Important: To improve video quality in this product we recommend that you set your display to use more than 256 colors. Refer to section 9 of this Read Me for more information.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. System requirements for running Castle Explorer
3. Installing QuickTime¬ 2.5
4. Installing Castle Explorer
5. Performance problems
6. Running Castle Explorer with low memory
7. Sound problems
8. Screen size and color configuration
9. Printing and copying
10. Playing Video
11. Error Messages
12. Care of Compact Discs
1. Introduction
About Dorling Kindersley
DK Multimedia titles are available wherever CD-ROMs are sold. New titles will be available on a regular basis. For more information, contact us at DK Multimedia, 9 Henrietta Street, London, WC2E 8PS.
You may also visit us on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.dk.com
About this Read Me file
This Read Me file is designed to address most of the problems you may encounter when using Castle Explorer. Please take a look at the table of contents above to see if your particular problem is addressed:
If you are still having problems or need further technical support on any Dorling Kindersley product, please call the Multimedia Helpline with details of the problem, including any error messages that were produced, and the full specification of your Macintosh.
The numbers in New York, USA are:
Telephone: 1-800 DKMM 575
Fax: 212 213 5240
E-mail: DKMM@phantom.com
The numbers in London, United Kingdom are:
Telephone: 0171 753 3488
Fax: 0171 753 7575
E-mail: DKMM@dkmm.co.uk
2. System requirements for running Castle Explorer
The minimum computer specification required for running Castle Explorer is as follows:
Any Apple Macintosh with a 68LC040 25MHz processor or above, that supports a 640 x 480 pixel monitor displaying 256 colors, 8Mb RAM, double-speed CD-ROM drive and System 7.0 or later.
You will need 6Mb of hard disk space if you wish to install Castle Explorer onto your hard disk.
Castle Explorer also requires a certain amount of free RAM in order to run. You can check the minimum amount of free RAM required by Castle Explorer in the following way:
1. Insert the Castle Explorer CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Double-click on the Castle Explorer folder, then click on the Castle Explorer icon to highlight it.
3. From the File menu, select Get Info.
4. Under the memory requirements section, look for the figure in the Minimum Size box. This is the minimum amount of free RAM that Castle Explorer needs in order to run.
3. Installing QuickTime¬ 2.5
Even if you already have QuickTime¬ installed on your system, you should run the QuickTime¬ Installer provided on the Castle Explorer CD-ROM. The Installer will automatically detects which, if any, of the system components on your Macintosh require updating.
1. Locate the Install QuickTime¬ folder on the Castle Explorer CD-ROM, then double-click to open it.
2. Double-click on the QuickTime¬ 2.5 Installer icon, then follow the instructions that appear on your screen.
4. Installing Castle Explorer
Ñ Castle Explorer may be run directly from the CD simply by double-clicking on the Castle Explorer icon.
Ñ For improved performance, you can install Castle Explorer on your hard disk. To do this, drag the folder called Castle Explorer ─ to your desktop or a folder on your hard disk.
5. Performance problems
If Castle Explorer runs slowly or sound output is interrupted, try the following suggestions:
Ñ Running Castle Explorer with less than the minimum amount of free RAM can cause problems (see section 1, Minimum System Requirements for running World Explorer). If your Macintosh has more than the minimum amount of free RAM available (you can check this by opening the About This Macintosh dialog box from the Apple menu in the Finder), the program can be set to take advantage of this. To do this, first install the program on your hard disk (see section 3, Installing Castle Explorer). Select the Castle Explorer icon and choose Get Info from the File menu in the Finder. You can then use the Get Info dialog box to increase the amount of memory set aside for Castle Explorer. Allocating more memory to the program can improve performance.
Ñ Running Castle Explorer with your Macintosh in Virtual Memory mode can cause sound break-up. In Virtual Memory mode, your Macintosh uses a section of its hard drive to emulate RAM. Although this increases the free RAM available to Castle Explorer access to that RAM can be slow. For best performance, use the Memory control panel to turn Virtual Memory off and then restart your Macintosh. However, users who are low on memory may have no choice but to turn Virtual Memory on, despite the performance penalty incurred.
