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EDIT on 07-20-2010 & 02-26-2011:
This troubleshooting page has gone under several
changes since I first created it. New problems and solutions were
added as they were encountered, and additional solutions to the common
BGM issue were developed. Many people found this page to be
helpful and were able to fix their problems.
However, I feel that the page has become a little too
cluttered. New operating systems have been released since
I started this, and a lot of information has become outdated or
unnecessary.
Therefore, I've decided to clean this page up and
remove some of the less common questions/problems. These are
issues that not many people encountered or issues that only had generic
solutions listed. An example of this would be using Windows
Compatibility Mode to fix the problem.
As a rule of thumb, if
you're having any trouble with the game, try different Windows Compatibility
modes
and settings first. For Vista and Windows 7 users, try disabling
the UAC and/or try using "Run as
Administrator" to play or install the game. You can also try
the official Kana_v1.1 patch. Sometimes these simple
solutions work, but if they don't, try looking here for an alternate
solution.
I currently have very little experience with Vista
and Windows 7. I'm still using a computer with XP, so my knowledge
is limited. Some of the solutions written here may require
additional/altered steps with newer operating systems.
If you have a question/problem that isn't listed
here, you can always try emailing me. I can't guarantee that I can
help you with your issue, but I'm always willing to help out a fellow
Kana fan.
Major FAQ:
Is there an official patch
for the game?
When I start the game, after the
D.O. logo, I get a message saying "Kana Little Sister has encountered a
problem and needs to close."!
When I try to install the
game, I get the message "Fail to copy the file"!
I can't hear the music while playing
the game!
Minor FAQ:
When I start the game, my
screen turns black, and I can only see my mouse!
When I start the game, my
monitor goes blank and displays the message "out of sync"!
When I start the game,
everything is upside-down, even my mouse!
When I'm playing the game, the
text keeps fast-forwarding even though I'm not doing anything!
Does the game include
Japanese voices? My CD case says "Fully translated into English,
with the original character voices" on the back of the sleeve!
How can I play Kana Okaeri! using
AGTH?
Q: Is there an
official patch for the game?
A: Yes, an
official patch is now available for the game. The v1.1 patch is
available on the JAST USA website. I don't know what the patch
actually does, but if you're having trouble playing the game, give it a
try. It may be able to solve your problem. If not, hopefully
you'll find a solution somewhere else on this page.
Download the Kana_v1.1 patch
here.
There are two files inside the .zip file: KANAUS.exe and
KANAUST.exe.
Unzip and move the patch files into your Kana
installation folder (the default directory is C:\Program
Files\DO\KanaUS).
I personally would make a backup of the original
files before you override them, just in case the patch doesn't work and
you need the original files again.
Notes:
I've been told that this patch is the same as the
uncensor patch. I'm not entirely convinced of this, though. The
KanaUS.exe file inside the v1.1 patch and the KanaUS.exe file
inside the uncensor patch have slightly different file sizes. The
uncensor patch also includes two other files not in the v1.1 patch. To keep
things clear, I'll refer to the two patches separately.
Q: When I start the game, after the D.O. logo,
I get a message saying "Kana Little Sister has
encountered a problem and needs to close."!
A: The Uncensor
patch for the game may solve the problem. I have no explanation
why it works. All I know is that it has worked for several people
so far, so give it a try.
Solution 1:
Download the
Uncensor patch here.
There are three files inside the .rar file: KANAUS.exe, DRSSNR, and HCG.
Unzip and move the patch files into your Kana
installation folder (the default directory is C:\Program
Files\DO\KanaUS).
Try running the game.
I personally would make a backup of the original
files before you override them, just in case the patch doesn't work and
you need the original files again.
Notes:
You may want to try this solution for similar
problems. You may get a different message when starting the game,
or you might not get a message at all. If the game crashes or
hangs when you try to start it, try using the Uncensor patch. It
just might work. You can also try the v1.1 patch for the same
reason.
Q: When I try to
install the game, I get the message "Fail to copy the
file"!
