#PAR drive prob, WFW 3.11
23 messages in this thread
When I try to access a PAR drive in Windows for Workgroups 3.11, File Manager
and file requesters show a drive which is a clone of my boot drive rather than
the contents of the PAR drive.
System is a Pentium 133 with MSDOS 6.22, WFW 3.11, 386MAX 6.0 as memory
manager.
I think I previously read of this problem, as well as its solution, but I can't
find the fix anywhere I have looked. Can anyone help me out?
Lyle,
I just got a used PAR last week and have been trying to memorize the owner's
manual for the PAR and for RAZOR, this is what the RAZOR manual says:
"…In order to resolve the conflict, turn 32 bit file access off."
(Control Panel, 386 Enhanced, Virtual Memory)
Scott
Thanks. The PAR drives don't show 32-bit file access enabled. Does this mean
I have to turn off 32-bit file access for all drives? I hope not, but i'll
give it a try and see what happens.
Thanks for the pointer to the Razor Pro manula. I knew I had read this before,
but didn't think to look there!
Personally, I wouldn't trust the data integrity of file ops from the Windows
File Manager on the PAR. The PAR is really doing some backflips to fool DOS
into seeing a DOS drive. I'd stick with PAR.EXE for file management, even if
you do get the File Mangler to recognize it. 😉
— James — Choreo Motion —
I want to be able to use Razor Pro with it and use the windows PAR player, so
it would be nice to get it working.
I have a new problem. I downloaded the latest version of the PAR utils from
their FTP site, and now, each time I exit the PAR.EXE control program, my
computer freezes. This is version 1.51 of the PAR utils for DOS. Anyone else
having a similar problem? Could it be a conflict between Pharlap DOS extender
and 386MAX?
Hmm. I'm still using 1.50 and I haven't had any problems with it. Have you
tried the ol' clean-boot routine?
— James — Choreo Motion —
Lyle,
There are a couple of things you might try, if you can see the PAR drive in
DOS o.k. and the problem shows up in Windows only, you need to turn the 32 Bit
File Access to OFF in the Control Panel under Enhanced 386 Virtual Memory
settings. If the directory of the PAR drive shows incorrectly in both DOS and
Windows, make sure that you are running the latest version (ver 1.5) of the PAR
software and you also might try adding the DOS Substitute Command (i.e. C:\temp
D:\) in your Autoexec.bat file prior to your PAR settings. This will move you
PAR drive to another Drive letter, the PAR will use the next sequential drive
available.
-Mike
When I turned off 32-bit file access, things started working as expected.
Thanks. As I stated in another message, my new problem is a machine freeze
when I exit PAR.EXE in DOS. Also, I get a memory protect violation if I try
PAR.EXE from a DOS window in Windows.
The Windows recorder is handy – grabs both video and audio at once! Once I get
the kinks worked out, I think I'm gonna LOVE it!
Lyle,
I went back and read the message from James and his statement "I wouldn't
trust the data integrity of file ops from the Windows File Manager on the PAR"
holds true even if you are using RP or that other program. I would only access
the drives from RP and in DOS (using the copy command only, with out wild
cards) & the PAR application if you want to keep your data intact. I also have
had good luck with back-up programs in DOS and Windows directly from the PAR
using DPS PAR 1.5x software.
As for the following, you are playing with fire. I have never tried this
myself, there is no reason to run PAR.EXE from Windows when you have RP anyway.
>> I get a memory protect violation if I try PAR.EXE from a DOS window in
Windows <<
Also another rule of thumb, do not run PAR.EXE before you use RP I have heard
of problems here also, in other words, make sure you have not loaded PAR before
you go into WIN.
I would make a copy of your boot files (i.e. config.sys, autoexec.bat) start
with a basic boot structure and see if your problems still exist with the
lock-up. You will not need a memory manager to run the PAR from DOS.
BTW- Those DPS PAR MCI drivers are great, sound adds life to video.
-Mike
Mike,
PMJI, but do you use Razor Pro for NT?
