Uriel_Dagda wrote:

while I found an old topic talking about it that was closed as "resolved"

Why not post a link to said topic rather than making other people search for it?
Menzoberranzan Refusing to load

As per the thread: are you using the floppy version, CD version, or version you downloaded randomly from somewhere?

To take a completely wild guess, perhaps INFO.DAT starts off as a plaintext file immediately after installation and then gets replaced by binary data later (perhaps after running SOUND.BAT). Try starting over fresh and following the instructions on the second page, step by step.

Have tested my CD version 1.00. The game is working perfectly w/o any info.dat editing.
But my version is standalone Menzoberranzan, not the cd from the Masterpiece Collection.

Info.dat is 17 bytes long and D: are the last two symbols in this file.

P.S. Have tested the 3rd cd from the AD&D Masterpiece Collection. Again, the game is working w/o any info.dat editing.
Mountings are:
mount c d:\dosbos -freesize 475
mount d j:\ -t cdrom
where d:\dosbox is my standard directory for dosbox games on my hdd, j - my dvdrom.

I finally dug out the original Menzoberranzan CD (I think I gave my hernia a hernia!) and got it working making an ISO with ImgBurn.. I don't know what it was.. I couldn't get the one from the Masterpiece collection to work. Tossed it in the garbage, now that I found the original..

It works, Thank the Gods, and I got the MIDI up and running with BassMIDI!! I feel like it's 1994 again!!!! Thought I'd never get to revisit it properly! 😀

Thanks guys, so much for offering the help. Wish I had thought to dig the original up before I posted and wasted people's time!

I also found my original disks for Blood, Quake, Hexen, Dungeon Hack, Anvil of Dawn and Ravenloft: Stone Prophet!!!

Ok, I have found another two versions of Menzoberranzan in my collection.
Gamefest Forgotten Realms (2001), cd 1/2. Windows-only installer. You can install game in Windows and play the game from the DOSBox, but - info.dat is using the cd-rom letter from the Windows (i: in my case). So - you must edit info.dat or mount the cd-rom at the same letter (mount i i:\ -t cdrom).
The Forgotten Realms Archives (1997), cd 4/4.
Working w/o info.dat editing (DOS installer, only 1 game on this cd).
I don't have The Forgotten Realms Archoves: Silver Edition, but IIRC this version is just standard edition + Baldur's Gate demo on the 5th cd.

So - it looks like only Gamefest version need info.dat editing, because of Windows only installer.

P.S. I have tested only Deluxe DOS installation (20 MB). Maybe Econo (11 MB) installation will not work, but I'm just lazy...

Uriel, don't feel bad. It was a legit problem 😉

Thanks, Dominius! I spent most of yesterday getting all the other games up and running.. After figuring it out with Menzoberranzan, the other's were a breeze... Looks like I'll be entertained for the next month or so.. Time to slip back into that mid 90's Time Machine! 😀