Call of Duty 4: FAQS

Requirements

• Recommended Specs
  • CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better is recommended
  • RAM: 1G for XP; 2G for Vista is recommended
  • Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
  • Video card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better

• Required (Minimum) Specs
  • CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.4 GHz or AMD(R) Athlon(TM) 64 2800+ processor or any 1.8Ghz Dual Core Processor or better supported
  • RAM: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista
  • Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
  • Video card: NVIDIA(R) Geforce(TM) 6600 or better or ATI(R) Radeon(R) 9800Pro or better

COD4 Patches

--> Where?

Patches can be found here

--> Fixes?

1.7

• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to access certain console dvars during multi*player matches.

• Fixed a crash that could occur when a Chinatown Sabotage match would go into over*time.

• Fixed a bug where the MP icons (Bomb, Defend, Capture, etc) were always showing up as English regardless of the install language.

1.6

• New maps Creek, Chinatown, Broadcast, and Killhouse

• Hardcore and oldschool server browser filters

• Fix for a Denial of Service attack.

1.5

• Fixed server browser not showing all of the servers

• The "hold [ ] to steady" sniper scope hint will only appear if you can use it

• Fixed game not recognizing IWDs existing if they are all in fs_basepath and none are in the main/ folder

• Made mod scripts able to change stats

• Allow developer_script for mulitiplayer modding

• Fixed map rotation errors with usermaps

• Fixed minimap not showing up in the menu for usermaps

• Mod tools will now work with other languages, in single and multiplayer

1.4

• Winter Crash", a holiday version of Multiplayer map "Crash"

• Improvements to the server browser

• Fixed an issue with sniper rifle accuracy at certain distances.

• Fixed some rare bullet accuracy issues for all weapons.

• For server admins: fixed user ban list not working correctly on servers. Ban.txt will be created in the main or fs_game directory

Mod Support:

• In the connect screen, Mods will be identified as"Mod: [mod name]"

• Only official IWD files will be read from the main directory. All custom IWD should be placed in a mod directory.

• Fix for reloading several times after connecting to a modded server

• Improved mod.ff support to allow adding game types.

• Fixed an issue with Http redirect downloads.

• "fs_game" will be forced to lower case

1.3

• Fixed a case in which un*pure players were able to play on pure servers.

• Set properties so that Anti*lag is always switched to "on" once a map loads.

• Fixed an issue with sniper rifle accuracy at certain distances.

• Text chat between rounds of multiplayer will no longer cut out at the end.

1.2

• Corrects an issue with leaning in multiplayer that allowed a player to fire from cover without being visible.

• Adds support for the functionality of certain mod tools.

1.1

• Corrects an issue with stats and rank resetting on some servers.

General COD4 Issues

COD4 crashes when i try to change graphics / sound settings XFire has been known to be one of the causes for this. Solution is to close XFire when making these changes.

Everytime i try to connect to a server i watch the counter go to 10 and then get 'Connection Timed Out' error This is probably because the master server cannot deal with the amount of players in COD4, theres a way around it tho. Type this into the console:

/cl_connectionattempts 60

You should have more luck joining servers now, if you get bored of waiting on the timer screen you can type:

/disconnect

To cancel joining the server and go back to the main menu.

Im trying to connect to an INTERNET server with more than 1 pc behind a router, but only 1 can connect! Right click on your CoD4 desktop shortcut, select properties, and change the text in the target box to this (or similar)

"C:\Program Files\Activision\Call Of Duty 4 - Modern Combat\iw3mp.exe" +set net_port 28960

In other words add "space"+set net_port 28960 to the shortcut.

• Player No.2 must make it +set net_port 28961
• Player 3 +set net_port 28962
• Player 4 +set net_port 28963 and so on

Don't forget the space between exe" and the plus sign. Each player must have a different port from the others.

I cant play COD4 SP because it asks me to insert the correct DVD

But i have it in my drive

• Hold down the left shift key when inserting the game disc if this problem is occuring on launch.
• Make sure you have 32 bit drivers for your CD-ROM drive.
• Set the CD-ROM cache size to zero.
• Change the DMA setting on the CD-ROM drive.
• Make sure the drive letters for the CD-ROM is set correctly.
• Make sure that the location for CD music to play is set correctly.
• Make sure your system can successfully play Audio CD's.
• Turn off Auto Insert Notification.
• If you have the CD burning software Alcohol 120% installed you need to turn off all of the emulation options.

