# Executor FAQ - Section 2
Executor/DOS

- Q2.1. Which FTP sites will carry stable versions of Executor/DOS?
- Q2.2. What are the hardware requirements for Executor/DOS?
- Q2.3. What do I do if my Super VGA card isn't VESA compliant?
- Q2.4. E/D dies during startup. Why?
- Q2.5. What causes error -42 when transferring files?
- Q2.6. Why does my screen look funny when I run Executor?
- Q2.7. What's "GrSetMode ; unknown adapter type in driver." mean?
- Q2.8. Does E/D require an ASPI driver to access SCSI?
- Q2.9. Have you released Executor for OS/2 yet?
- Q2.10. Why won't Executor/DOS work with my Diamond Viper PCI card?
- Q2.11. Why doesn't my mouse work when I run Executor under OS/2 Warp?
- Q2.12. Any OS/2 Warp suggestions?
- Q2.13. Does Executor work under Windows '95?
- Q2.14. How do I get E/D to see my CD-ROM drive?
- Q2.15. Executor dies, what should I do?
- Q2.16. Should I have sent in my registration card?
- Q2.17. How does printing work under E/D?
- Q2.18. Why does E/D under Windows 3.x have problems hot-keying?
- Q2.19. Why can't I eject or format my DOS formatted floppy?
- Q2.20. Why the white border on the screen?
- Q2.21. Do E/D and QEMM fight?
- Q2.22. Does Executor fight with Novell DPMS?
- Q2.23. How can I speed up Executor/DOS?
- Q2.24. What problems do 1.99n and 1.99o have under OS/2
- Q2.25. What problems do 1.99n and 1.99o have under Windows '95

## Question 2.1. Which FTP sites will carry stable versions of Executor/DOS?

The first place a new version of E/D will appear is `ftp.ardi.com` in `/pub/Executor_`DOS. However, when you log on to `ftp.ardi.com`, a list of mirrors will be provided and the mirrors are usually much faster than `ftp.ardi.com`. However, once we're happy with the stability of an Executor/DOS release, we put a copy on the SimTel mirrors.

The primary SimTel mirror is `ftp.coast.net`, and you can find the Executor/DOS demo within the `/SimTel/msdos/emulator` directory. Look for exec199?.zip (where ? is a letter, the further into the alphabet the letter, the more recent the experimental release). Other SimTel mirrors are:

- `wuarchive.wustl.edu` (128.252.135.4) : `/systems/ibmpc/msdos` (St. Louis, MO)
- `archive.orst.edu` (128.193.2.13) : `/pub/mirrors/simtel/msdos` (Corvallis, OR)
- `archie.au` (139.130.4.6) : `/micros/pc/oak` (Australia)
- `src.doc.ic.ac.uk` (146.169.2.10) : `/pub/packages/simtel` (England)
- `ftp.funet.fi` (128.214.248.6) : `/pub/msdos/SimTel` (Finland)
- `ftp.ibp.fr` (132.227.60.2) : `/pub/msdos` (France)
- `ftp.uni-paderborn.de` (131.234.2.32) : `/SimTel/msdos` (Germany)
- `ftp.cs.cuhk.hk` (137.189.4.57) : `/pub/simtel/msdos` (Hong Kong)
- `ftp.technion.ac.il` (132.68.1.10) : `/pub/unsupported/dos/simtel` (Israel)
- `ftp.cyf-kr.edu.pl` (149.156.1.8) : `/pub/mirror/msdos` (Poland)
- `ftp.sunet.se` (130.238.127.3) : `/pub/pc/mirror/SimTel/msdos` (Sweden)
- `ftp.switch.ch` (130.59.1.40) : `/mirror/msdos` (Switzerland)
- `NCTUCCCA.edu.tw` (140.111.1.10) : `/PC/simtel` (Taiwan)
- `ftp.nectec.or.th` (192.150.251.32) : `/pub/mirrors/msdos` (Thailand)

See also Q1.20 `Where can I pick up the Executor demos?'

