Solved Future Pinball Won't Start Because "fmod.dll" Could Not Be Found

GeorgeH

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I had a problem this morning with Future Pinball not starting. I got a message that said "fmod.dll" could not be found when I tried to open a table. I had previously installed "2021-05 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 20H2 for x64-based systems (KB5003173)". I decided to reinstall Future Pinball which didn't help. I searched my entire C drive for "fmod.dll" and it was not found. So I searched the internet for "fmod.dll" and downloaded the file and then saved it to my Future Pinball program folder. Future Pinball started working normally after that.

My guess is that KB5003173 removed the file from my Windows/System folder. Anyone that has Windows 10 and not installed KB5003173 may want to search their system and make a copy of "fmod.dll" in case this problem happens to you.
 
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Hi George,

FYI - Having installed the same update (Tuesday 11th), I have not experienced anything similar to yourself..? fmod.dll was still present in the default Future Pinball install location.

Do you have Future Pinball installed in different location?
Did you re-install Future Pinball with the 2-in-1 Installer? If so - which version? or FP original install etc.?
 
Hi George,

FYI - Having installed the same update (Tuesday 11th), I have not experienced anything similar to yourself..? fmod.dll was still present in the default Future Pinball install location.
The file should be installed in your Windows system folder. It is not an FP file. I saved the file to the FP folder because the rest of my system doesn't seem to need it.

Do you have Future Pinball installed in different location?
It is installed here and never installed anywhere else:

C:\Games\Future Pinball

Did you re-install Future Pinball with the 2-in-1 Installer?
No. I have BAM set up the way I want and didn't want to disturb it. I just reinstalled FP. It would have made no difference if I reinstalled it or not because the problem persisted after the reinstall.

If so - which version? or FP original install etc.?
I have a install file I have used for many years named "FuturePinballSetup_v1.9.1.20101231.exe". It is the same one that has always been used.
 
Hi George,

Thanks for the response :)

FYI: I have just started up a 'Windows Sandbox' environment and searched the C Drive and could not locate the fmod.dll file. Then I installed FP with the latest 2-in-1 Installer from @ravarcade website, and the fmod.dll file appears in the default Future Pinball location; just thought I would let you know.
 
Hi George,

Thanks for the response :)

FYI: I have just started up a 'Windows Sandbox' environment and searched the C Drive and could not locate the fmod.dll file. Then I installed FP with the latest 2-in-1 Installer from @ravarcade website, and the fmod.dll file appears in the default Future Pinball location; just thought I would let you know.
@ravarcade must have added it to the 2-in-1. You can search the internet and it will say that is installed in your windows system folder.

Anyway, there it is. This is yet another reason to use the 2-in-1 Installer.
 
I wonder if i should for peoples put here some links to my fpmod.dll zip file? Because i have done some backup to my online storage drive of theses, i could create a link to my zip file named: (fmod_nobam) and to my (fmod_bam) zip files. I do believe it's the same file, because of the file size. But the one that i have givin the name of fmod_nobam, is simply the zipped file i have created; that is to the directory of c:/games/futurepinball. The one i have simply named fmod_bam, it's the zip file i have from the 2 in 1 FP with Bam install; that i have put into an other directory of my pc. Still i think it's the same file that are from 2 directories, because of the file size of the zip file i have done.

This if peoples would like that i create the links to them? If yes then as always i encourage peoples to antivirus check the file. Even if i know it dont have any virus. There is also the online website that check virus called: virustotal.com

A+
 
I am not sure but I think it needs to be named "fmod.dll" or the calls to run it won'e work. I attached a copy of the file to my guide here:

 
Based on my own testing, vanilla FP cannot run without fmod.dll, so that seems to suggest it was Black, and not Ravarcade, who first included that library file with the FP installer.

In fact, the file is part of an overall "FMOD" package made by an Australian company called Firelight Technologies. FMOD is evidently a longstanding, popular set of sound tools used by many video games. So probably not too surprising Black chose it around 2004-2005.

Also, while it's possible that fmod.dll legitimately sits in the system folder under some gaming configurations, from what I'm seeing in Future Pinball, it's meant to sit right in the main FP folder. That's where FP seems to expect it, anyway. Again, that's vanilla FP before you even bring in the BAM aspect.

George, I'd maybe check your Recycle Bin to see if your original version of fmod.dll perhaps got deleted or accidentally deleted. It seems both unlikely that a system update would touch something so specific, and strange that it didn't reappear when you re-installed vanilla FP. If I'm understanding correctly.
 
You are right that it originally resided in the system folder. I think the Windows update deleted it, probably because Microsoft didn't think it was needed anymore.

I found a copy and saved it to my Future Pinball folder and It works perfectly now. I addressed the issue at the end of in Step 1 my guide at the link below and attached a copy of the file so no one else has a problem with it. Problem solved.

 
No actually, I'm saying that I think fmod.dll originally sits in the FP folder because that's where the basic FP installer places it, whether via vanilla FP install or via 2-in-1 install. Not the system folder.

That's why I tend to doubt a system update would have touched it there. Which is why I suggested your looking in the recycling bin for your original.

As FMOD is a project which is now 26 years old, I would NOT recommend using a version of the file that you grabbed off the internet somewhere, unless you can be sure it's the exact same file. Otherwise, since the file might have changed over time, there's a possibility that it might not be fully compatible with FP's needs, and might cause odd behavior or even a crash under some circumstances. Whether there's also a security risk by using a different file, that I don't know.

Which goes back to why I think users should only use the copy of fmod.dll created by the FP installer to be on the safe side. Not something grabbed off the internet.

If it helps, the version I have that Black shared is 159 KB (162,816 bytes), modified on Sunday, ‎December ‎9, ‎2007, ‏‎3:22:04 PM. So if the new file you have matches those specs, I guess you're alright. Still...

End of the day-- unless someone else can confirm that they lost the fmod.dll file, I doubt this is an issue, and probably not worth having in your guide. I.e., if someone's install gets messed up, better to just reinstall, and not fool around with replacing specific files they aren't familiar with.
 
When I first had this problem, I reinstalled FP and it did not fix it. Apparently, it is in the 2in1 installer. I am guessing Rav added it anticipating the file would go away.
 
When I first had this problem, I reinstalled FP and it did not fix it. Apparently, it is in the 2in1 installer. I am guessing Rav added it anticipating the file would go away.
I don't think that's correct. If vanilla FP doesn't run without the file, then it almost certainly comes with the basic FP installer.

You can test this yourself by temporarily renaming fmod.dll to "fmod.dll.bak" then running your FP executable (no BAM). You should then see an error message about FP needing that file.

If you look here, you can also see that Jumpman (another game by Black / Chris Leathley) also uses fmod.dll. This tells us that Black was familiar with the library file and used it for other projects way back when.

I also googled fmod.dll with future pinball, and the only real results I'm seeing are when people do a crash-report listing, which aren't actually specific to the fmod file. That's why I don't think it's actually common for fmod.dll to go missing for folks, which is why I doubt Ravarcade is including it specially to address such a problem. Far more likely to me is that he's including it in the 2-in-1 simply because it's part of the basic FP install.

I'd be willing to uninstall my FP setup and reinstall just to help confirm this stuff, but I'm worried I'd lose registry settings I'm currently using and possibly other stuff, too. Would be really helpful if someone could install who doesn't have FP previously installed, or maybe there's a way to install it in some sort of debugging framework which wouldn't affect the regular install. Wish I had another PC running right now.
 
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