Fixing the black screen in Call of Duty 2's multiplayer mode using a hex editor

[miller11568 0]

I have plugged in a microphone but COD 2 gets a black screen. Can someone help me hex edit Call of Duty 2 multiplayer's executable to fix the black screen?

 

I made a post here, because someone on VOGONS recommended me to do it.

[ambiphonic 0]

Firstly, the CoD2MP_s.exe that Steam downloads is compressed and so this fix won't work with the .exe Steam downloads. You need to replace Steam's CoD2MP_s.exe with the retail version. You will not lose any features by doing this.

You can download retail .exe's from here;
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Am8jhe9O85YIhOJpCtuKg_e06mB6xg?e=AqoZe2

I have also packaged the blackscreen fix in the download above.

Steam downloads the 1.3 patch when installing CoD2 so if using Steam and you're unsure which version of CoD2 you have then it is likely the 1.3 version unless you manually downgraded.

If you don't want to use above .exe's and have the retail version;

Download a HEX editor (I used HxD)
Open CoD2MP_s.exe in the Hex editor
If using 1.0 version, search for this hex pattern;
ff 15 e8 92 55 00 85 c0 74 0b
if using 1.3 version, search for this hex pattern;
ff 15 40 33 59 00 85 c0 74 0b

Replace 74 0b with 90 90 and save.

Black screen issue should be fixed and CoD2 will take 1-5 seconds to launch instead of minutes. You are still required to have a mic plugged in or it will crash.

This is better than the compatibility mode fix because that will make the in-game brightness static.

This is a copypaste from Steamcommunity topic about this issue.

[Deton24 1]

I wonder if the issue is bound to the same I had with MW2 (2009) on startup of single player mode.

I fixed it by using DSound wrapper (e.g. DSOAL). Interestingly, dsound.dll at some point was blocked (or deleted) at least in multiplayer mode in MW2 in one of the updates due to some vulnerability allowing people spreading malicious code.