Ñ An old or slow CD-ROM drive will impair the program's performance. The only solution to this problem is to upgrade your CD-ROM drive.
Ñ SCSI termination problems can affect your CD-ROM drive. Your CD-ROM drive must be either internally or externally terminated. Consult your Macintosh documentation for more information on SCSI termination.
6. Running Castle Explorer with low memory
Castle Explorer requires a minimum amount of free RAM to run. You can check how much free RAM is required by doing the following:
1. Insert the Castle Explorer CD into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Double-click on the Castle Explorer Folder to open it, then click once to highlight the Castle Explorer icon.
3. From the File menu, select Get Info.
4. Under the Memory Requirements section, look for the figure in the Minimum Size box. This is the minimum amount of free RAM that Castle Explorer requires in order to run.
You can check on the amount of free RAM available by opening the About This Macintosh dialog box from the Apple menu in the Finder. If you do not have enough free RAM to run Castle Explorer, try the following suggestions to free up additional RAM:
Ñ Make sure you have only one application running at a time.
Ñ You may be able to reduce the amount of memory used by your system software by removing unused Apple menu items, fonts, extensions, sounds, etc. from your system folder. These items can occupy considerable amounts of memory and their removal may allow Castle Explorer enough RAM to run efficiently. Consult your Macintosh documentation for more information on how to remove these items.
Ñ If you still have less than the minimum amount of free RAM, you may have no choice but to allocate some hard disk space to work as Virtual Memory. You can set your Macintosh to use Virtual Memory by using the Memory control panel, found in the Control Panels folder within your System folder, then restart your Macintosh. Using Virtual Memory will, however, slow your Macintosh's access time to RAM and may cause sound and video breakup.
Ñ If your Macintosh is set to more than 256 colors you can reduce the amount of memory Castle Explorer uses by setting the monitor control panel to 256 colors. To do this, select Control Panels from the Apple menu, and then select Monitors. From the list of settings for your selected monitor you should choose 256 colors. Please not however, that this will affect the quality of videos in Castle Explorer, which look best in more than 256 colors.
Ñ Castle Explorer can be set to run in less than the recommended amount of RAM. To do this, first install the program to your hard disk (see section 3, Installing Castle Explorer). Select the Castle Explorer icon and choose Get Info from the File menu in the Finder. You can then use the Get Info dialog box to decrease the amount of minimum and preferred memory set aside for Castle Explorer. Allocating less memory to the program may allow the program to run, but will also affect the program's performance.
Ñ Do not set the preferred memory size to more than or equal to the amount of free RAM on your system as this may cause problems.
Ñ If Castle Explorer crashes, or freezes up, the most likely cause is a problem with memory. You should try the following solution:
1) Press ALT + APPLE + ESC to force Castle Explorer to shut down.
2) From the Apple menu, choose Control Panels, then Memory.
3) In the Memory control panel, make sure that the Modern Memory Manager is set to Off. DO NOT click Use Defaults.
4) Now restart your computer and try to run Castle Explorer again.
7. Sound problems
If Castle Explorer produces no sound at all, check the following points:
Ñ Use the Sound control panel to check that the sound volume level on your machine is turned up.
Ñ If you have external speakers, check that they are on and that their volume control is turned up.
Ñ If you wish to use either the internal or external speakers, make sure that you have not left headphones plugged in.
If Castle Explorer produces interrupted or distorted sound, check the following points:
Ñ If the sound volume level in the Sound control panel is set at maximum volume, it may cause sound to distort. The same problem may occur with external speakers set at maximum volume. Experiment with different volume levels until you find a comfortable sound level.
Ñ Running your Macintosh in Virtual Memory mode can cause sound breakup. In Virtual Memory mode your Macintosh uses a section of its hard drive as RAM. Although this increases the free RAM available to Castle Explorer access to sounds stored in that RAM can be slow. For best performance, use the Memory control panel to turn Virtual Memory off, and then restart your Macintosh. However, users who are low on memory may have no choice but to turn on Virtual Memory, despite the performance penalty.
Ñ The built-in speakers supplied with Macintosh computers vary in quality depending on the age and model of the machine. A poor quality speaker may cause distorted sound, especially at high volume levels.
