VOGONS

Common searches


Can’t run Simon the Sorcerer

Topic actions

Reply 20 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Kalle wrote on 2024-11-15, 10:56:
Yes, it is. In fact, if you install it from CD, configure the sound card and then start it, it should run without problems. I wa […]
Show full quote

But is it not able to mount/load from the CD drive?

Yes, it is. In fact, if you install it from CD, configure the sound card and then start it, it should run without problems.
I was just saying that if you want to play it without CD, you need to alter the batch file. Just copying the files to hard drive won't work.

And you mean open up SIMON.BAT in a text editor?

Yes, that's how you edit batch files.

Still complains about DIGPAK unloaded or something.

No. The message about the sound driver being unloaded is normal and not an error message. You always get it when exiting the game.
In your case the game doesn't run at all, hence you get that message right after trying to start it.
In my case, I got that problem when I tried running it without the CD, hence I suspected the problem to be there.
But you installed the game from the CD in pure DOS, correct?

I'm also confused by your first screenshot. Something like DOSKey is normally loaded by the autoexec.bat. The LOCK part I don't know, but I don't see where you typed in SIMON. The SIMON.BAT itself wouldn't load doskey. When did you get that screen? When typing in simon from pure dos?

I've still yet to experiment with this some more a bit later, but from what I remember that was in DOS. But via Start > Shutdown > Restart in MS-DOS. Also, I've not been able, or seen any files, to suggest I can type in just 'SIMON'. I thought it was always followed by .EXE etc? I think I did try installing it from DOS, but then it complains there's nothing in the CD drive, I think. When I play around with it again, I'll try taking some more screenshots and uploading them.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 22 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Joakim wrote on 2024-11-15, 15:52:

Are sure that the cd driver is loaded? Usually it is D: just type that and dir and see if it spins up and the disk contents are showing.

It's E: in my case as D is my second HDD. But I swear when I've typed E, it says Bad command or file name.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 23 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
eddman wrote on 2024-11-14, 23:55:
The game works with the following: […]
Show full quote

The game works with the following:

[config.sys]

DEVICE=C:\DOS2\VIDECDD.SYS /D:OPTICAL

[autoexec.bat]

MSCDEX /D:OPTICAL
C:\DOS2\MOUSE.COM /p4

You can use other CD and mouse drivers though (those two are not included with windows). Note that with larger drivers you might have to also load EMM386 to freeup the base memory.

Okay, I’m not sure what I would need to put instead of OPTICAL and MOUSE.COM /P4. I tried adding what you put but neither worked for me. If they’re not included with Windows though, that’s hardly surprising.

I’m also trying to figure out how to load DOS up on boot. I managed to enable Boot Menu in msdos.sys, but that only gives me the option to choose Normal, Command Prompt and Safe Mode.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 24 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
sfryers wrote on 2024-11-14, 18:36:

Try disabling EMS memory in your config.sys file:
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS

This has worked! The game is playing. This is the Windows 95/98 version though. Not the original DOS one. The graphics were also a bit messed up during the credits.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 25 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I’ve also noticed a strange issue at times where CDs are not auto booting like they should.

If I get the auto boot of Simon 1 to load, and click Play from there, it tends to lock up the whole system with an illegal operation for some reason.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 26 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Joakim wrote on 2024-11-15, 06:04:

I believe this game requires quite a lot of conventional memory as well. this part of the memory is shared with the drivers you also need. This can be fixed by loading drivers into the high memory area.

I’m still not sure how you do that. 😅

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 27 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Rebooted the PC and it says XMS Manager is not present.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 28 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Currently looking into getting the CD drive working in DOS. I’ve read I need to put my Oakcdrom.sys file from my boot disk into DOS’ folder, but I don’t know where that is. Where can that be found on Windows 98 SE?

I’ve added the necessary commands in the autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, too.

But as you can see, DOS does not recognise my CD drive at all…

IMG_3760.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3760.jpeg
File size
1.67 MiB
Views
566 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later

Also, here’s the results of MEM:

IMG_3758.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3758.jpeg
File size
1.75 MiB
Views
566 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later
IMG_3759.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3759.jpeg
File size
1.78 MiB
Views
566 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 29 of 125, by eddman

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-15, 17:58:

Okay, I’m not sure what I would need to put instead of OPTICAL and MOUSE.COM /P4. I tried adding what you put but neither worked for me. If they’re not included with Windows though, that’s hardly surprising.

I've attached the drivers here.

Filename
mouse and CD drivers.zip
File size
26.9 KiB
Downloads
20 downloads
File license
Public domain

You can create a "DOS2" folder in C: and put them there. You wouldn't need to change my posted configurations then.

"OPTICAL" doesn't need to change; the driver filenames are the ones that do. In this case they are "MOUSE.COM" and "VIDECDD.SYS", so not needed.

I’m also trying to figure out how to load DOS up on boot. I managed to enable Boot Menu in msdos.sys, but that only gives me the option to choose Normal, Command Prompt and Safe Mode.

"Command prompt only" IS DOS.

I have to see the content of your config.sys and autoexec.bat, considering you had not edited them previously (since you didn't even know what they were). Wonder what was in there.

Reply 30 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
eddman wrote on 2024-11-15, 20:45:
I've attached the drivers here. […]
Show full quote

I've attached the drivers here.

Filename
mouse and CD drivers.zip
File size
26.9 KiB
Downloads
20 downloads
File license
Public domain

You can create a "DOS2" folder in C: and put them there. You wouldn't need to change my posted configurations then.

