General Support Questions

General Support Questions is the CIT Forum board for help with problems, including in game problems.

Link

General Support / Questions

When to use it

Use J > Support or /sup [question] in game first for quick questions. State your actual question or problem directly. Do not only say Any help? or Any staff?.

Use the forum board when the problem needs a longer explanation, screenshots, or a written follow up.

MTA startup and connection problems

Use the message you actually see to identify the next step.

Message or problem	What to do
`95 AC`	Restart MTA. If it continues, post the exact error and a screenshot on General Support / Questions.
`Disconnected: Join flood. Please wait a minute, then reconnect.`	Wait one minute before reconnecting.
`Disconnected: Nick already in use`	The joining nickname is already in use. Change your MTA nickname in `ESC > Settings > Multiplayer > Nick`.
`Invalid nickname! Please go to Settings and set a new one!`, `Connecting failed. Invalid nick provided!` or `Disconnected: Invalid nickname`	Your nickname is not valid. The Settings window shows `Your nickname contains invalid characters!`. Change it in `ESC > Settings > Multiplayer > Nick`.
`Connection timed out`, `Disconnected: connection to the server was lost`, `Connection with the server was lost`, `Disconnected: connection lost remotely`, `Disconnected: disconnected remotely`, `Disconnected: disconnected from the server`, `Disconnected: connection was refused`, `Disconnected: unknown protocol error`, `Bad server response (1)` or `(2)`, `Error connecting to server.` or `Connecting to ... at port ... failed!`	The connection failed or was lost. Reconnect.
`Disconnected: Server refused the connection:` followed by a reason, `Disconnected: Serial already in use`, `Disconnected: Player element could not be created.` or `Disconnected: Connection desync` followed by details	These messages only identify the problem. The general tip is to reconnect.
`Protocol error (<number>)` or `Fatal error (<number>)`	If it persists, use MTA support at Multi Theft Auto.
`Download error:`	A server file failed to download and MTA disconnected you. The text after `Download error:` names the problem.
`Another instance of MTA is already running.`	MTA can offer to terminate the other copy. Restart the computer if the problem persists.
GTA: San Andreas is already running	MTA cannot start alongside it and offers to terminate it. If `Unable to terminate GTA: San Andreas.` persists, restart the computer.
`Trouble restarting MTA:SA`	If it persists, stop `gta_sa.exe` and `Multi Theft Auto.exe` in Task Manager, then launch MTA again.
`Please terminate the following programs before continuing:`	Close the listed programs first. MTA also cannot run in Windows Safe Mode; restart the PC normally.
`Could not update due to file conflicts.`	Close other applications and retry. MTA may offer to terminate programs locking a file.
`Your installation may be corrupt now.`	Reinstall MTA from `www.multitheftauto.com`, or run the update with administrator rights.
MTA asks for Administrator access	This happens for some tasks. Confirm in the next window.
`Registry entries are missing.`, `Multi Theft Auto has not been installed properly, please reinstall.`, `Some MTA:SA data files are missing.` or `The skin you selected could not be loaded, and the default skin also could not be loaded`	Reinstall MTA. For `File version mismatch error.` or `Some files are missing.`, reinstall if you experience problems.
`Could not initialize Direct3D9.`	Check that the DirectX End-User Runtime and latest Windows Service Packs are installed correctly.

For an NVidia Optimus Confusing options window, try A - Standard NVidia, B - Alternate NVidia, C - Standard Intel, and D - Alternate Intel to find what works. The window also offers Force windowed mode and Don't show again.

The Are you having problems running MTA:SA? window may offer an earlier version, a setting change, products to disable, online help, or a GTA settings reset. If an error's online-help page does not load, paste its URL into your browser with Ctrl+V.

GTA files and graphics errors

Sorry, game not found.: start GTA: San Andreas, click retry, and check that the game is in Program Files (x86). If asked, select the GTA installation directory. Load failed. Could not find gta_sa.exe in <folder> means that folder does not contain the executable.
GTA paths containing Unicode characters are unsupported: use a path containing only standard ASCII characters, then reinstall MTA. A semicolon in the MTA or GTA path can also cause problems.
MTA warns when .asi files are in the installation directory, and when the GTA folder has files that may interfere with the graphical features of MTA. It can rename them from *.dll to *.dll.bak for you. The MTA: San Andreas - Warning window about extra files in the GTA folder also offers Keep these files, but also show this warning on next start, Do not remind me about these files again, Show me these files and Play MTA:SA.
Load failed. <file> exists in the GTA directory. Please delete before continuing. means: delete that file.
If GTA's executable is missing or incorrect, check for an antivirus false positive before adding an exception for that executable and restarting MTA.
For GTA:SA had trouble loading a model. after modifying gta3.img, try reinstalling GTA. For Missing file:, reinstall GTA if MTA will not load.
Load failed. Please ensure that the latest data files have been installed correctly. means MTA could not load. Make sure those files are installed correctly.
MTA:SA cannot continue because drive ... does not have enough space. means that drive does not have enough free space.
Could not detect anti-virus product means MTA did not detect antivirus software. Use Help, or choose I have already installed an anti-virus if you have one.
For Could not draw vehicle reflection shader. Your GPU may not support it or drivers are problematic., set /settings > Graphics > VISUAL EFFECTS > Car Reflection Shader to 999. It is an FPS activation threshold above CIT's 144 FPS maximum. If the error continues with reflections disabled, post on General Support / Questions.

Crash information and logs

The crash window says MTA: San Andreas has encountered a problem and includes Crash information. Its checkbox sends the crash information to the MTA developers, and it asks whether to restart. The crash information can name the cause: The crash was caused by a graphics driver error with Please update your graphics drivers, or Out of memory - this crash was caused by insufficient free or fragmented memory.

Crash reports are in core.log in the MTA folder of the MTA installation, for example C:\Program Files (x86)\MTA San Andreas 1.6\MTA\core.log. Crash dump files are in MTA\dumps\private. Each report gives the MTA version, the time, the module that crashed, the error code, the offset and a stack trace. 0xC0000005 means Access Violation - Invalid memory access; 0xC0000409 means Stack Buffer Overrun.

Client script errors, warnings, and information are in MTA San Andreas 1.6 > MTA > logs > clientscript.log, normally with timestamps.

Child boards

Child board	Link
`Resolved Questions`	Resolved Questions
`MTA Support`	MTA Support