SPACE QUEST VI DEMO TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE for IBM and compatible PCs using Windows 3.1 or higher revised 1/23/95 The following instructions have been prepared by Sierra's Technical Support Department as a service to our customers. PLEASE NOTE: Sierra does not make any claims, guarantees, and/or promises that the following instructions will work on any and/or all computer systems. Please fax or mail Customer Service the S/N number from the floppy disk or a photocopy of the floppy or CD, and a note indicating you would like a replacement for SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. Their address is Sierra Customer Service, PO Box 3404, Salinas, CA 93912. Their fax number is 408-644- 2018. Please include your name and mailing address so we send the new game to the right place! If you have any questions regarding the exchange procedure, you can reach Sierra Customer Service at 1-800-SIERRA5. TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION 1 - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS SECTION 2 - INSTALLATION PROCEDURES SECTION 3 - COMMON INSTALLATION PROBLEMS SECTION 4 - MEMORY TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION 5 - COMMON PROBLEMS SECTION 6 - SOUND ISSUES AND SOUND CARD SETTINGS SECTION 7 - SPACE QUEST VI DEMO BOOT DISK INSTRUCTIONS SECTION 8 - IF YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS... SECTION 1 - HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS REQUIRED 386SX 4MB RAM CD ROM drive 1MB hard drive space (compressed 2MB) MS-DOS 5.0 or higher VGA (256 colors) Mouse Windows 3.1 or higher (SPACE QUEST VI DEMO runs in Windows ONLY) RECOMMENDED FOR BEST PERFORMANCE 486DX 8MB RAM Double speed CD ROM SECTION 2 - INSTALLATION PROCEDURES Insert the CD into the appropriate drive. From Program Manager, click on File, then Run. In the Command Line field, type the letter of the drive followed by \SETUP. Ex: D:\SETUP. Click on TEST HARDWARE to perform the hardware checks to verify that your computer can run SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. If you fail any of the tests, see Section 3, Common Installation Problems After performing the hardware tests, click on INSTALL to install Space Quest VI. SECTION 3 - COMMON INSTALLATION PROBLEMS Problem: Your computer fails the Sound Card test; you cannot hear the voice and fanfare in the Wave and MIDI tests. Solution: Your sound card is incorrectly configured for Windows. See Section 6, Sound Issues and Sound Card Settings for information on setting up your sound card. Problem: Your computer fails the Display test; you get a message saying "Your video display supports 16 colors...". Solution: Sierra's Windows games require that Windows is running in 256 color mode. Even though your monitor and video card may be capable of displaying 256 colors, Windows may not be set up to use this resolution. To check, double-click on Windows Setup in the Main program group. If the Display line reads "VGA" or "16 color", you will need to change to a driver that supports 256 colors. ("VGA" is a default Windows video driver that only supports 16 colors and will not work with Sierra's Windows games.) To change video drivers, select Options, then Change System Settings. Open the Display box to see the list of video drivers that are currently available. You should check your video card documentation for information on what 256 color driver to select. Warning: Be careful when changing video drivers! If you choose one that is not designed for your particular video card, Windows will not display properly. If this occurs, change to your Windows directory, type: SETUP, and choose the "VGA" driver again. You should contact your video card manufacturer for the correct driver. Problem: Your computer fails the Memory test; you get a message stating you do not have enough memory to run SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. Solution: First, create a SPACE QUEST VI DEMO boot disk using the instructions at the end of this document. Reboot the system using the boot disk, then create a clean Windows environment. Make sure that there are no other Windows programs running. Disable all screen savers, virus scans, etc. If you are using an alternate Windows desktop (PC Tools, Dashboard, Packard Bell Navigator, etc.), use plain Program Manager instead. If you have sound-related Windows programs installed (IconHearIt, SoundBits, etc.), make sure they are disabled before starting the game. Also, turn off your Wallpaper in Desktop in Control Panel. Wallpaper can sometimes take up a considerable amount of memory. These steps should give you enough memory to run the game. If they do not, please refer to Section 4, Memory Troubleshooting. Problem: SPACE QUEST VI DEMO icon not created during game installation. Sierra group and other icons are created fine. Solution: This is usually caused by an alternate Windows desktop, like Norton Desktop, PC Tools or Tabworks. You must disable these desktops before installing the game. The easiest way to do this is to type PATH=C:\WINDOWS at the DOS prompt, then start Windows. This should start Windows with Program Manager as the desktop. When you are back in Windows, reinstall the game. The icons will be created normally. To restart Windows using your normal desktop, exit Windows and reboot the computer. The next time you go into Windows, the alternate desktop will display. PLEASE NOTE: SPACE QUEST VI DEMO has not been tested under any alternate desktop environment, therefore Sierra cannot guarantee that the game will function properly under these desktops. SECTION 4 - MEMORY TROUBLESHOOTING Some game players have experienced difficulty getting enough memory to run SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. This usually occurs on computer systems with 4 megabytes of RAM, but can happen on machines with more memory. If you are having trouble starting the game because of memory problems or are receiving memory-related errors during the game, here is a list of troubleshooting steps to try. Lower SCIMinK Value: Edit the RESOURCE.WIN file and lower the SCIMINK value to 1900. Do not lower this line below 1900; values lower than 1900 will cause problems during the game. NOTE - Lowering the SCIMINK to 1900 will force the CD drive to access more often, and will result in slightly slower game play, but may help solve memory problems. Check the Swap File: Establish a permanent swap file at about 6 MB. This will help free up memory. Do not set the swap file too high, 6-8 MB permanent should be enough. Follow these steps to access and change the Windows swap file. 1. Close all Windows applications. 2. Open the "Main" folder on your Windows desktop. 3. Double-click on the "Control Panel" icon. 4. Double-click on the "386 Enhanced" icon. 5. Click on the "Virtual Memory . . ." button. 6. Click on the "Change>>" button. 7. Type "6000" in the "New Size" selection box, under the "New Settings" heading. 8. Select "Permanent" from the "Type" pull down combination box, if it is available. If "Permanent" is not available, select "Temporary". 9. If "32-bit File Access" is checked, un-check it. This should remain turned off. If you have a "32-bit Disk Access" option, leave it checked. 10. Click the "OK" button. 11. Click the "Restart Now" button. Windows will restart and take you back to the main Windows desktop. Create a Boot Disk: Sierra has included a boot disk maker with King's Quest VII. The Boot Disk Creator is the last option available in the Setup program. You can run it manually by double-clicking on the boot disk creator icon in the SIERRA program group. In addition, instructions for creating a boot disk manually are included at the end of this troubleshooting guide. Disable SMARTDRV: SPACE QUEST VI DEMO will often run faster with SMARTDRV disabled. Making a boot disk will disable SMARTDRV. Boot disk instructions for SPACE QUEST VI DEMO are at the end of this document. Create a Clean Windows Environment: Make sure that there are no other Windows programs running. Disable all screen savers, virus scans, etc. If you are using an alternate Windows desktop (PC Tools, Dashboard, Packard Bell Navigator, Tabworks, etc.), use plain Program Manager instead. If you have sound-related Windows programs installed (IconHearIt, SoundBits, etc.), make sure they are disabled before starting the game. Also, turn off your Wallpaper in Desktop in Control Panel. Wallpaper can sometimes take up a considerable amount of memory. Turn Off 32-Bit File Accessing: Windows for Workgroups and Windows 3.11 include a setting for 32-bit File Access in the Virtual Memory settings. This should be turned off. If you are using Windows 3.1, you will see 32-bit Disk Access instead. Leave this on. Windows for Workgroups v3.11: Because of Windows for Workgroups' memory requirements, you may experience trouble getting enough memory for the game if you have only 4 MB of RAM. If you are using Windows for Workgroups, we highly recommend that you have at least 8 MB of RAM on your computer. Problem: When starting the game, you get "EMM386 Error 6 - No XMS memory". Solution: Make a boot disk with the Boot Disk maker by double-clicking on the Boot Disk icon in the Sierra Group. Or you can create a boot disk manually by following the instructions at the end of this document. Problem: "Windows title not found" error when starting game, followed by "Cannot find SIERRA.ERR". Solution: These error messages are caused by a corrupted or