Help needed for Privateer bootdisk

A

Ashman

Spaceman
After reading the message board for a few days I've noticed lots of people are in the same boat as me.
I need help creating a boot disk for Privateer.
My default settings are;
My autoexec.bat has nothing in it.
My config.sys has; device=c:\windows\himem.sys /testmem:eek:ff
dos=high,umb
device=c:\multicd.sys /d:cd001
I don't have a file named dosstart.bat (as suggested by Silent Warrior)

O.K., I've created a bootdisk (which won't work)
My autoexec.bat has the following lines
PATH=C:\DOS;C:\
PROMPT $P$G
LH C:\WINDOWS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:CD001
LH C:\WINDOWS\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4
SET COMSPEC=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM
C:

My config.sys has the following lines
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE 16384 RAM I=B000-B7FF
DOS=HIGH,UMB
FILES=30
BUFFERS=30
DeviceHigh=C:\MultiCD.sys /D:CD001
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS /P

O.K., I try restarting my computer using this disk and I receive the message : file missing or corrupted COMMAND.COM

I realise every second person is asking for pretty much the same advice and I would therefore appreciate any help I can get as I'd really love to play Privateer.
My system is a Pentium 133mhz , 32meg Ram , WIN98
 
First we need info. Which sound card are you using? Why do you have a DOS directory or do you? Is the file MultiCD.sys located on the root of c:\ or is it in c:\windows? Is this the correct driver for your CD-ROM? If your are using Win98 you then you do have a dosstart.bat. It's in the windows directory. If your are going to use this boot disk on win98 in should be create from a win98 machine.

To create a basic win98 boot disk for gaming insert a diskette into the a: drive. Open My Computer, right click the A: drive. Choose Format > Quick Format then press the start button. Next choose Copy Systems Files Only and press the start button. You now have a basic boot disk.

The next step is creating a autoexec.bat and config.sys for your boot disk. We'll work on that after you answer the above questions.
 
I hae\ve a problem with using the boot disk also. First, everything runs fine, but I get the insufficient memory error. I ran Privateer before by pressing the 'F8' key and doin the step-by-step confirmation and only loading the nescessary things. This is what my settings on the boot disk are:

Config.sys

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\himem.sys
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE 16384 RAM
BUFFERS=30,0
FILES=50
DOS=UMB
LASTDRIVE=Z
FCBS=4,0
DOS=HIGH
DEVICEHIGH /L:1,18304 =C:\DEV\TAISATAP.SYS /D:MSCD000 /N:1

Autoexec.bat
@ECHO OFF
C:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD000
C:\DOS\MOUSE.COM
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T4
C:\PROGRA~1\YAMAHA\YAMAHA~1\SETUPSA.EXE /S
cd..
cd..
cd..
cd privater

Everything is correct. Their must be some other things that are loading that I don't know about. If anybody knows the answer to this problem can you please help me? Thanks.
 
Thanks for the advice guys.
Johnl12 the information you required is as follows;
My sound card is a Vibra 16 (I think) , I've always set up my computer for games etc. by choosing sound blaster 16 which works fine.
No I don't have a DOS directory (stupid me)
The file MultiCD.sys is in the root of C:\
Yes it is a driver which works for my CD ROM (I do ,however, have a driver disk and on it is a different driver for my CD ROM, named MTMCDAI.sys) (seperate question , should I really use this driver? as in always??????).
DOSSTART.BAT is as follows; @echo off
C:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:CD001 /L:D
C:\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM
echo .
echo .
echo ODM have installed your CDROM and mouse drivers for this DOS session

I can see what you are getting at now. I really do appreciate the help you are giving me. Thank you
 
Ashman, now we need to find the location of the dos driver for your sound card. Do a find files for apinit.com and SBINIT.COM. Please post the path.
 
Johnl12, here we go;
I'm sorry but I have searched and cannot find apinit.com or SBINIT.COM . I have no ideas as to where they may be I did a search as you suggested and even physically looked in c:\ , c:\windows , c:\program files.
I don't know where to go from here.
 
Ashman, two people on one thread hard to keep things straight. I did a search on your card. I believe it's a creative lab card. There's always some kind of DOS driver to run is card in DOS. Do you have the CD for this card?
 
Yes Johnl12,
It is a creative labs card. I have three disks for '16-bit audio card' , labelled installation disk, application disk & accessories disk.
This was printed in the 'read-me' of the installation disk;

DOS DRIVERS

During Custom Installation, you have the options to include the
following DOS drivers to your CONFIG.SYS file.

DEVICE=C:\VIBRA16\DRV\VIBRA16.SYS /UNIT=0 /BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:5
DEVICE=C:\VIBRA16\DRV\CTMMSYS.SYS

Where: BLASTER=A:220 I:5 D:1 H:5 indicates the hardware resources
used by your audio card.

