Asimov's The Ultimate Robot: README.TXT Contents
  
PSS ID Number: Q122479
Article last modified on 12-14-1995
 
1.00
 
WINDOWS
 

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The information in this article applies to:
 
 - Microsoft Asimov's Ultimate Robot for Windows, version 1.0
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SUMMARY
=======
 
This article contains the complete text of Microsoft Asimov's Ultimate
Robot for Windows README.TXT file.
 
MORE INFORMATION
================
 
=============================================
Isaac Asimov's The Ultimate Robot README file
Microsoft Corporation
September 29, 1994
=============================================
 
This file contains additional information about Asimov's Ultimate Robot not
included in the User's Guide.
 
To read this file on-screen, use the Page Down and Page Up keys. You can
also print the file by choosing the Print command from the File menu in any
Windows word processing program. If you open this file in Windows Write,
Microsoft Word, or another word processor, it will be easier to read if you
select the entire document and format the text in 10-point Courier.
 
This README file contains important information on the following topics:
 
Section   Description
-------   -------------------------------------------------------
 
   1      RUNNING IN LOW MEMORY OR RUNNING SLOWLY
   2      CD-ROM PROBLEMS
   3      VIDEO DISPLAY PROBLEMS
          3.1  ATI DRIVERS
          3.2  DELL S3 DRIVERS
          3.3  ORCHID FAHRENHEIT DRIVERS
          3.4  DIAMOND STEALTH DRIVERS
          3.5  HERCULES DYNAMITE DRIVERS
          3.6  TRUEVISION DRIVERS
   4      AUDIO PROBLEMS
   5      TANDY SENSATION SETUP PROBLEMS
   6      KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS
   7      SCREEN SAVERS
   8      ROBOTOID ASSEMBLY TOOLKIT
 
=================================================================
1.  RUNNING IN LOW MEMORY OR RUNNING SLOWLY
=================================================================
 
Asimov uses your computer's system memory to display pictures. If you find
that Asimov runs slowly or if you encounter out-of-memory errors, Asimov
probably doesn't have enough memory. Consider doing the following to
improve your computer's performance:
 
 * Close all unnecessary applications.
 
 * Determine how much memory your computer has available by typing
   "mem" and pressing ENTER at the DOS prompt. You need a minimum of
   4MB (4,194,304 bytes) of total memory to use Asimov. If you do not
   have at least 4MB of memory, you may not be able to run Asimov
   until you add more memory.
 
 * If you are running Windows in Enhanced mode, set up a permanent
   Windows swap file on your hard disk. See your Windows User's Guide
   for more information.
 
 * Defragment ("clean up") your hard disk by running a defragmentation
   program.
 
=================================================================
2. CD-ROM PROBLEMS
=================================================================
 
NOTE - Do not remove the Asimov compact disc from your CD-ROM drive while
Asimov is in the process of playing a sound or displaying a new picture.
 
If the Asimov program cannot find the data files that it needs from the
Asimov compact disc, you'll see a message that tells you that the correct
CD must be in the drive to continue. To find the source of the problem, do
the following:
 
 * Make sure the Asimov compact disc is correctly inserted into the
   CD-ROM drive.
 
 * Make sure that the Asimov program is looking for the compact disc
   on the correct drive. Check to see if the drive letter for your
   CD-ROM drive has changed. You can use the Windows File Manager to
   determine which drive letter is assigned to the CD-ROM drive. The
   Select Drive command in the Disk menu will say "CD-ROM" next to the
   CD-ROM drive letter.
 
 * If you have an external CD-ROM drive, make sure the drive is
   connected to your computer, plugged in, and turned on. If you
   still see the error message after checking the points above, check
   the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive or contact the
   company that supplied the drive.
 
 * Make sure that your CD-ROM drive is MPC-compatible. An
   MPC-compatible drive "has an average seek time of less than one
   second and can transfer data from the compact disc at 150K per
   second while using less than 40% of the CPU bandwidth."  Check the
   documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to make sure it
   meets these requirements. An incompatible CD-ROM drive will slow
   down the performance of Asimov.
 
   NOTE - Asimov's performance will be better with a double-speed
   CD-ROM drive with a 300 K/sec data-transfer rate.
 
