waldorf@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM (jerry waldorf) (02/22/90)
I have an AT clone that is running minix 1.2 and the hard drive works and I am interested in adding more memory. I currently have 640 K and would be interested in adding more to a total of 2 or 3 meg. How do I go about changing minix so that it will recognize the additional memory. How much work is involved? What kind of information will I have to gain about my hardware? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
pcm@iwarp.intel.com (Phil Miller) (02/27/90)
In article <322@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM> waldorf@venice.sedd.trw.com (jerry waldorf) writes: > > I have an AT clone that is running minix 1.2 and the hard drive >works and I am interested in adding more memory. You're off to a running start. > I currently have 640 K and would be interested in adding more >to a total of 2 or 3 meg. How do I go about changing minix so that it >will recognize the additional memory. How much work is involved? >What kind of information will I have to gain about my hardware? First off, you'll need to upgrade at least once to level 1.3. At that level, MINIX recognizes that file systems larger than some size (512k, I think) belong in EXTENDED memory (linear address space, unusable by DOS). The "mainstream" MINIX doesn't support EXPANDED memory (segmented memory space, usable by DOS in programs like 1-2-3, Windows, etc. Follows the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft expanded memory standard), although I have seen diffs for supporting EXPANDED memory. If you have an AT clone, you probably have a 286 or better. For that reason, you may want to upgrade twice to version 1.5.x. PROTECTED mode MINIX is available in that version of MINIX and you can take better advantage of your machine's architecture. By default, a '286 or '386 run in REAL mode, which is what MS-DOS uses. In REAL mode, processes can overwrite each other. In PROTECTED mode, a process gets its own space and can't write other processes' memory. > Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks in advance. The best help is some advice: you've got LOTS of work ahead if you do these upgrades. Use the CRC program RELIGIOUSLY and find a convenient FTP site (like the NODAK site, vm1.nodak.edu) and take advantage of the archives for greasing the skids on your upgrade. Phil Miller pcm@iwarp.intel.com