Info-IBMPC@WSMR-SIMTEL20.ARMY.MIL (12/17/89)
Info-IBMPC Digest Sun, 17 Dec 89 Volume 89 : Issue 115
Today's Editor:
Gregory Hicks - Chinhae Korea <COMFLEACT@Taegu-EMH1.army.mil>
Today's Topics:
32 Mbyte Hard Disk V89#107
Absolute disk read/write problems
Expanded memory overlays
FYI: 3.5" disk drive problem (fwd)
hard disk for an XT
QuakeWare - A form of vaporware
WP5.0 and softfonts
Today's Questions:
Adding 5.25" External Drives to PS/2 Model 30s
25 Mhz with Desqview - Why so slow?
ATs & 720K floppies
BERT test
Bug(?) in Microsoft's Quick-C (Version 1.01) loop optimizer
Connecting a 2nd ESDI hard disk to PS/2 model 60
How to expand extensions or something ... yuck.
IBM PC/XT CPU is?
MS Windows-compatible DOS extenders?
TRYAPL2 from IBM
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 12:04:42 MET
From: ACEVERJ%HUTRUU0.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: 32 Mbyte Hard Disk V89#107
In the Digest, V89#107, <LIANG%IPFWCVAX.BITNET@UICVM.UIC.EDU> posed a
question about a 40 Mb hard disk and DOS 3.2.
As long as you use DOS 3.x, you won't be able to access more than 32 Mb in
a single partition. So, to use the remaining 8 Mb, you'll have to make a
second partition, disk D: for instance. Or change over to DOS 4 and get
rid of this problem altogether: in DOS 4, the 32 Mb limit has been
removed.
Regards,
Jaap Verhage, Academic Computer Centre, State University at Utrecht, Holland.
------------------------------
Date: Thu Nov 30 11:33:20 GMT 1989
From: Mike O'Carroll <lena!mike@relay.EU.net>
Subject: Absolute disk read/write problems
> For some strange reason Microsoft designed the absolute read and write
> interrupts so that they leave their flags still on the stack when they
> return to the caller. You must pop the flags off the stack yourself;
> ...
> nonstandard. Does anyone in netland have any idea what the justification
> for this might be?
According to my sources, its "because return information is passed back in
the current flags". My interpretation of this is "we wrote it ages ago,
when we couldn't imagine anyone using anything other than assembler, so
the flags seemed like a good place to return the status, and there is now
so much software, Rom bios's etc written that we can't possibly
contemplate changing it". Or something.
--
Mike O'Carroll, Microsystems Unit, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
E-mail: @ukc.ac.uk:mike@ee.leeds.ac.uk
UUCP: ...!mcvax!ukc!lena!mike or mike@lena.uucp
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 89 00:50 EDT
From: "John R. Levine" <0001037498@mcimail.com>
Subject: Expanded memory overlays
The Plink Plus linker, originally written by Phoenix Technologies and now
taken over (I think) by Polytron, can cache overlays in expanded memory.
I haven't used Plink Plus, but I have extensively used its predecessor
Plink and found it to be a reliable and flexible overlay linker. Its
overlay strategy is pretty much transparent to any language that uses
standard DOS far calls, unlike the Microsoft linker that can handle direct
but not indirect calls.
John Levine, johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us
(disregard the funky MCI Mail return address, I don't usually use it)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 21:29:55 CDT
From: david@wubios.WUstl.EDU (David J. Camp)
Subject: FYI: 3.5" disk drive problem (fwd)
Forwarded message:
>From: jack (Jack Baty)
>David,
> Just a little something to add to your database:
> While on wubios I typed <alt> e and tried to read a high density SAS
> diskette on my 3.5" drive. The computer came back with 'no files found.'
> This happened on every high density disk I tried, including a non-SAS disk.
> A 720k disk was read with no problem. I logged off wubios and tried the
> diskettes again with the same result. PC Tools couldn't find any files
> either. When I rebooted the PC the problem disappeared.