=================================================================
3. VIDEO DISPLAY PROBLEMS
=================================================================
 
Asimov is a 256-color application. In order to view Asimov properly, you
need a video card which supports 256 colors in 640x480 resolution. If your
computer is capable of displaying only 16 colors, you will still be able to
use Asimov, but some things may look very strange. We highly recommend that
you run Asimov in 256-color mode. If your computer is running in 16-color
mode, and the video card will support 256 colors in 640x480 resolution, you
should run Windows Setup to change the screen driver to see Asimov at its
highest image quality. If you are running in more than 256 colors, Asimov's
performance may be poor. To avoid possible problems, you should run Windows
Setup to change to a 256-color Windows display driver.
 
You may also have problems if you are running Asimov in a high resolution
mode. If you experience problems with Asimov, try switching your resolution
to a 1024x768 or lower resolution.
 
Check your Windows documentation for information on changing video drivers.
 
---------------
3.1 ATI DRIVERS
---------------
 
Asimov is incompatible with some advanced features used by some video cards
such as the Mach32 chip set running the ATI drivers. Asimov's colors,
particularly in the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit, may look very strange if you
are running these drivers.
 
If you are using an ATI video card and one of the "mach" video drivers
(mach8 or mach32) as your Windows display driver*, the Device Bitmaps
setting for the video card must be set to "Off", and the 256 Color Palette
setting must be set to "On". To check/change this setting, do the
following:
 
1. Launch the Mach FlexDesk Control Panel by double-clicking on the
   "mach FlexDesk Control Panel" icon usually found in the "mach
   Utilities" program group in Program Manager. The "mach Utilities"
   group is created when you run the ATI mach video driver setup
   program.
 
2. Click the "Advanced..." button.
 
3. Make sure "Device Bitmaps" is set to "Off", or set it to "Off" if
   it is not.
 
4. Make sure "256 Color Palette" is set to "On", or set it to "On" if
   it is not.
 
5. Click OK to close the FlexDesk Advanced Settings.
 
6. Click OK to close the FlexDesk Control Panel.
 
You will need to restart Windows for the changes to take effect.
 
*You can verify the Windows Display driver selection by launching the
"Windows Setup" icon found in the "Main" program group of the Windows
Program Manager.
 
For information about ATI video cards or the ATI installation utility
referred to above, contact ATI Technical Support at (416) 756-0711
 
----------------
3.2 Dell Drivers
----------------
If you are having trouble getting Asimov to display properly, you can try
installing the Dell S3 drivers that have been included on the Asimov CD. To
switch to the driver on the CD, do the following:
 
1. Run Windows Setup from the Main group in Windows Program Manager.
2. In the Options menu, choose Change System Settings...
3. Click the down arrow to the right of the Display: edit box, and
    select "Other display" from the bottom of the list.
4. You will be asked to type in the path to the display driver you
    wish to use. Type the letter of your CD drive followed by a colon
    and the following:  "\asimov\msstp\dell". If the letter of your
    CD drive is D, you should type D:\ASIMOV\MSSTP\DELL.
5. A list of possible resolutions will appear. You should highlight
    the 640x480 256 color resolution, and click OK.
6. The Display: edit box should now say Dell S3 1.32 640x480 256
    color. Click OK.
7. You will be told that a driver for this display is already on the
    system. You should choose to use the currently installed driver
    by clicking the CURRENT button.
8. You will need to restart Windows for the change to take affect.
 
You may also have problems with the Dell S3 driver if you are running in
1280x1024 or 800x600 resolution in 16 colors. Either run Asimov in 256
colors, or switch to a different resolution, such as 640x480.
 
Contact your hardware manufacturer for information on acquiring the latest
version of the driver.
 
-----------------------------
3.3  ORCHID FAHRENHEIT DRIVERS
-----------------------------
 
You may experience Out of Memory errors in the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit if
you are running Orchid Fahrenheit 1280 drivers in 1280x1024 or 800x600
resolution in 16 colors. You can fix this problem by running in 256 colors,
or by switching to a different screen resolution, such as 640x480.
 
