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I just downloaded Earthworm Jim 1 & 2. I did a basic installation and then tried to launch EWJ 1. My computer's screen went black and I couldn't do anything. I tried "escape" and ctrl + alt + del to get back to normal, but nothing happened. I had to turn my computer off and on to do anything. The same problem happens when I try to launch EWJ 2.
For what it's worth, I also had this problem when I downloaded a freeware game earlier this week, but I just guessed it to be a problem with that game.
I'm running Windows Vista 64 bit.
This question / problem has been solved by Ralackkimage
Try running the game in compatibilty mode and with administrator permission see if that works.
It seems to have had some effect, but it still doesn't work right. I ran both EWJ 1 & 2 in 98 mode. The DOS Box thing pops up for a second, then nothing else seems to happen. I run it as an admin, but the only difference is the UAC asks permission for something to run. Otherwise it's identical to running it normally.
Thanks for the advice so far. Any more suggestions anyone?
Post edited March 04, 2009 by TAG123
try changing the graphical mode with the GOG setup tool.
How do I know what to change it to? It was set to ddraw by default and I selected Direct3D (random guess), but I got the black screen again. There's several options and I'd really rather not figure it out by trial and error. For all I know, there may be another problem.
You won't have any problems with trial and error, worst case is a quick reinstall. What are the options?
Overlay
Surface
Direct3D
DDraw
OpenGL
I'm going to try another and see what happens.
*edit*
I tried all of them. I would "launch" the new graphics mode. The DOS Box would pop up for a second. Then I'd try to run Earthworm Jim. The DOS Box would pop up for a second. Then that's it.
Strange thing is, I tried the graphics modes that didn't work before, but they did the same as above, instead of turning my whole screen black.
I never had to restart anything this time, but the game still won't go past the DOS Box popping up for a second.
Post edited March 05, 2009 by TAG123
Does vista 64bit come with a force 256 colours option in the compatibility tab?
Yes it does. I just tried it and I can tell when it switches, but that's the only thing that happens. I've tried different things like running with 98 compatibility and without, and trying it with all of the different graphic modes. I had to restart my computer a few times because I got the black screen.
The weirdest was that when the computer would change to 256 colors, the EWJ 1 icon would sometimes to change to a generic folder icon, a generic laptop icon, and even the shortcut to the freeware game that I mentioned earlier (that I thought I had deleted)!
Could you post some of your system specs? Also make sure all your drivers are up to date just incase.
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1
HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook PC
Processor: AMD Turio X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72 2.10 GHz
RAM: 4.00 GB
System type: 64-bit Operating System
Does that help any or are you wanting some other specs?
Immediate thing that comes to mind is that its dual core, try setting the affinity to a single core for starters.
Also what graphics card do you have or onboard graphics chipset?
It's an ATI Radeon HD 3200 that came with the computer. It runs Sacrifice (a 3D game) just fine.
Try turning hardware accelertion off and trying that with different combinations of graphics modes + compatibility.
If the game has a config file or a settings .ini file could you copy and past the contents to this forum so I can have a look at it?
I would also run a virus scanner just to make sure that freeware game didn't have a virus in it and is whats causing the problems.
This is the EWJ conf file:
# This is the configurationfile for DOSBox 0.72.
# Lines starting with a # are commentlines.
# They are used to (briefly) document the effect of each option.
[sdl]
