Call of Duty World At War errors (d3dx9_37.dll & Unhandled exception )
November 1st, 2008 by 
Patrick S
Edit*: The beta for CoD WAW has now cloed - however the following information still does apply to some users of the RTM game.
I know this isn’t really related to Microsoft in any way but the public beta for Call of duty World At War has just come out and I am a huge fan. You can download yourself a free copy of the game if you go to http://www.callofduty.com/ and register to get a serial number and a download link.
If you are running a Vista machine you will most likely run into some difficulties when running the game for the first time after installation. These errors are:
-Message box displaying missing d3dx9_37.dll (or something along those lines)
-Message Box displaying: “Error during initialization: Unhandled exception caught”
To remedy these problems do the following:
The Missing DLL file (d3dx9_36.dll) is attributed to an outdated version of Microsoft DirectX. Simply point your browser to here (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en) to download the Microsoft DirectX 9/10 web download application. This will determine the version of DirectX installed on your system and apply the latest SDK updates accordingly.
After this install is complete the error should no longer appear and the game should run fine.
The second error: “Error during initialization: Unhandled exception caught” is a stupid error attributed to the Way the game uses the Windows Vista playback Device.
To remedy this problem click:
Start>Control Panel>Sound
Right Click on the default playback device (e.g. Speakers) and click properties. From there select the Advanced tab.
To eliminate this error the default playback format must be set at 24 bit 48000Hz (Studio Quality). Simply select this from the dropdown list and apply the settings.
Try launching the game now-Everything should run fine.
Any Questions or comments-don’t hesitate to post them below.
-Patrick (>DDC<Ping)
Edit: Looks like the beta has closed down-we’ll soon see if these errors happen in the full version released in the states today & New Zealand on friday
Edit2: Thanks to xGame (see his comment below):
to any1 having problem with “error during intialization…” in xp go to: control panel->phone and modem options->modems->remove the modem/modems you are not using
Posted in Bugs, Uncategorized, Xbox and Gaming | 
November 1st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I have XP and i don’t follow the second part, i don’t have the same options i think
November 1st, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Hm, I didn’t have this issue on my Vista machine. Weird.
November 1st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
What you gotto ask yourself …is this a beta or a demo…
Considering the game is released very soon…. the game has already been written to dvd’s… and is sat waiting for distribution.,,,, so why release a beta? that is bug ridden and not even playable for a large number of downloaders..
there seems to be no official response from the callofduty.com forums for all the directx and handler exceptions that are being experienced in this “beta”…
oh ps..
the game will run on my old pc…p3.4/no sound card/dx9c … (-: seems like it should have been a cod4 expansion pack or even mod…..
November 1st, 2008 at 11:42 pm
@Shabalaba : No you dont need to follow the second part-its a vista only issue that affects the game. If your DirectX is up to date you should not have any problems.
@Brandon: Lucky-I know heaps of people with the problem
@Geoff: You’re right-It may as well be called a temp-the Beta is just hype I think. But if thats the case then the full version will have issues too i think.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:26 am
fyi…
from what ive read and searched for..is there doesn’t seem a common denominator for the problems…
may the next question to be asked is..
whose married…whose gay…whose back..whose white….. see if thats the cause……
can’t you tell ive given up looking for a fix… (-:
least ive rediscovered cod2 xtreme.
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
My game starts, but it wont show anything on screen. I get sounds, but my screen is blank. Any ideas?
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:08 pm
I tried both of the above solutions and neither of them worked, it thought maybe it was because my razer barracuda can only use 16bit audio so i sset it to 48khz and nothing changed so i set it back to my original IDT codec for my speakers at 24bit 48khz and tried running it and it still just crashes and “Error during initialization: Unhandled exception caught” I emailed CoD support prolly 1 day ago and i havent got a response yet.
basic specs:
Windows Vista 32bit home premium
Razer Barracuda AC-1 sound card and HP-1 headset
DirectX 9/10
everything else it up to date so i have no idea whats going wrong? please help
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Hmm-That looks like a nice sound card however it’s got me stumped. I had a good hunt round and I could not find anyone with the same problem as you.