This sounds like Dos got poked somehow, and was just misbehaving. If
anyone out on netland has any experience with this problem, I would
appreciate hearing from you. By the way, the user was running NCSA_Telnet
2.2tn on a UB-NIC/PS2 on an IBM Model 70. -David-
>--
> Jack
>
Bitnet: david@wubios.wustl ^ Mr. David J. Camp
Internet: david%wubios@wucs1.wustl.edu < * > Box 8067, Biostatistics
uucp: uunet!wucs1!wubios!david v 660 South Euclid
Washington University (314) 36-23635 Saint Louis, MO 63110
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 11:57:22 MET
From: ACEVERJ%HUTRUU0.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: hard disk for an XT
In the Digest, V89#108, Jack Rupert posed a question about upgrading an XT
clone with a hard disk.
He wondered if buying a fast hard disk would be a waste of money as the XT
wouldn't be able to handle the thing.
Well, a "fast" hard disk - meaning short acess times, like the 28 ms
mentioned by our respected editor-in-chief - can profitably be hooked up
to an XT, as far as I know.
That's not the problem. However, the CPU *does* have to accept all that
incoming stuff from the HD and do something with it. That's why slower
CPU's like the 808x's in XT's need a hard disk with a larger interleave
factor than faster CPU's like 80x86's. The interleave factor tells you how
many rotations a disk must make for an entire track to be read, e.g. "3:1"
means 3 revolutions. There are weird things here: 17:1 is the interleave
factor for a number of hard cards we use with Olivetti (AT&T 6300 for you
Americans) XT clones. Things like 6:1 are more common.
The interleave can be changed by low level formatting of the hard disk or
-card. Either a program for this is included with the device, or it may be
found in it's controller's BIOS (at address C800, usually) and may be
activated using DEBUG, or you can try a program in one of Simtel20's
directories, like <MSDOS.DSKUTL>HDTST128.ARC. This one has worked fine for
me. The program checks the optimal interleave for your PC-disk
combination, and will change the interleave if so desired, optionally
checking for bad spots as well. After this, you DOS-format your disk, and
can get to work.
So, buy a fast disk if you've the money for it.
Regards,
Jaap Verhage, Academic Computer Centre, State University at Utrecht, Holland.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 19:22 MDT
From: Joe Doupnik <JRD@cc.usu.edu>
Subject: COM3/COM4 and Kermit
Here's a short reply to the question about why COM3 or COM4 was
not available under MS Kermit. MS Kermit looks in the Bios work area
memory assigned to hold the addresses of COM1..4,LPT1..4. The Bios may
initialize the words for COM1 and COM2 but it does nothing with those for
COM3 and COM4. If there were proper addresses in those latter slots then
COM3/4 would be available even to DOS.
One can make a tiny program using DEBUG to insert addresses in the
word corresponding to COM3 or COM4 (40:4h and 40:6h, respectively). Values
such as 03E8h might be available for a serial port board; check your
board's manual. The tiny program is listed fully in the MS Kermit user's
manual, file MSKERM.DOC, obtain from Columbia University: node cuvma or
watsun.cc. columbia.edu. Be aware that there are no, rpt no, standards on
COM3/4. Use IRQ of 4 for COM3 and IRQ 3 for COM4 with MS Kermit.
On second thought, here is the snippet from the manual in my awful
English -
Many machines now have more than two serial ports, but until recently
there has been no standard about addresses for COM3 and COM4. PC DOS 3.30
does not assign them either because it is really a problem of the system
ROM Bios boot code run when the power is turned on. However, Kermit will
use COM3 and/or COM4 if the base address of a port is placed in low memory
words 40:4H (COM3) or 40:6H (COM4); the tests described above are then
carried out. One restriction is that the Interrupt ReQuest number (IRQ in
the serial port board manual) must be either IRQ4 or IRQ3. Kermit
attempts to locate which line is correct with a short test. If the test
is not successful it uses the IRQ4 for COM3 (and for COM1) and IRQ3 for
COM4 (and for COM2) on the PC/AT, and on the PS/2 it uses IRQ3 for COM2,
COM3, and COM4. Check the board and its manual. DOS utility DEBUG can be
used to create a short program to insert the board's addresses into the
segment 40H memory locations; a sample program is given below.
