If it's known to work in enhanced-mode Win3 with Win32s (which only supports a subset of the Win32 API) then try the cputype=486_slow or cputype=pentium_slow setting in DOSBox, and maybe memsize=31 if it's from the late 90's.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2023-04-23, 11:46:

If it's known to work in enhanced-mode Win3 with Win32s (which only supports a subset of the Win32 API) then try the cputype=486_slow or cputype=pentium_slow setting in DOSBox, and maybe memsize=31 if it's from the late 90's.

Many thanks for the help, but it still does the same thing. I already had memsize=31 in my DOSBox.conf, and I tried cputype=486_slow and cputype=pentium_slow, but had the same issues. When starting the game I get the error "Error reading airport information", and then a CTD when attempting to start a new or practice scenario.

P.S. The game indeed uses Win32s (as well as Wing, which I already had installed) as Win32s were installed when installing the game.

Screenshots below detailing the error and program crash:

(Update) I tried a bootable hard disk image for DOSBox of Tower. It includes a pre-installed version of MS-DOS v6.22, Windows 3.1 (with an S3 854 SVGA video driver installed, and W31 SB16 sound card drivers), and Tower. Tower actually starts and runs when ran like this, in a bootable hard disk image 😀

I'm running into a problem though: I can boot the hard disk image just fine in DOSBox, run Windows, and start Tower, but I get NO sound at all in Tower. I have sound in Windows 3.1 (e.g. playing MIDI files and WAV sound files in the Windows 3.1 media player, as well as hearing the Windows 3.1 system event sounds), but I hear NO spoken sounds in Tower.

Any ideas of what could cause this issue?

P.S. A quick side note (a strange thing): Tower actually has the exact same issues when trying to run it under Windows 10 that I described in my post above with the screenshots (two posts above)... the "Error reading airport information" error message, and then a CTD when trying to start a scenario. I just figured I'd mention that as well, I thought it kind of strange (?).

Does BAO Tower rely on the SB16 CSP device which is not emulated in DOSBox?

The voice from the tower works from a bootable W31 image. I tested with ems=false, umb=true, xms=true, sbtype=sb2.

Autoexec.bat is empty file. Config.sys has two lines only:
device=c:\setver.exe
device=c:\himem.sys

The SB 2.0 driver files are added to the image for access by W31 file manager.

Installed these W31 drivers only:
Creative Sound Blaster - MIDI
Creative Sound Blaster 2.0 Wave and MIDI
MIDI Mapper
Timer
[MCI] MIDI Sequencer
[MCI] Sound

Tested with the SVGA driver as modified by Japheth's patch, but the DOSBox recommended video driver with 256 colors is expected to work and not cause the audio issue.

MANY thanks for all of the info, hail-to-the-ryzen! 😀

I'm thinking that my issue might be the SB16 driver for Windows. I'm trying to install the SB2 driver, but the hard disk image doesn't have all of the original installation files for W31.

Is there a way to mount a local hard drive directory as a floppy drive and boot from a hard disk image at the SAME TIME? I couldn't find a way to do this. In my DOSBox.conf file I mounted a local hard drive directory as a floppy drive (that contained all of the original W31 installation files) and then booted from my DOS/W31 hard disk image, but I couldn't access the mounted "A" drive after booting the hard disk image.

Glad to help. 😀

It is possible to transfer the files by OSFMount, given it is compatible with the host OS. I believe there is another software that has the transfer function, too.

The other way is to start DOSBox by the mount command on a local directory with the sb2 files, along with mounting the hard disk image file with the imgmount command (with a drive letter instead of a boot order number). This should allow for the file transfer, but it has been a while since I tried this method.

An example of it:
mount c c:\dosbox\hdd -freesize 900
c:
imgmount d c:\dosbox\hdd\windows3.img

Many thanks for the help! 😀 I actually was able to transfer the files after I posted my previous message, similar to how you described. Mounting a local directory as a drive letter, imgmount-ing the hard disk image, and then starting DOSBox WITHOUT booting that hard disk image. Like that I was able to transfer over the required files.