All i can suggest (sorry it’s quite a generic answer) is to download the latest drivers from the Razer site and try tweaking with the settings.
Sorry man-let us know how you get on.
Edit: Check out the Razer Website: (http://www.razersupport.com/) Some new Drivers were added on the 31’st - hopefully this resolves your problem.
November 3rd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
the game keeps crashing for me and i get a pop up asking if i want to send an error report to MicroSoft. Then once thats gone I get another pop up telling me Error during initialization: Unhandled exception caught. I am running Windows Xp with a Creative Sound Blaster Audigy Sound Card and 8600GT Grafix….any ideas…??
November 8th, 2008 at 2:13 am
I only have the option to set 16-bit sounds. How do I get the 24-bit option?
November 8th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Are you using a Realtek sound card?
November 9th, 2008 at 2:30 am
CMI 9880 onboard ASUS P5AD2-E Premium MB
November 9th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I’m using XP , realtek onboard soundcard and I have an error exactly like the second you mentioned . Any ideas ?
November 9th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Same error here (and i also don’t have 24 bit option, only 16 bit), but i have C-media AC97 onboard soundcard. The problem is, C-Media doesn’t have any audi drivers for Vista. However I managed to play the game when i installed another driver for Windows XP (although it resulted in complete lack of any sound, but still). Is there any solution to get both the game AND the sound?:)
November 10th, 2008 at 1:32 am
Ok I did a bit of digging around and yes, you are right C-Media are slack (it seems) when it comes to drivers. However it seems they have been working on drivers and only posting them on their forums (not their driver section for some reason)
Anyway-try these and see if you can fix the prob. Hopefully I am leading you in the correct direction.
Let us know how you get on.
November 10th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Unfortunately, most of those drivers are for PCI cards, and those which are not, are either not for Vista or not for my chipset. Anyway, I’m getting a new soundcard in a few days to check, if that’s really the problem, so I’ll just wait a bit longer before playing:)
November 10th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
to any1 having problem with “error during intialization…” in xp go to: control panel->phone and modem options->modems->remove the modem/modems you are not using
start the game…
November 10th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
i know it’s a bit strange, but it’s working
November 11th, 2008 at 1:10 am
@turgon-Yeah…perhaps its best to do this-atleast get a card that has drivers that are updated :-/
@xGAME-Thanks for that…I read that somewhere-if anyone else can validate it ill throw it in the main body of the post
Edit: Looks like the beta has closed down-we’ll soon see if these errors happen in the full version released in the states today & New Zealand on friday
November 12th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Yes xGAME’s thing worked!!!!!
Yes!!!!!!!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I get the game started, to the start screen, then click on the solo button. it goes like it is going to start, and then all i see is a blank screen. I hear music and when i move my mouse, i hear it going over buttons. What can i do so that i am able to see the screen and play?
November 13th, 2008 at 12:27 am
I did xGAME’s thing and it got past that error, but the screen turns black and freezes?
…
November 13th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005…
Upgraded it with a 8600GT
1.5GB of RAM
Works fine on high for COD4
Why wont it work here?
November 13th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Hey Patrick
I get this error you said
“Error during initialization: Unhandled exception caught” with the blank black window.
I have XP and WaW released version. I have updated my video and audio drivers, running creative audigy 2 and radeon x1650. Any ideas
November 15th, 2008 at 3:34 am
I had the same problem of Hans1417.
I have the same equipment Razer Barracuda AC-1 sound card and HP-1 headset
The problem was solved with the second Patrick’s step, by reducing the quality to 24 bit 48000Hz (Studio Quality).
I had the problem when was set to 24 bit 192000Hz (Studio Quality).
By the way, I’m running Vista 32bits.
Thank’s Patrick!!!
