Daemon tools - best virtual drive choice?
rpgs rock dvds
to install soon. Previously when I've done this, I have to make sure
the CD's in the drive, and I dislike this mainly because the CD
whirring up to speed sounds loud.
I've heard of Daemon tools, and its ability to bypass the physical
disc drive altogether. They seem to have a free version and a "Pro"
version which you pay for.
I want to get a really decent tool for the job, and am more than happy
to pay for either DT Pro or something else, but before I go ahead with
my purchase, does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions
please.
Thanks a lot, best regards, Robert.
PS - Alcohol 120% is another software name I've heard that does this
kind of thing.
Greg Johnson
I bought Alcohol 120% and I'm really happy with its performance so
far. I can't really say anything about Daemon Tools, not having tried
it at all recently.
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Greg Johnson <greg...@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Tue, 6 May 2008 06:34:29 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
><rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>>PS - Alcohol 120% is another software name I've heard that does this
>>kind of thing.
>
>I bought Alcohol 120% and I'm really happy with its performance so
>far. I can't really say anything about Daemon Tools, not having tried
>it at all recently.
I use Alcohol 120% as well, and for most games published before 2004 it
performs flawlessly. It'll tear up the hard drive on a laptop though, so
it's worth running your CD images from an external HD if you can help it.
Also, my experience has been that Alcohol doesn't get along with GameGuard
and a few other copy protection methods that explicitly look for
virutalization tools. But for the majority of my library, it's way better
than the unofficial No-CD patches.
-KKC, who just got his tax rebate, woo!
--
-- "Arabs are the new Asians, at least in media. Stereotypes gave way to
deeper roles over 40 years of assimilation into western culture. Bruce Lee
kicks ass, Jackie Chan gets laughs, B.D. Wong is a top. Arabs have | kendrick
had Klinger and Monk. Clearly, they have some catching up to do." | @io.com
rpgs rock dvds
> In article <5jo0241vc6t0dmtthgvfse8dmm1bb5u...@4ax.com>,
I'd say 95% of my games are from before 2004, so this sounds
promising. But can you please tell me what you mean by this -
"It'll tear up the hard drive on a laptop though, so it's worth
running your CD images from an external HD if you can help it."
I'm using a desktop PC, will this affect me? What do you mean by
"tear up"?
Thanks, regards, Robert.
rpgs rock dvds
>
> - Show quoted text -
Thanks for your comment.
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
>promising. But can you please tell me what you mean by this -
>
>"It'll tear up the hard drive on a laptop though, so it's worth
>running your CD images from an external HD if you can help it."
>
>I'm using a desktop PC, will this affect me? What do you mean by
>"tear up"?
A full CD image could be 750 megs or more, if you use all the imaging
features of Alcohol's MDF format. If this image file is on the same hard
drive as your game's installed executable data, then you have a situation
where your virtual CD is making heavy tudy HD access requests at the same
time as your application. Laptop hard drives tend to run slower and
hotter, which is the source of my concern.
If you're using a desktop machine and a virtual optical drive app like
Alcohol, I would suggest installing a second hard drive just to store
those CD and DVD image files. If you can help it, each disk should go on
separate IDE or SATA connections as well (instead of one being slaved off
of the other) to keep performance up at an acceptable level. Hope that's
helpful.
-KKC, shopping for software over lunch, woo.
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kend...@nospam.io> wrote:
>
>If you're using a desktop machine and a virtual optical drive app like
>Alcohol, I would suggest installing a second hard drive just to store
>those CD and DVD image files. If you can help it, each disk should go on
>separate IDE or SATA connections as well (instead of one being slaved off
>of the other) to keep performance up at an acceptable level. Hope that's
>helpful.
Being an ass and following up my own post, I'm compelled to say that none
of this is strictly necessary. You should theoretically be able to run
your operating system, your swap file and your virtual CD images all from
the same drive with no ill effects. And given how most gaming PCs are
specced out, you shouldn't have any real problems running that sort of
configuration. Just marking my opinion clearly.
-KKC, whose wallet is curiously empty thanks to the woman of the house...
Wolfing
> In article <IoidnbxR56Ur7r3VnZ2dnUVZ_oWdn...@giganews.com>,
> Kendrick Kerwin Chua <kendr...@nospam.io> wrote:
>
>
>
> >If you're using a desktop machine and a virtual optical drive app like
> >Alcohol, I would suggest installing a second hard drive just to store
> >those CD and DVD image files. If you can help it, each disk should go on
> >separate IDE or SATA connections as well (instead of one being slaved off
> >of the other) to keep performance up at an acceptable level. Hope that's
> >helpful.
>
> Being an ass and following up my own post, I'm compelled to say that none
> of this is strictly necessary. You should theoretically be able to run
> your operating system, your swap file and your virtual CD images all from
> the same drive with no ill effects. And given how most gaming PCs are
> specced out, you shouldn't have any real problems running that sort of
> configuration. Just marking my opinion clearly.
>
Besides, most games don't use the CD for much after they're installed,
so they're really reading the image either to check CD is "in" when
starting, and maybe when playing big cut-scenes (when the game is not
reading anything else basically). So to the OP, yeah, just install the
game and you'll be fine. Oh, and you don't need the 'professional'
version of DT, the lite is more than fine. I don't use alcohol 120%
so I don't know if it's better. I do know DT is good, at least it's
been for me.
Wolfing
> On Tue, 6 May 2008 06:34:29 -0700 (PDT), in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, rpgs
>
> rock dvds wrote:
> >I've heard of Daemon tools, and its ability to bypass the physical
> >disc drive altogether. They seem to have a free version and a "Pro"
> >version which you pay for.
