Common Questions and Problems	With BassDuel

The following represents the most common questions and problems
encountered with BassDuel. Before calling or writing us, please
read the instruction manual thoroughly.	The instructions are
contained in a file on your disk called	BDUEL.DOC. We have found
that many questions can	be answered right there.

[1] PROBLEM: "I can't manually scroll to another section  of the lake".
SOLUTION:  First, make sure the	NUM LOCK is not	set on your keyboard. Then,
	   be sure you are using the NUMERIC KEYPAD ARROWS, not	the separate
	   cursor control arrows on 101	key enhanced keyboards.	Remember to
	   press the SHIFT key while you press the arrow keys. If that won't
	   work, try using the 2,4,6, &	8 keys in the top row of your MAIN
	   KEYBOARD (NOT the "F" keys!). Do not	use the	SHIFT key when using
	   this	method.
[2] PROBLEM: "Sometimes 'garbage' appears when I try to scroll the
	      screen or	select a rod or	bait".
SOLUTION: BassDuel needs lots of FREE memory. Just because your	computer has
	  640k or more of memory doesn't mean it's all free for	BassDuel to
	  use. We have found that memory resident programs (TSR'S) are one of
	  the main causes of this problem. Programs like RAM DISKS, PRINTER
	  BUFFERS, KEYBOARD ENHANCERS and MENU programs	should not be loaded
	  before running BassDuel. These programs occupy memory	space even
	  when not running, thus making	it unavailable to BassDuel.

	  Another occasional cause of this problem is lack of sufficient
	  memory on your EGA card. Many	of the older EGA cards only had	64k
	  or 128k of video memory. They	should have 256k to properly run
	  BassDuel.
[3] PROBLEM: "The program tries to start, but then stops."
SOLUTION: One of the main causes of this problem is too	many open files. DOS
	  only allows 15 open files per	process. Check your CONFIG.SYS file to
	  be sure it contains the following two	lines:

				  FILES=20
				  BUFFERS=20

	   BassDuel tries to open several files	when it	starts.	It then
	   assumes they	were open for its use. If in fact they were NOT
	   opened, the program may hang	waiting	for them to be available. The
	   two lines described above will help prevent this from happening.

[4] PROBLEM: "I cannot save a game to the disk."
SOLUTION: Many people try to save games	(to be played later) on	the original
	  distribution diskette. A saved game uses about 63k of	disk space,
	  and the distribution	diskette must have at least that much free if
	  you expect to	save a game.

	  Sometimes, people have a clock or some other interrupt driven
	  program running at the same time they're running BassDuel. Since
	  these	programs use interrupts, they can 'steal' time from BassDuel.
	  If one of these programs decides to 'steal' its time while BassDuel
	  is  writing to the disk, the resultant file may be damaged. This is
	  because DOS itself is	inherently non-reentrant, and BassDuel uses
	  DOS facilities to write to the disk. See #3 above as well.
[5] PROBLEM: "I cannot restore a saved game."
SOLUTION: See #3 and #4	above. Also, make sure ALL files that are supplied on
	  your BassDuel	distribution disk are in the same directory as
	  BASSDUEL.EXE.
[6] PROBLEM: "BassDuel does not always save my record catches properly!"
SOLUTION: See #3 above.	Also, some people thought they were clever, and	tried
	  to edit the BIGF.TXT and/or the BIGS.TXT files. Don't try it! One
	  misplaced space or deleted/added line	can mess the files up beyond
	  repair.
[7] PROBLEM: "I get a RUNTIME ERROR 002 then the program stops!"
SOLUTION: This means that BassDuel cannot open a file it needs.	This can
	  happen if you	do not have all	the files that are supplied on the
	  original distribution	diskette in the	same directory as the main
	  program, BASSDUEL.EXE. It can	also happen if you are missing a
	  file altogether. Also, refer to item 3, above.
[8] PROBLEM: "I get a runtime ERROR 004 then the program stops!"
SOLUTION: This means that access to a file needed by BassDuel has been denied
	  by DOS. Make sure there is no	write-protect tab on your diskette,
	  and see item 3 above.
[9] PROBLEM: "I have an IBM PS-2. The program reports that it detects a VGA
	  card then stops, hanging up my machine".
SOLUTION: Some models of PS-2 computers	have the MCGA video mode. This mode
	  (320 x 200 x 256 colors) is a	subset of the VGA specification. These
	  computers report VGA when queried by BassDuel. BassDuel then assumes
	  that since a VGA card	was detected, that it should use the maximum
	  screen resolution it can, which is 640 x 350,	16 colors. BassDuel
	  requires a true VGA or EGA video system to run.
[10] QUESTION: "I have a VGA card in my machine, yet the program seems to run
		in 16 color EGA	mode. Why, and how do I	make it	utilize	the
		256 colors of my VGA?"
ANSWER:	See item 9, above. BassDuel runs in the	EGA mode of your VGA card. It
	does not support true VGA (640 x 480 x 16 colors) at this time.

[11] QUESTION: "I have a Tandy machine that supports 16 color CGA mode. Is
		there a	way I can run BassDuel in this mode?
ANSWER:	No, at least not at this time. BassDuel	requires EGA or	VGA to run.
[12] PROBLEM: I	KNOW I have an EGA card	in my computer,	but BassDuel won't
	       run. It tells me	that it	needs EGA!
SOLUTION:    If	you're SURE you've got an EGA card in your computer, try
	     forcing BassDuel to use it	by starting the	program	with this
	     command line:

		     BASSDUEL -e

	     This makes	BassDuel assume	that an	EGA card exists. Some older
	     cards are not recognized by BassDuel, and this may	still allow
	     it	to run on your machine.	BE CAREFUL though! Using this
	     command can "hang"	machines that don't really have an EGA card.