Universal Hint System Revision 91a TSR Reader for MS-DOS, Version 1.00 (June 10, 1993) Copyright Information ===================== This program is copyright 1992-1993 by Jason Strautman. All rights reserved. Portions written and copyright 1992 by Robert Norton. This program may be used for evaluation purposes (as described in UHS.TXT), as long as users who have not registered UHS/TSR are not using another person's registration codes. Although efforts were made to insure that this program is compatible with as many hardware and software configurations as possible, there are no guarantees that this program will be compatible. Any damages resulting from use of this program are solely the responsibility of the user. System Requirements =================== - 80386 SX-based computer or higher - 2 MB of RAM, with 256K configured as EMS - 640K of EMS may be required with DOS 6.0 and DBLSPACE - DOS 5.0, QEMM, or any other expanded memory manager - 50KB of free upper memory (UMBs) highly recommended - VGA graphics card highly recommended If your system does not meet these requirements, you will not be able to use UHSTSR.EXE. The stand-alone version of this program, UHS.EXE, should still work on your computer. The requirements for this program are only as high as they are because games tend to have large memory requirements, and I had to use EMS since most games do not leave enough conventional memory for the TSR's needs. I still cannot guarantee that a system meeting these requirements will be able to run UHSTSR at the same time as any particular game. Many new games also require EMS or XMS; if you are trying to get UHSTSR to run with one of these games, you may need to incease the overall RAM requirements. If your game also uses EMS, you will need to add 256K to the game's EMS requirement to determine how much EMS to set your system to use. Loading UHSTSR ============== You will need a UHS hint file to load into the TSR reader. I have explained how to find such a file in the main documentation for this program, UHS.TXT. Once you have your TSR, simply type the name of this program (UHSTSR) followed by the name of the file. The program will assume that the file is in the same directory as UHSTSR. If the UHS file is located in another directory or drive, you will have to give the drive or directory with the filename (as in UHSTSR \UHS\ALONE or UHSTSR C:\UHS\ALONE). As you can see in the example, you can leave the ".UHS" off the UHS filename. UHSTSR will also load into any upper memory block if you have enough free memory (approximately 50KB). You should use the appropriate command for your memory manager (like LH for DOS 5.0 or LOADHI for QEMM). More details on maximizing system resources are listed later in this text file. Interface ========= You can run UHSTSR from within most games. Simply press the ALT and ? keys simultaneously (you do not need to hold down SHIFT with the question mark, so ALT + / also works), and the program will start itself if it can. Please note that some games will not allow hotkeys to activate a TSR, so you may not be able to start the TSR under all games. The TSR should always activate itself at the DOS prompt, so you may want to press ALT-? at the DOS prompt to make sure the TSR is installed correctly. If the TSR works under DOS but not under your game, please let me know and I'll try to work out the conflict. It is usually a good idea to save your game before starting the TSR under a game for the first time. Although my beta testers and I have done extensive testing to work out compatibility problems, conflicts are sure to arise with some games. If you cannot save your game, I would advise that you test the TSR as soon as possible when starting the game. I had to greatly simplify the interface of UHSTSR to reduce the amount of memory that it uses. All you need to do is select a lettered choice from the menus by pressing the appropriate key. The SPACE BAR will take you back one menu, and if you're reading hints, the ENTER key will show you the next hint. You will also be asked to confirm if you hit the SPACE BAR at the top menu; the TSR will return control to whatever program was running once you exit this menu. Known Compatibility Problems ============================ EGA-based games may not have their color palettes properly restored. A VESA driver must be loaded for SVGA graphics to be restored, even if the game using the SVGA graphics does not require such a driver. Some VGA cards and VESA drivers do not support all VGA or VESA functions, and as a result, graphics may not be completely restored. The TESTVGA program included in this archive will let you know if your system might have problems running this TSR. If you have any problems with the TSR, especially with the display, please run TESTVGA and report the results to me. You should avoid activating the TSR within any CD-ROM game while the CD drive is being accessed. Many CD games depend on a certain transfer rate or access time, and starting the TSR while the drive is being activated will interfere with the apparent transfer rate or access time. The best solution is simply to wait for the drive to stop or to pause your game before pressing ALT-?. It's also a good idea not to activate the TSR when digitized sound is being played (speech and sound effects are digitized sounds, but music generally isn't). The consequences vary from game to game: you may find yourself unable to exit the TSR or experience corrupted sound if you do. Pausing the game or turning off the sound temporarily should prevent problems. I have noticed problems with ATI's VESA driver version 1.2 dated 3/19/92. An older version such as 1.1 dated 10/17/91 will work correctly with this TSR. I have not seen any version newer than 1.2, so I don't know if such a version would work properly. Some Trident-based cards and their VESA drivers apparently do not support the VESA functions on which this TSR relies. The display may be corrupted or completely blacked out if you try to use UHSTSR within any SVGA program on these cards. You may need to test compatibility out on a case-by-case basis with SVGA programs, since some seem to work better than others, and be prepared to lose any progress that you have made in your game the first time you test the TSR from inside SVGA games. Increasing Low Memory ===================== Some memory managers come with their own optimization programs. For example, QEMM has OPTIMIZE and DOS 6.0 has MEMMAKER. If you have such a program, just follow the directions included with those programs and they will give you as much free conventional memory as possible. If you don't want to load the TSR in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, I recommend that you temporarily place UHSTSR in your AUTOEXEC.BAT just to run OPTIMIZE or MEMMAKER. Then you can delete UHSTSR from your AUTOEXEC.BAT, but a single memory block will now have enough free for when you do decide to load the TSR. QEMM's Stealth feature (available in version 6.0) may interfere with UHSTSR as well as many games and should be avoided if at all possible. There is no elegant way