Microsoft KB Archive/118461

= Ancient Lands: TROUBLE.TXT Contents =

Article ID: 118461

Article Last Modified on 8/15/2005

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Ancient Lands

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This article was previously published under Q118461



SUMMARY
The following information is the contents of the TROUBLE.TXT file in the root directory of the Ancient Lands CD. The text below remains as released in the TROUBLE.TXT file, and has not been edited by PSS. ===================================================================== TROUBLE.TXT

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Having problems running Microsoft Ancient Lands? Check the following list of solutions. If you don't find the information you need here, check the README file that was installed with Ancient Lands.

PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS

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======= Microsoft Ancient Lands uses your computer's system memory to display pictures. If you find that Ancient Lands runs slowly or if you encounter out-of-memory errors, the program probably doesn't have enough memory. Consider doing the following to improve your computer's performance:


 * Close all unnecessary applications.

by typing "mem" and pressing ENTER at the DOS prompt. You need a minimum of 4MB (4,000K) of total memory to use Ancient Lands. If you do not have at least 4MB of memory available, you will not be able to run Ancient Lands until you add more memory.
 * Determine how much total memory your computer has available

movie performance. To check the amount of free memory Windows has available, start Windows, and from Program Manager pull down the "Help" menu then choose "About Program Manager."
 * Ancient Lands needs a minimum of 5255K free in Windows for best

Windows swap file on your hard disk. A swap file of greater than 4MB (4,000K) is recommended. See your Windows documentation for more information.
 * If you are running Windows in Enhanced mode, set up a permanent

running a defragmentation program.
 * Defragment ("clean up") your hard disk by

CD-ROM PROBLEMS

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NOTE - Do not remove the Ancient Lands compact disc from your CD-ROM drive while Ancient Lands is in the process of playing a sound or displaying a new picture, or is running in Slide Show mode.

If the Ancient Lands program cannot find the data files that it needs from the Ancient Lands compact disc, you'll see a message that asks you to select the drive containing the files. To find the source of the problem, do the following:

inserted into the CD-ROM drive.
 * Make sure the Ancient Lands compact disc is correctly

for the compact disc on the correct drive. Check to see if the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive has changed. You can use the Windows File Manager to determine which drive letter is assigned to the CD-ROM drive. The Select Drive command in the Disk menu will say "CD-ROM" next to the CD-ROM drive letter.
 * Make sure that the Ancient Lands program is looking

drive is connected to your computer, plugged in, and turned on. If you still see the error message after checking the points above, check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive or contact the company that supplied the drive.
 * If you have an external CD-ROM drive, make sure that the

MPC-compatible drives meet the following criteria: 1. An average seek time of less than one second; 2. A transfer rate of 150KB per second while using less than 40% of the CPU bandwidth.
 * Make sure that your CD-ROM drive is MPC-compatible.

Check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to make sure it meets these requirements. A CD-ROM drive that does not meet the MPC specifications will exhibit slow performance and/or "Audio blips/Interruptions" when sound is played.

PRINTING AND COPYING

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The screens in Ancient Lands are large color pictures. Depending on the type of printer you have, printing a picture of the screen may take several minutes. Also, screen resolution and printer resolution are often not the same, so the resulting printout may not match the quality you see on the screen.

You should be able to print grayscale images from Ancient Lands. If you have a black-and-white laser printer you might need to upgrade your printer driver. Call the dealer from whom you bought the printer or the printer manufacturer. It is also possible to print Ancient Lands screens in color on a color printer.

Because the pictures can be quite large, you may have difficulty copying or printing in low-memory conditions. In this case, close all other unnecessary applications and try again.

GRAPHIC DISPLAY PROBLEMS

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=========== Ancient Lands will run in 16-color or 256-color screen mode. The program will automatically detect what mode you are running and display pictures accordingly. If your computer is running in 16-color mode, and the video card will support 256 colors, you can run the Windows Setup program to change the video driver. This will enhance the image quality of Microsoft Ancient Lands. For more information on changing video drivers, check your Windows documentation.

ANCIENT LANDS IMAGES APPEAR BLACK AND WHITE

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============================== Some color video cards display Ancient Lands images in black and white. This problem can be solved by updating your video driver. Contact your video card manufacturer for the updated 256-color Windows video drivers.

ATI PROBLEMS

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Microsoft Ancient Lands is incompatible with some advanced features used by some video cards such as the Mach32 chip set running the ATI drivers. For Ancient Lands to run on the ATI driver, the "256 color palette" control in the "Advanced features" of the "ATI Control Panel" needs to be set to ON. For more information, see the documentation for your video card.

