Originally posted by Unregistered I have a problem running Leisure suit Larry 6 with VDMSound. When I run it in Windows XP without VDMSound it runs fine but without music.

Can we presume that you tried installing the Windows version and that it failed?

But the problem starts when I run it with VDMSound. The game won`t even start, and all it gives is an error message: You need […]
Show full quote

But the problem starts when I run it with VDMSound. The game won`t even start, and all it gives is an error message:

You need 12608 more bytes of free memory available to run this game. if you have any resident software loaded please remove it and try again.

I tryed to change the EMS and XMS settings in the VDMSound advanced options but none worked. The game only starts when I turn off EMS memory.

Well, if it runs without EMS, then run it without EMS.

...and then the game and the music work but are very slow.

What device have you chosen for music? If it's AdLib, change your VDMSound from "4.05 (SoundBlaster 16)" setting to early "SoundBlaster Pro".

It sounds like you're describing the FM/AdLib music. It may be trying to use OPL3 for FM, which causes music problems as VDMSound doesn't emulate that yet.

Right-click the VLP file and choose Properties, click the Advanced button, click on the SoundBlaster tab, the go to the "DSP Ver." and change it from "4.05 (SoundBlaster 16)" to "3.00 (SoundBlaster Pro)". Click OK, then click OK again.

You might also switch your music output to use "General MIDI".

Other old Sierra games work fine with VDMSound on my computer.

Sierra games used a wide variety of engines, so you'll likely get a variety of responses.

Games like Gabriel Knight 1

May we presume you still have the "save game" crash bug?

I tried what you suggested but it still doesn´t help. But there is one more thing I noticed. I can start the game with EMS memory if I disable DPMI support. The the game starts but is also slown down just like when I play without EMS. Strange.

Also, I finished Gabriel Knight without sound before I found VDMSound on the net, and there weren´t any bugs. So I don´t know anything about the bug you mentioned.

Thank you, this message board is great and very helpfull. Great job!

Originally posted by Unregistered But there is one more thing I noticed. I can start the game with EMS memory if I disable DPMI support. The the game starts but is also slown down just like when I play without EMS. Strange.

Found my LSL6-CD. The Windows version appears to be useless as the game's "script" will repeatedly "break" when it tries to trigger sound effects (odd, as it has no such problems on the game's intro).

I'm not experiencing any of the "slow-down" problems that you've mentioned. The closest I've come to that is the annoying "CD-SpinUp" problems that occur with modern CD drives. The game will occasionally play some audio directly from the CD. In the "old days" of the 1x-2x CD-ROM drives that was no problem. With modern CD drives this attempt at access causing the drive to try to "spin up" to it's 48x speed before playing, causing a 3-second delay (annoying when the sound takes less time to play than it takes to load up).

I found that until I adjusted the game speed, everything ran in "turbo mode". I was surprised to find that the DOS version installed using VESA mode without using NOLFB, and that it worked fine (which is good as the 320x200 mode is extra-chunky).

Also, I finished Gabriel Knight without sound before I found VDMSound on the net, and there weren´t any bugs.

Well the bugs are there, you just (fortunately) didn't get hit by one. The bug I mentioned only happens when running it with audio.

Just as a side note: If you run VDMSound with the INSTALL program on the game's CD, (since the low-level CD-ROM support isn't active by default) it will interpret that it is being run from the game's directory on the hard drive; which locks you out of install options and only allows for game configuration choices (useless when it hasn't been installed yet).

The solution is to run the install without VDMSound, then run it after installation for audio configuration.

Nicht Sehr Gut wrote:

I was surprised to find that the DOS version installed using VESA mode without using NOLFB, and that it worked fine (which is good as the 320x200 mode is extra-chunky).

Hi,

Could you tell me what video card you are using ? I can't get VESA to work. "vesatest.exe" (on the LSL6 CD) tells me "VESA FOUND" when I launch it in a fullscreen DOS box, however, if I proceed to launch the game, I get this :

Some VBE test utility I found on the net tells me that my card has a WinFast VGA BIOS, VBE version 3.0 (which looks ok, as it is a Winfast GeForce4 Ti4200).

I also tried a so-called universal VESA driver (univesa.Exe) that tells me straight away "SuperVGA not detected - installation aborted".

Finally, using Scitech Display Driver (the freeware version) seems to install something that works : I can get the intro playing without any problem, but when I start playing, the game will lock up after a short but random amount of time (10 sec - 2 min), showing graphical artifacts.

I'm not sure if my card is not VESA-compliant, or maybe it's just a settings problem. Soundwise, I have been able to get General MIDI + Soundblaster (which is the best combination, right ?) by disabling DPMI support in the VDMS shortcut, but the lo-res graphics are really awful compared to the VESA version... Does anyone have a clue ? Thanks a lot

Fred

PS : I just tried using NOLFB, but that just gets me a NTVDM error...

