To load EPPD high, one needs a 69K free UMB block. So optimising memory is
crucial.
Here is my my CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT to show certain steps
one can take to maximise their conventional memory and UMB.
I use IBM PCDOS 7 but I note the exceptions for MSDOS users.
DR-DOS users should also benefit but there are differences
(e.g there is no HIMEM.SYS used on 386+ machines, etc)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIG.SYS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEVICE=C:\BLACKOUT\BLACKOUT.EXE ; see (1) below
INSTALL=C:\BLACKOUT\BANNER.COM
DOS=HIGH,UMB
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /FASTA20 /NUMHANDLES=64 ; see (2) below
rem DEVICE=C:\DOS\UMBPCI.SYS ; see (3) below
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE noems I=B000-B7FF h=64 d=32 ; see (4) below
DOSDATA=UMB ; see (5) below
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
FILES=70
STACKS=0,0
BUFFERS=10,0
FCBS=1,0
LASTDRIVE=H
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\VIDE-CDD.SYS /D:CDDRIVE ; see (6) below
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS /E:1000 /P /H
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) BLACKOUT is a program which blanks the screen and BANNER displays
a image file (320x200x256 colours) which gives the effect of a startup
screen. It doesn't load anything resident.
Blackout is at http://www.opus.co.tt/dave/download/blackout.zip
(2) The /FASTA20 switch is PCDOS specific. A better one for MSDOS users :
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF /Q /NUMHANDLES=64
(3) UMBPCI is a freeware replacement for EMM386.EXE. It provides
Upper Memory Blocks (UMB) while only taking 240 bytes resident.
The disadvantage is that it doesn't provide expanded memory (EMS) and
it works only on certain chipsets (for Intel, FIC VIA (Apollo),
ALI (Alladin) and SiS PCI/AGP chipsets, supporting Pentium,
Pentium Pro, Pentium II/III, AMD and Cyrix CPUs) with possible
(but documented) side effects (with my 430TX chipset,
I couldn't access my 3.5" floppy).
Also mentioned is a link to HIRAM, which allows you to load HIMEM.SYS
high for that extra 1K!
UMBPCI.SYS is at http://www.uwe-sieber.de/english.html
(4) The area I=B000-B777 was only used by monochrome video cards so
it is usually safe to include this area. If you have Microsoft Diagnostics
(MSD), run it and select memory. You will get a memory map and see what
other areas you can include. If you don't have a network card,
you can use I=E000-EFFF as well.
(5) PCDOS 7 specific. This loads FILES, STACKS, FCBS into UMB instead
of conventional memory. MSDOS users can use DOSMAX, a no-nag shareware
program to achieve a similar result at
http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/sysutl/dosmax21.zip
(6) VIDE-CDD.SYS is Acer's CD-ROM driver for my Toshiba CDROM drive. It
only takes 5K resident. You can get it at
http://www.acerperipherals.com/ss_download/apicd214.exe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTOEXEC.BAT
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO OFF
SET ATI_NOEE_M64=C:\MACH64\EEDATA.EE_
C:\MACH64\CUSTOM.COM q
rem ===== Load device drivers ======
c:\dos\ctmouse.com ; see (7) below
LH C:\DOS\DOSED -l -i -q ; see (8) below
LH C:\DOS\SHSUCDX /D:CDDRIVE ; see (9) below
C:\DOS\SMARTDRV.EXE 1024 16 A- B- C+ D+ E+
rem ===== Sound card settings =====
SET SOUND=C:\SB16
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E
C:\SB16\DIAGNOSE /S
C:\SB16\MIXERSET /P /Q
rem ===== Setup Ramdisk for Arachne ======
lh xmsdsk 8192 g: /t /y ; see (10) below
md g:\temp
set temp=g:\temp
set arachnetemp=g:\temp
rem ===== Set environment variables =====
SET SYMANTEC=C:\SYMANTEC
SET NU=C:\NU8
SET EUDIR=E:\EUPHORIA
PATH C:\DOS;C:\BAT;E:\EUPHORIA\BIN;C:\WINDOWS
SET SJGPLAY=C:\SJ
SET PROMPT=$e[s$e[H$e[1;37;44m$e[K **** Time: $t$h$h$h Date:
$d ****$e[1;37;40;1m$e[u$p$g
C:\BLACKOUT\BLACKOUT.EXE ; see (11)
MODE CO80
cls
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(7) Ctmouse is a replacement mouse driver (for either serial or PS/2 mice)
which is only 7K resident. It loads itself high so there is
no LH before it. You can download the free Cute Mouse Driver at
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/mouse/ctmous16.zip
(8) DOSED is a freeware replacement for DOSKEY. A neat feature is that
it offers filename completion similar to the Bash shell in Linux.
So you can enter a partial file or directory name, press TAB
and DOSED will try to complete the full name.
A GREAT timesaver. Get it at
http://home.sol.no/~sverrehu/
(9) SHSUCDX is a replacement for MSCDEX but takes up only 11K resident.
Can be uninstalled at the commandline. You can get it at
ftp://ftp.shsu.edu/pub/cdrom/shsucd13.zip
(10) XMSDSK is a freeware resizable ramdisk. It can be installed/uninstalled
from the command line. Download it at
http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/ramdisk/fu_rd19i.zip
(11) As mentioned in (1), you have to rerun BLACKOUT to unblank the screen
Otherwise, you won't see anything!
With this CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT using EMM386, I could get
628K free conventional,
121K free UMB blocks
with the largest free UMB block at 82K.
If I use UMBPCI.SYS and rem out EMM386, I get
630K free conventional
92K free UMB blocks
with the largest free UMB block at 92K.
(Reason is UMBPCI.SYS can't use the B000-B7FF region but the benefit
is a bigger free UMB block and 2K more conventional memory)
There is a site http://members.aol.com/axcel216/
which offers details on various MSDOS tricks and optimisations
(as well as for Win3.x and 95/98).
Dev Teelucksingh
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Interesting DOS programs page at http://www.opus.co.tt/dave
