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THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) An Upper Memory Manager for MS-DOS Version 2.11 Copyright (C) 1990-92 All Rights Reserved by KEY SOFTWARE PRODUCTS 440 Ninth Avenue Menlo Park, California 94025 415-364-9847 The Last Byte Memory Manager is a trademark of Key Software Products. MS-DOS and Windows 3.0 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. DR-DOS is a trademark of Digital Research Incorporated. 4DOS is a trademark of J.P. Software. Hyperdisk is a trademark of HyperWare. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ........................... 1 1.1 Seven Important Advantages ................... 1 CHAPTER 2 - GETTING A QUICK START ..................... 3 2.1 Checking Compatibility Using CHIPSET .......... 3 2.2 Making a Demo Diskette for Testing .............. 3 2.3 Viewing Upper Memory with HIGHMEM .............. 5 CHAPTER 3 - LASTBYTE.SYS COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ......... 7 3.1 BANKSWITCH=<base>:<size> ................... 7 3.2 CACHE=<kbytes> ............................. 8 3.3 DOS=<base>:<size> .......................... 8 3.4 EXCLUDE=<base>:<size> ...................... 8 3.5 KEY=<AccessKey> ............................ 8 3.6 MOVE=VIDEOBIOS ............................. 9 3.7 MOVE=MAINBIOS .............................. 9 3.7.1 The ADDHOLES suboption .................. 9 3.8 MOVE=OVERLAY ............................... 9 3.9 MOVE=XBDA .................................. 9 3.10 NAME=<RegisteredUserName> ................. 9 3.11 PHYSICAL=<MemoryController> ............... 10 3.11.1 The OVERRIDE suboption ................. 10 3.11.2 The NOEMS suboption .................... 10 3.12 RESTRICT=<ab> <cd> <ef> ..................... 10 3.13 SHADOW=<base>:<size> ...................... 11 3.14 TEXT=<Attribute> .......................... 12 3.15 The ? (question mark) Option .................. 12 CHAPTER 4 - HIGHDRVR AND HIGHTSR COMMAND LINE OPTIONS ... 13 4.1 HIGHDRVR Command Line Syntax .................. 13 4.2 HIGHTSR Command Line Syntax ................... 13 4.3 The /SIZE Option ............................. 14 4.4 Measuring Load Requirements Using /SIZE ........ 14 4.5 Achieving Best Fit Using /SIZE:n1 .............. 15 4.6 Borrowing Memory Using /SIZE:n1 n2 ............. 15 4.7 The /LOW Option .............................. 16 4.8 The /RESTRICT Option ......................... 16 4.9 The /!NOPAUSE Option ......................... 16 4.10 The /NOENV Option (HIGHTSR only) .............. 17 CHAPTER 5 - HIGHUMM.SYS: A UMB PROVIDER ............... 18 5.1 The /REPLACE Option .......................... 18 5.2 The /NOSPLIT Option .......................... 18 5.3 The /RESTRICT Option ......................... 19 5.4 Limiting UMB Memory .......................... 19 CHAPTER 6 - SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS .................. 20 6.1 Specifying Command Line Options with Indirect Files 20 6.2 Using the DOS=F000:32 Option .................. 20 6.3 Video Display RAM above 640k ................... 21 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6.4 Video Adapter Bios ROMs ....................... 22 6.5 LASTBYTE.SYS and Expanded Memory .............. 22 6.6 Fine-Tuning your Adapter Hardware Configuration 23 CHAPTER 7 - USE WITH OTHER SOFTWARE ................... 25 7.1 Microsoft's FASTOPEN and MODE programs ......... 25 7.2 Microsoft's SHARE program .................... 25 7.3 Microsoft's MS-DOS 5.0 ....................... 26 7.3.1 Using DEVICEHIGH and LOADHIGH ............ 27 7.3.2 Using HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR ............... 27 7.4 Microsoft Windows ........................... 28 7.4.1 Modifying the Windows SYSTEM.INI File ..... 28 7.4.2 Positioning an EMS Page Frame ............. 29 7.4.3 "Unsupported Data Configuration" ........ 29 7.4.4 HIGHMEM and Windows 386 Enhanced Mode ...... 30 7.5 HyperWare's HyperDisk ....................... 30 7.6 J.P. Software's 4DOS ......................... 30 7.7 David Hamilton's BUFFIT ...................... 31 7.8 Charles Lazo's WAS ........................... 31 7.9 Philip Gardner's DOSMAX ...................... 31 APPENDIX 1 - HOW TO REACH US .......................... 33 APPENDIX 2 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................... 35 APPENDIX 3 - LIMITED WARRANTY ....................... 