>
> before you image something. A defrag afterward is almost as good.
>
> Just defrag, trust me, or your hard drive will pop a platter! ;^)
>
And there we go, I totally disagree. I've done this test 4 times
already, and never saw any difference. Basically:
- Reboot
-Measure the time it takes for a big something to load (application,
game, whatever).
- Defrag
- Reboot
- Measure the time it takes the same big something
You'll find (as I did) that it doesn't make a difference. Maybe 10
years ago it did, but nowadays it doesn't. Even PC-World disclaims
that they haven't found any significant improvement with defrags when
reviewing defragging tools, they just base their reviews on which ones
are easier to use, faster to finish defragging, etc, but not on the
supposed 'speed increases'.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>I've bought some RPGs (and also some adventure games) that I'm going
>to install soon. Previously when I've done this, I have to make sure
>the CD's in the drive, and I dislike this mainly because the CD
>whirring up to speed sounds loud.
I use Alcohol 120. Not because it is better, but simply because I use
other features of this program. I store the images on my secondary
hard drive and install them to my primary hard drive from there. If
you have more then one hard drive in your computer, I suggest you do
the same. You can create multiple virtual drives as well if you want.
This is useful if you need the 'cd' (the image) in the drives for
multiple games you may be playing at once.
Mike S.
wrote:
>You'll find (as I did) that it doesn't make a difference. Maybe 10
>years ago it did, but nowadays it doesn't. Even PC-World disclaims
>that they haven't found any significant improvement with defrags when
>reviewing defragging tools
I agree with both you and PC World. I remember the article. It can
take several hours to defrag, make little to no difference, and it
isn't long before your hard drive is all fragmented again anyway. To
hell with it.
rpgs rock dvds
Thanks a lot for everyone's replies.
Nostromo
Not to mention reducing the lifespan or average mean time to failure of
the drive significantly if you defrag every week. Almost totally
unnecessary these days.
--
Nostromo
Nostromo
I use DT Pro as I find it mounts some images none of the other wannabes
can. QED.
--
Nostromo
Nostromo
Anno Domini:
>>Not to mention reducing the lifespan or average mean time to failure of
>>the drive significantly if you defrag every week. Almost totally
>>unnecessary these days.
>
>Exactly. I suggest that people who maintain lots of images just do it once
>after you get the bulk of your images on the drive, or do it before doing a
>large batch of disc images.
>
>Once a week defrags are as sure to kill your drive as reading fragmented
>images. We can all thank Symantec and Windows 98 for scheduling that crap.
>Yikes.
>
>I tend to run my drives at near max capacity. Lots of music editing, video,
>etc. If you're a lucky bastard, and your drive is under 70% full, then there's
>no point in a defrag, either. Image dumps will wind up sequential without any
>intervention. (30% of a 300 GB drive is over a hundred CD's!)
Same here. You should also try continual P2P hammering on your drive :).
>Unfortunately, there is no pat advice to give, other than "defragging every
>week causes more wear than file fragmentation." If you run close to capacity, a
>fragmented image can cause a lot of wear and tear on the drive.
I certainly haven't seen evidence (as an IT professional or otherwise) that
it has any effect on most PCs, except in very specific circumstances where
massive fragmentation is obvious e.g. after clearing a lot of random data
off a disk. But that's a once-every-6-months+ defrag, not a weekly one.
--
Nostromo
Carl
No problems with it either. I have one of my hard drives in use just for CD
and DVD images, which is sitting at 100GB at the minute. All i do is right
click on the quicklaunch DVD drive icon on my taskbar, and select the option
of insert a virtual cd, they are all in a list then and away you go. I would
recommend making the disk image first, and then installing whatever game it
is from the image.
rpgs rock dvds
Please may I ask a follow-up question about virtual drive software
(such as Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120%) --
Does it work for DOS games, and also how about (DOS) games which come
on multiple discs. "Tex Murphy; Under a killing moon" springs to mind
as an example.
Thanks, regards, Robert.
Mike S.
wrote:
>Not to mention reducing the lifespan or average mean time to failure of
>the drive significantly if you defrag every week.
Wear and tear. Didn't even think of it. Good point. This is probably
the best reason not to have your drive defragging for hours on end.
Mike S.
wrote:
>Exactly. I suggest that people who maintain lots of images just do it once
>after you get the bulk of your images on the drive, or do it before doing a
>large batch of disc images.
If you are only going to write to the hard drive in 'large batches' as
you say, fine, defrag once. But who really uses their hard drives this
way? I am always making new images and deleting old ones. Read, write
and delete in an endless cycle. This is why hard drives get fragmented
so quickly to begin with. I can not think of an opportune time to
defrag. Not the way I use my hard drives anyway.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Does it work for DOS games, and also how about (DOS) games which come
>on multiple discs. "Tex Murphy; Under a killing moon" springs to mind
>as an example.
Alcohol 120 works in DosBox just fine. I am sure Daemon tools would
work as well. It should work fine for multiple CD games but I never
tried that myself. Every game I tested so far in DosBox with CD images
were only one CD games. It should be a simple manner of alt-tabbing
out and mounting a different CD image.
Mike S.
>Alcohol 120 works in DosBox just fine. I am sure Daemon tools would
>work as well. It should work fine for multiple CD games but I never
>tried that myself. Every game I tested so far in DosBox with CD images
>were only one CD games. It should be a simple manner of alt-tabbing
>out and mounting a different CD image.
Maybe you can even make multiple virtual drives and put a different CD
image in each. That would be ideal but I have no idea if that would
work or not. It is easy enough to test if you want to give it a shot.
