Thread View: comp.os.msdos.programmer
3 messages
3 total messages
Started by Ralf Brown
Tue, 17 Sep 1996 00:00
Re: Divide Overflow ??????
Author: Ralf Brown
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 00:00
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 00:00
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}ric@radmic.com asked: }: I have an old game that I got when I had a 386SX/25 w/ dos 6. It ran }: good and was a good game. I haven't played it for years and thought that I'd }: give it a whirl. }: I now have a Pentium 90 w/ dos 6.22. When trying to run it, and I }: don't even get to the start screen. Fact is, I don't get to any screen. What I get }: is a message that says "Divide overflow" and then the dos prompt. In article <51hbnv$qqo@csugrad.cs.vt.edu>, dcraigg@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Danny Craigg) replied: }This is pure conjecture, and thus may be completely off base. That said, is }it possible you have one of the buggy Pentium CPU's? I'm probably way off }base, so someone correct me if I'm wrong. In article <51hvja$l8p@goanna.cs.rmit.edu.au>, pfg@yallara.cs.rmit.EDU.AU (Paul Francis Gilbert) replied: }This a very old problem with DOS itself. Some games were written in the }pre UMB days, when everything, including drivers was loaded in the main }640Kb. Now, with the new managers for HMA, it isn't always that way, so }the old programs can spit the dummy... giving an erraneous "Divide" error. You're both wrong. It's neither a buggy CPU nor the EXEPACK "Packed file is corrupt" bug. The Pentium-90 is simply too fast for the program! Since games need to run at the same speed no matter how fast the CPU, they include a speed-detection routine at startup. In the present case, the program is clearly counting the number of timer ticks it takes to run a fixed number of iterations of some action. On the P5-90, it is finishing in less than one timer tick, and thus trying to divide by zero. If it didn't bomb out, it would be unplayably fast.... The solution: try putting the Pentium into "slow" or "deturbo" mode. -- mailto:ralf@pobox.com -=- http://www.pobox.com/~ralf -=- #include <disclaimer> "The Internet is like a freight train roaring along while people are laying tracks in front of it. It's not just gaining on those laying tracks; it's gaining on the steel mills." -- Matt Mathis
Re: Divide Overflow ??????
Author: Charles Dye
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 00:00
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 00:00
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In article <323d5d83@ralf> Ralf Brown <ralf@telerama.lm.com> writes: >You're both wrong. It's neither a buggy CPU nor the EXEPACK "Packed file >is corrupt" bug. The Pentium-90 is simply too fast for the program! Since >games need to run at the same speed no matter how fast the CPU, they include >a speed-detection routine at startup. In the present case, the program is >clearly counting the number of timer ticks it takes to run a fixed number >of iterations of some action. On the P5-90, it is finishing in less than >one timer tick, and thus trying to divide by zero. If it didn't bomb out, >it would be unplayably fast.... >The solution: try putting the Pentium into "slow" or "deturbo" mode. If your Pentium, like many, doesn't have a "turbo" button, you can fake it by going into the CMOS setup program and disabling any cache. Don't forget to re-enable it when you're done with the game, though! There are also freeware programs out there that enable/disable the cache from the command line. raster@indirect.com
Re: Divide Overflow ??????
Author: Charles Dye
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 00:00
Date: Sat, 21 Sep 1996 00:00
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Reposting article removed by rogue canceller. In article <323d5d83@ralf> Ralf Brown <ralf@telerama.lm.com> writes: >You're both wrong. It's neither a buggy CPU nor the EXEPACK "Packed file >is corrupt" bug. The Pentium-90 is simply too fast for the program! Since >games need to run at the same speed no matter how fast the CPU, they include >a speed-detection routine at startup. In the present case, the program is >clearly counting the number of timer ticks it takes to run a fixed number >of iterations of some action. On the P5-90, it is finishing in less than >one timer tick, and thus trying to divide by zero. If it didn't bomb out, >it would be unplayably fast.... >The solution: try putting the Pentium into "slow" or "deturbo" mode. If your Pentium, like many, doesn't have a "turbo" button, you can fake it by going into the CMOS setup program and disabling any cache. Don't forget to re-enable it when you're done with the game, though! There are also freeware programs out there that enable/disable the cache from the command line. raster@indirect.com
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