incorrect RESOURCE.WIN file. The RESOURCE.WIN is a small text file that contains information about your computer. The game program looks at this file to determine where the game is installed and where to look for the game CD. If this file is missing information, you will get the above error messages. To correct this, edit the RESOURCE.WIN file (it's in the game directory!) and check that the first three lines look like this: [Windows] title=SPACE QUEST VI DEMO titleBar=TRUE If these two lines are missing or show different information, add them or change them to match the ones above. Remember, they must be the first three lines in the file. Then, check that the last five lines look like this: resAud=D:\ resSfx=D:\ patchDir=C:\SIERRA\SQ6DEMO movieDir=D:\AVI audio=C:\SIERRA\SQ6DEMO These lines assume that SPACE QUEST VI DEMO is installed to C: and that your CD ROM drive is D:. If your drive letters are different, make the appropriate substitutions. If these five lines are missing or show different information, add them or change them to match the ones above. You should also check that the SPACE QUEST VI DEMO icon's properties indicate the correct working directory. To do this, click once on the King's Quest VII icon to highlight it. Then press ALT-ENTER to access the icon's properties. The command line should read: C:\SIERRA\SQ6DEMO\SIERRAWS.EXE C:\SIERRA\SQ6DEMO\RESOURCE.WIN The working directory should be your CD ROM drive, for example, D:\. If your CD ROM drive is another letter, substitute the appropriate letter. Click on OK when the working directory is correct. Problem: SPACE QUEST VI DEMO runs slowly on your computer. Solution: Make a boot disk with the Boot Disk maker by double-clicking on the Boot Disk icon in the Sierra Group. Or you can create a boot disk manually by following the instructions at the end of this document. In addition, with Windows for Workgroups and Windows 3.1.1, we recommend NOT using 32-bit file access (which can be changed in your Virtual Memory settings dialog box). Also, make sure you have a permanent swap file of 6-8 MEGS. See "Check the Swap File" under Section 4, Memory Troubleshooting for complete instructions on changing the swap file. If you don't see your question listed in this document: Most difficulties with SPACE QUEST VI DEMO, including lockups and Fatal or Panic errors can be resolved by simply running the game with a boot disk and in a clean Windows environment. Please see "Create a Boot Disk" and "Create a Clean Windows Environment" under Section 4, Memory Troubleshooting. Incompatible or outdated sound card and video drivers can also cause lockups and errors. You should make sure that you are using the latest versions of your sound card and video drivers. Contact your sound and video card manufacturers to obtain the latest drivers. SECTION 6 - SOUND CARD CONFIGURATION AND SOUND ISSUES The Soundblaster 16, Pro Audio Spectrum 16, and compatibles support "Extended FM" in Windows. SoundBlaster Pro, SoundBlaster 2.0 and compatibles, use "Base FM" in Windows. The Extended and Base FM settings are defined in the MIDI Mapper. If your MIDI Mapper is configured incorrectly, you may hear just music and no voice, or vice versa. The following MIDI Mapper instructions cover the most common types of sound card setups. If you are using a sound card that is not listed here, please consult your sound card documentation for the correct MIDI Mapper setup. Soundblaster 16, ProAudio Spectrum 16 and compatibles: Click on Main, then Control Panel and then on MIDI Mapper. If you have an option called Extended FM or something similar, choose it. Close MIDI Mapper and run SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. If you don't have this option, you will need to make a new MIDI Mapper setup. From the MIDI Mapper screen, click on New. Enter a name such as "Extended FM" and then hit OK. You will be at a screen with four columns and 16 rows. Click on the word None in the 3rd column and the 1st row. Now click on the small arrow that appears on the right of this box. Choose the FM choice or Synthesizer choice. Do this for ports 1 through 9. Click on OK and close out the MIDI Mapper. The music and voices should now play correctly in SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. For further information on the correct MIDI Mapper configuration for your sound card, please contact your sound card manufacturer. SoundBlaster Pro and compatibles: Click on Main, then Control Panel and then on MIDI Mapper. If you have an option called Basic FM or something similar, choose it. Close MIDI Mapper and run King's Quest VII. If you don't have a Basic FM option you will need to make a new setup. From the MIDI Mapper screen, click on New. Enter a name such