MoO for WinXP

jaaland · September 26, 2002, 11:09

Howdy folks,

Just found you guys....I'm trying to play MoO on my WinXP box and not having much luck....I have it on my Mac and LOVE the game but since I don't have that machine up right now, I've been seriously jonseing....Help! I downloaded the game but when I try to install it I get the message that it wants me to install it from a disk (?)...Any suggestions would be much appreciated...

Jon

vmxa1 · September 26, 2002, 12:07

I used to see this from time to time in Win98. In XP, I just made a short cut to the install.exe and it worked fine.

jaaland · September 26, 2002, 21:28

That didn't seem to do it...It says I need an EMS driver (?)...Please pardon the plethora of ignorant questions....I don't have a whole lot of experience with installing older games....It still wants me to insert disk 1 in drive A

Jon

Phydeaux · October 30, 2002, 08:22

Right click on the executable, select properties, Memory, and give the program some EMS memory. I think Orion wants 4. To be safe, give it 8. It should run no problem, now.

vmxa1 · October 30, 2002, 13:26

Sorry I mied this post some how. In mine, I made a short cut to the orion.exe. Right click on the short cut and select properties. In the pull down tab for EMS select 2048.

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 12:27

I've been trying to get this to work as well with no luck. Here's my system specs:

CPU: Athlon XP 1800
Motherboard: ABit AT7 MAX
RAM: 512MB of PC2700
Soundcard: Philips Acoustic Edge
OS: Windows XP Pro

I installed the game and set it up for no sound.

No matter what I do I keep getting the same error message: "You must have at least 1024K of expanded memory". I've tried right clicking on the shortcut (PIF file) and setting EMS memory at different things but I still get the same result. When I run install.exe I get an error message telling me that I don't have an EMS driver loaded even though I added the line EMS=RAM to my config.nt.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? It seems like my editing of the memory info in the pif file isn't having any effect at all. Do I need to do something else to get it to load high memory or something? I've never run a dos game before on XP so maybe I'm missing something here.

Thanks.

Whoster

vmxa1 · December 23, 2002, 13:40

I have it running on XP PRO. First with out any patches and then with the fixes.
I looked at the install short cut and the install,ex and they are not modified by me, they have none for EMS.
Same for Orion.exe and they do not use modified NT.
The short cut I made for Orion has Auto for conventional, 2048 for EMS, none for XMS and auto for the last one. No NT changes.
So I made a short cut to the install and let it rip. I made a short cut to Orion and changed the EMS, nothing to load and driver as XP should handle that.

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 16:44

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1
I have it running on XP PRO. First with out any patches and then with the fixes.
I looked at the install short cut and the install,ex and they are not modified by me, they have none for EMS.
Same for Orion.exe and they do not use modified NT.
The short cut I made for Orion has Auto for conventional, 2048 for EMS, none for XMS and auto for the last one. No NT changes.
So I made a short cut to the install and let it rip. I made a short cut to Orion and changed the EMS, nothing to load and driver as XP should handle that.

Thanks for the tips but when I tried what you suggested I still got the same error telling me I need 1024 of EMS...

Any other ideas? I'm beginning to think it's not loading an EMS driver.

granid · December 23, 2002, 17:12

I tried this on Win2K Pro and it doesn't work. I don't think it has an EMM emulator (like EMM386.exe). The MEM command from the command line also doesn't show any expanded memory, no matter what the settings are, and regardless of configuration in config.nt. I am beginning to think that this only works in XP.

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 17:32

Quote:

Originally posted by granid
I tried this on Win2K Pro and it doesn't work. I don't think it has an EMM emulator (like EMM386.exe). The MEM command from the command line also doesn't show any expanded memory, no matter what the settings are, and regardless of configuration in config.nt. I am beginning to think that this only works in XP.

I'm using XP Pro. It doesn't work there.

granid · December 23, 2002, 17:47

Maybe it doesn't work on the "Pro" versions?

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 18:19

Quote:

Originally posted by granid
Maybe it doesn't work on the "Pro" versions?

I'd be curious as to why. For example, if the pro versions don't have an EMS manager, then why do we have that option? You could be right. It wouldn't be the first time Micosoft has done something stupid like this.

granid · December 23, 2002, 18:23

There seem to be a couple other threads with folks succeeding to run under Win2k/XP. It looks like the trick is to use some kind of emulator like DosBox or VDMS. Check out the guy with the nice desktop screenshot.

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 19:06

I've made a discovery. When I couldn't get this to run on my Athlon XP 1800 I tried it on my wife's old Pentium II 333 and it worked FINE!

I suspect that the Athlon is too fast for the game or something like that. I was able to get sound effects and the game ran (kind of jerkily at times). Then with VDM sound I was able to get music (MIDI) to work as well. Again, it was kind of jerky in parts but it does work!

