Uncle Reno at 20:14, 3 June 2010

2010-06-03T20:14:06Z

DrBeeb at 01:21, 4 April 2010

2010-04-04T01:21:19Z

DrBeeb: /* 5.4) Trouble with Win95 */

2010-04-03T23:47:49Z

‎5.4) Trouble with Win95

DrBeeb: Created page with '== 5) Technical Information == 5.1) Slowing down old games on a PC 5.2) Getting the various Elites 5.3) Problems running First Encounters 5.4) Trouble with Win95 * 5.4.1) Fro…'

2010-04-03T23:47:09Z

Created page with '== 5) Technical Information == 5.1) Slowing down old games on a PC 5.2) Getting the various Elites 5.3) Problems running First Encounters 5.4) Trouble with Win95 * 5.4.1) Fro…'

New page

== 5) Technical Information ==

5.1) Slowing down old games on a PC

5.2) Getting the various Elites

5.3) Problems running First Encounters

5.4) Trouble with Win95
* 5.4.1) Frontier Elite II
* 5.4.2) First Encounters

----

=== 5.1) Slowing down old games on a PC ===

There is an excellent software utility called Mo'Slo which allows you to
reduce your PC processor speed to a specified percentage of its maximum.
It is available from
http://www.hpaa.com/moslo/moslotry.htm
It works a treat. Note that it has recently been updated to use less
memory and produce slightly more slowdown per percentage.

=== 5.2) Getting the Various Elites ===

A vast number of classical Elites can be downloaded from Ian Bell's
WWW page.

Emulators are recommended for all except ArcElite. Note then that there is
an Archimedes (ARM2 - ie a fairly slow one) emulator somewhere on
http://www.nvg.unit.no/bbc/emulators.html#ARM2
It runs Archimedes Linux, very slowly, and no-one has got it to run
ArcElite yet. Solution: Buy an Archimedes.

Commander Jades (aka Graham Thurlwell) has a good guide as to obtaining
Frontier Elite II and First Encounters on his WWW site.
http://www.jades.org/getffe.htm
The patches are on the download page -
http://www.jades.org/download.htm
which is worth a look even if you haven't got FFE yet.

As for any other version, I'm afraid you're on your own.

=== 5.3) Problems Running First Encounters ===

If you just can't load a commander file, I'm afraid that's tough. There's
a bug that means every now and again a commander is generated that won't
load. Always use the incremental filenames so you have a backup.

If you can't run the actual game, here's a list of things to consider:

i) FirstEnc will not run in Win95 or under QEMM.EXE or other protected
mode memory managers because it uses its own, somewhat argumentative one.
This was fine at the time because Win95 wasn't out then, but now it's a
problem. Either select 'shutdown' then 'restart the computer in MS-DOS
mode' or run it in pure MS-DOS mode by selecting this from the F8 menu at
startup or from a boot disk with minimal drivers (try just HIMEM.SYS and
your mouse driver, and CD-ROM driver if you use the CD version).

ii) Do you have the latest patch version? V1.06 is now available from
http://www.jades.org/getffe.htm
http://www.stratec.ca/FFE3/jffes/download.htm
Note that this patch disables videos in the CD-ROM due to incompatibility
with some video cards.

iii) Are you using the CD-ROM version? If so, you should really think
about trying the floppy version. Having payed for the game, you are
entitled to have a working version, after all. Check out
http://www.jades.org/getffe.htm

=== 5.4) Trouble with Win95 ===

First, a few terms. Back in the dim and distant past of MS DOS, memory
was divided into 2 main regions: Base and upper. Frontier Elite II
uses only base memory and requires rather a lot of it. First Encounters
is capable of using upper memory - programs that do this utilise what
is known as "a DPMI handler". Win95 contains one of these, built in. So
does First Encounters. They are not happy cohabiters.

'''5.4.1) Frontier Elite II'''

When you run a DOS game under Win95 it creates an environment the
program cannot tell from a genuine DOS boot-up. Unfortunately, this
means including the device drivers (which enable your computer to do
things like use the CD ROM drive or mouse in DOS). These take up some
base memory. If you have too many drivers, there will not be enough
base memory for Frontier to run.

First, if you've been messing around with the memory settings in the
MS-DOS shortcut, delete it. Then read on:

There are 2 solutions:

1) Remove some DOS drivers.
Under Win95, there is no need to have any of these loaded to utilise
your devices, except if you boot the computer to the command line or
shut down and restart in DOS mode. If you work exclusively in the
Windows environment, you can edit your config.sys and autoexec.bat
files and comment out (prefix with "rem ") any lines that appear to
load code for hardware (and some software - e.g. do you really need
that Display Doctor power management system? Win95 can turn off the
monitor too...). This will free up more base memory.

To check how much you actually have available, go to a DOS box and
type "mem". The figure we are concerned with is the largest
executable program size. Typing "mem/c/p" lists drivers and the
amounts of base and upper memory they are using.

If you have troubles with your system, remove some or all rems.

For more confident users, consider prefixing lines which run
programs from autoexec.bat with "lh " to reduce the amount of base
memory they take.

2) Create a boot disk
This is better for those not willing to perform surgery on their
boot files and for those who regularly use a pure DOS environment.
Format a floppy disk, flagging the "copy system files" box (or
from DOS type "format a: /s"). Create the following files on it
using edit or notepad:

'''Config.sys'''

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM
DOS=HIGH,UMB

'''Autoexec.bat'''

lh c:\mouse\mouse (or whatever the command for your DOS mouse
driver is -you'll find it by loading either
c:\autoexec.bat or c:\windows\dosstart.bat
into notepad or edit)

Reboot the computer with this floppy in drive A: and run Frontier
from DOS.

'''5.4.2) First Encounters'''

This game can not in any way be run from the Windows environment.
You must either "shut down and restart the computer in MS-DOS mode"
(the option off the shutdown menu) or create a boot disk as
detailed above.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:14, 3 June 2010
Line 147:		Line 147:
	== Links ==		== Links ==
	Back to: [[Alt_Fan_Elite_FAQ]]		Back to: [[Alt_Fan_Elite_FAQ]]
		+
		+	[[Category:Classic]]
		+	[[Category:FE2]]
		+	[[Category:FFE]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:21, 4 April 2010
Line 144:		Line 144:
	(the option off the shutdown menu) or create a boot disk as		(the option off the shutdown menu) or create a boot disk as
	detailed above.		detailed above.
		+
		+	== Links ==
		+	Back to: [[Alt_Fan_Elite_FAQ]]

@@ Line 122: / Line 122: @@
 using edit or notepad:
-'''Config.sys'''
+''Config.sys''
     DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
@@ Line 128: / Line 128: @@
     DOS=HIGH,UMB
-'''Autoexec.bat'''
+''Autoexec.bat''
     lh c:\mouse\mouse   (or whatever the command for your DOS mouse

AFE FAQ5 - Revision history

Uncle Reno at 20:14, 3 June 2010

DrBeeb at 01:21, 4 April 2010

DrBeeb: /* 5.4) Trouble with Win95 */

DrBeeb: Created page with '== 5) Technical Information == 5.1) Slowing down old games on a PC 5.2) Getting the various Elites 5.3) Problems running First Encounters 5.4) Trouble with Win95 * 5.4.1) Fro…'