36 Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 1 CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION The Last Byte Memory Manager is a collection of software that can provide up to 384k of additional memory to your computer in the upper memory area between 640k and 1 meg. It does this by using shadow ram memory, existing fixed read/write (RAM) memory, or by mapping expanded memory (EMS) pages into the upper area. With The Last Byte Memory Manager, device drivers, terminate and stay resident (TSR) programs, and more can be moved up into upper memory, leaving more conventional memory available for your application programs. Depending on your hardware, you may also be able to extend the total conventional memory from 640k to as much as 736k. The Last Byte Memory Manager package also includes several advanced utility programs that can move the master environment, DOS FILES, DOS BUFFERS into upper memory. Other advanced utilities create ram disks, print spoolers, command line recall (history) buffers, emulated expanded memory, and TSR "markers" (to facilitate TSR removal). Best of all, these utilities can even use shadow ram memory which has been disabled (refered to as "Bank-Switch" memory) by the presence of the display buffer, unshadowed read-only memories (ROMs), and other adapter cards. 1.1 Seven Important Advantages The Last Byte Memory Manager offers seven significant advantages over other MS-DOS Upper Memory Managers: 1. The Last Byte Memory Manager leaves no "stubs" in conventional memory. 2. The Last Byte Memory Manager will work with any processor chip, even the 8088 used in the original IBM PC. Many memory managers require a 386 cpu or better. 3. The Last Byte Memory Manager doesn't use protected mode. Unlike those memory managers that do, The Last Byte Memory Manager is totally compatible with any protected mode software, not just Microsoft Windows. 4. The Last Byte Memory Manager doesn't require any extended memory. Some memory managers depend on the processor's ability to remap physical memory from above 1MB into the upper memory area. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 2 5. On motherboards that use one of the supported memory controller chips, The Last Byte Memory Manager, unlike all other memory managers, can use the unused shadow ram normally disabled by the display buffer, unshadowed ROMs or adapter cards. This gives it the unique ability to use all 384k of upper memory! 6. The Last Byte Memory Manager does not slow down the performance of your computer, because it does not incur the 5-10% execution overhead inherent in protected mode. 7. On motherboards that use one of the supported memory controller chips, The Last Byte Memory Manager can extend conventional memory using regular full-speed motherboard memory rather than using the EGA/VGA display buffer. (The display buffer memory of some EGA/VGA adapter cards can be as much as six times slower than regular memory.) Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 3 CHAPTER 2 - GETTING A QUICK START The first thing to do is to be sure that The Last Byte Memory Manager will work on your computer. Fundamentally, the requirements are DOS version 3.1 or later and some method of implementing memory in the upper memory area between 640k and 1 meg. Any Intel (or Intel-compatible) processor will do, including the original Intel 8088 cpu. No extended memory is required. 2.1 Checking Compatibility Using CHIPSET The CHIPSET program is designed to determine if The Last Byte Memory Manager is compatible with your computer. To run CHIPSET, simply enter its name on the command line: A>CHIPSET If successful, CHIPSET will give you the option of automatically linking to the INSTALL program to either create a demo diskette (as described below) or to install the software on your hard disk. For more detailed information on the CHIPSET program and system requirements, consult the file CHIPSET.DOC. 2.2 Making a Demo Diskette for Testing To install The Last Byte Memory Manager on a floppy diskette for testing, perform the following three steps: Step 1: Use the MS-DOS FORMAT command with the /S option to prepare a bootable floppy disk. You will need this in Step 2. Step 2: Run the CHIPSET program. If it succeeds, it will ask you "Do you want to run the INSTALL program now?". Answer yes. When it displays the first screen of the INSTALL program, select the first option, "Creating a demonstration diskette" and follow the prompts. Step 3: Once you have created your demonstration diskette, press Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot your computer from the diskette. When your computer reboots, LASTBYTE.SYS will pause thirty