November 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Ermm. im having a big problem when playing solo mode…THere is no voice sound… peopel are talking with their mouth opening but no voice is coming out……. plz help TT
November 15th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I am sure glad some of the above steps are indeed helping but I am unsure how to fix the issue with windows XP at this stage. I will have a good hunt around tonigh and see if I can find a solution.
@Aaron: All of the sound levels are turned up in the game right? The only other thing that I can think of that could possibly be stopping your sound working is if vista has somehow individually turned the sound down for Call of Duty. Alt+Tab out of your game and click the sound icon in your task bar and select mixer - check if the sound is turned right up for it (Vista Only).
Other than that all I can think of are the usuall problems e.g. Audio drivers etc etc etc.
November 16th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Thanks for the tips-they worked great!!!
Call Of Duty World at War us a great game.
Cheers,
John
November 17th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
I get the same problem , i couldn’t start game, but i found something !!
With Sound settings (24 Bit, 48000 Hz) u must at installing of this game or before that, set ur pc’s (VISTA) Sound settings on an another Sound setting (24 Bit, 192000 Hz), after install and patch of 1.1 , u must try with that sound settings to start this game, it would not starting , you would get this same error !
After this u must set ur Sound Settings on 24 Bit, 48000 Hz , then ok ! JUST START THE GAME AND PLAY !!
If u tried this one without Sucsess, then reinstall ur game !! with the same options !
SRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH, I HOPE U WOULD UNDERSTAND ME !!
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:38 am
—– Initializing Renderer —-
execing ragdoll.cfg from disk
—– Client Initialization —–
—– Client Initialization Complete —–
Trying SMP acceleration…
…succeeded.
—– R_Init —–
Getting Direct3D 9 interface…
Pixel shader version is 3.0
Vertex shader version is 3.0
Shader model 2.0 code path is available.
Shader model 3.0 code path is available.
Using Shader model 3.0 code path because it is the best available path on this hardware.
Attempting 800 x 600 fullscreen with 32 bpp at 60 hz
Game window successfully created.
Using 4x anti-aliasing
Creating Direct3D device…
Com_TouchMemory: 0 msec. Using sum: 0
Loading fastfile code_post_gfx
Loading fastfile ui
Loading fastfile common
Initializing render targets…
Requested frame buffer to be 24-bit color with 8-bit alpha
DirectX returned a frame buffer that is 24-bit color with 8-bit alpha
Loading fastfile ‘code_post_gfx’
used 1.13 MB memory in DB alloc
Initializing static model cache…
Initializing dynamic buffers…
Initializing particle cloud buffer…
Creating Direct3D queries…
ERROR: image ‘images/devfonts.iwi’ is missing
Couldn’t load image ‘devfonts’
plz help me out
November 22nd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
After installing Call of Duty: world at War, I get a message that reads: Call of Duty did not quit properly the last time it was used, and then asks me if I want to run the program in safe mode.
The game just won’t start up. I have removed and installed it twice but still get the same errors.
Can anybody please help.
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:54 pm
My specs…
P4 3.2 Ghz
2 GB RAM
Nvidia 7800 GT 256 MB RAM
Win XP SP2
Realtek HD for sound Options.)
I’m also facing somewhat similar but much more troublesome problem. i bought a legit copy of COD5 - World at War few days ago, and installed it just today. The installation was no problem but later on when i start the game, clicking either the solo/co-op or multiplayer tab at the intro screen, it jumps back to the desktop. no warning is showed and nothing out of the ordinary happens. I’ve recently updated my Video and sound card drivers and even the Direct X, but to no help. I am simply confused as to what is causing all this, as COD4-MW played so smoothly on my machine. Any help would be a god’s gift right now….
November 26th, 2008 at 4:09 am
Trying to complete my download and install from Direct2drive…what a waist of time. three days to get downloaded CODworldatwar. Then after finaly getting downloaded i get this frusterating notes when i click on the download manager PLAY:
This product is already installed please use the control panel to modify or uninstall?
THEN: Would you like to delete the downloaded files? These files will need to be downloaded again if you need to rerun the install.
