mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) (11/17/90)
A quick update for those (apparently very few of us) who are trying to figure out why DOS programs run so slowly in 386 Enhanced mode. First off, some non-reasons: 1. `Monitor ports' box checked 2. Other Programs are running in background 3. Using an SX versus a DX (from RONJ@lampf.lanl.gov) 4. Lack of memory 5. `Exclusive' box not checked 6. ? If anyone has any things that they've tried but do not solve the problem, feel free to add to the list. I'd like to go back to 386 Enhanced mode, but not with at a 60% speed penalty! ________________________________________________________________________ Michael B. Williams \ 1-2-3-4, KICK THE LAWSUITS OUT THE DOOR MIT NE43-532 \ 5-6-7-8, INNOVATE DON'T LITIGATE Laboratory for Computer Science \ 9-A-B-C, INTERFACES SHOULD BE FREE 545 Technology Square \ D-E-F-0, LOOK AND FEEL HAS GOT TO GO! Cambridge, MA 02139 -------------------------------------- (617) 253-6015 Internet: mikew@athena.mit.edu CompuServe: 73667,3264
peterdur@microsoft.UUCP (Peter Durham) (11/27/90)
In article <1990Nov16.195853.28171@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) writes: >A quick update for those (apparently very few of us) who are trying to >figure out why DOS programs run so slowly in 386 Enhanced mode. First >off, some non-reasons: > > 1. `Monitor ports' box checked > 2. Other Programs are running in background > 3. Using an SX versus a DX (from RONJ@lampf.lanl.gov) > 4. Lack of memory > 5. `Exclusive' box not checked > 6. ? > >If anyone has any things that they've tried but do not solve the problem, >feel free to add to the list. I'd like to go back to 386 Enhanced mode, >but not with at a 60% speed penalty! How about one thing that might? I remember when I first installed Windows 3.0 that I had trouble getting a favorite DOS mode game running at anywhere near the right speed. I twiddled a lot of the PIF file options and finally got something that worked. I just went back and narrowed it down to one, and here it is: Detect Idle Time According to the help file, "Some applications will not run correctly with this option selected. The only way to determine if the appplication will work is to select this option and see if it runs more slowly. If not, leaving this box checked will allow other applications in the background to run faster." I also noted that unchecking monitor ports made the graphics update more crisply, but it did not make much difference in terms of speed. Hope this helps! Disclaimer: I'm not in the Windows group, nor do I speak for them; I just like their product. - Peter
mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) (12/01/90)
In article <59322@microsoft.UUCP>, peterdur@microsoft.UUCP (Peter Durham) writes: |> In article <1990Nov16.195853.28171@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) writes: |> >A quick update for those (apparently very few of us) who are trying to |> >figure out why DOS programs run so slowly in 386 Enhanced mode. First |> >off, some non-reasons: |> > |> > 1. `Monitor ports' box checked |> > 2. Other Programs are running in background |> > 3. Using an SX versus a DX (from RONJ@lampf.lanl.gov) |> > 4. Lack of memory |> > 5. `Exclusive' box not checked |> > 6. ? |> > |> >If anyone has any things that they've tried but do not solve the problem, |> >feel free to add to the list. I'd like to go back to 386 Enhanced mode, |> >but not with at a 60% speed penalty! |> |> How about one thing that might? |> |> I remember when I first installed Windows 3.0 that I had trouble getting a |> favorite DOS mode game running at anywhere near the right speed. I twiddled |> a lot of the PIF file options and finally got something that worked. I just |> went back and narrowed it down to one, and here it is: |> |> Detect Idle Time |> |> According to the help file, "Some applications will not run correctly with |> this option selected. The only way to determine if the appplication will |> work is to select this option and see if it runs more slowly. If not, leaving |> this box checked will allow other applications in the background to run |> faster." |> |> I also noted that unchecking monitor ports made the graphics update more |> crisply, but it did not make much difference in terms of speed. |> |> Hope this helps! |> |> Disclaimer: I'm not in the Windows group, nor do I speak for them; I just |> like their product. |> |> - Peter I gave it a try, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Applications still ran slowly, and SI still reported a paltry 4.6. Has anyone else had success with this? Thanks Peter. Any more ideas about what might be the cause? -- ________________________________________________________________________ Michael B. Williams \ 1-2-3-4, KICK THE LAWSUITS OUT THE DOOR MIT NE43-532 \ 5-6-7-8, INNOVATE DON'T LITIGATE Laboratory for Computer Science \ 9-A-B-C, INTERFACES SHOULD BE FREE 545 Technology Square \ D-E-F-0, LOOK AND FEEL HAS GOT TO GO! Cambridge, MA 02139 -------------------------------------- (617) 253-5983 Internet: mikew@athena.mit.edu CompuServe: 73667,3264
brian@rtf.bt.co.uk (Brian N Butterworth) (12/03/90)
In article <1990Nov30.191847.24834@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) writes: >In article <59322@microsoft.UUCP>, peterdur@microsoft.UUCP (Peter Durham) writes: >|> In article <1990Nov16.195853.28171@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> mikew@proton.LCS.MIT.EDU (Michael B. Williams) writes: I've (like most of the rest of the world it seems) had problems with the speed in 386 enhanced mode. On a couple of machines this problem was solved by chaning five little DIP switches on the main circuit board (of a Zenith 386) which seem to deal with caching of extended memory. The speed increase was very noticable. ------ Brian