Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

About the only thing I can think of would be a program allowing direct hardware access (a no-no in XP) or a virus that doesn't work when in Safe Mode...that or Magic Radiation.

I have the same feeling about this. Some service or device driver is interfering with normal mouse and sound operation inside the NTVDM. In safe mode Windows loads only the essential drivers and services and you don't run into problems.

There is a list of usual things to look for in this cases: virus infection, anti-virus software, hardware test or hardware monitor utility (CPU temperature monitor, etc). I have never seen such programs interfere with the mouse, but VDMSound can be impaired by them.

Some of these programs are not easily located, but be sure to take a good look at the Add/Remove Programs utility in Control Panel, and remember to go to the Device Manager (under Control Panel, System), select "Show Hidden Devices" under the View menu and check the drivers that appear under the "Non-plug and play drivers" group.

Regards,

Condensing instructions on VOGONS (thanks to vladr and Nicht):

Try searching your system for "GIVEIO.SYS", or "TOTALIO.SYS", or "WINIO.SYS" files, and for any file that might have the string […]
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Try searching your system for "GIVEIO.SYS", or "TOTALIO.SYS", or "WINIO.SYS" files, and for any file that might have the string "Ke386" within it.

Search your HDD for *.sys files that contain the string Ke386 (make sure hidden and system files and folders are also searched). At least one file must come up, if it doesn't then the search didn't work properly (need to make sure it searches all .sys files, hidden or not).

do the following:

- right-click on your Windows folder (e.g. C:\WINNT)
- choose "Find" or "search"
- choose to find files named "*.sys" and that contain the following string:

Ke386

- optionally, repeat the step above, this time looking for the string:

SetTSSLimit

Does it find any files? (Thanks to Vlad on this one)

At least one file must contain ke386 on your system. The file is C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\videoprt.sys . Make sure that the search finds at least that file, then see if any other files are reported.

You're not looking for a file that has "Ke386" as part of it's name, but rather that "Ke386" appears as a string inside your files. You need to make sure it searches all .sys files, hidden or not.

An interesting note: Windows XP Home's Search fails to find a SYS file containing the string "Ke386" on my laptop, hidden or not, even though videoprt.sys exists in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\. Viewing videoprt.sys in Notepad finds "Ke386IoSetAccessProcess", "Ke386CallBios", "Ke386SetIoAccessMap", and "Ke386QueryIoAccessMap" though.

This seems to prove my theory that partial-string searching has been broken for years in Windows (ever since Win98 at least).

Hm, actually, searching for those strings finds nothing either. Perhaps Windows' Find does not search binary files for text, period?

[EDIT] Looks like. Opening videoprt.sys in Notepad, saving it as videoprt.txt (standard text file Save settings) found it. Copying videoprt.sys into the same folder I saved the text file to, it did not find it. Even using the funny characters the commands had next to them and searching for it ("äKe386IoSetAccessProcess") did not work. I could be wrong, but we may need to suggest a search utility like a Win32 build of GREP and a batch file that lets it search the whole C:\ drive, or the WINDOWS directory, or something. Maybe this:
http://www.wingrep.com/

Vlad, take note.

Hmmm, search works fine for me in Win2k, wonder if the "Allow indexing service to index this disk for fast file searching" has anything to do with it (unlikely - in my case it's enabled, so I don't think it breaks anything), or if WinXP's search has been broken (M$ $marta$$e$ trying to add Unicode support or something like that... though I'm pretty sure it already existed in Win2k so why would it break now?) Unless there is an option somewhere for WinXP's find...

I guess I'll just have to write a program... darn, someone remind me over the weekend, by e-mail.

Cheers,
V.

I turned off the indexing service because it's just a waste of resources. Sometimes I use the Windows search feature, but more often I just open a DOS prompt and do something like:

DIR C:\*386* /S /A /P

This would search the entire C: drive for any file (hidden or otherwise) containing 386 in the name, and pauses whenever the screen gets full (more or less). It's faster and it doesn't do goofy things.