A: This may be a
problem specific to Windows Vista and/or Windows 7. It may also be
specific to Windows Vista 64-bit rather than 32-bit. I'm not sure.
I've seen at least two cases where this problem occurred on a computer
running Vista 64-bit, so who knows. The exact error message that
you get might be different as well. It might be something along
the lines of "Fail to create the directory" or "Fail to copy the
directory". The point is that if you're running Vista or Windows 7
and you're having trouble installing/playing the game, you may want to
try this.
Solution 1:
Install the game from the CD using "Run as
Administrator".
Open up Windows Explorer and navigate to your CD
drive. Right-click the setup program (KANAUST.exe) and click
"Run as Administrator". You may also want to try disabling the
User Account Control (UAC) as well. It's found somewhere in
the Control Panel. I'm not exactly sure where (remember, I
still use Windows XP).
If you still get an error message, try installing
the game to somewhere other than the default directory. The
reason is that the installation may be running into a file
permission error and can't create the necessary files.
If you are able to install it properly, you might run
into another error when you try to play the game. It may be
something along the lines of getting a message like "Kana Little Sister
has encountered a problem and needs to close" or "Kana Little Sister has
stopped working Windows is searching for a solution".
Installing the Uncensor patch should fix this.
Download the
Uncensor patch here.
There are three files inside the .rar file: KANAUS.exe, DRSSNR, and HCG.
Unzip and move the patch files into your Kana
installation folder.
Try running the game.
I personally would make a backup of the original
files before you override them, just in case the patch doesn't work and
you need the original files again.
This problem and solution was helped found by
LordKaras and Darkling.
Notes:
This is a relatively new problem I've seen, so I'm
still unclear about the specifics. Unless I can replicate this
problem myself, I can't say for sure that this will work. My
explanation/directions may not be entirely clear, so try to follow along
as best as you can.
Q: I can't hear the music while playing the
game!
A: This is
probably the most common problem with the game. First, you have to understand how the music is set up.
How the music is set up:
Kana Little Sister uses CD-DA (Compact Disc - Digital
Audio) format for the music. This means that the music for the
game is kept on the CD itself. Even with a full install, the music
only resides on the game CD. You can think of the game disc being
a half data/half audio CD. You can even rip the tracks to your
computer like you would with a regular audio CD, or you can insert the CD into a standard CD player to listen to the
music (you have to skip the first track which contains the programming
data, though).
The opening for the game:
Music can be heard during the opening because it's
a video clip. This is why you hear music during the opening but
not during the game.
Possible reasons why the music
won't play:
There are a few possible reasons why the music won't
play properly during the game:
1) You're using a NO-CD crack for
the game. The game will run, but it won't be able to find the
music without the disc. You'll have to put the real CD into your
drive.
2) You're using an image of the CD mounted in a
virtual drive. The game may install and load fine, but it doesn't
always try looking in the virtual drive for the CD to load the
music. You'll have to put the real CD into your drive.
3) You're using a burned copy of the game. For some reason,
some computers don't like reading burned copies of games at all, while
others may partially or completely work. You'll have to put the
real CD into your drive.
4) The actual game disc is in the CD drive, but your
computer isn't looking in the right place for it. This can happen
if you have 2 or more CD drives.
5) The actual game disc is in the CD drive, and you
only have 1 CD drive. If this is the case for you, you'll have to
try one of the solutions below.
6) You're using a pirated version of the game.
Which solution to try first:
Solution 1 requires the most work, but it's almost
guaranteed to fix the BGM. Solution 2 requires less work, but it's
still reliable. Solution 3 is a last resort, and only if you have
2 or more CD drives.
Solution 1:
This solution is provided by Serke. I
take no credit for the patch or Serke's work. You can find Serke's
original post on the forum
here.
You must first download Serke's v1.2 patch and rip the
music tracks from the game CD.
Download Serke's v1.2 patch
here or
here.
