dealing with a similar activation issue to this contacting Sega via the same link. Keep us updated with how you get on, thanks.

[Neil Brock]

hey can someone please tell me how to get player pictures in the game. eg i want a pciture of davide santon on the game how can i get a picture of him so that when i view his profile theres a picture of him

I'd suggest looking in the Skinning Hideout for information regarding this issue.

[Neil Brock]

hi,

i have a strange problem with my FM09. few days ago i formatted and reinstalled my system and since then i experience computer crashes during matches in 3D (before then everything worked perfectly).

Sometimes it happens during first match, sometimes during second or, in best case, third. suddenly my screen goes all black, then it goes back to the game like nothing happened and few moment later my computer freezes. to reset it is the only option.

i tried different versions of Directx and graphic drivers but it didn't help.

Please, help.

My computer: Radeon x1950, Windows XP SP3, FM 09 with patch 930 installed.

I would suggest re-installing your game and then re-patching it - also delete the following files using these instructions:

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. 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. Delete the “Football Manager 2009” Folder.

Let us know how you get on, thanks.

[Neil Brock]

I was so excited yesterday to get to playin fm2009 for the first time, i installed the game (which was bought, for what i thought was a bargain at £20.00 (how wrong was I!!!!!!!)) and then it asked me to activate it, which was no biggie; as i could activate it by phone, as there's no internet connection at my girlfriends house where we both love playin it together.

So i put a fiver on my mobile and did the phone thing, which took me forever with all it's riduclous amount of number business goin on! i was told on the phone and on my screen the game had been activate, GREAT!!!

Not so......

I double clicked it to get the show on the road and low and behold i'm being asked to input my product key and activate the software!! As you can imagine i was pretty pi*sed off, but i kept my calm and wasted the rest of my credit to phone up again for a second time to be told activation is succesful once again by both phone and screen and only to be asked for my product key and activation when the fm09 icon was double clicked!!!

all i wanted to do was play the new game that i have been so loyal to for the last 11 years!!

SI you do wonders, but this ain't good customer service AT ALL!!!!! sort it out will ya??? doubt it!!!

so people what do i do?

waste more money trying to activate it to be told it needs doing again??

someone out there help me, all i want to do is enjoy my easter with fm09!!!!!!!

I'd suggest looking at this thread for help regarding your issue - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=65579

Let us know if it proves helpful and you solve your problem. Thanks.

[Macfree]

Purchased FM09 yesterday.

Not had much joy with it yet.

Downloaded latest patch and also had to download the DXSDK Graphics.

Then managed to start up the game, it showed it was running the latest version - 9.3.0

The game is freezing very often (slow and frustrating to use)

And the players seem to be getting injured too much.

Tried running in windowed mode, following the instructions in a previous thread. The game wouldnt run at all then.

Tried to run the program compatability to match my computer (windows xp pro) But, the only options there, are - windows 95, 98, NT and 2000.

Already un-installed the game and re-loaded but, no joy.

Would be grateful for any ideas on how to get the game running correctly,

Steve

[Neil Brock]

Purchased FM09 yesterday.

Not had much joy with it yet.

Downloaded latest patch and also had to download the DXSDK Graphics.

Then managed to start up the game, it showed it was running the latest version - 9.3.0

The game is freezing very often (slow and frustrating to use)

And the players seem to be getting injured too much.

Tried running in windowed mode, following the instructions in a previous thread. The game wouldnt run at all then.

Tried to run the program compatability to match my computer (windows xp pro) But, the only options there, are - windows 95, 98, NT and 2000.

Already un-installed the game and re-loaded but, no joy.

Would be grateful for any ideas on how to get the game running correctly,

Steve

What spec is your system? What type of graphics card and processor do you have? Also how much Ram? Let me know, thanks.

[Macfree]

What spec is your system? What type of graphics card and processor do you have? Also how much Ram? Let me know, thanks.

Hi,

Windows XP Pro, Version 2002, service pack 2.

Intel® Pentium® M processor 1600MHz

1.60GHz, 0.99GB of Ram

Not sure about how to get info on graphics card.

Not had problems with FM08.

[Neil Brock]

Hi,

Windows XP Pro, Version 2002, service pack 2.

