Damaged or corrupt data gamedata.vfs

[SerAris]

For 3-4 months, whenever I back up my C: drive, full or partial, BackupMyPC reports:

"Error: C:\Program Files\CENEGA\UFO Aftermath\gamedata.vfs - has damaged or corrupt data on the media.

Data read from the backup device was damaged (CRC failure) [4641 1221]"

 

I run chkdsk and there's no problem reported.

 

I have ignored this msg because the game mostly plays OK. Two nights ago, after playing for 3 hours, and being in a tactical base capture, my screen went psychodelic and I had to guess where the quit button was. Then my desktop video was also wack. Furthermore, XP told me my system had recovered from a serious error and did I want to report it to MicroSoft. I did but my satellite modem also went down. I finally got it back, sent the report and shut down the computer. I seem to be OK again. There were not power outages or other issues that might have cause the system error. All programs except UFOA were closed.

 

Side issue? 20 days ago, I read about video probs & lowered my refresh rate from 90 to 60mhz. That helped previous video scrambles (one about every 2-3 hrs of game play), with which I never had a serious system problem at the same time.

 

Don't know if the intermitent screen problems are related to the long-term corrupt file but that file is pretty darned important, so I thought I better get your advice.

 

Here are my stats:

UFOA Ver 1.3

Windows XP Home

Pentium IV, 2.66 gig

Radeon 9500 with latest drivers (I've read newer drivers are a problem in some video cards.

Two 73 gig hard drives striped set

Backup to 73 gig external hard drive

No problems with any other corrupted files.

 

Um, if you need any other data, I'm sure you'll let me know. Best wishes, SerAris, forum member

[sigget]

From the error description it seems its the device your backup is on that is failing.

 

You can verify if your gamedata.vfs file is corrupt by recalculating its internal md5 checksum. I dont know what its supposed to be at the moment, but im sure someone else here does. Just a note, the checksum the game or a tool will tell you gamedata.vfs has currently has is _not_ the right one. That checksum hasnt been changed since version 1.0, but if you calculate the md5 for your file and post it here im sure someone will tell you if it matches their version.

 

To calculate it, either use my tool (from the link in my signature) or use the games builtin command, but im not sure if it outputs the sum or simple tells you if its a match or not.

 

I realize that this might be a little technical but i think it will help.

[SerAris]

Sigget wrote:

"To calculate it (check sum), either use my tool (from the link in my signature) or use the games builtin command,..."

 

Sigget, thanks for the suggestions. I don't know how to access the built in command and I'm not sure what file (of the 10 or so there) to d/l from your link. Could you give me a little more help on how to do either or both? Sorry for the lack of knowledge. TIA.

 

Best wishes, SerAris

[sigget]

Download vfstool and unzip it to your ufo:am directory (not required but convenient). Then open a command prompt, start->run and type cmd.exe in xp or command.com in win9x. Use the cd command to go to the ufo:am directory, and then type: vfstool md5 gamedata.vfs, after a minute or two you'll have your answer.

 

My output on english 1.3 is:

 

Old MD5-sum: FE8B97D2B485AFD969D23A01E6583A16
New MD5-sum: 5E5F083673185D4114E8ECBB641213CA

[SerAris]

OK, I've followed your instructions. The first line of the check sum was identical to yours. but the "new" line was:

sum: 8B5B764473492d96b6328DC0773708D4

 

Can you tell me what this means and/or what I should do next?

 

TIA, Ser Aris

[sigget]

If you have the english version, without mods applied, patched to version 1.3 and get this error then your gamedata.vfs is messed up and you need to reinstall.

[SerAris]

Sigget wrote: "If you have the english version, without mods applied, patched to version 1.3 and get this error then your gamedata.vfs is messed up and you need to reinstall. "

 

I will remove, reinstall from CD, install patches to 1.3. I presume my saved games will then work with this fix? Or will they re-mess up the gamedata?

 

I'm 75 missions into the game (not counting delegated ones)! I'd hate to have to start over (until I've finished this one).

 

Best wishes, S.A.

[sigget]

Your savegames wont mess up gamedata, but your savegames can be messed up as well, but thats another issue, and if they are, well, they'll be messed up wether you reinstall or not.