If so, I was wondering if you think it could be used for editting film rez work
(2048×1536)? Does it have features like film speed playback, motion blur, wire
removal, excellent chromakeying for bluescreen compositing etc? Also, does it
support 10 bit log or 12-14 bit per pixel file formats (like .rla) suitable for
film work.
I would imagine one could work at video rez for previews and then do final
compositing at film rez.
Martin
Martin,
Have things settled down at MetroLight? I read about your hard drive problems
:(, you know Alan was down for a few days with a bad 4 gig drive, but I think
it was a Micropolis, I hope the wind is not blowing in my direction.<g> There
is no good time do have problems but if your in between jobs I guess that would
be the best time.
Anyway Speed Razor Mach III is still in the beta stages, soon to be released.
Here are some answers to your questions.
-Razor supports just about any final output size, I think it would be
controlled by your amount of RAM, I will check on this for you. The other thing
is you will need to import and do your final output in TGA files (that is a lot
of hard disk space, you will need a few of those big Segates).
-Film speed playback can be adjusted on a single ani file but I am not sure
how you would control it on a set of TGA's, you could set the Finial Output
Setting to any speed that you want.
-Razor has some of the best chromakeying for bluescreen compositing on the
market from the reports I get from in:sync.
-I need to check on the file formats, but I think right now TGA would be the
closest.
-There is no motion blur or wire removal at this time.
-If you are working with single TGA's the render speed is directly affected by
the file size, so if you wanted to work in video rez Razor would have to sample
the film rez files down and I think this would take more time but you could
render to the PVR and have a way to do a playback at video rez.
Jamie has been on the road and can cover these questions in more detail, he
will be back in his office on Monday.
-Mike
Mike,
thanks for your information. I'll probably try and pick Jamie's brain on Monday
on the Speed Razor/PVR combo's suitability for what I have in mind.
I don't know why I asked about motion blur <g>. I was probably thinking of
2d-tracking (tracking your images to points on another image) and bump
stabilization.
Martin
Martin,
I spoke to Jamie this morning and there was some good news. The new software
will a thumbnail of TGA's that will enable you to do your edits in a timely
fashion. Also they are working on 10 bit log or 12-14 bit per pixel file
formats, this is for SGI, right?. As for the 2d-tracking , he kinda of laughed
and said what do you want a Firey (which is a package around $300,00), I don't
think thats going to happen.
-Mike
Mike,
thanks for digging up the info.
>> Also they are working on 10 bit log or 12-14 bit per pixel file formats,
this is for SGI, right? <<
that's good. I wonder when they will be ready. It's an option I'm considering
for film work in general. The file format .rla is an SGI file format and is
used by our film-recorder.
>> As for the 2d-tracking , he kinda of laughed and said what do you want a
Firey <<
well, it may _seem_ laughable, but that new package Digital Fusion from
4dVision offers it as a $495 option on top of a $3000 base price (if memory
serves). So, I thought maybe the 2d-tracking technology may be within reach of
mere mortals now. I understood, from talking to our programmers that it wasn't
that difficult. Now 3d tracking ….. that's a challenge <g>.
Martin
Martin,
No problem, sounds like you'll have to work on Jamie a bit for that
2d-tracking…. maybe Speed Razor Mach IV or what ever the next release is. <g>
-Mike
Mike,
I talked to Jamie today also and we had a very cool chat. I think we should be
able to use Speed Razor in film production, probably on Alpha 300 workstations
with the PVR for tests and approval purposes.
I'm impressed that this company is small enough that you can talk to the
president and have some influence. Try that with Adobe <g>. Actually, I haven't
maybe I should see if I can talk to the president <g>.
Martin
Martin:
>> …that new package Digital Fusion from 4dVision offers it as a $495
>> option on top of a $3000 base price (if memory serves).
Your memory serves very well, as usual! That is correct. I just ordered it
this week, I'll let you know how it works, or just give me a few weeks with it,
and stop by on your way home from work!
