dkb@cs.brown.edu (Dilip Barman) (03/15/90)
The title basically says it all. I suspect the answer is no. It would
be great if the DOS compatability box DOS could use extended or expanded
memory, but if I put my thinking hat on for a moment, I guess that would
architecturally be a problem since OS/2 manages memory above 1 Meg
(and above 640 K? probably not because that's where memory-mapped I/O
is done so DOS needs to manage that). So, am I right in assuming that
my DOS Box can't have a virtual disk?
Dilip Barman dkb@cs.brown.edu
U.S. mail: Brown University Home: 19 Elton Street
Dept. of Computer Science, Box 1910 Providence, RI 02906
Providence, RI 02912 (401)863-7666 (401)521-9731lbruck@eng.umd.edu (Lewis Bruck) (03/16/90)
In article <32811@brunix.UUCP> dkb@cs.brown.edu (Dilip Barman) writes: >The title basically says it all. I suspect the answer is no. It would >be great if the DOS compatability box DOS could use extended or expanded >memory, but if I put my thinking hat on for a moment, I guess that would >architecturally be a problem since OS/2 manages memory above 1 Meg >(and above 640 K? probably not because that's where memory-mapped I/O >is done so DOS needs to manage that). So, am I right in assuming that >my DOS Box can't have a virtual disk? The DOS Box cannot have it's own virtual disk, but you can install a VDISK for OS/2 and the DOS box can use it. With a piece of software like Novell Requester it is also possible to access a network file server from the DOS box. >Dilip Barman dkb@cs.brown.edu >U.S. mail: Brown University Home: 19 Elton Street > Dept. of Computer Science, Box 1910 Providence, RI 02906 > Providence, RI 02912 (401)863-7666 (401)521-9731 Lewis Bruck lbruck@eng.umd.edu
dkb@cs.brown.edu (Dilip Barman) (03/17/90)
Really? How can you define an OS/2 VDISK? And why would you want to -
wouldn't it slow down the machine due to less paging memory available?
Dilip Barman dkb@cs.brown.edu
U.S. mail: Brown University Home: 19 Elton Street
Dept. of Computer Science, Box 1910 Providence, RI 02906
Providence, RI 02912 (401)863-7666 (401)521-9731kulokari@cc.helsinki.fi (03/17/90)
In article <32811@brunix.UUCP>, dkb@cs.brown.edu (Dilip Barman) writes: > The title basically says it all. I suspect the answer is no. It would > be great if the DOS compatability box DOS could use extended or expanded > memory, but if I put my thinking hat on for a moment, I guess that would > architecturally be a problem since OS/2 manages memory above 1 Meg > (and above 640 K? probably not because that's where memory-mapped I/O > is done so DOS needs to manage that). So, am I right in assuming that > my DOS Box can't have a virtual disk? No, you are wrong. As a little test would have revealed, the OS/2 VDISK.SYS is a dual-mode driver. Hannu Kulokari CC, U of Helsinki kulokari@cc.helsinki.fi
kevinro@microsoft.UUCP (Kevin ROSS) (03/20/90)
In article <DKB.90Mar16143956@anquetil.cs.brown.edu> dkb@cs.brown.edu (Dilip Barman) writes: >Really? How can you define an OS/2 VDISK? And why would you want to - >wouldn't it slow down the machine due to less paging memory available? The VDISK.SYS driver is included in the standard release of OS/2. It works just like DOS. Why would you want it? The same reason that you would use a VDISK under DOS: Its faster. Many programs (like compilers, etc) create temporary files on a disk. If this disk was a RAM disk, the access time becomes very fast. You need to be careful in choosing the size of a VDISK, especially on a small memory machine. If you have a 2 meg machine, setting up a .5 meg VDISK would be a very bad idea, since you are leaving very little memory left for applications to run in. I have a 13 meg machine, with a 1 meg RAM drive, and it proves to be a very good thing. Of course, you would be losing the battle if you create a VDISK, and then make it your swap device!
sean@mercury.sybase.com (Sean Fitts) (03/21/90)
In article <DKB.90Mar16143956@anquetil.cs.brown.edu> dkb@cs.brown.edu (Dilip Barman) writes: > > >Really? How can you define an OS/2 VDISK? And why would you want to - >wouldn't it slow down the machine due to less paging memory available? >Dilip Barman dkb@cs.brown.edu >U.S. mail: Brown University Home: 19 Elton Street > Dept. of Computer Science, Box 1910 Providence, RI 02906 > Providence, RI 02912 (401)863-7666 (401)521-9731 To define a VDISK you use the VDISK.SYS driver that comes with OS/2. Any VDISK you define is visible from both OS/2 and the penalty box. As for why, we find it help when doing large compiles to have the temp files on the vdisk (thus avoiding paging all together). -Sean ========================================================================= Sean Fitts / Sybase / 6475 Christie Ave. / Emeryville, CA 94608 sean@mercury.sybase.com -or- {mtxinu,pacbell,sun,pyramid}!sybase!sean "As you probably already know, the opinions are mine and not Sybase's" "Character is what you are in the dark." ========================================================================