Kendrick Kerwin Chua
Keep in mind that management of the drive images happens in the Windows
layer (in that you can't mount or unmount images in the DOS environment as
far as I've been able to tell.) Also, each virtual drive will eat a little
bit of memory even if you're not accessing the disk, although that also
applies to the host Windows system and not to the virtual DOS environment
you're running.
-KKC, craving dessert at 3:00 in the afternoon.
Justisaur
I've seen hundreds if not thousands of laptops with badly fragmented
drives that were adversely affected by fragmentation. I've seen a few
that would blue screen every start, after slaving and defraging the
drives they booted fine.
I swear by regular defragmentation. It's not anywhere near as
important for home use, as most people don't have 3gb .pst files, and
have far more room on their HD that they wouldn't even begin to make a
dent in. If you are getting near capacity though it's pretty
important, especially if you make frequent changes like installing &
uninstalling games. Just separating the OS/pagefile on another
partition/hd can make a world of difference in this too though.
As far as the method of defragmentation, I agree there's no difference
between using microsoft's built in one and a fancy expensive one once
the files are defragmented. One might be marginally faster than
another at the defragging, and another might auto defrag in the
background when the screen saver is on, but that's it.
- Justisaur
Justisaur
> On Wed, 07 May 2008 13:56:21 +1000, Nostromo <nostr...@nospam.org>
> wrote:
>
> >Not to mention reducing the lifespan or average mean time to failure of
> >the drive significantly if you defrag every week.
>
> Wear and tear. Didn't even think of it. Good point. This is probably
> the best reason not to have your drive defragging for hours on end.
If you haven't made any changes it's not going to take hours, it will
take minutes if it even needs defragmentaiton at all. If it needs
defragmentation badly enough it's going to take hours you will be
saving far more in wear and tear by defraging it for a couple hours
than using it with all the head movement you are doing reading and or
writing to files scattered all over the drive for any period of time.
- Justisaur
Nostromo
Anno Domini:
>>I certainly haven't seen evidence (as an IT professional or otherwise) that
>>it has any effect on most PCs, except in very specific circumstances where
>>massive fragmentation is obvious e.g. after clearing a lot of random data
>>off a disk. But that's a once-every-6-months+ defrag, not a weekly one.
>
>Right. I didn't recommend a *weekly* one, did I? I recommended, if you were to
>be shuffling *a lot* of images around, which is what this guy sounds like he's
>ready to do, that they be sequential on the disk to avoid head travel.
Not contradicting, just elaborating ;)
>6 months sounds like reasonable maintenance. 1 year sounds reasonable for other
>uses.
>
>Hell, *not bothering* even sounds reasonable, if you've got lots of blank
>space. Modern file systems will make sure the files are sequentially written.
So long as those file systems don't have an M$ or Vi$ta logo on them <G>
--
Nostromo
Mike S.
wrote:
>I apologize. I realize that my initial post looks like I was recommending
>"frequent defrags are good," which is an old, disproved, dead-as-a-doornail old
>wive's tale.
That was definitely the impression I was getting. :) I used to perform
this kind of maintenance. I know its a waste of time. I do agree with
defragging static content however.
Mike S.
<just...@gmail.com> wrote:
>If you haven't made any changes it's not going to take hours
I use my computer every single day. Everything that I do with the
computer generally writes to the hard drive. Defrag today. Fragmented
tomorrow. So I think it is only a good idea to defrag a secondary
hard drive that will generally remain static to prevent the kind of
wear & tear you describe in the rest of your post.
noman
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Please may I ask a follow-up question about virtual drive software
>(such as Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120%) --
>
>Does it work for DOS games, and also how about (DOS) games which come
>on multiple discs. "Tex Murphy; Under a killing moon" springs to mind
>as an example.
While DOSBox comes with its own virtual CD option, Deamon-Tools work
fine with it as well. I have played both UAKM and PD with Daemon-Tools
and DOSBox.
--
Noman
Greg Johnson
Yes, at least you certainly can with Alcohol 120%. I currently have 10
virtual drives in use.
Ross Ridge
>It's a good reason *not* to do the Norton Utilities 2001 schedule of one
>defrag a week, that's for sure. Wonder how many harddrives Windows 98
>"executable optimization" killed (if you didn't know, 98 kept a log of
>"most used" executables, and defrags placed the files at the beginning
>of the disk).
Windows XP has a similar feature. The Windows 98 optimization actually
deliberately fragmented the executables so that they would be layed out
on disk in the order they were accessed by the program. This eliminates
the seeking back and forth to load the executable that would normally
be required.
Ross Ridge
--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rridge/
db //
Ross Ridge
>It's a good reason *not* to do the Norton Utilities 2001 schedule of one
>defrag a week, that's for sure. Wonder how many harddrives Windows 98
>"executable optimization" killed (if you didn't know, 98 kept a log of
>"most used" executables, and defrags placed the files at the beginning
>of the disk).
Ross Ridge>wrote:
>Windows XP has a similar feature.
Zaghadka <pres...@whitehouse.gov> wrote:
>But not similar in the one point that matters: XP's prefetch cache works.
The Windows XP prefetch cache is something related but different.
Windows XP uses the information collected by the prefetch service to
relocate boot files and application to the start of the drive. This is
accomplished by a special "defrag" operation, that's normally done in
the background every three days when the machine is idle. It's not that
different than Windows 98 feature, which is, as I already explained,
effective at reducing seeking.
rpgs rock dvds
>
> - Show quoted text -
After I posted the above follow-up question, I think most of the
replies provided assumed I meant DOSBox. When I say DOS games, I mean
DOS 6.22, or shutting Win9x down to real-mode DOS.
