No DirectX 10/11 Graphics Options? Solution. . .

[Laura_of_Dor-lomin]

You can try the redistributable version of the dxwebsetup. . . located here.

It's dated 2010 (yes, it's been that long) but it's the last/latest dx runtimes release.

Keep in mind, you'll be asked to extract it to a directory, and then you'll need to actually go to the directory where you extracted it and run "DXSETUP.exe". . .

If memory serves, it will install everything and not run any logic to see what's already there. . . so hopefully bypass whatever oddness is affecting the "web setup" version.

[Efala]

Thanks for sharing that alternative; it ran unlike the OP, which spat the "newer or equivalent version is already installed" message, and added 85 files to my Windows/SysWOW64 directory, but DX11 is still not available in my game.
In my case, I am running Windows 7 and dxdiag says my DirectX version is 11, and even before running the installers in this thread I had the d3d11.dll and d3dx11_43.dll files. I just gained d3dx11_42.dll. But still upon running Lotro, DX11 is not available--it's not grayed out, it isn't even there.

DX10 is working at least.

[Dandee]

I just had a clean install of Win10 and am now trying to get LotRO to work. I've switched to windowed (fullscreen) mode to get rid of the crashes, but it refuses to run in DX11 even though my version is DX12.

A few months ago I could download/use the fix programs from Microsoft's website, but today I find that the provided links lead to a 404. Even the webversion link from 2 comments above me is now a 404.

So... now what? Am I just stuck with LotRO running on DX9? Is there an alternative? Does anyone have the old files that are now 404's, willing to send them to me so I can save them on my pc somewhere?

[Laura_of_Dor-lomin]

I just had a clean install of Win10 and am now trying to get LotRO to work. I've switched to windowed (fullscreen) mode to get rid of the crashes, but it refuses to run in DX11 even though my version is DX12.

A few months ago I could download/use the fix programs from Microsoft's website, but today I find that the provided links lead to a 404. Even the webversion link from 2 comments above me is now a 404.

So... now what? Am I just stuck with LotRO running on DX9? Is there an alternative? Does anyone have the old files that are now 404's, willing to send them to me so I can save them on my pc somewhere?

Yikes. Microsoft has indeed removed both the web installer and the offline redistributable. Whether on purpose or carelessly is of course up for debate.

Anyways, I know I'm just a stranger on the internet, but I had a copy socked away and compared its SHA256 checksum to the one being offered by cnet downloads here. It is legit/identical. Keep in mind, that's the version you need to extract and then go run dxsetup.exe in the folder to which you extracted it.

For anyone else trying to download it from elsewhere, here's the legit checksum:

Name: directx_Jun2010_redist.exe
Size: 100271992 bytes (95 MiB)
SHA256: 8746EE1A84A083A90E37899D71D50D 5C7C015E69688A466AA80447F01178 0C0D

Good luck!

[Dandee]

Yes, after a bit of searching the web I found a copy of that file over at guru3D dot com. You're right in your warning to be careful regarding the source, as the first one I found didn't really seem savoury. After I downloaded it I added '(fix for lotro)' to the file name, so that I'll remember why it's an important file, haha.

Whether on purpose or carelessly is of course up for debate.

Microsoft is not the kind of company to make such careless mistakes. I'm pretty sure it was a deliberate move, and I can see why. All newer versions of DX are made to run the older versions as well - but not the extensions of those old versions. So any games who still depend on these extensions will experience issues when they can't find them. This isn't a fault on MS's end, but rather a lack of proper coding adaptation on the end of those software developers. It's a bit like MMO addon authors who never update the APIs and just tell people to tick the 'load out of date addons' box - if the MMO were to decide to remove that option, and the authors still won't update their addons, then they stop working.
MS is probably fed up with having to offer a band-aid to their users just because game developers cba to update their older software, and I can't blame them.

[Vronna]

Perhaps SSG would consider "stickying" the below post. . .

Problem
The player is presented only with "DirectX9" as a "Graphics Hardware Level" option in Game Options.