You may also have problems running the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit if you are
running Orchid Fahrenheit Enhanced VGA drivers. Contact your hardware
manufacturer for information on acquiring the latest version of the driver.
 
-------------------
3.4 DIAMOND STEALTH
-------------------
 
The Robotoid Assembly Toolkit is incompatible with the current versions of
the Diamond Stealth and Diamond Stealth Pro video drivers. Contact your
hardware manufacturer for information on acquiring updated versions of
these drivers.
 
---------------------
3.5 HERCULES DYNAMITE
---------------------
 
If you are running Hercules Dynamite video drivers, you will find that the
Robotoid Assembly Toolkit runs best in 800x600 resolution. Consult your
Windows documentation for information on switching your video display mode.
 
----------------------
3.6 TRUEVISION DRIVERS
----------------------
 
The Robotoid Assembly Toolkit is incompatible with the current version of
the Truevision Driver. Contact you hardware manufacture for information on
acquiring an updated version of this driver.
 
=================================================================
4. AUDIO PROBLEMS
=================================================================
 
Audio problems can have many causes. Other applications that play sounds
may interrupt sounds in Asimov, because your computer cannot play two
sounds simultaneously. This is generally a temporary clash that will
resolve itself. However, a few applications that play sounds, such as some
screen savers, may remove audio capability from all other Windows
applications. If you suspect you have such an application, turn it off or
do not run it while running Asimov.
 
------------------------------
SOUNDS PLAY, BUT NOT VERY WELL
------------------------------
 
Sounds that are distorted or "fuzzy" have several possible causes. The most
likely one is simply that your speakers are not of high quality.
 
It is also possible that the software settings on your sound board are
causing distortion. For example, if the sound card volume or "WAVE file
input" is set to near its maximum, it will produce amplification
distortion, just as it would on a stereo system. To find out how to change
your sound board settings, check the documentation that came with your
sound board.
 
If you notice that the audio is breaking up or skipping while it plays, you
can try increasing the amount of memory that is used for buffering audio
data while sounds are playing. To do this, open up the Control Panel window
from your Main program group, and double click on the Drivers icon. Select
MCI Sound, and click the Setup button to increase the number of seconds
which are allocated for buffering audio.
 
Your CD-ROM drive should be MPC-compatible. An MPC-compatible drive "has an
average seek time of less than one second and can transfer data from the
compact disc at 150K per second while using less than 40% of the CPU
bandwidth." Check the documentation that came with your CD-ROM drive to
make sure it meets these requirements. An incompatible CD-ROM drive may
work but give lower-quality sound or cause the sound to be interrupted
while playing.
 
-------------------------
SOUND DOESN'T PLAY AT ALL
-------------------------
 
If you don't hear any sounds, make sure that the volume for your speakers
is set to an audible level.
 
If the volume is set to an audible level and you still hear no sounds at
all, something may be wrong with your sound board setup. Check to see that
the driver is installed correctly and, if necessary, reinstall it. Refer to
the documentation that came with your sound card for more information on
installing audio drivers.
 
Please note that Asimov requires an MPC-compatible sound board to be
installed and is not intended to run with drivers which use the PC internal
speaker, such as the unsupported "PC Speaker" driver. Such a driver will in
most cases not play any sounds, and if the driver setup option "Enable
Interrupts" is not checked, your system may crash. If you have both a sound
board and the PC Speaker driver installed, it is preferable to un-install
the PC Speaker driver.
 
=================================================================
5. TANDY SENSATION SETUP PROBLEMS
=================================================================
 
Most Tandy Sensations use WinMate as their default desktop shell. WinMate
may cause a conflict with the setup procedure and needs to be disabled by
changing the shell= line in the SYSTEM.INI file to read as follows:
 
          shell=progman.exe
 
To change the shell= line in the SYSTEM.INI file:
 
1. From the Windows Accessories group, run Notepad.
 
2. Open the SYSTEM.INI file and comment out the shell= line in the
   [boot] section by typing a semicolon (;) at the beginning of the
   shell= line. This is the line that is loading the Tandy WinMate
   shell.
 
3. Create a new line under the commented shell= line that reads:
 
          shell=progman.exe
 
4. After saving the changes to the SYSTEM.INI file, exit and restart
   Windows. The WinMate shell will now be disabled and your shell will
   now be Program Manager.
 