---------------
Quoting Serke's post
here with instructions:
"The new, rewritten from scratch version of the
patch is finally ready. It fixes some annoying glitches of the
previous version, such as:
- the noticeable sound glitch upon scene
transition, when the music fades out and the next track begins to
play
- the music playback being choppy to the point of being unlistenable
when the hardware sound acceleration is turned off
- the music playback not pausing when the window is minimized or out
of focus
Music formats other than OGG are not supported
anymore as I felt there's no point in supporting them - OGG is
better than MP3, WAV takes too much disk space and if I wanted the
best possible quality, I'd rather add support for FLAC. If you have
a different opinion on the matter, please let me know. I'm open to
suggestions.
The important note: the patch is also a NoCD
patch, meaning that after you install the patch and copy the
necessary files from the game's CD to the folder where you
previously installed the game (actually, there's only one file which
has to be copied - OP.DOM), you don't need the CD anymore. Guess
what that means? That's right: you can finally break your CD if
that's what you want. Thanks to Rasqual Twilight for the idea. :-)
The other thing you should know is that the
executable in the archive is the patched executable from official
uncensor patch. The previous patch was based on the original
executable from the first (censored) version of the game.
Patch installation instructions:
1. Go to the folder where your game is installed
and make a backup copy of KANAUS.EXE (rename it to something like
KANAUS.EXE.BAK or just move it to some other place, it's up to you)
2. Copy the content of the archive with the patch (KANAUS.EXE and
BASS.DLL) to the folder with the game
3. Copy OP.DOM from your game CD to the folder with the game
4. Create a folder named 'CD' within the folder with your game
5. Use CDex
(you can use any other program capable of ripping audio tracks and
encoding them to OGG, but I suggest using CDex) to rip the game
music to OGG. Rename the OGG files to 'track02.ogg' (please note
that the first track should be named 'track02.ogg') through
'track17.ogg' then place them in the previously created folder
'CD'."
---------------
If you're too lazy to rip the game music
yourself, I've already done it for you. I've split up the OGG
files into two .zip files for uploading convenience. You can
download tracks 02-06
and 07-17 from
these links. Unzip both files and move the OGG files into the
'CD' folder.
After you've done all the required steps, try
running the game. You will not need the CD to play the game.
This is the release version of the patch. I
have tested it on Windows XP and Vista, and it works fine.
Thanks a lot to Serke for this patch.
Solution 2:
This solution is provided by PSYCH0!. I
take no credit for the patch or PSYCH0!'s work.
You must first download both the Uncensor patch and
PSYCH0!'s Kana CD Audio patch.
Download the
Uncensor patch here.
There are three files inside the .rar file: KANAUS.exe, DRSSNR, and HCG.
Unzip and move the patch files into your Kana
installation folder (the default directory is C:\Program
Files\DO\KanaUS).
Download PSYCH0!'s Kana CD Audio patch
here. There are two files inside the .zip file:
kanacdp.exe and Patch Instructions.txt.
Unzip PSYCH0!'s patch.
Copy the kanacdp.exe file into your Kana
installation folder and run it. If the patch cannot read or
write to the KANAUS.exe file, then make sure that the file is not
set to 'Read-Only'. Also, make sure that the game is not running or
some other program is accessing the KANAUS.exe file.
Start the game.
I personally would make a backup of the original
files before you override them, just in case the patch doesn't work and
you need the original files again.
I have tested this patch on Windows XP and it works
fine. Make sure that you
install the uncensor patch first before applying PSYCH0!'s patch because
it won't work with the original .exe file.
Major thanks to PSYCH0! for his patch.
Solution 3:
This solution is my old workaround for anyone who has 2 or more CD
drives. This is what I had to do on my old Dell computer.
Sometimes the
game will try to look for the CD in the wrong drive when it comes to the
music. And even when you switch the CD to the other drive, it still
won't find it. One thing you can try doing is temporarily disabling one of your CD
drives when you play Kana. This way it will force the computer to look in the only available drive with the CD.