Cause
The current LotRO installer consistently fails to install DirectX runtimes despite it saying that it is doing so. This leaves fresh install of LotRO on fresh installs of Windows unable to detect the presence of DirectX 10/11-capable hardware.

Mitigating Circumstances
Older systems may have had the DirectX runtimes already installed by other games.

SOLUTION
Affected customers must install the Direct X runtimes from Microsoft themselves. Yes, they will install even on Windows 10 x64.

DirectX 10/11 hardware should then be detected by LotRO upon next launch.

(though not necessary in my case, you may also want/need to delete your userpreferences.ini file in your user "Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online" directory or even the entire directory itself. . . though if you do the latter, you will then need to reconfigure the game, custom keymaps, etc.)

Remaining Issue
SSG may want to consider restoring this functionality in their installer which actually still says that it's trying to install the DirectX runtimes (but apparently failing).

Had just bought a new notebook computer, directx12 installed. Aspect ratio so far off and game would crash when trying to change it. Tried to download the MS runtime thing, didn't work. found your post and link. Thank you SO much it worked! And Yes, this should be a sticky item.

[Maximilan]

This one "DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer" still runs on modern Windows 10

This one "DirectX 9.0c End-User Runtime" apprently does not.

You should only need the top one. Note how the one that doesn't work (the bottom one) refers directly to DirectX 9.0c. You don't want that. . . you just need the DirectX extensions from the upper choice.

Thanks for the Advice! Worked for me

[TwinsDad]

Hi,

Can't promise (any of) this will help. . . but if you've got two video adapters, you may need to change the following in Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online\UserPreferences.ini to tell LotRO which video adapter to use. . .

DisplayAdapter=0

. . . change that to 1 or 2 (or 3!) and try each.

Perhaps also changing the "primary display" within Windows will help (under Windows display properties) assuming you have a monitor attached to each. Disabling the "other" display adapter in device manager is also an option that I recall helping years ago when I used to have two mismatched (not SLI) video adapters installed.

Finally, in another situation, where errors about DirectX not being installed afflict Windows 10 1709 and nvidia gpu users, setting "ForceFakeFullscreen" to "True" also helps. Though that likely doesn't apply here and those errors are likely related to your primary issue (LotRO apparently getting confused between adapters).

--H

Editting UserPrefferences64.ini was required for this to work for me.

[RGRanger]

Hi,

Can't promise (any of) this will help. . . but if you've got two video adapters, you may need to change the following in Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online\UserPreferences.ini to tell LotRO which video adapter to use. . .

DisplayAdapter=0

. . . change that to 1 or 2 (or 3!) and try each.

Perhaps also changing the "primary display" within Windows will help (under Windows display properties) assuming you have a monitor attached to each. Disabling the "other" display adapter in device manager is also an option that I recall helping years ago when I used to have two mismatched (not SLI) video adapters installed.

Finally, in another situation, where errors about DirectX not being installed afflict Windows 10 1709 and nvidia gpu users, setting "ForceFakeFullscreen" to "True" also helps. Though that likely doesn't apply here and those errors are likely related to your primary issue (LotRO apparently getting confused between adapters).

--H

I was having this issue and changed "Display Adapter to = 1" instead of 0 and next time I opened LOTRO client it detected DX11 and asked if I wanted to run it. Thank you!!

[Sunlitfoam]

First I wanted to say thank you for all of the information here, I am not very good at being my own tech support and I would never have figured this out on my own!

In thanks, I wanted to contribute what worked on my laptop. I have a new Lenovo Legion 5 with DirectX 12 and Windows 10. LOTRO kept defaulting to DirectX 9 and crashing when I alt tabbed out. I tried the fixes Hurin laid out in this thread and others, but Windows kept saying I didn't have any reason to download other Direct X files and the ForceFakeFullScreen change on the preferences file didn't work. What finally did fix it was changing the DisplayAdapter to 1 instead of 0. I cannot speak to why this worked, but just another option for the others who might find this incredibly helpful thread on their own journey.

