bf4 loads into a black screen and it flickers pov view of sqaudmate (unplayable)

[itswozz]

prologe when it used to work but doesnt anymore

my game used to run, but still evrytime i loaded into a mp match for the first time that day the the game would be in a smaller window eventho i have put it on fullscreen. have to go into video setings and there ajust fullscreen to windowed than the screen flickers, then i have to press escape, and that makes the screen fit again and than i have to press cancel the promt asking if i want to keep the adjusted windowed/fullscreenmode, and that just makes it that the game would run fullscreen, after that weird combo i have to do it all runs fine aslong as i dont quit the server

the present

now when i join a server it shows the loadingscreen of evry map i tested it on but when the game is done loading the screen goes black
the game is shown in a fullresolutoin(1920x1080) windowed windows if the program is selected, bf4 would pop into a smaller window if i selected a different program and then i could see the game runnin in the small window, the spawnmapovervieuw, but as soon as i click on the window it would go black and and into the bigger windowed window, sound still works, the webplugin says that i am ingame , and the game just keeps running like that for however long i wish, but i havent ran it longer than 5 min when the screen is black, occasionally the screen flashes the pov of my sqaudmate , like the little window in the bottom left, but the pov is shown fulscreen in flashes

i have tried

reinstalling my video drivers
reinstalling bf4
reinstalling origin
reinstalling direcktx
reinstalling C++
updating windows inc. optional ones
updating all drivers for motherboard
repairing bf4 tru origin
deleting the bf4 folder in docoment and repairing the game trouh origin
deleting some but not all .cab files in the directx folder and repairing troug origin
runnin the bf4 64 and bf4 86 shortcut and also tru origin
turnin off nvideas shadow mode and shutting down geforce experience
and tried turing it off and back on again mileylol: (actauly tons of times after changing sometingl ike drivers etc. )

More details about my computer

Time of this report: 3/12/2014, 00:06:43
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130828-1532)
Language: Dutch (Regional Setting: Dutch)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7681
BIOS: BIOS Date: 01/09/13 14:29:18 Ver: 04.06.05
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~4.3GHz

Card name: MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti

Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16334MB RAM
Page File: 3544MB used, 29120MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 64bit Unicode

[Maverick1974UK · Accepted solution]

Itswozz - I got BF4 working tonight. 

Here is what ive done (and i think it was only the last 3 steps that are required

1) I uninstalled Nvidia drivers. Reinstalled an older driver - I am using 334.98 (I got this from the Clevo website, but google for old nvidia drivers guru3d.com and a few other sites do them.

2) if you havent already installed it - install BF4 settings editor: http://battlefield.realmware.co.uk/bf4-settings-editor/downloads

3) launch the settings editor and set your preferences under video to either "borderless" or "windowed" - do *not* set to full screen. Even if you have this set already, make a change and save (this causes it to write a config file). 

4) under MyDocuments look for "Battlefield 4" - delete the entire folder (i simply cut and pasted to desktop) 

Try the game and see if this works (when you launch via Origin right click and select "run with graphics processor" and select your GPU rather than integrated graphics if this option is given. 

If the above gets you to a windowed map screen that loads....

5) press escape and set your video settings (youll also need to redo any key binds and loadouts as deleting the folder under my documents seems to kill these off) BUT ONLY SET RESOLUTION, and then WINDOWED or BORDERLESS - dont set Full Screen or you will be back to where we started. You are now playing. Breathe a sigh of relief and crack a beer. > end. 

If the above doesnt get you playing. ...

6 ) navigate to Origin Games > Battlefield 4 > 

7) find the file user.conf (the battlefield settings editor in 3 wrote this). Open this in notepad. Find the line "UI Draw Enabled 1" (or similar) and delete the line, and resave the file. 

8) attempt to play the game - if you get online and can load into a map > Breathe a sigh of relief and crack a beer > end

If you still cant play.....

9) go back into the Origin Games > Battlefield 4 directory

10) delete the user.conf file entirely. 

11) check whether the "Battlefield 4" directory has reappeared in your MyDocuments directory - if it has delete the directory again before launching the game. 

Hopefully. you are cracking a beer by now. If you arent - I am sorry but i have nothing else to try. 

if you are playing - get to the options screen and redo your keybindings, and be sure to set your video settings to what you want - apart from the option for "full screen", "windowed", or "borderless" - this MUST be windowed or borderless or it will break it all again. 

You will know all of the above has worked as soon as you can load into a server and you get the loading splash screen without it flickering. 

I really really hope this has helped - sorry it sounds random, but this is the collection of things i went through over the last couple of nights which led up to it working. Possibly only one of the things in the list is necessary - I dont know, but its like some sort of Voodoo so I have listed everything i did. 