as "Basic FM" and then hit OK. You will be at a screen with four columns and 16 rows. Click on the word None in the 3rd column and the 13th row. Now click on the small arrow that appears on the right of this box. Choose the FM choice or Synthesizer choice. Do this for ports 13, 14 , 15, and 16. Click on OK and close out the MIDI Mapper. The music and voices should now play correctly in SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. For further information on the correct MIDI Mapper configuration for your sound card, please contact your sound card manufacturer. Problem: The speech breaks up or hesitates in SPACE QUEST VI DEMO. Solution: Each speech sample or recording needs to be loaded into memory before it can be played. By reducing the buffer size, you will cause the CD to actually play the speech segments faster, because it does not have to fill a large buffer area. The buffer size is set in the C:\SIERRA\SQ6DEMO\RESOURCE.WIN text file. Edit this file and change the dacSize" line to dacSize =15360. Problem: Starting the game gives you a "Waveout Open" or "Waveout Prepare Header" error message. Solution: The Windows error message you are receiving indicates that your sound card is in use by another program. This is occasionally caused by another sound program taking control in Windows and not sharing the sound card properly. Programs like Icon Hear It, Wired for Sound or Packard Bell Navigator can cause this type of problem. Some screen savers like After Dark will also access the sound card directly instead of using Windows to produce sounds. You should disable all programs of this type before playing the game. If you are still experiencing sound problems, you may need to update your sound drivers. If you do not have the current Windows drivers for your sound device, you may need to contact the manufacturer of your sound device or your local hardware supplier for an updated set of sound drivers. Check your Windows documentation or your sound device documentation for full instructions on updating your sound drivers. Note to Gravis UltraSound owners: If you have a Gravis UltraSound, you will need to run SPACE QUEST VI DEMO without loading WinG. (See "Do Not Load WinG" in Section 4, Memory Troubleshooting). Then, you must have the game re-initialize the sound card. To do this, click on the Sierra Setup icon and run the hardware test for sound, then run the game. This will load the MIDI patches for you and you should get full sound within the game. Note to Mozart sound card owners: If you have a Mozart sound card, you will need to run SPACE QUEST VI DEMO without loading WinG. (See "Do Not Load WinG" in Section 4, Memory Troubleshooting). Then, you must change your MIDI Mapper to use Mozart FM Synth. To do this, click on Main, then Control Panel and then on MIDI Mapper. The MIDI Mapper name will probably be set to Mozart MIDI Out, change it to Mozart FM Synth. If you do not have this FM Synth option, please contact your sound card manufacturer for help in setting up the correct MIDI Mapper. SECTION 8 - IF YOU STILL HAVE PROBLEMS... If you continue to experience any problems with SPACE QUEST VI DEMO, or if you have any questions, our Technical Support Department will be more than happy to assist you. Please call (206) 644-4343 between 8:15 am and 7:45 PM Monday through Friday. We can also be reached by fax at (206) 644-7697, by BBS at (206) 644-0112, or by mail at the following address: Sierra On-Line P.O. Box 85006 Bellevue, WA 98015-8506 ATTN: TECHNICAL SUPPORT You can also reach our Technical Support Team on one of the following services: Sierra BBS (206) 644-0112 (settings 8, N, & 1, up to 38,400 baud) Compuserve Sierra: GAMAPUB (ID 76004,2143) Dynamix: GAMCPUB (ID 72662, 1174) America Online Keyword: SIERRA If you decide to email, write or fax, please be sure to include the following information: *CPU type (386, 486, etc.) *Type of graphics (VGA, SVGA, etc.) and brand of video card *DOS version (MS-DOS 6.2, MS-DOS 5.0, PC DOS 4.0, DR DOS 6.0, etc.). *Total RAM memory in your system (4MB, 8MB, etc.). *Whether or not you have tried using a boot disk. *Type of sound card (Pro Audio Spectrum, Sound Blaster, etc.) and the sound card settings. *Copies of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS *Version of Windows Also, please let us know if are you using any of the following programs: *DoubleSpace, Stacker, DriveSpace, or any other disk compression program. *Alternate Windows desktops like Norton or PC Tools And finally, please state in detail the situation you are experiencing, including any error messages. Thanks! SPACE QUEST VI DEMO BOOT DISK INSTRUCTIONS for IBM Compatibles using MS-DOS 5.0 or above and Windows 3.1 or higher The following instructions