Return to Krondor & Betrayal in Antara- can't play

[jpguywatchout 0]

well i just finished Betrayal at Krondor and that was fun. Blast from the past. Thanks Dosbox for that.

 

So now i have Return to Krondor and Betrayal in Antara CDs to play, but when I insert the disc from either game, a System Error box comes up, and says "Cannot read from device"...

 

and if that doesn't happen, then this problem does:

 

an Application Error box that comes up, and it says "SETUP caused a General Protection Fault in module SETUP.EXE at 0001:2047...."

 

so i can't get anywhere with either of these games - which are like 5 years more recent than Betrayal at Krondor... dammit! you'd think it would get easier...

 

My cpu platform seems to be Windows XP professional.

 

I did a search of these chat forums here but holy crap there are a lot of pages. anyone solve these problems before? you can just refer me to another page if you like, or cut & paste that answer to this post... i'd be grateful.

 

my google search told me plenty about how these two games aren't as good as the original Betrayal at Krondor, so i'll just

pre-empt that banter here and now with an, "I know, I know... I've decided to play them anyway."

 

*Note: I'm not particularly adept with computers, so use acronyms and cpu-lingo to screw me up further

 

I honestly need a step-by-step. thank god i found a step-by-step for DosBox or else i'd never have played BaK either!

 

any help appreciated boyz,

 

JP

[jmmijo 1]

Man that series brings back some nice memories, I have them all on Floppy/CD too

 

However, I've not installed and played with them for many years now, I've not dug out my old DOS box to play with them

 

I bet however that dosfreak has a great solution for you on this one

[jpguywatchout 0]

I'm hoping so... I wasn't even thinking I'd need DosBox for these two games since they're 1997/8 respectively... I thought i was 'over the hump' so to speak.....

 

bah! I blame the turds at Microsoft. They should know better don't ya think?

 

later,

 

jp

[DosFreak 2]

Where do you see this "cannot read from device" error message?

 

I was doing Windows 2003 game compatibility testing this weekend and installed Betrayal at Krondor just fine and rane it. I've also run Betrayal in Antara and Betrayal at Krondor in XP as well.

 

Hopefull we can fix this problem.....hopefully a reinstall won't be necessary.

[jpguywatchout 0]

alright well i just put the Betrayal in Antara(BiA) CD in... my computer read the CD, and asked me if i wanted to install. I said yes, and it went to a larger set-up screen --- the set-up screen had a few options, the most important of which was "install".... so i clicked on that and then it says it has to test my computer for compatability... and just now a little windows box about 1-inch x 2-inches popped up:

 

The title of the windows box says 'Application Error', and the message inside the box says "integer divide by 0" (that's a new one for me)... and I have to close the box... and nothing happens.

 

I take the CD out, blow on it (a la Nintendo style) and re-insert. The CD is read again, and the same initial box comes up asking if i want to install... i click on yes - and now nothing happens at all. Just nothing. But at least i have this small glass of wine and a bit of Tom Petty kickin for company.

 

Now onto the Return to Krondor(RtK) CD.... here I go:

 

inserting CD... install screen comes up, looking good... I click on install, and within about 3 seconds, a little window pops up -- it looks a lot like the previous window i encountered with BiA - except the title of this window is 'System Error' and the text says, "Cannot read from device"

 

My two options in this 'System Error' window are to cancel or abort. The application error i got with BiA gave me no such choice. Now I'm no genius, but that ain't much of a choice is it? I see little distinction between the two options. I think my computer may be sentient, and is actively screwing with me... i hear laughter.

 

Finally, I've gone into the 'My Computer' shortcut on my desktop and tried again. Computer got a little crankier I see. No longer does a System Error window come up, now it is an "Application Error" window, and it says "SETUP caused a General Protection Fault in module SETUP.EXE at 0001:2047. Choose close, SETUP will close."

 

I have little option but to click on the 'close' button and end this torture.

 

So to answer your initial question DosFreak, the error messages just pop up as a little MS window... usually in the middle of the screen.

 

As far as i can tell, i have all 3 BiA CDs, and both RtK CDs, so i don't think i'm missing anything... they are originals, not burnt cds or anything.... got 'em on Ebay for like $10. Could it be the CDs, or is it definitely my cranky-ass cpu?

 

thank you for your time,

 

JP

[jpguywatchout 0]

don't leave me hangin boys... i'm trying to keep this thread from falling into obscurity... have some compassion!!

 

any ideas on my gaming issues?

 

jp

[DosFreak 2]

Sorry I was playing around with the RTM of Vista all weekend and there we also had a party so testing games was the last thing on my mind.

 

 

[jpguywatchout 0]

haha... hey no problem man... happy for you. glad you had good times!

 

...just thought i should post somethin' to put my issue back on top of the pile for a bit, in case anyone else knew what to do... but it seems you are the sole authority my man...

 

lucky you.

 

jp

[Irony 0]

I found a copy of this Betrayal In Antara at a yard sale(CD-ROM version) the CD's were as good as new, but it has some severe problems running on WindowsXP....I have tried deleting the Sierra.ini file and skipping the system setup as instructed on Sierra's website...(go to forum.vugames.com for this info and "search" for Betrayal in Antara to get help some little help...lol) The game apparently has several problems with WindowsXP which include graphics,memory management, and god knows what else...I've just found a "Patch" called ver 1.10 or something that the website I found it on claims to "debug" problems....going to try it myself and will post results in a few days...

