Age of Empires 2 won't Recognize CD when Installed on D: Drive

[TradeDraft]

Installs Fine but when Loading Game it says "Please Insert CD Rom, Select OK and Restart Application"

So how can this Problem be Fixed

Using Windows 10 and latest Core and Retroarch

Update:

Same thing Happened installing to C: Drive

[Winchester95]

its working on my android device

[TradeDraft]

Same thing happened with Red Alert 2 and that when I press to Install

[cbrunner83]

i have same issue with Beavis & Butthead: Bunghole in one Minigolf Game .... so there seem to be several titles that have this issue

[xttx]

Same issue with MotoRacer 3

Update: It actually uses a copy protection, that's why just making an ISO is obviously not enough. So it's a false report, sorry for that.

[schellingb]

As @xttx mentioned, the games reported in this issue all have some elaborate CD copy protection scheme which isn't that trivial for an emulator to support.

A first attempt to satisfy some of the earlier Windows game CD copy protection systems is now in the just released version 0.9.7. In my testing, with a proper raw CD image that preserves bad sectors of the original game disc (usually .BIN file and not .ISO file) I can get Age of Empires 2 to run correctly now. Red Alert 2 (which was released a year after AOE2) though seems to be a bit more clever and doesn't fall for my attempt just yet. Please try any other copy protected games from that era, I'm curious if it helps.

[cbrunner83]

@schellingb well for me this works now in the example of the Beavis & Butthead: Bunghole in One Minigolf title as of version 0.9.7 :)

[TradeDraft]

Found a Video of Someone getting Red Alert 2 working Dosbox Pure.

I asked how he did it and he answered how he did it in the Comments

Video Here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSC1yhMU9Jc&ab_channel=guruemulation

[schellingb]

Yes, running CD emulation in the guest OS like Daemon Tools or Virtual Clone Drive will likely work around the issue. I wish one of these tools were open source so I could see what it is doing. Come on, at least a very old version of these tools for Windows 98 can't contain that many relevant trade secrets nowadays :-)

Ideally it would all work out-of-the-box without the need to install some tool in the guest OS or use copy-protection removal hacks, hopefully we'll get there some day :-)

[TradeDraft]

That would help a lot @schellingb IF was Open Source would make your Job lot Easier

Yeah the OS not even being Supported anymore so they not going to lose Much Money

[cbrunner83]

ah so mounting tools are okay to use in the emulated OS already? i avoided using them since RA has that built in but okay, noted for workaround :)

[TradeDraft]

Tried Age of Empires 2 and still says to Insert CD

Using latest Core

[cbrunner83]

software like Daemon Tools was mentioned to workaround issues with mounting did you try that aswell to mount Age of Empires 2?

[TradeDraft]

I have tried @cbrunner83 but I can get the Image File to.show from a Zip File

[cbrunner83]

@TradeDraft not sure if i understand you correctly so you try to run AoE2 for a Zip File over the RA mounting feature?

i`d go for making custom ISO Files with software like Anyburn (maybe you have to repack the AoE 2 zip files and split them when creating the custom iso)

• mount the custom iso with RA
• transfer the AoE zip file for the custom iso to the Win98 D drive
• then unpack the AoE Zip in D drive and mount the image with Daemon Tools

[TradeDraft]

Thanks @cbrunner83 will do it

Though I did get it working by Putting. Bin/.Cue in Zip File as just mount the .bin File

[RIKUSYO]

Could be a related issue.

The Windows 95 game "The Tower CD Winter Edition" (a later version of the game known overseas as "SimTower") reads and plays movies from the CD during certain scenes while playing the game, but not in Dosbox Pure.

Other information

• The CD is a hybrid of Windows and Mac.
• When creating a CD image (CUE/BIN), you need to skip the error.
• The game that was run in VirtualBox was able to play movies.
• When running the above VirtualBox HDD image with Dosbox-x, the game could not play movies.
• When using Daemon Tools on Windows95 on Dosbox Pure, the movie does not play (it works on VirtualBox).
• The previous version, which is not the Winter Edition, does not cause errors in creating CD images, and movies can be played.

Sorry for the DeepL translation.

