WIR tech support needed

lupi · Post by **lupi** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 5:20 am

Tried playing on my lappy this weekend. After the opening screen, I experienced severe graphic corruption. All blank spots and numbers were replaced with #$%#%$%#&$^. Made the game quite unplayable.

[ February 01, 2002: Message edited by: lupi ]</p>

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 8:40 am

Going out on a limb here, I assume you have a Compaq? If so, it is a bios issue, and you need to get an update from Compaq off their web site.

lupi · Post by **lupi** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 9:12 am

No, actually mine is a Toshiba satellite 3000..

Bios, humm, not many changes possible on a laptop's bios by the manual method.

MagnusOlsson · Post by **MagnusOlsson** » Wed Jan 23, 2002 1:12 am

Originally posted by lupi:
No, actually mine is a Toshiba satellite 3000..

Bios, humm, not many changes possible on a laptop's bios by the manual method.

Actually, this applies to all manufacturers who choose to disband support for CGA/EGA fonts in their BIOS. Compaq is one of them, Tosh is obviously doing so as well. It is more common on laptops than desktops, so it would fit.
Try calling Tosh support or check their internet support site.

/Magnus

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Wed Jan 23, 2002 1:52 am

Thanks Magnus,

I always forget who solved this puzzle in the first place, and it is good to be reminded of the root cause of the problem.

Lupi-

The bios update, if Toshiba has one, is a software upgrade that will update the bios data, assuming you have a flash bios. Almost any newer computer (last 4-5 years I would guess) has flash bios in it for easy updates or repairs.

Good luck.

lupi · Post by **lupi** » Tue Jan 29, 2002 8:14 am

For those interested and those that may ask later....

After researching this topic I belive I have found the root cause of this situation. As the vesa standard progress, VESA allowed the removal of some of the early DOS era specific files/fonts/utilities to be removed from graphics cards. This is not a requirement, mearly the ability to do so. I have a geforce 2 on my laptop and a geforce 3 and an ati on my desktops. Since this problem only occurs on the lappy, I would surmise that the decision was made to leave these features out due to engineering of the product on the laptop and that in this instance the engineering is being done by a computer company and not a graphics manufacture. Following this line of reason, I believe most of the people experiencing this problem have a graphic chipbuilt onto their motherboard. To correct this will require an update to the video cards bios or a special TSR type program to initialize the graphic routines for the card.

My personal success with Toshiba tech support has to this date been less the successful. As I will be calling directly to the level 3 tech tommorrow, I was wondering on 2 questions. 1, can the program be updated toa different font structure. 2, is any body running this successfully on XP, just so I can ensure that faucet is not causing a problem. The program loads/runs fine for me on XP, with the exception of the graphics corruption.

Thanks all, hope you have enjoyed this as much as I.
<img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Ed Cogburn · Post by **Ed Cogburn** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 7:18 am

Originally posted by lupi:
1, can the program be updated toa different font structure.

No, the entire program is written to use the EGA resolution mode. Changing that means rewriting the program.

2, is any body running this successfully on XP,

Yes, XP is not the problem. This problem was being reported before XP even existed.

[ January 29, 2002: Message edited by: Ed Cogburn ]</p>

lupi · Post by **lupi** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 1:42 am

No, the entire program is written to use the EGA resolution mode. Changing that means rewriting the program.

Actually, what I meant was in there any way to change the fonts being called in the program to a set that is more apt to be in use, for now and in the future.

I realize the XPthing probally really didn't have much effect, as I am almost running fine in it with the exception of this video card problem. Toshiba just likes to try and push this off as a non compatibility issue. I even gave them the page linking to an ati support page that describes this problem with a file they have available to download andcorrect the problem, and they responded by well it doesn't say the patch they created works in XP.

As a matter of fact their tech support really kinda scares me, as on my first call where I talked to level 1, the guy had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned EGA.

Ed Cogburn · Post by **Ed Cogburn** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 12:36 pm

Originally posted by lupi:

Actually, what I meant was in there any way to change the fonts being called in the program to a set that is more apt to be in use, for now and in the future.

Hmmm, I don't think so. I think it is standard EGA fonts that should be in ROM but aren't that's causing the problem. Then again, the game may have some fonts of its own, because I know the graphics toolkit it was built with, and that kit allowed (had) custom fonts. Then again, I don't think they would attach the fonts to the exe and not the *.bgi file which is that toolkit's driver. If they used that option they would have attached the *.bgi to the exe as well, so I still think the game is just trying to use standard EGA fonts it expects to be there. There is nothing unique or unusual about what WIR does graphically, it uses a standard EGA mode in a normal typical manner. Tell Toshiba to stop stonewalling and the fix the mistake they made.

and they responded by well it doesn't say the patch they created works in XP.

Like I said, they're stonewalling. Tell them this has NOTHING to do with XP, nothing at all. They skimped when it came to providing standard, compatible code and/or font data in the video ROM and its come back to bite them. If the video hardware docs say its VGA compatible, then its lying, since being VGA compatible by definition also means being EGA compatible (except for a few hardware registers).

As a matter of fact their tech support really kinda scares me, as on my first call where I talked to level 1, the guy had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned EGA.

