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Animated
Brain Technical Notes
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Graphic
Brain Technical Notes
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Animated Brain
The Animated Brain runs under Windows 95, 98, NT and the Mac System 7 or higher. Please note that the software will not run under Windows 3.1 or 16-bit Mac Operation Systems (System 6 or earlier).
Minimum Windows Hardware:
Pentium-75 or greater
8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended)
256 color video
Sound-blaster compatible audio.Minimum Macintosh Hardware:
68040-66 or greater
8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended)
256 color video
Sound Back to top
The CD is ready to run. Thus, no installation procedure is necessary. If you wish, you may copy the entire contents of the CD-ROM (575 MB) to any directory path on your hard disk. Back to top
The CD-ROM version of the program requires Quicktime 3.0 or greater. If this version is not present on your system, the Animated Brain will install Quicktime 3.0 automatically.
Windows 95/98/NT/2000:
Click here to download the Quicktime 4.0 patchIf you need an un-zip utility, go here... http://www.pkware.com/
Animated Brain / Quicktime 4.0 step-by-step instructions:
1. You must run the entire program from your hard disk:
2. Copy the entire contents of the Animated Brain CD-ROM to a directory (e.g. D:\ANIMBRAIN)
3. Download the AnimatedBrain.zip file by clicking on the link above.
4. Unpack the Zip file in a temp directory.
5. Copy (& replace) the unpacked AnimatedBrain.exe to your new directory (e.g. D:\ANIMBRAIN)
If you have Quicktime 4.0 loaded onto your computer and desire to run the Animated Brain from CD-ROM, you must uninstall Quicktime 4.0 and allow the Animated Brain to install Quicktime 3.0 by clicking...
Start -- Programs -- Quicktime -- Uninstall Quicktime. Then select "Uninstall Everything". Once Quicktime 4.0 is uninstalled, allow the Animated Brain CD-ROM to install Quicktime 3.0.
*Mac users need only drag their Quicktime Folder to the trashcan.Mac OS:
Click here to download the Quicktime 4.0 patchTo update your Mac system, follow the instructions above. The Mac version of the patch file should automatically unpack. If you need the Stuffit Expander utility follow this link... http://www.aladdinsys.com/downloads/software.html
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To speed up loading, press the Shift key while the "loading" indicator is active. Continue holding Shift until the red indicator skips ahead roughly ¾ of the way. The bulk of the loading time is spent pre-loading the full text. The performance trade-off is that individual text modules may take a few seconds to load (when initially accessed) while running the program.
On machines running Sentinel® or other security software which prohibits end-users from writing files to the local hard disk, you will need to manually copy the file XOBGLU32.DLL from the Animated Brain CD-ROM \ACCYS directory to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Back to top
After you insert the CD-ROM into your player, you will notice two files displayed on your desktop (in addition to the folder containing the program and the CD icon). These two files (both titled Animated Brain) were inadvertently included on the CD. Please ignore these files and start the program by double-clicking the Animated Brain icon in the Animated Brain folder. Note that when you eject the CD the files will be removed from your desktop. If this error causes any problems (such as checking the software out in a library environment) please advise and we will ship a replacement copy at no charge. Back to top
This CD-ROM contains only a single-user version. Please contact us or visit our web site (brainviews.com) for site license pricing and instructions. Back to top
Brainviews, Ltd. fully supports "Fair Use" of the Animated Brain for educational purposes. We have provided print functionality and recommend a color ink or laser printer (especially for printing on transparencies). Back to top
Certain laptop computers occasionally will display a ¼ inch band of "noise" across the top of the screen. This does not affect program performance or usability. This problem is currently of unknown origin (although I suspect out-dated display drivers) and has no clear-cut solution. Back to top
Graphic Brain
The Graphic Brain runs under Windows 95, Windows 98, DOS and IBM's OS/2. It is possible to make the Graphic Brain run under Windows 3.1 but only after considerable tweaking. Unfortunately, the Graphic Brain does not run under Windows NT. The reason for this is because the Graphic Brain's run-time executable (TELL.EXE) is compiled to accomodate IBM's OS/2 as well as DOS real-mode operations with "expanded" memory (more on expanded memory in a moment). Windows NT uses a Microsoft proprietary "flat-memory" model that is not compatible with OS/2. Consider running a software application compiled for "native" UNIX with Windows 98 -- it won't run! Back to top
IBM Compatible 286 (not a typo) or greater 500 KB of free conventional memory 3 MB expanded memory 2.5 MB hard disk space (system files needed for CD-ROM playback) 50 MB hard disk space (full install to hard disk) Back to top
Windows 95: - Start an MS-DOS full screen session (i.e. Click Start; Click Run; Type "command") If the session appears in a window press Alt-Enter to switch to full screen. - Change drives to your CD-ROM drive (e.g. D:) - Type INSTALL
Windows 3.1: - Exit Windows 3.1 - Change drives to your CD-ROM drive (e.g. D:) - Type INSTALL
OS/2: - Start an MS-DOS full screen session. - Change drives to your CD-ROM drive (e.g. D:) - Type INSTALL
Windows NT: - The Graphic Brain does not run under Windows NT. Back to top
Graphic Brain Memory Settings and Troubleshooting
The Graphic Brain is a full-screen DOS application (quite similar to many commercial games of the early 90's). The program requires at least 500 KB (out of a possible 640KB) of free memory (the real-mode DOS memory less than 640KB). And, just like many games of that vintage (360x480 pixel resolution graphics & 256 colors) the Graphic Brain requires at least 3 MB EMS (Expanded Memory Specification) memory. This type of memory was originally conceived by Lotus, Intel & Microsoft (LIM). If your machine is not configured for LIM-EMS you will see the message: "Z13 Not enough LIM memory to run AVC". See the example CONFIG.SYS file below to correct this problem
While many Windows95/98 configurations will run the Graphic Brain without adjustment (the default MS-DOS full screen session has Expanded Memory set to “auto”), certain newer computers (Pentium II, etc.) require loading two DOS mode drivers (HIMEM.SYS & EMM386.EXE) to properly allocate LIM-EMS memory. Here is a sample Windows 95/98 CONFIG.SYS file:
device=himem.sys
REM note that the 4000 allocates approximately 4MB of memory as REM "expanded" or LIM-EMS to the machine's memory pool. device=emm386.exe 4000
files=30
buffers=30
dos=high,umb
stacks=9,256
lastdrive=z
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Running the Graphic Brain Under Windows
The Graphic Brain is not a Windows "compliant" application. That is, it does not use pull down menus and pop up windows. Also, you cannot minimize, maximize or resize its "window" and it is not possible to run the program alongside other Windows applications on the "desktop". While it is technically possible to bring up the Graphic Brain in a Windows 95/98 window (by pressing Alt-Enter; the Windows full-screen/window keys), the graphics become distorted and mouse functionality is erratic. Back to top
- Decide on a drive letter each client can use to map to the server (e.g. G:) - Load the Graphic Brain onto each target workstation by following the Install for CD-ROM instructions in the INSTALL program. - Once the system files have been copied to the workstation drive, edit the PATH! file (text) in the \SYSTEM.!AV directory (change the contents of the file to G:) - On the server, designate all files as read-only (all directories with extension *.!AP &*.!AV) - Share your "server" drive as read/write (or at least the \SYSTEM.!AV directory) - At a client workstation, start an MS-DOS full screen session and change to the mapped drive (G:) - Change directories to G:\SYSTEM.!AV - Type TELL MAIN (these last few steps may be automated via a shortcut & a simple batch file). Back to top