Changed PC. RemPy games don't start. Edit: start but freeze for 60 sec. Edit again: Solved

[Hermione]

I just changed PC hardware. I then had to reinstall the OS. I had the games on another hard disk and they seem intact, and I had also saved all the save games from the users folder.
But now the games don't start. From the log file it seems like it can't find "steam_api.dll".
So I'm missing something on my PC. Some library?
Any suggestions.
What should I install?
Thank you.

 

[sundogsun]

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[Hermione]

Thanks for your reply. I just noticed that the games start but after a while (at least 1 min).
Strange behavior.
What could be wrong?

 

[locoulocou]

Drivers? things like directx or vcredist? check with the task manager that your disk is not at 100%

 

[Hermione]

Drivers? things like directx or vcredist? check with the task manager that your disk is not at 100%

I do not know what to think. I tried everything I could think of and also did some research on the internet.
The drivers and directx are updated, various libraries updated and working, I disabled the antivirus (but it was the same as before), I tried to transfer it to the system hard disk (C).
I also checked the task manager during the game, but there is nothing that takes up resources.
No way. The game starts and runs fine but freezes on startup for about 60 seconds.
Everything else on the computer, other games (not RenPy) work fine.
The log file does not give any particular errors. Apart from the Steam one, but that I understand is normal. Old log files on the old PC gave the same error but the game started immediately. The timing seems fine.
Maybe it was the last GPU driver installed (adrenalin 24. 3.1 the last), but it works fine.

It is a strange behavior, annoying, but ultimately not important. I just have to wait those 60 seconds.
Thanks

 

[Skrotum]

I am also on Adrenalin 24.3.1 and I don't have a 60 second delay. I use Microsoft Defender as anti virus and that doesn't seem to cause any troubles.

 

[vaultcbc]

which graphic card?

 

[Hermione]

which graphic card?

AMD RX 6500 XT
But I had it before too. I changed the motherboard and processor. And a new SSD hard drive on which I cloned the old HDD on which the RenPy games folder was located.

I use another antivirus, but I also had this one before, and it was active and caused no problems. I have now also whitelisted the games directory.
It is a very strange behavior. Every thing works well on the PC.

 

[Hermione]

Solved. It was the antivirus.
Yesterday it started working well again. The games started immediately.
Today at the restart the delay again.
I disabled the antivirus and restarted the PC. Again all good.
It seems like the antivirus I have sometimes misses the whitelist settings. Irritating.
Maybe over time it will stop doing this, or I'll change the antivirus.
Thank you all.

 

[Skrotum]

If you use anything other then Microsoft Defender without a very specific and good reason, you are doing it wrong. On-Access scanners are very invasive and you shouldn't trust third parties to do it right.

 

[Hermione]

If you use anything other then Microsoft Defender without a very specific and good reason, you are doing it wrong. On-Access scanners are very invasive and you shouldn't trust third parties to do it right.

I was wrong, it wasn't the antivirus. After several tests, I discovered what the problem was.
It is the new motherboard that has aura sync, and has installed a program to manage it with a service in particular: Lightning service.
By disabling this service, the games start immediately.
I read on the internet that this service has given some people various issues.
I don't even have aura sync accessories!

 

[Skrotum]

aura sync

I had to google it, but I already had a suspicion and I was right. Never ever install any software from Asus. Their software is just shit and will give you security vulnerabilities. I don't say their hardware is shit, but stay away from their software.

 

[Hermione]

I had to google it, but I already had a suspicion and I was right. Never ever install any software from Asus. Their software is just shit and will give you security vulnerabilities. I don't say their hardware is shit, but stay away from their software.

Unfortunately it automatically installs it (armoury crate) as you mount the motherboard. And to uninstall it you need a special uninstaller provided by Asus.
It can be used for motherboard driver updates and to monitor temperature and control fan speed.
But, you're right, it sucks and creates a lot of problems.
I will proceed to uninstall it completely, for now I have only disabled the Lighting service.