[TradeDraft]

Samething Happened with Unreal Tournament and Sid Miers SimGof

[SAM1430B]

Red Alert 2 Installer error fixed by updating the CD-ROM driver , not sure if this gonna work with Age Of Empires 2

[TradeDraft]

Red Alert 2 Installer error fixed by updating the CD-ROM driver , not sure if this gonna work with Age Of Empires 2

How would I do that?

[SAM1430B]

How would I do that?

I don't know what's the difference between Dosbox-x driver and the standard one but once you update to the standard you can't backward the driver by default way. Device Manager>CDROM>what appeared to me something like(Dosbox-x CD ROM)>Properties>Update Driver>The next stepDisplay a list...>select CD ROM Drive...

In addition this might help too update the Hard disk controller Update Driver>Display a list...>Show all hardware>Standard Dual PCI IDE Controller>Next`>...

[TradeDraft]

Where would I get the Dosbox-X CD Rom Driver from @SAM1430B ?

[SAM1430B]

@schellingb might know,. Anyway Dosbox-X CD ROM Driver didn't give me any value from the standard driver. But if you need it just make a copy of your OS image.

[TradeDraft]

I tried the OEM Version and Worked Fine

[alexb3d]

I wanted to make a guide, but my time is limited. I'm going to answer some things, maybe it will be helpful to solve the problems.

For all the games mentioned here:

-. DOSBox does not support CUE+Multiple BINs, you have to convert them to CUE+Single BIN.
The way is to compress it to CHD and then to CUE+BIN. When compressed to CHD, it is automatically converted to single CUE+BIN. In linux from the terminal it looks like this:

CUE to CHD: chdman createcd -i "input file.cue" -o "output file.chd"
CHD to CUE: chdman extractcd -i "input file.chd" -o "output file.cue"

-. Early copy protections were easy to bypass., you just had to change the default directory.

-. There are games that can only be installed by updating the CD-ROM driver, in My PC > Drivers > blah, blah, blah...

Moto Racer 3: does not work because it does not recognize the voodoo 1, it only recognizes the main video adapter and it is a very limited card. It is a very current game for the hardware we have at PURE. cc. @xttx The same thing happens with PowerDVD, I was trying to run the i-DVD/DVD Game games.

The Tower: This is a good game, very addictive. To watch the videos you just have to reinstall DirectX from the installation CD (or zip) you have). @RIKUSYO

[schellingb]

Thanks for the information @alexb3d

Btw. as part of #464 DOSBox Pure now supports uncompressed CHDs. Such a CHD can be created with chdman.exe createcd -c none -i "input file.cue" -o "output file.chd". The uncompressed CHD can then be compressed into a ZIP like any other ISO. So if you like one less file or one less step in the process above, that is a possibility :-)

[RIKUSYO]

@alexb3d

The Tower: This is a good game, very addictive. To watch the videos you just have to reinstall DirectX from the installation CD (or zip) you have).

The opening movie plays without problems, so DirectX does not seem to be a problem. Only the in-game movie does not play.

[alexb3d]

Thanks to you @schellingb PURE is a marvel.

aahhh... they are uncompressed chd, that's why they don't load, I was already trying them.

I have a doubt, is it possible to try to use normal compressed chd?
I read the post, I know it can be complicated to have a zip inside a zip, but, something happens. The two formats read on the fly and the zip format, when it is already compressed does not do anything, it just packs it.

A compressed chd image in a zip weighs almost identical. Moto Racer (USA).chd - 284.5MB Moto Racer (USA)chd.zip - 284.6MB

You can do the compressed chd support? PURE is very fast loading the disks in zip, I'm pretty sure that loading compressed chd inside a zip is not going to have any noticeable influence.

@RIKUSYO That does not influence, it is about codecs, the codecs of the game videos can be different.

When you do the complete installation and install DirectX, Mplayer2 is installed, the game may be loading the videos with that player.

[RIKUSYO]

@alexb3d I have installed DirectX, but it has not changed. Also, The Tower video uses QuickTime (I installed QuickTime from the CD).

When I used the same HDD image with VirutalBox before, the video played without problems, so this may be a problem specific to Dosbox pure (and Dosbox-X). Note that The Tower video is read directly from the CD.

