From: ll@linus.mitre.org (Leonard Lau)
Subject: Falcon 3.0 and SuperStor
Organization: Research Computer Facility, MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 15:52:27 GMT

c15o@alf.zfn.uni-bremen.de (Thilo Wunderlich) writes:
>hi folks !
>I wanted to install Falcon 3.0 on my pc but I can't get enough free 
>memory. It says it needs about 600 kb free memory or so ...
>My problem is, I guess, is the Superstore Driver .  
>Did anyone solve that problem ? 
>I would need a printout of your autoexec.bat and config.sys

I have SuperStor 2.04 and I could load it all high using Microsoft
Windows 3.1's himem.sys and emm386.exe; but it would bump 14k bytes of DOS 5.0
back into low (conventional) memory, thus not freeing enough low memory to run
Falcon 3.0.  Then I bought 386Max 6.0, a smarter memory manager to replace
Microsoft's, but it failed to load all of SuperStor's driver into high memory
until 386Max 6.02 patch was released.  (BTW, I only wanted to load SuperStor
driver and mouse.sys high.) 

After MUCH experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that you MUST disable
SuperStor, make sure you have enough uncompressed space, install Falcon,
run Falcon and DISABLE music and animation in the Config Screen of the War
Room, quit the program, re-enable SuperStor in your config.sys file, copy
Falcon from the uncompressed partition to the SuperStor compressed partition.
You can now run Falcon EXCEPT that music and animation must continue to be
disabled.  Otherwise, Falcon will freeze up in the War Room, or freeze up 
during animation sequences with a band of video noise along the top of the 
screen.

I sent an email message to Spectrum Holobyte describing the problem, and
Marisa Ong (No. 19) replied confirming that parts of Falcon 3.0 have 
problems running with the SuperStor driver, but that they haven't had
problems with Stacker, a similar disk compression product.  BTW, I'm running
Falcon 3.0d version.  Oh well, I don't miss the music and animation sequences
*that* much...

-------------------------------------------------------
Leonard Lau    Internet: ll@linus.mitre.org

If you're still interested, the text of my message and her reply follows:


>>>> QUESTION <<<<
Hello!

     I'm running Falcon 3.0d, 386Max 6.02, and SuperStor 2.04 on a Zeos 486-33
ISA desktop with Diamond Speedstar + Hicolor (a Tseng-based SVGA card).

     After a LOT of experimentation, I think I've discovered that if 
Falcon's music and animation are enabled, then the program locks up in the
War Room (or before), and there is a band of video noise at the top of the
screen.  Everything seems fine when I run only Microsoft's himem.sys and 
emm386.exe, with Falcon in an uncompressed partition, and with 386Max and
SuperStor DISABLED.

     But if himem.sys, emm386.exe, and SuperStor are running, Falcon
locks up if music & animation are enabled.  This happens whether Falcon is
in the SuperStor compressed or uncompressed hard disk partition.  This 
indicates a conflict with SuperStor, which I've loaded into high memory.
Himem and emm386 are the latest versions included with Windows 3.1.

     Is there a known conflict with SuperStor?  And are there any plans to
fix this situation?  This isn't such a big deal (no music or animation)
but on rare occasions I've had Falcon lock up in the same way while
playing.  Thanks for any information you can give me.

-Leonard Lau

   
>>>> REPLY <<<<

From 76004.2144@compuserve.com Fri Aug  7 02:52:26 1992
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Date: 07 Aug 92 02:45:15 EDT
From: Spectrum HoloByte <76004.2144@CompuServe.COM>
To: <ll@linus.mitre.org>
Subject: Re: Falcon 3.0, 386Max, SuperStor
Message-Id: <920807064515_76004.2144_CHN50-9@CompuServe.COM>
Status: R

Dear Mr. Lau:

Yes, unfortunately, there seems to be an incompatibility between SuperStor and
parts of FALCON 3.0.  We're investigating the problem, but haven't found a
solution yet.  It's pretty strange since we don't have the same problems with
Stacker, a similar product.

No.19

Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games