Using my old Dell computer as an example, I have 2 CD
drives:
Drive E:\ is my CD-rom drive
Drive F:\ is my DVD-rom drive.
I'd first try disabling the DVD-rom drive.
To disable, open up the Control Panel
--> System --> Hardware tab --> Device Manager --> go to your list of
DVD/CD-ROM drives --> right-click on the appropriate drive -->
Properties --> at the bottom you'll see "Device usage:" --> change it to
Disable.
In this example, disable Drive F:\
for the DVD-rom drive. Now, only Drive E:\ for the
CD-rom drive is enabled.
Put the game CD into Drive E:\ and start
the game. Hopefully the game will load and have BGM during the
game.
If the BGM is still missing, reverse what you did
in the Device Manager by re-enabling Drive F:\ for the
DVD-rom drive.
This time, disable Drive E:\ for the
CD-rom drive. Now, only Drive F:\ for the DVD-rom drive
is enabled.
Put the game CD into Drive F:\ and start
the game. There is a chance that the game will be able to find
the BGM in this drive instead.
Once you're done playing Kana, you should
re-enable any disabled drives.
I've obviously tested this solution myself, and it
worked on my old Dell computer. It may or may not work for you,
though.
Notes:
Kana Little Sister is notorious for this BGM issue.
Before Serke or PSYCH0! created their patches, it was a much harder
problem to deal with. I had come up with few workarounds of my
own, which was able to help a lot of people. But now with Serke's
patch, the problem is pretty much a thing of the past. I've kept
my Solution 3 listed mostly as a reminder of the old days.
Solution 1 or 2 should work for most people.
Q: When I start the
game, my screen turns black, and I can only see my
mouse!
A: The most likely
reason is because you don't have the proper codecs installed on your
computer. The opening movie clip tries to play after you start the
game but it can't, so it just hangs or crashes.
Solution 1:
Install the proper codecs for your computer.
It's also best to uninstall any codecs that you don't need. There
are only two codec packs that you should need to be able to play nearly
any kind of video file on your computer: DivX and CCCP.
CCCP is called the Combined Community Codec Pack, and
it contains everything you need to play video files. For CCCP to
properly work, though, you need to uninstall any other codec pack you
may have since they can interfere with CCCP working properly. The
only exception is the DivX codec. It is safe to have both DivX and
CCCP installed at the same time. They are the only two codec packs
I have installed on my computer, and I haven't had any video playback
problems.
If you need help finding/uninstalling any codecs that
you currently have on your computer, the CCCP Insurgent can help you.
The CCCP Insurgent will detect the presence of other packs and filters
on your computer. I think that you still have to manually
uninstall the codecs, but doing this will give you a list so you know
what you're looking for. You can read more about CCCP and the
Insurgent
here.
First, download the DivX
codec here.
Download CCCP and the CCCP
Insurgent here.
Run the CCCP Insurgent to
detect any codec packs you current have installed on your computer.
Uninstall all codec packs except the DivX codec if you already have that
installed.
Install the DivX codec and
CCCP. It shouldn't matter which one you install first.
Try starting the game.
This problem and solution was found by Seth Huber and
Darkling.
Notes:
None.
Q:
When I start the game, my monitor goes blank and
displays the message "out of sync"!
A: This problem
most likely comes from a monitor refresh rate issue. It seems that
Kana Little Sister uses a refresh rate that might be too high for some
monitors. How a game like KLS needs a high refresh rate is beyond
me. The only thing that would make sense to me would be if the
monitor was too old or worn out.
Solution 1:
Try changing the refresh rate that the game
uses.
To find out what your
monitor's refresh rate is, open up the Control Panel --> Display --> Settings
tab --> Click 'Advanced' --> Monitor tab --> to see the current
refresh rate. Remember this number.
From the Start menu, click
'Run'. Type 'dxdiag'. Click OK.
Select the 'More Help' tab.
Click on the 'Override'
button and select 'Override value'.
Enter the number you found
earlier and click OK to override DirectDraw's refresh rate. All
games will now run at this refresh rate, where possible.