In other words, does DT or A120 work in DOS operating system, or does
it require a version of Windows to run?
Thanks, regards, Robert.
Nostromo
Anno Domini:
>On Wed, 07 May 2008 21:50:52 GMT, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg, Zaghadka wrote:
>>Unfortunately, that was also often the place of *least* angular rotation, so
>>for larger exe's (especially later in 98's service life) it was a zero sum
>>game. For professional grade hard drives (at high RPMs/low seek time), it was
>>actually *detrimental* to launch speed! LOL.
>
>Yeah. Well that was fuckin' stupid of me. I looked it up, and hard drives, *of
>coruse*, write from the outside in. Duh. (*hangs head in shame*)
>
>I'm not a design guru. Too bad few servers accept "cancels" or "supercedes" any
>longer. :^/
>
>Anyway, I'm sure most of y'all are chuckling at me, but I wanted to set the
>record straight on that small point.
*chuckle* *snort* *guffaw*
--
Nostromo
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>After I posted the above follow-up question, I think most of the
>replies provided assumed I meant DOSBox.
Both Daemon Tools and Alcohol 120 are Windows programs. I thought you
meant in DosBox.
*Maybe* you can use a command called SUBST in DOS. I *think* this
command makes virtual drives. I never used it. I have no experience
with it at all. I could be entirely incorrect as to what it actually
does. Just google it if you are interested. I *think* the command will
turn a directory on your hard drive into a new virtual drive letter.
Then maybe you can copy the contents of a game CD into that new
virtual drive and install from there.
Mike S.
wrote:
>While DOSBox comes with its own virtual CD option, Deamon-Tools work
>fine with it as well. I have played both UAKM and PD with Daemon-Tools
>and DOSBox.
You wouldn't happen to know if DosBox has a 'save state' option do
you? This is the only reason I still keep my DOS computer around.
Sometimes I play really old games where you can't save whenever you
want so I use a save state program I have for DOS to get around this.
This program does not work in DosBox.
Wolfing
Actually, I don't see a reason why you should do that. Nightmares of
the old config manipulation to squeeze 1K more memory come to mind.
Use DosBox, it'll handle all that for you, and you don't have to
reboot or anything. I haven't found an old game that doesn't run with
DosBox (sometimes sound is not perfect without some tweaking, but
other than that, no problems)
Ross Ridge
>replies provided assumed I meant DOSBox. When I say DOS games, I mean
>DOS 6.22, or shutting Win9x down to real-mode DOS.
>
>In other words, does DT or A120 work in DOS operating system, or does
>it require a version of Windows to run?
As others have indicated they both require Windows. There might be some
sort of CD-ROM emulator for plain MS-DOS, but you shouldn't need it.
The purpose DaemonTools and Alcohol 120% virtual drive's is to bypass
copy protection, and I don't think there are any MS-DOS games that use
CD-ROM based copy protection. In most cases you can just copy the all
data files from the CD-ROM to the directory where you installed the game
and edit some configuration file so it looks there instead of the CD-ROM.
A lot of MS-DOS games don't even require this amount effort, they install
everything to hard disk and the CD-ROM isn't neccessary aftwards.
The only thing that would be a problem are MS-DOS games that use CD
audio tracks. In that case you'll need to have the CD-ROM in the drive
to hear the music.
Mike S.
<rri...@caffeine.csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>CD-ROM based copy protection. In most cases you can just copy the all
>data files from the CD-ROM to the directory where you installed the game
>and edit some configuration file so it looks there instead of the CD-ROM.
This worked for me in the past. I should have mentioned it.
Mike S.
wrote:
>Actually, I don't see a reason why you should do that. Nightmares of
>the old config manipulation to squeeze 1K more memory come to mind.
>Use DosBox, it'll handle all that for you, and you don't have to
>reboot or anything. I haven't found an old game that doesn't run with
>DosBox (sometimes sound is not perfect without some tweaking, but
>other than that, no problems)
I to recommend DosBox over Dos simply because DosBox does DOS games
better then DOS does. (really, it does.) But I recognize this poster
and he would rather stick with his DOS machine which is why I
recommended giving SUBST a try. But Ross posted an easier solution
that will work most of the time I think.
Ross Ridge
>I to recommend DosBox over Dos simply because DosBox does DOS games
>better then DOS does. (really, it does.) But I recognize this poster
>and he would rather stick with his DOS machine which is why I
>recommended giving SUBST a try. But Ross posted an easier solution
>that will work most of the time I think.
I've had to use to use SUBST with a couple of MS-DOS games where I
couldn't edit the configuration file to point at a subdirectory. In both
cases configuration file only accepted a drive letter, not a directory
so I used SUBST to create a "drive" pointing at the subdirectory where
I copied the data files. In one case, it was actually a floppy disk
based game that was the problem.
Mike S.
<rri...@caffeine.csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote:
>I've had to use to use SUBST with a couple of MS-DOS games where I
>couldn't edit the configuration file to point at a subdirectory. In both
>cases configuration file only accepted a drive letter, not a directory
>so I used SUBST to create a "drive" pointing at the subdirectory where
>I copied the data files. In one case, it was actually a floppy disk
>based game that was the problem.
Another solution (though not necessarily better then using SUBST)
would be to copy the contents of the CD to the root of drive c:
exactly as they are on the CD -- this would make a mess of your hard
drive if the CD has multiple files and directories which it probably
does but I think this would work with configurations that won't point
to a subdir. Just point to drive C instead of your CD-ROM in the
config. I know you know this already. :) Its for the other guy.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Thu, 8 May 2008 07:50:35 -0700 (PDT), Wolfing <wolfi...@gmail.com>
Thanks so much to everyone for their very helpful advice.