Ñ Castle Explorer requires the Macintosh to have some spare memory available to generate the sounds. For this reason, do not allocate quite all the available memory to Castle Explorer when you start it up. See section 5, on Running Castle Explorer with low memory for more details on how to set the memory allocation.
8. Screen size and color configuration
Ñ Castle Explorer will run on any color monitor with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, and supports 256 colors or more. The program will work on a grayscale monitor, but is not designed to work in black and white.
Ñ Castle Explorer is not designed to run on multiple monitors. If you have such a setup, the program will run on your primary monitor only.
Ñ Setting your display to use more than 256 colors will improve the quality of videos in Castle Explorer (if your computer is capable of this). Select Control Panels from the Apple Menu, and then select Monitors. From the list of settings for your selected monitor, you should choose Thousands. If performance is adversley affected we suggest that you revert to 256 colors.
9. Printing and copying
Ñ Screens in Castle Explorer are stored and displayed as color pictures. They are optimized for screen rather than print reproduction. Screen images can be printed, however, and will be of the same quality as a picture made with a screen-capture function.
Ñ Black and white prints will be of poor quality. If you have a laser printer, better quality images will be achieved by using the color/grayscale option.
Ñ Both Print and Copy functions may be affected by low memory. Refer to section 5, Running Castle Explorer with low memory.
10. Playing Video
Ñ If Castle Explorer fails to play any video at all the most likely reason is that QuickTime¬ is not installed on your system. If you suspect that QuickTime¬ is not installed see section 3, Installing QuickTime¬ 2.5.
Ñ If the videos played in Castle Explorer are slow or jumpy this may be due to Virtual Memory being turned "on" on your Macintosh. Use the Memory control panel to make sure that Virtual Memory is switched off, then restart your Macintosh. However, if you are low on memory, you may have no choice but to leave Virtual Memory turned on. Networking can also cause a delay in access to video files. If your Macintosh is connected to a network, try disconnecting it.
Ñ You can improve the quality of videos in Castle Explorer by setting your display to use thousands of colors (if your computer is capable of this). Select Control Panels from the Apple Menu, and then select Monitors. From the list of settings for your selected monitor, you should choose Thousands. If performance is adversley affected we suggest that you revert to 256 colors.
11. Error Messages
Ñ If the error message "Unable to increase the system memory allocation" is displayed whilst running Castle Explorer, or if the error message "The application Castle Explorer could not be opened because QuickTimeLib could not be found" is displayed whilst starting Castle Explorer:-
1) Copy the Castle Explorer ─ folder onto your hard disk
2) Whilst no programs are running, find out the amount of free memory, by opening the About This Macintosh dialog box from the Apple menu, and noting down the "Largest Unused Block"
3) Set the preferred memory size of Castle Explorer to the value of the Largest Unused block minus 500k. To do this, select the Castle Explorer icon on your hard disk, and choose Get Info from the File menu in the Finder. You can then use the Get Info dialog box to decrease the amount of preferred memory.
This will allow the System Software to expand when it needs to.
12. Care of Compact Discs
Contrary to early reports, compact discs (CDs) are very easily damaged if treated carelessly. Such damage has a much greater effect on the digital data of a CD-ROM than on the information of a music CD. A dirty or damaged CD-ROM is quite likely to malfunction. With CD-ROM drives becoming ever faster and more disc-sensitive, this is becoming an increasing problem.
The surface of the disc can quickly gather dirt and is very easily scratched. To protect the data from scratches, fingerprints, dust particles, and smears, do not touch the readout side (unlabeled side) of the disc or place it face down on a hard surface.
Should the CD become dirty, clean it with a soft cloth lightly moistened with CD cleaning fluid or ethyl alcohol, working from the center to the edge. Do not use any type of solvent, such as benzine, lacquer thinner, anti-static agents or LP record cleaners as they may damage the surface.
Never leave the disc in a place subject to direct sunlight, high temperature or high humidity. Recommended storage conditions are:
Ñ Temperature: 10íC to 50íC (50íF to 122íF)
Ñ Humidity: 10 percent to 80 percent
Copyright ⌐ Dorling Kindersley, 1996. All rights reserved.