Ran into another weird snag though: I tried installing the SB20 driver package (direct from CL's web page), as well as trying to install the SB1.0 and SB1.5 drivers that come with W31. For all of the above I get a W31 error message stating that the IRQ is not detected.

Really weird, as the SB16 drivers that were originally in the hard disk image and W31 work fine, only when attempting to install the W31 SB1.0 and SB1.5 (as well as the SB2 drivers that I downloaded) is when I get the error message about the IRQ. I even tried changing some of my settings in my DOSBox.conf file (sbtype, as well as IRQ), but still had NO luck with the SB1.0/SB1.5/SB2 drivers.

This is driving me NUTZ, as I've always considered myself a 'hell on wheels GURU' when it comes to DOS and W3x stuff, or at least I USED to be 🤣!

Any idea what could cause the IRQ problem?

P.S. I even did an UPDATE install of W3.11 with my W3.11 installer that I have archived (thinking that the IRQ issue might be somehow related to the existing W31 install in the hard disk image ), but ran into the same issue... the SB16 drivers that were in the original hard disk image worked fine, but the SB1.0/SB1.5/SB2 drivers had the same IRQ error message under W311.

The CRAZY thing is, the existing install that I have of DOSBox and W311 that I have literally used for YEARS (before attempting to run Tower), simply locally mounted with no hard image, works fine with the SB1.5 drivers that I have installed in that installation. Sound works fine in that install, Windows 3.11 sounds etc..., it's just that Tower won't run since it's W311 is not running from a bootable hard disk image.

I would make a copy of the Tower disk image as a backup. Then I would use the copy and imgmount it like done previously, but this time allow access to the Windows directory for W31 where the sound works (DOSBox would start in a local directory, along with a subdirectory for Windows).

It should be possible to replace the Windows directory in the Tower image with the Windows directory in the local directory - and then test again. It would require installing the necessary updates, like win32s, but at least it would provide a simple path to a working guest OS. I would also verify the autoexec.bat and config.sys files. They should conform to the suggestion above.

Also, verify the sb 2.0 driver files correspond to these files:

MIDIMAP.CFG 42250 4-03-92 Windows MIDI Map configuration OEMSETUP.INF 415 5-15-92 Windows setup file SB15SND.DRV 1489 […]
Show full quote

MIDIMAP.CFG 42250 4-03-92 Windows MIDI Map configuration
OEMSETUP.INF 415 5-15-92 Windows setup file
SB15SND.DRV 14896 5-15-92 Sound Blaster v1.5 Wave & MIDI Driver
SB20SND.DRV 14784 5-15-92 Sound Blaster v2.0 Wave & MIDI Driver
SBFM.DRV 12416 4-28-92 Sound Blaster FM Driver
VSBPD.386 5640 5-15-92 Windows Virtual Device Driver

MANY MANY thanks for all of the help, hail-to-the-ryzen! 😀 I FINALLY got it to work, WOOHOO!!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀

Based on the file list that you posted, apparently my problem was the drivers that I had downloaded. I stumbled upon the attached file of drivers, and they work!

I mounted the hard disk image without booting it, and locally mounted a directory where I had unzipped the files. I copied the files to the hard disk image, exited DOSBox, and then mounted and booted the hard disk image.

I then uninstalled the SB16 drivers that were originally included with the hard disk image, also deleting any related entries in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. I then exited DOSBOX, and edited my DOSBox.conf file to reflect an SB2 (sbtype=sb2). I then restarted DOSBox (mounting the hard disk image and booting it), and successfully installed the SB20 drivers.

Tower NOW works with sound!!! Again, MANY THANKS, and a BIG WOOHOO!!!!! 😀

Oh, and, what can I say... other than "ALL HAIL TO THE RYZEN" 🤣!

That is wonderful news! 😀

I am very glad that you have the sim working since it is one of a kind. I believe it also allows a connection to one fs5.1 client via the serial emulation, although it may not be an essential feature. I recall the sim has a readme about it and the use of share.exe to enable the network. Probably there are better server/client options in fs3 or fs4, however.

