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problems.doc
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1995-02-13
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Known problems (and in some cases, fixes):
Not finding EGA in the detection routine:
Some older EGA video cards only have 64K of memory, more
is needed for the high-resolution animation in the FLIX software
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The software must be installed to your hard drive.
When installing the software, be sure to make a directory to put
the software into:
MD FLIX (Make a directory called FLIX, for example)
CD FLIX (Change to the FLIX directory)
COPY A:*.* (Copy the floppies to your hard drive)
When running the software, be sure to change to the directory
it has been installed into first (CD FLIX).
You don't have to do the above, but it prevents having a big mess.
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TSR's (Terminate and stay resident programs), that can "pop-up"
while other things are running can lead to unexpected results...
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GRASPRT.EXE is a DOS program (it is the run-time module for the
software). It is best to run the software under DOS, not WINDOWS.
Depending on your WINDOWS version and configuration, you may
experience problems. For instance, the sound for "Animated Words"
will be distorted when using the SoundBlaster with Windows 3.1
using multimedia extensions. You may have better results by running
windows in standard mode: start windows with WIN /S
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Some of the software is invoked from a batch (.BAT) file.
This may cause a problem with some menu programs (control not
returning to the menu after the FLIX program is run).
There are two possible fixes for this.
The easiest is to use the command CALL (which allows control to
return to the calling batch file - your menu) to prefix the
instruction you use in your menu program. For example: use CALL
SHAPES when running "Animated Shapes" from your menu, not just
SHAPES.
Another solution would be to bypass the .BAT file used to run the
FLIX software by using the contents of the .BAT file instead. To
see what is in the .BAT file use TYPE SHAPES.BAT (for example). In
this case it would tell you that SHAPES.BAT says GRASPRT SHAPES.
So instead of telling your menu program to use SHAPES, tell it to
use GRASPRT SHAPES to run "Animated Shapes".
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"The Animated Memory Game" is invoked with the AMEM.BAT file, not
AMEN.BAT (AMEM vs. AMEN)
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Digital sound for "Animated Words":
Can't hear the PC speaker very well, or it doesn't sound very good:
Some PC's have very small speakers located deep inside the cabinet
- they won't sound very good. The ability to play digitized speech
through the PC's speaker was not engineered into the design of
PC's, the ability to do it using RealSound, is going to vary
significantly depending on your hardware. I licensed RealSound to
get the best commercial-quality program to perform this trick.
What is the Covox Speech Thing?
It is a sound device that runs from the printer port (parallel
port) of your PC. The Disney Sound Source operates in a similar
manner. I am licensed to use the Disney Sound Source, but that
support is not available at this time, the GRASP/RealSound sound
drivers used do not support it and I would need to write my own
drivers. If the demand for that is great, an upgrade may be
implemented.
When the program is first run you will be taken through a set-up
process to determine the type of input device you want to use as
well as how the sound will be handled. Please be accurate when
telling the set-up routine what type of equipment (sound cards
etc.) you have installed. If you have an AdLib or Sound Blaster
compatible card (but is not a AdLib or Sound Blaster), one or the
other choice may work. If you experience difficulties, exit to
DOS, type RESET, and try again. If you need to change your set-up
(if you install a new sound card, for instance), type RESET to tell
the program about it.
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Programs that use SETUP. You need to run SETUP first to tell the
programs about your software (sound devices, input devices, etc.)
After that the program can be run normally, and you aren't asked for
this information again. If you need to change your setup
(if you install a new sound card, for instance), type SETUP to tell
the program about it.
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I do extensive Beta-testing, but the DOS world is somewhat
unpredictable, by the time you take a motherboard from manufacturer
A, and combine it with a video card from B, monitor from C, memory
from D, software from E, all the combinations become impossible to
test for....
__________________________________________________________________
Tom Guthery IV, 601 Ranch Road, DelValle TX 78617
(5/10/94)