5. Run Asimov's  Setup.
 
Upon completion of Asimov's Setup, you can change your shellback to the
WinMate desktop, if so desired:
 
1. Edit the SYSTEM.INI file again by commenting out the
   "shell=progman.exe" line (adding a semicolon to the beginning
   of the shell=progman.exe line).
 
2. Remove the semicolon (;) in front of the previously commented
   "shell=" line that loads WinMate.
 
=================================================================
6. KEYBOARD EQUIVALENTS
=================================================================
 
Below is a list of a number of keyboard equivalents supported in Asimov
which will help you navigate through the product and perform the tasks you
wish to perform more quickly.
 
          Ctrl + F = Find
          Ctrl + G = Find again
          Ctrl + P = Print
          Ctrl + C = Copy full screen to clipboard
          Ctrl + T = Copy text to clipboard
          Alt + 1 = Jump to first page of story in Writings
          Alt + N = Next page
          Alt + B = Previous page
          Alt + O = Options menu
 
=================================================================
7. SCREEN SAVERS
=================================================================
 
The Asimov's Ultimate Robot CD-ROM contains a collection of Robotoid Screen
Savers. The Setup program optionally loads the screen saver data and code
files onto your local hard disc.
 
  If the screen savers have been loaded, then follow this procedure to
have robots save your screen:-
 
1. Run the Control Panel program (usually found within the Main group
   in the Program Manager).
 
2. Run the Desktop control panel.
 
3. In the Screen Saver section, click the down arrow next to the box
   which is labeled "Name", and select the "Asimov Robotoids" entry.
   (If this entry is not visible, then re-run the Setup program on the
   CD-ROM to re-load the screen savers.)
 
4. Click on the button marked "Setup..." to correctly set up the
   screen saver. In the dialog box that is displayed, click on one of
   the seven radio buttons to select which Robotoid animation will
   run.
 
5. As with most Windows screen savers, Asimov Robotoids can be
   password protected. If enabled, then whoever is using the computer
   must correctly type in the password to stop the active screen
   saver, and return to Windows. To enable this feature, click on the
   "Password Protected" check box in the Setup dialog box, and click
   on the "Set Password..." button. Uncheck the "Password Protected"
   check box to disable this feature.
 
6. Once you have exited the Setup dialog box (and returned to the
   Desktop control panel), you can have a sneak preview of the screen
   saver by clicking on the Test button. As soon as you move the
   mouse, or hit a key, then the screen saver will terminate.
 
7. Having set up the Asimov Robotoids screen saver, exit the Desktop
   control panel by clicking on its OK button. Clicking on the Cancel
   button will cause Windows to revert to the previous screen saver.
 
Note that the screen saver code looks for its data files on you hard drive
in a directory called AURSCRN. AURSCRN will be a sub-directory of the
directory in which Asimov is installed, usually C:\ASIMOV. If AURSCRN or
its files have been deleted, then the Asimov Robotoids screen saver will
display a black screen with a message saying it couldn't find the file. To
re-load the data files (in the correct location), re-run the Setup program
on the CD-ROM.
 
You can also install the Asimov screen savers yourself, without running the
Setup program. You might wish to do this if you want to save space on your
hard drive by only installing the screen savers you wish to use. To install
the Asimov screen savers manually, do the following:
 
1. In File Manager, open the \AURSCRN directory found on the Asimov CD.
 
2. Copy the file AURSCRN.SCR into your \WINDOWS directory, which can
    usually be found in C:\WINDOWS. To copy, use File Manager to open
    a window for both the Asimov CD and you hard drive at the same
    time, click on AURSCRN.SCR, and drag the file to your \WINDOWS
    directory.
 
3. Create a directory called \AURSCRN in the same place where the
    Asimov program is installed, usually C:\ASIMOV. To do this,
    highlight the ASIMOV folder in the File Manager by clicking on it
    once. Click on File, and select "Create Directory...". When you
    are asked for a name, type AURSCRN and click OK.
 
4. Select the screen savers you wish to install from the \AURSCRN
    directory on the CD, and copy them into the \AURSCRN directory you
    just created on your hard drive.
 
