GTA San Andreas on PC

GTA SA: Cannot find 800x600x32 video mode

Single player: GTA San Andreas stops at start with this message. Without its settings file, the game starts in 800x600 with 32-bit color, and this shows when it cannot find that mode.

Steps

1. Put your old settings file back

   Only if you deleted or renamed gta_sa.set and still have the old copy.

   Put your old copy of gta_sa.set back in Documents, GTA San Andreas User Files, under that exact name. Then start the game again. SilentPatch's page explains that the game uses 800x600x32 when this file is missing.

   Source: SilentPatch page, PCGamingWiki

2. Single player: install SilentPatch

   PCGamingWiki's fix for this error is SilentPatch. With it, a game with no settings file starts at your desktop resolution instead of 800x600x32. It works with the 1.0, Steam and Rockstar Launcher copies. Get it only from its author's page and follow the setup page there.

   Careful: Single player only. Before you play MTA, MTA asks you to delete every .asi file from the GTA and MTA folders. Its own example is SilentPatch's file.

   ASI plugins or a game-folder DLL block MTA →

   Source: PCGamingWiki, SilentPatch page, SilentPatch setup page, MTA help

3. Keep a clean GTA copy for MTA

   MTA's manual says to install MTA over a GTA San Andreas with no changes. If you keep SilentPatch for single player, install the game a second time in another folder and point MTA at the clean copy.

   Using GTA mods with MTA →

   Source: MTA wiki, MTA help

See also: Screen resolution is missing or wrong in MTA, GTA San Andreas will not start on Windows 10 or 11

Playing MTA, not single player? Use the MTA steps above, or search the Fix tool for your message.

Other problems like this

• GTA San Andreas black screen or crash after Alt-Tab
• GTA San Andreas runs too fast or breaks at high FPS
• GTA San Andreas will not start on Windows 10 or 11
• GTA San Andreas stretched picture, widescreen or missing resolution
• GTA San Andreas will not save, or a save starts a new game
• GTA San Andreas no sound or missing radio songs (Steam)

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