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Important updates for ControlLab users: 1. My friend Bob Flanders (@semuhphor on Twitter) helped me extract the Control Lab help file from the RoboLab 2.5 software. I temporarily put it in a Google Drive (it'll move to my website in a couple of months, maybe sooner). You need to download the .html file and image folder. Click here to access it. Then you can open the file in any browser. Specifically, this is a help file for operating the Lego 9751 "Interface B" hardware, circa 1993, from inside RoboLab 2.5, circa 2001. I may have discovered the file on my own by tinkering with Robolab one day, but I must thank @eloybroock for posting about it here! 2. The original Control Lab manuals, including the nowhere-to-be-found-online Reference Manual, recently appeared on eBay. I didn't want to pay the asking price, but I also didn't want someone to buy it and never have it show up again! That reference manual NEEDS to be online. @jarstx and I pooled some $$ and bought it together after making a more reasonable offer to the seller. It should arrive here in a week or so, and then I'll get busy scanning it. Chances are the PDF will go to Archive.org, which in my opinion is the best place for such things vs. any individual person's own website. Archive.org can be trusted to maintain things long-term. 3. I'm serious about wanting to get a copy of Robolab 1.0 if anyone has it to make available online. The oldest version I can find is 1.5 here. That's all for now! -Evan

@eloybroock I got 98 and Robolab running in Virtualbox (on my Linux desktop) and found the Control Lab help file -- it's a simple html file in the directory c:/robolab/engine/help/controllab.html -- but I can't figure out how to get that file * OUT * of Virtualbox and onto the real computer! Copy/paste (either the file or the source) between the VM and the physical computer isn't working, nor is 98 support for USB storage, nor even for my USB floppy drive. IE 5.0 can connect to insecure websites, but not to secure sites like Google Drive or my hosting company. I tried accessing an email account through Outlook Express but that too has security issues. LOL, how the heck can I get a file out of this VM...!? Need a creative solution!!!

Very helpful, thanks! I gave up on putting '98 on the same computer where I already have DOS 6.22 and Win 3.1 + 95. :) In the next couple of months I will have a second period-appropriate computer. That computer or the current one (TBD) will get '98 and Robolab. I think I read someplace (can't find where) that ONLY the Robolab 2.5 version supports Interface B. Is that correct? Does anyone have a link to where I can find Robolab 1.0? I saw 1.5 somewhere, but it would be cool to run 1.0. @eloybroock that page also says, "For more information reference the RCX-Control Lab folder on your ROBOLAB CD." I am looking for that folder now (extracted from the .iso file), since I can't actually install it anywhere at the moment.

Good work!

I'm not clear what you mean, but I look forward to seeing it...

I'm trying to keep it period. Robolab debuted in '98 for Mindstorms RCX, but Google says it works with 9751 too, either on Windows 95 or 98 (or a Mac, but I don't have one).

Apparently kernel32.dll errors are common. That is a relief, because it means one of my dev friends might know how to fix it. Google led me to https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-fix-kernel32-dll-errors-2623533 but the advice seems pretty generic and not necessarily applicable.

Now I'm trying to install Robolab 2.5. I know Robolab is meant for Mindstorms, but I read that the 2.5 version can also control 9751 Interface B. I installed the program in Windows 95 but it gives me two error messages: 1. "The Robolab2.exe file is linked to missing export OLEAUT32.DLL:183." 2. "C:\robolab\engine\robolab2.exe - A device attached to the system is not functioning." I'm not surprised about #2 because it is probably looking for RCX hardware which I do not have. But, what's going on with #1? The file is there in c:\win95\system where it belongs. I thought maybe Robolab software is hard-coded to look in c:\windows\system, whereas I changed the 95 directory to c:\win95 so it wouldn't overwrite 3.1 during installation. But I tested this by creating c:\windows\system and copying oleaut32.dll into there to appease Robolab. :) Didn't work, same error message. Google indicates at https://www.taltech.com/support/entry/error_the_setup_exe_file_is_linked_to_missing_export_oleaut32_dll1852 that the problem isn't a * missing * copy of oleaut32.dll, it's that the Windows 95 copy is too old for Robolab. Okay then -- Googled again for newer versions, found myself at https://www.dll-files.com/download/9ebe44d77ad0d88aea813455deea505b/oleaut32.dll.html?c=SUtibFlieEVLRGRIZnhqNlBBeXdpQT09, downloaded the newest 32-bit version, renamed the original file oleaut32.old, and copied the new one into its place. It worked! Robolab no longer gives that error message on start-up in Win 95. Now it gets to the main Robolab interface and gives a different error. :( It shows me details and then closes the program. I copied the details into a text file: ------------------------------------------ ROBOLAB2 caused an exception c06d007eH in module KERNEL32.DLL at 0137:bff9a07c. Registers: EAX=00bafb94 CS=0137 EIP=bff9a07c EFLGS=00000246 EBX=00000000 SS=013f ESP=00bafb90 EBP=00bafbe4 ECX=00bafbac DS=013f ESI=00bafc3c FS=1a57 EDX=ffffffff ES=013f EDI=00000000 GS=0000 Bytes at CS:EIP: 5e 8b e5 5d c2 10 00 64 a1 00 00 00 00 55 8b ec Stack dump: 23008cd8 c06d007e 00000000 00000000 bff9a07c 00000001 00bafc08 bff8471c 81cd6e4c ffffffff 81cd6e4c 81cd6e68 00000000 bff7c581 81cd6e4c 00000000 ------------------------------------------ Yikes! This one will be tough to fix. No clue how to even start. I'll turn to some of my developer friends.

