README for Double-Deck Pinochle Version OEM-A Double-Deck Pinochle is Copyright (c) 1994-96 by Christopher Chapman. Double-Deck Pinochle Version OEM-A is licensed to Quantum Axcess. Contents of this file 1. System requirements 2. Installing Pinochle to your hard drive automatically 3. Installing Pinochle to your hard drive manually 4. Running the program 5. Uninstalling Pinochle 6. Restoring the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory 7. Troubleshooting 8. Upgrade Information 1. System Requirements Pinochle requires Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. It should run on almost any computer that runs Windows 3.1. The program requires an 80386 or higher processor, 2mb of extended memory, and just over 1mb of hard disk space. Recommended minimum configuration is 80486 or Pentium at 20mhz or faster, and 6mb or more of RAM. 2. Installing Pinochle on your hard drive automatically Pinochle was designed for both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. You should use the INSTALL program in either version of Windows. You may use the automatic installation if you run Windows from a local hard drive or a network with full write privileges. This should be the case unless you have an unusual system setup. If this is not the case, then follow the directions in part (3) below for a manual installation. Installation Procedure First, CLOSE ANY PROGRAMS YOU HAVE RUNNING WITHIN WINDOWS. This is a good safety precaution before you install any new programs. Now run the program INSTALL.EXE from Windows. At the program manager, select FILE | RUN ... and input the directory name where you have the program, plus \INSTALL.EXE. For example, if you are installing from a CD-ROM that is your D: drive, and PINOCHLE is in the directory D:\PINOCHLE, then you would run: D:\PINOCHLE\INSTALL.EXE Press OK. The installer will copy necessary files to your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory, and will notify you that it is making backups of any previous versions of files found there. The installer will create a program group with a name you specify, and will install icons for both Pinochle and the Pinochle Help file. If you do not wish to create a program group, then blank out the group name. The install program does *not* change or add anything to WIN.INI or CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT **If you did not create a program group with INSTALL, then after the installer has finished, you may move or add the PINOCHLE.EXE file icon to any program group. For example, if you followed the above, you would: **WINDOWS 3.1: Open some program group in Windows 3.1 Select: FILE | NEW | PROGRAM ITEM Input: \PINOCHLE\PINOCHLE.EXE **WINDOWS 95: Select: START | SETTINGS | TASK BAR | START MENU PROGRAMS | ADD ... Input: \PINOCHLE\PINOCHLE.EXE **THIS IS NOT NECESSARY IF YOU ALLOW INSTALL.EXE TO CREATE A PROGRAM GROUP. That's all. You may now enjoy the game! It is probably best if you exit and restart Windows after any program installation. 3. Installing Pinochle to your hard drive manually To install Pinochle manually, copy all the files from the CD-ROM directory to any subdirectory you like. Then copy the following files from the Pinochle location to your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM or equivalent subdirectory (wherever you run Windows from): BIVBX11.DLL CTL3DV2.DLL MHRUN300.DLL MHCARDS.DLL MHCD200.VBX You must then delete these files from the Pinochle location. Add PINOCHLE.EXE to any program group in Windows, and you are ready to play! No changes need to be made to WIN.INI or CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT. In Windows 95, no additions are made to the system registry. 4. Running the program Simply run PINOCHLE.EXE from the Windows Program Manager, either by using the FILE | RUN ... command or by adding PINOCHLE.EXE to a program group or to the Windows 95 Start menu. If you know how to play Pinochle, then the program should be pretty self- explanatory. For more information, or to learn how to play Pinochle, check out the online help system. Select HELP | CONTENTS from the main menu. Note: If you are an experienced Double-Deck Pinochle player, this program may use a different meld system from the one you use. There are *many* different scoring systems out there. Check out HELP | MELD TABLE to see the table used by this program. Note also that you may print the default Meld Table within Windows Help. WINDOWS 95 NOTE: For users with 640x480 screens, some of the buttons in Pinochle may be obscured by the Windows 95 task bar. You may compress the vertical spacing of elements in Pinochle by selecting FILE | WINDOWS 95 MODE from the main menu. Note that this option does *not* have anything to do with Windows 95 as such; it may be used or not used according to personal taste in either Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. PORTABLE COMPUTER USERS: The screen display in Pinochle may not appear optimal on your system. In this case, it is recommended that you alter your default Windows screen color scheme. You may do this in Windows 3.1 by selecting MAIN | CONTROL PANEL | COLOR from the Program Manager. In Windows 95: right-click on the background and select: PROPERTIES | APPEARANCE. Pinochle will use the general windows settings specified by these color schemes. 