VOGONS


First post, by Vipersan

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Please keep in mind I have little experience of DOS..
Basically ..I have a 4 x CD set of this game which I have tried to install to my GAMES hard drive on a win98se build.
Upon completion a popup expressly says ..do not run under windows.
I tried running it in a DOS window ..but of course it does not run.
I then tried resart in MS DOS mode from within 98 ..
I navigate to the 'MOON' diectory on D: where the game was installed ...and ran 'Moon'.exe
It will not run ..I assume on account I have no mouse or CD drive mounted now..
I had a think about this ..and figured ..it may run by starting from a system bootable floppy.
but although this has the option to start with CD enabled ..there still would be no mouse (ps2).
Is my logic sound ?
In short is there an image of a floppy disk out there with both CD and Mouse drivers enabled at start up ..with the needed drivers actually on the floppy ?
If not ..I guess I could make my own ..
IF I knew what I was doing.
Perhaps one of you guys actually has such a floppy ..and wouldn't mind imaging it for me ?
I'm guessing both Mouse and CD would load Hi in memory ?
any help would be appreciated.
rgds
VS

Reply 1 of 3, by Vipersan

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Still mighty confused here..
I plugged in a serial mouse ..then located a file on CD 1
Boot.exe
Which I assumed would collect all the needed info needed and create a boot floppy..
Well ..it sort of does this ..
ie makes a system boot floppy to start the Win98 computer in DOS mood ..
Examining the floppy it does indeed contain config.sys ..and autoexec.bat
But details are missing ..
Memory is catered for ..as is the sound ..
Autoexec has blaster details in it ..
but ..
no CD info and no mouse info ..
so these are not catered for..
Thus still no mouse or disc drive.
I daresay these could be added manually ..IF I knew how..
ok ..I hold my hands up ..
I haven't a clue regarding DOS..
perhaps one of you can help me here..??

My thoughts are that because I didn't install DOS before the windows 98 se OS ...this is perhaps why I'm having issues..
but no going back now I guess ..so just need to work with what I have ..and boot/start DOS games with a floppy.
rgds
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Reply 2 of 3, by Vipersan

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Ok ..given up trying to find an easy solution...and since I have a few DOS based games to install ..
figured I'd start over and hopefully build a dual boot system with win98se and DOS 7.1 ...
..and use Phils DOS starter ack ..which will hopefully add mouse and CD functionality in DOS.
I have another 120gb IDE drive on order for this experiment ..
since DOS7.1 can use a larger fat32 HD.
rgds
VS

Reply 3 of 3, by skitters

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Phil's webpage with the DOS starter pack at https://www.philscomputerlab.com/ms-dos-starter-pack.html
supplies downloads for mouse and CD drivers that will probably work for you,
but note that Phil says

This starter pack has been tested with MS-DOS 6.22 and 7.1. DO NOT install this starter pack in Windows 95 or 98 MS-DOS mode. It is meant for pure MS-DOS only.

That means you'll have to alter the config.sys and autoexec.bat he's supplied if you're using a default Windows 95 or 98 installation.

If you want to use Phil's customized DOS 7.1 installation (without Windows 95/98) he has a video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2SPlHzAcSI

Keep in mind you'll need DOS drivers for your sound card too.
Phil doesn't supply those on the starter pack webpage because they vary with the sound card.
Do you know what sound card your computer has?

Phil is using the line
LH C:\DRIVERS\CTMOUSE.EXE /R2
That means DOS expects to find the ctmouse.exe file in your C:\drivers folder
If you put ctmouse.exe in a different folder, adjust the path.

/R2 is a mouse sensitivity switch and whether you need the /R2 depends on the mouse you're using.

Phil uses videccd.sys as the CD driver.
The CD driver is loaded in config.sys and needs a corresponding line with MSCDEX in autoexec.bat.
Phil is using
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRIVERS\VIDECDD.SYS /D:OPTICAL in config.sys and
LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:OPTICAL in autoexec.bat

Just as with the mouse driver, the VIDECCD.SYS file needs to be where the line says it is.
If you put VIDECCD.SYS somewhere other than the C:\drivers folder -- adjust the line in config.sys so it points to the correct location.

The /D:OPTICAL associates the driver line in config.sys with the mscdex line in autoexec.bat, and the part after /D: can be pretty much anything, but has to match.
So you'll find samples on the Internet with something like /D:BANANA
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRIVERS\VIDECDD.SYS /D:BANANA in config.sys and
LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:BANANA in autoexec.bat

and I think the Windows 98 emergency boot floppy uses /D:MSCD001
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRIVERS\VIDECDD.SYS /D:MSCD001 in config.sys and
LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 in autoexec.bat
/D: is not the drive letter -- it's a switch.

If you're using Start-> Shut Down -> Restart in MSDOS mode in Windows 95/98, the mouse driver and MSCDEX line go in C:\Windows\dosstart.bat instead of C:\autoexec.bat. If you put the lines in C:\autoexec.bat, Windows 98 may move the lines to C:\Windows\dosstart.bat automatically.

If you're using a default installation of Windows 95 or 98, you may have noticed that you have no C:\DOS folder, so the MSCDEX line would be adjusted to C:\Windows\Command
LH C:\Windows\Command\MSDCEX.EXE /D:OPTICAL