ARRRGGHHH!!!!

Now what's interesting, is that the Xbox I bought used had a Tony Hawk 3 game save.... but the game REFUSES to display proper video. I even hooked it up to my TV Wonder card and it's not in PAL mode either.

Could it be stuck in 1080i mode? Anybody have any ideas? I've deleted the save game every time after attempting to run it.

Out of 30 or so games, this is the ONLY one that does this. I downloaded the Riot CD version of it, with the same problem, so I rented it from Blockbuster.... the same problem with the ORIGINAL.

Any ideas would be wonderful (anyboy have the game ID handy, so I can stomp out ALL vestiges of it from the hard drive?)


BTW: The controller seems to work, at least, pressing buttons seems to invoke action.

Well, the plot thickens....

It appears that the previous owner may have used a High Def A/V pack with Tony Hawk, and now I have NO WAY of resetting the mode!!!

If I have the ID code, I should be able to squash the persistent data THPS3 is saving on the hard drive and get it to reset the condition. I'm pretty sure that's the problem (THPS3 has saved off the previous owners video config and now wants to keep setting that video mode)

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Sep 5 2002, 08:26 AM)

Well, the plot thickens.... It appears that the previous owner may have used a High Def A/V pack with Tony Hawk, and now I have NO WAY of resetting the mode!!! If I have the ID code, I should be able to squash the persistent data THPS3 is saving on the hard drive and get it to reset the condition. I'm pretty sure that's the problem (THPS3 has saved off the previous owners video config and now wants to keep setting that video mode)

hmm, never heard of something like this! what does hight def av do? is it better resolution?

just dele te save game and start your own game you lazy bastard

QUOTE (cONEction @ Sep 5 2002, 07:49 AM)

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Sep 5 2002, 08:26 AM) Well, the plot thickens.... It appears that the previous owner may have used a High Def A/V pack with Tony Hawk, and now I have NO WAY of resetting the mode!!! If I have the ID code, I should be able to squash the persistent data THPS3 is saving on the hard drive and get it to reset the condition. I'm pretty sure that's the problem (THPS3 has saved off the previous owners video config and now wants to keep setting that video mode) hmm, never heard of something like this! what does hight def av do? is it better resolution? just dele te save game and start your own game you lazy bastard

NOT THAT SIMPLE.

As I said, the save games HAVE been deleted.

When the different A/V packs are used, it enables different options (by hardwired feedback to the Xbox through the connector) for the video and sound.

Clearly, the THPS3 programmers have stored away the 1080i setting and are using that without any error or validity checking.

There are two areas where 'persisitent data' is stored: TDATA and UDATA. UDATA is the save games. TDATA, on the other hand, is not normally accessed from the M$ Dashboard's memory management section.

OK, the problem isn't with anything on the hard drive, as I found and snuffed the contents of the TDATA and UDATA '41560004' directories.

This is very frustrating. YES, I have set my Video to the 'correct' (Normal) setting.

I'm thinking I might need to plug in the High-Def A/V pack to get it set properly.

If I can tonight, maybe I'll look at the .XBE and see if I can create a patch for it to prevent it using the 1080i mode (or rather FORCE 480i mode).

OK, now I'm REALLY baffled.

I wrote a bit of code to show me what apps see for video settings and so forth... and none of the HDTV modes show up - which would be good, but shoots down my theory that THPS3 was somehow getting bad info from the Xbox.

My next step will probably be to install a Hidef AV pack, though I have no HDTV to use with it (have 5.1 digital, though).

On a side note: It occurs to me the coax digital wiring hack still requires the Hidef AV pack, so perhaps it isn't a bad investment after all.

ARGH! M$ left off the S-Video on the Hi-Def AV Pack. This makes sense, I guess, but it means I need to find a buddy with an HDTV/component-based TV to try the trick out.

The guy who programmed this mess on THPS3 should be SHOT.

Can I ask a favor of anybody out there? If there is somebody out there with the ability to check this out.... I'd like to know what happens when you run THPS3 on an HDTV @ 1080i resolution, then shut down, switch to the standard AV Pack and tell me if the video works.

I really can't believe I'm the ONLY person with this problem. I guess this is one reason NOT to get a used Xbox (or a reason to BUY an HDTV??).

BenJeremy, if YOU can't figure this out... I doubt many others in this forum CAN...

