DustyShinigami: I don't remember what card I have, as the computer is at my mother's house--and worse, she's currently homeless 🙁--but it's a nonstandard one.

Ah, that sucks. Sorry to hear that. 🙁

Is there a switch or command that lets you get information about a file? I want to see the size of a particular file.

Try "DIR <file>." It should give you information about the file. If you want more information about DIR, type "DIR/?."

Awesome. Thank you. 😁

How do you move a folder and all its contents from one location to another? Every time I try, it either moves just the files from the folder or tells me it's 'unable to open source'. I've even tried move c:\dospro\throttle *.* c:\dospro\cpu but I just get the latter error for each file.

Try the /e switch: it should move the folder and all its subfolders.

Harry Potter wrote on 2026-01-17, 14:14:

Try the /e switch: it should move the folder and all its subfolders.

Ahh, great. Thanks. 😀

I believe the DOS move command can't do that and won't even take the /e switch.

Use xcopy /e instead and the once the copy is done, you can deltree the source.

I've run into a bit of a problem with a game, which wasn't an issue before. Whenever it runs my BAT file it gives me an error saying EMM386: DMA mode not supported. Press Enter to reboot. If I try to load the game executable, it just unloads the sound pak. This particular game has been funny with EMS in the past, I think. However, when I tried it previously, it was fine. I'm guessing it's because my Yamaha was initialised first...? And the SB16 was daisy-chained through it...? Now that my Yamaha has gone kaput, I have no choice but to use the SB16, but for that to work, it requires EMS. So if I try to run the game and it can't initialise the sound card/driver, the game won't load anyway.
I've tried setting the card and the game to use DMA 1 and 3 and the same issue happens. I've also tried putting the resources back to A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 and at A220 I7 D3 H5 P330 and I get the same error. I've also tried deleting the game and doing a fresh install, along with configuring the audio. Same result.

I don't know if, the last I tried it with the Yamaha installed, my custom DOS menu hadn't been set up, so I'm not sure if there's something in my autoexec.bat or config.sys files that's triggering it. This is what they're like... Most things have been commented out to see if they were the cause, but no such luck.

Try using AdLib or PC Speaker sound. They are worse than SB--especially PC Speaker--but may allow you to run the game.

Harry Potter wrote on 2026-01-19, 00:00:

Try using AdLib or PC Speaker sound. They are worse than SB--especially PC Speaker--but may allow you to run the game.

Not an option, sadly. The PC Speaker, I mean. The setup won't let me use AdLib either. It says it wants port 388, which is set to OPL according to my Sound Blaster, but it fails to detect anything.

Okay, some progress at least. Did an experiment. Backed up my autoexec and config files, created some new ones, and added the bare essentials - SHSUCD, mouse, EMS, BLASTER - and the game loaded! So there's clearly something in my main files it doesn't like. I'm wondering if it's UMBs. Will do some more testing tomorrow.

Try formatting a blank disk using "format a: /s" then copy your modified config files to it. You can use this disk as an alternate boot disk to run just this game or maybe any other troublesome games.

You can also add a menu to your DOS setup, but that would take some extra effort. Unfortunately, I don't know where to find the information online. 🙁

Harry Potter wrote on 2026-01-19, 14:18:

Try formatting a blank disk using "format a: /s" then copy your modified config files to it. You can use this disk as an alternate boot disk to run just this game or maybe any other troublesome games.

That's a good idea actually. Thanks. But I am determined to find the root cause so I can leave notes for myself for future reference. 😀

Harry Potter wrote on 2026-01-19, 14:21:

You can also add a menu to your DOS setup, but that would take some extra effort. Unfortunately, I don't know where to find the information online. 🙁

As in, a custom boot menu? With various DOS options - one for XMS, one for EMS...?

You're welcome, and yes, a custom boot menu.

Yeah, that's what I have set up, which I followed from someone else's on here. 😀

Also, my guess was correct, regarding the issue. Though it's strange because when I tried enabling it using 86Box, it didn't complain. But disabling UMB in the Config file fixed the issue. 😀 By the way, the game in question is the DOS version of Simon the Sorcerer.

I would take some pics of the memory using my phone, after UMB is disabled and with them enabled, but for some reason in the daytime/afternoon, all the characters are blurry. Never an issue in the evening though.

If you want, you can type "mem/c>c:\out.txt" at the command prompt, and DOS will divert mem's output to the indicated file.