===APPENDIX C: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS========================================= This appendix will answer many of your questions about THE DISCOVERERS. If you do not find the answer to your question here you can call Knowledge Adventure Inc. at (818) 249-0212, or write down your question and fax it to us at (818) 542-4205. Before calling Knowledge Adventure, please be seated at your computer with the DOS prompt on the screen. You can also read commonly asked technical questions and answers, among other things, on the Knowledge Adventure Bulletin Board System. The BBS is available to you 24 hours a day at (818) 248-0166 (N, 8, 1), 1200 to 14,400 baud. ABOUT INSTALLATION My disk compression program indicates that I have enough disk space, but The Discoverers will not install completely. Why not? Programs such as Stacker that compress your files on the hard disk may indicate that you have enough disk space to install THE DISCOVERERS completely when you really do not. These programs report on your disk space based on how much they are usually able to compress your files. The files that THE DISCOVERERS copies to your hard disk are already compressed and your disk compression program will not be able to compress them further to give you more space. Try to move or remove any files you don't need in order to make room for THE DISCOVERERS, then start the Install program from the beginning. ABOUT STARTUP The program won't start or it freezes on the first screen. What's wrong? You may have incorrect sound and music drivers installed. Use the SETUP.EXE program supplied with the software to change this configuration. First, change to the DISCOVER directory on your hard drive, then type SETUP and press to run the program. Choose the correct sound device from the list offered. If the problem persists, see "About sound and sound devices." If you have correctly installed your sound device, edit the KA.CNF file in the DISCOVER directory on your hard drive so that ExtraMemory is set to None. See "About program defaults" for more information about the KA.CNF file. Also try unloading any TSR programs or reboot your computer from a DOS system disk. This disk must have a "Files = 20" statement and any drivers necessary to access your CD-ROM or sound card. ABOUT MICE I can use the keyboard with THE DISCOVERERS, but my mouse doesn't work. What should I do? If you find that the cursor does not respond when you move the mouse, type cd\discover and press at the DOS prompt from your hard drive. Then type mouse and press . If this solves the problem, you can modify the mouse commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file to use the mouse driver supplied with THE DISCOVERERS instead of the one currently being used by your system. If you are a Windows user, try exiting Windows first (using File Exit). Then, to start THE DISCOVERERS from the DOS prompt type DISCOVER and press . If you have a Mouse Systems mouse or trackball, or a Mouse Systems-compatible mouse, you may experience the hand pointer jumping to the bottom left corner of the screen. If so, you are using a version of the Mouse Systems mouse driver that is not compatible with the Microsoft mouse standard. Please try the mouse driver that we have provided by following the instructions above, and the mouse should then work perfectly. ABOUT SOUND AND SOUND DEVICES When I try to run THE DISCOVERERS I don't hear any music and I get the message "Warning: Couldn't initialize music driver; Music output disabled." What's wrong? You may have configured THE DISCOVERERS for a different sound device than the one you have. Run the SETUP.EXE program described under "About startup." If the problem persists after you have followed the instructions above, your sound card's I/O address has probably been reconfigured. In order for The Discoverers to find your card, you must specify the correct I/O address in the KA.CNF file. See MusicDevParams under "About program defaults" for more information about changing the KA.CNF file. To change the address with the SETUP program, run SETUP.EXE and select the correct sound device from the list offered. If you still do not hear sound and/or music while the program runs the sound and music tests, use the arrow keys to highlight Change Sound Settings on menu and hit . You will be given the Advanced User Options screen. Refer to "SETUP - ADVANCED USER OPTIONS" for further information. Select RETURN TO THE MAIN MENU and that will get you back to the Sound Test screen, where you can test the new settings that you have chosen with the options Play Digitized Sound Test and Play Music Test. Once you hear both music and sound select Save Sound Settings and Exit; your new configuration will be saved to the KA.CNF file. If you are still not hearing music during the music test, and you have checked your sound card's correct address, it's likely that your sound card and another device (such as a CD-ROM drive or scanner) may be sharing the same I/O address. Such a conflict may cause either THE DISCOVERERS or the SETUP program to halt. Write down the current configuration of all of the device cards in your computer. Try changing some of the settings (jumpers or dip switches) to various configurations until all of your programs work correctly. If you wish, you can pull the peripheral cards out of your computer and test just your sound card with THE DISCOVERERS. Add cards one by one until you find the problem. When I try to run THE DISCOVERERS I don't get sound other than music and I get the message "Warning: Couldn't initialize sound driver; Sound output disabled." What's wrong? Follow the advice given for the previous question, but also check and correct the IRQ Vector and DMA Channel for your sound device. See SoundDevParams under "About program defaults." If you have a sound card, but the sound is not working, make sure The Discoverers is configured for the correct sound device. To see the configuration, type "type ka.cnf" from the DISCOVER directory on your hard drive and press . To edit the configuration file in Windows, click on the Discoverers Config icon. To change the configuration, run the SETUP.EXE program described under "About startup." Also, run the test program supplied with your sound card to make sure it is working. If there is a volume control dial, make sure that it is turned up. If it is still not working, you may need to reconfigure your sound card jumper board settings to another I/O address or IRQ vector. If you've changed any of the factory settings (switches, jumpers) on