MagicEngine

[D4rkKnight]

I'm Trying to get this game to run, What happens is if I use my DVD drive, the music during the intro plays VERY fast, and I am forced to watch the entire intro (buttons wont skip). It ends up playing EVERY track in the whole game in like 45 seconds. I also hear sped up voices and other stuff. Past the intro, only sound works, no music. When I make a character, and click play, it starts loading, then resets itself to the Push Run Button screen (when using sytem card 3.0). When using Magic System 3.0 it does the same, but when it restarts it says Disc Error!

When I use my CD-RW drive, theres no music whatsoever, I can skip the intro, sound works fine, and the same restart happens when selecting play.

When mounting it as an image, it does exactly what my DVD drive does.

Ive tried fooling with the CD-ROM audio input line stuff, didnt work, Tried disabling sound entirly, still gives me the same error.

One more thing. When I ran this under ME 090, it ran perfectly, when I upgraded to 099B5 it stopped working. Both are the demo versions, and ME 090 has no sound support.

Ill post system specs and log info:
700Mhz P3
384 Ram
Win XP Pro
SB Live Value

[CD]

[BOOT CD]
test unit... ready (0ms)
reading TOC...
- OK, 22 track(s) detected
track 1 [10]: 00 02 00 ( 0, 525)
track 2 [14]: 00 09 00 ( 525, 10826)
track 3 [10]: 02 26 26 ( 10826, 11521)
track 4 [10]: 02 35 46 ( 11521, 11996)
track 5 [10]: 02 41 71 ( 11996, 12639)
track 6 [10]: 02 50 39 ( 12639, 13218)
track 7 [10]: 02 58 18 ( 13218, 13700)
track 8 [10]: 03 04 50 ( 13700, 14762)
track 9 [10]: 03 18 62 ( 14762, 15442)
track 10 [10]: 03 27 67 ( 15442, 16414)
track 11 [10]: 03 40 64 ( 16414, 17085)
track 12 [10]: 03 49 60 ( 17085, 18005)
track 13 [10]: 04 02 05 ( 18005, 18910)
track 14 [10]: 04 14 10 ( 18910, 20183)
track 15 [10]: 04 31 08 ( 20183, 21077)
track 16 [10]: 04 43 02 ( 21077, 22227)
track 17 [10]: 04 58 27 ( 22227, 22836)
track 18 [10]: 05 06 36 ( 22836, 23510)
track 19 [10]: 05 15 35 ( 23510, 24274)
track 20 [10]: 05 25 49 ( 24274, 25658)
track 21 [10]: 05 44 08 ( 25658, 27179)
track 22 [14]: 06 04 29 ( 27179, 37031)
read sector 525...526 (2)
read sector 525searching game backup RAM in database [389807ED|072EAB00]... found
opening backup RAM data file : "G:\me099\backup.dat"... OK
loading backup RAM bank 0... OK
checking backup RAM...
- header : 48 55 42 4D 00 88 B0 80 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 HUBM............
- DRACULA X ( 160,0412)... OK
- 1 file(s), no error
...652 (128)
read sector 527...527 (1)
read sector 592...621 (30)
read sector 718...757 (40)
read sector 686...717 (32)
read sector 622...685 (64)
read sector 762...793 (32)
play audio 14189...22166
pause audio... OK
play audio 26917...34134
play audio 26917...34134
play audio 26917...34134
play audio 26917...34134
play audio 26917...34134
read sector 614...621 (
read sector 966...1001 (36)
read sector 1038...1045 (
read sector 1086...1109 (24)
read sector 1054...1085 (32)
read sector 1110...1120 (11)
read sector 1122...1135 (14)
read sector 1138...1145 (
read sector 1150...1181 (32)
play audio 40411...45260
- error, could not play audio!
searching game backup RAM in database [389807ED|072EAB00]... found
opening backup RAM data file : "G:\me099\backup.dat"... OK
writing backup RAM bank 0... OK

[Kaminari]

[D4rkKnight]

Ran 090 on current system, right before I ran 099. 090 is dos only though.

I just tried 099 in Win98SE, same exact problem as in XP.

(I have 3 OS's, Dos, 98SE, XP Pro)

How do I check my ASPI layer? I dont have any experience dealing with ASPI problems so i'm clueless there.

