=========================================================== Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" for DOS FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Last revised: March 18, 1997 =========================================================== System Requirements =================== IBM PC 33MHz 80486 compatible or faster DOS 5.0 or later 8MB RAM (16MB RAM for Windows 95 systems) Double-speed CD-ROM drive (300K/sec sustained transfer rate) Hard drive (20MB free) Super VGA graphics for 640 x 480 x 256 colors (VESA required and 512K video RAM minimum) Mouse Sound Blaster (or 100% compatible), ProAudio Spectrum, Ensoniq Soundscape or Gravis UltraSound sound card Recommended ----------- IBM PC 66MHz 80486 compatible or faster Local bus or PCI video card High Color graphics for 16-bit color Windows 95 ========== Q: Will Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" install or run under Windows 95? A: Since Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" was released prior to the release date of Windows 95, it is not guaranteed to run under Windows 95. Most people, however, can easily get it to work. In order to install and run Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" in a Windows 95 DOS virtual environment, you must fool the game and its installer from finding out that Windows 95 is running. Follow these instructions: 1. Put the Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" disc in the CD-ROM drive. 2. Click on "My Computer." 3. Double-click on the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive. 4. Use your right mouse button to click on "Install." 5. Click on "Properties." 6. Click on the Program tab. 7. Click on "Advanced." 8. Click on "Prevent MS-DOS based programs from detecting Windows." 9. Click on OK. 10. Click on OK. 11. Double-click on the "Install" icon. If you receive a message that your CD-ROM drive is too slow, ignore it. The CD-ROM speed test is invalid in a multitasking environment. You may also receive a suggestion to set up an icon for MS-DOS mode as the installer tests your video card. In most cases you can ignore this message. (If you're running a machine that meets the absolute minimum system requirements, you may want to set up that icon.) 12. The installer should be able to detect all of your hardware. Accept the defaults. 13. To run the game, find the directory where you installed Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity," then look for the STTNG.EXE file and click on it with the right mouse button. 14. Click on "Properties." 15. Click on the Program tab. 16. Click on "Advanced." 17. Click on "Prevent MS-DOS based programs from detecting Windows." 18. Click on OK. 19. Click on OK. 20. Now double-click on the new STTNG icon. Q: How do I install and run Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" in MS-DOS mode? A: To enter Windows 95 MS-DOS mode, follow these directions: 1. In Windows 95, click on the Start button. 2. Click on "Shutdown." 3. Select "Restart the computer" and press the "Yes" button. Once your system starts booting, you'll see a message appear "Starting Windows 95." As soon as you see this, click the F8 key. This will bring up a menu. 4. From the menu, choose "Command Prompt Only" which will drop you to a "C:" prompt. You should now be able to go to your CD-ROM drive letter by typing in your designated CD-ROM drive letter followed by a colon and then [Enter]. If you receive an "Invalid Drive Specification" error, then your DOSSTART files are not set up correctly. Please consult the Windows 95 documentation. 5. From your CD-ROM drive prompt, type "INSTALL." The Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" installation screen should appear. 6. After installing the game, exit back out to the DOS prompt. 7. You can play Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" at any time in MS-DOS mode by simply going to the STTNG directory on your hard drive and typing "STTNG" at the DOS prompt. Installation ============ Q: My system locks up during the install process with a read fault error. A: If you are experiencing read fault error and lockups during the installation, then you most likely have a double-speed CD-ROM drive that cannot handle reading the entire CD-ROM. Please send us your Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" CD-ROM along with a note requesting the 2 CD-ROM version to solve this problem. There is no need to send the jewel case. Send the disc to Spectrum HoloByte Customer Support, 2490 Mariner Square Loop, Alameda, CA 94501. There is no charge for this exchange. Q: The installation program reports that my machine is a 386, but I know it's not. A: This usually happens to users installing the game on a NexGen computer. Since the NexGen company has a fix for this problem, please contact them. We also have a new version of the installer for Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" that will bypass the 386 detection specifically for NexGen computers. You can download this installer from our BBS at 510-522-8909. Otherwise, you will need to manually install the game: 1. Make sure that you are at drive C. If your DOS prompt does not look like "C\>," then type "C:" followed by "CD\" at the DOS prompt. 