Difference between revisions of "Stars vs OS"

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===3.11===
 
===3.11===
 
Stars! was designed for this OS. There are no issues using Stars! that I am aware of.
 
Stars! was designed for this OS. There are no issues using Stars! that I am aware of.
 +
;stars.ini
 +
:stars.ini is located in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too)
 
===95/98/ME===
 
===95/98/ME===
'''wavemix.dll'''
+
;wavemix.dll
:Required by v2.7. To install it, simply copy it into your c:\windows directory(or wherever you installed Windows.)  Wavemix.dll under Windows 9x tends to cause Stars! to crash when other sounds, such as mp3s, are played at the same time Stars! is running.  This is not an issue with later versions of Windows.
+
:Required by v2.7 only. To 'install' it, simply copy it into your C:\Windows directory(or wherever you installed Windows.)  Wavemix.dll under Windows 9x tends to cause Stars! to crash when other sounds, such as mp3s, are played at the same time Stars! is running.  This is not an issue with later versions of Windows.
===NT/2000/XP===
+
;stars.ini
'''wavemix.dll'''
+
:stars.ini is located in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too)
:Required by v2.7. To install it, simply copy it into your c:\windows directory(or wherever you installed Windows.)
+
===NT/2000/XP 32bit===
 +
;wavemix.dll
 +
:Required by v2.7 only. To 'install' it, simply copy it into your C:\Windows directory(or wherever you installed Windows.)
  
'''stars.ini'''
+
;stars.ini
 
:Because stars.ini resides in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too), Stars! needs to be run by a user with administrator rights for stars.ini to be created. Once created, granting write access will allow all normal Stars! functions. If you do not have and cannot borrow admin rights, Stars! ''will'' run just fine without stars.ini, but you will lose the benefits stars.ini provides i.e. you'll have to re-enter your serial every time Stars! is run, Stars will not remember your window layout, zip orders, saved queues or custom fonts.
 
:Because stars.ini resides in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too), Stars! needs to be run by a user with administrator rights for stars.ini to be created. Once created, granting write access will allow all normal Stars! functions. If you do not have and cannot borrow admin rights, Stars! ''will'' run just fine without stars.ini, but you will lose the benefits stars.ini provides i.e. you'll have to re-enter your serial every time Stars! is run, Stars will not remember your window layout, zip orders, saved queues or custom fonts.
'''General issues'''
+
;General issues
 
#Occasionally the cursor will disappear when over the map pane. Closing '''all''' instances of Stars! and restarting Stars! will fix this.
 
#Occasionally the cursor will disappear when over the map pane. Closing '''all''' instances of Stars! and restarting Stars! will fix this.
 +
#If Stars! will not start or causes an error, try using [[wikipedia:Windows Task Manager|task manager]](ctrl-shift-esc) and ending the ntvdm.exe,wowexec.exe and any stars.exe processes (or just the whole ntvdm.exe process tree).
 
#If Stars! will not run due to an error with the 'win16 subsystem'. Reboot(restart) the computer.
 
#If Stars! will not run due to an error with the 'win16 subsystem'. Reboot(restart) the computer.
 
+
===XP 64bit===
 +
As with Vista 64bit and Windows 7, requires emulation to work. The simplest solutions are either Win3.x running in [[Stars vs OS#DOSBox|DOSBox (below)]] or MS Virtual PC.
 
===Vista===
 
===Vista===
 
;32bit:
 
;32bit:
:Same issues as NT/2000/XP. In addition, [[Files Used in Stars!#Ini file -- stars.ini (in the Windows directory)|stars.ini]] is located at: [drive]:\users\[user]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows
+
:Same general issues as NT/2000/XP. In addition, [[Files Used in Stars!#Ini file -- stars.ini (in the Windows directory)|stars.ini]] is located at: [drive]:\users\[user]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows and no longer requires administrator rights to be created/used.
 
;64bit:
 
;64bit:
:As with Windows 7, requires emulation to work. The simplest solutions are either Win3.x running in [[Stars vs OS#DOSBox|DOSBox (below)]] or MS Virtual PC.
+
:As with XP 64bit and Windows 7, requires emulation to work. The simplest solutions are either Win3.x running in [[Stars vs OS#DOSBox|DOSBox (below)]] or MS Virtual PC.
  
