Colchess Problem

[James Swinney]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: James Swinney at 10 April 2000 20:30:31:
Hello,
I'm having problems trying to get ColChess ver 6.1 to work. When I start Winboard it starts fine but ColChess never responds with any moves playing either black or white. I notice too that if I just fire it up it in dos and enter a move myself it just sits there and never responds but it will work (in dos) if I enter new or black or white first. I have the path statement correct in my autoexec.bat also. SET ColChess_Path=d:\programme\winboard\colchess\
Here are the Winboard setups:
\"ColChess H14\" /fd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
\"ColChess H14\" /sd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
Any help would be appreciated, this is really starting to bug me
James

[Dann Corbit]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Dann Corbit at 10 April 2000 20:45:42:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: James Swinney at 10 April 2000 20:30:31:

Hello,
I'm having problems trying to get ColChess ver 6.1 to work. When I start Winboard it starts fine but ColChess never responds with any moves playing either black or white. I notice too that if I just fire it up it in dos and enter a move myself it just sits there and never responds but it will work (in dos) if I enter new or black or white first. I have the path statement correct in my autoexec.bat also. SET ColChess_Path=d:\programme\winboard\colchess\
Here are the Winboard setups:
\"ColChess H14\" /fd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
\"ColChess H14\" /sd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
Any help would be appreciated, this is really starting to bug me

You need to set an environmental variable like this:
COLCHESS_PATH=E:\ColChess\
Where "E:\ColChess\" is whatever the actual path which you have chosen for installing ColChess.
Notice also that there should be a trailing backslash (For Win32 systems -- For UNIX systems it should be '/' instead.) That is because file names for opening books, etc. are simply appended to the end of that path.
Probably, the easiest way to do it is from Start/Settings/Control Panel/System, and then locate the environment settings (where to find it is different for various types of Win32 systems).
HTH

My FTP site

[James Swinney]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: James Swinney at 10 April 2000 21:38:57:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: Dann Corbit at 10 April 2000 20:45:42:

Hello,
I'm having problems trying to get ColChess ver 6.1 to work. When I start Winboard it starts fine but ColChess never responds with any moves playing either black or white. I notice too that if I just fire it up it in dos and enter a move myself it just sits there and never responds but it will work (in dos) if I enter new or black or white first. I have the path statement correct in my autoexec.bat also. SET ColChess_Path=d:\programme\winboard\colchess\
Here are the Winboard setups:
\"ColChess H14\" /fd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
\"ColChess H14\" /sd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
Any help would be appreciated, this is really starting to bug me

You need to set an environmental variable like this:
COLCHESS_PATH=E:\ColChess\
Where "E:\ColChess\" is whatever the actual path which you have chosen for installing ColChess.
Notice also that there should be a trailing backslash (For Win32 systems -- For UNIX systems it should be '/' instead.) That is because file names for opening books, etc. are simply appended to the end of that path.
Probably, the easiest way to do it is from Start/Settings/Control Panel/System, and then locate the environment settings (where to find it is different for various types of Win32 systems).
HTH

Thanks Dann for the quick response.
I do have the enviromental variable right (I had it wrong at one time and the program wouldn't even begin to run). I am using W98 btw and have 128 meg Ram, for what that worth. Anyway, as I said running Colchess in dos I can start the program and after entering a move such as e2e4 (example) the program never does anything but if I enter new then e2e4 it will play fine. This is the problem that Winboard is having too I guess. It starts the program up fine but Colchess is not ready to play for some reason (doesn't respond to moves)
Thanks
James

[Dann Corbit]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Dann Corbit at 10 April 2000 21:59:53:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: James Swinney at 10 April 2000 21:38:57:
post your winboard.ini settings for ColChess and the command line parameters that you add.


My FTP site

[Mogens Larsen]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Mogens Larsen at 10 April 2000 22:06:19:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: James Swinney at 10 April 2000 21:38:57:

I do have the enviromental variable right (I had it wrong at one time and the program wouldn't even begin to run). I am using W98 btw and have 128 meg Ram, for what that worth. Anyway, as I said running Colchess in dos I can start the program and after entering a move such as e2e4 (example) the program never does anything but if I enter new then e2e4 it will play fine. This is the problem that Winboard is having too I guess. It starts the program up fine but Colchess is not ready to play for some reason (doesn't respond to moves)
Thanks
James

I've had exactly the same problems as you, with the same difference between dos and WinBoard. Suddenly it started to work and I'm not sure why. I can't use the version compiled by Dann, but the one published by Colin works okay. I'll try to pick my brain to see if did anything special.
My info:
SET ColChess_Path=c:\Engines\Colchess\
\"CChess61 H14\" /fd=c:\\Engines\\Colchess
\"CChess61 H14\" /sd=c:\\Engines\\Colchess
Best wishes...
Mogens

[Dann Corbit]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Dann Corbit at 10 April 2000 22:12:18:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: Mogens Larsen at 10 April 2000 22:06:19:

I do have the enviromental variable right (I had it wrong at one time and the program wouldn't even begin to run). I am using W98 btw and have 128 meg Ram, for what that worth. Anyway, as I said running Colchess in dos I can start the program and after entering a move such as e2e4 (example) the program never does anything but if I enter new then e2e4 it will play fine. This is the problem that Winboard is having too I guess. It starts the program up fine but Colchess is not ready to play for some reason (doesn't respond to moves)
Thanks
James

I've had exactly the same problems as you, with the same difference between dos and WinBoard. Suddenly it started to work and I'm not sure why. I can't use the version compiled by Dann, but the one published by Colin works okay.

