gary@ur-cvsvax.UUCP (Gary Sclar) (04/24/85)
I'm having problems with an IBM PC that i just acquired as an educational
loan; when I boot up (with or without the DOS disk in drive A) instead of
going through a memory check the machine reports that I have 62940 bytes
free. The machine has a fully populated 256k motherboard with all of the
switches set to the correct positions; the diagnostics disk says that it
has 256k; i can poke and peek values above this point in the memory; ibm is
responsible for servicing the machine (according the the loan agreement)
and it has been sent to them for service; they claim it's perfectly fine;
has anyone seen symptoms like this before; any helpful advice
Gary Sclar @ Center for Visual Science;University of Rochester; Rochester,
N.Y. 14627 716-275-2450 {seismo,decvax!rochester!ur-cvsvax!gary}kevinp@mmintl.UUCP (Kevin Piette) (04/30/85)
>I'm having problems with an IBM PC that i just acquired as an educational >loan; when I boot up (with or without the DOS disk in drive A) instead of >going through a memory check the machine reports that I have 62940 bytes >free. The machine has a fully populated 256k motherboard with all of the >switches set to the correct positions; the diagnostics disk says that it >has 256k; i can poke and peek values above this point in the memory; ibm is >responsible for servicing the machine (according the the loan agreement) >and it has been sent to them for service; they claim it's perfectly >fine; > >has anyone seen symptoms like this before; any helpful advice > >Gary Sclar @ Center for Visual Science;University of Rochester; Rochester, >N.Y. 14627 716-275-2450 {seismo,decvax!rochester!ur-cvsvax!gary} It appears that the free memory figure you refer to is one issued by the basic interpreter. This figure is entirely normal and correct. The basic interpreter can only allow one segment (64k) for program storage due to the memory segmentation architecture of the Intel 8088. I'm not sure if data (variables) resides in the same or another segment. I further suspect that the reason you do not see the POST memory test indicator during bootup is bacause you have two display adapters installed in your system and the output is directed to the primary adapter, usually monochrome if two exist. This can be easily verifyed by inspection. (POST is an acronym for Power On Self Test). To accurately determine what DOS believes to be the total amount of system memory installed, use the 'chkdsk' program provided on the DOS master diskette. in addition to displaying the total system memory, it also displays the amount which is available for DOS applications. (This amount may well be greater than the amount allowed by the basic interpreter). -- Kevin Piette Phone: (203) 522-2116 Multimate International Corporation, Research & Development UUCP: ...!seismo!cmcl2!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!kevinp