Originally posted by Unregistered Could you tell me what video card you are using ?

GeForce 3 Ti200
Just click on the "Profile" button under the post. Most registered board users place their info there so they don't have to type it out over and over and over...Just click Profile.

Some VBE test utility I found on the net tells me that my card has a WinFast VGA BIOS, VBE version 3.0 (which looks ok, as it is a Winfast GeForce4 Ti4200).

I'm starting to think there is an "even-numbered GeForce curse". Every time I hear that someone isn't able to open a VESA screenmode it always seems to be a Geforce 2 or 4.

I'm not sure if my card is not VESA-compliant,

It is, it's just that VESA is different under 2000 and XP (I presume you have one of the two...although I see no reference to your OS). Just type in VESA and 2000 into the quick search box near the top of the page and you'll see some of the unpleasantness we've been dealing with when it comes to VESA and 2000/XP.

Soundwise, I have been able to get General MIDI + Soundblaster (which is the best combination, right ?)

In general, yes.

...by disabling DPMI support in the VDMS shortcut, but the lo-res graphics are really awful compared to the VESA version... Does anyone have a clue ?

From what I can tell, it's directly related to specific video hardware. Despite 2000 and XP's rules about "direct hardware access"; fullscreen DOS video is the exception to that rule.

From what I know, you only have two options:
1) Try the unfinished Beta of UniVBE from SciTech (which apparently will recognize GeForce video cards...sorta).

2) Replace your card with a more "DOS+NT Compatible" model.

Sorry.

@ Nicht sehr gut

Hi (yes, I registered in the meantime 😉 ). To sum up, yes, I use Win2k, and yes, I had seen a lot of trouble associated with GF2 (especially MX) and VESA. I just hoped that NOLFB could solve my pb, but...

1) Try the unfinished Beta of UniVBE from SciTech (which apparently will recognize GeForce video cards...sorta).

And... would there be any way to get hold of this beta ? It doesn't seem to be mentioned on their website.

Thanks,

Fred

Originally posted by Tonton Fred Hi (yes, I registered in the meantime 😉 )

...and there was much rejoicing. Yea.

I just hoped that NOLFB could solve my pb, but...

Well there's no harm in trying, but all NOLFB does is block one video mode so the program will use it's fallback mode. So if a program is claiming it's not even a "real" VESA card...there's not much hope.

And... would there be any way to get hold of this beta ? It doesn't seem to be mentioned on their website.

Apparently for good reason *heh*

I actually forgot it had time limitations and that it can't actually be registered. Anyway, SciTech Display Doctor v7.0 Beta

I understand not wanting to lose your video card, but you should consider Dual-Booting. Emulation will eventually be the answer, but it's still too much for DosBox and I have doubts about performance in VirtualPC..

If you like to live dangerously you can try this hack we tried.

Or this weird trick.

On these last two, we take no responsibility if your PC bursts into flames.

Alright, I tried everything you suggested, to no avail. Finally gave up and played the VGA version. At least, my PC didn't explode 😜

And now, I'm having the exact same problem with LSL7. The windows version will install fine but crash at launch (even with Win95 compatibility), the dos version will launch with VDMSound but crash after a few seconds of play (sometimes artifacts, sometimes a DOS/4GW "professionnal error"). Sigh... Sierra, Sierra, Sierra... 🙄

Anyway, thanks a lot for the help !

Fred

PS : Actually, I now got the game running for several minutes with the ShinoD7 (a kind of boosted DOS boot disk dedicated to old games : http://www.shinod7.com ), then the machine locked up solid. Since I can't get it to work under a pure DOS environment, I guess I got my card is incompatible with the VESA requirements of these games.

Originally posted by Tonton Fred And now, I'm having the exact same problem with LSL7. The windows version will install fine but crash at launch (even with Win95 compatibility), the dos version will launch with VDMSound but crash after a few seconds of play (sometimes artifacts, sometimes a DOS/4GW "professionnal error").

Hrmm. Odd. Both versions ran fine on mine. DjLc also has Win2k and said it ran fine for him. By chance are you running DirectX 9?

PS : Actually, I now got the game running for several minutes with the ShinoD7 (a kind of boosted DOS boot disk dedicated to old games : http://www.shinod7.com ), then the machine locked up solid. Since I can't get it to work under a pure DOS environment,

*cringe* I'm not sure I want a little floppy scanning my drive and doing lots of little setups automatically. Too much chance of something going wrong...

I guess I got my card is incompatible with the VESA requirements of these games.