That's interesting because (I believe) he just uses my binary for Win32! He develops under Linux.

[Mogens Larsen]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Mogens Larsen at 11 April 2000 00:44:27:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: Dann Corbit at 10 April 2000 22:12:18:

That's interesting because (I believe) he just uses my binary for Win32! He develops under Linux.

I'm not sure, but none of the versions downloaded from your page works. The size of the executable I use (6.1) is 352.397 bytes, created 14/3-2000. Maybe there's a problem with Chessdat.dat and/or book.dat?
Best wishes...
Mogens

[Jame Swinney]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Jame Swinney at 11 April 2000 06:30:04:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: Dann Corbit at 10 April 2000 21:59:53:

post your winboard.ini settings for ColChess and the command line parameters that you add.

Here are the winboard.ini settings
\"ColChess H14\" /fd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
\"ColChess H14\" /sd=d:\\Programme\\Winboard\\ColChess
I'm using the version from the Colchess website, I tried the one from
the Corbit FTP site and it does the same thing. I did notice the zip from
the Colchess site creates a couple of subdirectories (Games and Test) while
the Corbit FTP site verion doesn't, not sure if that means anything though.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
James Swinney

[Colin Frayn]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Colin Frayn at 11 April 2000 12:18:52:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Re: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: Mogens Larsen at 11 April 2000 00:44:27:
Hi there folks.

That's interesting because (I believe) he just uses my binary for Win32! He develops under Linux.

I normally compile my own binary actually, though I often use yours before I get round to compiling my own. (Compiling the win binary requires a reboot, which I hardly ever do unless I have to)
As for the failing to respond problem, the best thing to do is to set the '-debug' parameter in winboard and then in your winboard directory you will find a 'winboard.debug' file. That should help you to find out what is wrong. You could email it to me or post it here and I'll have a look.
When you run the program in dos/text mode then it is not setup to respond automatically. The binary on my website is designed for winboard use only, but you _can_ use it in DOS without recompiling your own version. You just have to tell the computer that you want it to move (in a sense, you have to pretend to be winboard ) If you type in 'black', ColChess plays black automatically. If you type 'white' it plays white. There is a help file (type 'help' and 'comphelp') though lots of these options are disabled in winboard mode, or at least they don't work very well. There is also a timer function, though it really relies on winboard's constant input to get it working properly.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Colin


ColChess Homepage

[Colin Frayn]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Colin Frayn at 11 April 2000 15:51:33:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: Jame Swinney at 11 April 2000 06:30:04:

I did notice the zip from
the Colchess site creates a couple of subdirectories (Games and Test) while
the Corbit FTP site verion doesn't, not sure if that means anything though.

Yeah those aren't necessary, though if you want to load and save games then you'll need the 'games' directory. The test directory is where ColChess looks for EPD test suites.
Cheers,
Col


ColChess Homepage

[James Swinney]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: James Swinney at 14 April 2000 01:52:47:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Colchess Problem geschrieben von: / posted by: James Swinney at 10 April 2000 20:30:31:
First of all I want to thank Colchess programmer Colin Frayn along with Mogens Larsen for their help with my problem here. The fix to this problem was to simply move the Colchess folder from d:\programme\winboard\colchess to my C: drive (setup like this c:\colchess). I had to change the Path statement and the winboard.ini file also to match this. I don't know why this worked but it does. Colchess runs fine now.
Thanks guys
James Swinney

[Colin Frayn]

Geschrieben von: / Posted by: Colin Frayn at 14 April 2000 11:27:42:
Als Antwort auf: / As an answer to: Colchess Problem Solved !! geschrieben von: / posted by: James Swinney at 14 April 2000 01:52:47:
The fix to this problem was to simply move the Colchess folder from d:\programme\winboard\colchess to my C: drive (setup like this c:\colchess). I had to change the Path statement and the winboard.ini file also to match this. I don't know why this worked but it does. Colchess runs fine now.
OK that's pretty strange.
The path c:\ is hardcoded into the ColChess executable, but that's just as a temporary measure, and it should be totally overwritten when you set up the COLCHESS_PATH variable.
How strange.
Oh well - thanks for the fix - I'll put that in my README file
Cheers,
Colin

ColChess Homepage