System Requirements and Troubleshooting U.S.S. Ticoconderoga CD-DOS version 1.0 --------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1. System Requirements 2. Memory Problems 3. Other Problems 4. How to Reach Us for Support 5. Inside a DOS Extender 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- U.S.S Ticonderoga requires a computer system with the following: processor chip: 80486DX or greater video hardware: SVGA card with 1 megabyte of RAM, SVGA monitor audio hardware: Sound Blaster compatible mouse: required printer: not required or utilized operating system: MS-DOS 5.0 (with a memory manager), or DOS 6.0 higher MSCDEX: Microsoft Extensions version 2.21 or greater CD-ROM player: MPC-2 compliant (300kb/sec. sustained transfer) FILES: 30 or greater BUFFERS: 20 or greater hard disk space: 15mb free memory conventional: 550k expanded (EMS): not required or utilized extended (XMS): 3mb or more of high XMS memory required. 2. MEMORY PROBLEMS --------------- Ticonderoga requires that you have 550KB of free conventional memory and at least 3mb of free high XMS memory. To find out how much your system has, go to a DOS prompt, type "MEM /C|MORE" and press Enter. (The vertical line symbol between the /C and MORE parts of this entry is called the Pipes symbol. To get it, hold down shift and strike the backslash "\" key.) You should see something like: Modules using memory below 1 MB: Name Total = Conventional + Upper Memory -------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- MSDOS 16637 (16K) 16637 (16K) 0 (0K) HIMEM 1168 (1K) 1168 (1K) 0 (0K) EMM386 3120 (3K) 3120 (3K) 0 (0K) SLCD 23600 (23K) 23600 (23K) 0 (0K) COMMAND 2912 (3K) 2912 (3K) 0 (0K) LAMETSR 16368 (16K) 16368 (16K) 0 (0K) MOUSE 17088 (17K) 17088 (17K) 0 (0K) SETVER 624 (1K) 0 (0K) 624 (1K) SMARTDRV 20128 (20K) 0 (0K) 20128 (20K) MSCDEX 16304 (16K) 0 (0K) 16304 (16K) Free 630512 (616K) 574272 (561K) 56240 (55K) Memory Summary: Type of Memory Total = Used + Free ---------------- ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- Conventional 655360 (640K) 81088 (79K) 574272 (561K) Upper 93296 (91K) 37056 (36K) 56240 (55K) Adapter RAM/ROM 393216 (384K) 393216 (384K) 0 (0K) Extended (XMS) 7246736 (7077K) 2626448 (2565K) 4620288 (4512K) ---------------- ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- Total memory 8388608 (8192K) 3137808 (3064K) 5250800 (5128K) Total under 1 MB 748656 (731K) 118144 (115K) 630512 (616K) Largest executable program size 574176 (561K) Largest free upper memory block 55968 (55K) MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area. The Largest executable program size is the amount of free conventional memory. This is the number that has to be at least 563,664 bytes (550KB). The amount of free extended (XMS) memory in this example is 4,512kb -- which is almost 4.5mb of XMS. This is more than enough. (Note that there's no mention made of expanded memory, which is not specifically required unless your system has a total of only 4mb of RAM.) If you don't have enough free memory to run Ticonderoga, then you'll need to become acquainted with a memory manager. A memory manager is a program which serves to rearrange your memory setup. This is useful in plucking device drivers and TSRs from conventional memory and placing them into higher areas; the practical upshot of which is to increase the amount of free conventional memory. NOTICE: MINDSCAPE, INC. WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR OTHER UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM CHANGES MADE TO SYSTEM CONFIGURATION FILES. We recommend that you print this file before making any changes to your system configuration. Have your printer ready and online. Then, from the D:\HELP4U> prompt, punch in "TYPE README.TXT >PRN:" and press Enter. Helix Software Netroom and Multimedia Cloaking (r) USERS: These memory managers are incompatible with Ticonderoga. They will not function together. QEMM USERS: Please don't run QEMM in Stealth mode. DOS 6.XX USERS: You should try using the MemMaker utility to make more main memory available. From the DOS prompt, type "MEMMAKER" and press Enter. Choose the Express setup. NOTE: We don't recommend using MemMaker if you're using a multiple configuration setup in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and/or CONFIG.SYS files. IF ALL ELSE FAILS: If you have tried using one of the utilities listed above, and/or you can't make enough main memory available by modifying your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, try making a boot disk. How to Make a System Boot Disk ------------------------------ Put a blank disk in your first floppy drive. It could be either 3 1/2" or 5 1/4", but normally it's known to the computer as drive A:. If it's drive B: on your system, type "B:" in the directions instead of "A:". (Don't type any of the quotation marks in the directions to follow.) Then, from your C:\> prompt, type "FORMAT A:/S" and press Enter. DOS should respond with a prompt saying "Insert new diskette for drive A: and press Enter when ready..." Press Enter. When the formatting is complete, the computer should respond with "System transferred". Type in whatever you want for a volume label and press Enter. Then it will ask if you want to "Format another (Y/N)?" -- type an N and press Enter. Then type "COPY CONFIG.SYS A:" and press Enter. It should respond with: "1 file(s) copied". Then type "COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT A:" and press Enter. It should respond with: "1 file(s) copied". Then type "A:" and press Enter to get to the A:\> prompt. Now from the A:\> prompt, type "EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT" and press Enter. A blue screen should appear with the contents of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Here's what your AUTOEXEC.BAT should look like, more or less: LH C:\BIN\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /E /M:32 <- this is the MSCDEX driver LH C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.EXE <- this is the mouse driver @ECHO OFF PROMPT $P$G SET PATH=C:\;C:\DOS SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4 <- this is for the sound card SET TEMP=C:\DOS Then save this file. If your mouse is working in the DOS editor, then click on the File menu and click on Save. Otherwise, type ALT-F and then just an S. Then exit the DOS editor. Click on File and click on Exit. Or, type ALT-F and then just an X. Again from the A:\> prompt, this time type "EDIT CONFIG.SYS" and press Enter. A blue