[alexb3d]

@RIKUSYO It is not a PURE problem, because the system works, and the game loads. This is a software problem, the old games were very crafty.

I imagine you have Windows in Japanese (I recommend 98SE) and that you have the voodoo driver and DirectX installed. If you tell me that the videos are Quicktime, it is possible that it is the Quicktime installation address, because it has two, in C: and in Programs.

What is the exact name of the game you have, with extension. I'll look it up and try it, let's get the solution.

[RIKUSYO]

@alexb3d I will start over with the Windows installation when I have more time. The game is The Tower 1.3J upgraded with The Tower/CD Winter Edition.

[alexb3d]

@RIKUSYO The DirectX solution is for 'The Tower II', I thought game 1 had no videos. Sorry for the confusion.

I have a problem, Some Japanese games are hard to get, but this one has been impossible for me. In archive.org there are two compilations of 1 and 2, and floppy images of 1.2J, little else. The collection of the 1 has 'Towe/CD' folder, this one I can't install because it says it doesn't recognize the TOWER.EXE. Can you upload the images? I would be very grateful.

In the comments you say it works in VirtualBox but not in DOSBox, please check that it is a 'CUE+Single BIN' image, if it is 'CUE+BIN multiple' it does not work, DOSBox does not support multiple tracks. What did you create the image with? if it gave an error maybe it is the hybrid format, I would not rule out trying an ISO image for Mac compatibility.

The first versions of Quicktime (up to 2.1.2) for Win3.X were installed in C:Windows, from this one, they are installed in C:\Program Files. This game was designed for 3.1, If a newer QuickTime is installed, it will not play the videos. (also happens with Myst).
This can be solved by creating a shortcut in the path or by installing both versions together, v2.1.2 and v5.0.5 for Win95, or v2.1.2 and v6.5.2 for Win98.

This option is far but I do not rule it out, when installing the game 1.2J from the floppy I get a warning of incompatibility in FAT32, to be reviewed Translated with IA Translate of RetroArch.

[RIKUSYO]

@alexb3d The Tower 1.3J and The Tower CD/Winter Edition have been uploaded.

In The Tower 1.3J, you can see Tower Vision on the outside walls of the building, and in The Tower CD/Winter Edition you can see videos of each room in addition to this.

If normal, the video will play in a window when clicked on with a magnifying glass.

Tower Vision videos will play in The Tower 1.3J, but will not play when upgrading to The Tower CD/Winter Edition.

The opening movie plays without problems.

When converting The Tower CD/Winter Edition to a CD image, it took a very long time and may have ignored some errors. Nevertheless, VirtualBox was able to play the video without any problems.

[alexb3d]

@RIKUSYO Sorry for the delay, I have mixed news.

The Tower CD 1.3J can play videos in PURE, you need to install Windows directly in PURE, maybe the image of another program creates some problem.

In Winter Edition I have not been able to play videos, I have done many tests, I even tried to use a Win3.1 SHELL that uses the CD in D: to rule out that the disk is read only from that drive, but the same result. It seems that it does not get the path.

It is possibly that the image is corrupted, VirtualBox is another mechanism and maybe it ignores errors. I can only suspect because I do not have another image.

I understand that IMG is not good for multitrack disks and this game has 3. This Winter Edition is the only Tower 1 that is in Redump, but I do not get the image. Tower II tiene varios.

You can try to rip with Redump's guide, to confirm that it is verified and if you are ok with it, rip Tower CD, these games are very difficult to get.

If you give me a couple of days I will give you the Windows images installed and configured, the one I have is very damaged.

Reviewing this game I have found a couple of bugs in PURE that I will post later, so as not to make this post longer.

[RIKUSYO]

@alexb3d Thanks for the detailed research. I hadn't tried ripping by Redump, I'll look into it over the weekend.

Update: I tried Redump but the drive was not supported. X(

I did one experiment - I created a CD image of only the data I needed for the Winter Edition and played the game. The game played fine on Windows ME in Virtual Box, and the opening movie/room movie/Tower Vision movie all played.

The game could also be played on Dosbox Pure (Win ME), but as before, only the opening movie could be played and not the room movie or Tower Vision movie.