seconds and then require a keypress to proceed. The pause and the keypress are removed when you purchase and install an access Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 4 key (see ORDERFRM.DOC). There are, however, no other restrictions on the unlicensed version - it is a fully functional version of the software. If everything goes ok during the boot, you'll see a sign-on box that looks something like the following: ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) Version 2.11a ║ ║ Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products, All Rights Reserved ║ ║ « You can LICENSE a copy of this software for only $29.95! » ║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ 50.0 Mhz 80486 with 256KB Cache and OPTi Electronics 82C495 ║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ Address Range Size Width Bandwidth Description ║ ║ 256 KB 128 bits 200.0 MB/Sec Secondary CPU Cache ║ ║ 00000-9FFFF 640 KB 32 bits 97.6 MB/Sec Conventional Memory ║ ║ C0000-EFFFF 192 KB 32 bits 97.6 MB/Sec Shadow Ram Memory ║ ║ A0000-AFFFF 64 KB 16 bits 1.7 MB/Sec VGA Graphics Buffer ║ ║ B8000-BFFFF 32 KB 16 bits 1.7 MB/Sec VGA Color Text Bfr ║ ║ C0000-C7FFF 32 KB 8 bits 1.2 MB/Sec VGA Adapter Bios ║ ║ C8000-C97FF 6 KB 8 bits 1.2 MB/Sec Fixed Disk Bios ║ ║ C9800-C9BFF 1 KB 8 bits 1.2 MB/Sec Fixed Disk Ram ║ ║ F0000-FFFFF 64 KB 8 bits 2.0 MB/Sec AMI Bios (06/06/91) ║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ Conv:640k High-DOS:144k Bank-Switch:16k Shadowed:96k Excluded:128k║ ╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ The Last Byte Memory Manager is a trademark of Key Software Prod. ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ If your computer stops before displaying the box shown above, or if it fails to operate properly after booting, there are two possible reasons: 1. CHIPSET identified the wrong memory controller. Try running CHIPSET again, and this time manually test each of the menu options, noting if more than one chipset is identified. If so, then run the INSTALL program again for one of the other chipsets that it finds. 2. The Last Byte Memory Manager failed to recognize one of your installed adapters that uses some portion of the upper memory address space. If this happens, you'll probably need to use an EXCLUDE option on the LASTBYTE.SYS command line to manually disable the corresponding region(s) where conflict occurs. To temporarily get around either of these problems, you can reboot and manually bypass execution of all The Last Byte Memory Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 5 Manager software by simultaneously holding down the <alt> key, the <ctrl> key, and either the <leftshift> or <rightshift> key during the boot sequence. If The Last Byte Memory Manager installs and AUTOEXEC.BAT finishes properly, then your display will be filled with the output of the HIGHMEM program and the current time will be displayed in inverse video in the upper left-hand corner. This verifies that HIGHTSR has successfully loaded both the device driver ANSI.SYS and the TSR program CLOCK.EXE into upper memory and that they are operating properly. To exit from HIGHMEM, simply press the Esc key. Once you are convinced that The Last Byte Memory Manager is working satisfactorily, you may install it on your hard disk by making drive C: the current drive by entering C: and rerunning CHIPSET or INSTALL. 2.3 Viewing Upper Memory with HIGHMEM Depending on what adapter cards you have installed, HIGHMEM's output should look something like that shown below. Bracketed numbers in the High-DOS column (e.g., "[141,136]") indicate free memory that is available for additional device drivers and TSRs. Bracketed numbers in the "Bank-Switch" column (if any) indicate free memory that can be used by some of the advanced utilities contained in the file TLB-A211.ZIP; this memory can be used to implement a ram disk, a print spooler, emulated EMS memory, or TSR markers. Note: HIGHMEM automatically senses whether you have a color or monochrome display to determine how to present data on the screen. However, you may force the mode using one of the /MONO, /COLOR, or /LCD command line options. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 6 HIGHMEM v2.11a (C) Key Software Products 1990-92. All Rights Reserved. MCB Hex Address Description [Type] <Mark> High-DOS Bnk-Swtch Total ──── ─────────── ───────────────────────── ──────── ───────── ─────── CC00 A0000-CBFFF Reserved Memory Group CC02 A0000-AFFFF ╠═16-bit VGA Graphics Buffer 65,536 CC04 B0000-B7FFF ╠═Unavailable 32,768 CC06 B8000-BFFFF ╠═16-bit VGA Color Text Buffer 32,768 CC08 C0000-C7FFF ╠═Shadowed 8-bit VGA Bios Rom 32,768 CC0A C8000-C97FF ╠═8-bit Fixed Disk Adapter Bios [ 6,144][ 6,144] CC0C C9800-C9BFF ╠═8-bit Fixed Disk Adapter Ram [ 1,024][ 1,024] CC0E C9C00-CBFFF ╚═DOS Unusable [ 9,216][ 9,216] CC10 CC110-CC54F LASTBYTE [DEV] 1,088 1,088 CC55 CC560-CD5BF ANSI [DEV] 4,192 4,192 CD5C CD5D0-CD6CF CLOCK [ENV] 256 256 CD6D CD6E0-CD88F CLOCK [TSR] 432 432 CD89 CD8A0-EFFEF [∙∙∙Free∙∙∙] [141,136] [141,136] EFFF F0000-FFFFF Shadowed 8-bit AMI Bios Main Bios 65,536 ─────── ─────── ─────── Upper Memory In Use: 5,968 0 235,344 [Free Upper Memory]: 141,136 16,384 157,520 MCB Overhead: 352 n/a 352 [No HMA Configured] ─────── ─────── ─────── Total Upper Memory: 147,456 16,384 393,216 The following article provides an excellent definition of the various kinds of memory, such as conventional, extended, expanded, high, and upper. More important, however, is its discussion of how various adapter cards make use of the upper address space, and may provide some insight if you're having problems getting The Last Byte Memory Manager to install properly: Barry Simon, "How to Get the Most from Your System's High DOS Memory", PC Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 10 (May 29, 1990), pp. 347-358. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 7 CHAPTER 3 - LASTBYTE.SYS COMMAND LINE OPTIONS During initialization, LASTBYTE.SYS scans upper memory looking for Bios ROMs, the video display buffer, and adapter cards that use some portion of the upper memory address space. Of the upper memory available on your computer, the unoccupied portion defaults to High-DOS memory, and the occupied portion defaults to Bank-Switch memory. These defaults can be modified by the use of command line options. There are several command line options for LASTBYTE.SYS. Many of these use a format like: <keyword>=<base>:<size> where <keyword> is one of the option keywords and may be abbreviated by its first letter, <base> is a four-digit hexadecimal segment address in the range A000 to FC00, and <size> is a decimal number in kilobytes. There are two restrictions on these options: 1. The base must be exactly 4 hexadecimal digits, must lie at or above A000, and must be a multiple of 0020 (512 bytes), and 2. The size must be in the range 1-384 kb. The "multiple of 0020" requirement for the base is necessary to be consistent with the resolution that The Last Byte Memory Manager uses to organize high memory during initialization. However, this requirement is often affected by the much coarser resolution used by most memory controllers. The upper area is partitioned into blocks. Some controllers use 16k blocks, some use 32k blocks, and some use 64k blocks. Each block must be either totally enabled or disabled. I.e., if any part of a block's address space is disabled by the presence of an adapter card, the entire block of memory is disabled and cannot be made available as High-DOS Memory. 3.1 BANKSWITCH=<base>:<size> Forces a region of upper memory that would normally be used as High-DOS memory to be made available as Bank-Switch memory. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 8 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ This option requires a memory controller chip. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 3.2 CACHE=<kbytes> Forces LASTBYTE.SYS to think that there is a cache between the CPU and main memory and to set its size. (This has nothing to do with disk caching!) This option is not normally necessary; LASTBYTE.SYS normally will automatically detect the presence of a cache and its size. Activating bank-switch memory causes the contents of a cache (if present) to be invalid; this is known as a "cache coherency" problem. If a cache is detected during installation, LASTBYTE.SYS checks to see if any portion of the upper address space is cached. If not, then no cache coherency problem exists. If the upper address space is cached, however, LASTBYTE.SYS will flush the cache on every access to Bank-Switch memory in order to prevent the cache from providing invalid data to the CPU. The cache is flushed by filling it from low memory. The <size> value is used to determine how much to fill. 3.3 DOS=<base>:<size> Forces a region of upper memory that would normally be used as Bank-Switch memory to be made available as High-DOS memory. 3.4 EXCLUDE=<base>:<size> Forces a region of upper memory unavailable as either High-DOS or Bank-Switch memory. 