screen should appear with the contents of the CONFIG.SYS file. Here's what your CONFIG.SYS should look like, more or less: DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS <- this is the memory manager DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE <- this is the EMM386 driver DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE <- this is the SETVER driver DEVICEHIGH=C:\DEV\FDCD.SYS /D:MSCD001 <- this is the CD-ROM driver DOS=HIGH,UMB FILES=30 BUFFERS=30 STACKS=0,0 LASTDRIVE=E Also, take a look at the EMM386 line. In order for EMM386 to work, it must load after HIMEM.SYS, and it should appear before any other device drivers. You may run into EMM386 parameters like X=A000-B000 and L=4096. The X= argument prevents a certain range of memory addresses from being used for EMS. The L= argument sets aside a minimum amount of kilobytes set aside for XMS. Both of these options are implemented to reduce the amount of EMS provided by EMM386. If the memory manager can't free enough expanded memory, then as a last resort, remove these items. While you're here, you'll want to make sure that there are enough files and buffers for our products. 30 files and 30 buffers is preferred. Each buffer occupies 512 bytes of memory, so 40 buffers (10 more than you need) means 5 kilobytes of conventional memory you can liberate. Additionally, none of our products requires file control blocks (FCBS). Then save this file. If your mouse is working in the DOS editor, then click on the File menu and click on Save. Otherwise, type ALT-F and then just an S. Then exit the DOS editor. Click on File and click on Exit. Or, type ALT-F and then just an X. Turn off your computer and count to ten. Leaving the system boot disk in the drive, turn the computer back on. 3. OTHER PROBLEMS -------------- Try not to run Ticonderoga through Windows or a menu of any kind. We didn't develop or test the product over a network, so we can't support it that way. If you put this disc in a multidisc changer, make sure it's in the first bay. It probably won't work on a PowerMac. If you have a Mitsumi CD-ROM player, make sure you're using the software polling drivers instead of the hardware polling ones. 4. HOW TO REACH US FOR SUPPORT --------------------------- If you're experiencing a technical problem trying to get the game to function, then get in touch with our Technical Support department. No matter how you contact the Technical Support Department, we require certain items for efficiency's sake. Include as many of these as possible: 1. Home phone number 2. Work number and fax number 3. Detailed description of the problem and steps necessary to recreate it 4. Title and version of the product (such as: Ticonderoga version 1.00) 5. Platform of the product (i.e. DOS, Windows, Macintosh) 6. Make and model of your computer 7. Processor chip type 8. Operating system and version 9. Make and model of your sound card 10.Make and model of your video card 11.Make and model of your CD-ROM drive 12.Copy of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files Our Technical Support numbers are (415) 883-5157 (voice), and (415) 883-0367 (fax). Our hours are 8:30am to 5:00pm Pacific time, Monday through Friday, holidays excluded. Our mailing address is: Mindscape Technical Support 60 Leveroni Court Novato, California 94949 (Do not mail anything except registration cards to the Santa Clara address.) The Technical Support BBS contains patch files, product demos, and new product announcements. If you have a modem, call (415) 883-7145. Your modem needs to be set to No parity, 8 data bits, and 1 stop bit (these settings are usually the default in a terminal program). We have an automated technical support service which provides answers to the most commonly asked questions about our more popular products. It's available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year we pay for the call. You can reach it at (800) 409-1497. Additionally, we maintain forums on both America OnLine and Compuserve. The keyword on AOL is "MINDSCAPE". On Compuserve, our section is presently called "MINDSCAP", but we anticipate adding the "silent e" sometime soon. 5. INSIDE A DOS EXTENDER --------------------- What is protected mode? This information is included as background information for the curious. Historically, DOS programs have always required that you run them in the first 640k of ram. This was a limitation imposed on DOS back when V1.0 was the only thing around. For compatibility's sake this is the way things have remained. Any memory above 640k could only be used for data storage, not for the program execution. That's why you always saw the dreaded "Out of Memory" messages. As time went on, certain programs, (and later DOS itself) gained the ability to load part of themselves "high", leaving more conventional ( the first 640k) available. You still had the limitation of the 640k barrier, but some more breathing room was made by these memory advances. More recently, advances were made in memory management so that programs could run in protected mode. protected mode is a special way of programming so that your program doesn't have the 640k barrier. Depending on how the program is written, the entire thing is in protected mode, or it requires the use of a DOS "Extender" to run that way. This game is such a program. This game uses a DOS Extender to access much more memory than it would have been able to if it were written the old way. A game of this complexity would never have been able to have been written if the old 640k barrier method of programming was used. Well you might be asking, What about my older programs? Can't I just use a DOS extender, and have it run something like "Wolfenstein 3D", and never get those "Out of Memory" errors? Well, it's not as simple as all that. If a program is using a DOS extender, it has to be written a special way. A DOS extender isn't just a magic wand that you can use to wipe away your memory problems for non-protected mode programs. The program has to be written a special way to make use of the DOS extender. To summarize, Protected mode ( sometimes referred to as "flat memory" ) is a way for a DOS program (either by itself or through the use of a DOS extender to access more than the first 640k of memory for program execution. Because of this, more complex programs are able to be written. If using the old 640k barrier method ( sometimes referred to as "Segmented Memory" ), this type of game would not have been possible. ---- END OF FILE (11-16-94) ----