The Business Master (4th Edition)

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The Business Master (4th Edition) / The Business Master - 4th Edition.iso / files / grapties / multimed / install.exe / PROBLEM.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-07-29 | 13.8 KB | 286 lines

PROBLEMS Other Problems If you have problems, experimentation is the number one way out. However, I have compiled a few ideas that may help: It is rare but possible to lock up your computer with The Multimedia Workshop (as with any program). Simply reboot and try again should this happen. As always, your picture file will be saved to the most recently drawn element. Here's a couple of things I haven't yet worked out for this version: * There are TSR's which are incompatible with any graphics program which can change from one graphics mode to another, such as The Multimedia Workshop. The one which I found most troublesome was one called CLK.COM which puts a little digital clock in the upper right corner. It locks up the system even though not visible while The Multimedia Workshop is running. * TSR's are often not equipped to pop up properly within graphics programs. For instance, even the well-regarded SIDEKICK causes funny stuff when popping up in a VGA screen. You can simply ignore the effects (random red lines) by selecting something from the VIEW menu after using Sidekick and similar programs. I have heard of three computers in all computerdom which do not manage to work with MSHOW.EXE when presenting in video mode 6, VGA-HI 640 x 480 x 16-color. The computers want to interpret the files as EGA instead of VGA. I was able to test one of these computers (Leading Edge 386SX-20 laptop with VGA LCD and 2mb RAM) but did not yet find out why it won't work! It would at first glance seem to be a memory management problem, but when I duplicated (and then surpassed) the limits on that computer's RAM with my own computers, the problem did not appear. On a similar 386SX-20 laptop by another manufacturer (ULTRA) also running DOS5.0, there is no problem. Still working on it folks... The Multimedia Workshop is designed to fit within 640k RAM along with one or two medium size TSR's, but with less RAM or big TSR programs you might have a space problem. VGA-HI 640 x 480 x 16 mode 6 is especially finicky about available RAM. If you don't have enough space in memory, try dumping your TSR's. Many times you have TSR (Terminate Stay Resident) programs taking up part of your RAM. They are invoked from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you have a pop-up multipurpose program such as SIDEKICK, you might have to delete it's call from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are running The Multimedia Workshop from within a menu or shell program, and have memory space problems, try running it directly from DOS without the shell program. If your computer has 1mb or more RAM, yet you are having low RAM problems, don't be alarmed. This is common and usually easily remedied. When this happens it usually means TMW cannot have access to the higher RAM because MS-DOS (Version 5.0) is loaded low, and/or you are using TSRs or other programs low instead of in high or UMB RAM, or you have used all available high RAM with a large SMARTDRV.SYS allocation, ramdisk or other RAM management software. See your DOS manual for more information. If you have only one 360k floppy disk and no hard disk, you can dump the documentation files (MANUAL.EXE, *.DOC, and BOOK.CFG), and you don't need MSHOW.EXE until you are ready to put together a final product disk. This will leave some room for your picture files. You need only keep the .MMF files corresponding to fonts you will actually use in your presentation. If you have no room for the MANUAL.EXE, BOOK.CFG and *.DOC files on your main disk, make sure to make another containing these files so you can easily read the TMW documentation. If you don't have a hard disk, and The Multimedia Workshop writes to the disk too slowly to suit your tastes, you can create a small RAM disk with RAMDRIVE.SYS, or VDISK.SYS which comes with MS-DOS. This will speed up TMW considerably since it will write to a picture file stored in RAM and not on a floppy disk, but if you lose power or have a lock-up, you'll lose your picture file, so back it up to the floppy frequently. Keep the RAM disk small, perhaps 64k or so, because TMW needs most of 640k RAM to work properly. In some multitasking environments, such as MS-Windows, it may be possible to juggle enough programs that you end up with choppy sound effects. Should this happen, merely exit programs you are not actively using or reapportion 100% of CPU time to TMW. If you install a WAIT FOR USER in your presentations, remember that it is there, or you will seemingly lock up your system or your end user's system until a key is pressed. TROUBLESHOOTING CHART 1. Computer locks up: a. Have you forgotten about a WAIT FOR USER which you may have put in your script file? b. Try eliminating TSR programs. Mode 6, VGA-HI is particularly needy about all available RAM. c. Have you edited a picture file with a text editor? It is possible to make mistakes which will foul up the program. Delete the file, use a backup copy and try editing again. d. Perhaps you have tried to use a .PCX file which is incompatible with the current video mode. PCX is a whole family of specifications, and some PCX files may be entirely incompatible with The Multimedia Workshop. e. Some computers will not support the .EXE speech files. Most XT-class computers, and any older AT-class machine which runs slower than 8 mhz will lock up if you try to use the .EXE speech files. f. In most cases, simply reboot and try again. 