Sierra Technical Support Phone: (206) 644-4343 America Online: Keyword SIERRA
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MissionForce: CyberStorm Troubleshooting Guide
Revised 6/21/96
Sierra Technical Support provides this documentation as a reference to Sierra customers using Sierra software products. Sierra Technical Support makes reasonable efforts to ensure that the information contained in this documentation is accurate. However, Sierra makes no warranty, either express or implied, as to the accuracy, effectiveness, or completeness of the information contained in this documentation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION 1 - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
SECTION 2 - INSTALLATION PROCEDURES
SECTION 3 - COMMON INSTALLATION PROBLEMS
SECTION 4 - WINDOWS MEMORY TROUBLESHOOTING
SECTION 5 - ILLEGAL OPERATION ERRORS
SECTION 6 - COMMON GAME PROBLEMS
SECTION 7 - SOUND CARD CONFIGURATION
SECTION 8 - BOOT DISK INSTRUCTIONS
SECTION 9 - IF YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS...
SECTION 1 - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
REQUIRED
486DX-66
8MB RAM
6MB Free HD
Double Speed CD ROM
SVGA (640 x 480 x 256 colors)
Mouse
Sound Card
Windows 95
RECOMMENDED FOR BEST PERFORMANCE
Pentium
Quad speed CD ROM Drive
16MB Ram
30MB Free HD
Direct-X Compliant Sound and Video
SECTION 2 - INSTALLATION PROCEDURES
Insert the CD into your CD ROM drive. Windows should prompt you with a message: "MissionForce: Cyberstorm has not been installed on your computer. Install CyberStorm?" Select Yes.
If Autoplay is disabled or not supported by your computer, insert the CD and click on the Start button. Click on Run, then type D:\SETUP in the command line, (assuming your CD is your D:\ drive; substitute your drive letter if necessary). Click on the OK button and follow the onscreen messages to install the game. We recommend choosing the Optimal installation option if you have enough hard drive space. If you fail any of the tests, see Section 3, Common Installation Problems.
Once you are in the Installation program, select Test Hardware to see if your computer and its present configuration will be sufficient to play the game. If your system passes the Hardware Test, click on the Main Menu button, then click on Install.
SECTION 3 - COMMON INSTALLATION PROBLEMS
Problem: When installing the game, you receive the message "Error reading drive D". Message will vary depending on what drive you are installing from.
Solution: There are several factors that can cause a "read" error of this type. The most common is a dirty or scratched CD. You should check the CD to make sure that there are no smudges, fingerprints, scratches or cracks on it. If you see any smudges on the CD, clean it off with a soft cloth and try it again. If the disk is scratched, it will need to be replaced.
If cleaning the CD doesn't help, the problem may lie with the CD ROM drivers. When using Windows 95, use version 2.95 of MSCDEX in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. You should also check with the CD ROM drive manufacturer to make sure that you have the latest version of their CD drivers. Outdated or incompatible CD drivers can cause this type of problem.
If you need to replace your CD, replacement is FREE for the first 90 days of product ownership. After 90 days there is a $10.00 handling fee per program. Mail us the CD, a copy of your sales receipt dated within 90 days or the $10.00 handling fee, and a note detailing your computer hardware and the problem that is occurring. Please include your full name, mailing address, and daytime telephone number so we can contact you if necessary. We will then send you a replacement CD. The address is: Sierra On-Line Customer Service, PO Box 485, Coarsegold CA 93614-0485.
Problem: Your computer fails the Display test; you get a message saying "Your video display supports 16 colors...".
Solution: Sierra's Windows games require that Windows is running in 256 color mode. Even though your monitor and video card may be capable of displaying 256 colors, Windows may not be set up to use this resolution. To check, right-click on the desktop and choose Properties from the pop up menu. In the Settings section, if the Color Palette section reads 16 color, you will need to change to 256 colors. Do not use more than 256 colors with CyberStorm. Although the game will run, you will not be able to view some of the visual effects in the game. If your system will support 800 x 600 at 256 colors, change the Desktop Area to 800 x 600 pixels.
Warning: Be careful when changing video drivers! If you choose one that is not designed for your particular monitor, Windows will not display properly. If this occurs, restart your computer and hit [F8] when the words "Starting Windows '95" are displayed. Choose Safe Mode from the options list. While you are in Safe Mode, right-click on the desktop and select Properties from the pop up menu. Change the Color Palette and Desktop Area to a setting supported by your system.