It makes me sad that it is so difficult to get the game running well on a new system, but I am happy I can frolic about middle earth some more

[Rudwin]

Guten Abend,

was ist mit directx 12 ?
Alle Windows 10-Updats installieren automatische DirectX 12.
wen kommt ein Update zur Verwendung von Directx 12 ?
wie länger Sie dafür brauchen, dann bekommen mehr Spieler dieses Problem.
Lotro läuft nicht mit Directx 12 .
ein Problem was ich mit meinem Laptop auch habe.
Ich bin nicht so geschickt, das ich in Einstellungsdatein sinnvolle Änderungen machen könnte.
Bitte machen Sie ein Update ! so schnell Sie können!
Vielen Dank!

Rudwin

[jeffrico]

Perhaps SSG would consider "stickying" the below post. . .

Problem
The player is presented only with "DirectX9" as a "Graphics Hardware Level" option in Game Options.

Cause
The current LotRO installer consistently fails to install DirectX runtimes despite it saying that it is doing so. This leaves fresh install of LotRO on fresh installs of Windows unable to detect the presence of DirectX 10/11-capable hardware.

Mitigating Circumstances
Older systems may have had the DirectX runtimes already installed by other games.

SOLUTION
Affected customers must install the Direct X runtimes from Microsoft themselves. Yes, they will install even on Windows 10 x64.

DirectX 10/11 hardware should then be detected by LotRO upon next launch.

(though not necessary in my case, you may also want/need to delete your userpreferences.ini file in your user "Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online" directory or even the entire directory itself. . . though if you do the latter, you will then need to reconfigure the game, custom keymaps, etc.)

Remaining Issue
SSG may want to consider restoring this functionality in their installer which actually still says that it's trying to install the DirectX runtimes (but apparently failing).

So, I love Hurin's posts. THEY ARE AMAZING, THANK YOU. There is one thing in your posts that fixes it for me without uninstalling everything that I finally found - NVIDIA drivers break the DirectX settings if you are running the game in the 64bit client and through Steam (and this may work in the standalone client as well). From this post (https://www.legendarycasual.com/64-b...bit%20launcher.) the issue is that NVIDIA is attempting to run the game through "Integrated Graphics", regardless of the global settings, which looks like it causes it to fail to find the files.

So to fix it, what you do is enter your NVIDIA control panel, click "Manage 3D Settings", find in the screen "Select a program to customize" and click "Add" and look for the file "lotroclient64.exe". Add it, and back in the earlier screen find "Select the preferred graphics processor" and choose something like "High-performance NVIDIA processor".

After doing this, for the first time ever it RECOGNIZED MY DIRECTX 11!!!!! I am crying!!! I have played this game for years and it finally wooooorksssssss.

[Gnarlo]

So, I love Hurin's posts. THEY ARE AMAZING, THANK YOU. There is one thing in your posts that fixes it for me without uninstalling everything that I finally found - NVIDIA drivers break the DirectX settings if you are running the game in the 64bit client and through Steam (and this may work in the standalone client as well). From this post (https://www.legendarycasual.com/64-b...bit%20launcher.) the issue is that NVIDIA is attempting to run the game through "Integrated Graphics", regardless of the global settings, which looks like it causes it to fail to find the files.

So to fix it, what you do is enter your NVIDIA control panel, click "Manage 3D Settings", find in the screen "Select a program to customize" and click "Add" and look for the file "lotroclient64.exe". Add it, and back in the earlier screen find "Select the preferred graphics processor" and choose something like "High-performance NVIDIA processor".

After doing this, for the first time ever it RECOGNIZED MY DIRECTX 11!!!!! I am crying!!! I have played this game for years and it finally wooooorksssssss.

By the Valar, yes! Thank you to all the helpers in this thread; I've been trying for *months* to fix the DX11 problem with solutions from all over, and this finally did it! Mugs of Old Withywindle to you all!

[wilfrido]

I've got something of a similar issue with the 64-bit client.

DX10 and DX11 are not recognized in the game settings and it is greyed out with DX 9 selected. I am on a new Acer laptop with Windows 10 and an integrated video card. I am running DX12 which came preinstalled on the laptop. As a result, when I try to run the DX runtime installer linked previously, it says I already have a newer DX version installed and will not proceed with the installation. I have poked around the Windows website for another installer with no success. I am not sure how to regress to DX10/11 to satisfy the LOTRO 64-bit client requirements without breaking DX12.

