PC Format Collection 7/PCFORMAT07.iso/DISCOVER/DOC/README9.TXT

Text File | 1994-05-27 | 8KB | 157 lines

===LATE-BREAKING NEWS======================================================

This document contains some general information, late-breaking news
and Technical information about the Discoverers program.

MEMORY REQUIREMENTS.  THE DISCOVERERS requires approximately 520KB 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 memory resident programs from memory.  In MS-DOS
versions 5.0 and above type "MEM /C | MORE" to see what programs and
drivers are loaded in memory. To verify the RAM available, check the next
screen for "Largest executable program size" parameter in K.  In MS-DOS
version 6.0 and above try running the MEMMAKER program to free more
conventional RAM.  For more information about conventional memory and
memory management please consult your DOS manual.

RUNNING FROM WINDOWS.   To avoid possible complications under the Windows
environment, clicking on THE DISCOVERERS icon will actually shut down
Windows, run THE DISCOVERERS, then re-start Windows on exit from THE
DISCOVERERS.  You may get a message saying, "Application still active.  Quit
the application before quitting Windows." Switch to any other running DOS
applications and exit them normally, then click on THE DISCOVERERS icon
again.  If you have Windows applications already running, they will be shut
down and you will be asked to save any unsaved data.

REINSTALLATION.  This product has been pre-installed by IBM. If it is
necessary to reinstall, perform the following:

1. Exit Windows and install from DOS. For detailed instructions on DOS
   installation see the Getting Started section. Be sure to answer YES
   to the question about running from Windows.

2. Restart Windows, by typing WIN.

3. When in Program Manager, click on the KA program icon to select it.
   Then go to the File menu and choose Properties. A change must be made
   to the Command Line of the Program Item Properties box. It will have a
   line similar to:

          C:\DISCOVER\KAWIN.EXE DISCOVER.BAT -p

   Edit that line to the following:

          C:\PS1TOOLS\ARIADOS DISCOVER.BAT -p

4. To restore the original icon, click on Change Icon in the Program Item
   Properties box. Click on OK when the Change Icon box indicates no icon
   can be found. Click on Browse in the Change Icon box. Double click on
   C:\ under Directories in the Browse box.  Double click on the DISCOVER
   directory. Double click on DISCOVER.ICO then click on OK twice.

5. Repeat step 3 for the Read Me icon. Change the Command Line of the
   Program Item Properties box from:

   C:\DISCOVER\KAWIN.EXE README.BAT

   to:

   C:\PS1TOOLS\ARIADOS README.BAT

6. To restore the original icon, follow step 4 using the README.ICO instead
   of DISCOVER.ICO.


ALT-S/ALT-M.  These keys will toggle sound and music (respectively) off and
on; this feature may not be functional in all areas of the program.

LAPTOP/NOTEBOOK COMPUTER DISPLAYS.  THE DISCOVERERS requires a color VGA
monitor to display its high-resolution images.  It will not work 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 VGA monitor.  THE DISCOVERERS will run fine
on certain laptop screens, such as the Toshiba 4400SXC, COMPAQ LTE's and the
PC BRAND NB 486slc which have 256 shades of grey or color screens.  The only
problem will be that the right edge of the screen will be slightly cut off.
This is due to the fact that THE DISCOVERERS runs in the extra high
resolution VGA video mode of 360 x 480 pixels with 256 colors and most of
the internal laptop screens can only display 320 pixels in width.

MONO, CGA, and EGA DISPLAYS.  THE DISCOVERERS requires a VGA color monitor
and will not run on Mono, CGA or EGA monitors.

MOUSE SUPPORT.  THE DISCOVERERS takes great advantage of your mouse if you
have one, but it does not require one.  There are keyboard equivalents which
will allow you to enjoy the product without a mouse.  Refer to "USING THE
DISCOVERERS" for more information.

DIGITIZING TABLETS.  Digitizing tablets are not supported by THE DISCOVERERS.
If you are using a digitizing tablet and it is not functioning properly,
unplug the tablet, plug in a mouse, and restart THE DISCOVERERS.  Your tablet
manufacturer may be able to provide a software solution to any problems
experienced.

LOW VOLUME SOUND OR MUSIC.  Sound cards that allow software volume control
may have different volume levels for sound and music.  If you hear a
noticeable difference, you should run the volume control program that came
with you sound card to equal out the settings.

WINMATE USERS.  THE DISCOVERERS install program will not generate a Knowledge
Adventure program group and icon if you run under Winmate - even if you said
YES to the Windows question during install.  Manually add THE DISCOVERERS
Icon to Winmate after installation is complete.

COMPAQ PROLINEA.  During INSTALL, press ENTER if you get a message stating
that you do not have a VGA System.  If you receive a similar message while
executing THE DISCOVERERS, please contact Compaq Technical Support for a
patch program that will correct this problem with some early model Prolineas.

REVEAL SOUND FX.  For inquiries about your Sound FX, contact Reveal at
(800) 4-REVEAL or fax [phone].

GRAVIS ULTRASOUND.  The Gravis Ultrasound requires a large driver to load
its more realistic "wavetable" instruments to the sound card requiring a
total of 570 K.  Consequently, you may have to free up additional memory
in order to perform properly.  If you plan to run THE DISCOVERERS from
Windows, please do NOT run your ULTRAMID or ULTRASND TSR program before
entering Windows. THE DISCOVERERS will load and unload this program itself.

NOTE: The Gravis Ultrasound will not play sound/music tests during SETUP.

ROLAND SOUND CARDS.  Roland sound cards have high quality music but no
digital speech capability.  You will not get digitized speech and sound
effects without an additional sound board.  If you have a second sound
card, you will have to manually edit the SoundDriver and SoundDevParams
section of the KA.CNF file.  An example setup for a Sound Blaster card
with a hardware configuration of base address 220, interrupt 5, and DMA
channel 1 would be:

soundDevParams    : a220 i5 d1
soundDriver       : D:\DISCOVER\drivers\SBDIG.DRV
     (where D: is your CD-ROM drive)

Other sound cards can be configured in a similar way, choose the correct
driver from the following list:

ALGDIG.DRV   - Ad Lib Gold
MSFTDIG.DRV  - MicroSoft Sound System
PASDIG.DRV   - Pro AudioSpectrum/Studio 8/16
      (DMA's 0 - 3, otherwise configure for Sound Blaster)
SBPDIG.DRV   - Sound Blaster Pro

NOTE: For further information on sound cards and editing KA.CNF, please,
refer to "About sound and sound devices."  If your second sound card uses
the default I/O Address you can use the Change Sound Settings menu.

DIGISPEECH PORT-ABLE Sound Plus.  If you are using the Digispeech PORT-ABLE
Sound Plus, check the date of your BMASTER.* driver files. If the files are
dated earlier than August, 1993, contact Digispeech or our BBS for an
update.

EXTENDED LEARNING MODULE, PROJECT 6.  Text has been changed that differs
from the printed manual - Now reads, "Use a prism to experiment with light".

EXTENDED LEARNING MODULE, PROJECT 7.  Project 7 in the printed manual has
been replaced by "Understanding Topography" which was previously Project 8.