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Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - bug issue Solved! #778743
01/04/12 05:19 PM
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this game only plays after it is first installed, and any subsequent attempt to run the game (by, in DOSbox, typing
"cd sosgame <enter> go") gives a "Error Program bug". This happens after quitting the game from the main menu.

How do I fix this?



Thanks in advance.

Last edited by cruise02; 01/22/12 08:29 PM.

"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781188
01/16/12 09:12 AM
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<Backstory - what I found out>

Since I found that Sign of the Sun plays better (after first being installed) in the Windows XP Command Prompt, in fact I didn't have this problem with the game running only 1 time only (mentioned in my original post) after installing it at the command prompt. But none of my screenshot takers (FRAPS/XnView) will capture screenshots of the gameplay when I'm running the game at the command prompt.

So yesterday I dug out my XP Home VMWare guest which I had saved as a .zip file, unzipped it, ran it in VMWare Player on the Acer, put a command prompt shortcut on the VM XP guest's desktop, insterted the Sign of the Sun CD into the host's optical drive, tried to install the game at the cmd prompt of the guest, but I got a DOS/4gw (2001) runtime error at the cmd prompt. I googled for a fix, fix told me do system restore, which I did, nada, fix then told me to d/l PC cleaner pro, which I did into the guest, scanned, but when I clicked the "fix all errors" button, it took to the registration page where I had to enter a unique number which I didn't have. This led me to give them my name & email, which I attempted twice, and it appears I have to buy this piece of junk (maybe) just to fix the errors it found.

I wouldn't be surprised if PC cleaner Pro offers to fix the Dos/4gw error for a price after it scans (and inserts in the scanning process) all kinds of junk on the guest OS?

So anyway something seems to be corrupted in the guest OS that's not allowing the game to install at the cmd prompt - how do I fix this?

Do I have to make a new XP guest and get rid of the current XP guest?

Did the compressing corrupt something after I first created the guest back on 9/11/11?

The whole reason I want to run the game at the guest's cmd prompt is so the screenshot taker in the host will capture the gameplay screenshots successully, as it did when I ran other games in other VMware guests.


"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781197
01/16/12 10:24 AM
01/16/12 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted By: cruise02
So anyway something seems to be corrupted in the guest OS that's not allowing the game to install at the cmd prompt - how do I fix this?

Create a new guest (or restore one from a backup). The one you have may have the "inserted stuff" you mention and who knows what it all is. Don't ever install software you're not sure about. Fortunately you only did it inside a VM guest, which is easily replaced. You did make a backup before using it, didn't you?

Originally Posted By: cruise02
Did the compressing corrupt something after I first created the guest back on 9/11/11?

More likely a problem with the game running on DOS in VMware.

Keep in mind that VMware and VirtualPC weren't designed to play DOS games, and may not emulate all the hardware on a DOS computer correctly. You may encounter sound card errors or other mysterious problems when running DOS games on them. DOSBox was designed for DOS games, but Sign of the Sun doesn't seem to have been tested on it.

Back to VMware,
you "might" find a solution to the DOS/4GW error if you follow the suggestions on this page (It's a Help file for a different DOS game -- or at least one that can be played in DOS) with a DOS/4GW error.
http://advsys.net/ken/buildsrc/
To find the post on that webpage, do a Ctrl-F to start a Find and use it to search for the word:
error

I'll quote it below for the benefit of anyone else who might be using this thread, but if you, Cruise02, intend to be a tech, you need to learn to do your own searches. Being able to find usable (and safe) solutions on the Internet is a very important part of being a tech. Anyway, here's the section you should be looking for:
Quote:
I was trying to run your GAME.EXE and it gave me the following error message. What's wrong?

Stub exec failed:
dos4gw.exe
No such file or directory


...

If you insist on using DOS, then... You need DOS4GW.EXE in the path or in the same directory. You might already have it if you look through the directories of some old DOS games. If you can't find it, then download it from the bottom of my ***Utilities page*** Also, if you get a DOS4GW syntax error when trying to run the game, then try typing "DOS4GW GAME" at the DOS prompt.

So check your game folder and make sure it has that file. If it doesn't, you can look for the file in one of your other DOS games or download it from Ken Silverman's Utility page (link included in my quote).

For more about DOS/4GW errors, here's a more technical page that gets more into the nuts and bolts about what's causing it:
http://www.tenberry.com/dos4g/faq/err2001.html

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: Jenny100] #781210
01/16/12 11:39 AM
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Jenny, how did you find Ken's site? I kept trying in vain last night trying to fix the error - in the google search bar, I typed "dos 4gw error 2001" but I was led way off base, to that PC cleaner Pro. Why is this?