 
===Windows 7===
 
===Windows 7===
Line 35: Line 41:
 
<noinclude>Nibor verified that you can run Stars! on the desktop of a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installation using XP Mode of the Windows Virtual PC (which is free although the XP Mode is big download).[http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th=4384&rid=78&S=46a961c831add81a02ed136bd3f43058&pl_view=&start=0#msg_num_7]</noinclude>
 
<noinclude>Nibor verified that you can run Stars! on the desktop of a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installation using XP Mode of the Windows Virtual PC (which is free although the XP Mode is big download).[http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th=4384&rid=78&S=46a961c831add81a02ed136bd3f43058&pl_view=&start=0#msg_num_7]</noinclude>
  
==Linux==
+
==Linux(WINE)==
 
[[Image:XP-VirtualBox-Ubuntu-WINE-Stars!.png|right|320px|thumb|{{Image:XP-VirtualBox-Ubuntu-WINE-Stars!.png}}]]
 
[[Image:XP-VirtualBox-Ubuntu-WINE-Stars!.png|right|320px|thumb|{{Image:XP-VirtualBox-Ubuntu-WINE-Stars!.png}}]]
 
Stars runs well under WINE.
 
Stars runs well under WINE.
Line 50: Line 56:
 
===Notes===
 
===Notes===
 
*Sound is sometimes an issue in Wine configuration. It helps to have sound turned off, or use v2.6 rather than 2.7
 
*Sound is sometimes an issue in Wine configuration. It helps to have sound turned off, or use v2.6 rather than 2.7
*At least one user has noticed that the serial number gets prompted for very often under Wine. This is only a minor convenience, and is probably because Stars! keeps detecting what looks like hardware changes.
+
*At least one user has noticed that the serial number gets prompted for very often under Wine. This is only a minor convenience, and is probably because Stars! keeps detecting what looks like hardware changes. If this is happening players are advised to be careful of triggering the [[Copy Protection Features]] i.e. delete your .x file before your final save and submit.
  
 
==OS/2==
 
==OS/2==
Line 58: Line 64:
 
Historically, Macintosh users haven't been able to play Stars! (except by having another machine ...). However, with the recent Macintosh hardware using the x86 CPU, and Wine being ported to MacOS X, this should now be possible, as Stars! runs well under Wine.
 
Historically, Macintosh users haven't been able to play Stars! (except by having another machine ...). However, with the recent Macintosh hardware using the x86 CPU, and Wine being ported to MacOS X, this should now be possible, as Stars! runs well under Wine.
  
==Emulators==
+
==DOSBox==
===DOSBox===
 
 
[[Image:Dosboxlogo.png|right|frame|[http://www.dosbox.com Get DOSBox]]]
 
[[Image:Dosboxlogo.png|right|frame|[http://www.dosbox.com Get DOSBox]]]
 
Once installed with Windows 3.11(easy), and the 'resolution' increased to 1024x768(not so easy) Stars! runs just fine and is very playable.
 
Once installed with Windows 3.11(easy), and the 'resolution' increased to 1024x768(not so easy) Stars! runs just fine and is very playable.
 +
*'''stars.ini''' is located in DOSBox's windows directory
 
*[[local:DOSBoxStars.rar|download DOSBoxStars.rar 4.92MB]]
 
*[[local:DOSBoxStars.rar|download DOSBoxStars.rar 4.92MB]]
 
: Win3.11 installation with Stars! 2.6jrc4, setup for 1024x768. Requires DOSBox 7.2 or higher.
 
: Win3.11 installation with Stars! 2.6jrc4, setup for 1024x768. Requires DOSBox 7.2 or higher.
 
: Be careful to edit the supplied configuration file to correct file paths during install
 
: Be careful to edit the supplied configuration file to correct file paths during install
:* If you unzip to C:\ no corrections should be needed.
+
:; If you unzip to <nowiki>C:\</nowiki>
 +
:* no configuration file corrections should be needed.
 +
:*'''stars.ini''' is located in C:\DosboxC\Windows

Revision as of 20:11, 6 May 2011

Because Stars! was designed to run on Windows 3.11 or Windows 95, you may experience problems running it on later Windows versions.

In particular version 2.7 (the retail version) requires wavemix.dll, which can be found on the downloads article.

