MDLC Question

R

RobH

Charter Member
Long story short, I got the bright idea that I could replace my CPU with a newer and faster one. Well, that didn't work out too well, I ended up frying my motherboard somehow.

Anyway, I have finally replaced my old computer with a new one and it has Windows 7. I have been able to get CFS2 working just fine, and want to add a little shine to Garys Albatros DIII. I cannot get Mortons MDLC to work. I cant exactly remember the message I get, but it has something to do with MDLC not working with 64 bit systems.

Has anyone been able to find a work around for this? I did try changing the compatability with Windows XP service pack 2, but that didnt work. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Brian
 
RobH,

I'm using a new lap top with MS 7 and I've found that several of my old tried and true programs from XP don't work on 7. I understand that there is a way to get 7 to act like XP, but I haven't tried that yet.

By the way, good to see you back in the basement.
 
Rob, Jagd is right...Mdlc won't work at all in W7, even in XP compatibility mode. Its a true legacy DOS-based program that even had some bloops in XP when the OS was first released. SOH users managed to sort it out over time, but i'm afraid that unless the code is patched for Vista-W7, its the end of the line for Mdlc. The only way to retain access to it is to reinstall XP on a separate drive or partition and use Mdlc therein.
 
Hello Rob

Try VMWare Player.

I needed MDLC for Ki-87 just recently.
Unfortunately, MDLC is written with Borland C and not compatible with 64bit systems.
(I don't know if it runs on raw Vista/7 32bit.)
The only way to run it on Win7-64Bit is running it in virtual PC environment.
VirtualPC (A.K.A. Windows XP mode) and VirtualBox may be OK, too.

So far, MDLC is running fine in VMWare player in my Win7 64bit.

Cheers

Daisuke
 
bearcat241 said:
Rob, Jagd is right...Mdlc won't work at all in W7, even in XP compatibility mode. Its a true legacy DOS-based program that even had some bloops in XP when the OS was first released. SOH users managed to sort it out over time, but i'm afraid that unless the code is patched for Vista-W7, its the end of the line for Mdlc. The only way to retain access to it is to reinstall XP on a separate drive or partition and use Mdlc therein.
Click to expand...


BearCat,

I use mdlc in Win 7 with no issues.:jump:
 
gavinc said:
x86 or x64 version of Win 7? I use the x64 Win 7 and the only way I can get it to work is with a x86 WinXP vm.
Click to expand...


I have one x86 system and one x64. They are networked and I use MDLC on the 32 bit system with no problems.
 
PJMack said:
I have one x86 system and one x64. They are networked and I use MDLC on the 32 bit system with no problems.
Click to expand...

That's really great to hear PJ...maybe the problems with the newer OS's aren't related to the new x86 or x64 system kernels after all. Could just be something connected to the file/folder structure and location on the system root -- something as simple as a setup fault. I recall that with 98/ME, you had to put the MDLC 'support' files into the windows/system folder in addition to having them in the main MDLC directory on the system root. Then XP came along and it didn't require this location duplicity, but you had to get the command prompt exe from the windows/system32 folder and put it in the main MDLC directory on the root drive. You also have to make sure the startup path in the MDLC.INI is correct:

Example:

[START_UP]
MdlcPath=C:\MDLC

Its good to know that there's a workaround to virtualization tools...you need very strong hardware specs, i.e. processor and physical memory, to run them smoothly, because they can be resource hogs on any rig.
 
Thanks everyone!

Ok, you guys have went way over my head with x86. In my program files, I have 2 folders, one named progrm files and the other is program files(x86), is that what you are saying?
 
igacci said:
Hello Rob

Try VMWare Player.

I needed MDLC for Ki-87 just recently.
Unfortunately, MDLC is written with Borland C and not compatible with 64bit systems.
(I don't know if it runs on raw Vista/7 32bit.)
The only way to run it on Win7-64Bit is running it in virtual PC environment.
VirtualPC (A.K.A. Windows XP mode) and VirtualBox may be OK, too.

So far, MDLC is running fine in VMWare player in my Win7 64bit.

Cheers

Daisuke
Click to expand...

Do I have to install any thing else with this program? In dumb person terms (that's me,lol) this program will pretend to be in XP, so that I can run MDLC?
 
