Re: RE Which Computer

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from Paul Breeze  on Sat, 8 Oct
2005 18:26:56 +0100


> Yes it is still unresolved and yes my machine cannot allocate EMS.

But you wrote:

"If I disable USB, then expanded memory returns." So your machine _can_
allocate EMS!

'Disabling' USB doesn't disable the use of USB devices; it only disables
Bootable devices *for the purpose of booting*. Do you boot from a USB device?
Why not boot from your Hard Disk instead? Those "Bootable" devices, such as CD
or whatever, will work as regular USB devices _after_ you boot from your hard
disk. Your hard disk isn't a USB device, is it?

There are also other workarounds that don't require messing with the BIOS,
hmmm... If the OpSys is 9x, you could set aside D0000-DFFFF via EMM386 (in
CONFIG.SYS). The old Signature Technical Reference Guide referred to "LIM 3.2
or higher", so presumably you don't require a 64Kb *contiguous* page frame
(consisting of four 16Kb pages) per LIM 3.2, but could even map EMS to the
lower 640K (per LIM 4.0). If you're using NT, look at the notes regarding EMM
and Base Segment in C:\WINNT{or WINDOWS}\system32\config.nt. In a COMMAND.COM
DOS session, execute MEM /C -- it will report the "largest available upper
memory [contiguous] block". If you've got 64Kb, set "EMM = RAM" in CONFIG.NT;
that will shove EMS into Upper Mem. Otherwise set something like "EMM =
B=2000" to put 64K in lower memory.

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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