PROBLEMS WITH THE DISPLAY IN ANCIENT LANDS

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============================= If you encounter problems displaying images or videos when running Microsoft Ancient Lands, check the currently installed video driver:

1. Run the Windows Setup application. 2. Locate the Display driver item in  the application window.

If the display driver item is VGA:

from the system prompt. If standard mode Windows works, try starting Windows in the enhanced mode with the following command:
 * Try running Windows in Standard Mode by typing "WIN /S"

WIN /D:XV

If this solves the problem, make the following modifications to your SYSTEM.INI file in the [386Enh] section:

EMMEXCLUDE=A000-EFFF VIRTUALHDIRQ=OFF

If the display driver item is NOT VGA:

1. Run the Windows Setup application. 2. Choose Change System Settings from the Options menu. 3. Change the Display setting to VGA. 4. Choose OK and restart Windows. 5. Run Microsoft Ancient Lands and determine if the display problems still occur. If  the problem still exists, follow the suggestions described for VGA drivers, above.

If the problem is solved, this indicates that your current video driver selection is experiencing problems rendering images in Ancient Lands. You might want to consider choosing another video driver (if available) provided by your video card manufacturer. To do so, run the Windows Setup application. If the problem persists, contact your video card manufacturer for updated video drivers.

AUDIO PROBLEMS

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= Audio problems can have many causes. Other applications that play sounds may interrupt sounds in Ancient Lands, because your computer cannot play two sounds simultaneously. This is generally a temporary clash that will resolve itself. However, a few applications that play sounds, such as some screen savers, may remove audio capability from all other Windows applications. If you suspect you have such an application, deactivate it or do not run it while running Ancient Lands.

SOUNDS PLAY, BUT NOT VERY WELL

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================= Sounds that are distorted or "fuzzy" have several possible causes. The most likely one is simply that your speakers are not of high quality. Low frequency sounds may not reproduce well on some equipment.

It is also possible that the software settings on your sound board are causing distortion. For example, if the sound card volume or "WAVE file input" is set to near its maximum, it will produce amplification distortion, just as it would on a stereo system. To find out how to change your sound board settings, check the documentation that came with your sound board.

Your CD-ROM drive should be MPC-compatible. MPC-compatible drives meet the following criteria:

1. An average seek time of less than one second; 2. A transfer rate of 150KB per second while using less than 40% of the CPU bandwidth.

Check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to make sure it meets these requirements. An incompatible CD-ROM drive may work, however, it may produce low-quality audio or cause the sound to be interrupted while playing.

SOUND BREAKS IN MOVIES

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========= If your video display is set to 16 colors and you are running Ancient Lands from a single-speed CD-ROM drive, you may experience sound breaks in certain movies. Running in 256 colors will fix this problem.

SOUND DOESN'T PLAY AT ALL

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============ If you don't hear any sounds, make sure that the volume is set to an audible level.

If the volume is set to an audible level and you still hear no sounds at all, something may be wrong with your sound board setup. Check to see that the drivers are installed correctly and, if necessary, reinstall them. To determine if the sound drivers are installed check the Drivers section of the Windows Control Panel. For more information on installing your sound drivers, refer to the documentation that came with your sound card. If you have any problems, contact your sound board manufacturer for assistance.

Please note that Ancient Lands requires an MPC-compatible sound board and is not intended to run with drivers which use the PC speaker, such as the unsupported "PC Speaker" driver. Such a driver will in most cases not play any sounds, and if the driver setup option "Enable Interrupts" is not checked, the system may lock up. Check the "Drivers" configuration in your Windows Control Panel. If you have both a sound board and the PC Speaker driver installed, it is recommended that you remove the PC Speaker driver.

Media Vision Cards

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===== A small number of Media Vision sound card drivers (Pro Audio - Spectrum cards) may have problems with sound in Ancient Lands. If you have a Media Vision card and do not hear sounds or are having other sound problems, you might require updated drivers. Contact Media Vision for current driver information.

If you are running Microsoft Ancient Lands on an EISA machine and experience "scratchy" audio, try changing the DMA channel on the sound card to DMA 7.

RUNNING UNDER MICROSOFT WINDOWS NT

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======================================= There are two potential problems with Ancient Lands running under Windows NT version 3.0. First, there is no VGA support for Ancient Lands, if you are running Windows NT you need to be using a VGA+ (256-color) or better display to use Ancient Lands.

ANCIENT LANDS MOVIES

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======= The Ancient Lands Movies play full-screen by default. Some video drivers don't play movies properly full-screen (on a black background). If Ancient Lands detects a problem when playing movies it should switch to playing movies in a window.

If you have problems playing movies full-screen or if you would like to switch between playing movies full-screen or in a window, change the "VideoInWindow" line in your MSLANDS.INI file in your WINDOWS directory as follows:

VideoInWindow=0  (This will make movies play full-screen)

VideoInWindow=1  (This will make movies play in a window)

Additional query words: kbhowto 1994multi media multimedia multi-media

Keywords: kbhowto KB118461

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