As a result, I continue to run the 32-bit client.

Also, I find it puzzling that the 32-bit client allows me to use DX10/11 yet the 64-bit forces me to use DX9. And of course neither client supports DX12.

Yay for old games!

This solution worked for me. I was able to switch to dx11 and ultra settings. However, I was advised by another player that SSG will be decommissioning the 32-bit client by Jan. 2023, so it’s not a good long term solution. I tried all the solutions suggested above but still crashing on 64-bit when I try to upgrade the graphics. I have the same experience as mentioned in the previous post where I downloaded MS runtime packs but didn’t work. And same as you, I cannot choose anything but dx9 on 64-bit.

I hope SSG fixes this or extends the 32-bit client.

[wilfrido]

So, I love Hurin's posts. THEY ARE AMAZING, THANK YOU. There is one thing in your posts that fixes it for me without uninstalling everything that I finally found - NVIDIA drivers break the DirectX settings if you are running the game in the 64bit client and through Steam (and this may work in the standalone client as well). From this post (https://www.legendarycasual.com/64-b...bit%20launcher.) the issue is that NVIDIA is attempting to run the game through "Integrated Graphics", regardless of the global settings, which looks like it causes it to fail to find the files.

So to fix it, what you do is enter your NVIDIA control panel, click "Manage 3D Settings", find in the screen "Select a program to customize" and click "Add" and look for the file "lotroclient64.exe". Add it, and back in the earlier screen find "Select the preferred graphics processor" and choose something like "High-performance NVIDIA processor".

After doing this, for the first time ever it RECOGNIZED MY DIRECTX 11!!!!! I am crying!!! I have played this game for years and it finally wooooorksssssss.

This solution worked for me. I’m on 64-bit now, ultra settings, 60 to 80 fps. I hope this works for other players as well.

[deganawida]

Hi,

Can't promise (any of) this will help. . . but if you've got two video adapters, you may need to change the following in Documents\The Lord of the Rings Online\UserPreferences.ini to tell LotRO which video adapter to use. . .

DisplayAdapter=0

. . . change that to 1 or 2 (or 3!) and try each.

Perhaps also changing the "primary display" within Windows will help (under Windows display properties) assuming you have a monitor attached to each. Disabling the "other" display adapter in device manager is also an option that I recall helping years ago when I used to have two mismatched (not SLI) video adapters installed.

Finally, in another situation, where errors about DirectX not being installed afflict Windows 10 1709 and nvidia gpu users, setting "ForceFakeFullscreen" to "True" also helps. Though that likely doesn't apply here and those errors are likely related to your primary issue (LotRO apparently getting confused between adapters).

--H

This saved me over 5 years later after initial post. Changing the Adapter in the user ini saved the day. Thanks again for this post.

[Gopik]

Recent install and I only see DX9 as an option. I have tried to install the dx installs from this thread. In Fullscreen(Windowed) i only have an option of 1920x1080. Windows 11 PC. Any ideas ?

[Trotter]

I just can't figure out how to make this work. I bought a new computer since the Mac version no longer works, and even though this used to work I can't adjust "detect my optimal settings" anymore. I tried the instructions above, but I can't install DirectX 9 because a newer version is installed. Please help an old Mac user. I really want to play this with my sons.

[Tralfazz]

I just can't figure out how to make this work. I bought a new computer since the Mac version no longer works, and even though this used to work I can't adjust "detect my optimal settings" anymore. I tried the instructions above, but I can't install DirectX 9 because a newer version is installed. Please help an old Mac user. I really want to play this with my sons.

Hi, Trotter!