Actually, I'm willing to bet it would be fine in Win98. One of the reasons I keep advocating Dual-Boot setups.

Originally posted by Nicht Sehr Gut
Hrmm. Odd. Both versions ran fine on mine. DjLc also has Win2k and said it ran fine for him.

I know. I saw the thread and thought (foolishly) it would be the same for me. /D

By chance are you running DirectX 9?

As a matter of fact, yes (9.0a, I think). Don't tell me it's the problem. 😜

*cringe* I'm not sure I want a little floppy scanning my drive and doing lots of little setups automatically. Too much chance of something going wrong...

I don't think I ever heard of it "going wrong". Not working, maybe 😀 , but I think that's about the only danger. The problem is it's only in French for now, which limits the audience. 😉

Actually, I'm willing to bet it would be fine in Win98. One of the reasons I keep advocating Dual-Boot setups.

I really don't wanna wade through the painful procedure of installing a 98 after my 2000, BUT... I do have a couple of spare hard drives lying around... maybe a quick install... just to check of course...

Fred

PS : I did install Win98 on another disk. The game installed merrily, launched, displayed the first image, chirped the first note, and informed me that there wasn't enough free memory to initialise the waveout procedure or something. I'll be back right after I shoot myself. 😎

Originally posted by Tonton Fred I know. I saw the thread and thought (foolishly) it would be the same for me.

Odd.

As a matter of fact, yes (9.0a, I think). Don't tell me it's the problem.

Ok, I won't tell you...but we have been seeing a rash of "classics" stop working since DX9 was released.

I don't think I ever heard of it "going wrong". Not working, maybe 😀 , but I think that's about the only danger. The problem is it's only in French for now, which limits the audience.

You never know...It might be saying "Hey, this partition is NTFS. I can't read that. Here let me format it to FAT32 for you...".

PS : I did install Win98 on another disk. The game installed merrily, launched, displayed the first image, chirped the first note, and informed me that there wasn't enough free memory to initialise the waveout procedure or something.

Well, presuming that it had the proper audio/video drivers, etc... That shouldn't have happened. BTW, was that the Windows version? Try the minimalist method. No sound or "PC-speaker" audio for sound effects and music. Still doesn't run?

I'll be back right after I shoot myself.

*scene from "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" flashes through my head....*

Originally posted by Nicht Sehr Gut
BTW, was that the Windows version? Try the minimalist method. No sound or "PC-speaker" audio for sound effects and music. Still doesn't run?

Yes, it was the Windows version. There is no minimalist version : a Soundblaster is required by the game to run. Maybe there is a problem with my Soundblaster Live not being recognized/compatible, but then why would it be tested as ok during the install ? Is there any way to emulate an older SB in 98 ? I seem to remember a "SB16 emulation" being installed with the SB drivers, but I can't find it anymore...

Fred

Originally posted by Tonton Fred Yes, it was the Windows version. There is no minimalist version : a Soundblaster is required by the game to run.

Ok, I kind of truncated my response there. I was talking about a "minimal" DOS version; IOW, no audio /PC-speaker audio.

Maybe there is a problem with my Soundblaster Live not being recognized/compatible, but then why would it be tested as ok during the install ?

No, don't forget that in Win2k there's no direct access for your audio hardware. With VDMSound, it should detect nothing (or just PC-speaker).

Is there any way to emulate an older SB in 98 ?

That depended entirely on the individual hardware drivers for Win98. My Philips "Acoustic Edge" will emulate a "SB Pro" in Win9x. Some others emulate a SB16 or just a generic "SoundBlaster".

I seem to remember a "SB16 emulation" being installed with the SB drivers, but I can't find it anymore...

You won't see such a thing in Win2K because there is no DOS in Win2k.
No DOS=No DOS support.

I installed the HIRES DOS version to C:\SIERRA\LSL6CD. Copied the \HIRES\AUD, PATCHES and SFX folders from the CD to C:\SIERRA. So I have a dir structure like this:

C:\SIERRA\AUD
C:\SIERRA\LSL6CD
C:\SIERRA\PATCHES
C:\SIERRA\SFX

Then I edited RESOURCE.CFG with TextPad to use those HDD dirs instead of those of the CD. Sweet, no more CD spin-ups.

resAUD = C:\SIERRA\aud
resSFX = C:\SIERRA\sfx
patchDir = C:\SIERRA\LSL6CD;C:\SIERRA\patches

Last I made a VDMSound shortcut by rightclicking SIERRA.EXE. All done, runs perfectly using the settings in the Compability Database.

Originally posted by MaxPayne Then I edited RESOURCE.CFG with TextPad to use those HDD dirs instead of those of the CD. Sweet, no more CD spin-ups.

Sounds good.