LOL!! That is scary. I remember when EGA was the second coming, a huge step up from CGA, running EGATrek for the first time was cool, now its ancient history. I'm too old. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

Rasputitsa · Post by **Rasputitsa** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 4:06 am

I am trying to use a laptop running Windows XP with DirectX 8.1. Everything after the initial credits screen (which is split with a section of the bottom of the screen showing at the top) is rolling and flickering although the the text and sceen layout seem normal. Do I have the same problem that you are now discussing, or is this something different. I see from other forums that there are problems with DirectX 8.1, so I am not sure in which area I should start looking for a solution.

Ed Cogburn · Post by **Ed Cogburn** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 12:40 pm

Originally posted by Rasputitsa:
I am trying to use a laptop running Windows XP with DirectX 8.1. Everything after the initial credits screen (which is split with a section of the bottom of the screen showing at the top) is rolling and flickering although the the text and sceen layout seem normal. Do I have the same problem that you are now discussing, or is this something different. I see from other forums that there are problems with DirectX 8.1, so I am not sure in which area I should start looking for a solution.

If the text appears normal, besides the screen rolling, then its a different problem. The problem we're talking about is a font problem whose only modus operandi is garbled text, no rolling or split screens.

FYI, this has NOTHING to do with Windows or DirectX. WIR is a DOS game that uses EGA graphics, so in Windows it runs in a DOS box (DOS emulation) instead of regular Windows, and relies on the video card, not Windows or DirectX, being EGA compatible. DirectX is a graphics "toolkit" for *Windows* programs (games), it has nothing to do with DOS programs. The two never cross paths, so to speak.

Having said that, DirectX could be interfering in some way, to cause the flickering. I've never heard of anything like this before. Do you see this with any other programs and are those other programs DOS or Windows programs?

Warning: the latest version of DirectX deliberately breaks compatibility with Win95, meaning Win95 users are stuck at v8.0A or something like that. Microsoft is up to its usual tricks to force everyone to keep updating their OS on their timetable. Game makers are not going to deliberately exclude people just because MS is trying to though, so many of them will continue to aim at users of DirectX 7.0 or 8.0, including Win95 users. Several people have deliberately downgraded to the last DirectX, as you will have fewer problems than if you stick with the new one. If you have no programs that require DX v8.1, I would strongly consider downgrading to 8.0 or 8.0A, or whatever is the last good one. Search the net, you'll find this discussion in many places, and info on how to make the downgrade (I read somewhere someone has written a utility to do this).

lupi · Post by **lupi** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 2:09 am

Greeneville, Tennessee - GO VOLS!

Gator Chomp!

Back to the news...

I don't have any scrolling problem with WIR, but I do get some screen corruption with a few other earlier era games. Particularly the W@W series. Mouse movements cause some black line tearing of the screen. I seen several vesa screen refresh rate tsr programs that would probally help/eliminate that. When I have more time I'll probally check it out.

From the weather desk... Who is the lead programmers still working on the WIR project as I have a question for them..

Ed Cogburn · Post by **Ed Cogburn** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 12:13 pm

Originally posted by lupi:
Gator Chomp!

Let's talk numbers Gator Lover! How about 34-32? Ring a bell? <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> And we're going to do it again next year. All our best offensive players are coming back with some fantastic rookie running backs (in the top 10 of their state coming out of high school), and this time you'll have to deal with us in Knoxville, not The Swamp.

Back to the news...

The Vols beating the Gators in the Swamp *IS* news!

I don't have any scrolling problem with WIR, but I do get some screen corruption with a few other earlier era games. Particularly the W@W series. Mouse movements cause some black line tearing of the screen. I seen several vesa screen refresh rate tsr programs that would probally help/eliminate that. When I have more time I'll probally check it out.

Are you talking about a current version of Steel Panthers? Somebody correct me, but isn't that game a Windows program now?

From the weather desk... Who is the lead programmers still working on the WIR project as I have a question for them..

There is only one programmer working on WiR, and doing so part-time, his name is Arnaud (French). If you have a question I or RickyB can pass it on.

Rasputitsa · Post by **Rasputitsa** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 3:07 pm

Thanks Ed, the reason I first suspected DirectX was because of problems that were in forum discusions on other sites. I have checked the Directbuster site and was considering trying to roll back to DirectX 80a until I saw your earlier comments on EGA compatability. This seems a more likely source of the problem and I will check my graphics card. I don't have any problems with other software, but I haven't tried much yet. WIR is my first priority for the laptop.

MagnusOlsson · Post by **MagnusOlsson** » Sat Feb 02, 2002 9:56 pm

Originally posted by lupi:

Actually, what I meant was in there any way to change the fonts being called in the program to a set that is more apt to be in use, for now and in the future.

I realize the XPthing probally really didn't have much effect, as I am almost running fine in it with the exception of this video card problem. Toshiba just likes to try and push this off as a non compatibility issue. I even gave them the page linking to an ati support page that describes this problem with a file they have available to download andcorrect the problem, and they responded by well it doesn't say the patch they created works in XP.

As a matter of fact their tech support really kinda scares me, as on my first call where I talked to level 1, the guy had no clue what I was talking about when I mentioned EGA.

What could be done is to recompile WiR without CGA/EGA fonts. I had a comment on that from the Compaq support here a million years ago. Dunno if it's saved somewhere.

/Magnus

Ed Cogburn · Post by **Ed Cogburn** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 9:38 am

Originally posted by MagnusOlsson:

What could be done is to recompile WiR without CGA/EGA fonts.

That's possible, but keep in mind the game is designed for the EGA screen resolution, 640x350, so its not just fonts that would have to be changed. Switching to a higher resolution font means larger text unless you also go to higher screen resolution, which means reworking the game for that higher resolution display.