EDIT - Just checked the game's CD. Yes, it has the DOS4GW file, but it's kind of buried in E:\S_o_s\Sosdata. Does this tell you anything, Jenny? The only thing it tells me is that maybe it's buried too deep, it should be in the main directory - S_o_s? Or am I completely wrong about this?

I wonder how many student computer techs try in vain to fix a game/computer problem and have to be led by the hand like I do?

Last edited by cruise02; 01/16/12 11:54 AM.

"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781212
01/16/12 12:00 PM
01/16/12 12:00 PM
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A search for
DOS4GW error
produces a lot of links with nothing to do with DOS games.

So search for
DOS/4GW game error

and one of the links you see is the Ken Silverman page.

You could try copying the DOS4GW from the E:\S_o_s\Sosdata the E:\S_o_s folder so it's in both locations.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781245
01/16/12 01:34 PM
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Just as an FYI - nowhere is the game listed as being compatible with DOSBox.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: InlandAZ] #781303
01/16/12 07:57 PM
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Just deleted the old XP VM from VMWare Player and created a new XP guest, with VMWare Tools installed and activated the guest. Tried with the XP cmd prompt to go into D drive and install Sign of the Sun. Got the same error (crash) that I got last nite.

Just created a DOS 6.2 VM guest in VMWare Player (but I have to create this first) on my Acer.


Last edited by cruise02; 01/16/12 09:15 PM.

"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781307
01/16/12 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted By: cruise02
Just deleted the old XP VM from VMWare Player and created a new XP guest, with VMWare Tools installed and activated the guest. Tried with the XP cmd prompt to go into D drive and install Sign of the Sun. Got the same error (crash) that I got last nite.

Am now going to try installing the game in Virtual PC's DOS 6.2 guest (but I have to create this first) on my Acer.

I tried that this morning, same results - let me know how it goes for you.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: InlandAZ] #781313
01/16/12 09:16 PM
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So far, my config.sys has these files:

--Device=c:\dos\setver.exe
--device=c:\dos\himem.sys
--dos=high
--files=30;

and the autoexec.bat has:

--c:\dos\smartdrv.exe /x
--@echo off
--prompt $p$g
--path c:\dos
--set temp=c:\dostype command

Last edited by cruise02; 01/16/12 09:22 PM.

"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781314
01/16/12 09:20 PM
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MSCDEX.EXE should be in your C:\DOS folder after you install DOS 6.2.

There are different versions of MSCDEX for DOS and Windows 95/93, so it's better to use the one that came with your version of DOS.

You'll probably also need EMM386.EXE loaded, which should also be in your C:\DOS folder.

Have you checked the Gameboomers DOS FAQ at
http://www.gameboomers.com/Members/DOS.htm

Highlight "My DOS game needs more memory" on that page and you should see more info about how to load things in autoexec.bat and config.sys in DOS.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: Jenny100] #781315
01/16/12 09:23 PM
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so where do I d/l the MSCDEX cdrom drive from? I could google - I did google and found these **this**, which tells what to get & how to put it into DOS,

and **this from microsoft, posted in VOGONS forum as a link**

This is on the Acer, I checked its device manager's DVD drive listing but it didn't list what type of drive it is except a slimtype DVD A DS8A4SH optical drive. Don't know if it's IDE (or other) or not, but I found these listings **here** that list this drive either as an ATA device or an IDE1 device.This tells me, I think, that DOS mscdex v2.23 driver likely won't work on this type of optical drive?


"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781316
01/16/12 09:25 PM
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Quote:
so where do I d/l the MSCDEX cdrom drive from?

You don't download it at all.
After you install DOS it should already be in your C:\DOS folder.
You are installing DOS from floppies onto a Virtual Machine aren't you?

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: Jenny100] #781319
01/16/12 09:49 PM
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Originally Posted By: Jenny100
Quote:
so where do I d/l the MSCDEX cdrom drive from?

You don't download it at all.


I didn't know this. I thought you had to d/l it. My mistake.

Originally Posted By: Jenny100
[quoteAfter you install DOS it should already be in your C:\DOS folder.


the only files thar're in my c:\dos directory are:

--attrib.exe
--chkdsk.exe
--country.sys
--country.txt
--debug.exe
--dossetup.ini
--drvspace.bin
--edit.com
--expand.exe
--fdisk.exe
--format.com
--keyb.com
--kryboard.sys
--mem.exe
--nlsfunc.exe
--readme.txt
--networks.txt
--qbasic.exe
--re....