your sound card, you must let the program know these new settings. See MusicDevParams and SoundDevParams under "About program defaults." I purchased a sound device after installing THE DISCOVERERS. How do I get the software to recognize my new piece of hardware? Type setup at the DOS prompt from your C:\DISCOVER directory on your hard drive and press . Then highlight the corresponding sound device and THE DISCOVERERS will be reconfigured to work with your new hardware. ABOUT HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY Can I use THE DISCOVERERS on an EGA or laptop display? THE DISCOVERERS won't run on some laptops because it uses a special high- resolution VGA mode. It will not work on an EGA monitor, or on the internal- plasma or LCD monitors on laptop PCs. Most laptops, however, have a connector for an external monitor, and THE DISCOVERERS will work fine with your laptop hooked to an external color VGA monitor with the internal LCD monitor disabled. ABOUT SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY I have trouble running THE DISCOVERERS after using certain memory-resident programs. What should I do? THE DISCOVERERS requires approximately 520 kilobytes of RAM in order to run. Even when there is adequate total RAM to run the program, there may be conflicts with other programs occupying memory. If you experience difficulty in running THE DISCOVERERS under these circumstances, please remove other programs from memory before starting THE DISCOVERERS. ABOUT PROGRAM DEFAULTS Is there a way to change certain defaults in THE DISCOVERERS? Yes. You can change the default configurations by using a text editor (e.g., the DOS text editor if you are using DOS version 5 or later) to alter the KA.CNF file in your DISCOVER directory on your hard drive, or by clicking on the Discoverers Config icon if you are running THE DISCOVERERS under Windows. The case of letters and spacing between words do not matter. NOTE: The easiest way to change THE DISCOVERERS sound settings is to run the SETUP.EXE program described under "About startup" and under "About sound and sound devices." SoundDevice: Type the name of the sound device you have hooked up. AutoMovie: Type On or Off to make movies play automatically or only when you click on the Audio/Video button. Printing: Type Detect, Yes, or No to indicate whether you want the program to automatically detect if your printer is hooked up, or to assume that it is on or off. PrinterPort: Type LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3 to indicate which printer port your printer is hooked up to. MusicVolume: Type a value from 50 to 80; the lower the number the softer the music volume while digitized sounds are playing. This setting does not change the overall music volume; music volume is altered only while digitized sounds are being played. MouseSensitivity: Type a value from 25 to 100 ; the higher the number, the more sensitive and responsive your mouse is to your movements. Lower numbers make it easier for younger children to handle the mouse. Music: Type On or Off to turn the musical accompaniment on or off. DigitizedSound: Type On or Off to turn the digitized sound (narration) on or off. ExtraMemory : Type Automatic, XMS, EMS, or None to indicate whether you want the program to detect extra memory and use it automatically or to use only extended, only expanded, or no extra memory. MusicDevParams: THE DISCOVERERS will look for your sound card at the address set in the factory. You need not change these default parameters unless you have changed the factory settings (switches, jumpers) on your sound card. Type an I/O address for your MIDI audio device, e.g., A240. See the documentation that came with your audio device. This setting can also be easily changed by running the SETUP.EXE program described under "About startup" and under "About sound and sound devices." SoundDevParams: THE DISCOVERERS will look for your sound card at the address set in the factory. You need not change these default parameters unless you have changed the factory settings (switches, jumpers) on your sound card. Type an I/O Address, IRQ Vector, and DMA Channel for your digitized sound audio device, e.g., A220 I7 D3. See the documentation that came with your audio device. This setting can also be easily changed by running the SETUP.EXE program described under "About startup" and under "About sound and sound devices." NOTE: The following settings are not normally changed by users. MusicDriver: Indicate the name, including path, of the music driver to be used by your sound device. SoundDriver: Indicate the name, including path, of the sound driver to be used by your sound device. CDDRIVE: Indicate the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive. HDDRIVE: Indicate the drive letter of your hard drive. CDROOT: Indicate the path of the CD-ROM directory containing THE DISCOVERERS files. HDROOT: Indicate the path of the hard drive directory containing The Discoverers files. I am using the CD-ROM version of THE DISCOVERERS with a 486 processor and the movies are pausing or running slowly. What should I do? First try running the program under Windows. If that doesn't help, reinstall the program, selecting the 386 version of THE DISCOVERERS when asked. ABOUT OTHER TOPICS Can I print the graphic images? NOTE: Images in this product may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system. What can I do about video problems like stripes on the screen? You may need to move some DIP switches on your video card. For example, if you see horizontal stripes on the screen while using Headland Technology's Video-7 VRAM card to display VGA graphics, move DIP switch number 8 to the position opposite the one that it is currently in. This will enable IBM nonstandard video modes to display correctly without affecting the operation of your other software. Can I copy the disks from the 3.5-inch to 5.25-inch format to use at home? No, the files are compressed in a unique arrangement. You may exchange your 3.5-inch diskettes for high-density 5.25-inch diskettes by sending them to Knowledge Adventure, Inc. in their original, unopened envelope. Is the program copyprotected? No. However, it may be difficult to copy from one medium to another, due to compression and disk arrangements. Why does my VIRUSCAN program detect a virus on THE DISCOVERERS program? There are old versions of the VIRUSCAN program that can be fooled to think there is a virus when there really isn't. Check the program with Norton AntiVirus. It probably won't report anything wrong.