I just read your latest message...I will try that and thanks!

I found the string, but it didn't work or found anything, Oh well!

Look for firmware on the HP site for your model of CD drive.

Assuming you have regular 32-bit Vista and not 64-bit Vista, I found this page for drivers for the m8034n computer

HP Pavilion Media Center TV m8034n Desktop PC

If you scroll down about halfway down the page to where it says Firmware, you see two models listed

TSST TS-H653L DVD-R/RW Drive Firmware Update

DVD-RW 16X HL-DT-ST DVDRRW GSA-H30L Drive Firmware Update

I don't know which of these you have, or if you have a different one.
Do either of these look similar to what you saw in the PNP Device String?

Thank you Jenny, yes I went there already and did NOT find the firmware I was looking for. The PNP string was more like the letters and numbers of my drive!
Bummer huh?

What exactly are you seeing for the PNP Device ID string?

As an example of what it looks like, the one I'm seeing on the computer I'm using at the moment is
IDE\CDROMHL-DT-ST_DVDRW__GSA-S10N_________A100_____\5&19B1954C&0&0.0.0

In Device Manager it shows up as
HL-DT-ST DVDRW GSA-S1N ATA Device

In the example above - A100 is the firmware version (it will always be the first 4 characters following the long string of underscores).

Good morning all!
Here is the PNP string that I found:
SCSI/CDROM&VEN_ATAPI&PROD_DVD_A_DH16A1L\4&4D7CBB2&08&010100
Wow that's a long one huh? Now what?

Nero drive speed will prompt you for the option when a disc is inserted.


That almost looks like you expanded the Storage Key, and not CDROM. But it may be that Vista does it differently (I'll check my Vista PC later today).

This is for XP (but should apply to Vista as well):
HP Desktop PCs - Identifying the Preinstalled CD or DVD Drive

The drive I checked was on a computer with Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

I think the DH16A1L drive is a no-name brand used by HP. I've found other posts from people who are having trouble with this drive using a Google search. I'd suggest replacing it with a more reliable brand -- or if it works OK as a burner, put a second drive in the computer to do the reading.

The drive is OEM'd by LiteOn. I've had issues with their optical drives as well. Thankfully, mine failed within the warrantee.

The last one I replaced came with firmware that wasn't available anywhere on their web site (so continue to see if you can identify it). It's amazing what firmware can do for you

I emailed HP that I couldn't find the firmware for my computer etc.
I will have to wait and see if they can steer me in the right direction.

Inland...Nero drive speed doesn't let me know when I insert a disk, how come?
Also...here is another string for my DVD\CDRom drive:
4d36e965-e325-11ce-bfc-1-08002be 10318
Is this number 10318 the firmware number I should look for?
Thanks again for your help!!

If it's running when you insert the disc, it should ask. Nope the firmware version is 4 bytes.

I thought I would revive this old thread to report that Robert's No CD technique quoted here worked perfectly on my Windows 7 64 bit computer. Once I copied all the folders and modified the registry entry, I put the CDs away and never needed any of them. I just got finished replaying it all the way through.

What a wonderful game. Its place in the Hall Of Fame is completely justified.

Uncle Reg,

Glad to here it worked for you. Much too often we don't find out what happens when recommendations are made.

I tried this but it did not work. When I start the game it brings me to a screen asking for CD 1. What's worse is that i cannot exit out of it and have to restart the computer. I've been reading about 2 versions of this game. My version is

http://www.amazon.com/Amerzone-Pc/dp/B00...8396&sr=1-2

Any ideas?

I can't say just looking at the picture on Amazon - but... if you found this registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microfolie's\L'Amerzone\1.0

I'd guess that it was version 1.0

Edit -

So far as I am aware, there were 2 disc formats used - 1 with 4 CD's and another with 1 DVD (both version 1.0). Which do you have? I'm assuming the 4 CD distribution and you're trying to avoid disc swapping.

If that happens again, try Alt-F4 to close the game (hold down the Alt key and press the F4 key). If that doesn't work, try Control-Alt-Delete, Choose Task Manager, and end the game through the Applications tab of Task Manager.

I have the original Casterman/Microids US release that Jenny and Robert mentioned. It is the 1st Windows version that is shown directly under the 2 Playstation versions on the MobyGames Cover art page that Jenny linked to above. You can see the Casterman and Microids logos on the front and back of the box and on the back of the jewel case.

Here's exactly what I did to get it to work:

I have 2 hard drives, C: an D:. My CD/DVD drive is E:.

First I installed the game in the normal manner, using the E: CD/DVD drive.

After the install, that Source registry entry that Robert described said E:\ , and I changed it to D:\ .

Next, I copied all the folders listed from the CDs to the root directory, (not the game folder) of drive D:. I had to use all 4 CDs to get all of the listed folders copied to the D: drive.

Thats all I did, and I never saw any screens asking to insert a CD. The game paused at the start of each new chapter, but no insert CD messages, a single mouse click started up the new chapter.

Did you find the registry entry labeled Source? It should have listed the CD drive.