Oh! I found it! The mscdex.exe file! Ok, how do I get it to recognize the Acer's optical drive (since I have to let you know it wasn't Virtual PC that I created this DOS VM in, it was VMWare Player v3)?



Originally Posted By: Jenny100
You are installing DOS from floppies onto a Virtual Machine aren't you?


Yes, I bought a set of 4 DOS 6.2 floppy 3.5 diskettes from ebay back in Oct, transposed each floppy to a image file using WinImage and created the VM from these on the Acer.


"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781338
01/16/12 11:50 PM
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I've decided to create a MS DOS 6.22 VM in Virtual Box, have made the floppy diskette images as *.iso images, yet I cannot get it to boot up - I've been trying in vain for about an hour or more.

Here is info on creating a DOS 6.22 VM in Virtual Box **here**

Just found this - explains more about creating a MS DOS VM in VB **here**

Last edited by cruise02; 01/16/12 11:57 PM.

"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781458
01/17/12 01:31 PM
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Floppy disc images should be .img files, not .isos.
CD images are .isos.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: Jenny100] #781748
01/18/12 06:31 PM
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I just created a MS-DOS VM in Virtual Box, now I have to wait until 8 PM tonight to get parts 2, etc, to set up DOS in VB, also all the parts to the how to's on creating a Windows 98 VM in Virtual Box as well (if these exist on that particular site), save them as pdf's and synch them to my ipad.

The site where I found the instructions that I linked to (the second link) is protesting the bill to cut off the internet by blocking their content today from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M, if you link to their site, it'll tell you so (if you link between the hrs of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m, that is).


"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781762
01/18/12 07:39 PM
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cruise, there is no bill to cut off the internet.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781770
01/18/12 08:49 PM
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She's talking about the PIPA and SOPA bills that Google and many other websites are protesting today. They might not "cut off" the whole Internet, but because of the way they're written, they give the Entertainment industry excessive power over what is posted on websites and restrict freedom of information. This doesn't just affect pirate sites.

Anyway, the ***VM using VirtualBox*** site Cruise02 was talking about is back to normal-looking. They still have a page that describe the problems with SOPA though -- and why it amounts to censorship of the Internet.
http://www.mightorindustries.net/?s=SOPA

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781784
01/18/12 10:14 PM
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I know - we've already had the conversation about the SOPA and PIPA issues and Cruise using inflammatory and incorrect language to describe this complicated issue.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781847
01/19/12 09:05 AM
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Sorry. This is the first I've heard of that conversation.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781879
01/19/12 10:52 AM
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I know... I apologize and should have been more specific.


Gardens put to bed for the winter. Time for some gaming!
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: Draclvr] #781906
01/19/12 02:21 PM
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Er, shall we change the subject, please? Could we talk about Virtual Box, et al now?

Anyway I've found some tuts on how to install Windows 3.11 and 98SE on Virtual Box, which I saved as pdf's on my mac and synched to my ipad. Will let you guys know how it goes - in the hopes of running Sign of the Sun (and certain other games) on these VM's.


"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781923
01/19/12 03:50 PM
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I guess you don't need us then.
Have fun.

Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: Jenny100] #781936
01/19/12 05:10 PM
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Originally Posted By: Jenny100
I guess you don't need us then.
Have fun.


Oh, please don't say that, Jenny. If I run into trouble or cannot figure something out, then I'll sure be needing you.

And thanks for telling me to have fun - yes, I sure will!


"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
Re: Sign of the Sun DOSbox 0.74 - need help, please [Re: cruise02] #781943
01/19/12 06:03 PM
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Ok, I could use your help now, Jenny - currently I'm in the process of transferring files (in 3 - 4 GB folders) from the M1530 to the Asus netbook via 2 flash drives - one flash drive is a 16 GB HP - file format NTFS, and the other is an 8 GB Lexar - file format FAT16 (AFAIK), and the Lexar transfers roughly the same size of folders faster than the HP flash drive, so is FAT file transfer faster than NTFS as far as flash drives go?

EDIT - after I reformatted the HP flash drive from NTFS to FAT32, these folder transfers went much faster - I didn't have to wait (and waste) several hours transferring one folder.

Last edited by cruise02; 01/19/12 06:23 PM.

"AlienBZ to Quasar Command...Have completed all tasks on this planet. Beam me up, please." note: AlienBZ = my other name
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