Yes I do like my DOS machines!! :o)
Oh btw, I finally got an scc-1 only yesterday, and also last week some
kind soul gave me their GUS (1mb) classic! Got it working with an
awe64 for the sound effects. Bonkers! :o)
noman
There is no save-state option. I wish there was. Escort missions in
Wing Commander would actually be fun to play with it.
--
Noman
Matt v3.2
> Does it work for DOS games, and also how about (DOS) games which
> come on multiple discs. "Tex Murphy; Under a killing moon" springs
> to mind as an example.
I know you said you were talking about real DOS, but I have this game
setup to run in DOSbox with no-CDs and it plays great, better than it
did in DOS 6.22 in fact. :)
See this page for the juicy details:
http://www.fourthlaw.com/2007/04/03/tex-murphy-under-a-killing-moon-dosbox-guide-no-cds/
(Also read the comments at the end)
There is also an article there about using the Gravis Ultrasound 16
with the game (in DOSbox) for supposedly better sound, but I've not
investigated that yet. It looks to be some mucking about and I'm not
sure it'd sound any better than SB16 / General Midi - ?
As to your question on virtual drives, my vote is for Daemon Tools.
Iconic, lightweight, easy to use. I've had it for years.
Once upon a time I installed the Alcohol 15% (or whatever the free
one is called) and it was uninstalled within 5 minutes. :) Buggered
if I can remember why, but must not have liked it as much.
However, many games have an option for full-install, in which case
I prefer using a no-CD crack if needed. Some games you only need to
tweak an .ini file, which is even better. ;)
--
};> Matt v3.2 <:{
rpgs rock dvds
> rpgs rock dvds typed:
>
> > Does it work for DOS games, and also how about (DOS) games which
> > come on multiple discs. "Tex Murphy; Under a killing moon" springs
> > to mind as an example.
>
> I know you said you were talking about real DOS, but I have this game
> setup to run in DOSbox with no-CDs and it plays great, better than it
> did in DOS 6.22 in fact. :)
>
>
> (Also read the comments at the end)
>
> There is also an article there about using the Gravis Ultrasound 16
> with the game (in DOSbox) for supposedly better sound, but I've not
> investigated that yet. It looks to be some mucking about and I'm not
> sure it'd sound any better than SB16 / General Midi - ?
>
> As to your question on virtual drives, my vote is for Daemon Tools.
> Iconic, lightweight, easy to use. I've had it for years.
>
> Once upon a time I installed the Alcohol 15% (or whatever the free
> one is called) and it was uninstalled within 5 minutes. :) Buggered
> if I can remember why, but must not have liked it as much.
>
> However, many games have an option for full-install, in which case
> I prefer using a no-CD crack if needed. Some games you only need to
> tweak an .ini file, which is even better. ;)
>
> --
>
>
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
THanks once again for all advice from all.
I'll definitely give DOSBox a go with a multi-disc DOS-based game such
as UAKM. (I also really want to try out other people's advice too,
such as copying the disc(s) to the HDD, using the root drive or
subfolder(s), and also the DOS SUBST command.)
Best regards, Robert.
Trimble Bracegirdle
GameCopyWorld
& forget the Virtual Drive bizness...except in the very few cases of very
old games where
the NO DISC patch can't be found.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse
Mike S.
<no-...@never.spam> wrote:
>You really should use a NO CD patch from the likes of MegaGame.com or
>GameCopyWorld
>& forget the Virtual Drive bizness...except in the very few cases of very
>old games where
>the NO DISC patch can't be found.
For old DOS games, copy protection of the sort you describe isn't
going to be his problem. Dos games keep data on the CD and want to
read it from there. To avoid using the CD in that case, he needs to
follow the advice given to him elsewhere in this thread.
Matt v3.2
> I'll definitely give DOSBox a go with a multi-disc DOS-based game
> such as UAKM. (I also really want to try out other people's advice
> too, such as copying the disc(s) to the HDD, using the root drive
> or subfolder(s), and also the DOS SUBST command.)
Yep, all you need is a big enough HDD ;) (I've almost used up 160GB
myself, never thought that'd happen! [*])
SUBST - I used to use that with Win95-98 so that I could have a G:\
for my games drive (the real path was C:\Games). Now I just have my
drive partitioned and WinXP lets me assign it to G:\ for real.
[*] X:\ is my problem now. Too much on X:\ - ;D I need a new drive
just for X ...
--
};> Matt v3.2 <:{
Nostromo
23:17:57 +0100, Anno Domini:
>You really should use a NO CD patch from the likes of MegaGame.com or
>GameCopyWorld
>& forget the Virtual Drive bizness...except in the very few cases of very
>old games where
>the NO DISC patch can't be found.
Seconded. I've NEVER got anything like a virus from a no-cd from
gamecopyworld. OTOH you can pickup rootkits & all sorts of shit from the
likes of Sony & any Starforce(filth) title, so the maths here is a
no-brainer. Seems there's more integrity among the so-called 'pirate'
community than legit publishers lol.
--
Nostromo
rpgs rock dvds
I was wondering if you could help me out with some info please?
I have an scc-1 and also I just got an mt-32 :o) However I have no
leads at all and as an mt-32 / midi noob, I don't know where to begin
in terms of what leads I need.
Basically, is there any chance you could advise me what leads I need
to: connect the mt-32 to the scc-1, and also what do I need to
actually hear the mt-32 sound? As a bonus, if you could perhaps copy-
and-paste *any* ebay item number in ur reply just so I can actually
see any item, that would be really awesome.