  1) Go to File > Options. 
  2) Click on Emulation in the menu to the left. 
  3) Uncheck all options in the window to the right.

• If you have CloneCD you need to turn off the Hide CDR media setting. This setting is accessable from the task tray icon for clone CD. Right-click on the icon and uncheck Hide CDR media.
• If you have an Nforce based motherboard go to here and get the latest Nforce drivers for your motherboard chipset.

I have a Nvidia 7xxx GFX Card and get black objects in the game world

You should go and download the Nvidia Forceware Beta 169.04 (169.09 will have flickering for some) driver as this is known to fix this issue. Download from Nvidia Drivers Website

Also go to Microsoft Site and download / install the latest Directx End-User Runtime.

When i look into the 'ironsights' the screen goes black,white and all blurry Turning OFF 'Depth of Field' in the graphics options is known to fix this.

I get really bad lag when airstrikes happen. I cant move Make sure your antivirus is not running while you are playing. This can cause lag with airstrikes because you get sent a lot of data to tell your client where the bombs are dropping, where the planes fly to / from and all the other stuff that your client is usually getting sent too.

I get a DirectX error / Crash to desktop (CTD) when trying to change settings

Make sure you are not running Xfire when trying to change graphics settings because this is known to cause this error. You can change settings manually by going into the cod4/players/yourname folder and editing the config_mp.cfg file. To change the screen resolution: search for "seta r_mode" change the mode in the quotes to one you know works well. e.g.

seta r_mode "1024x768"

you can also change other settings this way if you look through the config file a bit Also having the ATi Tray Tools on screen display running is known to cause this.

I cannot run iw3mp.exe / iw3sp.exe

it errors with 'iw3xx.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close' There are a number of possible reasons for this happening: Some onboard soundcards - Start ->Control panel -> Sounds and audio devices-> options -> properties. Pick Recording and then turn stereo mix ON. Realtek onboard soundcards - Make sure you are using the newest drivers available. Some have reported that having a mic plugged in can fix this problem. Realtek onboard soundcards - Sometimes disabling / enabling these can make it work (even if you dont use them for sound) Realtek onboard soundcards and vista - Sometimes uninstalling the realtek driver and letting vista find its own works. AthlonXP and Sempron (not 64bit) - Go into the cod4/miles folder and rename 'mssmp3.asi' to 'mssmp3.bak'. The miles sound system included is known to have issues with 32bit processors. NOTE: This will disable ambient music in the game. An alternative mssmp3.asi can be found Here! so you can have music. Dual X2900xt in crossfire mode - Downloading the WDM driver from the Ati/AMD Site is known to fix this. As always if you have problems, Try to update all drivers (motherboard, soundcard, graphics card) to the newest available.

Most can be found at your motherboard manufacturers website

ASUS
MSI
VIA
GIGABYTE

I get random freezes and crashes while playing COD4

Rivatuner, ATiTool, LCD monitor tools, NTune (NVidia Control Panel), ASUS GamerOSD, ASUS SmartDoctor and possibly any other hardware monitoring program installed and running when trying to play COD4 could possibly be the cause. Either close these applications or uninstall them and the problem should go away.

I get random lag spikes in MP and have a wireless connection to my router

This can be caused by the 'Wireless zero configuration' service in windows. To fix it you should install the application which came with your wireless card or dongle to control it instead of using the windows config.

I get a crash with 'DirectX has encountered an error'

Update your DirectX to the latest version from the Microsoft Site Make sure your drivers are upto date (For NVidia cards try the 169.04 beta drivers) You may need to reinstall the game to fix this.

I have Vista 64 and the screen is freezing and the game crashes with 'Direct3d9::Present' Error

This can be because your directX installation is out of date. Goto the Microsoft Site and download / install the latest Directx End-User Runtime. Try the nVidia 162.50 drivers or higher. That fixed the problem for some people.