to maximize conventional memory with DOS 5.0; if you can't fit all of your TSR programs into the upper memory blocks, my best advice is to load the largest TSRs into upper memory first. For example, if you have 55K in one UMB, and you load a 10K mouse driver into it, you won't have room enough for UHSTSR and about 50K of low memory will be taken. On the other hand, if you load UHSTSR first (or don't try to load the mouse driver into high memory), it will fit into the UMBs and leave only the much smaller mouse driver in low memory. Of course, your system probably won't have the same memory amounts as used in the above example, but the principle should still hold. I've found that there's enough free upper memory on most systems for both UHSTSR and a disk compression program, but you may have trouble getting additional TSR programs into upper memory, depending on your system. You may have to remove some of these TSRs (including disk caches) to gain enough low memory for the most demanding games. But also remember that many games do not work well with compression programs; you may be better off putting your game on an uncompressed partition and avoiding the compression program altogether. If you're trying to run UHSTSR with a CD-ROM game, you may need to use the "/E" parameter on MSCDEX.EXE to move MSCDEX's buffers into expanded memory and free up more memory for other TSR programs. Please note that you will need more than the standard 256K of EMS if you use this option on MSCDEX; the exact amount depends on the number of buffers you select. Other TSRs may also offer options to use XMS or EMS instead of low memory or the UMBs. UHSTSRB ======= Some games attempt to take total control of the keyboard, and as a result, the standard UHSTSR program won't start when you press the ALT-? hotkey. I have written a different version of the TSR that will try to take control of the keyboard back, but it does have significant drawbacks, and you should only use this version (called UHSTSRB) if the original UHSTSR.EXE fails to activate normally. In most respects, the two programs are identical, but here follows a list of requirements and important differences of UHSTSRB: - This program *must* be loaded as the last TSR. If you attempt to load any TSR after this one, there is a good chance that your keystrokes may be used twice. For example, if you press "B", "BB" will appear on screen. If this happens, you will need to reset your computer and make sure not to load any additional TSRs after UHSTSRB. - The restriction on loading TSRB as the last TSR may also include some DOS shells or similar programs. The safest way of preventing problems (the most common is the duplication of keystrokes mentioned above) is to load UHSTSRB and then immediately start your game. - UHSTSRB cannot uninstall completely. Several hundred bytes (368 bytes from my experience) will still be held by the program after it is uninstalled, and the only way to free this memory is to reboot your computer. - You should always try the standard UHSTSR first, because some programs that work with it will *not* work with UHSTSRB. The opposite is also true, but since UHSTSR is the more compatible TSR, and since you can easily unload it from memory, it's safer to start with UHSTSR. - And now, the good news. Any TSR that is loaded before UHSTSRB has a chance of running better under uncooperative games than it did before. For example, the volume controls of the PAS-16 (CONTROL+ALT+D/U/M) will now work with games, as long as UHSTSRB is loaded after it. Reporting Problems ================== Please read this documentation to see if it can help answer any problems you have before reporting conflicts between this TSR and any games. I will need the following information in order to help you solve any problems; if you don't know the answer to the following questions, please tell me, since I will normally ask you to fill in any missing information before investigating your conflict reports. - Try both UHSTSR and UHSTSRB. If one doesn't work, the other might. - Send me copies of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS. If you post a forum message on CompuServe, please make sure to post your message unformatted, or else CIS formatting may make your message unreadable. - If you're using DOS 6 with multiple configurations, let me know which one(s) you tried using the TSR with. Use the cleanest boot disk that you can -- only a mouse driver, sound card driver, disk compression utility, or CD ROM drivers if necessary, and of course, the TSR. - The manufacturer and model of your graphics card. - And of course, the nature of the problem: what game(s) do not work with the TSR, symptoms (if they do not appear all the time, please tell me), the publisher of those game(s), and whether or not the TSR will run at the DOS prompt. Shareware Notice ================ This program is shareware. Under the shareware concept, you should register a program after you have had a chance to evaluate it and decide that you like it. I do not feel, however, that much evaluation of this TSR is necessary. It provides the same high quality of hints that the main UHS.EXE provides; the only major difference between the pop-up and the stand-alone programs is the way that they are started. For this reason, I have limited the number of hints that you can view within the TSR reader. After you have read two hints in any single question, hint display will be stopped and you will be forced to select another question. I didn't want to force people to register this program without having a chance to test it with their favorite games. Packaging UHSTSR in this archive gives you a chance to make sure that you will be able to use the pop-up program. If you need to test the quality of the UHS hints, you can use the stand-alone program to do so. You can combine the hint quality from UHS.EXE with the ease of use that UHSTSR provides to determine what the registered version of this program will give you. In addition to the endless joy and satisfaction that you can get from knowing that you have supported to the UHS, registered users of this program will get a free copy of the stand-alone program (UHS.EXE), for use with those rare programs that are not compatible with the TSR. The stand-alone program also offers features that wouldn't fit into the limited amount of space that the TSR has to use. Registration for both programs is only $20. As is the policy for UHS.EXE, a disk with all of the latest UHS files and readers will be provided to anyone who includes an extra $5 or more with his/her registration. Please see UHS.TXT for information update disks for registered users, automatic registration for file authors, and distribution policies. All of these items also apply to the TSR version of the UHS reader. Jason Strautman 239 Redwood San Antonio, TX 78209 CIS: [72337,2611] (Please leave messages in The Gamers' Forum -- GO GAMERS) AOL: JStrautman GEnie: J.STRAUTMAN (Note: I cannot guarantee that I will keep my GEnie account. If you do not hear from me on GEnie, you should contact me by any of the other means listed above.)