How to fix the stuck at the "Vinewood" sign problem
From SA-MP Wiki
This is a tutorial on how to get past the "Vinewood" sign when starting up SAMP. This may not work, but it should.
First of all, download WinRAR, because I use it and it'll be easy for you to follow this guide
Step 1: Install both GTA San Andreas and SAMP into the same location. Make sure they are in the same directory, and make the directory easy to find (If the default one is sensible, use it).
Step 2: Find the GTA San Andreas directory, and find gta_sa.exe. I used the default location for GTA San Andreas, which was: C:\Program Files\Rockstar Games\GTA San Andreas\
Step 3: Is gta_sa.exe this size (or not 14,405,632)? Then follow these instructions.
Step 4: You have to find the link to the downgrader yourself, because we can't give it out. (They can on IRC though, the link is on the main page).
Step 5: Make sure you use the right directory when asked to choose one.
Now, this is the first part finished, so it's time to check if the downgrader worked correctly.
Step 1: Go back to the GTA San Andreas directoy. Is the gta_sa.exe size 14,405,632? If not, try the downgrader again.
Step 2: Start samp.exe (or SAMP from the start/all programs or from the desktop, both work) and try joining a server again.
Step 3: Now, if you now get to the Vinewood screen again, but now “Connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx.xx:xxxx” shows up in the top left hand side corner of the screen, carry on reading. If not, the game should work.
Step 4: Try a different server. Try connecting to a few of the “Official” servers, and a few of the “Internet” servers). You may want to note down which servers you try connecting to. If any of them connect, the other servers are probably offline. If you still get the error, carry on reading.
Step 5: Disable your firewall. If you do not know how to do this, this is how you would do it with McAfee Personal Firewall (and I think it's a simular process with most firewalls)-
Substep 1: On the bottom right hand corner of the screen, there should be a icon for your firewall. Hover the cursor over it
Substep 2: Right click on the icon, and click "Disable" (be careful here, my friend managed to uninstall his firewall some how while trying to disable this).
Step 6: Try connecting to the same servers as you tried before. If you can play, we’ve found the problem. Exit the game by pressing “Esc” and clicking “Exit”.
Step 7: Start your firewall back up. If you do not know how to do this, follow these steps-
Substep 1: On the bottom left hand corner of the screen, click "Start", and click on "All Programs".
Substep 2: Find the firewall program in the menu, and click it to start the firewall back up.
Substep 3: You may need to click "Enable" or something simular on the firewall screen to make it work.
Step 8: Now, you need to allow SAMP through your firewall. Again, this may vary with different firewalls, but I think it’s a similar process.
Step 9: Use the same steps to open the firewall program as before, but there will be no “click here to enable” option.
Step 10 On McAfee Person Firewall, there is an option “Internet Applications”. Click it (You may also be able to go the icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, right click it and click "View Applications").
Step 11: Scroll down to “gta_sa.exe”, and click it.
Step 12: A small options screen will appear on the bottom of the firewall screen. Click “Allow Full Access”.
Step 13: Scroll down to “samp.exe”, and do the same process as above.
Now, try connecting to the same servers that you tried before again. They should work by now, so you can go ahead and play. If you still cannot play, sorry, but this tutorial only goes to here. Try going to the support section of the SA:MP forums.