Problem: Your computer fails the Display test; you get a message saying "Your video display supports 256 colors at a resolution of 800 x 600 and a speed of XXX K pixels/sec...".
Solution: The display rate of your computer is not fast enough to satisfactorily play the game. If you are running 800 x 600 resolution, switch to 640 x 480 at 256 colors. Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties from the pop up menu. In the Settings section, if the Desktop Area section reads 800 x 600, or higher, change to 640 x 480. Click on the OK button and follow the onscreen prompts from Windows '95. Once Windows has resized, click on the Start button and choose Settings, Control Panel. Double click on the System icon, then click on the Performance tab and the Graphics button. Make sure the slider for Hardware Acceleration is all the way to the right. Restart Windows and run the setup program and test your display. If your computer still fails the display test, you may be able to play CyberStorm on your system with some limitations. In the game, turn down some, or all, of the detail options. Also be aware that the game may play more slowly.
Problem: Your computer fails the Sound Card test.
Solution: Your sound card may be incorrectly configured for DAC (Audio) or your sound card drivers may not be properly installed or configured. Make sure your speakers are turned on and run the Windows mixer program for your sound card so you can increase its volume levels for MIDI (music) and DAC (Audio). Also check the Audio and MIDI settings in the Multimedia section of Control Panel. The Audio setting defines what driver will be used to produce digitized sound (DAC). Speech and sound effects in a game are usually DAC sounds. The MIDI setting indicates what driver is being used for music playback. The following examples are for the SoundBlaster 16:
AUDIO: SB16 Wave Out
MIDI: MIDI for Internal OPL2/OPL3 FM Synthesis
The names of the Audio and MIDI drivers will vary, depending on your sound card. However, they should be similar to these SoundBlaster 16 drivers. For complete information (including driver names and installation instructions) for Windows 95 drivers for your sound card, contact your sound card manufacturer.
Problem: After the game installs there is no Icon to start the game.
Solution: CD ROM caching programs or drivers will prevent the executable from copying to the hard drive. Disable CD ROM caching utilities, and change any CD caching drivers to the standard MSCDEX drivers
SECTION 4 - WINDOWS MEMORY TROUBLESHOOTING
If you are having trouble getting enough memory to run CyberStorm, these steps should help you.
Create a Boot Disk: Create a boot disk using the instructions in Section 8.
Disable any hardware cache: Some CD ROM drives, such as the Teac 4x, install their own cache. This cache may use as much as 4 MB of memory. Consult with the manufacturer or your hardware documentation if you do not know how to disable this cache.
Create a Clean Windows Environment: Make sure that there are no other Windows programs running. Disable all screen savers, virus scans, etc. If you are using an alternate Windows desktop (Norton Navigator, etc.) use plain
Windows 95 instead. If you have sound-related Windows programs installed (IconHearIt, SoundBits, etc.), make sure they are disabled before starting the game. Also, turn off your Wallpaper. Wallpaper can sometimes take up a considerable amount of memory.
SECTION 5 - ILLEGAL OPERATION ERRORS
An Illegal Operation is a generic Windows 95 error message than can occur in any Windows program. Insufficient memory, conflicts between two or more drivers or programs, or corrupted files can all contribute to this type of error. The following steps will resolve most of these illegal operation errors.
1) Create a Windows 95 boot disk. See Section 8 for boot disk instructions.
2) Disable any and all other Windows programs (if any) that are running prior to starting the game. This includes all screen savers, wallpaper, etc.
3) Set your Video Display to 640 by 480, 256 colors. (Consult the steps given for changing display settings in Section 3 - Common Installation Problems.)
4) Run SCANDISK on your hard drive by clicking Start, then Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scandisk. Let Scandisk correct any errors, then uninstall the game and re-install it.
5) Disable Video Acceleration. Click on Start, then Settings, Control Panel. Double-click the System icon, choose Performance, then Graphics. You should see a slider bar labeled Hardware Acceleration. Lower the bar a notch (slide it to the left), then restart Windows when you are prompted and run the game again. Continue doing this until you cannot lower the bar any more or the problem is corrected. If this corrects the problem, you should contact your video card manufacturer to obtain updated video drivers.
