(I was looking to post this on the new VDMS board but I couldn't find it - maybe it isn't up and running yet?)

VOGONS -> Magrathea -> VDMSound -> General

But I'll move it for you... 😀

Stiletto

What is the *exact* error message?

V.

vladr wrote:

What is the *exact* error message?

V.

"There is no EMS driver installed! At least 1280K of EMS memory is required!"

Llewen wrote:

"There is no EMS driver installed! At least 1280K of EMS memory is required!"

Make a file called "showmem.bat".
Inside, only put this line:

mem /c | more

...then "Run with VDMS" the showmem.bat file or, if using Launchpad, you can also drag-n-drop it over the game's VDMSound shortcut to run it with the exact same settings as the game.

Paste the result in here, please.

V.

vladr wrote:

Make a file called "showmem.bat". Inside, only put this line: […]
Show full quote

Make a file called "showmem.bat".
Inside, only put this line:

mem /c | more

...then "Run with VDMS" the showmem.bat file or, if using Launchpad, you can also drag-n-drop it over the game's VDMSound shortcut to run it with the exact same settings as the game.

Paste the result in here, please.

V.

20971520 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes total available contiguous extended memory
16628736 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

This is the summary. There was a ton of other information but I don't know how to cut and paste from a DOS window and I wasn't about to copy the whole thing by hand. At any rate the reason for the problem seems to be clear. Who knows, this could be the same problem that mucked up X-Com Apocalypse.

To copy/paste from a DOS shell you need to run it in a window. Then, click and DRAG across what you want to be copied, and right-click.

Snover wrote:

To copy/paste from a DOS shell you need to run it in a window. Then, click and DRAG across what you want to be copied, and right-click.

Actually you have to choose mark from the "edit" option on the menu that pops up when you right click on the title bar for the window. Regardless, here it is.

1Conventional Memory :
2
3  Name                Size in Decimal       Size in Hex
4-------------      ---------------------   -------------
5  MSDOS              12256      ( 12.0K)       2FE0
6  KBD                 3296      (  3.2K)        CE0
7  HIMEM               1248      (  1.2K)        4E0
8  COMMAND             3168      (  3.1K)        C60
9  DOSX               34720      ( 33.9K)       87A0
10  FREE                 112      (  0.1K)         70
11  FREE              600352      (586.3K)      92920
12
13Total  FREE :       600464      (586.4K)
14
15Upper Memory :
16
17  Name                Size in Decimal       Size in Hex
18-------------      ---------------------   -------------
19  SYSTEM            221168      (216.0K)      35FF0
20  MOUSE              12528      ( 12.2K)       30F0
21  FREE               28384      ( 27.7K)       6EE0
22
23Total  FREE :        28384      ( 27.7K)
24
25Total bytes available to programs (Conventional+Upper) :      628848   (614.1K)
26Largest executable program size :                             600080   (586.0K)
27Largest available upper memory block :                         28384   ( 27.7K)
28
29  20971520 bytes total contiguous extended memory
30         0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
31  16628736 bytes available XMS memory
32           MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

Looks like you don't have the EMS driver installed.

Are you using the VDMSound GUI? If you were and you used the shortcut with the little music icon then the EMS driver would already be installed.

DosFreak wrote:

Looks like you don't have the EMS driver installed.

Are you using the VDMSound GUI? If you were and you used the shortcut with the little music icon then the EMS driver would already be installed.

This is what is confusing me. I am using the VDMSound GUI. I also have all the DOS memory options checked off as per the FAQ on the VDMSound website.

Llewen wrote:

This is what is confusing me. I am using the VDMSound GUI. I also have all the DOS memory options checked off as per the FAQ on the VDMSound website.

OK, first strat with the default VDMSound settings (i.e. delete any VDMSound shortcuts, do "Run with VDMS" with the LaunchPad so thet you get the Wizard, choose "default settings", and that's it). The default settinsg give you EMS. Now, if the game does not work with the default settings then repeat the "showmem" exercise above (since then there may be a problem with EMS on your computer). If everything is fine, though, default settings should run the game just fine.

Where in the FAQ is there a mention of checkboxes? If there is such a mention I'd like to take it off.

Where in the FAQ is there a mention of checkboxes? If there is such a mention I'd like to take it off.

Its in the FAQ for (I believe) the earliest version of VDMS. There's a picture of the proper memory settings for the pif. I will set them on default and see if that helps the situation. Maybe that was the problem with X-Com Apocalypse (although I'm not optimistic on that score).

vladr wrote:

OK, first strat with the default VDMSound settings (i.e. delete any VDMSound shortcuts, do "Run with VDMS" with the LaunchPad so thet you get the Wizard, choose "default settings", and that's it). The default settinsg give you EMS. Now, if the game does not work with the default settings then repeat the "showmem" exercise above (since then there may be a problem with EMS on your computer). If everything is fine, though, default settings should run the game just fine.