My wife's machine is also running Windows XP Pro, so that wasn't part of the problem.

granid · December 23, 2002, 19:10

Glad you have it running

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 19:27

For those still trying to get it to run, I'd recommend getting one of those slow down programs and see if you can load that and then run the executable. That might help...

vmxa1 · December 23, 2002, 20:51

Quote:

Originally posted by Whoster
I've made a discovery. When I couldn't get this to run on my Athlon XP 1800 I tried it on my wife's old Pentium II 333 and it worked FINE!

I suspect that the Athlon is too fast for the game or something like that. I was able to get sound effects and the game ran (kind of jerkily at times). Then with VDM sound I was able to get music (MIDI) to work as well. Again, it was kind of jerky in parts but it does work!

My wife's machine is also running Windows XP Pro, so that wasn't part of the problem.

I have an AMD 1900+ or 2100+ (forget which) running XP PRO and Moo never gave me a single problem. It installed and plays with sound just fine. I do not have DOSBOX or any of that stuff. It may be the motherboard?

Whoster · December 23, 2002, 20:58

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1

I have an AMD 1900+ or 2100+ (forget which) running XP PRO and Moo never gave me a single problem. It installed and plays with sound just fine. I do not have DOSBOX or any of that stuff. It may be the motherboard?

Or maybe it's my soundcard. I've got the Philips Acoustic Edge. Who knows, it could be just about any component. I'm also running with a USB keyboard and mouse.

Whoster

vmxa1 · December 24, 2002, 05:07

I am using usb keyboard and mouse on XP and 95 boxes as well. Ine other consideration is the game itself. I am begining to wonder if it matters what the source is. By that I mean the old diskette version or the CD one. Anyway, I would be most inclind to suspect one of the main components such as sound card or vid.

Whoster · December 24, 2002, 11:05

Quote:

Originally posted by vmxa1
I am using usb keyboard and mouse on XP and 95 boxes as well. Ine other consideration is the game itself. I am begining to wonder if it matters what the source is. By that I mean the old diskette version or the CD one. Anyway, I would be most inclind to suspect one of the main components such as sound card or vid.

So do I. I think it's the videocard probably. I'm also running RAID, so that could be an issue but I doubt it. My videocard is a Geforce 2 GTS PRO.

vmxa1 · December 24, 2002, 13:27

The pc that I gave my daughter had a geforce2 and would not get sound for Moo either. I now use the mother board sound. I did not move my SB plat to this box.

catullus · December 27, 2002, 04:14

It's most probably a hardware issue.
Many newer computers WILL NOT be able to emulate EMS, whatever OS you have. A large portion of upper memory is probably stolen by system for use with USB (or hardware RAID, maybe shadow RAM, TV out driver, anything) and you just don't have that free 64K RAM frame needed in UMB.
Possibly this can be overcome by meddling with BIOS settings, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

DosBox will work, though, since that emulates an 80x86 computer, not looking at actual hardware.

C.

Whoster · December 27, 2002, 11:23

Quote:

Originally posted by catullus
It's most probably a hardware issue.
Many newer computers WILL NOT be able to emulate EMS, whatever OS you have. A large portion of upper memory is probably stolen by system for use with USB (or hardware RAID, maybe shadow RAM, TV out driver, anything) and you just don't have that free 64K RAM frame needed in UMB.
Possibly this can be overcome by meddling with BIOS settings, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

DosBox will work, though, since that emulates an 80x86 computer, not looking at actual hardware.

C.

DOS box? What's that? Where can I get it?

Thanks.

catullus · December 27, 2002, 18:24

Info pages:
home page
at Sourceforge
Ohh, I just found out that 0.57 is out. 0.55 worked nicely, while 0.56 couldn't run MOO. I'll try out this new version. Soon.

Beware, this is still a labor of love, not a finished program with a written manual, free telephone support, helpful menus. Be prepared to do some real research to make it work.

C.

Whoster · December 27, 2002, 21:00

Quote:

Originally posted by catullus
Info pages:
home page
at Sourceforge
Ohh, I just found out that 0.57 is out. 0.55 worked nicely, while 0.56 couldn't run MOO. I'll try out this new version. Soon.

Beware, this is still a labor of love, not a finished program with a written manual, free telephone support, helpful menus. Be prepared to do some real research to make it work.

C.

Thanks for the info. I'll give it a try.

Hydro · January 1, 2003, 13:32

Hi all,

I recently upgraded from Win98 to XP Home, and Moo2 will no longer run. I’ve tried to use the Compatibility Wizard with almost all permutation to no avail. The program won’t even install – all I get is screen gibberish when I try and I have to terminate in Task Manager. When I click on the Moo2 icon from my Win98 install I get the message “MOX.SET is invalid. Delete MOX.SET and start a new game” (I have no idea what that means).

Moo2 is one of my favorite games, so any insight would be appreciated.