# fullscreen -- Start dosbox directly in fullscreen.
# fulldouble -- Use double buffering in fullscreen.
# fullresolution -- What resolution to use for fullscreen: original or fixed size (e.g. 1024x768).
# windowresolution -- Scale the window to this size IF the output device supports hardware scaling.
# output -- What to use for output: surface,overlay,opengl,openglnb,openglhq,ddraw,direct3d.
# autolock -- Mouse will automatically lock, if you click on the screen.
# sensitiviy -- Mouse sensitivity.
# waitonerror -- Wait before closing the console if dosbox has an error.
# priority -- Priority levels for dosbox: lowest,lower,normal,higher,highest,pause (when not focussed).
# Second entry behind the comma is for when dosbox is not focused/minimized.
# mapperfile -- File used to load/save the key/event mappings from.
# pixelshader -- Pixelshader program to use for resizing (works with output=direct3d only):
# none,point.fx,bilinear.fx,scale2x.fx,2xsai.fx.
# (or any other .fx file that is available in the Shaders subdirectory).
# usescancodes -- Avoid usage of symkeys, might not work on all operating systems.
# overscan -- Width of overscan border.
fullscreen=true
fulldouble=false
fullresolution=original
windowresolution=original
output=Surface
autolock=true
sensitivity=100
waitonerror=true
priority=higher,normal
mapperfile=mapper.txt
pixelshader=none
usescancodes=true
overscan=0
[dosbox]
# language -- Select another language file.
# memsize -- Amount of memory DOSBox has in megabytes.
# machine -- The type of machine tries to emulate:hercules,cga,tandy,pcjr,vga,ega,demovga.
# captures -- Directory where things like wave,midi,screenshot get captured.
language=
machine=vga
captures=CAPTURES
memsize=32
[render]
# frameskip -- How many frames DOSBox skips before drawing one.
# aspect -- Do aspect correction, if your output method doesn't support scaling this can slow things down!.
# scaler -- Scaler used to enlarge/enhance low resolution modes.
# Supported are none,normal2x,normal3x,advmame2x,advmame3x,hq2x,hq3x,
# 2xsai,super2xsai,supereagle,advinterp2x,advinterp3x,
# tv2x,tv3x,rgb2x,rgb3x,scan2x,scan3x.
# If forced is appended (like scaler=hq2x forced), the scaler will be used
# even if the result might not be desired.
frameskip=1
aspect=false
scaler=normal2x
[vsync]
# vsyncmode -- Synchronize vsync timing to the host display. Requires calibration within dosbox.
# Supported are off,on,force,host.
# vsyncrate -- Vsync rate used if vsync is enabled.
# Ignored when vsycmode=host is used.
vsyncmode=off
vsyncrate=75
[cpu]
# core -- CPU Core used in emulation: normal,simple,dynamic,auto.
# auto switches from normal to dynamic if appropriate.
# cycles -- Amount of instructions DOSBox tries to emulate each millisecond.
# Setting this value too high results in sound dropouts and lags. (unless timesynched is set)
# You can also let DOSBox guess the correct value by setting it to max.
# The default setting (auto) switches to max if appropriate.
# cycleup -- Amount of cycles to increase/decrease with keycombo.
# cycledown Setting it lower than 100 will be a percentage.
# timesynched -- Do not emulate more cycles than possible.
core=auto
cycles=auto
cycleup=500
cycledown=20
timesynched=false
[vga]
# svgachipset -- Select one of the following supported SVGA chipsets:
# s3 (default), et4000, et4000new, et3000, pvga1a, or none.
# Full chipset name (like 'Tseng ET4000') will also work
# as long as it contains one of the strings above.
# videoram -- Amount of video memory on emulated SVGA. Not all emulated
# chipsets support this setting.
svgachipset=s3
videoram=2048
[mixer]
# nosound -- Enable silent mode, sound is still emulated though.
# rate -- Mixer sample rate, setting any devices higher than this will
# probably lower their sound quality.
# blocksize -- Mixer block size, larger blocks might help sound stuttering
# but sound will also be more lagged.
# prebuffer -- How many milliseconds of data to keep on top of the blocksize.
nosound=false
rate=22050
blocksize=2048
prebuffer=10
[printer]
# printer -- Enable printer emulation.
# dpi -- Resolution of printer (default 360).
# width -- Width of paper in 1/10 inch (default 85 = 8.5'').
# height -- Height of paper in 1/10 inch (default 110 = 11.0'').
# printoutput -- Output method for finished pages:
# png : Creates PNG images in the DOSBOX directory
# ps : Creates Postscript documents in the DOSBOX directory (default)
# bmp : Creates BMP images (very huge files, not recommend)
# printer : Send to an actual printer (Print dialog will appear)
# multipage -- Adds all pages to one Postscript file or printer job until CTRL-F2 is pressed.
printer=false
docpath=.
