Cannot load COMMAND, system halted

[ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu]

On my 386sx, 4MB, standard vga driver, smartdrv installed, I consistently get
Memory allocation error
Cannot load COMMAND, system halted
if I do the following:
1. Open dos window
2. Open 2nd dos window
3. Close 2nd dos window
4. type any letter in first dos window

If a program is running in the first dos window, and then I open 2nd dos
window, then everything is fine. I also get the memory allocation message
if I first close the 1st dos window, and then type any letter in the 2nd
window.

Here's the config:
files = 30
buffers = 16
device=\windows\himem.sys
device=\windows\smartdrv.sys 1024 512
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:512

Any ideas? I have Dos 4.0, but a similar setup seems to work on a 386 at
school (same dos).

--darrel hankerson ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu or ha...@auducvax.bitnet

[pq...@vax5.cit.cornell.edu]

In article <1991Sep8....@ducvax.auburn.edu>,

ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu writes:
> On my 386sx, 4MB, standard vga driver, smartdrv installed, I consistently get
> Memory allocation error
> Cannot load COMMAND, system halted
> if I do the following:
> 1. Open dos window
> 2. Open 2nd dos window
> 3. Close 2nd dos window
> 4. type any letter in first dos window
>
> If a program is running in the first dos window, and then I open 2nd dos
> window, then everything is fine. I also get the memory allocation message
> if I first close the 1st dos window, and then type any letter in the 2nd
> window.
>
> Here's the config:
> files = 30
> buffers = 16
> device=\windows\himem.sys
> device=\windows\smartdrv.sys 1024 512
> SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:512
>
>

I have the exact same problem. I don't know how to fix it, so I try to close
DOS windows if I'm not using them.

[ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu]

In article <1991Sep8....@ducvax.auburn.edu>:

>On my 386sx, 4MB, standard vga driver, smartdrv installed, I consistently get
> Memory allocation error
> Cannot load COMMAND, system halted
>if I do the following:
>1. Open dos window
>2. Open 2nd dos window
>3. Close 2nd dos window
>4. type any letter in first dos window
>
>If a program is running in the first dos window, and then I open 2nd dos
>window, then everything is fine. I also get the memory allocation message
>if I first close the 1st dos window, and then type any letter in the 2nd
>window.

------------------------------------------------------
I received a reply from s...@sunsrvr1.cci.com (Steve Windsor), who indicated
that the order of the config.sys entries can cause this problem. I tried the
rearrangement he suggested, but it did not solve my particular problem. To my
embarrassment, it turned out to be a problem with Dunford's command editor CED.
I thought I had checked my system with a clean, no TSR, setup, but apparently
not. When I removed CED, my dos windows worked fine. So if I want to use CED,
it seems that I have to load it into each dos window, instead of loading prior
to entering windows. One other interesting problem with CED: On a Zenith 286,
I have to load in each dos window--loading before entering windows does not
give CED to the dos window. Also, when I exit a dos window on the 286, I get a
windows message about pop-ups.

--darrel hankerson ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu

[Loran N. Yourk]

ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu writes:
] On my 386sx, 4MB, standard vga driver, smartdrv installed, I consistently get
] Memory allocation error
] Cannot load COMMAND, system halted
] if I do the following:
] 1. Open dos window
] 2. Open 2nd dos window
] 3. Close 2nd dos window
] 4. type any letter in first dos window
]
] If a program is running in the first dos window, and then I open 2nd dos
] window, then everything is fine. I also get the memory allocation message
] if I first close the 1st dos window, and then type any letter in the 2nd
] window.
]
] Here's the config:
] files = 30
] buffers = 16
] device=\windows\himem.sys
] device=\windows\smartdrv.sys 1024 512
] SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P /E:512
]

I had the same problem when I first tried Windows an a 386. I
also had a copy of COMMAND.COM in C:\. The solution was to
rename C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM to C:\DOS\COMMAND.ORG and change the
shell statement to point to the COMMAND.COM in C:\. This seemed
to fix the problem and I have had very few crashes since (DOS
seems to be sensitive to where it gets the transient portion of
command.com from).

Loran Yourk
att!ihlpm!lyourk

The above is not a statement from AT&T.

[Bill Flynn]

In comp.windows.ms, ha...@ducvax.auburn.edu writes:

Darrel,

From the DOS 5.0 manual (although it applies to earlier versions of DOS
also):

In your CONFIG.SYS file, use the following syntax:

shell=[[dos-drive:]dos-path]command.com [[drive:]path] [device] /e:nnnn /p

Parameters

[drive:]path

Specifies where the command interpreter is to look for the COMMAND.COM file
when the transient part of the program needs to be reloaded. This parameter
must be included if COMMAND.COM is not located in the root directory. This
parameter is used to set the COMSPEC environment variable.

=======

What's happenning is when control returns to the first DOS window it needs
to reload the transient part of COMMAND.COM. Since you put COMMAND.COM in
the \DOS directory but did not specify the path to it on you CONFIG.SYS
SHELL= line, the resident part of COMMAND.COM defaults to looking for
COMMAND.COM in the root file and it isn't there. And that's where the
error messages are coming from.

You can either modify the SHELL= in CONFIG.SYS or place a copy of COMMAND.COM
in the root directory.

Bill...