With my brother-in-law getting his computer up and running, we have
been interested in hooking up over the modem to race. What I have
noticed is that when running both ICR2 and Nascar2 in dos and trying
to connect modem to modem neither game will allow me to change my com
port to the correct one. They both only list com 1 and wont show any
other so that I can change to com 2. I have never seen any patch for
something of this sort, so does anyone have any ideas? I haven't
tried to run either one in win95 yet, so this is my next experiment,
but I wanted to check if anyone had any advice.
Thanks for any help you can give.
Bryan
Is your modem a " Plug & Play " modem or a Win Modem? If so, it may not
work very well , or at all, in DOS. I have a PNP modem, and to play any of
the DOS games I have to hook up my external modem to get it to recgonize it.
Robert
% Is your modem a " Plug & Play " modem or a Win Modem? If so, it may not
% work very well , or at all, in DOS. I have a PNP modem, and to play any of
% the DOS games I have to hook up my external modem to get it to recgonize it.
Check around. I understand that there are some software upgrades to get
some of the Win modems to work in DOS
--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Well, since I leave the external hooked up all the time, and no one wants
to pay me what I want for this external 33.6 modem, I'll just continue to
use it this way until the game makers and modem makers get their respective
heads out into the light again and either include the needed drivers with
their modems or figure out how to detect a PNP modem from within a game.
BTW, mine isn't a WIN modem, it is a PNP modem. And yes, I could just set
the jumpers on the modem, except is doesn't seem to work in my system unless
it is COM2. And due to numerous devices I have installed in my system, and
the resources I had to manually set to get them to work, things are best
left as they are, if you can relate.
Thanks anyway.
>% Is your modem a " Plug & Play " modem or a Win Modem? If so, it may not
>% work very well , or at all, in DOS. I have a PnP modem, and to play any of
>% the DOS games I have to hook up my external modem to get it to recognize it.
>Check around. I understand that there are some software upgrades to get
>some of the Win modems to work in DOS
>% Is your modem a " Plug & Play " modem or a Win Modem? If so, it may not
>% work very well , or at all, in DOS. I have a PNP modem, and to play any of
>% the DOS games I have to hook up my external modem to get it to recgonize it.
>Check around. I understand that there are some software upgrades to get
>some of the Win modems to work in DOS
I am running a USRobotics 33.6 fax/data modem. Not a winmodem.
Sorry, I guess I should have mentioned it. Any other ideas?
Bryan
: BTW, mine isn't a WIN modem, it is a PNP modem. And yes, I could just set
: the jumpers on the modem, except is doesn't seem to work in my system unless
: it is COM2. And due to numerous devices I have installed in my system, and
: the resources I had to manually set to get them to work, things are best
: left as they are, if you can relate.
Number one rule when setting up a computer = Keep COM1 open for the
modem.
Why? Because 95% of software uses COM1 as a default and the ones that are
adjustable will normally only do 1 or 2. Why? Because 3 & 4 are not
usually included from the dealer. It's an extra card.
I have my mouse on COM3 and modem on COM1. No problems. Ever. Most
people put their modem on COM2 and mouse on COM1. It should be the other
way since mouse s/w is usually more flexible than modem software.
Actually, the number one rule when setting up a computer is: If it ain't
broke, don't fix it.
Sorry, but I have NEVER used a com program that was that limited in it's COM
choices. COM 2 was always available, and with Win95 you don't so much assign
it to a COM port as you assign it to a particular modem that Win95 found on
a COM port. So if you are still using modem software that requires you to
physically assign a com port, instead of assigning it to a device that Win95
detected on a COM port, perhaps it is time to upgrade?
And as to the COM assignment, well, the MBs I've purchased all have the
ability to assign whatever COM address I choose to the two provided
connections. My mouse is on connector 1 and it is assigned as COM1, and the
other is assigned COM2, which is shared between my external modem and a
Wingman Warrior, depending on what I am doing at the time. And depending on
what I try to do, that wonderful PnP system will assign the internal modem
to either COM3 or COM4, which works well in Windows but sucks when dropping
to DOS. So I don't. ( Drop to DOS, that is )
As to COMs 3 & 4 being on a extra card.... well, I won't go there. Suffice
it to say that your computer doesn't come with a COM1 and a COM2, and this "
extra " card doesn't come with COMs 3 & 4, but with connectors 1 & 2 and 3
& 4 respectively. It is up to you to assign them as you see fit.
But even if you did purchase this extra card, you really don't gain
anything. COMs 1&3, and COMs 2&4, respectively, share an IRQ. Except in the
case where you let the PnP system assign COMs and IRQs for you. If you
stuck a serial device, such as a mouse, on COM1 and another device, say a
modem, on COM3, you would not be able to use both at the same time due to
both of them being on the same IRQ. If you assigned the mouse to COM1 and
allowed the PnP to assign the modem to COM3, it would work fine ( mine
does ) as the PnP would pick a free IRQ for the modem to use. So, you take
up a slot but gain no real advantage. ( IMO ) But, to each his own.
A long response to a simple suggestion, I know. In summary, thanks, but no
thanks.
>: BTW, mine isn't a WIN modem, it is a PNP modem. And yes, I could just set
>: the jumpers on the modem, except is doesn't seem to work in my system unless
>: it is COM2. And due to numerous devices I have installed in my system, and
Quoted text (13 lines)
>: the resources I had to manually set to get them to work, things are best >: left as they are, if you can relate. >Number one rule when setting up a computer = Keep COM1 open for the >modem. >Why? Because 95% of software uses COM1 as a default and the ones that are >adjustable will normally only do 1 or 2. Why? Because 3 & 4 are not >usually included from the dealer. It's an extra card. >I have my mouse on COM3 and modem on COM1. No problems. Ever. Most >people put their modem on COM2 and mouse on COM1. It should be the other >way since mouse s/w is usually more flexible than modem software.% Well, since I leave the external hooked up all the time, and no one wants
% to pay me what I want for this external 33.6 modem, I'll just continue to
% use it this way until the game makers and modem makers get their respective
% heads out into the light again and either include the needed drivers with
% their modems or figure out how to detect a PNP modem from within a game.
% BTW, mine isn't a WIN modem, it is a PNP modem. And yes, I could just set
% the jumpers on the modem, except is doesn't seem to work in my system unless
% it is COM2. And due to numerous devices I have installed in my system, and
% the resources I had to manually set to get them to work, things are best
% left as they are, if you can relate.
Okay, here are a couple of possible fixes (at least in DOS and might
work in a DOS box for Win95, but....):
Go to http://www.shareware.com and do a search for DOS program
nbscom12.zip (Swaps Com1 & Com2)
Or here is a QBasic code to swap com1 & com3 or com2 & com4:
This QB code ought to do the trick. It can swap Com1 with Com3, or
Com2 with Com4, thereby giving you control of Com3 and Com4. Well,
that's a little confusing, but the code is actually very simple.
There are only six lines of code, 3 for each COM port (two to swap the
ports, and 1 to reset the ports). They are commented, so you should
have
no trouble separating them.
'start of code
'Swap COM1 & 3; now you can use COM3 as if it was COM1
DEF SEG = 64
POKE &H0, &HE8
'Swap COM2 & 4; now you have use of COM4 as if it were COM2
DEF SEG=64
POKE &H2, &HE8
'This line MUST be used to reset COM3 to COM1
POKE &H0, &HF8
'Use this line to reset COM4 to COM2
POKE &H2, &HF8
'end of code
--
**************************** Michael E. Carver *************************
Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