Greg Pyros
Greg,
>>
I just ordered it this week, I'll let you know how it works, or just give
me a few weeks with it, and stop by on your way home from work! <<
I'm not usually passing your area until about 10pm, or later <g>.
Just ordered it, eh? I must say I was put off, possibly unjustifiably, by it
looking like a DOS app. Is it a DOS app? I stopped buying DOS apps quite a few
months ago and am trying to stick with Windows NT one. The feature list looks
interesting, however.
Having spoken to Jamie I could really see how Speed Razor, on an Alpha 300,
with a PVR, could make a killer compositing station for film work. Do all your
tests at D1 rez on the PVR, get client approval then render the film rez
version. Save a ton of diskspace and the level of interactivity would be very
good.
It lacks a few high end features (higher bit depths, wire removal, 2d tracking
etc) but Jamie seemed open to suggestions, and I feel they could offer those as
add-ons at extra cost for the folk who need them.
Martin
Martin,
Speed Razor NT will handle 4k x 4k images, but image formats are ANI,
DVM, AVI, BMP, TGA, FLC, FLI, and WAV and PAL.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Kevin,
>> Speed Razor NT will handle 4k x 4k images, but image formats are ANI, DVM,
AVI, BMP, TGA, FLC, FLI, and WAV and PAL. <<
Jamie seemed open to the idea of adding .rla multiple bit-depth formats (10 bit
log, 12-16 bit per channel). I just need to supply him with the docs and he'll
look into it.
Martin
Martin,
I must say, the in:sync guys are incredibly nice. We should have our
dealer beta in a couple of days. Good to hear they may add what you need.
Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
Kevin,
>> I must say, the in:sync guys are incredibly nice. We should have our dealer
beta in a couple of days. <<
I agree. I was amazed considering the stick that Jamie was taking back in the
early Razor Pro days, how he stayed polite and cool-headed throughout. Plus, he
seemed to have come through for everybody, WRT bug fixes etc.
I think Speed Razor, the PVR, on WinNT will make a great combo.
Martin
<<… Also, I get a memory protect violation if I try PAR.EXE from a DOS window
in Windows.>>
Lyle,
I find it very useful to run the PAR from WFW 3.11. I also shell from
3D Studio to the PAR. This saves time when I need to preview what an image(s)
" really" looks like on the TV screen. Anything that saves time in the
"Tweaking Process" is worth a try. Anyway, you may have tried the following
but I will list what I did and if parts of the description are too elementary
please ignore those parts.
1) Create a PIF file in the PIF editor with the following settings;
(note: use your path structure for the following entries.)
Program Filename: C:\DPS_PAR\PAR.EXE
Window Title: PAR
Start-up Directory: C:\DPS_PAR
Video Memory —- Select " Low Graphics"
Memory requirements: KB Required = 128 KB Desired = 640
EMS Memory KB Required = 0 KB Desired = 1024
XMS Memory KB Required = 0 KB Desired = 1024
Display Usage —Select " Full Screen"
Execution —- Put an X in both the" Background" and the "Foreground"
boxes.
Put an X in the "Close Window on Exit" box.
Click on the "Advanced" Button
Make both the "Background" and "Foreground" Multitasking Priority
entries 100.
Leave or make " Detect Idle Time " blank.
Memory Options — Put an X in the "Uses High Memory Area". Leave the
rest of the Memory Options blank.
Display Options —- Put an X in the "Low Graphics" and "Emulate Text
Mode" boxes. Leave the rest blank.
Save the PIF file as par.pif to the windows directory.
Now make a new item in what ever group you want to put your PAR icon in
or make a new PAR group and put it in there.
To do this you need to select "New Item" from your File Menu (?) I use
Norton Desktop and I can't remember the WFW dialog for making new items or
groups. But if you know how to do that use the par.pif you made and enter the
following c:\windows\par.pif in the "Program" entry space. If this
doesn't make sense perhaps someone using WFW could take it from here.
Hope this helps. If you want to shell out of 3DS to the PAR and need
some suggestions let me know. There is a trade off in available RAM
but I use a multiple boot configuration and sometimes really need the option.
Randy