2. Sounds are choppy, animations are clunky: a. You are probably using a multi-tasking program such as MS-Windows. Simply allocate 100% processor time to TMW and MSHOW. b. In animations, always move as small an area as possible. 3. Picture fills up with one color or pattern. a. A FILL has gone wild. The border around a filled area must be complete. Even one pixel missing from a border will cause the fill to leak out and temporarily spoil your picture. If necessary, select UNDO, and try again. b. You may be running a script file which is not designed to work with your video hardware. 4. Picture is squished into a corner of the screen, or only a portion of the picture is visible on the screen. a. This happens when there is confusion about which graphics mode is being used. Make sure to use pictures or modify libraried pictures to fit the main picture graphics mode. b. If editing a picture file with an ASCII editor, make sure the "mode" statement on the very first line of a picture file matches the mode you intend to use. c. You may be trying to use a .PCX file in the wrong video mode. 5. Almost all fonts look alike. a. If The Multimedia Workshop cannot find the external font files, *.MMF, all will look like DEFAULT Font. The appropriate .MMF file(s) for the font(s) in your presentation must accompany your files on disk. More important, MSHOW.EXE must also have access to the .MMF files when required to present typefaces you have put into your presentations. Otherwise, the text you have used in your pictures may be wildly out of proportion. 6. Colors are all goofy. a. You have imported a .PCX file which automatically changes the color palette. If necessary, you can manually change it back with CHANGE PALETTE, in the SET menu. 7. Hyper-links won't behave properly, or you can't get them to do some neat tricks you'd like to have: a. Look at the EFX menu for sophisticated features used in controlling the flow of hyper-links. 8. The program plays the same section of a script file over and over again. a. You have a line in the script file which begins with 'l', the code for LOOP. 9. An undesirable pause occurs while playing a sound effect or animation. Your script file is longer than 16384 bytes long. The program must stop and read more of the file from disk to refill the RAM. If you put a 'b' in the script file (on a line by itself), which is the code for BREATHE IN, before the sound effect or animataion sequence, you'll force the program to read the next section of the script file, and then you have room for another 16384 bytes of continuous, uninterrupted action. 10. A .PCX file causes the message "Video mode not supported by this computer." The Multimedia Workshop works with all standard .PCX files, but it is a very flexible standard and some files are non-standard. The program will attempt to accommodate the unusual ones, but problems such as this may result. 11. A .PCX file causes the menus and all printed pop-up messages to be off-centered. See note #10, above. 12. An end user reports that MSHOW doesn't run properly. a. They do not have sufficient equipment. For instance, you may have created a presentation in a VGA mode, and they may have CGA. b. Their computer is using lots of RAM. This usually matters only with VGA-HI 640 x 480 mode 6 video mode. This mode requires almost every bit of 640k low RAM or needs access to high RAM. Have end user remove unneeded TSRs and shell programs. 13. The Multimedia Workshop reports that there is not enough RAM for the current video mode. a. Mode 6, VGA-HI 640 x 480 x 16 color requires either almost all of 640k low RAM or access to high RAM. Try removing TSR and shell programs that you don't need, or make sure that high memory management is clear. A common problem is that MS-DOS version 5.0 is not managing high memory as you think it is. (Use MEM/C for full report) If you have 2mb RAM, and you set SMARTDRV to use 1mb, guess what? all your high RAM is actually spoken for! See your DOS manual for more details. 14. Super-VGA doesn't work. a. 1mb of video RAM (VRAM) is required. b. Video card capable of Super-VGA is required. c. There is considerable variety in the way SVGA is created from one video card to another, and most, but not all SVGA cards are supported. 15. Annoying hesitations: a. If you experience hesitations while running TMW under MS-DOS 5 or 6, disable the write-caching option in SMARTDRV.EXE or SMARTDRV.SYS. This hesitation is usually nearly invisible with most software, but may be noticable in multimedia applications like this one. 16. All other problems: a. Try again. b. Think. c. Always make backups. d. Ask a friend who enjoys computer challenges. BUGS Oh yeah, in a program of this magnitude, there are bound to be some surprises, and not all of them good! Please let me know what problems you find because I'm continually updating The Multimedia Workshop. If you have a script file which behaves abnormally, I would love to see it. Please send me a disk containing something which may be a bug, or for which you would suggest improvement. It would also be helpful if you delete all non-related files from the disk you send me, and send a quick paper-based explanation of the problem. _____________________________________________________________ end of chapter.