Skip to main content
Electronic Theatre Controls Inc

Obsession Offline Tips and Tricks

*this article pertains to the use of Obsession Off-Line software on Windows 95 OS*

Obsession Off-Line (OOL) is an MS-DOS based program used as an off-line editor for ETC's Obsession line of consoles.  Because of the popularity of Windows 95, many users are experiencing problems when installing the software.  Below are some tidbits that might make your life easier.

The installation program attempts to add the line

DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\emm386.exe 6144 ram

to your global config.sys file.  Do not let it.  Follow the instructions in the "Obsession Off-Line Quick Guide" to add this line to a config.sys file associated with OOL.  When this is running properly, double clicking on the OOL icon (which may have the file name xxx.exe) will launch OOL in MS-DOS mode and use the config.sys file specified with the program.

Caution-Icon.png

CAUTION!  When editing your windows registry, take notes and back-up the registry in case you need to undo your changes.  Contact Microsoft for further support atwww.microsoft.com.

Caution-Icon.png

CAUTION!  Do not delete statements from system files.  Add REM in front of the statement you wish to disable.  This allows you to enable this function for later use.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS:

OOL won't launch when I double click it in Windows.   Check to make sure that you have edited the properties of the file such that it is set to run in MS-DOS mode and that you have specified a specific config.sys for the file with the line DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\emm386.exe 6144 ram in it.

When I restarted my computer after installing OOL, it will not boot into windows.  Check your config.sys and autoexec.bat files.  If your computer is just freezing during the boot process, press F8 when you see the text line "Starting Windows 95….". 
At this point you can boot in Safe Mode.  Booting in safe mode might allow you to get back into windows. 
If so, go to the Start Menu and click on Run. 
When the Run menu appears, type in sysedit. 
At this point you should look at both your config.sys and your autoexec.bat files. 
You should not have the line devicehigh=c:\windows\emm386.exe 6144 ram in your config.sys file. 
If you do, place a REM statement in front of it.  In your autoexec.bat file, make sure there are no references to OBSN.  
Place a REM in front of any references to OBSN. 
If you cannot boot into Windows, choose Command Prompt after pressing F8 and use the DOS Edit command to make changes (i.e.  type: edit config.sys at the C:\ prompt).
 Also REM these lines in Config.sys dos=single and dos=high,umb
 Also REM or Delete lines in Autoexec.bat that follow lines "Lines added by Win 95" they call out Obsn and reference a command/w.

Note-Icon.png

Hint:

You can make Windows automatically give you the option to boot in safe mode and MS-DOS mode by adding the following lines to your msdos.sys file:

BootMenu=1
BootMenuDelay=10

The delay setting is the amount of time (in seconds) that the machine waits before booting into normal Windows

I have no option in Shutdown to "Reboot in MS-DOS Mode".  
This seems to occur in Windows v. 4.00.950 B  (OSR 2 Release) under certain installation  conditions. 
Use REGEDIT to edit the registry entry HKEY CURRENT SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS/CURRENT VERSION/POLICIES/WINOLDAPP. 
If the value of this registry entry is set to 1, change it to 0.  You can also do a search for "WINOLDAPP" in RegEdit.  If you are on a network, you may have to  contact your System Administrator to change the same setting in the System Policy Editor.

  • Was this article helpful?