## Question 2.2. What are the hardware requirements for Executor/DOS?

For Executor/DOS 1.2 you need a '386 or better, VGA, 7 MB disk space, a 3.5" 1.44 MB floppy drive, and 4 MB RAM. A SCSI Controller is needed only if you want to access external Macintosh hard disks or PowerBooks.

Executor/DOS 1.99<x> should work in sixteen colors on any VGA, although we do not have the facilities to test more than a few in house. In addition, if you have a Super VGA that is VESA 1.0 compliant, Executor/DOS should be able to provide 256 colors and a range of screen sizes. Beginning with E/D 1.99n, if you have a video card that is VESA 2.0 compliant, Executor's graphics will be even faster.

## Question 2.3. What do I do if my Super VGA card isn't VESA compliant?

There is a shareware SVGA utility that provides VESA compliance for SVGA cards that normally are not VESA compliant. At the time this FAQ was last modified, univbe51.zip was the most recent release of this extender.

It is not a product of ARDI, but as a convenience to people picking up experimental versions of Executor, the file univbe51.zip is available on /ftpon ftp.ardi.com in /ftpin /pub/ardi/Executor_DOS. If you use it, you should pay the shareware fee as described in the documentation included in the zip file. If you have a recent SVGA card you probably don't need univbe. There may be a more recent version of univbe on /ftpon oak.oakland.edu in /ftpin /SimTel/msdos/graphics. This directory also has several other card specific VESA drivers, some of which can be found in vesa-tsr.zip and vesadrv2.zip.

## Question 2.4. E/D dies during startup. Why?

The most common cause of E/D not running under DOS is the lack of file descriptors that you might get if you don't have the line:

    FILES=30

in your config.sys. If Executor is giving you trouble and you don't have such a line in your config.sys file, please add it, or if you have a smaller number than 30, please increase your number to 30. There is no reason to decrease your number if it is greater than 30.

## Question 2.5. What causes error -42 when transferring files?

Error -42 is the error code generated inside a Macintosh when too many files are open. Executor internally generates this error when the underlying operating system disallows the opening of a file. This error is usually symptomatic of not properly setting `FILES` in your config.sys [see Q2.4 `E/D dies during startup. Why?'].

## Question 2.6. Why does my screen look funny when I run Executor?

Your video driver may not be fully VESA compliant. If Executor detects VESA compliance, it will try to use VESA modes. In general, this is a good thing, however, if these modes have bugs in them, Executor will invoke the bugs, and Executor may fail. Try getting a newer driver for your video card if this happens [see Q2.3 `What do I do if my Super VGA card isn't VESA compliant?'].

NOTE: If you run Executor with the "-info" switch, Executor will print out information it finds out about your video card. That information may be helpful in tracking down your problem.

## Question 2.7. What's "GrSetMode ; unknown adapter type in driver." mean?

You must be running an old version of Executor; this error cannot occur in versions >= 1.99h.

1.99b had problems when Microsoft's display.sys driver is in config.sys. We have updated the code that had this problem and hope that the problem is now fixed. If it is not, you must remove display.sys from the config.sys section you use when you're using Executor/DOS. Please report this bug if you see it in E/D 1.99e or later.

## Question 2.8. Does E/D require an ASPI driver to access SCSI?

If your SCSI drivers patch the "INT 13" BIOS calls, then an ASPI driver is not needed. As long as "INT 13" can allow Executor to read a SCSI drive, there is no need to use ASPI.

## Question 2.9. Have you released Executor for OS/2 yet?

We plan on making an OS/2 specific version of Executor, but only after we get Executor 2.0 shipping. However, Executor 1.99l is reported to work well under OS/2 Warp.

## Question 2.10. Why won't Executor/DOS work with my Diamond Viper PCI card?

Executor/DOS requires VESA compliant graphics cards. Many cards are not directly VESA compliant and need a tsr to be run before they will work with Executor/DOS. On a Gateway computer, you can do this with the "vprmode VESA" command [see Q2.3 `What do I do if my Super VGA card isn't VESA compliant?'].