dpi=360
width=85
height=110
printoutput=ps
multipage=false
[midi]
# mpu401 -- Type of MPU-401 to emulate: none, uart or intelligent.
# device -- Device that will receive the MIDI data from MPU-401.
# This can be default,alsa,oss,win32,coreaudio,mt32,none.
# mt32rate -- Sample rate of MT32 emulation
# config -- Special configuration options for the device. In Windows put
# the id of the device you want to use. See README for details.
mpu401=intelligent
device=default
mt32rate=22050
config=
[sblaster]
# sbtype -- Type of sblaster to emulate:none,sb1,sb2,sbpro1,sbpro2,sb16.
# sbbase,irq,dma,hdma -- The IO/IRQ/DMA/High DMA address of the soundblaster.
# mixer -- Allow the soundblaster mixer to modify the DOSBox mixer.
# oplmode -- Type of OPL emulation: auto,cms,opl2,dualopl2,opl3.
# On auto the mode is determined by sblaster type.
# All OPL modes are 'Adlib', except for CMS.
# oplrate -- Sample rate of OPL music emulation.
sbtype=sb16
sbbase=220
irq=5
dma=1
hdma=5
mixer=true
oplmode=auto
oplrate=22050
[gus]
# gus -- Enable the Gravis Ultrasound emulation.
# gusbase,irq1,irq2,dma1,dma2 -- The IO/IRQ/DMA addresses of the
# Gravis Ultrasound. (Same IRQ's and DMA's are OK.)
# gusrate -- Sample rate of Ultrasound emulation.
# ultradir -- Path to Ultrasound directory. In this directory
# there should be a MIDI directory that contains
# the patch files for GUS playback. Patch sets used
# with Timidity should work fine.
gus=true
gusrate=22050
gusbase=240
irq1=5
irq2=5
dma1=3
dma2=3
ultradir=C:\ULTRASND
[innova]
# innova -- Enable the Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.
# samplerate -- Sample rate of Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.
# sidbase -- SID base port (typically 280h).
# quality -- Set SID emulation quality level (0 to 3).
innova=true
samplerate=22050
sidbase=280
quality=0
[speaker]
# pcspeaker -- Enable PC-Speaker emulation.
# pcrate -- Sample rate of the PC-Speaker sound generation.
# tandy -- Enable Tandy Sound System emulation (off,on,auto).
# For auto Tandysound emulation is present only if machine is set to tandy.
# tandyrate -- Sample rate of the Tandy 3-Voice generation.
# disney -- Enable Disney Sound Source emulation. Covox Voice Master and Speech Thing compatible.
# innova -- Enable Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.
# innovabase -- Base port for Innovation SSI-2001 emulation.
pcspeaker=false
pcrate=22050
tandy=auto
tandyrate=22050
disney=true
[joystick]
# joysticktype -- Type of joystick to emulate: auto (default), none,
# 2axis (supports two joysticks,
# 4axis (supports one joystick, first joystick used),
# 4axis_2 (supports one joystick, second joystick used),
# fcs (Thrustmaster), ch (CH Flightstick).
# none disables joystick emulation.
# auto chooses emulation depending on real joystick(s).
# timed -- enable timed intervals for axis. (false is old style behaviour).
# autofire -- continuously fires as long as you keep the button pressed.
# swap34 -- swap the 3rd and the 4th axis. can be useful for certain joysticks.
# buttonwrap -- enable button wrapping at the number of emulated buttons.
joysticktype=auto
timed=true
autofire=false
swap34=false
buttonwrap=true
[serial]
# serial1-4 -- set type of device connected to com port.
# Can be disabled, dummy, modem, nullmodem, directserial.
# Additional parameters must be in the same line in the form of
# parameter:value. Parameter for all types is irq.
# for directserial: realport (required), rxdelay (optional).
# for modem: listenport (optional).
# for nullmodem: server, rxdelay, txdelay, telnet, usedtr,
# transparent, port, inhsocket (all optional).
# Example: serial1=modem listenport:5000
serial1=disabled
serial2=disabled
serial3=disabled
serial4=disabled
[glide]
# glide - Enable glide emulation: true,false.
glide=false
[dos]
# xms -- Enable XMS support.
# ems -- Enable EMS support.
# umb -- Enable UMB support.
# automount -- Enable automatic mount.
# keyboardlayout -- Language code of the keyboard layout (or none).
xms=true
ems=true
umb=true
automount=true
keyboardlayout=none
[ipx]
# ipx -- Enable ipx over UDP/IP emulation.
ipx=false
[autoexec]
# Lines in this section will be run at startup.
IMGMOUNT A EWJ1.inst -t iso -fs fat
mount B "."
B:
cls
EWJ1.EXE 320x224
exit