Did you change the listing from the CD drive to a hard drive?

Did you copy all of the folders to the root directory of that drive?

If you did all of that, it should have worked.

When it asked for CD 1, did you try inserting CD 1, or did you just reboot?

Thank you guys.
I figured out what happened. Evidently copying the game folders to the C: drive works but only if you have CD1 in the drive when you start the game.
I misunderstood that the game would run with no cd's required. So when I started the game with no cd it locked up (i guess the game has a cd check??)
Oh well, it's a small annoyance, but the game runs so much faster now.

So one more question. Is there a way to improve the resolution? I realize Amerzone is a 1999 game but was wondering if there was a way to make it look a little better.

Thanks for the help!!

You have to do more than copy the game folders to the C: drive. You also have to alter the registry so the game knows where to look for the folders. Check Robert Gault's instructions on the first page of this thread.


No. It's not a 3D game. It was made in one resolution only: 640x480. If you have an old CRT monitor, you may find old games like this look better on the old CRT monitor than on a new LCD monitor.

The game will run with no CDs required. I played through the entire game and never needed to use any CD to get the game started. Once I finished the install, modified the registry and copied all of the folders to the hard drive, I put all of the disks back in the jewel case, put it away, and played the entire game without ever opening up that jewel case again.

If the game won't start without CD1 in the drive, and it does start when you have CD1 in the drive, then you probably didn't modify the registry correctly. I'll bet that when you get to Chapter 2 the game will ask for CD2, and won't continue without it.

Each one of those folders contains the files for one of the chapters. The 01VR_PHARE folder is on CD1 (PHARE is the French word for lighthouse), the 02VR_ILE folder is on CD2 (ILE is the French word for island) and the other folders are on CD3 and CD4. If you have modified the registry correctly, in effect, you have fooled the game into thinking that C:\ is the CD drive, and C:\ is where it will look for the folders when it needs them. You should probably go back and recheck that the registry entry labeled Source has been correctly modified to read C:\.

Ok, here is an update to my earlier post. After copying the game folders to the root of C: and altering the registry (source D: changed to C:), the game will only start with CD1 in the drive. However, after playing the game for approx 15 minutes, it locks up.

If CD 1 is not in the drive, the game starts with the Microids intro, but then asks for CD1. At this point there is no way to exit the game and I have to restart my computer (alt F4 or the windows key do not work). So at this point I'm not sure what is different about my system. I am pretty sure that this game is using a CD check type of protection (ubisoft is the publisher). You guys probably have a different version of the game with no protection.
Also, I have tried this method on both my XP computers and each one has the same exact problem.

Anyway, let me know if you have any other ideas.
Much appreciated.

Backdoc when this happens have you tried just ejecting the CD and see what happens on screen? I've done that with other games that froze on me and was able to continue by pushing the CD back in.

Backdoc77,

Even with the modifications for no-CD, the game will still ask for a CD change. To continue, just hit ENTER of whatever is asked as an indication of a CD change.
Clearly you either have a different version of the game than the one I and Uncle Reg are using or you have not made the modifications quite right.
Can you save the registry entry to a file and then post it here for us to see it?

Edit

You can get info on the game version by right clicking on the file amerzone.exe. Look at Properties/Version

File version: 1.0.0.6
Description: Moteur de l'Amerzone
Copyright: 1999 4X Technologies
Private Build Description: 1702
Product Version: 1.0.0.1
Special Build Description: Final

This is the info on the version I have and which the no-CD technique works. The technique may or may not work with other versions.

If you Export the registry key the drive and res directory can differ but it will look like:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microfolie's\L'Amerzone\1.0]
"res"="c:\\games\\Amerzone\\"
"source"="C:\\"

When you look at it in the registry it will look like:
[ab](Default) REG_SZ (value not set)
[ab]res REG_SZ c:\games\Amerzone\
[ab]source REG_SZ C:\

here should be six directories in the root directory of the chosen drive. The names start with 1VR, 2VR, 3VR, 4VR, 5VR, and 7VR. For some quirk there was no 6VR with this version.

Robert,

I never got asked for a CD change.

I checked the version info on my amerzone.exe, and everything matches what you posted. Windows 7 calls it Details instead of Version, and it didn't list that Private Build Description and Special Build Description items, but I copied the file to a flash drive and looked at it on my old XP computer and everything matches.

I repeat with emphasis so that everybody should understand beyond a shadow of a doubt, I played through the entire game and NEVER was asked to insert a CD. At the end of each chapter there was a pause as the new chapter title was displayed, and a single mouse click started up the new chapter. No Insert CD message was ever displayed.

I've haven't uninstalled it yet, and I just went back and rechecked. I started the game and loaded the latest save which was at the lava pit just prior to the final cutscene. Then I escaped back to the menu, and loaded the oldest save which was at the shack on the river where you run out of gas. Finally I went back to the menu and started a new game, and it immediately went to the opening scene with the mailman riding down the road. All three of those scenes are on different CDs, and no Insert CD message was ever displayed.