NewDeal Technical Support Document 246
CRITICAL ERROR
What to do if you get the error message, Critical Error:
General Failure
If you are not using the newest version of our software and
you are having trouble with "Critical Error: General Failure"
error messages, call NewDeal customer service to order an upgrade.
What does the error mean?
The Critical Error: General Failure message has its roots in DOS.
Your NewDeal software is trying to perform a DOS operation, such as reading or
writing files to your disk drives, and DOS can't perform the operation
before it "times out" and reports the operation has failed. If
you receive the error, you can usually press "A" to abort and
continue using New Deal. Although the error message is innocuous, it's
annoying if you see it frequently.
The suggestions below are organized by the situation that causes the
error. If you haven't noticed a pattern to the errors, try all of the
suggestions.
Opening a New Document
If you get this error message when you try to open a new document, it is
possible that NewDeal is trying to open an old, upgraded 1.x document
when you click on New. Close all open applications and go to NewManager.
Go to the Document directory. Delete or rename any files named "New
Document," "New Drawing," "Draw Untitled,"
or "Write Untitled."
Auto-Save
NewDeal may be trying to auto-save the file before DOS can finish opening
the file. Launch Preferences, go into Look and Feel, and either turn
Document Safeguarding OFF or change the interval to 5 minutes or more.
Smart Drive (SMARTDRV)
Some users have reported that turning off the SMARTDRV disk caching
program eliminated the errors. Edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and put the
word REM at the beginning of the line that refers to SMARTDRV
(often the first line in the file). Also look in your CONFIG.SYS file for
a line referring to SMARTDRV, and place REM at the beginning of
that line, too. Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.
Share Table problems
SHARE.EXE is a program loaded in either your AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS
files that may cause the error messages. Some programs, particular network
software, require that you install SHARE. If you don't think you need to
use SHARE.EXE for any of your other software programs, try placing the
word REM at the beginning of the line that refers to SHARE.EXE
in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
If you do need to load SHARE.EXE, try decreasing the /f: parameter in
the Share line to /f:2048 and then reboot your computer.
If you don't have a /f: parameter in your SHARE.EXE line, add
/f:2048 at the end of the line. If you still see the
errors, try lowering the /f:2048 value to /f:1024 or /f:512.
The lower you make the number, the fewer errors you will get.
However, certain programs require a minimum setting. You may need
to experiment until you find a good balance.
MS-DOS 4.01
If you are using MS-DOS 4.01, you must load SHARE.EXE because DOS 4.01
automatically loads it. You may be able to decrease the frequency of the
error messages by editing your CONFIG.SYS file and changing the /f:
parameter in your SHARE line to /f:2048.
If you don't have a /f: parameter in your Share line, you are already
loading SHARE.EXE with /f:2048, which is the default setting. Try
adding /f:1024 or /f:512 to the end of the line.
The lower you make the number, the fewer errors you will get. However,
certain programs require a minimum setting. Experiment until you find a
good balance.
If you don't see a SHARE line in your CONFIG.SYS file, add this line:
INSTALL=C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE /f:1024
and experiment with lowering the /f: number.
If nothing helps, you may need to upgrade your DOS version,
and then disable SHARE as in the above section, Share Table Problems.
Disk Compression
Using disk compression software, such as DoubleSpace or Stacker, may
cause the error messages. Run any utilities you have to check the
integrity of your compressed drives.
If you compressed the hard disk after you installed NewDeal,
try re-installing the program onto the compressed drive.
If you are using DR-DOS SuperStor, read the section Older Versions
of DR-DOS below.
Reading and Writing to Drives
Edit your GEOS.INI file. In the [system] section, add lines
for your floppy drives as follows:
drive x = nnnn
where x is the drive letter and nnnn is
the drive type, as follows:
- 360 for a 360k drive
- 720 for a 720k drive
- 1200 for a 1.2 MB drive
- 1440 for a 1.4 MB drive
- 2880 for a 2.88 MB drive
After adding lines for each of your floppy
drives, add the following lines:
drive c = 65535
waitpost = false
NewManager
Don't tile your windows in NewManager
Some users have reported fewer error messages when NewManager
is displaying only one subdirectory at a time.
Try using NewManager's "Minimize on Run" feature. From the
Options menu, select Minimize on Run. If this helps the problem, make the
setting permanent by choosing Save Options from the Options menu.
Swap File too Small
Open Preferences and click on the NewDOS button. Under Page Size,
increase the number 2048 to 4096. Under Max File Size, increase
the number 2048 to 4096.
Older Versions of DR-DOS
If you have DR-DOS 6.0, make sure you are using the May 1992 Business
Upgrade release of DR-DOS 6.0. If you are, most of the files in your DR
DOS directory are dated 4/92. If you are using a different release, obtain
the May 1992 Business Upgrade release of DR-DOS 6.0 or consider upgrading
to a newer version of DR-DOS (available from Caldera's web site).
Stacks
Some customers report that adding the following line to their CONFIG.SYS
file helps.
STACKS=18,512
Last Modified 17 Feb 1999