"OPTICAL" doesn't need to change; the driver filenames are the ones that do. In this case they are "MOUSE.COM" and "VIDECDD.SYS", so not needed.

I’m also trying to figure out how to load DOS up on boot. I managed to enable Boot Menu in msdos.sys, but that only gives me the option to choose Normal, Command Prompt and Safe Mode.

"Command prompt only" IS DOS.

I have to see the content of your config.sys and autoexec.bat, considering you had not edited them previously (since you didn't even know what they were). Wonder what was in there.

Ah. I was under the impression the Command Prompt is a separate entity from DOS. ^^;

But thanks, I'll give those a lookie and see. 😀 But there's very little in those files. The config.sys was empty initially until I added the lines from this link: https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29462 And the autoexec.bat file only had a single line to do with Soundblaster.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 31 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

As an aside - I take it it's possible to load CDs via an ISO image file in DOS?

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 32 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Going to experiment with things some more.

Is it possible to add XMS? Whenever I boot up it says the manager isn’t present and I have to keep pressing a key in order for it to continue.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 33 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
eddman wrote on 2024-11-15, 20:45:
I've attached the drivers here. […]
Show full quote
DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-15, 17:58:

Okay, I’m not sure what I would need to put instead of OPTICAL and MOUSE.COM /P4. I tried adding what you put but neither worked for me. If they’re not included with Windows though, that’s hardly surprising.

I've attached the drivers here.

Filename
mouse and CD drivers.zip
File size
26.9 KiB
Downloads
20 downloads
File license
Public domain

You can create a "DOS2" folder in C: and put them there. You wouldn't need to change my posted configurations then.

"OPTICAL" doesn't need to change; the driver filenames are the ones that do. In this case they are "MOUSE.COM" and "VIDECDD.SYS", so not needed.

I’m also trying to figure out how to load DOS up on boot. I managed to enable Boot Menu in msdos.sys, but that only gives me the option to choose Normal, Command Prompt and Safe Mode.

"Command prompt only" IS DOS.

I have to see the content of your config.sys and autoexec.bat, considering you had not edited them previously (since you didn't even know what they were). Wonder what was in there.

Still not working. It just doesn’t recognise the CD drive. 🙁 These are my autoexec.bat and config.sys files:

IMG_3764.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3764.jpeg
File size
1.5 MiB
Views
442 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later
IMG_3765.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3765.jpeg
File size
1.68 MiB
Views
442 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later

EDIT: Noticed I’d made a typo in the config.sys, and removed the old lines from yesterday’s experimenting, but no - still not recognised.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 34 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Not sure if it’s different for my CD drive than the two I’ve tried. It seems to be a generic model, and the Device Manager lists it as TEAC CD-W54E.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 35 of 125, by Boohyaka

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

Do you have a floppy drive and would you be able to boot from the official DOS6.22 or Win98 bootdisk? Those have proper config.sys and autoexec.bat including CD-ROM initialization. So if your CD drive works with those, at least you'd know your hardware is fine and it's a matter of properly making your own config.sys and autoexec.bat.

Google "win98 bootdisk"

Reply 36 of 125, by sfryers

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

MSCDEX doesn't need you to tell it what drive letter your CD-ROM is going to use, it'll just take the next available letter that's not being used by your hard drives. Use MSCDEX /D:OPTICAL to specify the device name. The /E parameter has a different purpose- it tells MSCDEX to use expanded memory.

MT-32 Editor- a timbre editor and patch librarian for Roland MT-32 compatible devices: https://github.com/sfryers/MT32Editor

Reply 37 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Boohyaka wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:26:

Do you have a floppy drive and would you be able to boot from the official DOS6.22 or Win98 bootdisk? Those have proper config.sys and autoexec.bat including CD-ROM initialization. So if your CD drive works with those, at least you'd know your hardware is fine and it's a matter of properly making your own config.sys and autoexec.bat.

Google "win98 bootdisk"

I have a Win98 SE boot disk, yeah. These are what the autoexec.bat and config.sys files say:

IMG_3766.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3766.jpeg
File size
1.67 MiB
Views
392 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later
IMG_3767.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3767.jpeg
File size
1.98 MiB
Views
392 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later
IMG_3768.jpeg
Filename
IMG_3768.jpeg
File size
1.89 MiB
Views
392 views
File license
GPL-2.0-or-later

What would I need to do exactly? Copy these into the files I’ve set up? And then modify them? Or install these devices in DOS using the boot disk?

Thanks

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 38 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
sfryers wrote on 2024-11-16, 17:36:

MSCDEX doesn't need you to tell it what drive letter your CD-ROM is going to use, it'll just take the next available letter that's not being used by your hard drives. Use MSCDEX /D:OPTICAL to specify the device name. The /E parameter has a different purpose- it tells MSCDEX to use expanded memory.

Oh. I thought I had to specify what my drive letter is, which in my case is E:?

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II

Reply 39 of 125, by DustyShinigami

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

I’ve noticed, as well as the CD drive, I need to enable mouse support as well. I think. I tried Duke Nukem 3D in DOS and the mouse doesn’t work. Despite it being set via the installer.

OS: Windows 98 SE
CPU: Pentium III Katmai 450MHz (SL35D)/Pentium III Coppermine 933MHz (SL448)
RAM: SK Hynix 128MB 100MHz/Kingston 256MB 133MHz
GPU: Nvidia 16MB Riva TNT/Geforce 128MB 4 MX 440
Motherboard: MSI-6156/Abit BE6-II