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DOSBox versus CD-Rom directly problem

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2023 10:06 am
by monte
Hi guys,

just to say, unfortunately, I am not too savvy on DOS let alone any other computer language. Trial and error normally work ok but here I am stuck.

Among other games I dug up Knights Chase from my old pc games collection box and got it installed and to run via DOSBox on my fairly recent Thinkpad Carbon 1 (win10) and the same on my much older hp laptop (win 7).
Now my son wants to play the game again for sentiments. His laptop is about 16 years old (win 7 but internet connection setup not managed)

Anyway, I installed DOSBox on his laptop and entered the same lines in the config as I did on my laptops, yet the integrated CD Rom drive is never found. It appears the CD-Rom starts way too slow, and the computer "thinks" there is no CDRom drive.
Then, I put in the CD to start directly to see how fast the CD is addressed and lo and behold, the game actually started and ran perfectly fine. However, the game crashes after about 5 minutes of gameplay. (The same happens btw with hexplore, another game that runs directly on CD).

Can someone please help?

DOSBox versus CD-Rom directly problem

Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2023 11:19 am
by Rwolf
Regarding Knight's Chase, a game I don't own, do you have a plain DOS version or a combined DOS/Windows release? (Most pictures of the covers from this game on Mobygames are combined) If there is a Win95 version on the disc, maybe that can be used better if you configure the game executables as Windows 95 compatible?

For DOSBox you need to mount the CD drive - maybe the drive letters are different on your own Win10/Win7 laptop and your son's Win7 laptop?
If so the mounting need to be changed in the DOSBox game launch line to reflect the correct letter.

DOSBox versus CD-Rom directly problem

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 8:36 am
by monte
Thanks for your suggestions, Rwolf.

I believe, the game is a win95 version. I cannot definitely say as it was part of a German games collection and there is no indication on the CD itself. It's just CD 17 (!!)

Good idea, to try and play it Win95 compatible. We'll try this first.

Concerning the CD drive letter, I am aware of this. There are only 2 partitions on that laptop, so CD drive is E: It took me ages to make it visible in the explorer but it hasn't changed anything. The drive stays silent via DOSBox.

I will probably come back on this. Junior lives not nearby and he is even less computer savvy than me. :blah: ...
So it will be more like after Xmas. Thanks again!

DOSBox versus CD-Rom directly problem

Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2023 5:33 pm
by Rwolf
One thing I know from some other very old games; some of them always expect the CD to be drive D, and DOSBox need to be configured to mount your E: as a D: within DOSBox in these cases.