Serial Port Address IRQ Line Conventions
COM1 03F8H 4 IBM standard
COM2 02F8H 3 IBM standard
COM3 ? 4 (3 for PS/2) Board
COM4 ? 3 Board
Table 1-13: IBM PC/XT/AT Serial Port Numbers
The addresses shown as query marks are to be found in the board's
reference manual; values such as 2E8H and 2E0H would be common. However,
there is no standard for anything to do with COM3 and COM4 on non-PS/2's.
Assuming that you have selected an address in harmony with the rest of the
sys- tem (good luck on that part), set the board's switches or jumpers,
and use DEBUG to insert the address(es) in segment 40H memory. The
example below creates a small program named SETCOM3.COM to put address
02E8H into the memory word 40:04H for COM3 and writes the program to drive
A. (Disregard the xxxx items below):
A> DEBUG don't type these comments
-n a:setcom3.com sets name of output file
-a assemble command
xxxx:100 mov ax,40 value 40h
xxxx:103 mov es,ax put it into register es
xxxx:105 mov ah,02 the 02 part of 02E8H
xxxx:107 mov al,e8 the E8 part of same
xxxx:109 es:
xxxx:10A mov [4],ax store in 40:4 for com3 ([6] for com4)
xxxx:10D int 20 return to DOS
xxxx:10F blank line to end assemble mode
-r cx show contents of register cx
CX 0000
: 0f set register cx to write 0fh bytes
-w write material to the disk file
-q quit debug
A> DEBUG setcom3.com
-u unassemble to see if all is well
-q quit debug
Note, for COM4, use [6] above rather than [4], and of course employ your
board's port address in place of 02E8H (check the manual). Finally, try
it:
A> setcom3 run the program
A> DEBUG now see what's down there
-d 40:00 display bytes in seg 40H
( Shows many bytes. See yours? Good. )
-q
A>
A small side effect noted in practice is the first time the extra port is
used there may be garbage from it. Just return to the Kermit prompt and
try again, if necessary SET PORT to the other COM lines momentarily, all
should be well the second time.
[Inserted into this message via Kermit's Transmit command. Sorry to have used
so much Digest space.]
Joe D.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 89 17:58:46 EST
From: Murph Sewall <SEWALL%UCONNVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: QuakeWare - A form of vaporware
QuakeWare!
Hardware engineers have noted that hard disks are not designed for
magnitude seven earthquakes. They warn that Silicon Valley users can
expect an unusually large number of hard drive failures in the coming
months. Of wider interest is the condition of component drives stored in
Northern California warehouses. Thorough testing on delivery and serious
attention to disk backup is recommended for any hard drive purchased
during the next year that may have been in The Bay area for game three.
-PC Week 30 October
/s Murph <Sewall%UConnVM.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.Edu> [Internet]
or ...{psuvax1 or mcvax}!uconnvm.bitnet!sewall [UUCP]
+ Standard disclaimer applies ("The opinions expressed are my own" etc.)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 11:37:04 MET
From: ACEVERJ%HUTRUU0.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: WP5.0 and softfonts
In the Digest V89#99, Joseph Skoler asked about accessing softfonts with
WordPerfect V5.0. In the Digest V89#106, Joel Saunders replied.
