Scrambled DOS Font Simcity 3000

Whether you’re building a DOS machine for nostalgic gaming, a replacement company computer (yes, businesses STILL use DOS), or as just a general learning experience you may have issues with font display on newer video cards. You’ll notice in an instant if you have this problem, because almost every menu in the DOS application and general alert boxes are filled with crazy ascii characters that definitely shouldn’t be there (see pic above). But, trying to find a fix for a MS-DOS related issue on the internet is well… almost impossible… until now! This brief guide will show the issue which causes scrambled fonts to appear within the DOS app, and three solutions that will have you well on your way to the beautiful 8-bit display you expect!

 

Before You Begin

MS-DOS is a fairly picky OS, so you must becareful what commands you give it especially when you are dealing with editing the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS. These two files are the heart and soul of DOS and if corrupted you risk the chance of locking up your system to the point of a complete format! Please create a DOS bootdisk by copying all necessary boot files to a floppy disk. The necessary files (at the very least) to create a DOS boot disk are COMMAND.COM, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, FDISK.EXE.

 

Problem: The Graphics Card Vendor Removed 8×14 Font From The Graphics Card BIOS

This is the most likely cause of your problem. In order to free up space on the graphic card’s ROM, some vendors removed the 8×14 font which many DOS programs rely on to display text. Since DOS is essentially obsolete these vendors figured it wouldn’t be missed by consumers. Well, they were wrong in some cases, and thanks to drivers from graphics card vendors and Open Source Software this problem is easily resolved on most machines.

 

Solution 1: FIX8X14.COM

 

BTTR Software released an Open Source true device driver which reimplements the missing 8×14 when DOS first boots. This fix supports MANY graphics cards and should be used first as a remedy to the problem. It is installed by adding a single line to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file after copying the FIX8X14.COM file to a location on the hard drive.

 

1) Download FIX8X14.ZIP and Copy Contents to a Floppy Disk

 

2) Copying the Files to Your DOS Machine

  • Make a folder on your DOS machine called FIX8X14
  • Copy the contents of the Floppy to the FIX8X14 folder

3) Load the File as a Device Driver in AUTOEXEC.BAT

  • Edit AUTOEXEC.BAT
  • Include the following line at the very top of AUTOEXEC.BAT: C:\FIX8X14\FIX8X14.COM

 

Remove the Floppy from the disk drive and reboot the computer (ALT+CTRL+DEL). Try running any program that had scrambled fonts to see if the problem has corrected itself. If not, try the next solution.

 

Solution 2: TSRFONT

This solution is fairly specific to Cirrus Logic Video Cards, but it may work on video cards from different vendors. The setup of TSRFONT is almost identical to FIX8X14 with the exception of different file names.

 

1) Download TSRFONT.ZIP and Copy Contents to a Floppy Disk

 

2) Copying the Files to Your DOS Machine

  • Make a folder on your DOS machine called TSRFONT
  • Copy the contents of the Floppy to the TSRFONT folder

3) Load the File as a Device Driver in AUTOEXEC.BAT

  • Edit AUTOEXEC.BAT
  • Include the following line at the very top of AUTOEXEC.BAT: C:\TSRFONT\TSRFONT.COM

 

Remove the Floppy from the disk drive and reboot the computer (ALT+CTRL+DEL). Try running any program that had scrambled fonts to see if the problem has corrected itself. If not, try this next solution as a last resort only! (It costs money)

 

Solution 3: Buy an Older Video Card

You can find several older model video cards on Ebay or your local electronics surplus store. You need to be on the look out for 1MB - 2MB PCI or ISA Video Cards preferrably with the driver disks. This will cost anywhere between $5 - $20 USD. Use this method as a last resort.