>>Does anyone use Ensemble or Connect under Win 95?
With permission of Neal Katz:
RUNNING GEOWORKS ENSEMBLE 2.0 WITH WINDOWS95 PREVIEW
HELPFILE VERSION 2.0
Relax. If you're a fan of both Geoworks Ensemble 2.0 and Windows95, you can
probably run both on the same machine with no problems. I know folks who are
already doing it, and I've recently joined their ranks (this is an update to
a recently released helpfile - Snailmailers are seeing it first).
I say "probably" because I can only state that the following tips worked for
me on my machine. I do not know and do not state that the tips will work for
you. I certainly hope they do
First some notes based on some comp.os.geos posts I've seen:
1. It is true that 32BFA (32-bit file access) in Windows 3.1 and WFWG is
problematic for
Ensemble. This is not true in Windows95Preview, so do not rush to disable
32BFA.
2. I have not been able to get task-switching hotkeys to work. So right now
it is launch,
work and exit to get back to Windows95.
3. If you use or sometimes use the Windows version of America Online, or some
other Windows-based comm software, you should find you can be online, launch
Ensemble and still be online when you return to Windows95. However, should
your comm software prompt you for any reason (for instance, an "instant
message" on WAOL), you may be automatically returned to Windows95. Ensemble
will appear as a running application on your Windows95 taskbar but for some
reason, Windows can't get back to it and shuts it down.
4. Read the Windows95 documentation.
5. Windows95Preview, while still a beta, is extremely solid, stable and
well-behaved.
6. If you're having difficulties getting Ensemble to run -- the most common
problem is receiving a "No valid font files in Userdata\Font" message, follow
these diagnostic steps below and see if they help. Most likely -- and judging
by my e-mail, they should.
7. The help here is based on a fresh install of Ensemble 2.0, just because
that's what I was doing. I mention this only to say that if, after running
through these steps you still cannot run Ensemble 2.0, you might want to
consider a re-install. You should not find this necessary so if something
doesn't seem to work, look for other conflicts first.
For instance, you may find that you can't get your 3-button mouse to work no
matter what. Change to 2-button mode until the Windows95 release is
available.
As a point of information, I installed Ensemble from within Windows, by
launching an MS-DOS window and proceeding from there. Yes, Virginia, it
worked.
8. Lastly, if you are already running Ensemble 2.0 successfully from
Windows95 and took different remedies from these, or think that some of these
steps are not necessary, please drop me some e-mail explaining what you did
do. Thanks! My email address: nealk@aol.com. DIAGNOSTIC STEPS FOR INSTALLING
ENSEMBLE 2.0
1. From the MS-DOS prompt, type the following commands, substituting the
drives and paths for your particular system:
C:\>SETVER D:\WINDOWS LOADER.EXE 5.0 [enter key]
and then
C:\>SETVER D:\WINDOWS GEOS20.BAT 5.0 [enter key]
Caution: Remember to substitute YOUR correct path to Windows. On many
machines, that may be C:\WINDOWS. Also, enter the program filename alone; DO
NOT include the path. GEOS20.BAT is correct. C:\GEOS20\GEOS20.BAT would be
wrong.
Note: One person reported that they only needed to enter LOADER.EXE into the
SETVER table.
2. Close the MS-DOS window and choose Start/Shut Down/Restart the computer.
3. Once you are back in Windows, Right-click Start and choose Explore.
4. In the Explorer, switch to the Drive containing your Ensemble folder
(usually \GEOS20) and double-click to open the folder.
5. Scroll down and find the GEOS20 file that has the MS-DOS icon. Since
Explorer hides file extensions by default, right-click the GEOS20 file with
the MS-DOS file icon and choose Properties. Check to see that the file is a
"Shortcut to MS-DOS Program" and the filename is "GEOS20.PIF." This is the
file you want.
6. Click the Program tab. Check to see that the path and working directory is
correct for your GEOS20 folder. If the Drive letter is wrong, change it.
Click Apply.
7. Now find and click the Advanced button. Check the following two items if
they are both not already checked and click OK.
[ ] Prevent MS-DOS-based programs from detecting Windows.
[ ] Suggest MS-DOS mode as necessary.
8. Click the Memory tab. Check to see that all items are set to Auto. In
addition, my Memory Properties for GEOS20 leave Conventional Memory/Protected
UNCHECKED and Extended (XMS) Memory/Uses HMA CHECKED.
9. Click the Screen tab. Set Usage to Full-screen, initial size: Default.
Leave Window and Performance buttons CHECKED. Click Apply and click OK.
10. Find the GEOS20.BAT file. This file will have a GEAR icon. Right-click
and choose Properties. Ensure that all Properties tabs are set the same way
as those for GEOS.PIF. To do that, just re-follow Steps 6 through 9.
11. You should now be able to double click on the GEOS20.PIF file -- the one
with the MS-DOS icon -- and successfully launch Ensemble 2.0.