However, I think the answer is a bit incomplete. The method suggested by
Joel will work as long as the printer definition you're using "knows"
about the softfonts you want to access and download to the printer. WP
Corp. delivers their drivers with "knowledge" about standard cartridges
for the printer incorporated into it, i.e., the driver "knows" about
standard cartridges you can plug into your printer. Here in Holland, WP is
(or has been until recently) marketed with some Bitstream Fontware
diskettes (free of charge); these permit you to make a number of softfonts
*and* modify the printer driver as this is being done to incorporate the
new "knowledge" into it. This can save you *heaps* of time; I know, I've
tried to get WP4.2 working on a laser printer with two cartridges
installed, and had no documentation for the things. WP5.0 differs from
WP4.2, but not in this respect: the printer driver must "know" about
everything there is to know about a softfont: character width and height
for each character, positioning of diacritical marks, character set used
etc. etc. I'm afraid this is Josephs problem.
All of this means that you'll have to get the necessary information about
the softfonts you want to use, and incorporate this into the printer
driver. This last can be done using the auxiliary program PTR.EXE, which
comes with WordPerfect.
If there is no documentation for your softfont(s), you can extract it out
of the file itself; Laserjets want to know everything about the font
they're going to receive before they start printing, so it's there for the
asking. But, as you can expect, extracting that information is not a
5-minute job. In Simtel20's <MSDOS.LASER> directory, you can find some
files that contain explanations of how the information is stored into a
softfont. Try ALTRFT22.ARC, FONTSUM.ARC, QFONT13.ARC.
No guarantees - I haven't tried all of them out myself. And be prepared
for quite some work. Hope this augments Joel's reply.
Regards,
Jaap Verhage, Academic Computer Centre, State University at Utrecht, Holland.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 17:39 EST
From: <LIANG%IPFWCVAX.BITNET@UICVM.uic.edu>
Subject: Adding 5.25" External Drives to PS/2 Model 30s
I have two questions on adding a 5.25" external drive to each of the two
PS/2 model 30.
Question 1
A ps/2-30 had two 3.5" drives and no hard disk. Recently we installed a
hard disk and, for the sake of space, closed one of the 3.5" drives. The
added hard disk controller took one expansion slot. And there no more
expansion slots left now. Is there any way to add a 5.25" drive to the
machine please.
Question 2
Another Ps/2-30 has two 3.5" drives and no hard disk. It also has one
expansion slot left. But I was told by a technician here that the IBM
design would not allow us to have three floppy drives, and if we want to
add a 5.25" external drive to the machine, one of the existing 3.5" drives
must be closed. And he also said that there was no way to set up the
machine such that a user can go from two 3.5" drives option to one 3.5"
drive plus one 5.25" drive option or vise versa by a simple control action
such as pushing a button or moving a lever. Any help please.
Thank you so much.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 89 03:39 EST
From: BCA%PSUARCH.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu
Subject: 25 Mhz with Desqview - Why so slow?
I have a 386-25 with desqview 2.2 and QEMM. I logically expect that when
I open 2 windows, each window should be running close to 12.5 Mhz.. But
when I try this, both windows are so darned slow that I feel that I have
configured something wrong. Comparing the relative output speed of each
window with a 4.77 Mhz XT, I notice that the XT is faster! My motherboard
has 80ns RAM and 4 Megs of it. Furthermore Desqview recognizes all of it
and My Norton SI rating is 30.5....
Is there any hope for my machine? I know it can do better than this...
Also, I see a lot of swapping messages when opening simple 128 windows
(BIG DOSS) when I should have the memory to set up A LOT of virtual
machines..
I need multitasking that won't put me to sleep. My 386 is getting bored
with all it's power...
Any suggestions? Similar experiences?
If I solve the problem (if it is solveable) I will tell everybody how to
optimize the 386 w/Desqview here on Info-IBM PC Digest..
Thanks..
-Barry Allyn
Penn State University
------------------------------
Date: Friday, 1 Dec 1989 17:12:34 EST
From: "David Neal" <U233B@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU>
Subject: ATs & 720K floppies
I've noticed a peculiar problem on IBM ATs when I try to install 3.5" 720K
floppies as drive B. Some ATs make life easy. All I have to do is plug
in the drive and run setup (I use the setup program from the Simtel
Archives). Other ATs simply refuse to recognize this type of drive. I've
tried using the DOS-supplied device driver DRIVER.SYS and even the
udocumented DRIVPARM statement. The only thing I haven't tried is
updating the ROMs (dated 1985). I haven't tried this because I've
installed many 720K drives in PCs and XTs with older ROMS and they worked
like a charm.
