andyross@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Andrew Rossmann) (02/05/90)
Yesterday, I bought the game QIX (a Taito product.) I was unable to get it to work on my Tandy 1000SX. It would go through the setup screens, and then load in a bunch of stuff, then completely lock up so hard I had to use the reset button. The screen would remain blank. My system: Tandy 1000SX, 640K, V20 (might be the problem), VGA, 40M MFM hard disk, Logitech Bus mouse, 2400 baud internal modem (Prac. Periph.), DMP-430 printer, 8087. I first tried removing the VGA card and using the internal video, but there was no change. I tried booting off a 'clean' floppy, no change. I tried running at 4.77MHz. I tried removing the hard disk controller. I tried removing the printer cable (QIX supports a switched [Atari-style] adaptor that connects to the parallel port. The printer goes off-line when the game starts.) I tried every combination of startup options (CGA/Tandy/EGA video, Joystick/Keyboard, IBM/Tandy/No Music.) Only ONCE was I able to get the game going, and it locked up after about a minute. I was unable to repeat the startup. I should mention that the game worked perfectly on a Tandy 3000NL w/ EGA, and mouse. The printer goes off-line during the game, and then re-sets when the game ends. My only guess is that the game might be confusing the V20 with a '286, and doing things funny (although I run 4DOS286 and the 286 version of NNANSI with no problems.) I have Arkanoid and Arkanoid II from Taito, and both work fine. The only funny thing I noticed is that the screen that comes up asking where the disk is (so it can load the copy protected stuff) had the title **PROD 12**, which makes me wonder if it was a pre-release that somehow sneaked out. Andrew Rossmann andyross@ddsw1.MCS.COM