5. Uninstalling Pinochle If you decide not to keep Pinochle, simply delete the following files from the directory where it resides: PINOCHLE.EXE PINOCHLE.HLP PINOCHLE.CFG README.TXT REGISTER.TXT INSTALL.EXE You should not delete the .DLL and .VBX files from \WINDOWS\SYSTEM, since they may be used by other programs, too. However, you may wish to read the next section on \WINDOWS\SYSTEM if you wish to delete some of those files. 6. Restoring the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory If you uninstall Pinochle, or if you experience problems with other programs after its installation (very unlikely!), then you may wish to restore your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory as follows. Generally, this should not be necessary, even after uninstalling the program, and we do *not* recommend tinkering with the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. Only follow the suggestions below if you already know what you're doing! It is always a good idea to backup your system before performing tasks like this, since a mistake could be costly! Do not attempt these tasks unless you are highly familiar with Windows installation. A. Move to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory B. See if any of the following backup files exist: BIVBX11.D~L CTL3DV2.D~L MHRUN300.D~L MHCARDS.D~L MHCD200.V~X C. Delete the following files: BIVBX11.DLL MHRUN300.DLL MHCARDS.DLL MHCD200.VBX D. If any backup files were found in (B.) then copy those backup files to their original file names (replace the '~' with a 'B' or 'L'). Example: COPY CTL3DV2.D~L CTL3DV2.DLL E. Once you are *sure* that everything is working properly, you may then delete the files listed in (B.) above. 7. Troubleshooting Double-Deck Pinochle has been thoroughly tested, but unfortunately problems may always exist out in the "real world"! A. Install will not run You must make sure that ALL other programs are closed before running INSTALL.EXE. Do not simply minimize the programs; choose them and then do File | Exit to terminate all other programs. Close any system monitors, networking utilities, etc. Then run INSTALL.EXE B. Check the .DLL files If you get a "General Protection Fault" when running Pinochle, then you should check your .DLL files. The .DLL and .VBX files should be moved to your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory and should not be present *anywhere* else on your computer. This means that the DLL files should *not* be present in the subdirectory that holds Pinochle. If you ran the INSTALL.EXE file as listed above, then these files should have been placed in their proper locations. You should make sure that the files listed in the section above under "Manual Installation" are present in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Then check out your PATH by giving the PATH command at a DOS prompt. Check each of the directories specified in the Path list, and make sure that none of the DLL's listed above are present in any of those directories. If any of them *are* present, then check their file date against the dates of the files in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, and retain the latest copy in the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. The following DOS commands may be useful when performing these tasks: PATH -- to list the DOS search path DIR *.DLL -- to list the DLL files in a directory CD \ -- to change to the root subdirectory DIR *.DLL /S -- to list DLL's in ALL subdirectories, after CD \ DIR *.DLL /S > PRN -- to print the above list on your printer MOVE CTL3DV2.DLL \WINDOWS\SYSTEM -- copies CTL3DV2.DLL to \WINDOWS\SYSTEM and deletes it from the current location If all of the DLL's check out OK, then you should consult the following troubleshooting tips. C. Check the Video Driver Note that some video drivers cause problems with a variety of programs. If Pinochle does not run at all, or if it gives a "General Protection Fault" then you should try using a different video driver, or update your video drivers from your manufacturer or by downloading from an online service. To determine whether the problem is with video or with another aspect of your system or with Pinochle, you may wish to try using the generic VGA or SVGA drivers from Microsoft by running SETUP from the Windows 3.1 Main program group (in Windows 95, right click on the icon for "My Computer" and select PROPERTIES | DEVICE MANAGER | MONITOR). D. Run Pinochle by Itself If you have problems that are not resolved by changing video drivers, then also try running Pinochle without any other programs running in Windows. You could have a shortage of Windows resources (memory, virtual disk space, file handles, etc.) Note that your DOS path specified in AUTOEXEC.BAT should contain the path for your Windows system. If not, Pinochle might have difficulty finding its system components. 8. Upgrade Information An upgrade to Double-Deck Pinochle is available that features many advanced options. See the file UPGRADE.TXT for complete information. You may order the upgrade by sending a check or money order for $15 (U.S.) along with your NAME, ADDRESS, and E-MAIL ADDRESS (if any) to: Christopher Chapman P.O. Box 555-A Uniontown, AR 72955 Please allow 2-4 weeks for delivery. The program is supplied on a 1.44mb 3.5" diskette.