If its any help, There was one minor difference in 98SE. During character select, I guess it was TRYING to play a music track, but all that came out was a high pitched sound (It was playing the track with the game data I guess, thats the sound you get when you do that)

[Kaminari]

For a brief explanation about ASPI:

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aa571/aspi.htm

Now you can go to Adaptec site and look for the latest ASPI archive:

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/driverdetail.html?sess=no&cat=%2fOperating+System%2fMicrosoft+Windows+2000&filekey=aspi_v471.exe

Inside this package is a tool called ASPIcheck, which will do exactly what the name says

[NightWolve]

Uh DUDE..... That's a really really really bad mp3/iso burn you got there.... Here's wat the logging in ME shows from my original of DraculaX & why ME's TOC & play audio logging is such a really good feature in determining if a CD is bad (either mp3/iso or bad burn):

[BOOT CD]
test unit... ready (0ms)
reading TOC...
- OK, 22 track(s) detected
track 1 [10]: 00 02 00 ( 0, 3890)
track 2 [14]: 00 53 65 ( 3890, 14189)
track 3 [10]: 03 11 14 ( 14189, 22173)
track 4 [10]: 04 57 48 ( 22173, 26917)
track 5 [10]: 06 00 67 ( 26917, 34134)
track 6 [10]: 07 37 09 ( 34134, 40411)
track 7 [10]: 09 00 61 ( 40411, 45260)
track 8 [10]: 10 05 35 ( 45260, 58635)
track 9 [10]: 13 03 60 ( 58635, 66403)
track 10 [10]: 14 47 28 ( 66403, 78455)
track 11 [10]: 17 28 05 ( 78455, 86083)
track 12 [10]: 19 09 58 ( 86083, 97368)
track 13 [10]: 21 40 18 ( 97368, 108444)
track 14 [10]: 24 07 69 ( 108444, 124926)
track 15 [10]: 27 47 51 ( 124926, 135835)
track 16 [10]: 30 13 10 ( 135835, 150506)
track 17 [10]: 33 28 56 ( 150506, 157229)
track 18 [10]: 34 58 29 ( 157229, 164899)
track 19 [10]: 36 40 49 ( 164899, 173900)
track 20 [10]: 38 40 50 ( 173900, 192012)
track 21 [10]: 42 42 12 ( 192012, 211262)
track 22 [14]: 46 58 62 ( 211262, 221262)
read sector 3890...3891 (2)
read sector 3890searching game backup RAM in database [15862795|072EAB00]... not found
clear and initialize a new backup RAM
...4017 (128)
read sector 3892...3892 (1)
read sector 3957...3986 (30)
read sector 4083...4122 (40)
read sector 4051...4082 (32)
read sector 3987...4050 (64)
read sector 4127...4158 (32)
play audio 14189...22166
pause audio... OK

Do you see the play audio line "play audio 14189...22166" ? Now look at the TOC of the CD.... Sector 14189 should be at track 3, yours starts at track 9.... The play audio line is actually game code specifying to play audio at those sectors.. If that doesn't not match wat's listed in the TOC, you know the CD is bad... Yours is a complete catastrophe, probably due to being from a mp3/iso... It has nothing to do with ASPI in this case... And it's playing audio fast, cause there's not much audio left in the whole damn CD, it's been all trimmed down to almost nothing...

also, do u see "play audio 40411...45260" on your log??? On my TOC, that's track 7, which is what the game code is trying to play... That range doesn't even exist in your TOC, & i bet you that's when the game crashes & resets, cause that's usually the result...

This is why mp3/iso is the most hated by some & why ppl don't realize they're more trouble then they're worth.. And most importantly, i'm willing to bet you didn't get this kind of tech support from wherever you downloaded it.. I gotta say, i've never seen such a f'ed up CD....

What's really sad is that Michel's bug report forum is being misused by users to disguise errors & ask for help to figure out problems totally unrelated to MagicEngine... I say this not to be rude, but because the fact that you left out the little little detail that this is either a burned mp3/iso CD-R or a CD-R from some other format & not an original.. Yes, sometimes mp3/isos can work, but it's not ME's fault when they don't... They'll always cause music degradation & sector mismatches totally destroying the original CD's format... But it the case, the format was totally nuked......
_________________
Translation Projects: Xak 3, Ys 4, Ys 1&2 Complete
Boycott XSEED Games!