have been prepared by Sierra's Technical Support Department as an added service to our customers. PLEASE NOTE: Sierra does not make any claims, guarantees, and/or promises that the following instructions will work on any and/or all computer systems. STEP 1 FORMATTING THE DISK PLEASE NOTE: It is necessary to format the disk even if the disk is already formatted. The /S switch will transfer files to the boot disk which are necessary for the disk to work correctly. To make a CD-ROM Boot Disk, format a high density diskette in the A: drive. (Use /F:360 or /F:720 parameter if using a low density diskette) For more information on using the FORMAT command, consult your DOS manual. Note: This will not work in the B: drive. Type the command as follows: FORMAT A:/S If after entering this command the system responds with a "Bad command or file name" error, then type: PATH=C:\DOS Now retype the FORMAT command above. If you still receive the same error, the MS DOS FORMAT command may not be on your system or it may have been renamed. Programs such as PC Tools and Norton Disk Utilities can rename the format command to prevent accidental loss of data. If you are using a program like this, check your documentation to find out how to format a SYSTEM DISK, then proceed to Step 2. STEP 2 LOCATING THE MSCDEX CD ROM EXTENSION MSCDEX is the Microsoft extension for CD ROM drives. It must be loaded in order for your CD ROM drive to operate. The following steps should assist you in locating this file on your system To locate MSCDEX, at the C:\> prompt, type: TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT | MORE NOTE: The | is called a "pipe" command and is created by pressing \ (backslash). Now look for the line which loads "MSCDEX". This line should look something like this: : C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 LH C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 LOADHIGH /L:14429 \DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 Your line may differ from the ones listed above. Please write down the entire line following the drive letter in the space provided below. Be sure and include the full drive and path to your MSCDEX file. For example, any of the above lines should appear as follows: C:\DOS\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 STEP 3 LOCATING THE CD ROM DEVICE DRIVER Along with MSCDEX, the CD ROM also needs a device driver. This driver is loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. To determine the correct CD ROM device driver, at the C:\> prompt type: TYPE CONFIG.SYS | MORE NOTE: If you have a SCSI CD ROM drive, there may be an additional driver in your CONFIG.SYS that must be run for the CD ROM device drivers to load correctly. Check your CD ROM drive documentation for more information. Now look for the line that contains CD ROM device name which immediately follows the same "/D:" switch as the MSCDEX line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Using the example above, we would be looking for a line containing "MSCD001". This line should look something like one of the following lines: DEVICE=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 DEVICEHIGH=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 DEVICEHIGH /L:14652 =C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 Your line may differ from the ones listed above. Please write down the entire line following the drive letter in the space provided below. Be sure and include the full drive and path to your CD ROM device driver. For example, any of the above lines should appear as follows: DEVICE=C:\DRV\CDROMDRV.SYS /D:MSCD001 /P:220 DEVICE= STEP 4 CREATING THE CONFIG.SYS FILE Now switch to the A: drive and type the following: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS (The cursor will drop down one line and blink) DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS FILES=15 BUFFERS=10 DOS=HIGH Now add the CD ROM driver line as you wrote it down in the "Locating the CD ROM device driver" section above. Complete the file by pressing the F6 Function key STEP 5 CREATING THE AUTOEXEC.BAT FILE Now create an AUTOEXEC.BAT file by typing: COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT (the cursor will drop down one line) ECHO OFF SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM C: PROMPT SIERRA CD BOOT DISK $_$P$G PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\WINDOWS; Add the MSCDEX line as you wrote it down in the "Locating the MSCDEX CD ROM extension" section listed above. Complete the file by pressing the F6 Function key STEP 6 REBOOT THE SYSTEM Reboot your system by depressing the button on your computer or by using the , , key sequence on your keyboard. When you are at a C:\ prompt, type WIN /3 to start Windows.