mflawson@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Michael F Lawson) (11/25/89)
I was recently dismayed to find that 64k in my 1000TL seems to be 'missing'. In other words, only ~576k is reported by DOS, when I am supposed to have 640k. Other friends of mine (with other non-Tandy 640k machines) are running the same software I am, and only I am getting 'Out of Memory' errors. I am not running any other in-memory programs that I know of (what about Deskmate?). Does anyone know what is going on here? I set up FILES and BUFFERS to the minimum amounts, but that only got me a few k. The only idea I have is that the Tandy custom video chip is eating up some memory. Will the 128k upgrade remove this problem? If not, it seems this computer is not truly PC-compatible. Thanks for any info, Mike Lawson mflawson@uokmax.uucp
garyk@techsup.UUCP (11/29/89)
/* Written 11:26 pm Nov 24, 1989 by uokmax.UUCP!mflawson in techsup:comp.sys.tandy */
/* ---------- "Mysterious missing RAM in 1000TL" ---------- */
I was recently dismayed to find that 64k in my 1000TL seems to be 'missing'.
In other words, only ~576k is reported by DOS, when I am supposed to have
640k.
Does anyone know what is going on here? I set up FILES and BUFFERS to the
minimum amounts, but that only got me a few k. The only idea I have is that
the Tandy custom video chip is eating up some memory. Will the 128k upgrade
remove this problem? If not, it seems this computer is not truly PC-compatible.
Mike Lawson
mflawson@uokmax.uucp
/* End of text from techsup:comp.sys.tandy */
In the Tandy 1000 series the main memory is shared by the video section and DOS.
Depending on the video mode, DOS will have the amount of RAM available to
it reduced. Adding the 128K upgrade to the 1000TL, 1000TL/2, or 1000TX will
reserve 128K of RAM for video and leave the ENTIRE 640K available for DOS.
Gary Kueck
{sys1:trsvax:texbell}!techsup!garykjoefritz@pawl.rpi.edu (Jochen M. Fritz) (11/29/89)
In <1989Nov25.052630.7373@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> mflawson@uokmax.UUCP (Michael F Lawson) writes: >I was recently dismayed to find that 64k in my 1000TL seems to be 'missing'. >In other words, only ~576k is reported by DOS, when I am supposed to have > The only idea I have is that >the Tandy custom video chip is eating up some memory. Will the 128k upgrade >remove this problem? If not, it seems this computer is not truly PC-compatible. > > The video subsystem steals the motherboard RAM for its own buffers. On other PC's these buffers are on the CGA card and indepependant of the 640K of base memory. Yes, you will need the upgrade, But what software needs that much space to run? life: Joe Fritz internet: joefritz@pawl.rpi.edu bitnet: gk2s@rpitsmts If all else fails, be more general. If that fails, answer 42
mflawson@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Michael F Lawson) (11/29/89)
In article <257337AA.525D@rpi.edu> joefritz@pawl.rpi.edu (Jochen M. Fritz) writes: >In <1989Nov25.052630.7373@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> mflawson@uokmax.UUCP (Michael F Lawson) writes: >>I was recently dismayed to find that 64k in my 1000TL seems to be 'missing'. >>In other words, only ~576k is reported by DOS, when I am supposed to have >> The only idea I have is that >>the Tandy custom video chip is eating up some memory. Will the 128k upgrade >>remove this problem? If not, it seems this computer is not truly PC-compatible. >> >The video subsystem steals the motherboard RAM for its own buffers. >On other PC's these buffers are on the CGA card and independent of the >640K of base memory. Yes, you will need the upgrade, But what software >needs that much space to run? > We are doing a medium-scale software project for a class. The C compiler with debug options set takes about 350k, and our code occupies about 160k. There is enough memory to run the program, but not in the interactive debugging mode (which is very helpful for tricky bugs, like when the whole system just 'locks up'.) Mike Lawson mflawson@uokmax.uucp
mattl@ritcsh.cs.rit.edu (FaceMan) (11/30/89)
In article <1989Nov25.052630.7373@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu>, mflawson@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Michael F Lawson) writes: > I was recently dismayed to find that 64k in my 1000TL seems to be 'missing'. > In other words, only ~576k is reported by DOS, when I am supposed to have > 640k. [ text deleted ] > Does anyone know what is going on here? I set up FILES and BUFFERS to the > minimum amounts, but that only got me a few k. The only idea I have is that > the Tandy custom video chip is eating up some memory. Will the 128k upgrade > remove this problem? If not, it seems this computer is not truly PC-compatible. You hit the nail right on the head. In order for the Tandy 1000TL to have a video memory, it needs 128k. Without the 128k upgrade, it "steals" this 128k from your main memory. So if you don't buy the 128k from Tandy, you're up a creek..... -- You can lead a horse to water. | Matthew | mattl@ritcsh.cs.rit.edu But if you can get him to | "FaceMan" | mal6315@ultb.isc.rit.edu lie down on his back and float, | Lecher | mal6315@ritvax you've really got something there! |=================|=========================
zlraa@iceman.jcu.oz (Ross Alford) (12/29/89)
Sorry about the incorrect Subject line, but our brain-damaged postnews only allows followup articles. Real subject is in summary line. I know that this has probably appeared before, but I have had a several-year break in net access, so have missed it. Anyway: I would be extremely grateful to receive any information on the operating system of the Tandy Portable Disk Drive for the M100/102. I have one, and would like to be able to use it with other machines. I have done some snooping at the serial port, and am sure that I could eventually work the thing out, but it's quite complex, and I'd really rather spend the 20-40 hours it looks like it'd take doing something else, like for instance writing the interfacing software for the other machines. Being in northern Australia, and not of immense wealth, I do not have access to Compuserve or any other commercial information utility. Any information or suggestions will be extremely welcome. Thanks in Advance Ross Alford zlraa@iceman.oz