Trouble running advmenu/advmame from dos

[claypool]

Hello I am having trouble getting advmenu to run from dos on start up

I have followed all the instructions from EasyMameCab and it runs from the shortcut in windows 98se

but if Either

1. Exit windows to DOS and try and run Advmenu

2. Edit msdos.sys to bypass windows and auto load advmenu

I get the following error

"Invalid TSS at eip=6; flags=87
  eax00000300 ebx=00bd0021 ecx=00003c00 edx=038300b7 esi00000000 edi=00001000
  ebp=00000912 esp=00002582 cs=3c8 ds=b7 es=af fs=0 gs=0 ss=20 error008c

I am running a Nvidia TNT2

AMD 2400
500 mb
which is running an arcade monitor

thanks your help is appreciated

[tikbalang]

have CWSDPMI.EXE somewhere in path. type SET and look for the "PATH=" values. copy CWSDPMI.EXE to one of those folders listed in PATH= . post your autoexec.bat and config.sys files as well.

[claypool]

autoexec.bat

SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H7 P330 T6
SET SBPCI=C:\DOSDRV
C:\DOSDRV\SBLOAD
C:\DOSDRV\SBINIT
C:\WINDOWS.000\SMARTDRV.EXE
cd c:\mame\advmenu
advmenu.exe

config.sys

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS.000\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS.000\EMM386.EXE NOEMS NOVCPI
DOS=HIGH,UMB

Msdos.sys

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS.000
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS.000
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=0
Logo=0
DoubleBuffer=1
AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.10.2222

;
;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs


I have downloaded the cwsdpmi.exe file and placed it in the path directory like you instructed
now how do I place it in the config files so it loads. and what does it do?

thanks for the reply

[tikbalang]

sorry, i now think your problem is something else.

normally, the dos application will search first for a DPMI server and complain if missing. windows has a built-in dpmi server, which is why i initially suspected that the missing dpmi services under dos was the culprit.

you can leave cwsdpmi.exe available in path or you can load it in your autoexec.bat using:

LH cwsdpmi.exe -p

"-p" makes it load only once (permanent).


msdos.sys:

; you can turn off multiboot, this only works with the old msdos.622
BootMulti=0
; you may not need doublebuffering on new drives
DoubleBuffer=0


config.sys:

;; add the "ram" option to emm386 to make umb's available
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS.000\EMM386.EXE RAM NOEMS NOVCPI


autoexec.bat:

:: loadhigh and increase smartdrive (you can't LH sbload and sbinit, driver will not work).
LH C:\WINDOWS.000\SMARTDRV.EXE 4096 16
LH c:\mame\advmenu\cwsdpmi.exe -p


does the sound driver actually work? test with other games/apps. you can isolate the the problem with:

advmenu -log

then check the last lines of the file "advmenu.log" to see what causes the error.

[claypool]

After spending all day changing things around a bit with the config files I got nowhere until on a wim I decided to
install the windows 98se drivers for my soundblaster (Chipset 5880). Now here is the strange thing

1. Current state before any windows drivers installed

    Soundblaster works in DOS , can test it with sbtest and I can here the test noises

    Advmenu or mame does not work at all I get the above message "Invalid TSS"

2. If I let windows load and install the windows drivers for the soundblaster it changes my autoexec.bat and removes    my set values and deletes a couple of things from my C:\dosdrv directory

     But  Advmenu is now loading no problem at all , automatically from autoexec.bat or after exiting windows but it has no sound.

So my question now is should I just disable windows completely and run in Pure Dos mode ?

If so can you please tell me what i need to do to achieve this.

many thanks

[tikbalang]

So my question now is should I just disable windows completely and run in Pure Dos mode ?

not yet. use windows to troubleshoot. get the resources that the card uses in windows and apply that in dos with the SET BLASTER= settings. turn off PNP OS in your BIOS. try the CTCU.EXE and CTCM.EXE from creative to change firmware settings in the card. from the sbpci drivers, it looks like sbcfg.exe is the equivalent. have a look at a similar discussion here:

http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=21085

if you decide to keep windows, you might be better off with the windows versions of advmame and advmenu.

Soundblaster works in DOS , can test it with sbtest and I can here the test noises

shouldn't it be playing some pleasant sound and not noises? sorry, i'm not completely familiar with sbpci cards.


if drivers are loaded fine but advmenu/advmame still has no audio either in dos or windows, maybe your "device_sound" setting is incorrect? properly configured SB cards should work with "device_sound AUTO". if not, pick from this list (DOS only):

device_sound seal - SEAL automatic detection.
device_sound seal/sb - Sound Blaster.
device_sound seal/pas - Pro Audio Spectrum.
device_sound seal/gusmax - Gravis Ultrasound Max.
device_sound seal/gus - Gravis Ultrasound.
device_sound seal/wss - Windows Sound System.
device_sound seal/ess - Ensoniq Soundscape.
device_sound allegro - Allegro automatic detection.
device_sound allegro/sb10 - Sound Blaster 1.0.
device_sound allegro/sb15 - Sound Blaster 1.5.
device_sound allegro/sb20 - Sound Blaster 2.0.
device_sound allegro/sbpro - Sound Blaster Pro.
device_sound allegro/sb16 - Sound Blaster 16.
device_sound allegro/audio - Ensoniq AudioDrive.
device_sound allegro/wss - Windows Sound System.
device_sound allegro/ess - Ensoniq Soundscape.
device_sound vsync/sb - Sound Blaster.
device_sound vsync/sbwin - Sound Blaster (Windows).
device_sound vsync/ac97 - AC97.
device_sound vsync/ac97win - AC97 (Windows).
device_sound vsync/gusmax - Gravis Ultrasound Max.
device_sound vsync/gus - Gravis Ultrasound.
device_sound vsync/audio - Ensoniq AudioDrive.
device_sound vsync/wss - Windows Sound System.
device_sound vsync/ess - Ensoniq Soundscape.

temporarily try "device_sound NONE" in dos, just to see if it will load.

lastly, run advmenu with "-log" option to write errors in advmenu.log file.

[tikbalang]

I am running a Nvidia TNT2

AMD 2400
500 mb
which is running an arcade monitor

it does say in the website that advmame is compiled for pentium processors. athough, i have used it on an amd duron with no problems.

[claypool]

Some really good news I took your advice and looked at IRQ assignment and it happens that the sound card was sharing the same IRQ as my graphics card which was 6.

Turning Advmenu.rc to Device_sound none made advmenu work so it was the sound card stuffing it up

But after messing around with ctcm a lot I still could not figure out how to manually assign IRQ

Messing with Manual irq assignment in BIOS didnt help either

I then phyisically changed the pci slot to one up and it now assigns itself Irq 11 instead of six

and Advance mame works perfectly with sound.

many thanks tikbalang  I now have a much better understanding of how dos works with soundcards.

So Happy.