Tried everything you said, same result. Here's the cut and paste of the showmem.

1VDMSound DOS loader, version 2.01 (Aug 04 2001)
2Copyright (C) 2000-2001 Vlad ROMASCANU.
3
4VDMSound is covered by the GNU Public License (GPL), version 2 or later, as
5published by the Free Software Foundation, Inc. ([url]http://www.fsf.org/[/url]).
6
7Loading 'VDDLoader.dll'...
8
9E:\TRAY\INSTALL>mem /c | more
10
11Conventional Memory :
12
13  Name                Size in Decimal       Size in Hex
14-------------      ---------------------   -------------
15  MSDOS              12256      ( 12.0K)       2FE0
16  KBD                 3296      (  3.2K)        CE0
17  HIMEM               1248      (  1.2K)        4E0
18  COMMAND             3168      (  3.1K)        C60
19  DOSX               34720      ( 33.9K)       87A0
20  FREE                 112      (  0.1K)         70
21  FREE              600352      (586.3K)      92920
22
23Total  FREE :       600464      (586.4K)
24
25Upper Memory :
26
27  Name                Size in Decimal       Size in Hex
28-------------      ---------------------   -------------
29  SYSTEM            221168      (216.0K)      35FF0
30  MOUSE              12528      ( 12.2K)       30F0
31  FREE               28384      ( 27.7K)       6EE0
32
33Total  FREE :        28384      ( 27.7K)
34
35Total bytes available to programs (Conventional+Upper) :      628848   (614.1K)
36Largest executable program size :                             600080   (586.0K)
37Largest available upper memory block :                         28384   ( 27.7K)
38
39  20971520 bytes total contiguous extended memory
40         0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
41  16628736 bytes available XMS memory
42           MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area

Llewen wrote:

Tried everything you said, same result. Here's the cut and paste of the showmem.

This (i.e. no mention of EXPANDED/EMS memory), unfortunately, means that your system has a problem. In the past it has been observed that systems that have "bootable" cards (such as more intelligent SCSI cards, or even potentially some network cards) interfere with WIndows' DOS emulation and Windows is unable to provide EMS no mater what EMS options are given to it. The only way of working around this is to disable the "boot" option from the card in question (if possible disable it physically, with jumpers on the board, or move the card to another computer).

This is a Microsoft limitation/bug.

V.

vladr wrote:

This (i.e. no mention of EXPANDED/EMS memory), unfortunately, means that your system has a problem. In the past it has been observed that systems that have "bootable" cards (such as more intelligent SCSI cards, or even potentially some network cards) interfere with WIndows' DOS emulation and Windows is unable to provide EMS no mater what EMS options are given to it. The only way of working around this is to disable the "boot" option from the card in question (if possible disable it physically, with jumpers on the board, or move the card to another computer).

This is a Microsoft limitation/bug.

V.

So I can't run DOS programs that require ems because my hard drives are connected to my on-board Promise controller?!?! Unbelievable! So my options are, live without DOS programs, or stop using my Promise controller? Not your fault at all, but this pisses me off.

If you own a legal copy of Windows the I strongly suggest that you complain to MS. This is the only way that it will ever (if ever) be fixed. In the meantime please try DosBox at http://dosbox.cjb.net/

V.

Just wanted to say thanks again for all the help. I will try DOSBox and report back.

Oddly enough I had the same problem with DosBox. For now, I give. I'm back to the only options I will have for DOS programs will be a dual boot, or a hardware emulator.

That is weird beyond belief.

As I suggested on the X-men post, I believe, try updating your controller's firmware. Or, alternatively, get a motherboard with a built-in RAID controller, like the K7T266-Pro RU2 by Microstar. (I love this motherboard. It was a bitch to set up the RAID and Windows 2000 and stuff - - I ended up reformatting three times before getting it right) but it's worked like a dream.

Snover wrote:

That is weird beyond belief.

As I suggested on the X-men post, I believe, try updating your controller's firmware. Or, alternatively, get a motherboard with a built-in RAID controller, like the K7T266-Pro RU2 by Microstar. (I love this motherboard. It was a bitch to set up the RAID and Windows 2000 and stuff - - I ended up reformatting three times before getting it right) but it's worked like a dream.

As I stated on the X-Com 😀 thread, I have all the latest drivers for my hardware, including the controller. The controller is actually an integrated Promise RAID controller in Ultra 100 mode. I have two hard drives but they aren't identical, so RAID really isn't an option.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had to reformat and re-install more than once to get things right 😀. Seems to me that I have done that about three times myself. Until I ran into the DOS brick wall, I was also pretty happy with my motherboard and my set up in general.

At any rate I have fired off help requests/complaints to both Soyo and to Microsoft. I'm not optimistic, but maybe they will be able to provide a solution to the problem.