Originally posted by Unregistered ...the cd-rom it says it can't find it even though that's what I am running from!

Welcome to NT. The better installers out there will still let you install, even when you receive this kind of error.

I found out some new info...the games ONLY say I don't have cd-roms if I RUN WITH VDMS!! Somebodies gotta know something about this. C'MON BABY!

You didn't mention it so can we presume you've install the GUI Launchpad for VDMSound as well as "Update 1"? If not:
showthread.php?threadid=1226

Presuming you have Launchpad, "Enable Low-Level CD-ROM support" on the properties of the game's VDMSound shortcut (.VLP) This is needed for titles that require the presence of MSCDEX (DOS needed this for CD-ROM access).

If I don't run with VDMS "ripper" for example will just quit on me (even with compatibility, ...

That is for Windows titles, don't expect it to work for DOS titles.

Just so you know, there is no DOS in XP...at all. What you have in the VDM is a command prompt with some emulation of DOS features in it, but not all. There's also a primitive form of SoundBlaster emulation in XP's VDM, but it's inferior to that of VDMSound.

Even with NT's version of MSCDEX, some titles will refuse to "see" the CD-ROM that's why Sauro Puccini has been working on a MSCDEX replacement.
showthread.php?threadid=503

It's still in early testing, so I'd recommend using it primarily when you have no other options. (Activate in the "GUI" Launchpad by getting the VLP properties, click "Advanced", "DOS Environment", then type SAPUCDEX in the AUTOEXEC.BAT window.)

Just remember, you can't have both MSCDEX and SAPUCDEX at the same time. One or the other.

Hopefully, that's clear...I'm really lacking in sleep right now...

Welcome to NT. The better installers out there will still let you install, even when you receive this kind of error.

You mean windows NT? I have xp. The installer for the paticular game I have...err the game is called ripper it's the one with Christopher Walken and it's like 6 cds.

You didn't mention it so can we presume you've install the GUI Launchpad for VDMSound as well as "Update 1"? If not:
showthr...p?threadid=1226

Oops sorry if I didn't mention that, the answer is I do have those things.

Presuming you have Launchpad, "Enable Low-Level CD-ROM support" on the properties of the game's VDMSound shortcut (.VLP) This is needed for titles that require the presence of MSCDEX (DOS needed this for CD-ROM access).

THANKS! I ran this on bureau 13 setup (with enable low-level cd-rom support) and it DID detect my cds and still run fine. However when I did the same thing for the game I was having the problem with it decided to quit to windows DAMMIT! I also did tried setup with custom settings and NO CHANGES and it just said no CD-ROMs detected. So I guess it does work but then it causes another error. I said this would be challenging 😉

Just remember, you can't have both MSCDEX and SAPUCDEX at the same time. One or the other.

Thanks I'll try that, but I can have both installed I just can't use both at the same time?

Also anything you can help me with about my other problem?
It was with a game called bureau 13. What happens is I can get the sound and music to work using VDMS with the program however I only get 1 sound then no others (but music consitantly works fine). My guess is something goes wrong with the first sound (even though it seems fine) then ruins all the others.

Anyways THANK U keep it up if you can

You mean windows NT? I have xp.

WinXP is WinNT 6.

Isn't XP more like NT 5.1?

Originally posted by Unregistered You mean windows NT? I have xp.

*heh* XP is basically the first "consumer" version of NT. Start up a command prompt, type in VER, and hit Enter. It will report your OS and it's version, mine being Version 5.1.2600. IIRC, Win2K was version 5, NT 4 was version 4, etc...

DOS/Win9x are dead.

...the game is called ripper it's the one with Christopher Walken and it's like 6 cds.

Yes, we've heard of it:
showthread.php?threadid=263

showthread.php?threadid=788

showthread.php?threadid=939

There seem to be mixed results with this title.

Oops sorry if I didn't mention that, the answer is I do have those things.

Good. Makes "tweaking" much easier.

I ran this on bureau 13 setup (with enable low-level cd-rom support) and it DID detect my cds and still run fine. However when I did the same thing for the game I was having the problem with it decided to quit to windows...

You enabled low-level support for the game as well? If so, it sounds like there's a problem with the game itself.

...but I can have both installed I just can't use both at the same time?

Right. BTW, you place SAPUCDEX in your Windows "System32" directory.

It was with a game called bureau 13.

I would probably need to find my Bureau CD and try it myself.

C:\Documents and Settings\BIWWY~1~BIW\LOCALS~1\Temp\~VLP720B.PIF

Invalid program file name, please check your pif file. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

Ok I get this while choosing "enable low level cd rom support"

Let's forget about SAPUCDEX for the moment (it just quits to desktop when I run it for this game anyways). Let's also forget about the bureau 13 prob for now, don't worry I'm sure I'll come back to it 😉

The thing about the directory is that isn't even the login I use and there are no files in it including the "~VLP720B.PIF" what ever the heck that is. Could this be a computer problem?

