I just brought my second copy of Emergency Room (DOS game, my first copy of traded in at EB games at the local mall some 10 yrs ago or so, have regretted this, so got this 2nd copy) - well - have tried installing this game in 2 laptops (a macbook pro under DOSbox 0.72 win32-installer, & a Dell Inspiron netbook under DOSbox 0.73 win32), and when I try to install the game, it goes smoothly until the CD Speed Check part - this is when it locks up. This 2nd copy I bought from Amazon.com; it was listed as "like new" - disc is clean, scratch-free. However, when I installed my first copy of this game on my old Packard-Bell computer (a desktop PC running DOS 6) 10 -15 yrs ago, the installation went smoothly and completed quickly without locking up on me. I googled for info on "game install: desktop vs laptop" and I found this page on GameSpot: (link)
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/forums/show_msgs.php?topic_id=26134486

So I'm wondering if the reason I cannot install Emergency Room in DOSbox (i.e. it locks up) is simply because of the different hardware in my 2 laptops and if I might have better results if I install the game in my Dell Dimension 8200 under DOSbox?

(Images of the game in question and the Packard-Bell computer can be seen at this link)
http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd225/KellySt10/My%20latest%20Game%20problems/?action=organize

I can't get your photobucket link to work properly, but I assume you're talking about this game
http://www.mobygames.com/game/emergency-room

Since it's a CD Speed check that's failing, you might try slowing your drive down with something like Nero CD/DVDSpeed
http://www.cdspeed2000.com/

CD drives were probably something like 2x speed back in 1995, nowhere close to as fast as they are now.

I can't either - and hi Kelly

I was going to recommend the CD speed program myself (on the other web site). If it's an issue with the drive speed this ought to correct the problem.

Yes, Jenny, that's the game.

Yes, I was using the Asus external DL optical drive with the netbook to install the game in DOSbox which was running at CpuCycles 3000, Frameskip 0 (whatever that means) ? This external drive runs CD-R's at 24X, and my macbook pro's optical drive runs CD-R's at - umm, it doesn't show the read speeds, but here is the info on my macbook pro's built-in optical drive:

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-868:

Firmware Revision: KB19
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

Will d/l this CDspeed program you recommended (thanks!) - might I still have to go into DOSbox's config file and enter a different value in place of the "3000" for CpuCycles? - anyway, the game's directions call for a CD drive with a 300K/second transfer rate or at least double speed (600K/second transfer rate), and the game was published in 1995, so to quote Jenny thus -
- am starting to wonder what is the value (to slow down DOSbox) in CpuCycles for 2x speed? And if I slow down DOSbox, will I also have to slow down my optical drives in addition?
Thanks for the input.

Jenny, I went to the CD Speed slowdown utility download page from the link you provided, but it says I'll have to buy it - what gives? I thought there were free ones out there.

EDIT - just googled for Nero CD/DVD Speed (freeware), tried to download, but links were either broken or they ended up at this CDspeed2000 site where you have to pay if you want the full program. EDIT 2 - Did some more searching/surfing for Nero CD/DVD Speed and found this - page (link) http://www.brothersoft.com/nero-drivespeed-59629.html and I was able to successfully d/l it at from this page (link) http://www.brothersoft.com/nero-drivespeed-download-59629.html

No. CPU cycles aren't affected by the read speed.

Don't try to slow down DOSBox for a CD reading test. You only need to slow down the CD drive.

Your CD drives may be too fast for the "speed test" to detect, so it thinks their speed is zero.

Have used the Nero Drive Speed to reduce my macbook pro's original 24X speed (selected 2X but Nero lists this as 6X), started up DOSbox with the game disc in the drive, typed E: (DOSbox's CD drive is successfully mounted), but when I type install, I get an "Illegal command" - wait - have restarted Nero, restarted DOSbox with game disc in drive. Am now waiting for the game's installer CD speed check to finish - it's still checking, nothing's happening, it still seems to be taking a very long time/maybe it's locking up as before?

new link to images of my Packard-Bell PC (Gave this to my friend's kids), the game, and the game's CD speed check after reducing the optical drive speed in Nero. http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd225/KellySt10/My%20latest%20Game%20problems/?action=organize

I fixed the link you couldn't access before by putting in this new link.

Still not working for me - for some reason it takes me to MY photobucket account. Very strange.

I really don't know that much about photobucket - fixed (see my latest post)

We'd probably have to be logged into your photobucket account in order to see that particular page.

Can you give us links to the individual pictures?

How exactly do I do this short of posting the images in this thread - will I have to have an album for each photo?

Click the individual picture so you get the enlarged image.
To the left of the picture under where it says "Share this Image"
Copy what it says next to "Direct Link" and paste that link into your message.

speed check (Nero running, CD set at 2X but is listed as 6X) still hangs, even a half-hour after I tried again to install the game. (link to image below)

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd225...lltakeslong.jpg

Maybe you need to set the affinity of DOSBox to a single processor.

Is the 2x CD speed or DVD speed?
2x DVD speed is faster than 2x CD speed.

How to do this?


How to I determine if it's CD speed or DVD speed?

Start DOSBox (windowed)
Control-alt-delete to bring up Task Manager.
Processes tab.
Right-click on the DOSBox exe.
The bottom option in the screen that opens should be: Set Affinity.
Open this and uncheck all the CPU's except one.
Close the Task Manager.


Doesn't the program tell you?
What is the fastest speed it allows? That should give you an idea. If it's around 52x, it would be CD speed. If it's around 20x or less, it would be DVD speed (unless you have an old drive or a laptop drive).