6) Free up memory by lowering your CD ROM Supplemental Cache Size. From Control Panel, click on System, then Performance, File System. Click on the tab for CD ROM. Adjust the slider bar for Supplemental Cache Size from "Large" to "Small", then click on OK.
SECTION 6 - COMMON GAME PROBLEMS
Problem: The mouse disappears or exhibits erratic behavior on the menu screens.
Solution: Animated, 3D, or custom cursors can cause this problem. To avoid these problems, double click the Mouse icon under the Control Panel, select the Pointers, and chose the Windows Standard.
Problem: When you click the mouse outside of the game window, the game stops functioning normally.
Solution: Click back on the game window, or return back to the Main window in the game and restart the mission.
SECTION 7 - SOUND CARD CONFIGURATION AND SOUND ISSUES
Improper sound card configuration will cause problems with some multimedia applications. Check your sound card's documentation, or with the manufacturer of the card, to ensure your sound card is properly set up for Windows 95. If your manual does not cover configuration for Windows 95, you should get updated information from the card's manufacturer. This information may be available online through CompuServe, America On Line or another service.
CyberStorm requires a 100% Windows 95 compatible sound card; not every sound card is 100% Windows 95 compatible. If you encounter any problems, check the documentation for your sound card to ensure it is correctly setup in Windows '95.
For your sound card to be 100% Windows '95 compatible, it must be supported directly by Windows '95 drivers in the Device Manager. If your sound card is not directly supported by Windows '95 you need to check with the manufacturer of the sound card for the availability of Windows '95 drivers.
Problem: No music during the game.
Solution: Make sure you have the Music option enabled in the Prefs in the File Menu. Also make sure that the Windows CD Player is closed prior to loading CyberStorm. If you continue to have problems, make sure you have a CD Audio cable connected between your sound card and your CD-ROM drive, or an audio cable leading from the CD-ROM drive's headphone port to the sound card or external speakers in order to hear game music. Consult your sound card documentation for more information on connecting an audio cable to your CD-ROM drive.
Problem: No sound effects during the game, or sound works for awhile then stops.
Solution: Make certain that your sound card also supports Direct-X 2. Many sound cards do not support it as the technology is brand new from Microsoft. Currently, there are some devices which do not support this. Call the manufacturer of you sound hardware to find out if Direct-X 2 is supported by your sound card. If it is and you are still having problems with the effects, make certain that you have the latest Windows '95 drivers for your sound card.
Problem: After returning all Hercs to the drop ship it says "Returning to Herc Base" and you get a flashing screen or the game does not continue.
Solution: Simply go to the Battle Menu and click on Leave Battle or hit Control-X. This will continue through the hanng and get you back to base.
SECTION 8 - BOOT DISK INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1 - FORMATTING THE DISK
To make a boot disk, you must system format a high density diskette in the A: drive. This procedure will transfer the "system files" to the disk and allow the computer to boot up correctly. The disk must be in the A: drive; the computer will not boot from the B: drive.
To format a disk in Windows '95, insert the disk, open My Computer, then right click on the A: icon. From the
menu, select Format. Under "Format type" select Full; under "Other options", choose Copy system files. Click on Start.
After the disk is formatted, you must copy the MSDOS.SYS file from the hard drive to the floppy disk. To do this, leave the floppy disk in the drive, open Windows Explorer and find the MS-DOS.SYS file in the root of the C: drive. Right click on the file, then select Send to from the pop-up menu. Send the file to the A: drive.
NOTE: If you don't see the MSDOS.SYS file in Explorer, the file is hidden. To make the file visible, select View, Options, then Show all files. If you do not wish the hidden files to remain visible, you can hide them again after you've made the boot disk by choosing View, Options, Hide files of this type.
When this has been completed, leave the disk in the drive and restart the computer by clicking on Start, Shut Down, Restart the Computer. When Windows 95 is restarted, start CyberStorm. If the CD-Rom and/or the sound card does not work then follow the following instructions.