You're welcome! I am having fun. Got it all working perfectly. I made batch files so I can type "win31" or "win95" from any directory (such being in those same directories when I exit either OS) and go right into the other one without having to CD back to root and typing a path each time. It works great.

One more update ... did some tweaking and the PC now triple-boots in DOS 6.22, Windows 3.1, and Windows 95 ... take your pick each time ... with each version able to run the Lego software. For 6.22/3.1 it's the same application (Control Lab 1.3), and for 95 it's 1.0 version of that revision (software has a few more bells/whistles and an upgraded splash screen).

In case anyone is reading this :) ... null modem cable arrived, and it works now! Happy camper here. Now I have to brush up on this version of Logo. I guess my old cable is a straight-through variety. Would have done a continuity test for the pins with a multimeter, but my probes didn't fit and I did not have paperclips handy. Will update my website soon.

Solved the up/down thing -- it's Alt-1/2. Easy to see now that the mouse works and I can click on the menus. :) So, here's where I am at: - Got an older (P-3) PC running Win 3.1 on top of MS-DOS 6.22 - Got the mouse drivers and CD drivers installed - Got the Lego Control Lab 1.3 installed for DOS and Win 3.1, although it's the same thing AFAIK - Tomorrow at work, I will burn the Win 95 upgrade CD because I don't have a burner on my modern PC and also don't have any blank CDs. (I need the upgrade version because I want it in parallel with 3.1. The trick is to install DOS first in a direction not called DOS, so I called it c:\dos6 instead of c:\dos, and then install Win 3.1 the same way so I called it c:\win31 instead of c:\win. Don't forget to change your autoexec.bat and config.sys settings to match the non-standard directory names. Then install the Win 95 upgrade also in a non-standard way (c:\win95, for example) ... that'll let you boot into any of the three operating systems. I'd argue 3.1 is a shell, not an OS, since it runs on 6.22, where as DOS 7.0 is "fake" on Wind 95 ... but I digress. :) - Tonight I ordered a proper null-modem cable on Amazon. It will be here Tuesday. So no testing the 9751 interface until then. :( - The splash screen for TC Logo in the 1980s version (Apple II) is ugly and the Lego bricks shown in it are upside-down! See for yourself: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EH6BO2q7mKDXtktOuDcYL0MIby_OE1mk/view?usp=sharing ... however the splash screen for Control Lab 1.3 (better version of TC Logo) is much nicer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xVmmdF8VMkbGIunKzndY-F-o8DoutV32/view?usp=sharing. I had to make that screen capture the old-fashioned way -- maximize the window, press alt-print screen, paste it into Paint, save it to floppy, then open it with a USB floppy drive on my modern computer in GIMP. :) - I'll have to get a period-1990s CRT for when I take this to Lego shows. The 22" Dell LCD is great for my workbench :) but wrong for realistic presentation. - I'll also have to get a ball mouse. I was surprised to find an optical mouse with a PS/2 connector (my USB adapter didn't work), but again I want it to be realistic for public demonstrations. - I'll document all this in the 16/32-bit section of my website at http://www.mindsbeforethestorm.com in the next couple of weeeks. Off to sleep now. I have to wake up in 6 hours 30 minutes and then drive an hour to work..... -Evan (in the U.S., not Europe, but this forum is where the answers were!)

Solved part of question #2, got DOS mouse drives installed. Apparently the 3.1 version is just the DOS version. :) Still no clue about the up/down issue!

Update: I've got a period (mid-1990s) PC running Windows 3.1 on top of MS-DOS 6.22. I installed the DOS and Windows 3.1 versions of Lego Control Lab 1.3. But there are two problems: 1. Both versions boot to an error message saying it doesn't see the hardware box. The PC has a real serial port which, AFAIK, works properly. I've got a null-modem cable connecting it to the 9751 interface box which is powered on. 2. I can't figure out how to access the menus! The usual "alt" and "ctrl" keys do not get me to the top menus. In the Windows version, the mouse doesn't operate in the Lego window; the cursor doesn't even appear there. No clue why or how to proceed! In the 1980s version of TC Logo (on my Apple II), you press something like ctrl-U (for 'up') and ctrl-D to go up/down between the main menu and the console. That also didn't work here in the DOS/Windows versions. So, again, I have no idea how to proceed! Does anyone know? 3. I will see if this machine's old HDD has enough space for Windows 95 and then try that version of the Lego software. But the Windows 3.1 version is the one I care about.

Thanks!!! Downloading it now.

Hello again! Does anyone have the DOS (not Windows 95) version of Control Lab?

Hello! I'm replying to this old thread with a very narrow question. I found several websites all referring to set 1038 as "Erbie". But I don't see that name on front/back pictures of the box, nor in the small two-page instruction manual. Where is there any indication that Lego called it Erbie?

Thanks! The video is helpful. I prefer the original 9700 set where you actually code, not just click on icons. :)

The instructions for installing the software and setting up the antennas, etc. are readily available online. But can anyone direct me to instructions for actually using the software? Also is the software online someplace so I can download it?

Hi, I'm new here. Google led me to this thread from 2012. I have the Control Lab software but I do not have any instruction manuals for it. There are manuals online for the traditional Lego-building aspect -- I'm looking for the software instructions. Can anyone direct me to it, please? (Not interested in newer software or third-party software.)