3.5 KEY=<AccessKey> When you register The Last Byte Memory Manager, you are given an access key that is derived from the spelling of your name. This eight character key should be specified using this option, as in: KEY=12345678 This option must be used in conjunction with the NAME option discussed below. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 9 3.6 MOVE=VIDEOBIOS Tries to move an EGA or VGA bios to a better location within the available upper memory in order to reduce fragmentation of free memory. 3.7 MOVE=MAINBIOS Tries to move the main bios to a better location within the available upper memory in order to reduce fragmentation of free memory. 3.7.1 The ADDHOLES suboption MOVE=MAINBIOS,ADDHOLES will create seven holes in the residual 8k left at FE00 for a total of more than 3k. 3.8 MOVE=OVERLAY This option is for chipsets in which the main bios shadow ram cannot be made read/write (ETEQ, OPTi, Intel, and some by VLSI). This option puts that ram in write-only mode, copies the video bios on top of the main bios initialization code at the beginning of the bios, then returns the ram to read-only mode. Then the old video bios region is converted to usable Hi-DOS memory. 3.9 MOVE=XBDA This option relocates the Extended Bios Data Area (XBDA), if it exists, into Upper Memory. The XBDA is usually 1k reserved at the top of conventional memory by the main Bios. Not all machines use an XBDA, but if it exists, LASTBYTE.SYS will report 639k of Conventional Memory instead of 640k, and the advanced utility HIGHAPND will refuse to append any memory. Some machines may not operate properly with a relocated XBDA, so use this option with caution. (Note that some computer viruses also "steal" the top 1k of memory.) 3.10 NAME=<RegisteredUserName> When you register The Last Byte Memory Manager, you are given an access key that is derived from the spelling of your name. This option is used to specify your name as used to generate that key, as in: Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 10 NAME=Daniel_W._Lewis ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Note: Spaces MUST be indicated by underscores! │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ This option should be used in conjunction with the KEY option discussed earlier. 3.11 PHYSICAL=<MemoryController> Used to specify the memory controller determined by the CHIPSET program. 3.11.1 The OVERRIDE suboption Many memory controller chips can relocate all or part of shadow ram to the top of (extended) memory. If LASTBYTE.SYS fails to install with the error message: "Shadow Ram memory relocated - Use OVERRIDE option" try adding the OVERRIDE suboption to the PHYSICAL option, as in: PHYSICAL=82C212,OVERRIDE This disables any shadow ram relocation that may be in effect, regardless of your CMOS configuration menu setup. The CMOS setup menu of your BIOS may also provide an option to disable relocation directly, but there are some that determine whether to relocate or not based on other configuration options. 3.11.2 The NOEMS suboption May be used in conjunction with PHYSICAL=LIM4EMS or EEMS to use the 64k page frame as High-DOS Memory, as in: PHYSICAL=LIM4EMS,NOEMS The NOEMS suboption must be used in conjunction with PHYSICAL=LIM3EMS (i.e., PHYSICAL=LIM3EMS,NOEMS). Doing so disables other (normal) use of all expanded memory. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 11 3.12 RESTRICT=<ab> <cd> <ef> Address lines A15 and A16 are not latched in hardware design of the AT bus. As a consequence, some 16-bit adapter cards do not properly decode these address lines within the narrow time constraints imposed by the Address Latch Enable (ALE) signal, and will occassionally respond to a memory access that is directed at some other portion of the address space. Thinking that it is for them, they force the transfer into 16-bit mode even though the intended recipient requires 8-bit mode, and thus cause erroneous data to be transferred to the bytes in the odd-numbered addresses. The most common (and damaging) occurence occurs during the 8-bit DMA transfers between a floppy disk drive and upper memory near the address space occupied by an offending 16-bit adapter card. Due to organization of the address signals on the AT bus, this phenomena only occurs when the two address areas are within the same 128k region. There are three such regions in the upper area: A0000-BFFFF, C0000-DFFFF, and E0000-FFFFF. LASTBYTE.SYS automatically senses the presence of 16-bit adapter cards in each of these three regions and records this information within