This is a question for the 'perts at Xboxhacker.net... which you probably have posted THERE too, right?

The file MUST be on the Xbox somewhere... you can't see in the XBE a directory it's looking for?

Aren't the directories set up in HEX? where activision may be ACT or ACV in hex?

Man, you know tons more than I do, but I'm just throwing shit out there....

Yeah, I know... this is a mystery begging for for an answer.


I'll probably throw the xbe's at some of the tools this weekend to look at the exports and filenames within.

Hopefully something will turn up. Worst case, I'll find a way to patch the call to set video mode so it just WORKS.

I have a HDTV and I played around with THP3 and all the video setting. I can't replicated your issue. But then again, I'd have to move a 57" tv if I wanted to hook it up with composite video, instead of the component I have in now.

Sorry I can't be of much help to you. I did ask a freind who has a tv that supports progressive scan, so he played around with it too, and he can't replicate your issue either. He's using S-Video and compisite.

Sorry, not much help for ya.

QUOTE (BenJeremy @ Sep 6 2002, 08:07 AM)

On a side note: It occurs to me the coax digital wiring hack still requires the Hidef AV pack, so perhaps it isn't a bad investment after all.

I can't help with the video problem, but I noticed that bit of text in one of your posts. What brings you to that conclusion? I wired my xbox to produce coax 5.1, and it does so without needing an advanced AV pack. There were a few schematics floating around for that, and they weren't all correct. The correct wiring scheme involves not only soldering 2 points (ground and signal) for the coax jack, but also connecting a couple of the AV points on the motherboard to tell the xbox to enable the 5.1 S/PDIF connection.

Well, There are two packs you need.... either Hi Def or Advanced (S-video and optical) to get TRUE 5.1 sound out of software.

This is because the system knows what type of pack it has installed, and basically tells the program what is available (DTS or AC3) if you have a pack with optical inputs. Without the pack in place, the program will not enable full 5.1 sound processing, but instead play everything (even 3D) as if stereo output is being used.

It may output 5.1 sound, but it's not TRUE 5.1 sound.... kind of like playing mono tapes through your stereo system; both channels produce sound, but it's not really stereo.

Well, the method I used tricks the xbox into thinking that it has the correct AV pack installed. Grounding out points on the AV section of the mobo accomplished the same thing that one of AV packs would do if it were connected to the back of the xbox.
I'm pretty sure I'm getting true 5.1 sound. When I connect a cable from the coax jack I have on the xbox to the coax in on my SB Extigy, the 5.1 light comes on to show that the Extigy is receiving a 5.1 signal. And I can hear distinct sounds in each speaker. That's enough to convince me it's real 5.1 sound.

I had this problem with NFL 2003 with sound but no picture so i used the engima pal/ntsc cd to switch my pal xbox to ntsc and it worked great and as i am in australia and do not like american football i just deleted this game anyway but it taught me a lesson as if a game plays with sound and no picture i use the engima switch mode cd and then test the game and if it works i put a note with the cd to use this methord to play that game.

I have lots of ntsc games that work fine without this mode cd so i would like to know why?

So can anyone shed some light on this stupid problem?

BenJeremy, I'm having the EXACT same problem, but the only difference is that I took my Xbox to my friend's house who has HDTV, I didn't buy mine used . After we set it to 1080i (<-- graphics really look sexy then..), Tony Hawk 3 hasn't worked right....and the funny this is, it's ONLY THPS3, no other game....baffles me, I'm using EvoX 1.8.2594, EvoX Bios v2.4, and Kernel 4034. Please let me know what you've found, I'll keep you posted too...

Thanks..

Yeah, I gots the same thing going on. Plugged in my X2VGA and it works fine now. I would like to play this on my TV if possible (not that big of a deal if I can't), and I skimmed over this thread and didn't see a fix for it. has anyone fixed it yet?

EDIT: I fixed the problem (on my box at least). It was just some random idea on my part, but hey, it works.
You know when you plug in a High Def pack, you can go into video options in the xb dash and add the hidef vid modes? yeah, well, those options go away when that pack isn't plugged in, and the games reset to non-high-def versions. THPS3 is stupid. it doesn't.
Anyway, what I did to fix mine was plug my high def pack in, go to video options, and turn off all the high def options, switched back over to my RCA composite cables, and BAM! it plays on my TV. Sweet. Hope this works for everyone else who's been having this problem.
-RinGz