## Question 2.11. Why doesn't my mouse work when I run Executor under OS/2 Warp?

If it's not already there, you may need to add this line:

    DEVICE=C:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS

to your CONFIG.SYS. This, and related issues, are described on pages 206-207 of _User's Guide to OS/2 Warp_. This line should already have been added for you when you installed Warp.

Also, you may need to load MOUSE.COM in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, for example:

    LOADHIGH C:\OS2\MDOS\MOUSE.COM

You can also create an AUTOEXEC file specifically for Executor, place it in the same directory as Executor, and configure Warp to execute that file whenever you launch Executor.

## Question 2.12. Any OS/2 Warp suggestions?

We have not yet installed our copy of OS/2 Warp (our particular SCSI adaptor isn't supported by default, and we've been swamped with other things), but an Executor Enthusiast sent this advice:

    I haven't been having any problems with running Executor/Dos in
    OS/2. What he needs to do (assuming he has Warp) is to run "Add
    Programs" object in the "System Setup" folder. This will make a object
    for Executor on his desktop (usually in the "Additional Dos Programs"
    folder). Go into the settings for that object, and select the
    "Session" tab. Set it to "Dos Full Screen", and choose "Dos
    Settings". He wants "All Dos Settings". Primarily, Executor needs the
    "DPMI Memory Limit" set to 16 megs, and "DPMI Memory Limit" set to
    enabled. Since it defaults to 4 megs and automatic, it won't work. For
    additional performance, he should set "Dos High" to on, "EMS Memory
    Limit" to 0, "Video 8514a XGA IOtrap" to off, "Video Retrace
    Emulation" to off, "XMS Memory Limit" to 0, and "XMS Minimum HMA" to
    63. The biggest boost comes from "Session Priority". Set this to at
    least 16, and if he is going to run no other programs, set it
    higher. If he is going to run other programs, this should be left
    at 16, and the "Dos Backround Execution" needs to be set to on.

##
Question 2.13. Does Executor work under Windows '95?

Several users have reported that Executor/DOS 1.99l works well under Windows '95. We have not yet created a version of Executor specifically for Windows '95, but we plan to do so in the future.

## Question 2.14. How do I get E/D to see my CD-ROM drive?

Executor accesses CD-ROMs through the Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions (mscdex). You need to have mscdex installed on your machine for Executor to see your CD-ROM. Furthermore, Executor is fussy and will not deal with MS-DOS drives that contain Macintosh formatted media, unless the drive letter is "J" or less. If your CD-ROM drive letter is higher than J, you will need to renumber it to be less than or equal to J.

Under Windows '95, there is a different way to access CD-ROMs -- a way that Executor doesn't use. However, Windows '95 can also use mscdex. To do so, you need to find and remove the:

    rem - By Windows 95 Setup

portion from fthe mscdex line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You will also need to edit your CONFIG.SYS file and make sure the CD-ROM driver is also not commented out.

## Question 2.15. Executor dies, what should I do?

If Executor dies even running the demo applications, try temporarily moving your config.sys and autoexec.bat files aside and create minimal versions of each, leaving only the lines that you need to initialize your mouse driver and the

    FILES=30

line in your config.sys. Then try running Executor. If Executor then starts working, you will have to slowly add back the things that are in your normal autoexec.bat and config.sys files until you know exactly what is causing the problem. Once you know that, you should send information to `bugs@ardi.com`.

If Executor only dies on a particular application, try increasing the amount of RAM dedicated to the application by using the "-applzone" switch when you run Executor. Also try turning on "Pretend Sound" [see Q1.38 `Are there other parameters I can adjust? [aka "Preferences Panel"]'], or if the screen seems to be only partially updated, try turning on "Refresh".