5. If you did NOT install Asimov in a directory called \ASIMOV, then
    you will need to edit the ASIMOV.INI file which can be found in
    your Windows directory on you hard drive (for example,
    C:\WINDOWS). Open ASIMOV.INI in any text editor, such as Notepad
    or Microsoft Word. Add the following line to the end of the file:
    ScreenSavers=<drive>:<dir>, where the <drive> is the letter of
    your hard drive, and <dir> is the name of the directory in which
    you installed Asimov, followed by \AURSCRN. For example, this
    line might read ScreenSavers=C:\ROBOT\AURSCRN if you installed
    Asimov in a directory called \ROBOT. If you did install Asimov in
    the default \ASIMOV directory, then you will not need to make any
    changes to ASIMOV.INI.
 
6. You can now run the screen savers by following the instructions
    above.
    Remember, however, that you will only be able to run the screen
    savers which you copied onto your hard drive. You can add or
    delete files from the AURSCRN directory at any time.
 
  NOTE: Because the Asimov screen savers are 16-bit files, they will
        not run on Windows NT.
 
=================================================================
7. ROBOTOID ASSEMBLY TOOLKIT
=================================================================
 
Because the Toolkit is actually a separate program from the rest of Asimov,
you may notice some changes in your computer when you run the Robotoid
Assembly Toolkit. Below is a list of the of the things you will notice when
you use the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit, and explanations of what is
happening.
 
1. Do not remove your CD from the drive while using Asimov's Ultimate
    Robot. This is especially important when you are running the
    Robotoid Assembly Toolkit. The program needs to access the CD
    regularly in order to get the datanecessary to run the Toolkit.
    If you remove the CD from the drive the Toolkit will be unable to
    find the information it needs, and it will be unable to run
    properly.
 
2. You will notice that the colors on your screen change while the
    Robotoid Assembly Toolkit is loading. This happens because by
    clicking on Robotoid Assembly you are starting up a separate
    application. You may also notice that your Windows colors are
    somewhat distorted while you are using the Robotoid Assembly
    Toolkit, but when you click the up arrow to return to the rest of
    the application, your screen colors will all return to normal.
 
NOTE: If you are using ATI drivers, you may find that the colors for the
Robotoid Assembly Toolkit are always wrong. The Robotoid Assembly Toolkit
should appear in the same gray as the rest of the product. If you are
experiencing this problem, you should try updating to different display
drivers. Contact your hardware manufacturer for information on updating
your display drivers.
 
3. When the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit is running, you are actually
    running two separate programs:  The Toolkit, and Asimov. A
    minimized icon for Asimov will appear at the bottom of the screen
    while you are using the Toolkit. Although this makes it appear
    that you can switch back and forth between the Toolkit and the
    rest of the application, this is not the case. Asimov will
    perform exactly as you would expect one application to perform.
 
4. Asimov's Ultimate Robot requires 4MB of memory to run properly.
    Even though Asimov may run successfully in less than 4 MB of
    memory, you will need 4MB free in order to run the Robotoid
    Assembly Toolkit. If you have problems running the Toolkit, try
    freeing more memory by closing down other applications.
 
5. The Robotoid Assembly Toolkit is a 256 color application. You may
    run into problems if you try to run in fewer or more colors. If
    you are not running in 256-color display mode, use the Windows
    Setup program in you Main program group to Change System Settings.
    Consult your Windows documentation for more information on
    changing your display driver.
 
6. You may experience problems running the Robotoid Assembly Toolkit
    with some video display drivers. If you experience Out Of Memory
    errors or you are unable to run the Toolkit at all, try updating
    your video display driver. Consult section 3 of this document,
    Video Display Problems, for help with your current display mode.
    Contact your hardware manufacturer for the latest version of your
    driver. You can also try running Asimov using a VGA driver.
    Although VGA is only a 16-color display driver, this will allow
    you to run the Toolkit when your current driver may not. Consult
    your Windows documentation for more information on changing your
    display driver.
 
KBCategory: kbmm kbreadme kbmm
KBSubcategory:
Additional reference words: kbhowto 1.0multi media multimedia multi-media
=============================================================================
Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1995.