Well first I tried the virus scan. Sure enough, it turned up a spybot. Says it's caused by Kazaa, but I haven't installed Kazaa since I rebuilt the system. Removing that didn't fix anything.

I checked the non Plug 'N' Play drivers. I've got quite a few of them, but are there any in particular I'm looking for? They don't really have descriptions of what they do. I can list them if it'll help. Is it OK to delete the few that are greyed out?

I'm having the problems searching the system files. It doesn't turn out any matches, but sure enough that video driver has the string in the file. No GIVEIO, WINIO, or TOTALIO. I checked the advanced search options and checked "Include System Files".

Cush

HunterZ wrote:

DIR C:\*386* /S /A /P

This would search the entire C: drive for any file (hidden or otherwise) containing 386 in the name, and pauses whenever the screen gets full (more or less). It's faster and it doesn't do goofy things.

Actually in this particular circumstance it does an extremely, unbelievably goofy thing. It searches for files that have 386 in the name, whereas in reality you are supposed to be looking for files that contain Ke386 *inside* them (their contents, not their name!) So no, DIR won't cut it here!

Yeah, I caught that too, that's why I didn't use that method...I just did a search in Windows.

Cush

Ah, I didn't catch that you were trying to search within a file. For that, the only DOS utility included with WinXP that comes close is the FIND command. Unfortunately it can't search subdirectories as far as I can tell, so you'd have to check each directory/folder one at a time. Still probably reliable and faster on the automated end of things though (although I don't know if FIND works well on binary files).

Originally posted by Unregistered Says it's caused by Kazaa, but I haven't installed Kazaa since I rebuilt the system.

Hrrmm...

...but sure enough that video driver has the string in the file.

Which one does it have?

This is starting to sound like a "format and dual-boot install" solution to me. By installing Win9x, you would have a working OS and you could test to see if something similar happens on the Win9x side of things. If not, you can start with a basic install of XP (New Install-not Upgrade, XP will create the DualBoot menu for you) on another partition. Immediately after installing, check those DOS titles.

With each item you install, create a "Restore Point" in XP and do a quick DOS test again. The first time you see the "bad behavior"
again, make note of what caused it then restore your OS. Hopefully, it's nothing "critical".

Schadenfreude wrote:

Try searching your system for "GIVEIO.SYS", or "TOTALIO.SYS", or "WINIO.SYS" files, and for any file that might have the string "Ke386" within it.

I can't say it's mandatory, but any device driver used to gain low-level access to the hardware should have a ".sys" or a ".dll" extension, so the search can be faster if you limit it to files named "*.sys" or "*.dll".

vladr wrote:

Hmmm, search works fine for me in Win2k, wonder if the "Allow indexing service to index this disk for fast file searching" has anything to do with it (unlikely - in my case it's enabled, so I don't think it breaks anything), or if WinXP's search has been broken (M$ $marta$$e$ trying to add Unicode support or something like that... though I'm pretty sure it already existed in Win2k so why would it break now?)

The search works for me under Windows 2000, regardless of the "Allow indexing service..." setting. This setting should only be related to the Indexing Service, and AFAIK the Search facility in Windows Explorer does not depend on it. I even tried to search with this setting enabled and disabled, and videoprt.sys was found every time.

You are also right about Unicode support. All Win32 libraries and system calls work with Unicode since Windows NT 4.0 (maybe since 3.5x, but I can't verify this right now), so this should not be an issue.

Regards,

Yeah, I might have to format the whole drive this time and go for broke. I think I've hit a new low point. Rogue doesn't even run. Again, it's like Edit, it runs in a window, but as soon as you go to full screen, it locks. And for those who don't know, Rogue definitely doesn't use a mouse.

I imagine someone else here has the latest nVidia drivers, 44.03 and I doubt they're the ones causing problems in DOS. The string I found in videoprt.sys was the "Ke386".

I need to try DarkSun again and see if it makes it through the intro or if it just locks in full screen now. That's the only game that made it through anything before showing a mouse cursor and freezing.

Then I need to give up and just nuke the drive.

