KingsRow English 10-piece WLD and MTC Database Installation
Description
System Requirements
WLD db Installation
MTC db Installation
Configuring KingsRow to use the databases
Support
Description
This page has instructions for installing the KingsRow English win/loss/draw (WLD) and moves-to-conversion (MTC) endgame database files.
These databases have data for positions with 2 pieces through 10 pieces with up to 5 pieces
on one side. The MTC db has data for positions with moves-to-conversion values that are at
least 10 plies.
The setup program allows the selection of either a full or small
database installation. The full installation installs all the
data. The small installation does not install the data for
10-piece positions with 3 or more kings on a side. This allows the most useful
parts of the database to be used on a PC with less RAM and disk space than is
required for the full install.
System Requirements
- Operating System
Windows 7, 8, Vista, XP, or 2000.
- Free disk space
- full WLD: 214GB
- small WLD: 76GB
- full MTC: 47GB
- small MTC: 11GB
- RAM
- full WLD: 1.5GB minimum.
- small WLD: 1GB.
- The MTC database uses very little RAM. There are no specific
requirements for it.
- File system
The 10-piece database must be installed on a hard drive that is formatted
with the NTFS file system. This is the norm for almost all PC internal hard
drives, but some external hard drives are formatted as FAT32. You can view
the type of file system of your hard drive using Properties command in
Windows Explorer. If the drive that you
intend to use for the database is FAT32 you can use a Windows convert utility to
change it to NTFS. Do an internet search for "convert FAT32 to NTFS"
and you will find some information at the Microsoft web site that explains how
to do this.
- Check your versions of KingsRow and CheckerBoard against the latest
versions that are available on the web, and update if your versions are not
the latest. Version 1.16c of KingsRow has improvements that are needed for
using the 10-piece database.
WLD db Installation
- Some USB hard drives have a separate power module, while others get their
power through the USB port. If your drive has an external power module,
connect this to your drive and plug it into an AC power outlet.
- The external hard drive is shipped with a USB cable. Connect one end of the USB cable to the hard drive, and connect the other
end to a USB port on your computer. Be sure to connect directly to a USB
port on your computer and not indirectly through a USB hub.
- It will take a few seconds for your computer to detect that a new hardware
device has been connected and to assign a drive letter to the USB hard
drive. When this happens you will probably see a popup message from your
system tray that says "Found new hardware."
- Using Windows Explorer, browse to the program file Kingsrow_English_WLD_Setup.exe
on the USB hard drive and run it by double-clicking on the filename. You can
run Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the Windows Start button, and then
left-click on Explore.
- Follow the prompts as directed by the setup program. When you get to the
screen Select Destination Location, the default
location is c:\kr_english_wld. You
may be installing onto a drive different than C:.
If so, change the "C" to the letter of the drive where you want
the database installed. You can either edit the text directly, or click the Browse
button to select another drive.
- When you get to the Select Components screen
of the setup program, you can leave the settings as they are if you are
doing a full install. To select the small install,
click on the arrow at the right side of the dropdown selection box (where it
says "Full installation"), and select
"Small 10-piece installation".
- Once the setup program begins installing the database files, a full
install will take at least 4 hours on a fast computer, or 2 to 3 times
longer if your computer is a few years old.
MTC db Installation
- If you have not already done it, connect the USB hard drive to your computer by following steps 1 through
3 above in WLD db Installation.
- Using Windows Explorer, browse to the program file Kingsrow_English_MTC_Setup.exe
on the USB hard drive and run it by double-clicking on the filename. You can
run Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the Windows Start button, and then
left-click on Explore.
- Follow the prompts as directed by the setup program. When you get to the
screen Select Destination Location, the default
location is c:\kr_english_mtc. You
may be installing onto a drive different than C:.
If so, change the "C" to the letter of the drive where you want
the database installed. You can either edit the text directly, or click the Browse
button to select another drive.
- When you get to the Select Components screen
of the setup program, you can leave the settings as they are if you are
doing a full install. To select the small install,
click on the arrow at the right side of the dropdown selection box (where it
says "Full MTC installation"), and
select "Small 10-piece MTC installation".
- Once the setup program begins installing the MTC files it will take at
least an hour for the full installation to finish.
Configuring KingsRow to use the databases
- Click OK to exit from Engine
Options.
Notes:
- You may need to use a smaller Endgame DB
setting than shown above, depending on how your PC is configured.
- If you change the Hashtable setting, you should also change
the Endgame DB setting so that the sum of both settings does
not increase.
- If you change either your Hashtable or
Endgame DB
setting after the first search, you should exit CheckerBoard and
start it up again before continuing.
Support
Send me an email if you have any problems.