BUG 1/BUGCD1996_0708.ISO/pc/zabava/squirt/squirtsw.exe/HELP.TXT

Text File | 1996-02-08 | 13KB | 324 lines

                               SQUIRT v1.0
                            Shareware Version

                  Copyright 1996 Innovative Applications


Troubleshooting:


1.) Memory problems

  If you are trying to run SQUIRT and you have Windows 95 installed, please
read the next section that deals with Windows 95.

  Because of the limitation of the DOS operating system, there is a limit
of 640k of RAM available.  So it does not matter whether you have 4 megabytes
or 32 megabytes of RAM in your computer.  The only thing that matters is how
the first 640k is configured.

  This configuration occurs right when your computer boots up when you turn
it on.  When the computer is starting up, it reads two text files
from your C: drive.  One is called CONFIG.SYS, and the other is called
AUTOEXEC.BAT.

  Because making changes to your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file on your
C: drive is risky, we recomend that you make a bootable floppy disk.  Then you
can boot DOS from your floppy disk.   Then the computer would be reading the
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files from the floppy disk instead of your C: drive.

  Once the computer tells you that the boot disk is done, you may reboot
your computer.  Leave the floppy disk in the A: drive, and reboot.

  Make sure that you are actually rebooting from your floppy drive.  Most
computers are setup to try booting from the floppy disk if there is one in
the A: drive.  However, some are set to always boot from the C: drive, even
if there is a floppy disk in the A: drive.  In that case, you must go into
your computer's BIOS setup, and change the boot order.

  After booting from your floppy disk, you should have your computer
configured in the correct way to use SQUIRT.
If you want to check on how much DOS memory is available, type the word
'MEM' at the DOS prompt.  You should have at least 2.5 Megabytes of EMS
RAM, and your 'Largest Executable Program Size' should be around 600,000
bytes.

  The other very important line in your config.sys is the FILES=30 line.
If this number is too small, the game may act erratically.


2.) Running SQUIRT on a system with Windows 95 installed

  By modifying your settings, you can get SQUIRT to run well under Windows
95.  The following is a step by step process that will accomplish this.

  It is assumed that you have already opened a MSDOS prompt window and
installed SQUIRT on your hard drive.

step 1:
  Open the 'My Computer' window on the Windows 95 desktop.

step 2:
  Double click on the C: drive icon.

step 3:
  Find the WINDOWS folder and double click on it.

step 4:
  Find the program COMMAND.COM.  It might be easier to find if you change
the view from icon view to 'list' using the VIEW pulldown menu.  Click on
COMMAND.COM only once to select it.  DO NOT RUN it by double-clicking.

step 5:
  Goto to the FILE pulldown menu, and select the menu item called 'Create
Shortcut'.

step 6:
  Drag the new shortcut that you just created out of the Windows folder onto
the Windows desktop for easy access.

step 7:
  Close the Windows folder for a better view of the desktop, and then RIGHT
click on the newly created shortcut.  By clicking with the right mouse button,
you will get a little pop up menu.  Select the item 'Properties'.

step 8:
  Along the top of the Properties window for the new short cut, select the
tab called 'Program'.

step 9:
  Click on the big button in the lower right side of the Properties box that
is labeled 'Advanced..'.

step 10:
  Click on the checkbox that is labeled 'MSDOS mode'.

step 11:
  Click on the button in the lower right called 'Configuration'.

step 12:
  If a warning box comes up, just click on the 'Yes' button.

step 13:
  On the configuration window, turn on the Expanded Memory checkbox.

step 14:
  On the configuration window, turn on the mouse checkbox.

step 15:
  Make sure the other check boxes on the configuration window are turned off.

step 16:
  Click on the OK button of the configuration window.

step 17:
  Now the advanced properties window should be active again.  There are two
white text editing areas on this window.  The top is for the local CONFIG.SYS
that this shortcut will use.  Find the line in this top edit box that has
the word Emm386.exe on it.  Add the word NOEMS to this line.  Make sure you
put at lease one space before the NOEMS word.  After completetion, the
line should look like the following:

DeviceHigh=c:\Windows\Emm386.Exe NOEMS

step 18:
  Click on the OK button to close the Advanced Properties window.

step 19:
  Click on the OK button to close the main Properties window.  Now the main
Windows 95 desktop should have the focus.

step 20:
  You may rename the shortcut to the name 'SQUIRT' if you like.

step 21:
  Double Click on the shortcut.  This will restart your computer in MSDOS
mode.

step 22:
  When your computer reboots into DOS, type the command MEM to check on
available DOS memory.  Look at the number given for 'Largest Executable
Program Size'.  It is recommended that 580,000 or bigger to run SQUIRT.
If have at least 550,000 bytes, you can run SQUIRT, but you will have
less memory for your textures.

step 23:
  Type the following at the DOS prompt:

cd squirt
squirt

  SQUIRT will now start up and run.



CONFIGURING Sound for Windows 95

  Most Sound Blaster compatible cards require a DOS driver to be loaded
at boot time.  If this DOS driver is not loaded, the card will not behave
as a Sound Blaster card, and therefore SQUIRT will not be able to recognize
the sound card.  This will result in an error occuring whenever sound is
requested.

  The bad news is that these drivers will be ignored when any DOS box running
under Windows 95 itself.  However, in the above steps that allow a simulation
of the true DOS environment by rebooting, you CAN have your DOS sound card
drivers be loaded, and therefore have your sound work.

