Difference between revisions of "Stars vs OS"

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Because Stars! was designed to run on Windows 3.11 or Windows 95, you may experience problems running it on later Windows versions or other operating systems.
 
 
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.
 
In particular version 2.7 (the retail version) requires wavemix.dll, which can be found on the [[downloads]] article.
 
 
  
 
==Windows==
 
==Windows==
 
===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, 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:
:Requires emulation to work. The simplest solutions are either Win3.x running in [http://www.dosbox.com DOSBox] 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 beta===
+
===Windows 7===
[http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=tree&th=4130&mid=41061&rid=78&S=1f96a864b42b59e5fbf1fea4f45507d7&rev=&reveal=] Coyote reported that 'it also runs just fine on win 7 beta (64 bit).'
+
{{Virtual PC}}
 +
Windows 7 explicitly '''does not''' support legacy 16bit applications, which includes Stars!. The best workaround solutions that have been found are to either:
 +
#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.
 +
#Use an complete OS emulator eg Windows Virtual PC[http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th=4984&start=0&rid=78&S=c8e6f455164ce01b3d36cb931bf4d884], [[Stars vs OS#DOSBox|DOSBox (below)]] or VirtualBox
 +
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.
  
==Linux==
+
<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>
 +
===Windows 8===
 +
LittleEddie [http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th=5114&rid=78&S=e5a65b6cc891d2dcb3df68350c5900fc posted] that after going from Windows 7 Home 64-Bit to Windows 8 32-Bit Release Preview, with '''16-bit mode enabled''':
 +
:Stars! Version 2.7 crashes on the BattleBoard with "Wavemix.dll" being the problem.
 +
:Stars! 2.6j has been running fine with no crashes so far.
 +
NeilHoward points out this is a known issue, as described in
 +
http://wiki.starsautohost.org/wiki/Patches_and_versions#2.6_vs_2.7
 +
 
 +
Additionally:
 +
:[[Utilities/In-game information processing and sharing#Stars! Notebook|Stars! Notebook]], [[AutoHost Client]] both run with no problems.
 +
:[[Utilities/In-game information processing and sharing#Xtreme Borders|Xtreme Borders]], will not start, "Tabctl32.ocx" is a problem.
 +
 
 +
==Android==
 +
Stars! will run on Android using the [[Stars vs OS#DOSBox|DOSBox]] setup below.
 +
#Install [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fishstix.dosbox DosBox Turbo] and [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fishstix.dosboxlauncher DosBox Manager]
 +
#[[local:DOSBoxStars.rar|download DOSBoxStars.rar 4.92MB]]
 +
#Expand the archive somewhere on your SD card (or emulated storage)
 +
#* You may need to download it to a PC, extract it and zip it for transfer - rar doesn't always expand properly on Android
 +
#Open DosBox Manager, add a new profile and "Edit Config", "DosBox Settings" (Advanced DosBox configuration), "Autoexec" (Edit autoexec.bat) and put in the following:
 +
#:<code>mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOSBox/DOSBoxC
 +
#:c:
 +
#:windows\win /n c:\stars\stars.exe -x
 +
#:exit</code>
 +
#:where <code>/storage/emulated/0/DOSBox/DOSBoxC</code> is where you have extracted the above rar
 +
# Add your Stars! serial and you're golden.
 +
* [http://starsautohost.org/sahforum2/index.php?t=msg&th=5086&start=0&rid=78#msg_num_20 Thread on HWF]
 +
==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.
 
*[[Stars! on Linux Jason Hissong 1997 v2.6/7]]
 
*[[Stars! on Linux Jason Hissong 1997 v2.6/7]]
 
*[http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th=2921&start=0&rid=78&S=5ed63b0d8440c7309cb2c62061ac7332 'magic' entry for stars! files] (at HWF)
 
*[http://starsautohost.org/sahforum/index.php?t=msg&th=2921&start=0&rid=78&S=5ed63b0d8440c7309cb2c62061ac7332 'magic' entry for stars! files] (at HWF)
===Ubunutu===
+
 
 +
===Ubunutu or Debian===
 
Steps to get Stars! running under Ubuntu 9.04 ''Jaunty Jackalope'', all typed into a shell:
 
Steps to get Stars! running under Ubuntu 9.04 ''Jaunty Jackalope'', all typed into a shell:
 
#Install WINE
 
#Install WINE
Line 45: Line 79:
 
#run
 
#run
 
#:<code>./stars.exe</code>
 
#:<code>./stars.exe</code>
 +
===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.
 +
 +
==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.
  
 
==OS/2==
 
==OS/2==
 
No reported issues have been found.
 
No reported issues have been found.
  