Also, what is the difference between models of the AT (339, 589, etc.) and
how can I tell them apart?
David Neal U233B@WVNVM
Elk and Kanawha Rivers U233B@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU
Appalacia
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 89 15:52:17 EST
From: Ray Stell <STELLR@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject: BERT test
Does anyone know of a BERT, bit error rate test, that will run out of the
serial port of any pc type.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 02 Dec 89 16:41:46 +0200
From: Guy Sirton <MLSIRTON%WEIZMANN.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Bug(?) in Microsoft's Quick-C (Version 1.01) loop optimizer
While working on a project, some piece of C code started giving me
problems. It was pretty simple, but, I couldn't find out why it wasn't
working. After staring at the function for an hour I decided to use
CodeView for a closer inspection. Some more frustration followed while
debugging in source mode and as a last resort I switched to the mixed
assembly and source mode to see exactly what was happening. I found that
the compiler generated faulty assembly code for my function! The code was
compiled with QCL's /Ox option and switching to /Od cured the problem.
Further attempts narrowed the problem to the /Ol switch. Experimenting
with Microsoft's C 5.1 generated CORRECT code with /Ox. I have no idea
exactly why and under what circumstances this bug occurs but here is a
program which demonstrates it and the faulty assembly code produced (try
once with /Od and once with /Ol):
/*
* Bug in Microsoft's Quick C loop optimization
*/
/* simple structure... */
struct test
{
int n;
int a[10]; /* without this array the bug doesn't appear... */
int c;
};
/*
* this function is a shrunk version of the one that produced the bug.
* all extra code was deleted and we're left with a meaningless
* code which resets t->n rightmost bits from t->c after finding
* one of these bits on.
*/
int buggy(struct test *t)
{
int i, j;
for(i=0; i<t->n; i++)
if((t->c>>i) & 1)
{
do
{
if((t->c>>i) & 1)
for(j=0; j<t->n; j++)
t->c &= ~(1<<j); /* Turn off */
return(t->c);
}
while(0);
}
}
/*
* a little main program for the above function
*/
main()
{
struct test t;
t.c = 0xF;
t.n = 10;
printf("%d\n", buggy(&t)); /* should print 0 */
}
Assembly code for buggy (as extracted from CodeView):
notice code for inner loop (line 31, 66DD:0057)...
_buggy:
22: {
66DD:0010 55 PUSH BP
66DD:0011 8BEC MOV BP,SP
66DD:0013 B80400 MOV AX,0004
66DD:0016 E80503 CALL __chkstk (031E)
66DD:0019 57 PUSH DI
66DD:001A 56 PUSH SI
25: for(i=0; i<t->n; i++)
66DD:001B 8B7604 MOV SI,Word Ptr [t]
66DD:001E 8B7EFE MOV i,Word Ptr [BP-02]
66DD:0021 BF0000 MOV i,0000
66DD:0024 E90300 JMP _buggy+1a (002A)
66DD:0027 83C701 ADD i,+01
66DD:002A 8B04 MOV AX,Word Ptr [SI]
66DD:002C 3BF8 CMP i,AX
66DD:002E 7C03 JL _buggy+23 (0033)
66DD:0030 E96500 JMP _buggy+88 (0098)
26: if((t->c>>i) & 1)
66DD:0033 8BCF MOV CX,i
66DD:0035 8B4416 MOV AX,Word Ptr [SI+16]
66DD:0038 D3F8 SAR AX,CL
66DD:003A 250100 AND AX,0001
66DD:003D 3D0000 CMP AX,0000
66DD:0040 7503 JNZ _buggy+35 (0045)
66DD:0042 E95000 JMP _buggy+85 (0095)
30: if((t->c>>i) & 1)
66DD:0045 8BCF MOV CX,i
66DD:0047 8B4416 MOV AX,Word Ptr [SI+16]
66DD:004A D3F8 SAR AX,CL
66DD:004C 250100 AND AX,0001
66DD:004F 3D0000 CMP AX,0000
66DD:0052 7503 JNZ _buggy+47 (0057)
66DD:0054 E93800 JMP _buggy+7f (008F)
31: for(j=0; j<t->n; j++) ; my comments...