Thanks a lot if you can help me out. Best regards, Robert.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Basically, is there any chance you could advise me what leads I need
>to: connect the mt-32 to the scc-1, and also what do I need to
>actually hear the mt-32 sound? As a bonus, if you could perhaps copy-
>and-paste *any* ebay item number in ur reply just so I can actually
>see any item, that would be really awesome.
To connect your MT-32 to your SCC-1, you need the following wires. -->
1. One standard midi cable. This is a cable with 5 pins (male) on each
end. Ebay Item Number: 220235110935
2. You will need a midi mini plug. Your SCC-1 should have come with
one. If not, then Ebay Item number: 120259882342
Connect the mini cable to the standard midi cable. Then connect the
bigger end of this cable into your MT-32 on the port labeled MIDI IN.
Connect the smaller end into your SCC-1 on the port labeled MIDI OUT.
That takes care of midi. Midi info from the games will now be sent to
BOTH devices at the same time. It will only sound correct on the
device it was intended for of course.
As for audio, if you can tell me how you wish to connect them, I'll
tell you exactly what you need. For instance, you can use separate
speakers for each, or a mixer connected to a stereo, or maybe there is
a way to connect both devices to the LINE IN on your Soundblaster 16
(which should already be connected to an audio output source) at the
same time, I am unsure. A mixer is the ideal solution.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Wed, 14 May 2008 09:02:38 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
THANKS!!! :o)
I think I really need to go the mixer route. One of the reasons is
that I will have (and I know this sounds completely insane) 4 PCs with
between 10 and 12 sound cards in them in total. (I haven't made sure
it all works yet, but I'd say a minimum of 10.)
Please note regarding mixers, I am unfortunately again a noob in this
area. However, I have a vague idea that you can stick something like
four "stereo 3.5mm jack inputs" (like an iPod headphones connection)
in to a stereo mixer, and then you get one output from the mixer which
you can plug in to your PC desktop speakers or headphones. Something
like that? If so, perhaps I need about 3 mixers?! (But maybe you can
"super-mixers", which have *lots* of inputs, I'm really not sure.)
Also, what about a typical living-room type hi-fi amplifier? Would
that be something to consider?
And also please finally note, regarding MT-32s (and also SC-55s), I
will be acquiring a second MT-32 and also one single SC-55 for DOSBox
usage, so there's that to also consider.
Many thanks, best regards, Robert.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>I think I really need to go the mixer route. One of the reasons is
>that I will have (and I know this sounds completely insane) 4 PCs with
>between 10 and 12 sound cards in them in total. (I haven't made sure
>it all works yet, but I'd say a minimum of 10.)
The most I ever connected to my mixer were five sound cards from three
computers. You definitely need a mixer.
>Please note regarding mixers, I am unfortunately again a noob in this
>area. However, I have a vague idea that you can stick something like
>four "stereo 3.5mm jack inputs" (like an iPod headphones connection)
>in to a stereo mixer, and then you get one output from the mixer which
>you can plug in to your PC desktop speakers or headphones. Something
>like that? If so, perhaps I need about 3 mixers?! (But maybe you can
>"super-mixers", which have *lots* of inputs, I'm really not sure.)
Yes. My mixer is connected to my stereo but you can use a pair of
speakers if you wish. You only need one mixer. It just has to have
enough connections on it to support everything you plan to connect to
it. My mixer supports eight devices all together, but only four
simultaneously. I don't know if all mixers work this way or not. I
bought mine years ago. It uses RCA (the red\white plugs). This is the
same type of connection that is on your SCC-1, but not on your MT-32.
You need 1/4 mono phono plugs for the MT-32. You will probably use RCA
cables with 1/4 mono adapters on one end of the cables. You need a
pair (two). Ebay Item number: 120260453274
So you need (assuming a mixer with RCA connections like mine) -->
1. An RCA cable that will connect from your SCC-1 to the mixer.
2. Another RCA cable with 1/4 adapters on one end to go from the MT-32
to the mixer.
3. You will need a third cable to go from your mixer to your speakers
or stereo. This is probably RCA as well. So, in total, you will need 3
RCA cables and a pair of 1/4 phono adapters. Make sure the adapters
are *female RCA* on one end.
This is all a lot easier then my post makes it look. :)
>Also, what about a typical living-room type hi-fi amplifier? Would
>that be something to consider?
Sorry I wouldn't know.
>And also please finally note, regarding MT-32s (and also SC-55s), I
>will be acquiring a second MT-32 and also one single SC-55 for DOSBox
>usage, so there's that to also consider.
Does the computer you are connecting the SC-55 to have an available
USB connection? If not, a gameport then? How about a serial port? I
need to know this to give you exact instructions for the midi
connections. As for audio, you just do exactly the same as you are
doing for your SCC-1\MT-32 setup. The SC-55 has RCA like the SCC-1. So
basically, you will need five RCA cables and two pair (four) 1/4 phono
plugs to get all your devices working at once.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Wed, 14 May 2008 11:34:49 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
Awesome!
>> Does the computer [SC-55 & MT-32 for DOSBox] you are connecting the SC-55 to have an available USB connection?
Loads of 'em!
Thanks a lot.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Loads of 'em!
You need two wires. You need another standard (5 pin male on both
ends) midi cable and you need a USB midi cable. The USB one looks like
this --> Ebay Item number: 160240960747 -- Notice that the USB cable
has three connections on it. USB and two midi connections that should
be labeled 'midi IN' and 'midi OUT'. They all have that bulging thing
in the middle. I always assumed that this piece takes the place of a
MPU interface card.
For the USB midi cable..
Connect the midi OUT from the cable to the midi IN port on your SC-55
Connect the midi IN from the cable to the midi OUT port on your SC-55
Connect the USB from the cable to your computer.