==MacOS 9/X==
+
==DOSBox==
As far as I can tell Mac users don't play Stars!
+
===Win3.11===
 
 
==Emulators==
 
===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
 +
:; If you unzip to <nowiki>C:\</nowiki>
 +
:* no configuration file corrections should be needed.
 +
:*'''stars.ini''' is located in C:\DosboxC\Windows
 +
 +
==Portable VirtualBox==
 +
===Windows 98===
 +
A Portable VirtualBox installation of Win98 with Stars! on it. It's setup with a shared folder that can be accessed from the host operating system (tested with WinXP host system). The guest OS is setup for 1024x768 resolution and high color mode.
 +
 +
Runs on a flash drive, 282MB uncompressed.
 +
*[http://starsautohost.org/files/Portable-VirtualBox-Win98-Stars.zip download Portable-VirtualBox-Win98-Stars.zip 202MB]
 +
*see [[#95/98/ME]] above for OS details/issues.
 +
#Unzip to the root dir of your flash drive.
 +
#Run Portable-VirtualBox.exe
 +
#*When it tells you to install the VirtualBox Ethernet adapter, say Yes, as you'll need that to access the shared Stars folder.
 +
#:VirtualBox (the first time it runs) will connect to virtualbox.org and tell you that there is a newer version available. Do not get the newer version. You may want to turn off the VirtualBox update feature in the Options.
 +
#After the VirtualBox window comes up, Start the Win98 Virtual Machine.
 +
#:There will be a window telling you how to handle mouse/keyboard inside the virtual environment, and how to transfer control of the keyboard/mouse back to the host computer. VERY IMPORTANT to know. otherwise you'll find your mouse/keyboard locked inside the Win98 VM and can't move out of it.
 +
#At the login prompt, just press Enter (no password). After Windows 98 comes up, you'll see a text file on the desktop which contains instructions on how to access the shared Stars! folder from your host Windows operating system.
 +
*Note that I did not find a way to have the shared folder AND guest Internet access at the same time. Also, the guest Win98 cannot access host system shared folders that I know of, only host access guest Win98 shared Stars! folder.
 +
</includeonly>
 +
<noinclude>[[Category:Reflective Pages]]</noinclude>

Revision as of 04:42, 4 March 2015

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

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 complete OS emulator eg Windows Virtual PC[1], 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).[2]

Windows 8

LittleEddie posted that after going from Windows 7 Home 64-Bit to Windows 8 32-Bit Release Preview, with 16-bit mode enabled:

Stars! Version 2.7 crashes on the BattleBoard with "Wavemix.dll" being the problem.
Stars! 2.6j has been running fine with no crashes so far.

NeilHoward points out this is a known issue, as described in http://wiki.starsautohost.org/wiki/Patches_and_versions#2.6_vs_2.7

Additionally:

Stars! Notebook, AutoHost Client both run with no problems.
Xtreme Borders, will not start, "Tabctl32.ocx" is a problem.

Android

Stars! will run on Android using the DOSBox setup below.

  1. Install DosBox Turbo and DosBox Manager
  2. download DOSBoxStars.rar 4.92MB
  3. Expand the archive somewhere on your SD card (or emulated storage)
    • You may need to download it to a PC, extract it and zip it for transfer - rar doesn't always expand properly on Android
  4. Open DosBox Manager, add a new profile and "Edit Config", "DosBox Settings" (Advanced DosBox configuration), "Autoexec" (Edit autoexec.bat) and put in the following:
    mount c: /storage/emulated/0/DOSBox/DOSBoxC
    c:
    windows\win /n c:\stars\stars.exe -x
    exit
    where /storage/emulated/0/DOSBox/DOSBoxC is where you have extracted the above rar
  5. Add your Stars! serial and you're golden.

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.

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.

OS/2

No reported issues have been found.

DOSBox

Win3.11

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

Portable VirtualBox

Windows 98

A Portable VirtualBox installation of Win98 with Stars! on it. It's setup with a shared folder that can be accessed from the host operating system (tested with WinXP host system). The guest OS is setup for 1024x768 resolution and high color mode.

Runs on a flash drive, 282MB uncompressed.

  1. Unzip to the root dir of your flash drive.
  2. Run Portable-VirtualBox.exe
    • When it tells you to install the VirtualBox Ethernet adapter, say Yes, as you'll need that to access the shared Stars folder.
    VirtualBox (the first time it runs) will connect to virtualbox.org and tell you that there is a newer version available. Do not get the newer version. You may want to turn off the VirtualBox update feature in the Options.
  3. After the VirtualBox window comes up, Start the Win98 Virtual Machine.
    There will be a window telling you how to handle mouse/keyboard inside the virtual environment, and how to transfer control of the keyboard/mouse back to the host computer. VERY IMPORTANT to know. otherwise you'll find your mouse/keyboard locked inside the Win98 VM and can't move out of it.
  4. At the login prompt, just press Enter (no password). After Windows 98 comes up, you'll see a text file on the desktop which contains instructions on how to access the shared Stars! folder from your host Windows operating system.
  • Note that I did not find a way to have the shared folder AND guest Internet access at the same time. Also, the guest Win98 cannot access host system shared folders that I know of, only host access guest Win98 shared Stars! folder.

</includeonly>