First off, you can play on a Mac. I am doing so as I am writing this! (During a stable master ride.) The "Mac Download" version of the game is the Windows version of the game packaged with an extremely old version of WINE which cannot run the 64-bit client at all. It can run the 32-bit client, but it will warn about missing DLLs and other issues and the 32-bit client is being deprecated at the end of 2022. You have two good options to play on a Mac while booted into MacOS:
1- Install MacOS 10.14 Mojave onto your Mac (it must be Mojave, no earlier or later version of MacOS will do), and then follow the instructions in this thread to install a modern version of open-source WINE:
https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...pler-procedure
You will be able to use the 64-bit client, not just the 32-bit client which is a limitation of the version of WINE included with SSG's "Mac" version of the game. Note again that you must be running MacOS Mojave so this is not an option for extremely old Macs or especially new ones such as the Apple SOC Macs (currently the M1 and M2 Macs).
2- Go to the Codeweavers website and download the trial version of Crossover:
https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover/download
Then follow the instructions summarized in this thread to install LOTRO into Crossover:
https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...nder-Crossover
The free trial is good for two weeks. After that, you will need to purchase a license to continue using Crossover. You will not need to reboot to play LOTRO and you will be able to use the 64-bit client and, if you want to, DirectX 11. Crossover will work with versions of MacOS from 10.13 High Sierra through to the latest 13.0 Ventura and on both Intel and Apple SOC Macs.

If you have any trouble, come to the Mac Technical Support forum. I'll be happy to help!

Second, let's fix the issue with your PC:
1- First option is to start over from scratch with your installation. This will be more time consuming than the next options but might be your best choice. Follow Hurin's latest video guide. Even if you think you've done a step already, start over from the beginning and follow every step:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSi8...8unARA&index=1
2- Try running this:

*\Program Files (x86)\StandingStoneGames\The Lord of the Rings Online\troubleshooting\DXSETUP.exe

Run it as administrator.
3- If you don't want to do (1) and (2) doesn't work, try downloading and installing this:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/down...s.aspx?id=8109
After downloading, run it as administrator.

[Trotter]

Hi, Trotter!

First off, you can play on a Mac. I am doing so as I am writing this! (During a stable master ride.) The "Mac Download" version of the game is the Windows version of the game packaged with an extremely old version of WINE which cannot run the 64-bit client at all. It can run the 32-bit client, but it will warn about missing DLLs and other issues and the 32-bit client is being deprecated at the end of 2022. You have two good options to play on a Mac while booted into MacOS:
1- Install MacOS 10.14 Mojave onto your Mac (it must be Mojave, no earlier or later version of MacOS will do), and then follow the instructions in this thread to install a modern version of open-source WINE:
https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...pler-procedure
You will be able to use the 64-bit client, not just the 32-bit client which is a limitation of the version of WINE included with SSG's "Mac" version of the game. Note again that you must be running MacOS Mojave so this is not an option for extremely old Macs or especially new ones such as the Apple SOC Macs (currently the M1 and M2 Macs).
2- Go to the Codeweavers website and download the trial version of Crossover:
https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover/download
Then follow the instructions summarized in this thread to install LOTRO into Crossover:
https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...nder-Crossover
The free trial is good for two weeks. After that, you will need to purchase a license to continue using Crossover. You will not need to reboot to play LOTRO and you will be able to use the 64-bit client and, if you want to, DirectX 11. Crossover will work with versions of MacOS from 10.13 High Sierra through to the latest 13.0 Ventura and on both Intel and Apple SOC Macs.

If you have any trouble, come to the Mac Technical Support forum. I'll be happy to help!

Second, let's fix the issue with your PC:
1- First option is to start over from scratch with your installation. This will be more time consuming then the next options but might be your best choice. Follow Hurin's latest video guide. Even if you think you've done a step already, start over from the beginning and follow every step:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSi8...8unARA&index=1
2- Try running this:

*\Program Files (x86)\StandingStoneGames\The Lord of the Rings Online\troubleshooting\DXSETUP.exe

Run it as administrator.
3- If you don't want to do (1) and (2) doesn't work, try downloading and installing this:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/down...s.aspx?id=8109
After downloading, run it as administrator.

Hi, Tralfaz.

Thanks for the reply! I used bootcamp and XP to run LotRO when it first came out, by the way. I switched when I kept reading that LotRO just wouldn't run under the latest MacOS. It ran great at first, and I don't know what happened to mess things up.