I think its absolutely woeful that EA have offered no support for this bug, and that they let it slip through user acceptance testing in the first place - given the number of people now reporting this. 

Good luck - hope to see you on the battlefield. !

[Maverick1974UK]

I am having exactly the same problem. Its driving me insane. 

I have experienced issues before that were similar - these were resolved by removing the "UI DrawEnable 1" line from the config file "user.cfg" in the Battlefield4 install directory. (try this if you havent already). 

The game worked for around a week following the fix above (last known good date: 07/03/2014) then on: 10/03/2014 the problem was back, exactly as you describe above, and I cannot resolve it. 

I have tried all of the fix attempts you list below, as well as:

* Turn off Windows Aero

* Windows system restore to last known date that the game worked

* revert to older display driver

None of the above has resolved the issue. 

As you desribe when you alt-tab via windows the screen (either map screen following load, or the actual game screen can be seen as a mini-window during the alt-tab. I can also get to the game screen by alt-tabbing and clicking on the status bar at the top of the window, but as soon as i click into the window it will turn black again - if i do see the game screen via the alt tab method - the graphics will flicker and tear showing black underneath)

Some other things to add: 

* I can play BF3 quite happily

* I can fire up other games like Skyrim and play these on high graphics settings so this isnt a hardware fault. 

My System: 

Clevo Gaming Laptop

Core i7 4800MQ @2.7 ghz

Nvidia GTX780M

RAM: 16GB

OS: Win7 x64

[Maverick1974UK · Accepted solution]

Itswozz - I got BF4 working tonight. 

Here is what ive done (and i think it was only the last 3 steps that are required

1) I uninstalled Nvidia drivers. Reinstalled an older driver - I am using 334.98 (I got this from the Clevo website, but google for old nvidia drivers guru3d.com and a few other sites do them.

2) if you havent already installed it - install BF4 settings editor: http://battlefield.realmware.co.uk/bf4-settings-editor/downloads

3) launch the settings editor and set your preferences under video to either "borderless" or "windowed" - do *not* set to full screen. Even if you have this set already, make a change and save (this causes it to write a config file). 

4) under MyDocuments look for "Battlefield 4" - delete the entire folder (i simply cut and pasted to desktop) 

Try the game and see if this works (when you launch via Origin right click and select "run with graphics processor" and select your GPU rather than integrated graphics if this option is given. 

If the above gets you to a windowed map screen that loads....

5) press escape and set your video settings (youll also need to redo any key binds and loadouts as deleting the folder under my documents seems to kill these off) BUT ONLY SET RESOLUTION, and then WINDOWED or BORDERLESS - dont set Full Screen or you will be back to where we started. You are now playing. Breathe a sigh of relief and crack a beer. > end. 

If the above doesnt get you playing. ...

6 ) navigate to Origin Games > Battlefield 4 > 

7) find the file user.conf (the battlefield settings editor in 3 wrote this). Open this in notepad. Find the line "UI Draw Enabled 1" (or similar) and delete the line, and resave the file. 

8) attempt to play the game - if you get online and can load into a map > Breathe a sigh of relief and crack a beer > end

If you still cant play.....

9) go back into the Origin Games > Battlefield 4 directory

10) delete the user.conf file entirely. 

11) check whether the "Battlefield 4" directory has reappeared in your MyDocuments directory - if it has delete the directory again before launching the game. 

Hopefully. you are cracking a beer by now. If you arent - I am sorry but i have nothing else to try. 

if you are playing - get to the options screen and redo your keybindings, and be sure to set your video settings to what you want - apart from the option for "full screen", "windowed", or "borderless" - this MUST be windowed or borderless or it will break it all again. 

You will know all of the above has worked as soon as you can load into a server and you get the loading splash screen without it flickering. 

I really really hope this has helped - sorry it sounds random, but this is the collection of things i went through over the last couple of nights which led up to it working. Possibly only one of the things in the list is necessary - I dont know, but its like some sort of Voodoo so I have listed everything i did. 

I think its absolutely woeful that EA have offered no support for this bug, and that they let it slip through user acceptance testing in the first place - given the number of people now reporting this. 

Good luck - hope to see you on the battlefield. !

[itswozz]

wow that is some amazingly detailed and easy to undestand steps to fix the isue, thank you for the effort, you deserve a medal

i got bf4 working as it should by doing a full reinstall(windows and all the updates, the most recent update of evryting)

but i doubt it would keep working how it should(loads into a fullscreen without any weird stuff) , if it fails again ill try out the fix u suggest it just happend to be that i needed a reformat, but it not a good fix if it bugs evryweek or evryday for that matter

[THISaint]

@maverick1974uk Give this man a XP! mileyvery-happy: