halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Halpern) (02/17/91)
I've recently installed dos4.0 on my pc and everytime I boot I guet this
warning message telling me to install share for large media. I should also
add that I have a 286pc with 20MB and 40MB hard drives. Why am I getting
this message and what should I do to stop getting it ?
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David Halpern
Telephone: (708) 491-4308
Office Location: TECH B426 (Center for multiphase flow)
Address: Biomedical Engineering Department
Northwestern University
Evanston IL 60208
e-mail:halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edutih@barsoom.nhh.no (Tom Ivar Helbekkmo) (02/17/91)
halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Halpern) writes: >I've recently installed dos4.0 on my pc and everytime I boot I guet this >warning message telling me to install share for large media. I should also >add that I have a 286pc with 20MB and 40MB hard drives. Why am I getting >this message and what should I do to stop getting it ? Since I've seen several people use 4.0 (or 4.01, which you really should be using instead since it fixes a few bugs in 4.0), and ignoring this pretty important warning (which really should be a fatal error -- why DOS doesn't load SHARE automatically I don't know!), I guess this ought to be posted: When you're using DOS 4 with disk partitions greater than 32Mb, something ugly happens to the FCB handling in DOS -- it stops working right, and you risk thrashing your disk partition. To work around this bug, you should have the SHARE module loaded, and not just by running it from AUTOEXEC.BAT, but by loading it from CONFIG.SYS. To do this, put a line like: INSTALL=C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE (changing the path to wherever you've actually got SHARE.EXE, of course) in your CONFIG.SYS file. This will make DOS load the SHARE module before loading COMMAND.COM to start running DOS proper, and will make sure you don't get in trouble. In David's case, it's obvious that he's using his 40Mb disk as one 40Mb partition, and for this to work properly, he needs SHARE. -tih -- Tom Ivar Helbekkmo, NHH, Bergen, Norway. Telephone: +47-5-959205 tih@barsoom.nhh.no, thelbekk@norunit.bitnet, edb_tom@debet.nhh.no
hrbaan@cs.ruu.nl (Hayo Baan) (02/18/91)
In <tih.666788870@barsoom> tih@barsoom.nhh.no (Tom Ivar Helbekkmo) writes: ->halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Halpern) writes: -> ->>I've recently installed dos4.0 on my pc and everytime I boot I guet this ->>warning message telling me to install share for large media. I should also ->>add that I have a 286pc with 20MB and 40MB hard drives. Why am I getting ->>this message and what should I do to stop getting it ? -> ->Since I've seen several people use 4.0 (or 4.01, which you really should ->be using instead since it fixes a few bugs in 4.0), and ignoring this ->pretty important warning (which really should be a fatal error -- why ->DOS doesn't load SHARE automatically I don't know!), I guess this ought ->to be posted: This is not true : DOS automatically loads in share if it can find it! DOS searches for share in the root directory, and in the directory your shell statement refers to. Because you (the original poster) changed from command.com to 4dos.com, his shell statement propably changed -> DOS can't find share anymore. -- +------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+ | Hayo R. Baan | E-Mail : hrbaan@cs.ruu.nl | | Oudwijkerlaan 34 |-----------------------------------------------------| | 3581 TD UTRECHT | | | The Netherlands | A program is like a nose; | | | Sometimes it runs, sometimes it blows. | | Tel. 030-515586 | | +------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
mmccorm@d.cs.okstate.edu (McCormick Martin) (05/14/91)
From: halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Halpern)
I've recently installed dos4.0 on my pc and everytime I boot I guet this
warning message telling me to install share for large media. I should also
add that I have a 286pc with 20MB and 40MB hard drives. Why am I getting
this message and what should I do to stop getting it ?
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Please post to the group. Obviously, we could install SHARE, but
I'd really rather know the reason for this message. Without digging
through the DOS manual, I recall that SHARE.EXE has to do with opening
and sharing data files between applications.
Martin McCormick
Amateur Radio WB5AGZ
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OKhuhtala@jyu.fi (Kyosti Huhtala) (05/15/91)
In article <1991May13.215237.4309@d.cs.okstate.edu> mmccorm@d.cs.okstate.edu (McCormick Martin) writes: > >From: halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Halpern) >I've recently installed dos4.0 on my pc and everytime I boot I guet this >warning message telling me to install share for large media. I should also >add that I have a 286pc with 20MB and 40MB hard drives. Why am I getting >this message and what should I do to stop getting it ? > >Martin McCormick >Amateur Radio WB5AGZ >Oklahoma State University >Stillwater, OK I also got the same message until I included INSTALL=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.COM SHARE.EXE in CONFIG.SYS. But still, when I am using SideKick to edit a file I sometimes get message "Drive not ready" and the led of A:drive is illuminating though I am saving to C:! Usually in this case I can save the file to some other directory than the one I first tried, then I quit SideKick and try to copy the file to the directory I first tried and get message "Sharing violation..."! Has this something to do with file sharing or is there something I am doing wrong? I have a 386 with 100MB HD. I use QEMM 5.12, 4MB RAMDISK in extended memory, SideKick is configured to swap to EMS and RAMDISK, and 4DOS is configured to swap to extended memory with resident part moved to UMB. Kyosti
heathh@kanga (Heath Ian Hunnicutt) (05/17/91)
In article <1991May13.215237.4309@d.cs.okstate.edu> mmccorm@d.cs.okstate.edu (McCormick Martin) writes: > > From: halpern@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Halpern) > I've recently installed dos4.0 on my pc and everytime I boot I guet this > warning message telling me to install share for large media. I should also > add that I have a 286pc with 20MB and 40MB hard drives. Why am I getting > this message and what should I do to stop getting it ? SHARE's purpose is two-fold: First, it handles file locking for shared access. Someone else on this group has already posted about that. If you judged by SHARE's name alone, you might think that that is all it does. However, SHARE's main purpose is to keep a MS-DOS ver 1.0 stupidity from trashing your disk. You see, old MS-DOS versions required applications to use what is known as an FCB or File Control Block. Because of this requirement for old versions of DOS, some applications still around today use FCBs instead of a newer method, File Handles. FCBs access only the first 32MB of your hard drive succesfully, while File Handles have much greater range. A side affect of FCBs' limitation is this: If you used an FCB to access, say the 40 millionth byte on your hard drive, you would actually get the 40M - 32M limit = 8 millionth byte. i.e., the pointer "wraps around" SHARE translates all FCB calls into File Handle calls. To properly load SHARE, place the file SHARE.EXE in your root directory of your boot-up disk. Don't put any lines about in your config.sys or autoexec.bat! I know this seems wrong, but bear with me: When DOS first loads, before even checking for a config.sys, it checks for big media. If it finds it, it _immediately_ checks for SHARE.EXE in the root directory. (i.e., C:\SHARE.EXE) If it finds SHARE it loads it right then. The reason that it is not loaded with config.sys (although it can be...) is this: Imagine you have the following config.sys: 1: DEVICE=C:OLDTHING.SYS 2: INSTALL SHARE.EXE Further imagine that OLDTHING uses FCBs. Now imagine what happens if OLDTHING starts out using FCBs and then SHARE comes along and buts in. Now imagine a hard drive full of worhtless random bytes. Anyway, I hope you use SHARE, but I feel that I should warn you: Some people (not me, by the way) have had trouble using SHARE with things like DesqView, etc., Others blame the problem on FASTOPEN, which I must agree with. The 4.0 FASTOPEN is Buggy with a capital 'B'. SHARE is doing a fine job on my system, and has been for over a year. I use 4DOS, which is more robust than COMMAND.COM in many respects, so perhaps that is where my luck has come from.... -- Heath Hunnicutt | X-Wing Pilot: "Ahhh! I'm gonna die!" heathh@pooh.cco.caltech.edu | Rebel Command: "Stay on target..." 131.215.48.30 | ... my life at Caltech --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the unlikely event that I might seem to be representing Caltech's opinion on any matter, I am not. In fact, if it is brought to my attention that I share any particular opinion with Caltech's administration and other assorted Yahoos, I will change that opinion of mine.
gmurray@ibmpcug.co.uk (G Murray) (05/18/91)
In article <1991May17.160145.10245@nntp-server.caltech.edu> heathh@kanga (Heath Ian Hunnicutt) writes: > > Imagine you have the following config.sys: > 1: DEVICE=C:OLDTHING.SYS > 2: INSTALL SHARE.EXE > > Further imagine that OLDTHING uses FCBs. Now imagine what happens if OLDTHING > starts out using FCBs and then SHARE comes along and buts in. Now imagine a > hard drive full of worhtless random bytes. I think that you will find that OLDTHING *cant* use FCBs, or handles for that matter. As it is in a DEVICE= line on config.sys, this implies that it is a device driver. Only a very limited number of DOS calls are allowed in a device driver, either during initialisation or during running. In particular, no file handling calls, either FCB or handle based, are allowed. Hence, OLDTHING.SYS shouldn't be able to trash the Hard Disk because it is loaded before SHARE.EXE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Graham Murray Email gmurray@ibmpcug.co.uk Senior Programmer OR gmurray@cix.compulink.co.uk Gravatom Technology Ltd Voice +44 329 823986 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Automatic Disclaimer: The views expressed above are those of the author alone and may not represent the views of the IBM PC User Group. --
mmccorm@d.cs.okstate.edu (McCormick Martin) (05/18/91)
My most sincere thanks to all who responded on the question of using SHARE in DOS. I guess I'm lucky that nothing has gone wrong, yet. I should probably go ahead and install it for safety sake. Martin McCormick amateur radio WB5AGZ Oklahoma State University Computer Center Data Communications Group Stillwater, Ok. ******** I want my ISDN ********
heathh@roo (Heath Ian Hunnicutt) (05/19/91)
In article <1991May18.125629.24555@ibmpcug.co.uk> gmurray@ibmpcug.co.uk (G Murray) writes: > In article <1991May17.160145.10245@nntp-server.caltech.edu> heathh@kanga (Heath Ian Hunnicutt) writes: > > > > Imagine you have the following config.sys: > > 1: DEVICE=C:OLDTHING.SYS > > 2: INSTALL SHARE.EXE > > > > Further imagine that OLDTHING uses FCBs. Now imagine what happens if OLDTHING > > starts out using FCBs and then SHARE comes along and buts in. Now imagine a > > hard drive full of worhtless random bytes. > > I think that you will find that OLDTHING *cant* use FCBs, or handles for > that matter. As it is in a DEVICE= line on config.sys, this implies that > it is a device driver. Only a very limited number of DOS calls are allowed > in a device driver, either during initialisation or during running. In > particular, no file handling calls, either FCB or handle based, are allowed. > Hence, OLDTHING.SYS shouldn't be able to trash the Hard Disk because it is > loaded before SHARE.EXE Well, during the start-up (loading) phase of the device driver's existence, it can use whatever it pleases, including FCBs. However, by the time DOS gets to the next line of CONFIG.SYS, loading is complete, so it cannot make new DOS calls unless it goes to _extreme_ trouble. BUT - A properly written device driver can monitor various flags in the DOS variable area and determine whether it is safe to (say) access a file or whatnot. Most don't, but it _is_ possible. I wrote one myself (that uses handles, thank you) and it is able to write to a log file opened during loading. Any such driver, though, might require DOS versions greater than 2.0... I should check on that. If so, there is _no_ reason to use an FCB. -- Heath Hunnicutt | X-Wing Pilot: "Ahhh! I'm gonna die!" heathh@pooh.cco.caltech.edu | Rebel Command: "Stay on target..." 131.215.48.30 | ... my life at Caltech --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the unlikely event that I might seem to be representing Caltech's opinion on any matter, I am not. In fact, if it is brought to my attention that I share any particular opinion with Caltech's administration and other assorted Yahoos, I will change that opinion of mine.