Once you've done as much as you can to figure out the problem, send a bug report to `bugs@ardi.com`. Run Executor with the "-info" switch and include that information. Make sure you also include the version of Executor you're running (e.g. Executor/DOS 1.99n), the name and version of the application that is dying (e.g. HyperCard 2.1), the name and version of the operating system you're runing (e.g. DOS 6.22) and enough details to reproduce the crash (e.g. "start the application, choose the "more Elvis" from the "adjust music" menu and the applicaton will crash"). If the application you are running is publicly available via anonymous ftp, telling us where we can pick it up for testing purposes also helps.

We accept bug reports from everyone, although paid customers bug reports are almost always higher priority than those of potential customers.

## Question 2.16. Should I have sent in my registration card?

Yes. We use that card to assign your serial number and authorization key so you can continue to download and unlock experimental versions of Executor. In general, we do not assign such numbers when you first purchase Executor because we do not know if you're purchasing Executor as a gift for someone else, or if it's being purchased through a company purchasing department, or what. We want to make sure that we have the address of the eventual owner of Executor and the surest way to avoid mistakes is to send in that card.

## Question 2.17. How does printing work under E/D?

Executor/DOS will print directly to a PostScript-compatible printer if started with the switch -printer lpt1 (or lpt2, lpt3, or whatever as appropriate). Otherwise, it prints to a PostScript file. The first time you print, the file will be named `execout1.ps` and will be located in the same directory that `executor.exe` is located in. You can then print this file on a PostScript printer, or if you have a PostScript compatible driver, you can use a non-PostScript printer. Two popular PostScript compatible printer drivers are "GhostScript", available for free, and "ZScript", a commercial program from ZenoGraphics.

## Question 2.18. Why does E/D under Windows 3.x have problems hot-keying?

When you use a hot-key to switch away from Executor, Windows 3.x doesn't know how to save the screen, because it only knows about the original VGA screen modes, but Executor uses SVGA/VESA screen modes. So when you switch back, Windows 3.x doesn't know how to replace the screen with what it used to contain.

This problem is further compounded by the fact that Executor has no way of knowing when it's been switched out and switched back. To make matters worse, some Windows drivers (ATI Mach 32, for example) don't even restore the mode properly, so not only will the screen be incorrect, but Executor will die shortly after you switch back.

Luckily this is not a problem in Windows '95 or OS/2.

## Question 2.19. Why can't I eject or format my DOS formatted floppy?

1.99n is the first version of E/D to allow you to see DOS drives other than the drive you install Executor on. It's also the first version to allow you to format floppies in the Macintosh format (it used to read and write Mac formatted floppies, but it wouldn't do the formatting itself).

Currently, the two abilities conflict. What we do is if a DOS formatted floppy is in the drive when E/D starts, we treat that drive as a fixed drive from that point on. You can no longer eject the floppy, nor can you convince Executor to consider that floppy as a Mac formatted floppy or a candidate for Mac formatting. This is confusing and ugly; we hope to change it in 1.99o.

## Question 2.20. Why the white border on the screen?

There is not yet any standard way for an application to set a video board's "overscan" (i.e. border) color. Some video boards set the overscan color in a way that interferes with Executor's ability to write directly to the screen. This is because internally Macs and PCs use different bit values to represent white and black. We hope to fix this problem at least for most popular video boards by the time 2.0 ships.

## Question 2.21. Do E/D and QEMM fight?

We don't have QEMM in house for testing, but apparently QDPMI is an incompatible DPMI provider for Executor, starting with Executor 1.99n. DPMI providers that are known to work are the supplied CWSDPMI, the DPMI provider in Windows 3.x and Windows '95 the DPMI provider in OS/2, and 386Max. We are investigating the incompatibilities between Executor and QDPMI.

For now, if you have lines similar to these two:

    DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:1 /SIZE=8880 C:\QEMM\QDPMI.SYS

    SWAPFILE=DPMI.SWP SWAPSIZE=1024.

in your config.sys file, you should "rem them out" -- i.e. add "rem " to the beginning of each line -- at least when using Executor:

    REM DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:1 /SIZE=8880 C:\QEMM\QDPMI.SYS
    REM SWAPFILE=DPMI.SWP SWAPSIZE=1024.