To try to clarify the issue, not just with MDLC, but with any DOS program, or program written for Windows 3.x (16-bit code):
  • 32 bit (x86) versions of XP, Vista, and I think Windows 7 will run them just fine.
  • 64 bit (x64) versions of XP, Vista, and Windows will not.
The solution for 64-bit Windows, as given by igacci; is to install a third party program such as VMWare Player that lets you run a 16-bit DOS environment under a 64 bit Windows operating system. You can then run your DOS programs; not sure about Windows 3.x programs.

That, in fact, is how Microsoft let you run 16-bit DOS and Windows 3.x programs on 32-bit Windows operating systems such as XP. They provided a program called the Virtual DOS Machine (NTVDM) that allowed them to run, and "thunked" their 16-bit Windows calls to 32-bit Windows. That is why when you pull up the task list, MDLC and other 16-bit programs appear indented under a seperate NTVDM task; the NTVDM task is the Virtual DOS Machine.

When Microsoft released the x64 versions of Windows, they claimed that you could not "thunk" from 16-bit DOS apps to 64-bit, and did not bundle in a copy of NTVDM. I think that is bunk; and hope that someone will develop something similiar (like Wine for Unix) that lets you run Windows 3.x and DOS apps directly under 64-bit Windows. (They do have something similiar to NTVDM to let you run 32-bit apps under 64-bit Windows, "thunking" the calls to Windows in the same way.)

I think the problem with solutions like VMWare Player, DOSBox and others that emulate an operating system under 64-bit Windows is that you have to install a copy of Windows 3.1 to run Windows 3.x (16-bit) programs like MK_MDLC (a Windows interface for MDLC.) If that is not correct, please let me know. NTVDM did not require a seperate copy of Windows 3.x because it "thunked" all the 16-bit Windows calls to 32-bit Windows.

-Hope this helps;
James
 
RobH said:
Do I have to install any thing else with this program? In dumb person terms (that's me,lol) this program will pretend to be in XP, so that I can run MDLC?
Click to expand...

Hello, Rob

Other than VMWare player, you need a full license of Windows XP.

If you do not have a license and you do not want to be bothered by
tedious installation procedure, then perhaps you should try
Windows XP mode. MS calls it "XP mode" but actually it is the
newest version of VirualPC, MS' counter part of VMWare player.
The XP mode comes with a full, pre-configured XP. You don't get
bothered by the license and setup is almost straight forward.
The draw back is that XP mode can not run DirectX applications
and, IMO, slower than VMWare player.

In my case, I bought a new license of Win7 64bit so I still have
a full Win XP license remained. If you bought an upgrade license
of Win7 64bit, the license for previous XP is no more valid.
Plz confirm your license.

Also, in case you have a copy of XP that comes with DELL, IBM or
other major PC maker, you may have some trouble.
These PC makers often customize the OS for their own. The installer
may complain that it can not find specific hardware or software.

Installing VMWare itself is simple. After that you need to
fresh-install XP into VMWare player. Don't forget bunch of patches,
too.

VMWare does not pretend XP by itslef. It actually pretends your
hardware. So you need a XP installed onto the virtual hardware.
(That's why it is called "Virtualization" as James described the
detail.)

Installation of XP onto VMWare player is a bit tough, though. There
is a preset for XP that will help you.

Once settled, VM acts just like your raw hardware. You can convert
the mdl then check if it works OK in CFS2 in the VM. CFS2 runs pretty
fine, polygons and textures are rendered completely the same as the
raw hardware, besides the performance.

Regards

Daisuke
 
RobH said:
Thanks everyone!

Ok, you guys have went way over my head with x86. In my program files, I have 2 folders, one named progrm files and the other is program files(x86), is that what you are saying?
Click to expand...

This would suggest you have a 64 bit (x64) version of Windows. The \Program Files folder is where your native 64 bit programs are installed and the \Program Files (x86) is where the 32 bit (x86) applications are installed.
 
I am just curious about Placing CFS2 in (X86) and the other programs files. Will it perform the same in both? Will
painting and scenery, etc. "tools" work better in one of them? :salute:
 
Thanks everyone for the help and the clarifications! I was hoping it would be a easier fix, but that's just the way things works sometimes.

I don't have a copy of XP anymore, and I don't think it will be worth all that just to get it to work.

I did get an idea though. Our computers at work still use XP, so this weekend, I will put all the files I need on a flash drive, and see if I can get it to work there.

Thanks again!:salute:
 
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