Need Help With BGI Issue

[Siy]

I Needed to start an old software under dos so i installer dos box but the software wasn't fully functional (couldn't save).
Tried virtual box but no dice.
so i bought an old PC and installed dos 6.22
the issue is that under dos box the software ran whereas under dos it said BGI error Try init graph.
I googled it and found out that it was in the coding of the software but i know its fine from dos box.
So my question is what is the BGI graphics settings difference.
Appreciate your help.

[einstein1969]

Is BGI the "Borland Graphics Interface" ?

I worked in the past with Turbo pascal. I thinks that intruduced with turbo pascal 5.x, but I not sure.

Can you give other information on the program that you have problem?

EDIT: It seems that there is a problem on old PC. What type of graphics card there is in the old PC?

einstein1969

[penpen]

@OP:
Could help, if one would knew which software you are using, and what is the complete text of the bgi error.

For example if your "old DOS machine" has a RAID controller, there might be problems with the "background initialization" (bgi).

penpen

[sambul35]

@Siy

Look at all options, not just fixing the error at hand. What are you trying to accomplish anyway under DOS? Repair a hard drive? Do you have any modern BIOS or UEFI PC? Can it boot from a USB Thumb or drive? If not, you can always boot a DOS floppy image from your PC HDD with Grub4DOS.

You may be better off running DOS from USB Thumb or Floppy on a new PC. No need to buy an old one, since its hardware may not be supported by current DOS images or your DOS application. It doesn't imply though your new hardware will all be supported either, some search for suitable DOS drivers may be due.

[Siy]

Thank you all for your replies,
the exact error says: BGI Error, Couldn't Initialize Graphics, Try InitGraph. This was repeated twice on two lines.
The software is called Unilog and it's an engineering software for borehole logging.
I installed MS-Dos 6.22 from a floppy onto a hard drive and copied Norton Commander and Unilog.
The old PC has an Embedded Graphics Chip on the motherboard with VGA Output.
The PC isn't That old comparably but it's the oldest I Could Find used here in Egypt. It's a Pentium Processor with 512 DDR2 RAM.
I Tried with a different monitor yesterday but no dice.
Thanks so much.

[Squashman]

I installed MS-Dos 6.22 from a floppy onto a hard drive and copied Norton Commander and Unilog.

My old brain might have lost some memory (no pun intended) but I thought I remember the MS-DOS 6.22 install disks coming on 3 disks.

[penpen]

BGI Error, Couldn't Initialize Graphics, Try InitGraph. This was repeated twice on two lines.

I disagree with Squashman, that the reason of your issue is that you are probably using a boot disk only (and not the full OS):
If the appropriate BGI file is missing, then the error message should be something like that:

Code: Select all

GRAPHICS ERROR (EGAVGA.BGI) DEVICE DRIVER MISSING.

The error message that you get (twice) indicates, that the program is trying to initialize another graphics driver:
So you should consult the manual of the software about teh system requirements.

So einstein1969 was probably right with his guess (more exactly with his edit, that the graphics card is the cause of this issue):
Depending on the graphics card there may be additional executable(s) that may solve your issue,
but actually i cannot remember the names of these... only that i had to run them for gaming in the past... .


penpen