leilabd@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Leila Burrell-Davis) (12/13/89)
On the Atari ST I use, I have a ram disk which will survive a warm reset with its contents intact. This is extremely useful when doing things which are likely to crash the machine, as it saves having to copy the ram disk's contents (e.g. compiler, editor) back from floppy disk every time I hang the machine. Is such a thing available for a PC or is there some reason why it would be difficult/impossible to do? Leila -- Leila Burrell-Davis, Computing Service, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK Tel: +44 273 678390 Fax: +44 273 678335 JANET: leilabd@uk.ac.sussex.syma INTERNET: leilabd%syma.sussex.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk BITNET: leilabd@syma.sussex.ac.uk UUCP: leilabd@syma.uucp
goldstein@delni.enet.dec.com (12/15/89)
In article <1904@syma.sussex.ac.uk>, leilabd@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Leila Burrell-Davis) writes... >On the Atari ST I use, I have a ram disk which will survive a warm >reset with its contents intact. This is extremely useful when doing >things which are likely to crash the machine, as it saves having to >copy the ram disk's contents (e.g. compiler, editor) back from floppy >disk every time I hang the machine. Is such a thing available for a PC >or is there some reason why it would be difficult/impossible to do? From my limited PC experience (I'm an old Atari ST user myself), I've noted that with an AT-class machine, the Microsoft RAMdrive is reset-proof IF it's in EXTENDED memory (the /e option), but not if it's in EXPANDED memory (the /a option). I suspect it's because extended memory is not seen by DOS during its own startup. I don't know of a reset-proof ramdisk for expanded memory or base memory, not that you'd want too much stuck in base memory! The RAMdisk on the NEC Multispeed is reset-proof, but I think there's some hardware hackery there (it's limited to the top of base memory, which has special low-power SRAM). And that's not part of DOS, but part of NEC's own firmware. fred
mvolo@uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) (12/15/89)
[poster wanted to know about reset-survivable ram disks] The JRAM software (specifically jdrive.bin) from Tall Tree Systems has for a long time had a reset-ram disk. Using their software Ctrl-Alt-Del makes the ramdisk survive a warm reboot; Ctrl-Alt-K resets the ramdisk. The use of jdrive.bin requires another driver jboot.bin to occur first in the config.sys file. These programs are designed to work with JRAM memory boards; but I believe that they will work within the DOS memory range with other memory hardware. Jems.bin is a reset-survivable EMS ramdisk for use with the above software and memory boards. You can get further info from Tall Tree Systems 415 493 1980 (1120 San Antonio Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94303). M Volow, VA Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 mvolo@ecsvax.UUCP 919 286 0411
plim@hpsgpa.HP.COM (Peter Lim) (12/15/89)
> On the Atari ST I use, I have a ram disk which will survive a warm > reset with its contents intact. This is extremely useful when doing > things which are likely to crash the machine, as it saves having to > copy the ram disk's contents (e.g. compiler, editor) back from floppy > disk every time I hang the machine. Is such a thing available for a PC > or is there some reason why it would be difficult/impossible to do? > I remember in the PC and XT hay-days that there was a RAM disk and cache program called PC-Accelerator which allows you to do this. However, I never really needed this feature as I graduated to the hard disk era fairly soon. Anyway, I see a problem with relying on this trick to work. Usually, when I trash a system and hangs the computer it really hangs for good and Ctrl-Alt-Del will not be able to free it. Hence, I usually have to do a cold boot after crash. Anyway, that's info. Regards, Peter Lim. HP Singapore IC Design Center. E-mail address: plim@hpsgwg.HP.COM Snail Mail address: Peter Lim Hewlett Packard Singapore, (ICDS, ICS) 1150, Depot Road, Singapore 0410. Telephone: (065)-279-2289