[Kaminari]

Now that makes sense

[ethylene]

Well said, Nightwolve!

Now, how can we get the lamers to actually READ this thread before they go posting new ones about the same thing?

[D4rkKnight]

Oh i see...A friend gave it to me, told me it worked so I assumed it was a good cd. Guess not.

[MikeL]

Hi, I'm also having trouble getting Dracula X to run. I did what NightWolve mentioned and made a copy of my log after running Magic Engine, thanks for that info. Anyway, when I try to run Dracula X in any of my CD Drives, nothing happens, in ME it always says "No CD". This made me think that something was wrong with the CD, but I don't think that's it, for when I try to run it, nothing even happens on the Drive, no Sound no load light flash, the Drive doesn't even run. However, when I try mounting the image using Daemon Tools, it plays perfectly, but I don't want to have to play it from my PC, cause it takes up to much space. I tried editing the PCE.ini file and changed the drive letter but nothing changed. Here is a copy of my log from ME.


[CD]

[BOOT CD]
test unit... not ready (6000ms)
reading TOC...
- no tracks, blank CD!?
reading TOC...
- no tracks, blank CD!?
reading TOC...
- no tracks, blank CD!?
reading TOC...
- no tracks, blank CD!?

The CD is not blank.
Any Help Please.

Thanks, Mike.
sendthecrap@msn.com

[AlexisMachine]

Hmmm. Open session, possibly? You can try closing that session on the CD, or you can try to burn it again.

[MikeL]

No, I found out there's nothing wrong with the CD at all, I just tested it on my other PC and it played perfectly, so it has something to do with either the Emulator or my CD Drives, which are a Toshiba DVD-Rom and a Sony CD-RW. Could it possibly be the ASPI drivers? I did install a few burners recently, FireBurner, EasyCD Creator, CD Wizard and CDRWin. Like I said, somehow it's not seeing the drive, it's skipping it.

Thanks.

[AlexisMachine]

Mmmmmm. DVD.

<wishes he had a DVD drive>

If you burned it in the CDRW drive, then it should work in the CDRW drive.

I'd say ASPI drivers. See the link in this thread for the Adaptec ASPI drivers.

[MikeL]

Heh heh. I found out the problem. It had to do with Daemon Tools. I had to turn off the drives DT added so that Magic Engine would not bypass my real Drives for the drives supported by DT. So I just want to make a note for anyone else that might be having trouble playing this or any other PCE CD. If you use Daemon Tools make sure you turn off all drvies, so only the real CD-Rom drives are visible.

To Turn them off follow these steps.
1. Right Click on the DT Icon in the System Tray.
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-Rom > Set Number of Devices > Disable

Then try running it again. This worked for me and now the CD plays perfectly.

Thanks for your help AlexisMachine.

[NightWolve]

Well, I think I know wat the problem was, & I bet it's not daemon tools.. When you enable a DT drive, the DVD/CDROM devices change their ordering.. Usually, DT drives are put in front, so 1 new DT drive would be considered number 0, so in PCE.INI, drive=0 would refer to the DT drive.. And so, the drive numbering for your real CDROMs will have increased by one...

I think you never tried pointing ME to the right real CDROM drive using the "drive=" variable in the PCE.INI file - after having enabled DT drives.. Next time you enable daemon tools, try using the "drive_letter=" variable & set the actual drive letter.. That's easier than the guesswork involved when setting the drive number...

You shouldn't have to disable DT drives.. You just have to be aware everytime you enable a DT drive, the DVD/CD-ROM device ordering changes... Therefore, you MUST update the PCE.INI file to point to the right drive, virtual (DT) or real... Unless you use the "drive_letter=" variable, since drive letters don't usually change often...
_________________
Translation Projects: Xak 3, Ys 4, Ys 1&2 Complete
Boycott XSEED Games!

[AlexisMachine]

This would be a handy thing to put in Magic Engine's Config menu. Hopefully David will start migrating all the INI file settings into the ME Config menu. Hint hint.