Exit dxdiag and try
starting the game.
You may want to turn off the override when you're
done playing Kana if you're not having this problem with any other game.
This solution was found by Darkling.
Notes:
My brother says that the message "Out of sync" is a
big clue that it's a monitor issue. Sometimes games have their own
refresh rate and can push a monitor over its limit even if you lower the
refresh rate in Windows. Your video card may be able to handle it,
which is why the monitor is still getting the signal, it's just
that the monitor can't read the signal. That's why you can
still hear the beginning music even though you can't see anything.
Q:
When I start the game, everything is upside-down, even
my mouse!
A: This only seems
to happen on certain computers. I experienced this problem on my old Dell, but
not on my Vaio. This also happened for one of my other games (Myst
Masterpiece Edition, for those who may be curious) on an old computer.
It's not just the screen that's upside-down; even the mouse movements
are upside-down.
Solution 1:
The game runs in Full Screen mode by default.
Changing to Window Mode is a workaround for this problem.
Once the game is loaded, maneuver your mouse to the
upside-down menus, click Screen(G), and click on Window(W) to switch the
game to Window Mode. Since it'll be running in a window, it'll be
forced to run in your regular Windows environment (or whatever OS you're
using), and it should be forced to run right side up.
Yes, this will mean that you'll have to play the game
in Window Mode instead of Full Screen, but at least you'll be able to
actually play this way. I had to do it, and it didn't affect my
enjoyment or immersion into the game at all.
Solution 2:
People who experience this problem are usually using
a computer with an Intel Extreme graphics card. This card has the
ability to rotate the display, and the rotate function sometimes gets
activated when KLS starts up. Fortunately, there's an easy way to
fix things.
Once the game is
loaded, press CTRL-ALT-up arrow. The display should turn
right side up again.
This explanation and solution was found by Darkling.
Solution 3:
This is related to the rotation function.
However, this solution focuses on disabling the rotation altogether.
Quoting bijou:
"I'm using an IBM/Lenovo T43 laptop with a Mobile
Intel(R) 915GM/GMS,910GML Express Chipset Family video card.
The key chord (ctrl-alt-up arrow) does work as described.
However, when I leave the game, my video mode is left in VGA and I
have to reset it back to 1024x768. Plus, I have to use the
chord every time I run the game.
I discovered that if the "Intel Graphics Media
Accelerator Driver for mobile" driver is installed, (that's the one
directly from Intel:
http://support.intel.com/support/go/downloads) the user
interface for the driver (the tray applet) has an option to disable
rotation. This option can be found on the "Display Settings"
tab. When I un-checked this option (i.e. disabled rotation),
the game ran full screen in correct orientation and when I exited
the game, the display resolution was returned to 1024x768."
Depending on what exact video card and settings you
have, there may be different/additional steps required, but this should
give you an idea of what you're trying to do.
This solution was found by bijou.
Notes:
Darkling's explanation seems to fit since I did
have an Intel Extreme graphics card on my old Dell. My Vaio has
the same kind of graphics card, so I tried testing this, but it didn't
work for me. However, I believe this is because my game plays
right side up in the first place, and my rotate function is probably not
being activated while I'm running the game. Still, I think if
you're having this problem this should work for you. If I still
had my Dell I could test it myself, but unfortunately I can't. So,
please let me know if this happens to you, ne?
Q: When I'm playing the
game, the text keeps fast-forwarding even though I'm not
doing anything!
A: There are two
possible reasons why this happens, with one of them being the most
likely suspect. The other reason is only a possibility since it
occurred on a different bishoujo game. Nonetheless, it was the
same problem, so I'll list both solutions.
Solution 1:
The most likely reason is that you're playing the
game with your Scroll Lock key on.
Simply hit your Scroll
Lock key to turn it off and everything should work fine.
I've
tested this myself, so I can safely say that it works. Thanks to
Darkling for finding this out.