Hydro

BTW – XP is almost more trouble than it’s worth. I’ve had nothing but trouble since I installed it, and I’d uninstall if I didn’t REALLY fear the consequences.

vmxa1 · January 1, 2003, 14:51

I am sorry to hear that. I put up XP PRO back in May after E3. I had no trouble with Moo2 or Moo1 for that matter.XP never crashed. I have had only one crash with Moo2 and tht was from a saved game I down loaded that had been modified with an editor (I think).
Mox.set is created each game. I have had to delete it in games when I was on Win98.
If you right click on the start menu and select the icon for Moo2, does it point to Orion.exe?
I guess if you failed to install you do not even have this.
Do you have the Win95 CD for Moo2 or the DOS version?
I have both. I used the CD for win95 and it pops up for install and I select install an it runs fine, no changes by me. I then apply the patch for 1.31.
If the thing does not offer or fails at the install, I would try to execute the setup.exe.
Take a look at NTCOMPATABLE to see if others have seen your symptoms and what they did.

Whoster · January 1, 2003, 16:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Hydro
Hi all,

I recently upgraded from Win98 to XP Home, and Moo2 will no longer run. I’ve tried to use the Compatibility Wizard with almost all permutation to no avail. The program won’t even install – all I get is screen gibberish when I try and I have to terminate in Task Manager. When I click on the Moo2 icon from my Win98 install I get the message “MOX.SET is invalid. Delete MOX.SET and start a new game” (I have no idea what that means).

Moo2 is one of my favorite games, so any insight would be appreciated.

Hydro

BTW – XP is almost more trouble than it’s worth. I’ve had nothing but trouble since I installed it, and I’d uninstall if I didn’t REALLY fear the consequences.

It sounds like you've got problems with either your hardware configuration or with the way XP is installed. I'd recommend reinstalling XP from the ground up but first make sure your hardware is compatible.

Regarding XP, why the home version? It's just a watered down/crippled version of the Pro.

Hydro · January 6, 2003, 11:07

Whoster and vmxa1,

My version is quite old – I’m pretty sure it is the Dos/Win95 version. Would a newer version help? I do have the 1.31 patch. I’ll try the setup.exe later today (I’m pretty sure I’ve already tried that, though), and I’ll visit the NTCOMPATABLE site you mentioned.

You are partially correct on the XP installation. My brother-in-law did it as a separate install over Win 98 to preserve my old Win 98 FAT (and make sure I could re-install Win 98/uninstall XP). This was a mistake, and I am irritated enough that I am considering wiping the hard drive and starting over. Considering the circumstances all bets are off if I re-install XP, but it may be worth a try.

As to Pro vs Home, I’m afraid I don’t understand the difference. I chose Home so I could do a full install if I decided to wipe the HD. The cheaper version didn’t allow this – upgrade only.

That said, Moo2 will now work, kind of, after I deleted the mox.set. There are random crashes, and I can’t hit “Game” to save without a crash every time. I also can’t install Moo2 for some reason – XP simply refuses to install from the CD or the HD (when I copy files manually).

Thanks for the help. I’ll continue trying…
Hydro

Whoster · January 6, 2003, 21:05

Quote:

Originally posted by Hydro
Whoster and vmxa1,

My version is quite old – I’m pretty sure it is the Dos/Win95 version. Would a newer version help? I do have the 1.31 patch. I’ll try the setup.exe later today (I’m pretty sure I’ve already tried that, though), and I’ll visit the NTCOMPATABLE site you mentioned.

You are partially correct on the XP installation. My brother-in-law did it as a separate install over Win 98 to preserve my old Win 98 FAT (and make sure I could re-install Win 98/uninstall XP). This was a mistake, and I am irritated enough that I am considering wiping the hard drive and starting over. Considering the circumstances all bets are off if I re-install XP, but it may be worth a try.

As to Pro vs Home, I’m afraid I don’t understand the difference. I chose Home so I could do a full install if I decided to wipe the HD. The cheaper version didn’t allow this – upgrade only.

That said, Moo2 will now work, kind of, after I deleted the mox.set. There are random crashes, and I can’t hit “Game” to save without a crash every time. I also can’t install Moo2 for some reason – XP simply refuses to install from the CD or the HD (when I copy files manually).

Thanks for the help. I’ll continue trying…
Hydro

Definitely do a complete, clean reinstall of XP. NEVER install one OS over another. That is asking for problems. First, format your hard drive, then do an install of XP with nothing else on the drive. Install all of applications after XP. This could very well be why you're having problems with MOO2.

Regarding differences between XP Pro and XP Home, Microsoft crippled the Home version in many ways by making it simplier (ie Mac like) for people that don't want to have to deal with complexity (options). It should run MOO2 fine but it's not as good an OS and doesn't have as good security as XP Pro.

Hope this helps.

Whoster