Click here to print this
 

Leisure Suit Larry 5:
Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work! Help

Leisure Suit Larry 5's original requirements:

MS-DOS 5.0 or Windows 3.1 or greater
486 minimum
2x CD-ROM
8 MB RAM
5 MB Hard drive space, 15 MB recommended
SVGA, 256 colors
Thunderboard, Pro Audio Spectrum, AdLib, Sound Blaster, MT-32 Compatible, General Midi, Sound Source
Mouse

 

Installation Problems

Like many of the later Sierra games, Leisure Suit Larry 5 has installation problems with the installer not fuctioning with faster PCs or under Windows XP.

Problem - System Test Crash:
The installer crashes when running the system test with this error:

SETUP caused a General Protection Fault in
module _SETUP.EXE at 0004:6357.

Choose close. SETUP will close.

You can't rerun the setup without ending the process (Ctl+Alt+Delete) or rebooting.

Solution:
Skip the system test. You will still be able to install the game.

Problem - Hidden Setup:
On Windows XP, the setup music can be heard, but the setup window is nowhere to be seen. This problem is only happens with certain Sierra Windows installers, but, some versions of Leisure Suit Larry V only come with a Windows installer (even though it is a DOS only game.)

Solution #1 (preferred):
Use this small utility to show the setup.

Solution #2:
Manually copy the files over to your hard drive and run INSTALL.EXE to setup your hardware.

Solution #3:
Switch form the XP theme to Classic Windows. NOTE: This does not seem to work for some.

Audio Problems

Audio problems are common in the later Sierra DOS SCI games. There's no single fix for all these games.

Problem - Poor Quality / No Sound (Win9x and XP):
The game has no sound or the music is of poor quality.

Solution 1 (preferred):
Play the game in DOSBox. It also will work with the MT-32 sound module, if you are fortunate to have one.

Solution 2:
Use VDMSound. The game work well with VDMSound. The sound will be as good as your audio hardware, and as with DOSBox, it works with the MT-32 sound module.

Solution 3:
Play the game with FreeSCI, a third party Interpreter for Sierra's early SCI games.

Solution 4 (DOS/Win9x):
Install DOS drivers for your soundcard. Without DOS drivers installed you won't have sound in a DOS window in Windows 9x. If you can't find DOS drivers for your soundcard, there is an alpha (developmental) version of VDMS that you can try.

Problem - Unable to initialize your audio hardware:
On starting the game you get the message:

Unable to initialize your audio hardware

Solution 1 (preferred):
Play the game in DOSBox. By playing your game in DOSBox, you can avoid this and other timer problems. Even the Windows version can be played in DOSBox if you install Windows 3x in it, first.

Back when computers came with a "Turbo" switch (a sort of speed switch,) Sierra's workaround was to turn off the Turbo switch to start the game, after which you could turn the Turbo back on. If you have your cycles in DOSBox set too high, you may still encounter this problem. You can mimic the turbo switch solution by lowering your cycles (Ctl+F11) before starting your game. You may raise the cycles back up after the game starts (Ctl+F12).

Solution 2:
Patch the old audio driver with GOSiERRA or SBSIERRA.

Solution 3:
Use an updated audio driver.

Speed problems

As with many of the Sierra VGA games, Leisure Suit Larry 5 has some speed bugs. These bugs can also be avoided by playing the game in DOSBox. If you can't or don't want to use DOSBox, you can try using a Slowdown Utility.

Here is a list of problems with solutions/workarounds.

Problem - Beginning Text Too Fast:
Text windows appear too quickly in beginning.

Solution #1 (preferred):
Apply this patch by NewRisingSun. (You may still want to play the game in DOSBox.)

Solution #2:
Play using DOSBox.

Solution #3:
Use a Slowdown Utility.

Problem - Mud Wrestling Scene Lockup:
The game has problems at the mud wrestling scene.

Solution #1 (preferred):
Apply this patch by NewRisingSun. (You may still want to play the game in DOSBox.)

Solution #2:
Play using DOSBox.

Solution #3:
Use a Slowdown Utility.

Game Specific Bugs

There are a couple of bugs the game has that are not speed dependent.

Problem - Stuck Opening:
In the beginning of the game with Larry in the PornProdCorp, the same text window telling you how to play non-typing games keeps popping up about every second instead of every minute or two, so you can't even start the game. If you skip the opening story, you can play normally, but you can't make coffee or get the camera, etc.

Solution #1:
As Larry, take the coffee from the coffee machine. Keep clicking or pressing Enter to make the text window disappear and help Larry move to the coffee machine. Once Larry gets the coffee, the rest of the introduction will play. 

Solution 2:

  1. Look in your LSL5 directory (it's probably C:\Sierra\LSL5).
  2. Delete the file named "MEMORY.DRV." (It's not really a driver file; it just holds a little information.)
  3. Run the game again and watch the opening cartoon all the way through. This time, do not Fast Forward!

Solution 3:
Move the mouse to the top of the screen and keep clicking until the menu bar appears. Switch to the hand cursor, then move the hand cursor to the coffee pot and kept clicking until Larry takes the pot. He will then automatically go inside the boss's office. You might also try right-clicking until you get the hand icon and then click on the coffee pot until Larry takes it.

Problem - Missing Copy Protection:
Lost manual with the copyright protection.

Solution:
You need the "Airline Schedule" to complete the game. Download it here.

Problem - Password problems:
Forgotten password won't let you access your saved games in Leisure Suit Larry 5

Solution:
You can bypass the Password check by deleting the file MEMORY.DRV in the SIERRA\LSL5 directory on the hard drive. The password check will be bypassed.

 

by helping to defray some of the costs of hosting this site. If it has been of help to you, please consider contributing to help keep it online.
Thank you.
pixe
Top

Home | Sierra Game Help | Walkthroughs | Hints, Tips & Spoilers | Utilities | Links | Forums | Search

© 2006 to present The Sierra Help Pages. All rights reserved. All Sierra games, artwork and music © Sierra.