This BLASTER switch will not have any effect if you are using a
Plug and Play audio card.

For Plug and Play audio cards, the hardware resources will be
allocated by the Configuration Manager. In this case, Configuration
Manager must be loaded before your DOS audio drivers.


2. BLASTER LINE

The BLASTER line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file,

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6

will not have any effect if you are using a Plug and Play audio
card for the same reason as above.



Now I do believe it is a plug and play card. Does that mean it doesn't need a driver?
 
Plug n play only works for Window 95 and up. You need the dos drivers to play dos games. P1 is a dos game. You need to install those drivers if you wish to play P1.
 
Johnl12,
I take it then that your suggesting that I instal these drivers. I shall do so and post the driver here then.
I also think I have a problem with my CD ROM. I tried to start P1 but I got a message saying Priv CD not found.
 
Ashman, if your CD isn't working, then maybe you should try just copying the .tre files(both Priv.tre and rf.tre about 150mb) into the privateer directory. Then change the priv.cfg and rf.cfg in notepad and changing the directories(ex. =C:\Privater\priv.tre). Sure, it takes up space, but, you benitfit from two things. One, you don't have to load your cd drivers in DOS, which leads to more memory, and two, the game runs a lot smoother if you have a fast computer. Sometimes when the cd-rom is loading and I"m firing at the same time, my shields drop down.

-OR-

Your problem is that you don't have your cd-rom drivers loaded. Every computers config is different, so I hope you know how to fix that. Sorry I can't be a little more helpful on the topic.
 
Thanks Dark Knight for the advice, I'll give it a go.

Johnl12, I've loaded the 3 disks for my Vibra16 card, it created a new folder etc. and added some lines to my Autoexec and Config files.
My default Autoexec.exe now reads;
SET SOUND=C:\VIBRA16
SET BLASTER=A240 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E
SET CTCM=C:\CTCM
C:\VIBRA16\DIAGNOSE /S
C:\VIBRA16\MIXERSET /P /Q
C:\CTCM\CTCU /S

My default Config.sys now reads;
DEVICE=C:\CTCM\CTCM.EXE
Device=C:\WINDOWS\Himem.Sys /testmem:eek:ff
DOS=HIGH,UMB
Device=c:\multicd.sys/d:cd001


FILES=40

The CTCM.EXE is a Plug and Play configuration manager I had to load before I could load the drivers for my sound card.
I hope this helps to answer my question.
 
Great, this is something we can use. Later tonight I post a autoexec.bat and config.sys you can use on a boot disk. Oh, and don't do with Dark Knight suggested. We should be able to get the CD going.

[Edited by Johnl12 on 05-10-2001 at 19:57]
 
Ashman, lets try these file on your boot disk. Notice in the Config.sys I have a LASTDRIVE=F line. This is the last drive letter in your My Computer Icon. You'll need to place the correct drive leter here.

-----------AUTOEXEC.BAT-------------

IF ERRORLEVEL 1 PAUSE
SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\VIBRA16:
SET TMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
SET TEMP=C:\WINDOWS\TEMP
SET PROMPT=$P$G

REM ---------THE BELOW LINES ARE FOR THE SOUND CARD-----------
SET SOUND=C:\VIBRA16
SET BLASTER=A240 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E
SET CTCM=C:\CTCM
C:\VIBRA16\DIAGNOSE /S
C:\VIBRA16\MIXERSET /P /Q
C:\CTCM\CTCU /S

REM -----------THE BELOW LINES FOR THE MOUSE---------
LH C:\WINDOWS\MOUSE\MOUSE.COM

REM ----- THE BELOW LINE IS FOR THE CD-ROM---------
LH C:\WINDOWS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:CD001

SET COMSPEC=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM
C:

--------------CONFIG.SYS--------

DOS=HIGH,UMB
STACKS=18,256
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE 16384 RAM I=B000-B7FF
DEVICEHIGH=C:\CTCM\CTCM.EXE
FILESHIGH=30
BUFFERSHIGH=30
DEVICEHIGH=C:\MULTICD.SYS /D:CD001
SHELL=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND.COM C:\WINDOWS /P
LASTDRIVE=F
 
Thanks Johnl12,
I'm just about to give it a go. I'll keep you posted shortly about how it goes. Fingers Crossed.:-D
 
Johnl12, I tried the disk but it didn't work,
I did a cold boot with the disk in as well as a restart from windows and both times the computer locked up with the line
Creative Plug and Play Configuration Manager (v1.06)
Copyright Blah, Blah etc.

The keyboard locked and all I could do was turn off and turn on again. When I did (without the disk in) as it was rebooting I noticed the message DIGN8002 error blaster settings invalid and it also said CTCU not able to run in windows. When I installed the disks last night everything was fine. I guess its got something to do with CTCM (P & P config manager)? I do appreciate the help your giving me.
 
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