BTW RIPPER reads just fine on my friends XP computer but he has sound probablems which I can fix with these awesome programs.

I also can't access "system volume information" this may have nothing to do with it, but then again may not. Thanks.

It's a temporary PIF file created by LaunchPad. It looks like you're trying to use LaunchPad to run a game that has spaces in its pathname (a known but not well-documented bug). Move the game to a path without any spaces in it (e.g. D:\GAME).

Note that the path is stored in the LaunchPad shortcut, so you'll need to either change the path in your LaunchPad shortcut, or delete the shortcut and recreate it from scratch.

Originally posted by Unregistered
I also can't access "system volume information" this may have nothing to do with it, but then again may not. Thanks.

Under Windows XP this folder is where the System Restore prog stores it's data. Understandably the permissions are only set for "SYSTEM" access to avoid accidental deletion.

Originally posted by Unregistered Invalid program file name, please check your pif file. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

Ok I get this while choosing "enable low level cd rom support"

HunterZ already covered this, it's a problem with the directory name. Get in the habit of treating DOS titles in XP as if you were running them in DOS6 on an emulator in XP, that means stick with DOS file naming conventions for directories and files, set the SoundBlaster IRQ to 5 or 7 (whenever possible, use 7 for VDMSound, XP is already using 5) not 9 or 10, etc...

This lessens the likelihood of something "breaking" due to you using Windows standards instead of DOS.

Alright I tried d:ripper and it still didn't work 🙁

Anyways for now let's move on to the other problem...

I have Bureau 13 it is NOT a cd version. The music works fine and so does the sound but after the very first sound is made I will never hear any others unless I restart the game. I am running with VDMsound and everything (or else it won't even start). There is also some info in my previous posts but I tried to get everything here. Thanks.

Originally posted by Unregistered Alright I tried d:ripper and it still didn't work

I've yet to find mine, so I can't say one way or the other.

I have Bureau 13 it is NOT a cd version.

I'm not quite sure if mine would be considered floppy, CD, or a hybrid. It's from a game magazine CD, supposedly the "full version". Does not need the CD present to play and when I attempt to access the "Info on Mixed-Mode CD" it tells me about the music tracks on the CD version (which aren't there).

However, when you leave the CD in the drive, it will an intro for the game, then for the mission. It also has voice samples for just about everything. Hrrm...

Anyway, this is another case of "reach for the Ibuprofen". Bad results, and worse yet, inconsistent bad results.

The extra CD material won't work unless low-level CD-ROM support is used. With VDMSound it runs just fine with SB16 sound. Unfortunately, it seems to lock up after the intro's.
That's not relevant for you, but it will be for any CD version.

The music works fine and so does the sound but after the very first sound is made I will never hear any others unless I restart...

I got the same reaction. I thought for a while that this might be an audio bug caused by fast processors. This one was a pain to check as I tried many different configurations in an attempt to get a better response and found that it was very difficult to get running in DOS/Win9x with sound. Most came back with error messages that wasn't configured for the right sound card (this included all the times I let it auto-configure). Finally got it running right on a 486-66 to confirm how it was supposed to run.

Mostly bad news, but this is what it all boils down to:

DosBox: Won't run. Generates a huge number of errors, before bombing out with a CPU error (actually, there's future hope here as it only needs a 386 and the program didn't crash instantly. It might be workable even before the 486 support arrives).

VDMSound: Runs fine for music FM or Roland MIDI. First sound effect will play properly, then no sound effects at all. Needs low-level support for intros & voice (locks up after intros).

Native XP: Native emulation will not play any music-FM or Roland MIDI. All sound effects play properly. No 16-Bit audio support, and the quality of SoundBlaster emulation is really poor.

Haven't exhausted every possible combination, but it doesn't look good. For right now, it seems like a choice between poor sound effects and no music, or music with no sound effects.

One other thing. Apparently the combination of this game with VDMSound and the Launchpad is doing something nasty. I'm getting this Launchpad crash when quitting the game.

It seems that the best configuration right now, is to choose the Basic SoundBlaster for sound effects, then get the properties from your .VLP shortcut, click "Advanced", click the SoundBlaster tab, then change the DSP version to "1.05 SoundBlaster 1.x".

This allows for repeated sound effects. Might try a logging on this... Hrmmm.....

Oh sure, Nicht gets 3 posts in a row but Snover compains when *I* do it 😉 Good luck getting it to work - sounds like one of those problem child games.

He can hurt me. 😜

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

It seems that the best configuration right now, is to choose the Basic SoundBlaster for sound effects, then get the properties from your .VLP shortcut, click "Advanced", click the SoundBlaster tab, then change the DSP version to "1.05 SoundBlaster 1.x".

This allows for repeated sound effects. Might try a logging on this... Hrmmm.....

THANK YOU NICHT (again!) All I did was run it via VDMS launchpad (as usual) but used custom settings and selected soundblaster 2.0 (even though that isn't what setup is configured for). But don't care about any of that because it works...for now 😉