##
Question 2.22. Does Executor fight with Novell DPMS?

Yes. Novell DOS and Stacker both use this memory manager, but Executor will crash when Novel DPMS (DOS Protected Mose Services) is running. Fortunately, Stacker can be run without it if you are using another memory manager such as 386Max. Additionally, Stacker won't use DPMS when run under Windows.

This is another compatibility problem that we're looking into, although it has been reported that some other well known programs crash under DPMS's DPMI support (PKZIP, Geoworks and Logic Magician's Oberon System).

## Question 2.23. How can I speed up Executor/DOS?

Executor/DOS is of course dependent on the speed and type of CPU in your PC. Obviously you can make E/D run faster if you upgrade your 386 to a Pentium. However, there are other, non-obvious ways in which sometimes you can dramatically improve Executor's speed.

Use the "-info" switch to see how much DPMI memory you have compared to how much physical memory you have. In general, Executor itself will consume approximately 2 MB of memory even if you could have an applzone, syszone and stack size of 0 (which you can't). So on a 4 MB system, you can only allocate another 2 MB total to applzone, syszone and stack if you want to avoid paging (paging slows Executor down considerably), and that's only if you don't have drivers in your config.sys file or autoexec.bat tying up more of your memory. If you are low on memory, you should use DOS's "mem" command and see how much Extended (XMS) memory DOS thinks you have. The more you can increase that figure before Executor starts up, the more DPMI memory Executor will have and the easier it will be for Executor to avoid paging.

If you have plenty of memory, then you can also speed Executor up a little bit by running a disk cache. However, you should only run the disk cache in a write-through mode -- in other words you should enable the disk cache so that all disk writes are immediately sent to the disk. Failure to do so may result in corrupt HFV files after Executor dies.

Executor can access video cards in three different ways. The slowest is by using VGA calls. This is also the least flexible -- you are often limited only to 16 colors when using VGA calls, since the only VGA mode that supports 256 colors is too small to use with Executor. If your card is VESA compliant, or has a driver that makes it VESA compliant, Executor can drive the video card more efficiently. There are two major levels of VESA compliance -- VESA 1.x and VESA 2.x. Executor is even more efficient if it can drive your video card using a VESA 2.0 driver, *if* that driver supports "linear mapping". The UniVBE driver allows many popular video cards to be linear mapped. If you want Executor to run quickly, you should probably pick up a copy of UniVBE and test it on your system to see if it improves things. You can use "Speedometer" or "Globes" to get a rough approximation of how much it helps. On many cards, use of UniVBE can double Executor's graphics speed.

## Question 2.24. What problems do 1.99n and 1.99o have under OS/2

Executor/DOS 1.99n was the first release that trys to survey all the disks connected to your system, looking for DOS and Macintosh filesystems. The new code had some severe problems with OS/2, and so 1.99o was released with fixes to some of the bugs. Some other bugs still remain. We do not currently have OS/2 installed on a test machine, although that will change before 2.0 is released. In the meantime, here are two bug reports in our OS/2 users' own words.

    I have installed Executor 1.99o and for the first time tried to access
    my CD.  I found out the following problem: Under OS/2 Warp I have
    drives C:-I: which are FAT J: is HPFS K: is my CDROM and L: is a
    removable magneto optical drive.  Executor access without problem the
    drives C:-I: and L:, however when I try to access the CDROM or the
    HPFS partition I get an empty folder.  I would like to remark that
    from a standard DOS box under OS/2 I access the CDROM and the HPFS
    (only files with short names) without any problem.  When I boot plain
    DOS I do not have the HPFS partition and my drives are: C:-I: FAT
    drives J: my magneto optical drive and K: the CDROM.  In this
    configuration I can access all drives including the CDROM without any
    problem.  I did not try a Macintosh CD.  So, the problem seems to be
    accessing the CDROM and HPFS partitions under OS/2 Warp.