66DD:0057 897604 MOV Word Ptr [t],SI ; restore t from SI
66DD:005A 8B76FC MOV SI,Word Ptr [j] ; what is this good for?
66DD:005D 897E04 MOV Word Ptr [t],i ; t is overwritten with i
66DD:0060 8B7E04 MOV i,Word Ptr [t] ; i is restored from t???
66DD:0063 BE0000 MOV SI,0000 ; ?? SI probably for j
66DD:0066 E90300 JMP _buggy+5c (006C)
66DD:0069 83C601 ADD SI,+01
66DD:006C 8B05 MOV AX,Word Ptr [i]
66DD:006E 3BF0 CMP SI,AX
66DD:0070 7C03 JL _buggy+65 (0075)
66DD:0072 E90F00 JMP _buggy+74 (0084)
32: t->c &= ~(1<<j); /* Turn off */
66DD:0075 8BCE MOV CX,SI
66DD:0077 B80100 MOV AX,0001
66DD:007A D3E0 SHL AX,CL
66DD:007C F7D0 NOT AX
66DD:007E 214516 AND Word Ptr [i+16],AX
66DD:0081 E9E5FF JMP _buggy+59 (0069)
66DD:0084 8976FC MOV Word Ptr [j],SI
66DD:0087 8BF7 MOV SI,i
66DD:0089 897E04 MOV Word Ptr [t],i
66DD:008C 8B7E04 MOV i,Word Ptr [t]
33: return(t->c);
66DD:008F 8B4516 MOV AX,Word Ptr [i+16]
66DD:0092 E90900 JMP _buggy+8e (009E)
66DD:0095 E98FFF JMP _buggy+17 (0027)
66DD:0098 897604 MOV Word Ptr [t],SI
66DD:009B 897EFE MOV Word Ptr [BP-02],i
37: }
66DD:009E 5E POP SI
66DD:009F 5F POP DI
66DD:00A0 8BE5 MOV SP,BP
66DD:00A2 5D POP BP
66DD:00A3 C3 RET
Advice:
Try to avoid using /Ol or /Ox with Quick-C until this bug is fixed or can
be narrowed down to something more solid.
Guy Sirton
MLSIRTON@WEIZMANN.BITNET
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 17:47:33 +0100
From: Harald Boegeholz <ifistg!boegehol@uunet.UU.NET>
Subject: Connecting a 2nd ESDI hard disk to PS/2 model 60
I have an IBM PS/2 model 60 with a 70 MB ESDI harddisk. I'd like to
connect a non-IBM ESDI hard disk (>100MB) to the IBM ESDI controller as a
second drive. I had the chance to borrow an 83MB ESDI hard disk and tried
to connect it, but I only got various error messages. I then tried to
format the drive using the reference diskette. It told me that extended
formatting was necessary, and after about 5 seconds I was back in the main
menu without any error messages. The drive still doesn't work, of course.
Has anybody successfully connected a non-IBM ESDI harddisk to the IBM ESDI
controller? I've been told that IBM uses a different format for the defect
map on the drive. If this is the case, is it possible and is there any
software to write the required defect map to the disk (possibly by
connecting the drive to a different machine and using that controller to
do it)? Or is there any driver or BIOS patch that allows the drive to be
used? I'm mostly use IBM OS/2, so an MS-DOS TSR program would be useless.
