Jazz Jackrabbit CD-ROM - How do I get it to run?

[Dad Rabbit]

Help please!

I bought my son JJ CD-ROM in 1995 as a Christmas present followng great fun with the Holiday Hare freeby. The CD was JJ2 with 30 bonus levels.

Following a major sort out in the loft last week (christmas decoration hunt!!) we found the game disc and remembering how great it is to play, we tried to get it running.

Sadly we can't get it to go under either XP Home or Win2k.

The problem seems to be with the sound card configuration which is asking questions about DAM Channels and IRQ numbers etc. Anyone know how to get this info?

Also, since we have never tried to run the game before on a modern machine, anyone know any other problems we are likely to encounter? Or any general advice we need?

I have downloaded the shareware versions from the website and these run ok on the machines but it wold be great to have the whole thing as before.

Anyone out there can help us?

Thanx.

[Stijn]

This (http://www.jazz2online.com/J2Ov2/articles/view.php?articleID=17) might be of interest to you. It contains some problems that can happen when running JJ1 on a modern computer including a sound problem.

[Hazel-rah]

Unfortunately you will only be able to get the sound to work in Windows 95/95/ME. And that is only if your sound card happens to have DOS drivers.

It is possible to play JJ1 in 2000/XP with sound, but you need to download a DOS emulator.

DOSBox (http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/) A good DOS emulator - One most of the community uses to play in 2000/XP.

I don't think you need to apply the TPPATCH that Fl@sh suggested for DOSBox. If you get an error then apply the patch.

How to get it to work in DOSBox:

After you install DOSBox open it from the Start Menu.

Make note which IRQ and DMA channel DOSBox makes SB16 emulation on. Those will be the numbers you want to type into JJ1 setup.
When DOSBox has finally opened all the way and gets to X:\> with a blinking line:

Type: mount c c:\ (Enter)

(If JJ1 is on a different drive that C type the appropriate letters)

Then type: c: (Enter)
Then: cd\jazz (Enter)

It sounds like you already tried running the setup program. Just to make sure your settings are correct we'll run it again:

Type: setup (Enter)

The setup program opens. Push enter on the selection "Choose Sound Card" or whatever it happens to be. Choose "Sound Blaster 16 or compatible". Then choose "High Quality Sound (Pentium)". It will then ask you what your sound card's IRQ and DMA channel is. Enter the appropriate numbers you recorded when DOSBox was opening. Save and Exit the setup program.

Type: jazz (Enter)

JJ1 starts. Using the SHIFT+F7/F8 increases or decreases the FRAME SKIP, and SHIFT+F11/F12 increases or decreases the CLOCK CYCLE. (I might have those switched around. The bar on top of DOSBox shows which numbers you're changing.) Adjust those settings until JJ1 runs smoothly.

Enjoy. :)

[Newspaz]

You could also download a tool named "CPUKiller" to temporarily downgrade your processor to about 133mhz. You can find it at http://www.cpukiller.com/

[Hazel-rah]

Fl@sh already indirectly mentioned CPU killer.

Keep in mind it's not the clock speed that is incompatible on new computers, it's the instruction set the assembly code uses that's incompatible. TPPATCH fixes the instruction set to work on new cpus, not the clock cycle.

[Stijn]

Fl@sh already indirectly mentioned CPU killer.

Keep in mind it's not the clock speed that is incompatible on new computers, it's the instruction set the assembly code uses that's incompatible. TPPATCH fixes the instruction set to work on new cpus, not the clock cycle.
I also indirectly mentioned VDMSound which -sort of- is a DOS emulator. Anyway, your guide is probably more clear.

[Biggie92]

im still havein problems run it off the cd i download the dos emulator and the tppatch everytime i try to run it a message comes up please run setup soundcard even when i select no sound card

[JelZe GoldRabbit]

Hmmmmmmmmm... Did you install the game? I hope you have, it saves the vital setup information on your harddrive. Either the configuration file has been corrupted or renamed (unlikely), or you didn't save it by selecting "Save and exit" (that would be... well, stupid). Could you tell me what exactly you're doing?

- JelZe GoldRabbit =:3

[Biggie92]

I Installed the game obiously but imalso havein problems runing it through the dos emulator on the emulator it's only letting me select the cd drive and i tryed several of the mounting combinations and still nuthin

[MasterRyu]

First install the game in a directory of your choice using the standard command prompt, then run the DOSBox emulator and mount the directory - run sound setup and play (I recommend setting the sound quality to medium or lower, as DOSBox emulates a high-end 386 at best). The only stipulation is that you need a fairly powerful computer to get high-end 386 speed in the emulator (Athlon XP 2600+ 768MB RAM and 128MB video here, and some 3D games, and even 2D games still run like molasses). I would think anything over 1 Ghz should be fine for Jazz, your performance may vary. I would recommend bookmarking the site as they are making fairly steady progress and have a table charting the current compatibility of the emulator. Hope this helps.