Yes, it's definitely one of a kind (just like Tracon/Tracon II/ATC for DOS and Windows) 😀 Wesson International really made some nice software products, and back in the day all of the above mentioned sims (including Tower) were used for real-world controller training.

Yeah, Tower could connect to Fs5.1 via null modem cable (I think network as well), and Tracon/Tracon II/ATC for DOS and Windows could connect to FS4. I had a lot of fun doing that back in the day as well 😀

BTW, this just jarred my memory, an experiment that I did quite a few years ago, running multiple versions of DOSBox simultaneously. Hehe, two copies of DOSBox v0.73 running simultaneously with "serial2=nullmodem" for Mallard Software and Wesson International's "Air Traffic Controller", and "serial2=nullmodem server:127.0.0.1" for Microsoft's "Flight Simulator v4.0b" 😀

P.S. MAN! I REALLY wish that I had hard disk images of my old long-since gone 486 DX2-100 -> http://jasonwilliams400com.startlogic.com/sno … _486DX4-100.htm ... THE THINGS THAT I COULD DO *NOW* with DOSBox 🤣! 😀

Thank you for the excellent recommendations. I think the nice advantage of FS4 and FS5 is that the propeller aircraft can be controlled with a keyboard. The jet aircraft in FS5 seem a bit more difficult to handle with the keyboard only. The use of flat textures also holds up better.

BTW, side question about mounted hard disk images in DOSBox: For the hell of it I ran Scandisk, and it reported lost clusters in the mounted/booted hard disk image. Note that I didn't let Scandisk fix them, but is it safe/recommended to let Scandisk fix errors that it finds in a hard disk image? Also, the same question about Defrag?

(Edit) I did actually run Scandisk and Defrag. Scandisk said it fixed the lost clusters and then did a full surface scan with no errors found. Defrag did it's usual thing, defragging the hard disk without any errors. That being said, I have my hard disk image backed up 'just in case'. So, back to my original question, is it safe to use the hard disk image that I ran the utilities on (everything seems to be working fine on it)?

It is not safe to use disk utilities (such as scandisk or defrag) on the image in DOSBox emulation:
Re: Scandisk on DosBOX.

I would delete the disk image copy which was modified by any disk utility. It is also a good practice to keep a backup copy of the Tower disk image which was not modified by these utilities.

One method to optimize the disk image - is to create a new disk image and copy the files from the original disk image to the new image. A new disk image may be created according to these instructions:
https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/IMGMOUNT#Hard_disk_images

The above instructions rely on the Bochs bximage program, which should have versions for Windows and other host systems. It may help to record the output from running bximage, along with the calculation for the sector size in bytes as described in the instructions at the above wiki web site. The instructions also recommend to run the disk utility "format.exe" to prepare the unformatted disk image, so this practice must be an exeption to running a disk utility in DOSBox. However, do not run any other disk utilities programs before or after format.exe.

It is also a good practice to use the official version of DOSBox and not another experimental build or fork for the procedure. The other builds are fine for normal use, but it adds another element of error into the above procedure that is well documented and I am sure tested.

Once the disk image is prepared, then test that it is bootable in DOSBox. Lastly, copy the files from the Tower disk image to the new disk image. Other than having two disk images so there is a backup copy, it may help to archive the Tower installation and the SB2.0 files outside the disk images.

Many thanks for the info, I'll do as you have described! 😀

Glad to be of some help!

I tried to redo the steps done here. I was able to remove the SB16 drivers, and installed my SBPRO ones, which work fine when I use DOSBox with a host directory mounted. However, when I boot this hard-disk image, even if I left the autoexec.bat empty, and the config.sys with the two lines mentioned, Windows doesn't play any sound after installing the SBPRO drivers. I went to DOS, tried with TEST-SBP.EXE (which comes with the SBPRO drivers) and it says it doesn't find a sound card at 220. What's going on? The same TEST-SBP.EXE works fine when I don't boot from this Tower image, as I said...

cress, did you use the driver's that I attached in one of my previous messages (post #11, Re: How to run BAO Tower? )? That fixed the issue that I was having