[Irony 0]

It's not your comp...trust me its the CD-ROM...had to get over the integer divide by zero problem too...type start, then run, then search in all files and folders for SIERRA.INI get this file and delete it! Then uninstall what Antara is left...Reinstall and skip the systems test and ignore the results, and you should be ready to tackle the next problem I am having, which is the game will run for a while, but is interrupted by a white text window that says" Betrayal In Antara has encountered a problem and needs to shut down, an error report has been prepared, send to Microsoft yes or no?" at which point you can read the error report and its FAIRLY large, but what I have determined is there are at least two major problems which cause this... graphics and memory management, try changing some of your comp's settings in regards to both of those two, I actually got my version to play for over 6 hours, but it still ended up going to the "error report send" message.... I thought I had it....to accomplish my 6 hrs of red eyed bliss I turned my screen res to 800x600, 256 colors, windows to manage my memory, also went into memory and turned all my minimums and maximums to their respective "maximums", also I turned my screen savers completely off...this intereferes with memory mgmt. I guess ...and I even turned the desktop background off. Most of these tips I have managed to glean painfully from Sierra's website under forums.vugames.com....good luck, and I will continue to post until I have solved this prob with this game, or someone else posts EXACTLY what needs to be done to run this game error free....

[jpguywatchout 0]

oh man....

[gaf 0]

Hi all,

 

I was able to run the game at least once or twice after following advices here. Not anymore after that, but thanks anyway, at least to see the game running after all the effort was nice.

 

But, final solution to my troubles was, when I cpukilled processor to exactly 72 or more percent. When less, game still crashed due to an error immediately after running the exe file.

 

Because I played the game no more than a few minutes, there still may be that "after-several-hours-crash-issue... But there may be not `-D.

 

So exact solution at my WinXP computer was:

 

Mark in antarar.exe properties win95 compatibility and forced 640x480 resolution. Then download cpukiller program (I used 1.0.5.4) and cpukill processor to about 500Mhz or even less. (With my AM2 X64 3800+ Athlon it meant to go from 2000Mhz to 500). Then after the game runs in strange colors switch back to windows alt+tab or ctrl+esc and back to Antara. This gains normal colors. The only trouble that remains is, the steps and turning movement in the game are still faster-than-nice. But fairly playable at least.

 

 

PS: Now I see - it seems that 500Mhz was about the most MHz you could get from computers at those days when Antara appeared...

[jmmijo 1]

Nice tip there, thanks for the post

[3mmm 0]

If you have error immediately after running the exe file, it means you have rather fast videocard.

My cure - open Antarar.exe in any hex-editor, find F7 75 10 combination and change it to 90 90 90.

 

[DosFreak 2]

You can play Betrayal in Antara on Windows 3.11 in DosBox if you wish. Runs fine there.

[3mmm 0]

But Betrayal in Antara don't run in Dos and Dosbox either. Or i'm wrong?

 

[DosFreak 2]

Betrayal in Antara is a Windows 3.1/95 game.

 

Windows 3.1x runs fine in DosBox.

 

Betrayal in Antara running on Windows 3.1x runs fine in DosBox.

 

[3mmm 0]

Originally Posted By: DosFreak

Betrayal in Antara is a Windows 3.1/95 game.

Windows 3.1x runs fine in DosBox.

Betrayal in Antara running on Windows 3.1x runs fine in DosBox.

Hmmm.
When i trying run Antara in DosBox, i receive message
'This program cannot be run in DOS mode' in DosBox console.
What i'm doing wrong?

[DosFreak 2]

Betrayal in Antara is a Windows game.

DosBox only runs DOS games.

 

If you want to run Windows games in DosBox then you have to install Windows 3.1x in DosBox.

[aether_demon 0]

I'm gonna go ahead and ressurect this thread because I am also having issues playing Betrayal in Antara.

 

I have succesfully installed Windows 3.1 on DosBox, and have fully installed betrayal in Antara succesfully as well.

 

However, whenever I try to start the game I only get as far as a black screen, and the sword cursor popping up before DosBox freezes and exits automatically.

 

I am not quite sure what is happening as you said it ran fine for you under Windows 3.1 but any troubleshooting would be especially helpful.

[DosFreak 2]

Make sure that you are using DOSBox 0.72. You may also want to change DOSBox to use normal core instead of Auto.

[aether_demon 0]

Ok, I installed DosBox 0.72, and switched the core to normal but as soon as I switch the core I get this error when I try to open Antara.

 

Win 32s - Error

Initialization of a dynamic link library failed.

The process is terminating abnormally.

 

also

 

Application Execution Error

Unexpected DOS error: 21

[77FordTruckMan 0]

Originally Posted By: Aether Demon

Ok, I installed DosBox 0.72, and switched the core to normal but as soon as I switch the core I get this error when I try to open Antara.

Win 32s - Error
Initialization of a dynamic link library failed.
The process is terminating abnormally.

also

Application Execution Error
Unexpected DOS error: 21

yeah I got the same problem, why isn't anybody responding?

[77FordTruckMan 0]

Someone please respond, we could really use some help with this, I tried re-installing win32s, tried lots of dosbox settings, including all the core settings, tried up[censored] win32s, and I eventually got the game to start to some up, it shows the sword cursor, but just a black screen and the cursor and everything else frezzes.

[DosFreak 2]

These aren't the most well trafficed forums and the amount of DOSBox users here can probably be counted on one hand.

 

Either VOGONS or Sierra specific forums are your only choices.

 

 

Betrayal in Antara worked fine the last time I tried it a year? ago.

 

Verify that your are using normal core and at least DOSBox 0.72. Also try the CVS versions of DOSBox.