Windows

3.11

Stars! was designed for this OS. There are no issues using Stars! that I am aware of.

stars.ini
stars.ini is located in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too)

95/98/ME

wavemix.dll
Required by v2.7 only. To 'install' it, simply copy it into your C:\Windows directory(or wherever you installed Windows.) Wavemix.dll under Windows 9x tends to cause Stars! to crash when other sounds, such as mp3s, are played at the same time Stars! is running. This is not an issue with later versions of Windows.
stars.ini
stars.ini is located in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too)

NT/2000/XP 32bit

wavemix.dll
Required by v2.7 only. To 'install' it, simply copy it into your C:\Windows directory(or wherever you installed Windows.)
stars.ini
Because stars.ini resides in the windows directory (%WINDOWS% - C:\Windows or wherever you installed windows too), Stars! needs to be run by a user with administrator rights for stars.ini to be created. Once created, granting write access will allow all normal Stars! functions. If you do not have and cannot borrow admin rights, Stars! will run just fine without stars.ini, but you will lose the benefits stars.ini provides i.e. you'll have to re-enter your serial every time Stars! is run, Stars will not remember your window layout, zip orders, saved queues or custom fonts.
General issues
  1. Occasionally the cursor will disappear when over the map pane. Closing all instances of Stars! and restarting Stars! will fix this.
  2. If Stars! will not start or causes an error, try using task manager(ctrl-shift-esc) and ending the ntvdm.exe,wowexec.exe and any stars.exe processes (or just the whole ntvdm.exe process tree).
  3. If Stars! will not run due to an error with the 'win16 subsystem'. Reboot(restart) the computer.

XP 64bit

As with Vista 64bit and Windows 7, requires emulation to work. The simplest solutions are either Win3.x running in DOSBox (below) or MS Virtual PC.

Vista

32bit
Same general issues as NT/2000/XP. In addition, stars.ini is located at: [drive]:\users\[user]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows and no longer requires administrator rights to be created/used.
64bit
As with XP 64bit and Windows 7, requires emulation to work. The simplest solutions are either Win3.x running in DOSBox (below) or MS Virtual PC.

Windows 7

Windows 7 explicitly does not support legacy 16bit applications, which includes Stars!. The best workaround solutions that have been found are to either:

  1. Install and use XP Mode of the Windows Virtual PC or
    This solution does not work with Windows 7 Home as XP Mode requires Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate.
  2. Use an alternative emulator eg DOSBox (below) or VirtualBox

In addition, stars.ini is located at: [drive]:\users\[user]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Windows.

Nibor verified that you can run Stars! on the desktop of a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installation using XP Mode of the Windows Virtual PC (which is free although the XP Mode is big download).[1]

Linux(WINE)

Screen shot of the Tutorial running under WINE in Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope(guest) on VirtualBox on Windows XP(host)

Stars runs well under WINE.

Ubunutu or Debian

Steps to get Stars! running under Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, all typed into a shell:

  1. Install WINE
    sudo apt-get install wine
  2. make stars executable
    chmod +x stars.exe
  3. run
    ./stars.exe

Notes

  • Sound is sometimes an issue in Wine configuration. It helps to have sound turned off, or use v2.6 rather than 2.7
  • At least one user has noticed that the serial number gets prompted for very often under Wine. This is only a minor convenience, and is probably because Stars! keeps detecting what looks like hardware changes. If this is happening players are advised to be careful of triggering the Copy Protection Features i.e. delete your .x file before your final save and submit.

OS/2

No reported issues have been found.

MacOS 9/X

Historically, Macintosh users haven't been able to play Stars! (except by having another machine ...). However, with the recent Macintosh hardware using the x86 CPU, and Wine being ported to MacOS X, this should now be possible, as Stars! runs well under Wine.

DOSBox

Once installed with Windows 3.11(easy), and the 'resolution' increased to 1024x768(not so easy) Stars! runs just fine and is very playable.

Win3.11 installation with Stars! 2.6jrc4, setup for 1024x768. Requires DOSBox 7.2 or higher.
Be careful to edit the supplied configuration file to correct file paths during install
If you unzip to C:\
  • no configuration file corrections should be needed.
  • stars.ini is located in C:\DosboxC\Windows