Cush

Originally posted by Unregistered Yeah, I might have to format the whole drive this time and go for broke. I think I've hit a new low point. Rogue doesn't even run.

Ouch.

I imagine someone else here has the latest nVidia drivers, 44.03 and I doubt they're the ones causing problems in DOS. The string I found in videoprt.sys was the "Ke386".

The videoprt.sys file probably isn't the cause. Apparently it's legit to be in this file: showthread.php?s=&threadid=1778&highlight=Ke386

Then I need to give up and just nuke the drive.

Hrmm...would be nice to isolate what is causing the problem first...but of course, you covered just about everything.

Like I said, I'd recommend an 8Gig or less Win9x install, then test your titles. If they work there, you'll always have a fallback, even if XP fails you.

Yeah, looks like that guy in the linked post had a similar problem. I read it before and checked to see if I had any of the same system files he did, but I don't. I need to use whatever it is he's using to search his directory, because the Windows search tool doesn't work for me.

I'm in the same boat with you, Nicht. I'm probably going to do the Windows 98 thing, but I'd sure like to figure out what caused this. At one point I was happily running all my DOS stuff under XP without incident.

Cush

Originally posted by Unregistered I need to use whatever it is he's using to search his directory, because the Windows search tool doesn't work for me.

PowerDesk by VCOM (formerly by OnTrack) has a FileFinder that is very flexible and gives you options that SEARCH doesn't have. Just remember it doesn't automatically wildcard your searches like XP's search does... (IOW, "fish" will only turn up files named EXACTLY like "fish"), but it won't exclude it's searches from "protected" files/areas either.

BTW, PowerDesk itself is a handy Explorer/File Manager substitute. I especially like the option to use "generic" icons, which save loads of time for long file listings. BTW, the free version will advertise the Pro version when you start it up or quit from time-to-time. Don't worry, it's not Adware, just a Nag for the Pro version (which by the way, also has some nice additional tools).

I'm probably going to do the Windows 98 thing, but I'd sure like to figure out what caused this. At one point I was happily running all my DOS stuff under XP without incident.

True. It's just...well...what haven't you already covered?

OK, I'll give Powerdesk a shot. Would be worth it to see if my problem can be solved like the person above's problem. I don't think it's quite the same though; I get problems with or without VDMSound.

I'm not sure what I haven't covered. I built the machine in March. I haven't added any new hardware that wasn't there when DOS was working properly. I only formatted my system partition, but I don't see how software on other partitions would affect NTVDM. I originally thought it was the mouse issue with the Logitech driver, but a format should've taken care of that. Now it looks like the error occurs as soon as I hit fullscreen mode. Rogue and Edit both work until I hit Alt-Enter. Anything else that goes to fullscreen mode on its own freezes.

Software installed would be:
Service Pack 1.0a
Other critical updates
Recommended compatibility update
DirectX 9.0a
Motherboard drivers (HyperThreading, USB support, LAN, etc)
Latest nVidia drivers
USB scanner drivers

...everything else is applications. Office 2000, Photoshop, a few games, etc. Nothing that wasn't installed the first time around except the nVidia drivers were updated between then and now and I'm sure a couple critical updates have been released. I don't have any real odd hardware;

Sony DVD/CD drive (Microsoft drivers)
PS/2 Keyboard and PS/2 Mouse (Microsoft drivers)
Onboard RealTek AC'97 sound
GeForce 4 Ti4800SE
Logitech USB Gamepad (Microsoft drivers)
USB Scanner
21" Trinitron monitor (Microsoft drivers)
Onboard LAN

As you can see, most of the stuff doesn't need 3rd party software to install. The USB stuff comes and goes as you plug it in and unplug it, but by and large, I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary.

If I do end up doing it all from step one, step by step, you can rest well assured that I'll document each and every step and test constantly. The offending piece of software or driver will either be cursed or physically destroyed with many disparaging remarks about the parentage of the offending company.

Then I'll finally have a chance to find the Amulet of Yendor again.

Cush

OK, I used PowerDesk to search.