Solution 2:
The other reason is less likely, but it's still worth
mentioning. Sometimes having a gamepad plugged into your computer
while playing certain games can screw with the controls.
If your Scroll Lock key is turned
off and the text still fast-forwards, try unplugging your USB or
whatever gamepad.
While this may or may not apply to Kana Little
Sister, it did affect another bishoujo game, Yume Miru Kusuri.
Notes:
None.
Q: Does the game include Japanese
voices? My CD case says "Fully translated into English, with the
original character voices" on the back of the sleeve!
A: No, Kana
Little Sister (Kana Imouto) does not have Japanese voices. As Darkling of
Kana: Little Fanfics suggested, this is most likely an error in the
design of the printing. When
G-Collections
died out, the rights to publish their games fell to
Peach Princess.
The cover sleeve was re-designed for the reprinting of the game, most
likely inserting the title of the game into a standard message on the
back. In this case, the characters voices do not apply
to this game.
Here is a (blurry and bad quality) picture of my KLS
case: Before reprinting
Here is OtakuD50's scan of the KLS case:
After
reprinting
I know that my picture is horrible, but I don't have
a good scanner, and my camera isn't the best. But you can see that
the two cases are different. Just take it for granted that my case
does not mention anything about Japanese voices, while OtakuD50's case
does.
However, there is another version of the game that
does have Japanese voices.
Takayashiki Development remade Kana Imouto using a different
art style, new character models, and Japanese voices. The remake
is called Kana... Okaeri!. Unfortunately, this game has not
been translated into English, and I seriously doubt that it ever will.
The PC version of Kana... Okaeri! was planned to be ported to the
Xbox in Japan, but the project was cancelled.
If you want a little more information about Kana...
Okaeri!, take a look at
Kana's Left
Kidney on
this page.
Notes:
None.
Q: How can I play Kana Okaeri!
using AGTH?
A: Let me just say
upfront that this is not a perfect method. Even if you manage to
get a copy of Kana Okaeri!, there's no official translation for the
game. So, if you want to be able to somewhat play through it,
you'll have to settle for a rough translation. I'm going to leave
the details to fhc's AGTH Tutorial since it does a good job of
explaining
how to install and set everything up. To play Kana
Okaeri!, you'll need a few programs.
The first program you'll
need is called
Anime Games Text Hooker. It extracts the text from
Japanese games like Oh! Text Hooker is supposed to, but I found it to be
much easier to use.
Using AGTH to extract the
text as you play the game, you can use a program like
ATLAS Translation (free 20-day trial) to translate the
extracted text.
For editing the ATLAS dictionary
(specifically for editing the names of people), you can use
JWPce along with the
Getchu page for the game.
Also, using
AppLocale is useful when using ATLAS or editing the
dictionary if your computer is not set to regional Japanese.
You'll have to figure out for yourself when you need to run a
program using AppLocale, but it's not hard. When the particular
program you're running doesn't display the Japanese characters properly,
you should run it under Japanese locale using AppLocale.
Now you have to put it all
together to get the game to work right.
fhc's AGTH Tutorial is a great tutorial for learning how to
do all of this. I learned everything I needed to know from
it. There are plenty of example pictures in the tutorial,
so it's easy to follow.
Worst comes to worst, just keep fiddling around with
it until you understand how it all works. It may be a little
confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty cool.
I've personally tested Kana Okaeri! using AGTH and ATLAS, and
I'm glad to say that it works. The translations are far
from perfect, but as long as you've played the original Kana
Little Sister, you should be able to make out what is being said.
Here's a sample pic of me playing the game.
I have not tested using AGTH for the entire game. I've only tested
the first scene. But since everything seems to work fine, I'm
assuming that it should work for the rest of the game.
Notes:
This information is outdated, and many of the links
are dead or changed now. I'm too lazy to fix them, so you'll have
to find the programs and fhc's AGTH tutorial on your own. At the
very least, this information will give you a step in the right direction
and show that it IS possible to play it this way.
Last updated on
February 26, 2011 11:20 PM
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