If you are having problems with any of the software from this website, please read this page before emailing me.
Q: I can't get Rainbow/Horizon to work. It says ROM files are missing.
A: The emulators need the ROM images to run. Seek using Google and you shall find. Please don't ask me for ROMs as I will not supply them.
Remember to rename the files and move them to the
correct folder exactly as specified in the text files
which accompany each emulator. Windows users beware:
your Windows environment hides certain
extensions by default (goto 'View' menu, 'Folder Options'
from any desktop window to change this).
Q: Where can I find games for Rainbow or Horizon?
A: Check the links on the Rainbow / Horizon pages on this website. Or ask in the comp.sys.atari.8bit or comp.emulators.misc newsgroups. Or search the web using Google (recommended ;)
Q: Why is the sound on Horizon/Rainbow on Windows platforms garbled/unrecogniseable?
A: If the sound is garbled for all the games you've tried then check the hardware acceleration levels for your soundcard (look in Sound/Multimedia Control Panel). Reduce the level to see if the sound improves. If the sound is garbled only for some games then it's probably due to the limitations of the emulator. Also note that none of these emulators mimic complex sound output such as speech.
Q: Some of the programs don't work when I double click on them.
A: Most of the Windows software on this website (except Rainbow and Horizon) are written in Visual Basic 5/6 or .NET.
If you have the version of VB required by the software (or later) installed on your own PC then simply download the program without the VB installer which will be much quicker.
If you're not sure, download the program with "Visual Basic 5 runtime"; it's a bigger file but it'll install everything you need to run the program. To run software written in .NET you will need to have the appropriate version (or a later version) of the .NET Framework installed on your PC.
Q: How can I set Apple MacOS X to 256 colors to run Rainbow/Horizon?
A: As Rainbow/Horizon for MacOS are not native versions for MacOS X, they run under Mac classic emulation (yes, emulation within emulation!). You need to set the classic environment to 256 colors. However if you are using MacOS X you should try Richard Bannister's ports of Rainbow and Horizon for MacOS X.
Q: Can Horizon handle BBC disk image (.IMG) files??
A: At present, no. All BBC disk image files (.IMGs) need to be "split up" into individual files. The Beeb Disk Splitter program supplied does this for you and adds the appropriate file header info for Horizon. Mac users can take advantage of Telcontar's "Horizon Convertor" program.
Q: Are the source code for Rainbow and Horizon in the public domain?
A: There are currently no plans to release the source code for public consumption.
Q: Elite from Ian Bell's website for Windows Horizon does not work with MacOS Horizon. Why?
A: The Windows and MacOS versions of Horizon use slightly different file naming conventions. To get Elite for Windows Horizon working with MacOS Horizon, do the following. Rename TCODE as T.CODE and DCODE as D.CODE. Now rename all DM* files as D.M* e.g. DMOA becomes D.MOA . Elite should now work with MacOS Horizon.
Q: Elite: How do I save a game?
A: If you were playing Elite on the original BBC computer, you would press the @ key (when docked) to bring up the Disk Access Menu.
So Windows users hit the END key and Mac users the . on the keypad (see respective Horizon docs for more on key mapping). When prompted for the drive number, type 0.
Q: My anti-virus software is blocking TinyPOP3. Why?
A: Some anti-virus software may report one of the components (MSWINSCK.OCX) that TinyPOP3 installs as a possible threat.
MSWINSCK.OCX is a standard Microsoft component which ships with Visual Basic 6 runtime. It allows programs to connect easily to the internet.
The version of MSWINSCK.OCX installed by TinyPOP3 has a filesize of 108336 bytes and a MD5 fingerprint of 9484c04258830aa3c2f2a70eb041414c.