STEP 2 - LOCATING THE CD ROM DEVICE DRIVER
Most CD ROM drives are supported directly by Windows '95. If your CD ROM drive is supported you can skip STEP 2. To determine if your CD ROM drive is supported by Windows '95, click on the Start button, then choose Settings, Control Panel, System. Now double-click on the System icon and then click the Device Manager tab. If CD ROM appears in the device list, your CD ROM drive is supported by Windows '95. You can click on CD ROM to find out what type of CD ROM drive you have. If CD ROM does not appear in the list, follow the instructions below.
If your CD ROM is not supported by Windows '95, you should first check with the manufacturer of the CD ROM drive to determine when the drivers will be available. Until then, the CD ROM drives requires a device driver to be loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. This driver must be loaded correctly or you will be unable to access your CD ROM drive. To make sure that the device driver loads correctly on the boot disk, look at the CONFIG.SYS on the hard drive and copy the driver line from there. To display the CONFIG.SYS, click on the Start button, then choose Run. In the command line, type SYSEDIT. The SYSEDIT window will appear. Click on the CONFIG.SYS title bar to display the CONFIG.SYS file. Look for the line that loads the CD ROM device driver. The line should look something like this:
The device driver in your CONFIG.SYS may differ slightly from those listed above. Write down the line for your boot disk.
NOTE: If you cannot find your CD ROM driver in the CONFIG.SYS file, you may need to look in the CONFIG.DOS file. To access this file, choose Start, Run, then type NOTEPAD C:\CONFIG.DOS. If you still cannot locate the driver, check your CD-ROM drive documentation, or contact the drive's manufacturer.
STEP 3 - LOCATING THE SOUND CARD DRIVERS
Like it does for CD ROM drives, Windows '95 also provides direct support for most sound cards. If your sound card is not supported by Windows '95, you should first check with the manufacturer of the sound card to determine when the drivers will be available. You will not be able to play CyberStorm unless your sound card is supported by Windows '95. If there is no Windows '95 drivers available for your sound card, you may be able to use the Windows '95 driver for a different sound card. (You'll need to check with the manufacturer or in the support forums for the sound card you are using).
STEP 4 - CREATING THE CONFIG.SYS FILE
If your CD ROM drive and sound card are supported directly by Windows '95, (and do not add any lines to the CONFIG.SYS file), you will not need to create a CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk. Go to the Step 5.
To create the CONFIG.SYS file on the boot disk, choose Start, Run, then type NOTEPAD A:\CONFIG.SYS in the command line field. This will start the Windows Notepad program. Add the CD ROM device driver as you wrote it down in the "Locating the CD ROM Device Driver" section. If you need to load any sound card drivers, copy them from the "Sound Cards" section now. Save the file by clicking on File, Save. Close Notepad by clicking on File, Exit.
STEP 5 - CREATING THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE
If your sound card does not require lines in the AUTOEXEC.BAT go to STEP 6.
To create the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on the boot disk, choose Start, Run, then type NOTEPAD A:\AUTOEXEC.BAT in the command line field. This will start the Windows Notepad program. Copy the lines from the "Sound Cards" section now. Then save the file by clicking on File, Save. Close Notepad by clicking on File, Exit.
STEP 6 - REBOOT THE COMPUTER
Leave the disk in the drive and restart the computer by clicking on Start, Shut Down, Restart the Computer. When Windows 95 is restarted, start CyberStorm.
SECTION 9: CONTACTING SIERRA FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE
Sierra On-Line has a full library of help documents available electronically. You can download them from the following sources:
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Additionally, you can get your document via our automated faxback service. Call (206) 644-4343, choose to use the automated technical support system and follow the voice instructions provided. You will be faxed a catalog of all of the documents that we have to offer and you will then be able to get the documents you need. If you prefer, you can also fax us at (206) 644-7697 with your document request.
If you prefer to get assistance from a technician, Sierra Technical Support will be happy to assist you. All of the online services listed above are staffed by Sierra technicians. Additionally, you can send e-mail to support@sierra.com.
Additionally, a Sierra Technical Support Support request form has been enclosed in case you wish to contact us via fax or U.S. mail. Simply fill it out and return it to us. Our fax number is (206) 644-7697 and our mailing address is:
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PO Box 85006
Bellevue, WA 98015-8506
For phone assistance, you can reach Sierra Technical Support at (206) 644-4343 between 8:00 am and 4:45 pm, Monday through Friday. Please try to be at your system or have a copy of a Microsoft Diagnostics (MSD) report from it when you call.
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