My machine:
HP pavilion Elite, 2 quad Q6600, 3072MB, 720GB, NVIDIA Geforce8500GT, Win Vista
can any of you tell me what is wrong? I followed their instruction
November 29th, 2008 at 4:03 am
Unhandled Exception.
Remove the modem, dont disable, REMOVE!!
Work for me!!
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 am
I am using windows wista home edition, and i got the 2nd problem (unhandled exception caught). i tried the solution in this site to change the sound settings, but when i see the window in my laptop, it has been set to 24 48000….. so what am i doing wrong? thanks for the help, sorry to bother…
December 4th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I was getting the same errors - but now it loads OK and I get no sound at all?
December 5th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
My win vista doesnt have that option to change to 24 bit 48000 it only has 16 bit aarrgh can anyone help please? im using c-media for my sound and i think my drivers are updated cause i tried updating them to see if that was the problem but it says up to date so i dont kno wat the problem is??
December 6th, 2008 at 8:19 am
@PAUL
hey Paul, i couldn’t be bothered to read and find out if you already found a solution to your problem, but that is a shader issue, your running shader 2.0 when the game requires 3.0, get a better graphics card man!
December 11th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Looks like this error has changed a lot since the Beta release. I cant figure out the answers to all of them so if you happen to have advise please post it
December 17th, 2008 at 11:12 pm
hey chaps, my game worked fine.. then this morning I couldnt get any sound on multiplayer, not even on the options screen.. Un-installed and reinstalled and pathced and drivers updated… no joy… Any ideas?? Im shtumped!!!!
December 24th, 2008 at 2:13 am
i hav been playing multiplayer on and off for 3 months now when i run the cd it starts but when i hit muiltiplayer an error comes up ;mulitiplayer has encountered an error and stops then closes down-i hav a dell xps m1730 vista -please help
December 27th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I have the same problem like Hans1417, i have the razer baracuda sound card too and it’s not working, and i have the same windows 32 bit…
December 28th, 2008 at 7:08 am
i bought call of duty world at war the other day and i got it home loaded it started playing it went through intro and everything fine when it started everything was like very slow the sound was ok but the action was very slow and jerkey and some times the screen goes black but i have sound but cant see anything i have tried everything i could think of my system is a 6 month old emachine with windows vista home premium with service pack 1 AMD Athlon 64 prosser 3800+ graphix card is a geforce6100 nforce405 i have been waiting to play this game for 2 days have spent so much time trying to get it to work please help.
December 28th, 2008 at 10:09 am
@wayland thomas: The Graphics card system requirements are a geforece 6600 or higher - I think thats the reason you are having issues with your copy being jerky.
Sorry I cannot answer all of these problems because a lot of these are new since the game was released. If anyone has answers to the questions please lend a hand :).
Thanks.
December 28th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
i have bought the orginal World at War for 50euro, and i have thought that will work because it’s orginal, and still I have this error, f***** Razer baracuda sound card
January 3rd, 2009 at 5:23 am
i have read all comments above, and have tried everything that everyones has contribute to solve the solution but nothing seems to be working,
my issue is that, when i click either multiplayer or solo exe file, the screen goes black for about 5secs, then shows my desktop with a black rectangle box in the middle of the screen, it then stays like that for about 8-10 secs with then resulting in a microsoft error encounter, which it needs to close.
like i said, i have done everything posted above, and am finding this to be f@#kin annoying lol
if anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated
thankyou
p.s, Patrick S is a champ
January 5th, 2009 at 2:59 am
Hi i got the game for xmas and i have a good enough pc but it wont load up certain missions. And a few maps on multiplayer dont work. As the map loads it crashes and says hardwere problem or display error then my pc resets its self. If anyone can help it would be great please email me on stevegraham2008@live.co.uk thanks
January 7th, 2009 at 5:57 am
I too have the same problem as ZACK.
No SP… dumps directly to windows error.
Running XP, nvidia 8600, SB Audigy 2Zs