2. Create a directory on your hard drive for the game by typing "MD STTNG." 3. Change to your new Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" directory by typing "CD\STTNG" and your DOS prompt should now say, "C:\STTNG>." 4. Create a directory for your saved games by typing "MD SAVEGAME." 5. Copy the *.LST files from the Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" CD-ROM to your hard drive by typing "COPY D:\*.LST" (assuming that your CD-ROM drive is D). 6a. To install the minimal version, type: D:\UNZIP D:\STTNGINS.ZIP 6b. To install the standard version, type: D:\UNZIP D:\STTNGINS.ZI D:\UNZIP D:\STTNGZIP @STD1.LST D:\UNZIP D:\STTNG.ZIP @STD2.LST 6c. To install the optimal version, type: D:\UNZIP D:\STTNGINS.ZIP D:\UNZIP D:\STTNGZIP @STD1.LST D:\UNZIP D:\STTNG.ZIP @STD2.LST D:\UNZIP D:\STTNG.ZIP @OPTIMAL.LST D:\UNZIP D:\STTNG.ZIP *.IMG 7. Then run the Setup program to select the graphics mode and sound card by typing "SETUP" at the DOS prompt. 8. If you receive the message "Fatal error. Could not find resource file - Check CD path in sttng.ini," you will need to edit the STTNG.INI file. First, make sure the DOS prompt says, "C:\STTNG>." Then type "EDIT STTNG.INI" at the DOS prompt. Move your cursor to the line that looks like "CD=x:\" and change the letter to match the letter that your CD-ROM drive is set to. (For example, if your CD-ROM drive uses the letter E, then change the line to "CD=E:\" in the file.) Select "Exit" from the File menu and press "Y" to save the new changes. Troubleshooting =============== Q: I get a blank screen when I try to start the game. A: This is usually caused by a VESA driver problem. You can experiment with the UniVESA option in the install program to correct this problem. If the problems continue, then you will need to contact your video card manufacturer for an updated VESA driver. Q: I get an error message of "Not enough disk space for swapping." A: The program requires 16MB of space on your hard drive for swapping files. Please make sure that you have enough hard drive space free for the swap file. Q: I get an error message of "Exception 12" at a specific memory address. A: This is usually caused by a conflict in the memory manager line. Make sure that your EMM386 line in your CONFIG.SYS looks like the following: DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS You can also just remove the EMM386 line and try again. Q: The game is randomly crashing at one of the intro screens. A: If you are using a Logitech mouse driver, try switching to a Microsoft mouse driver. Q: The game is randomly crashing. A: Make sure that your hard drive is not fragmented. First, make sure the DOS prompt says, "C:\STTNG>." If it does not, type "CD\STTNG" at the DOS prompt. Delete the game's swap file by typing "DEL DELETE.SWP" at the DOS prompt. Then run ScanDisk and Defrag on your hard drive by typing the following commands at the DOS prompt: "SCANDISK" and "DEFRAG." If you used MemMaker previously, you will need to remove these references from the lines in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. The MemMaker lines will start with "/L:x,xxxx." Use DOS's Edit program to edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file by typing "CD\" and then "EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT" at the DOS prompt. Remove the "/L:x,xxxx" from each of the lines on which it appears. Select "Exit" from the File menu and press "Y" to save the new changes. To edit your CONFIG.SYS file, type "EDIT CONFIG.SYS" at the DOS prompt. Remove the "/L:x,xxxx" from each of the lines on which it appears. Select "Exit" from the File menu and press "Y" to save the new changes. Q: I'm getting consistent crashes at the same place in the game. A: Try turning off the sound by editing your STTNG.INI file. Change "Sound=On" to "Sound=Off." If this works, then you may have selected a sound card such as the ProAudio Spectrum 16, Ensoniq Soundscape or Gravis UltraSound in the Setup program. Set up your sound card as a Sound Blaster and select "Sound Blaster 8" in the Setup program. Q: I'm getting stack or overflow errors. A: Please edit your CONFIG.SYS file and remove the following lines: DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE DOS=UMB DOS=HIGH (or DOS=HIGH,UMB) If your files and buffers are not set to 20, change your CONFIG.SYS file so it says: BUFFERS=20 FILES=20 If you still continue to have problems, try placing the line "DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS" back