 What you will need to do is find out the lines in your basic CONFIG.SYS
file in your c:\ directory that deal with the sound card.  For example, for
the Sound Blaster 16, there might be a line in your CONFIG.SYS file:

DEVICEHIGH=C:\SB16\DRV\CTSB16.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:5

  In the above steps, the word NOEMS was added to the shortcut's CONFIG.SYS
edit box.  This is the box where the sound card driver line must be added.

 The tough part about doing this is finding out what to put on this line.
Typically, the correct sound card DOS drivers were present in your
CONFIG.SYS file before you installed Windows 95 on your system.  In this
case, these lines are probably still present in your C:\CONFIG.SYS file on
your computer.

  In this case, you can just print out that file on your printer, and look
for lines in your CONFIG.SYS file that have to do with the your sound card.

  Since many CDROM devices are connected to sound cards, you might not have
to copy any device drivers that pertain to the CDROM aspect.  For example,
the following lines DO NOT need to be included in order for your sound card
to function:

REM do not need these CDROM lines
DEVICE=C:\SB16\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS
DEVICE=C:\VMEDIA\SANYOCD.SYS /D:MSCD000 /F:M /B:310

  The purpose of not including these lines is to leave more memory available
for SQUIRT.

  The basic problem here is that many sound cards will have different drivers,
and we can't tell you which is the correct line.  We really wish that sound
cards weren't like this.  If there were any way to automate the process for
you we would have done it.

  If you need help, you may want to consult your sound card manual.  The
part of interest will the DOS drivers.  If the manual does not help, please
call your sound card technical support number.  They should be able to help
you get the DOS drivers to work by adding the proper lines to your
Properties box for the shortcut created above.

  There is some discussion of the same issues here for MS-DOS non-Win95
users in the section that follows.  Since the No Sound section deals with
MS-DOS users, they are discussing the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files in
the C: drive.  In the Windows 95 case, the above assumes the changes will
be make to the config.sys section of the Properties Advanced box.




3.) No Sound

  This product depends on having a sound card installed in your computer that
is 100% compatible with the original Sound Blaster card.  Most sound cards
today meet this criteria, but not all.

  Most sound cards require a driver program to be loaded in your CONFIG.SYS
or AUTOEXEC.BAT files.   Many sound cards require a few lines in BOTH
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.

  What these lines do is load the Sound Blaster compatibility driver when
your computer starts up.  If you are running Windows 95, you will need
to load these drivers in your Properties Advanced config.sys text box.
For help with this, see the Windows 95 topic in this document.

  There are so many sound cards out there, that our boot disk program
can't be smart enough to identify the lines in your C: drive CONFIG.SYS
and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.  If your sound card requires drivers, then it will
be up to you to copy these lines from your C: drive's config files to the
config files on your boot floppy.

  You can do this with the DOS 'EDIT' command, or if you have IBM DOS, it
would be the 'E' at the DOS prompt.  Or, if you are more confortable in
Windows, you can fire up Windows, and use the notepad editor to copy the
lines from your C: drive config files to your floppy disk.

  NOTE:  Be very careful not to mess up the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files
on your C: drive.   If you change the contents of these files on your C:
drive, your computer may become unable to start up properly.

   Usually, many modern sound cards put a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file
like the following:

set blaster=A220 D1 I5 T3

  Many times, a driver will be loaded before or after this line.  But it is
also likely that there is a line in your CONFIG.SYS that needs to be
copied too.

NOTE:   There are some drivers which may appear to be sound releated, but
they are only for the CD option, or for Windows, and you should NOT waste
your precious RAM with these (Of course we are only talking about your
BOOT disk.  You will still want these for normal booting.

For example, never load 'mscdex' in your floppy version:

c:\proaudio\mscdex.exe /d:mvcd001 /m:10 /v

  If the game product works, but it refuses to allow you to select sound,
or perhaps you get a Critical Error message whenever you try to select
sound, then either your sound card is not Sound Blaster compatible, or
else the drivers still aren't there at boot time.   Print out both your
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT from both floppy and C: drive, and look harder
for the sound drivers.

  Also, study your sound card manual, or call your sound card company.

  If you don't get any error messages, and it never complains, but you
do not hear any sounds, then perhaps the volume is set too low.  Most sound
cards today come with utilities to change the volume settings on the card.
We provide the program 'VOLUME.EXE' which allows you to change the volume
settings on cards that are 100% compatible with the Sound Blaster Pro.

  Other sound cards will require volume utilities that come with the card.




4.) Sound and music don't sound right

  Try running VOLUME.EXE which is provided with the game.




5.) Mouse Problems

  The most common problem with the mouse when booting from the floppy is that
the mouse driver needs a full pathname.




6.) Error Messages or Erratic Behavior

  If you get Critical Error messages, here are some common causes:

1.)  If you ignore the low-memory blue warning screen, and select option
2 to try to run the product anyway, you are asking for trouble.  All sorts
of critical errors or crashes can result from running out of RAM.

2.) Critical Error 174 results when there is no subdirectory.  SQUIRT
requires a DATA subdirectory.  Sometimes SQUIRT is set up incorrectly and
there is no data subdirectory.  Try re-installing SQUIRT.

3.) Critical Errors and crashes can occur if the line in your CONFIG.SYS
file in your C: drive has the FILES=30 set to a lower number than 30.  If
the FILES= line is non-existent in your CONFIG.SYS file, or set to a value
lower than 30, the product will not function.

4.) If you can't get the product to work, try playing with the sound off.

5.)  There is only one Video Card known to incompatible with SQUIRT, and
that is the Matrox Impressions card.