Download from Nvidia Drivers Website

I get a crash with 'Fastfile for zone 'some_filename_here' is corrupt or unreadable.'

You will probably need to reinstall the game to fix this.

COD4 wont start.

It errors with 'Video card or driver doesn't support separate alpha blend, glow will be disabled.' This means that your video card is not supported. Onboard video chips, Nvidia cards older than the 66xx series and ATi older than the 98xx pro series are not supported by COD4. This could also be a driver problem so make sure your video drivers are upto date.

Vista Issues

OK, Vista Users<<< after you copy the modding files to your game dir

• In the folder C:\Program Files\Activision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare\bin <<>>
• Right clik

CoD4Radiant.exe
CoD4CompileTools.exe
asset_manager.exe
CoD4EffectsEd.exe

and use compatibility mode for XP

• The CoD4 Mod Tools require a DirectX 9 Shader Model 3.0 compliant card and the .NET Framework Version 2.0 or higher!

• Put a copy of the RAW/SHADER_BIN folder in:

<your_path_for_game>/Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare/raw/raw/shader_bin
<your_path_for_game>/Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare/raw/xmodel/raw/shader_bin
<your_path_for_game>/Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare/map_source/prefabs/raw/shader_bin

There are other problems which could be fixed by pasting the /raw/shader_bin folder also into other folders (problems with the effect editor for example) so when you get such an error, try to fix it by copying the /raw/shader_bin folders to the folder of the item you wanted to use at the time you got the error.

You need to paste a copy of the RAW/SHADER_BIN folder into the xmodel folder too when you want to use xmodels. You will then get an ERROR

ERROR

When clicking the .prj file, an error appears saying it cannot find material $default and has to shut down radiant.

SOLUTION

• Create a copy of the radiant.exe and place it into your ...\...\Activision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare file, or wherever your game exe files are directly found. Then use the copied radiant.exe and wait a while. It took a long time for it to load for me but it seems radiant has loaded up.

COD4 Issues with PunkBuster

• I cant enable PunkBuster. How do I install it?

Insert the COD4 dvd into the drive and browse it. Run pbsvc.exe to install PunkBuster.
You may need to reinstall the game and choose to install PunkBuster this time when it asks you.

• I got kicked for 'PunkBuster Init Failed'

This usually means your punkbuster isnt upto date. Get pbsetup run it and add Call Of Duty 4 to the list
 of games. Then hit check for updates. This should fix the problem.

• RESTRICTION: Unknown Windows API Function[131133]

Apparently using the built in interface by steam in COD4 is cheating. Atlest it is according to punkbuster.
 To get rid of this error message open up steam and go to [ Settings -> In-Game ] and uncheck the 
Enable Steam Community In-Game button

• RESTRICTION: Service Communication Failure: PnkBstrB.exe handshaking failed.

If you get this message it because your Punkbuster files are corrupt, missing or simply forgotten by PB.
 To fix this you should reinstall the punkbuster service module and reupdate PB. 
To do this you can go to your steam/steam apps/common/call of duty 4/PB/ folder and run pbsvc.exe
 to reinstall it. After that you should re-update it by using the pbsetup.exe.

• I get 'PB Client in Distress' error messages

This is a problem with the PunkBuster authentication servers. Theres nothing you can do about it.

• I get kicked with 'Ignore queries #9006' message from punkbuster

You have to open UDP port 28962 for Punkbuster Update. You can manually update with 'pbsetup.exe' 
from the Evenbalance website.

Backup Multiplayer Data

• To backup your multiplayer profile is easy. All you have to do is navigate to the place where your Call of Duty 4 is installed and find your user profile. EG:

C:\Program Files\Activision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare\players\profiles\User 

• Inside that folder find the files called mpdata and config_mp. mpdata contains all the xp and kills, headshots etc. config_mp contains all your keybinds and the names of your custom classes. Copy these two files and paste them somewhere else, or save them to a disc/external device.

• You can then re-install Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare. Then go into the game and make a profile. Then exit the game. Then find the same profile again on your hard drive and copy your files over the ones existing in C:\Program Files\Activision\Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare\players\profiles\User.

• After that enter game and it should work. It is also possible to have many accounts with the same stats and keybinds in this way.