its resident image for use by its utilities. LASTBYTE.SYS skips this test if it detects a PC with a Micro Channel bus (like the PS/2) since problem was corrected in its design. The RESTRICT option is provided to override this automatic detection of 16-bit adapters. Each of the three arguments (one per 128k region) should be replaced by either "0" (indicating no 16-bit adapters), or "1" (indicating the presense of a 16-bit adapter) and separated by commas. For example, the option RESTRICT=1,1,0 would imply that one or more 16-bit adapters are located in the first two 128k regions of upper memory (A000-DFFF), so that when the companion /RESTRICT option of HIGHDRVR, HIGHTSR, or HIGHUMM is used, only High-DOS memory in the region E000-FFFF will be allocated. (Note: The /RESTRICT option is also supported by the advanced utilities HIGHEMS3, and HIGHEMS4. The default operation of the advanced utility HIGHBFRS is /RESTRICT, but this may be disabled by use of its /NORESTRICT option.) 3.13 SHADOW=<base>:<size> The Last Byte Memory Manager will automatically copy the video bios and main bios to shadow ram if they aren't already shadowed. However, it will not do so for other adapter ROMs. This is because some controllers "hide" a small RAM by Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 12 overlaying it in a portion of the same address space they declare as being filled with ROM. Such a RAM is no longer accessible when the ROM is shadowed, usually causing the adapter to stop functioning. This option is for those who want to forces a region of memory (presumably ROM) to be copied into shadow ram. If other hardware is detected outside the specified region, but within the same memory controller block which conflicts with this request, a corresponding error message will be displayed and LASTBYTE.SYS will not be installed. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ This option requires a memory controller chip. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 3.14 TEXT=<Attribute> The information screen invoked by the "?" option defaults to bright white on blue if a color display is active, and to inverse video if a monochrome monitor is active. This option changes the default to the parameter value specified, where <Attribute> is the hexadecimal value of the attribute byte used to paint the screen. 3.15 The ? (question mark) Option Causes LASTBYTE.SYS to erase the screen, display a summary of what it finds in the upper memory area, and pause for two seconds to give the user an opportunity to read the information. To freeze this display for a longer period, press <Ctrl>-S; then to continue with CONFIG.SYS processing, press any key. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 13 CHAPTER 4 - HIGHDRVR AND HIGHTSR COMMAND LINE OPTIONS HIGHDRVR is a device driver that is used to load other device drivers into upper memory. HIGHTSR is a program that is used to load TSR programs into upper memory. Both utilities use most of the same command line options as discussed in the sections that follow. 4.1 HIGHDRVR Command Line Syntax The command line syntax of the CONFIG.SYS line for HIGHDRVR is: DEVICE=[path]HIGHDRVR.SYS [options] <filespec> [options] where '<filespec>' is the filename of the device driver to be loaded high, optionally prefixed by a drive and directory specifcation. The filespec may be preceded by one or more options, and followed by options at the end of the command line as required by the particular driver to be loaded. When HIGHDRVR searches the disk for the device driver to load, it follows the following search strategy: 1. If '<filespec>' includes a drive or directory specification, this will be the only place that HIGHDRVR will look. Otherwise, HIGHDRVR will search for the driver in: 2. The current (root) directory, and then 3. The same directory where HIGHDRVR was found. 4.2 HIGHTSR Command Line Syntax The command line syntax for HIGHTSR is: [path]HIGHTSR [options] <filespec> [options] where '<filespec>' is the filename of the TSR program to be loaded high, optionally prefixed by a drive and directory specifcation. The filespec may be preceded by one or more options, and followed by options at the end of the command line as required by the particular TSR to be loaded. When HIGHTSR searches the disk for the device driver to load, it follows the same strategy that MS-DOS uses when loading programs: Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 14 1. If '<filespec>' includes a drive or directory specification, this will be the only place