I don't want to use an original IBM drive because (a) I can buy three
others for the same money (b) they are all full-height, and I already have
a 5.25" floppy drive mounted where the 2nd harddisk is supposed to be
installed
Any help or pointers to technical information on the ESDI interface and
IBMs interpretation of it will be greatly appreciated
Harald Boegeholz
student at the University of Stuttgart, West Germany
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 12:34:34 MET
From: ACEVERJ%HUTRUU0.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
Subject: How to expand extensions or something ... yuck.
Many things in this world baffle me ... here's one of them.
Some large programs, or programs capable of making large files (WP5.0,
1-2-3) will make use of expanded memory if you have it and bypass DOS's
640 Kb limit in that way. Wonderful. Many PC's on the market today come
with 1 Mb of memory installed. The naive user would think that this would
be exPANded memory. No, sir. It's exTENded memory. Of what use? To use as
a RAM disk. Or, if you've got HIMEM.SYS (DOS 4, I believe), you can use a
paltry 64 Kb of the 384 that are there - IF your program supports
HIMEM.SYS (I haven't met one, yet). Or you can use a program that
simulates exPANded memory, using your exTENded memory. Lord, Lord. WHY? Is
there some grand scheme involved that I'm too dumb to see? Is there a
conspiration that forces you to buy expensive EMS-boards, and letting the
extended RAM go to waste? Is the extended RAM there only to be a miniature
drive D: next to your bigger C: ? Most of us are working with hard disks
at present, I assume, which makes use of a RAM drive much less interesting
than back in the days of just diskettes.
In Simtel20's <MSDOS.SYSUTL> directory, some time ago a program called
EMSIM emulated exPANded memory on exTENded memory (it doesn't seem to be
there anymore). However, this one had a limit of 256 Kb built-in. I want
to use ALL of my durn extended junk, in the way *I* WANT TO @#$%^&* !!!
So; it boils down to this:
1. Can anyone tell me why (most? all?) PC's with 1 Mb of RAM contain
exTENded memory instead of exPANded memory?
2. Can anyone point me to a program that will make ME decide how much ext.
I want to exp.? Freeware or shareware, preferably.
Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Jaap Verhage, Academic Computer Centre, State University at Utrecht, Holland.
"Is there more between you and your PC than it can know in it's biosophy?"
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 12:25:00 EST
From: Kevin McGregor <BLUE@ccm.UManitoba.CA>
Subject: IBM PC/XT CPU is?
Locally, there has been some recent debate on which Intel CPUs have been
used in true-blue IBM PC/XTs. One camp insists that the XT has always had
an 8088 in it, whereas the other group is certain that they all had 8086s
in them. Sort of an academic question, isn't it? Most everybody around
here has a clone! :-) Anyway, I'd like you people to send me a message
noting what you know on the topic. I hope most replies will be the same,
so we can end our little argument and go on to prove black is white and
get run over at the next zebra crossing. Ahem. Since I'm expecting (and
hoping) to get many replies the same, please e-mail me directly. You may
include your vote as to whether the results are worth posting back to this
list. :-)
Thanks (in advance) for your input.
Kevin McGregor
BLUE@UOFMCC.BITNET
BLUE@ccm.UManitoba.CA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 89 09:23:57 pst
From: well!alcmist@apple.com (Frederick Wamsley)
Subject: MS Windows-compatible DOS extenders?
Does anyone know the name (and phone number?) of a supplier of a DOS
extender that can coexist with Windows 286? I'm looking for an
alternative to Windows 3.0 for a program that thrashes unendurably in
640K. The program is a full-blooded Windows app, built with multiple DLLs
(if that matters).
All leads will be read with gratitude!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 89 23:45:23 EDT
From: The Time Traveler <HE891C%GWUVM.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: TRYAPL2 from IBM
According to PC Magazine, during the August APL89 Conference in NY, IBM
offered a "shareware" work called TRYAPL2, which was a cut-down version of
an APL-2 interpreter. Does anyone know from where I can get this?
------------------------------
End of Info-IBMPC Digest
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