HIMEM.SYS and .64 MB RAM
Konstantin Koll
I'm writing DOS software with Borland Pascal in Protected Mode and sell them.
Strangely, with HIMEM.SYS loaded and more than 64 MB of memory, the computer
reboots without warning whenever the program is started. Why ? Is there a way to
fix things ?
Best wishes,
Konstantin Koll
Ing. Franz Glaser
>
> I'm writing DOS software with Borland Pascal in Protected Mode and sell them.
> Strangely, with HIMEM.SYS loaded and more than 64 MB of memory, the computer
> reboots without warning whenever the program is started. Why ? Is there a way to
> fix things ?
This is a FAQ, look for NOVCPI in the FAQ page of the TP-links
http://bsn.ch/tp-links
--
Franz Glaser, Glasau 3, A-4191 Vorderweissenbach Austria +43-7219-7035-0
Muehlviertler Elektronik Glaser. Industrial control and instrumentation
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Damian Yerrick
Konstantin Koll <ko...@ls3.cs.uni-dortmund.de> wrote:
> I'm writing DOS software with Borland Pascal in Protected Mode
Ewww.
> and sell them.
Again, ewww. That is, unless you're selling distributions of a free
program, for example, if you're selling support packages.
> Strangely, with HIMEM.SYS loaded and more than 64 MB
> of memory, the computer reboots without warning whenever
> the program is started. Why ?
XMS limits extended memory to 64 MB because values are passed as an
unsigned short number of kilobytes.
> Is there a way to fix things ?
Hate to say it, but it would be nice if you could leave Borland
behind. There's a free compiler with a very Borland-like IDE.
http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/
--
Damian Yerrick
Visit my web site: http://yerricde.spedia.net/
Patrick D. Rockwell
>
> Konstantin Koll wrote:
> >
> > I'm writing DOS software with Borland Pascal in Protected Mode and sell them.
> > Strangely, with HIMEM.SYS loaded and more than 64 MB of memory, the computer
> > fix things ?
>
> http://bsn.ch/tp-links
I know that BP7.01 has a 64Mb+ bug, and I know how to solve it, but does
that mean that
any program that you write with BP7.01 also has the bug unless you make
the needed change to config.sys?
--
Patrick D. Rockwell
mailto:proc...@thegrid.net
mailto:HNH...@prodigy.net
mailto:patri...@aol.com
enztec
> I know that BP7.01 has a 64Mb+ bug, and I know how to solve it, but does
> that mean that
> any program that you write with BP7.01 also has the bug unless you make
> the needed change to config.sys?
mmm - a needed change to config.sys? - post yer code
Ing. Franz Glaser
>
> I know that BP7.01 has a 64Mb+ bug, and I know how to solve it, but does
> that mean that
> any program that you write with BP7.01 also has the bug unless you make
> the needed change to config.sys?
Patrick,
sorry, I am not an expert. But I hate the term "bug" in this context.
The conditions were properly well defined when BP 7 was created, but
then the environmental conditions were redefined for the silly WinXX
32-bit approach together with "upwards compatibility", which was not
implemented thoroughly. You cannot blame a program from 1992 that it
did not "know" the future.
It is a very similar point with the famous CRT unit and its problems
with the delay initialisation. Ok, one can say that a prophet could
have known it - but I think he could not. It was not desirable which
kind of hardware "improvement" would be necessary to cope with the
silly Win-32 approach.
Please visit the Borland homepage and try to get the necessary
information there. I will not do your work, and I am not interested
in all the points which you are. Because I am using TP 6 for some
good reasons.
And you will surely get the appropriate answer: WHY THE HELL WOULD
YOU STAY WITH THE OLD 16-BIT PRODUCT AND RUN IT ON THE WRONG 32-BIT
HARDWARE??? GO TO DELPHI AND FALL DOWN ON THE KNEES PRAISING THE
MARKET LEADER.
Look for a better solution than BP 7: Use Delphi 3 and the PASW32
units package for BP 7 compatibility in most cases. Or use one of
the true 32-bit compilers which are available for free download.
Regards,
Haye van den Oever
<meg-g...@eunet.at> wrote:
>Konstantin Koll wrote:
>>
>> I'm writing DOS software with Borland Pascal in Protected Mode and sell them.
>> Strangely, with HIMEM.SYS loaded and more than 64 MB of memory, the computer
>> reboots without warning whenever the program is started. Why ? Is there a way to
>> fix things ?
>
>This is a FAQ, look for NOVCPI in the FAQ page of the TP-links
>http://bsn.ch/tp-links
The problem is not in HIMEM.SYS, but in EMM386.EXE. At least on DOS
7.10 (part of Windows 98 SE) the Borland Pascal compiler itself as
well as DPMI programs created with it run just fine on machines with
over 64 Mb of RAM if (a) EMM386.EXE is removed from CONFIG.SYS or (b)
if the switch NOVCPI is added to the line loading EMM386.EXE, or (c)
if the programs are started from within the Windows GUI or in a DOS
box (Windows 95/98 has its own 32-bit DPMI server, obviating the need
to load the 16-bit Borland DPMI server).
With the proliferation of both computers with large amounts of RAM and
people with little inclination to study the FAQ's, the question
concerning Borland Pascal or DPMI programs not running on systems with
more than 64 Mb RAM is bound to get ever more popular over the coming
months, perhaps rivaling the ubiquitous 'all I get is a Runtime error
200' question ...
It's good to see that the hint about the NOVCPI switch is finally
added to the comp.lang.pascal.borland FAQ. However, I would like to
call attention to a related problem on machines with more than 64 Mb
RAM which has not yet received much attention. So far, I've been
unable to get the TD386 debugger, included with Borland Pascal, to run
on a system with 128 Mb RAM, since the system immediately reboots
whenever TD386 is started.
Researching DejaNews has failed to turn up any useful information.
People have claimed that TD386 wouldn't run on systems with (a) MS-DOS
version 5 or later, or (b) with HIMEM.SYS loaded, or (c) on systems
with over 16 Mb RAM, or (d) on systems with Windows 95.
All these claims are demonstrably false, since I am able to run TD386
perfectly fine in both MS-DOS 6.20 and DOS 7.00 (part of the retail
version of Windows 95) with HIMEM.SYS loaded and with 32 Mb RAM. It is
correct, however, that the device driver TDH386.SYS, required to run
TD386, is incompatible with EMM386. For this reason, using the NOVCPI
switch is not an option with TD386. Also, an additional device driver
TDG16M.SYS is required as the first driver in CONFIG.SYS if TD386 is
to run on a system with more than 16 (but no more than 64) Mb of RAM.
Apparently Borland never tested TDG16M.SYS (not included with Borland
Pascal but released as a patch in 1993) with more than 64 Mb RAM,
since such machines were hardly or not at all available at the time.
Still, I would like to know if anyone has succeeded in getting TD386
to run on a machine with over 64 Mb RAM, and if so, exactly how this
can be done. And yes, I know that I can use SoftIce if I want to use
hardware breakpoints in debugging a DOS program or device driver, but
that's not the point. Any suggestions, apart from reverse-engineering
TDG16M.SYS and TDH386.SYS ?
Haye van den Oever
Damian Yerrick
"Ing. Franz Glaser" <meg-g...@eunet.at> wrote:
> Please visit the Borland homepage and try to get the necessary
> information there. I will not do your work, and I am not interested
> in all the points which you are. Because I am using TP 6 for some
> good reasons.
> And you will surely get the appropriate answer: WHY THE HELL
> WOULD YOU STAY WITH THE OLD 16-BIT PRODUCT AND RUN IT
> ON THE WRONG 32-BIT HARDWARE??? GO TO DELPHI AND FALL
> DOWN ON THE KNEES PRAISING THE MARKET LEADER.
Or go one better and get GNU Pascal Compiler (GPC) for DJGPP.
http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/
> Look for a better solution than BP 7: Use Delphi 3 and the PASW32
> units package for BP 7 compatibility in most cases. Or use one of
> the true 32-bit compilers which are available for free download.
Like GPC?