into your CONFIG.SYS file. Q: I'm seeing "Professional error 2001" (DOS 4/GW) error messages. A: Check the swap file size. The swap file is named DELETE.SWP and should be exactly 16777216 bytes. Also make sure that you are not loading any TSRs (terminate-and-stay-resident programs such as screen savers and virus checkers) which may conflict with the game. Graphics ======== Q: The graphics in the game are slow and/or choppy. A: Please edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and look for the line that loads MSCDEX (your CD-ROM driver) to see if there is a "/M:xx" parameter on that line. If the number is set to 10 or 15, change it to 25. Also check the MSCDEX line to see if there is an "/E" parameter. Remove it from the MSCDEX line if it appears. A disk caching program such as SmartDrive may also help. You can edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to include "C:\DOS\SMARTDRV /X 768 768" to use SmartDrive. Running the game at a lower video resolution may also help. Run the Setup program to set the graphics mode to a lower resolution and select the "Full Screen Off" button. If you are using a Mitsumi CD-ROM drive, check to see if there is a line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads MTMCDAS.SYS. Change the line to load MTMCDAE.SYS instead. Sound ===== Q: Why don't I get any sound in the game? A: If you're not getting any sound in the game even after you've configured the sound card during the installation and heard Captain Picard say "Make it so", then go to your Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" directory in DOS and edit your STTNG.INI file. Make sure all of the settings for sound, music and voices are set to ON. Please make sure the word ON is in all capital letters. After you edit the STTNG.INI file, the sound should work fine during the game. Q: Why can't I get the sound test to work? A: Make sure that you have all of the DOS sound card drivers installed on your machine. Choosing Sound Blaster 8 in the setup program seems to work well even if you have a 16-bit sound card. When choosing the sound card, make sure that you have selected the appropriate port address, IRQ and DMA settings. Using IRQ 2 or IRQs greater than 9 is not recommended. Q: The sound in the game sounds like static, or the speech is stuttering or skipping. A: Check the sound settings in the Setup program. Make sure that the base address, IRQ and DMA match what is set in the SETBLASTER statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you are using a Sound Blaster 16, select Sound Blaster Pro or Sound Blaster 8 in the Setup program. This setting works best with a base address of 220, IRQ of 5 or 7, and DMA set to 1. Other settings may sometimes cause the game's Setup program to lock up when you run the sound test. In addition, try setting your video card to a lower resolution and select "Full Screen Off" button in the Setup program. To check your STTNG.INI file to make sure the following options are turned on, make sure your DOS prompt says, "C:\STTNG>." If it does not, type "CD\STTNG" at the DOS prompt. Then type "EDIT STTNG.INI" to check the file. If any of the items listed below are set to Off, you will need to change it to On. Sound = ON Music = ON Voices = ON Select "Exit" from the File menu and press "Y" to save the new changes. If you are experiencing clicking noises or interference and you have a Cirrus Logic video chipset, please contact Cirrus Logic to get updated drivers for your video card. Mouse ===== Q: Why is my mouse is leaving trails on the screen or causing scratchy sounds? A: If your mouse is leaving trails on the screen within the game or the movement of your mouse is causing scratchy sounds, then your mouse driver in DOS must be upgraded. If the problem persists, then you need to upgrade your VESA driver for your video card. If your mouse and video cards were pre-installed when you bought your computer, please contact the manufacturer of your system in order to get the latest drivers for both your video card and your mouse. OS/2 Compatibility ================== Q: Can I run Star Trek: The Next Generation "A Final Unity" in OS/2? A: You will need to run the game in DOS full screen mode. In addition, all DOS settings need to be set to the defaults unless noted otherwise below: AUDIO_ADAPTER REQUIRED COM_SELECT NONE DOS_FCBS 20 DOS_FCBS_KEEP 20 DOS_FILES 40 DOS_HIGH ON DOS_UMB ON DPMI_DOS_API ENABLE DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT 512 DPMI_NETWORK_BUFFER_SIZE 20 EMS_FRAME_LOCATION NONE EMS_HIGH_OS_REGION 0 [zero] EMS_MEMORY_LIMIT 0 [zero] HW_TIMER ON INT_DURING_IO ON SESSION_PRIORITY 30 VIDEO_ROM_EMULATION OFF VIDEO_SWITCH_NOTIFICATION ON XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT 16384 XMS_MINIMUM_HMA 63 (Thanks to Bruce Mesissner at 76217.175@compuserve.com for providing us with this information.)