MOUSE PROBLEMS
You will probably find that you have no mouse in Ensemble or, if you are
running Ensemble's Setup program, GEOS reports that it cannot find the mouse
driver. If this happens, there is a good reason for it: your mouse driver is
no longer in your autoexec.bat or config.sys files... it's in Windows95!
Following the steps below and choosing the GENERIC mouse driver let's GEOS
"see" the Windows95 mouse cursor.
1. In Setup, scroll to the top of the mouse driver list and select NONE.
Continue with Setup.
2. In Ensemble, use the keyboard commands to open Preferences/Mouse and
choose Change. Select GENERIC mouse. This should work for you but if for some
reason it does not, try the "Nothing Else Works" option.
PRINTING PROBLEMS
If you suddenly run into printing problems, go into Preferences/Computer and
change the Parallel Port route to your LPT1.
SPECIAL TIPS AND TRICKS!
HOW CAN I ADD ENSEMBLE TO THE START MENU?
Add Ensemble to the Start/Menu as you would any program. There are several
ways to do this and essentially all involve creating shortcuts to your
program and placing them in the Windows/Start Menu/Programs folder or in a
folder inside /Programs. Windows offers an automated walkthrough if you
rightclick the Task Bar and choose Properties/Start Menu Programs:
Click on Add and Browse for the GEOS20.PIF file. That's the one with the
MSDOS icon. Follow the dialog out by choosing Next and choosing a Folder in
which to place Ensemble. If you choose Start Menu, Ensemble will appear on
Start Menu's top level main menu; Programs places Ensemble on Programs' main
menu and choosing or creating a Folder under Programs places Ensemble in a
submenu of Programs' main menu. You can also drag a shortcut on top of the
Start menu to place it at the top level.
WHY CAN'T I LAUNCH DOS APPLICATIONS FROM ENSEMBLE ANYMORE?
You can, but you must give Windows95 a little hint as to what's going on or
it's going to get a bit confused. Remember, you're launching Ensemble from
Windows, not from DOS. Since DOS is integrated into Windows95, there's
essentially nothing under Ensemble but Windows. If you try to launch a DOS
program from Ensemble, Windows is going to say, "What DOS program? What DOS?
Where? Who?"
Answer all these question for Windows95 by placing your GEOS20 directory back
into your autoexec path statement.
Chances are, you still have an autoexec.bat file but if you don't you can
easily make one in Text File Editor or WordPad. It's just a text file named
AUTOEXEC.BAT. If you already have an autoexec.bat file, add GEOS20 to the
Path statement:
PATH=C:\GEOS20;
Reboot your computer and launch Ensemble from Windows95. You should now find
that you're to launch DOS programs from Ensemble.
Here's a special bonus! If your DOS program(s) can run inside a Windows95 DOS
window and you launch the program from Ensemble, your DOS program will pop up
in a window inside Windows95!
Caution: Since taskswitching keys do not seem to work, do not attempt to get
back to Ensemble via the Task Bar; when you close your window-running DOS
program, you will be brought back to Ensemble.
Special note for the more adventurous: If you're feeling a bit adventurous
and especially if you're running Ensemble on a drive other than your boot
drive (your boot drive is usually C:\) open Explorer, switch to your GEOS20
folder and double-click BT2GEOS.BAT. Running under Windows95, this batch file
will create a separate autoexec.bat in the root directory of the drive in
which \GEOS20 resides. The file will contain only:
CD \GEOS20
GEOS20
Curiously, the presence of this file also enables DOS program launching from
Ensemble when running under 95. Apparently, Windows95 just needs to be able
to find some reference back to your GEOS files for the whole thing to work.
CAN I LAUNCH ENSEMBLE BY DOUBLE-CLICKING GEOS FILES?
Yes, you can. Windows will respond by launching Ensemble and leaving you in
GeoManager.
To enable this feature, you must register GEOS files in Windows' File Types
database. You can reach the database from any Explorer window by choosing
View/Options.../File Types.
Click New Type and type in a description for the extension like, "GEOS File,"
then type .000 in the extension box. Click Change Icon, switch to your
\GEOS20 folder and choose the provided Geoworks logo .ico file.
Before you click OK in the New Type dialog box, check ENABLE QUICK VIEW and
optionally, ALWAYS SHOW EXTENSION.
WHAT DOES ENABLE QUICK VIEW DO?
Files with Quick View enabled display a Quick View option when you rightclick
the file icon to display the right mouse menu. Click on Quick View to open a
window displaying the contents of the file.
Quick View can be especially handy for GeoWrite files.
WHAT DOES ALWAYS SHOW EXTENSION DO?
By default, Windows95 does not display file extensions in Explorer. You can
elect to show file extensions by choosing this option.
WHY WON'T THE TASKSWITCHING HOT KEYS WORK?
Good question, and one for which I do not presently have an answer. But,
Windows95 is still in beta, so there's always hope. :-)
Neal Katz
(NealK@aol.com)
June, 1995