Intel® Pentium® M processor 1600MHz

1.60GHz, 0.99GB of Ram

Not sure about how to get info on graphics card.

Not had problems with FM08.

To be honest you're only just meeting the minimum specs to run the game so the game is only likely to run slowly, probably without 3D being possible.

I would suggest when starting a new game only running a very minimal amount of leagues (no more than a couple) else the game will be very slow.

[Macfree]

What spec is your system? What type of graphics card and processor do you have? Also how much Ram? Let me know, thanks.

To be honest you're only just meeting the minimum specs to run the game so the game is only likely to run slowly, probably without 3D being possible.

I would suggest when starting a new game only running a very minimal amount of leagues (no more than a couple) else the game will be very slow.

Okey Dokey,

Will keep that in mind when starting up a new game.

The issue with the high number of Injuries, which I've noticed a few people complaining about. Is this just something to get on with or is there something which can be done about it?

[Neil Brock]

Install the 9.3 patch and the rate of injuries will decrease from 9.0. Other than that it's something as a 'football manager' you'll have to deal with. Thanks.

[jgranath]

Just bought a copy, and can't get the activasion right...

Trying via the Anchor thingy, and it just says that the code is invalid. Donno if I don't get the numbers right, if so, how do I solve that? And yes, I've tryed that link, and it just says invalid code and donsen't got any suggestions...

[Neil Brock]

Can you take a screenshot of your manual? If so, send it to me in a PM and I'll take a look. Let me know either way.

[jgranath]

You've got a PM!

[Neil Brock]

You've got a PM!

Responded.

[aaronvilla]

Hi I need help before I give up.

I have installed the game I purchased in GAME I got thru the keycode easily enogh,but had to download the links that are posted for graphics.now when I try load the game i get this

fm.exe was unable to open please close sorry???

the info im getting is appver:9.0.023544

mod name fm.exe

modver:9.0.0.23544

offset: 00c0e857

can some1 please help my out I THINK IT A GRAPHICS ISSUE BUT IM NOT THE SURE THANKS

[aaronvilla]

Please post here even if you've posted in another thread and we're yet to help you.

HI I am in urgent need of help as im starting to give up:

Ibought the game last week in my local pc shop I installed the game but when I try load it I get a msg fm.exe cannot open sorry???

when i click the view report I get: appver:9.0.0.23544

modname:fm.exe

modver:9.0.0.23544

offset:00c0e857

what is this ???????

I have downloaded the sdk already I think it could be a graphics problem but please help

[uyfaluji]

i have a problem with fm. i have 2 saved games. when i load one of them ı can play normally. nothing happens. but when i load the other i could not play. the game close suddenly. i tried to enter the game so many times but i couldnt can i solve this problem? help me please

[uyfaluji]

please help me urgently??

[tdoublej]

Was told i could find a fix here

I have re-installed 3 times but data editor wont work just gives me the message

this application has failed to start because the aplication configiration is incorrect.

Any help would be greatly apreciated

[Neil Brock]

HI I am in urgent need of help as im starting to give up:

Ibought the game last week in my local pc shop I installed the game but when I try load it I get a msg fm.exe cannot open sorry???

when i click the view report I get: appver:9.0.0.23544

modname:fm.exe

modver:9.0.0.23544

offset:00c0e857

what is this ???????

I have downloaded the sdk already I think it could be a graphics problem but please help

Try downloading and installing the 9.3 patch, this can be downloaded via links in this thread - http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=106355

Let us know how you get on, thanks.

[Michael Burling]

Was told i could find a fix here

I have re-installed 3 times but data editor wont work just gives me the message

this application has failed to start because the aplication configiration is incorrect.

Any help would be greatly apreciated

When trying to run the Editor I get a "application failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect" error

Fix: Download and install this Microsoft update - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

This should fix your issue.

[Neil Brock]

please help me urgently??

I've responded to your PM.

[uyfaluji]

thank you so much

[tdoublej]

When trying to run the Editor I get a "application failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect" error

Fix: Download and install this Microsoft update - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

This should fix your issue.

Downloaded and updated. Still getting the same error. Any other suggestions?