Files containing Ke386:

videoprt.sys (in c:\windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\)
videoprt.sys (in c:\windows\system32\drivers\)
winio.sys (in c:\windows)

Nothing with SetTSSLimit.

Does that mean anything?

Cush

Originally posted by Unregistered Files containing Ke386: videoprt.sys (in c:\windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\) videoprt.sys (in […]
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Originally posted by Unregistered Files containing Ke386:

videoprt.sys (in c:\windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\)
videoprt.sys (in c:\windows\system32\drivers\)

Ok, we know about those. These are apparently legitimate.

winio.sys (in c:\windows)

Does that mean anything?

*BING!* *BING!* *BING!*

I think you've found the winner:

I've come across this text:

WinIo v1.2 Direct Hardware Access Under Windows 9x/NT/2000 Copyright 1998-2000 Yariv Kaplan http://www.internals.com ---------- […]
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WinIo v1.2 Direct Hardware Access Under Windows 9x/NT/2000 Copyright 1998-2000 Yariv Kaplan http://www.internals.com
------------------------------------------------------------

The WinIo library allows 32-bit Windows applications to directly access I/O ports and physical memory. It bypasses Windows protection mechanisms by using a combination of a kernel-mode device driver and several low-level programming techniques.

Under Windows NT, the WinIo library can only be used by applications that have administrative privileges. If the user is not logged on as an administrator, the WinIo DLL is unable to install and activate the WinIo driver. It is possible to overcome this limitation by installing the driver once through an administrative account. In that case, however, the ShutdownWinIo function must not be called before the application is terminated, since this function removes the WinIo driver from the system's registry.

Of course, it's been mentioned before so I guess I should've caught it:
showthread.php?threadid=1758&highlight=winio.sys
showthread.php?threadid=1292&highlight=winio.sys

So the question is, what program is using it and is there a work-around (so you can still use the program.

Well I did a search for those three files in XP and they didn't turn up. Only with PowerDesk. I don't care what uses it; that piece of hardware or software will deal with it...🤣. I'm not at home, and I haven't tried it, but does this file only lock up VDMSound or does it lock up any attempt to run DOS games? Looks like both from that 2nd thread you posted because I have the same problem; lock-ups with or without VDMSound.

Cush

That was it! I renamed WINIO.SYS to WINIO.BAK, rebooted and Wolfenstein 3D loaded up like a charm. Amazingly, we've got this one nailed nearly a month after the original post. You guys are great. This board's got great support. After it was pointed out that this wasn't really the appropriate forum for the problem, I posted on the board at dosgames.com and didn't get a single response.

I still have no idea how WINIO.SYS showed up on my system, but I guess I'll find out eventually what breaks. I haven't done any EXTENSIVE testing, but Police Quest 1 VGA and Inherit The Earth are now loading up. I'll be checking out a few more games to be sure.

I posted WINIO.SYS on my personal web server at http://64.83.14.64/winio.sys

Do evil things to it. Insult it and make disparaging remarks about its mother. Be creative.

Just an aside; when you install and/or run VDMSound, it might not hurt to check for the presence of these files. Seems like Windows XP Pro doesn't do the job in the built-in search.

Cush

Unregistered wrote:

Well I did a search for those three files in XP and they didn't turn up. Only with PowerDesk.

If you are using the file search from Windows XP (aka the "Search Companion") you have to click on More Advanced Options and then select the options named "Search System Folders" and "Seach Hidden Files and Folders". Otherwise, it won't look for files with the hidden or system attribute and won't look for files under C:\Windows and below.

I don't care what uses it; that piece of hardware or software will deal with it...🤣. I'm not at home, and I haven't tried it, but does this file only lock up VDMSound or does it lock up any attempt to run DOS games? Looks like both from that 2nd thread you posted because I have the same problem; lock-ups with or without VDMSound.

Winio.sys is mostly used by hardware diagnostic programs or hardware monitors, such as temperature and fan monitors. This kind of driver is known to cause problems with VDMS and I never did a full test to know if they interfere with normal DOS programs, but this is very likely.

Regards,