For the standard midi cable...
Connect one end into the THRU port on your SC-55
Connect the other end into the MIDI IN port in your MT-32
That takes care of the hardware. As for software, do the following
after the connections are made and the units are turned on.
Control Panel --> Sound and Audio Devices --> Audio Tab
Check out the bottom section labeled 'Midi music playback' Make sure
it is *NOT* set to 'Microsoft GS wavetable synth'. This is the
standard playback device that comes with XP and it sounds like crap.
Mine was called 'USB audio device' which meant my SC-55. Yours will
probably be similar. This is where DosBox looks for the midi device so
you must set this correctly. If you don't see it, you may need to
install a driver for the USB cable to work. My cable was from Turtle
Beach which worked without drivers (XP installed a driver
automatically) or even a reboot.
A final note. In order to use the MT-32 you must have the SC-55 turned
on as all midi is routed to (and through) the SC-55. You do NOT need
the MT-32 on if you are only using the SC-55.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Wed, 14 May 2008 15:19:55 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
Great stuff!! Looks like I've got some cables to buy now!! :o)
THanks a lot.
rpgs rock dvds
>
Mike, just a quick n final follow-up q about roland gear please.....is
it possible/normal to connect a sc-55 to a lapc-1? Thanks.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Mike, just a quick n final follow-up q about roland gear please.....is
>it possible/normal to connect a sc-55 to a lapc-1? Thanks.
I don't own a LAPC-I but I am sure you can as long as the LAPC-I has a
midi out connector. Check the card.
Connect a standard midi cable (with a mini midi plug attached to one
end) from the MIDI OUT on your LAPC-I to the MIDI IN on your SC-55.
With this setup, all midi is routed to and through your LAPC-I. The
LAPC-I will play the music even if it is intended for the SC-55 so you
will need a way to lower the volume on the LAPC-I. This is where
having a mixer really helps.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Mon, 19 May 2008 01:18:03 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
Unfortunately I don't own a LAPC-I either, and probably never will - I
saw one on ebay a day or so ago but it got snapped up for a staggering
200 euros which is 310$US excluding shipping.
I saw this on the net -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_LAPC-I
It says (2nd para) "To connect an LAPC-I to other MIDI devices, an
MCB-1 adapter is required."
It talks about something called a Roland MCB-1. I googled this item
yesterday but cannot find it today, otherwise I'd provide a link to
it. Basically it was a thing connected to the joystick-looking port
on the LAPC with a box on the end of the lead which had typical-
looking midi ports.
I think I'll forget about the LAPC - it's too expensive, and I'll just
have to make do with the scc-1 with an mt-32 -- speaking of which, I
bought this one (I hope it's the correct version!)
ebay item # 260241491211
Please note this isn't the *exact* one I got, just the same one as
mine arrived the other day or so ago.
I suppose ideally I need a CM-32L, but I haven't seen one on ebay
yet! (Perhaps they are rarer than previously thought?!) With the one
I just got (as above), will I get occasional "stuck notes" - I think
I've read something about that somewhere on the net.
Best regards, Robert.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Unfortunately I don't own a LAPC-I either, and probably never will - I
>saw one on ebay a day or so ago but it got snapped up for a staggering
>200 euros which is 310$US excluding shipping.
It isn't worth more then $50 before shipping. $75 is pushing it.
>I saw this on the net -
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_LAPC-I
>
>It says (2nd para) "To connect an LAPC-I to other MIDI devices, an
>MCB-1 adapter is required."
Ah ok. Basically it is a big dongle or a breakout box. I'm not sure
exactly what to call it but one end connects to the LAPC-I. The other
end is a box type thing with all the connectors on it including MIDI
OUT. Sounds like from the rest of your post that you figured this out
already. My instructions from the previous post still holds but you
need one of these things to if you want to connect a LAPC-I to an
external module.
>I suppose ideally I need a CM-32L, but I haven't seen one on ebay
>yet! (Perhaps they are rarer than previously thought?!) With the one
>I just got (as above), will I get occasional "stuck notes" - I think
>I've read something about that somewhere on the net.
Any MT-32 will work so the one you showed me in the Ebay auction will
work fine as will whatever one you actually received.
As for 'stuck notes' I am not sure what this is referring to but my
best guess is the buffer overflow error on first generation MT-32s.
Let me ask you two questions.
1. How fast is the computer that the MT-32 will be connected to?
2. What is the serial number of your MT-32? It is located underneath
the unit on a sticker.
Mike S.
>My instructions from the previous post still holds but you
>need one of these things to if you want to connect a LAPC-I to an
>external module.
Actually, since the MCB-1 has the full size midi connectors on them,
you would not need the mini midi plug. I know you aren't getting a
LAPC-I now, I just wanted to correct myself. :)
rpgs rock dvds
> On Tue, 20 May 2008 00:26:21 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
1. I will be looking to connect two mt-32s (or compatibles such as
cm-32Ls) to these two computers -
a) Pentium III PC for legacy ('92 thru to '98 approx) gaming. The
speed of the CPU will be somewhere between 500mhz and 800mhz.
b) Very fast, very new PC for DOSBox purposes. (This will be where
my recently acquired SC-55 box will also be used.)
2. Serial number = 888233
Best regards, Robert.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>1. I will be looking to connect two mt-32s (or compatibles such as
>cm-32Ls) to these two computers -
>
>a) Pentium III PC for legacy ('92 thru to '98 approx) gaming. The
>speed of the CPU will be somewhere between 500mhz and 800mhz.
>
>b) Very fast, very new PC for DOSBox purposes. (This will be where
>my recently acquired SC-55 box will also be used.)