[rickp0601]

Hi, I'm having issues getting the game started. I've had it working a few times along with (slowly) the 3D match engine. Often when attempted launching of the game, my laptop freezes. Spoken to the manufacturer who says its because the laptop does not meet the spec. I would have thought that if this was the case I wouldnt have been able to get the game working at all in the first place??? Anyway.... upon reboot of the laptop I send off the error message thing that comes up and am directed to microsofts website which informs me that “Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER (Q293078)”. I have the game running at the moment but am afraid to close it down in case I cant get it running again! Any suggestions? Thanks

[Mufckingud7]

Hi, I'm having issues getting the game started. I've had it working a few times along with (slowly) the 3D match engine. Often when attempted launching of the game, my laptop freezes. Spoken to the manufacturer who says its because the laptop does not meet the spec. I would have thought that if this was the case I wouldnt have been able to get the game working at all in the first place??? Anyway.... upon reboot of the laptop I send off the error message thing that comes up and am directed to microsofts website which informs me that “Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER (Q293078)”. I have the game running at the moment but am afraid to close it down in case I cant get it running again! Any suggestions? Thanks

Information i have found from Microsoft state this:

This issue occurs if the graphics adapter is caught in an infinite loop while it waits for the video hardware to become idle. This can indicate that there is a problem with the video hardware, or that the graphics adapter cannot program the hardware correctly.

The Stop error message may also occur in video adapter drivers that do not represent a physical device. For example, this Stop error message may occur in the virtual video adapter driver that is used by Symantec PCAnywhere. If PCAnywhere is installed on a computer where this error message occurs, visit the Symantec Web site to determine whether there are any available fixes for your version of PCAnywhere.

more here with the fixes too http://support.microsoft.com/kb/293078

[Montass]

Hello, i'm new here, also i'm from Holland so please dont blame me for errors in my text..

I got a problem. I bought FM09 back in november, en all the time it worked great. I even installed it on a friends computer. But now i get a annoying bug. The error -819. It comes up when i wanted to start FM. The program asked me to activate my copy of FM. So i did, but the SoftAnchor interface said this:

So i searched for a solution and some people advised me the FixV2 Activate Tool (as seen below)

Now my question: What can i do about this? The top screen says i must receive a new key, but in my opinion there must be nothing wrong about my current one. Can anybody help me whith this? Thank you;)..

(PS. if i overlooked something im sorry for that..)

[Mufckingud7]

Hello, i'm new here, also i'm from Holland so please dont blame me for errors in my text..

I got a problem. I bought FM09 back in november, en all the time it worked great. I even installed it on a friends computer. But now i get a annoying bug. The error -819. It comes up when i wanted to start FM. The program asked me to activate my copy of FM. So i did, but the SoftAnchor interface said this:

So i searched for a solution and some people advised me the FixV2 Activate Tool (as seen below)

Now my question: What can i do about this? The top screen says i must receive a new key, but in my opinion there must be nothing wrong about my current one. Can anybody help me whith this? Thank you;)..

(PS. if i overlooked something im sorry for that..)

i think you need to delete the certificates and try to re-install/activate the game that way also check the code is working

[Montass]

Unbelievable.. I tried yesterday, and it failed, and now it works:). Cant thank you enough!!

[Mufckingud7]

Unbelievable.. I tried yesterday, and it failed, and now it works:). Cant thank you enough!!

I'm glad its all sorted for you

[samppp]

I got the latest patch. I have a Mac I use tiger it works fine when i take off 3D and it got to Jan 1st and it says i need to put in an activation code. However, i installed the game for my mac and wrote in the code in the manual and it isnt working! Any suggestions?

P.S. when i put in my activation code it says INCORRECT LENGTH? I've also used the keychecker site

thanks

[Mufckingud7]

I got the latest patch. I have a Mac I use tiger it works fine when i take off 3D and it got to Jan 1st and it says i need to put in an activation code. However, i installed the game for my mac and wrote in the code in the manual and it isnt working! Any suggestions?

P.S. when i put in my activation code it says INCORRECT LENGTH? I've also used the keychecker site

thanks

all i can say is try to activate again but make sure that the exact letters/numbers are entered and the same amount.

If you are sure you have done this then your better off asking or waiting for SI Staff