and

    >     OS/2 User> As I am sure you are aware, 1.99n with patch 4 is still
    >     OS/2 User> very buggy under OS/2. If any files are placed on the HDD
    >     OS/2 User> directly [ i.e saving to the c:/ volume ] there is a
    >     OS/2 User> crash. Also trying to "cd" to a directory makes the word
    >     OS/2 User> "error" appear with question marks around it in the
    >     OS/2 User> directory box.  Sorry if this is vague, as I am not near
    >     OS/2 User> my machine right now. 8-) I also get random errors when
    >     OS/2 User> trying to unzip files.  ( error -48 ?? ) and "Unexpected
    >     OS/2 User> ROMLIB error" when dealing with direct drive volumes [
    >     OS/2 User> not HFV files ].  I have never gotten any of these kinds
    >     OS/2 User> of errors under OS/2 before, and I was wondering if part
    >     OS/2 User> of it had to do with my HDD not being completely HPFS
    >     OS/2 User> instead of FAT. Of course, this is supposed to be
    >     OS/2 User> seamless to DOS, so.... any guesses? I hope I didn't
    >     OS/2 User> confuse the issue further. 8-) Hopefully all of these
    >     OS/2 User> problems will go away with patch #5.  Again, I appologize
    >     OS/2 User> for the vagueness of this note.
    >
    > ARDI> Have you tried 1.99o?  I think some of these errors are fixed, but I
    > ARDI> don't know which.

    OS/2 User> Yes I have, and the most annoying bug about saving directly
    OS/2 User> to the hard drive has not gone away. anytime one tries to
    OS/2 User> "cd" to another directory e.g. executor, the text "?error?"
    OS/2 User> comes up in the directory box and will not let you cd...

##
Question 2.25. What problems do 1.99n and 1.99o have under Windows '95

CD-ROM and DOS drive access also apparently also cause trouble under Window '95, another operating system that we don't have right now, but will have and will test under before 2.0 ship. Here is one bug report:

    Also, when I have a (non-mac) cdrom in my SCSI CDROM drive and start
    up E/D 1.99o in Windows 95 Gold. Executor (-nosplash) runs but all I
    get is a black screen and I never see the browser or anything appear.
    So I have to kill that process and return to Windows 95. If I remove
    the CDROM from my drive executor then boots fine, althought the local
    drives still freeze it when I click on them.

Here is a workaround:

    Ok, here goes all. As pointed out by the person who first mentioned
    this problem, The drive problem does not show up when Windows 95 is
    botted into MS-DOS mode. So it is obviously surronding a change in
    Windows95 dealing with disk access, etc.My guess would be it had
    something to do with Executor trying to make direct disk access, which
    is a no-no in Win95. Anyways, here is the best work around. Create an
    icon on your desktop for executor. Then edit it's properties (right
    mouse button on icon then select properties). Click on the Program Tab
    in properties. add whatever Executor command line switches you want.
    Then Click on the box that says "close on exit" (this will
    automatically exit MSDOS when executor is done). Hit the "Advanced"
    Button next. In this area you want to click on the "MS-DOS Mode"
    button and then the "use current MS-DOS configuration" button". I have
    all the other button un-checked. Now, the trick to this is you need to
    put a DOS mouse driver in your standard autoexec.bat or Executor won't
    run. Reboot and now when you click on the icon Windows will exit to
    DOS (without rebooting), run executor, and then when you exit it will
    start Windows 95 again (without rebooting).

    If you don't load the mouse driver and try to use "specify a new
    MS-DOS configuration" in the "Advanced" section to load the mouse
    driver, it will work, but the machine will reboot before running
    Executor each time (to load the new MSDOS config you specified) and
    reboot and again when you exit Executor (to reload the old MSDOS
    config for WIN95).......

    P.S. since you are in DOS you would also need to load mscdex, etc. for
    your cdrom to be visable......

These are serious bugs and should be fixed in 1.99p.

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Extracted from Executor Frequently Asked Questions with Answers, Copyright ARDI 1995.