I'm going to try running the code. Is there a trick to expand it that I'm missing? It seems to be in a collapsed state, and I am only able to see it in this quote box.

It installed .NET Framework 3.5, 2.0, and 3.0. When I launch LotRO and try to adjust anything in the graphics settings, I get the message that DirectX 9 is not installed. It doesn't give me a choice for anything else. It looks this is going to take the hard way.

Thanks again. I sure appreciate your time. I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving!

Trotter

[Tralfazz]

I used bootcamp and XP to run LotRO when it first came out, by the way.

When using Boot Camp and Windows, your Mac is – in nearly every practical way – a PC. Support for Windows XP has been deprecated. I don't know how old your Mac is but if you are comfortable with Boot Camp/Windows on your Mac all you should need to do is install Windows 10-64bit (or even Windows 7-64bit) instead of Windows XP and you should be able to play LOTRO on that computer just as if it were a PC. Of course, you'll still have all the nuances and complications and vulnerabilities of Windows to deal with but there's nothing wrong with Windows; obviously, far more people use Windows than MacOS especially for playing games and it makes sense for people whose primary computing "task" is games.

I'm going to try running the code. Is there a trick to expand it that I'm missing? It seems to be in a collapsed state, and I am only able to see it in this quote box.

This forum's software often introduces spurious spaces. The CODE tags prevent that, which is why I used it there. Here is the same line without the CODE tags, just be aware that if you see a space anywhere in this line, that it is not supposed to be there and it is not a typo on my part:

*\Program Files (x86)\StandingStoneGames\The Lord of the Rings Online\troubleshooting\DXSETUP .exe

All that just means is, navigate your way to the *\Program Files (x86)\StandingStoneGames\The Lord of the Rings Online\troubleshooting folder and then run DXSETUP.exe (do it as administrator).
edit: Yup, the forum added a space that doesn't belong. That's why I often use the CODE tags.

[aussieontheroad]

Recent install and I only see DX9 as an option. I have tried to install the dx installs from this thread. In Fullscreen(Windowed) i only have an option of 1920x1080. Windows 11 PC. Any ideas ?

Did you ever find a solution to this?

I've installed everything as instructed, done a reinstall, done a repair, and tried everything I've found, but the game still won't allow me to change away from Direct X 9 graphics, nor will it "Detect Optimal Settings" without immediately crashing.

I'm on a brand new gaming laptop and want to play my favourite game, but it's an ugly, windowed, weird resolution mess that I can't change. Same goes for DDO

[Tralfazz]

Did you ever find a solution to this?

I've installed everything as instructed, done a reinstall, done a repair, and tried everything I've found, but the game still won't allow me to change away from Direct X 9 graphics, nor will it "Detect Optimal Settings" without immediately crashing.

I'm on a brand new gaming laptop and want to play my favourite game, but it's an ugly, windowed, weird resolution mess that I can't change. Same goes for DDO

That sounds like LOTRO is using your laptop's integrated graphics instead of the discrete graphics card. There are many threads describing in detail how to fix this. Here's one:
https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...t=#post8135579

[aussieontheroad]

That sounds like LOTRO is using your laptop's integrated graphics instead of the discrete graphics card. There are many threads describing in detail how to fix this. Here's one:
https://forums.lotro.com/forums/show...t=#post8135579

I've tried this to no avail. Took forever, as the NVIDIA Control Panel kept crashing the moment I opened it, but I remedied that and then got the games added to the appropriate graphics card. Still getting the issue, sadly.

EDIT: I also tried to do this via Windows, as mentioned above, but no joy.

[aussieontheroad]

After reinstalling twice, downloading various DirectX options, installing via Steam and client, updating graphics drivers, tweaking graphics settings through NVIDIA Control Panel and Windows, and more, I finally got the damned thing to work.

Inside options on the launcher, the game was still set to use the laptop graphics rather than the dedicated graphics card, despite what I had set in both NVIDIA and Windows. Once I tweaked that, it was smooth sailing.