>
>2. Serial number = 888233
You have a first generation MT-32. And that P III is too fast.
Whenever you launch a game with MT-32 support, watch the display for
an error that says something like 'exec buffer overflow'. If you see
this, the MT-32 will not sound correct. Slow the game down with a
slowdown utility for your DOS computer. Mo'Slo is a popular choice.
For your DosBox computer, you have two options. You can slow the game
down while it is loading, then speed it back up after the MT-32 gets
the sysex data it needs via the DosBox hotkeys. I think it is CTRL and
the function keys. Check the documentation, I am unsure.
Alternatively, you can lower the cycles to something other then max.
Mine is set to 10,000. This gives me the right speed for my DOS games
and always avoids the MT-32 buffer error. But that is on a P4. YMMV.
Note that the above works for 98% or so of all games out there. There
are a few that will never work properly on a first gen MT-32. If you
ever get your hands on a second generation MT-32, MT-100 or any of the
CM modules, you can ignore all of the above. :)
Here are two useful functions you can use.
1. Hold down MASTER VOLUME then hit RHYTHM. You should see a message
on the display to reset. Then just hit 1 to reset. Shutting the power
off and on again does the same thing. You should do this when
switching between games.
2. Hold down MASTER VOLUME then hit VOLUME. You can now add or remove
reverb via the volume knob. The default is 5. I add a little more as
it makes the music sound better. You can do it as music is playing to
hear the difference.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Tue, 20 May 2008 10:35:57 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
Hi Mike, thanks for your post. I'm sorry I didn't post back, I've
been busy with a lot of other stuff.
Regarding mt-32, I was worried about problems such as those you
mentioned and decided to get a cm-32L, like the one in this picture -
http://www.derjano.nl/cm32l.htm
I've not tested it yet, I'm just too busy atm, but hope to within next
week or so. It didn't come with a power supply, so I'll need to get
one (but I'm guessing my mt-32 power lead will work ok with it.)
Thanks, Best regards, Robert.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Hi Mike, thanks for your post. I'm sorry I didn't post back, I've
>been busy with a lot of other stuff.
>
>Regarding mt-32, I was worried about problems such as those you
>mentioned and decided to get a cm-32L, like the one in this picture -
Hello again. Where did you get it?
rpgs rock dvds
> On Sat, 7 Jun 2008 01:08:48 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
> >Hi Mike, thanks for your post. I'm sorry I didn't post back, I've
> >been busy with a lot of other stuff.
>
> >Regarding mt-32, I was worried about problems such as those you
> >mentioned and decided to get a cm-32L, like the one in this picture -
>
> Hello again. Where did you get it?
It was on ebay (co uk) for a few days without any bids, and so I
decided to email the seller and offer a "buy it now" price. He
agreed, and after I paid he removed the listing. However, there was
no power unit and no original box, but as I don't see these units too
often, I think it was the right decision.
Best regards, Robert.
johns
> to install soon. Previously when I've done this, I have to make sure
> the CD's in the drive, and I dislike this mainly because the CD
> whirring up to speed sounds loud.
You mean DVD ? It is not going to work.
johns
rpgs rock dvds
>
> >Hi Mike, thanks for your post. I'm sorry I didn't post back, I've
> >been busy with a lot of other stuff.
>
> >Regarding mt-32, I was worried about problems such as those you
> >mentioned and decided to get a cm-32L, like the one in this picture -
>
> Hello again. Where did you get it?
Mike, regarding the following setup:
scc-1 and cm-32L. Is this exactly the same (sonically speaking) to
this:
scc-1 and lapc-i
The reason I ask is now I have a cm-32L, is there absolutely no point
whatsoever in trying to obtain a lapc-i? I don't really want a lapc-i
because a) I can't find one, b) when I do they are way too expensive,
and c) they look rather large and "unwieldy".
Do folks still seek the lapc-i card from a kind of "purist" gamers
perspective - in other words, it's more of a nostalgia thing rather
than an absolute necessity -- given that the cm-32L is available.
Also, just out of interest, do you know about the revised scc-1 : the
scc-1b and also the "scc daughter board", I think it's called an sc15
or something.
Thanks a lot, from Robert.
Mike S.
<rpgsro...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>Mike, regarding the following setup:
>
>scc-1 and cm-32L. Is this exactly the same (sonically speaking) to
>this:
>
>scc-1 and lapc-i
They should yes. But I have never actually heard either device.
>The reason I ask is now I have a cm-32L, is there absolutely no point
>whatsoever in trying to obtain a lapc-i?
None that I can see. And you are better off with external units
anyway.
>Do folks still seek the lapc-i card from a kind of "purist" gamers
>perspective - in other words, it's more of a nostalgia thing rather
>than an absolute necessity -- given that the cm-32L is available.
Some people do collect old sound cards believe it or not. Bottom line,
if you have a MT-32 or one of the CM modules, the LAPC-I won't do you
any good.
>Also, just out of interest, do you know about the revised scc-1 : the
>scc-1b and also the "scc daughter board", I think it's called an sc15
>or something.
The original SCC-1 is based on the SC-55. The SCC-1a is based on the
SC-55mkII which contains more instrument sounds and the SCC-1b is the
same as the SCC-1a but with extra software included.
I am not entirely sure about the above but I do believe it is
accurate.
As for the SCB-55, it is a daughtercard for any sound card that has a
waveblaster connector on it. The SCB-55 is also called the SCD-15. I
never owned one of these though so I know next to nothing about it.
rpgs rock dvds
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:59:36 -0700 (PDT), rpgs rock dvds
>
Thanks for the info.