that HIGHTSR will look. Otherwise, HIGHTSR will search for the TSR program in: 2. The current directory, and then 3. Those directories given by the PATH environment variable. HIGHTSR may also be used with the MS-DOS "INSTALL=" directive of a CONFIG.SYS file. 4.3 The /SIZE Option The amount of High-DOS memory required to load a device driver or TSR is the larger of two amounts: (1) the amount required during initialization and (2) the final resident requirement once installed. Either or both of these may be greater than or equal to the size of the file. Most device drivers and TSR's require more memory for initialization than when resident, although there are a few (such as SMARTDRV.SYS and NANSI.SYS) which require extra resident memory for buffers, etc. The normal operation of HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR is to use the largest free High-DOS memory block to load the software since the resident memory requirement cannot be determined until after the software has been loaded and initialized. Unfortunately, this can lead to a less than optimum use of memory. If the memory requirements were known, then a memory block could be selected using a "best fit" strategy; i.e., the smallest free High-DOS memory block which is larger than or equal to the load requirement. This usually results in much better utilization of memory. 4.4 Measuring Load Requirements Using /SIZE If inserted on the command line of HIGHTSR or HIGHDRVR as shown below: HIGHTSR /SIZE PRINT /D:PRN -or- DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS /SIZE ANSI.SYS Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 15 then both the initialization and resident requirements will be displayed on the console after the software has been loaded and initialized. 4.5 Achieving Best Fit Using /SIZE:n1 The larger of the initialization and resident requirements may be specified with the /SIZE option to force a "best fit" allocation. For example: HIGHTSR /SIZE:17120 PRINT.EXE /D:PRN -or- DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS /SIZE:12032 ANSI.SYS 4.6 Borrowing Memory Using /SIZE:n1 n2 Usually the resident requirement is less than the initialization requirement. If there isn't enough free High-DOS memory to satisfy the initialization requirement, but there is enough for the resident requirement, then you may still be able to load your software by adding a second parameter to the /SIZE option, as in: HIGHTSR /SIZE:16208,5776 PRINT /D:PRN -or- DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS /SIZE:12032,4820 ANSI.SYS In this example, the initialization requirement is specified by the first parameter and is 16208 bytes; the resident requirement is specified by the second parameter and is 5776 bytes. Note that specifying the second parameter is not helpful unless the resident requirement is less than the initialization requirement. When the second parameter is used, HIGHTSR first looks for a free area larger than or equal to the initialization requirement (the first parameter); if found, it simply loads the software in this area and the second paramter is ignored. Otherwise, HIGHTSR searches for a free area larger than or equal to the resident requirement (the second parameter), and which has "data" allocated immediately above it that can be temporarily moved to create enough free memory to satisfy the initialization requirement. Such "data" includes High-DOS memory used by the advanced utilities HIGHDISK, HIGHEMS3, HIGHEMS4, HIGHSPLR, Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 16 HIGHKEY, and HIGMARK. 4.7 The /LOW Option As noted earlier, TSR's and device drivers often require much more memory during installation as compared to that required once they are resident. This can prevent loading them into High-DOS memory even if there's enough for the resident image (but not enough for initialization). The /LOW option can be used with some TSR's and device drivers to get around this problem: HIGHTSR /LOW APPEND -or- DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS /LOW MYDRIVER.SYS For example, the first example above loads a TSR (APPEND.EXE) and initializes it in low (conventional) memory where there's lots of room, then copies the (smaller) resident image up into upper memory. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WARNING: The design of some software may pre- ║ ║ vent the /LOW option from working properly. ║ ║ Don't use it unless necessary, and then only ║ ║ after you have tested it to be sure everything ║ ║ works as expected. (For example, it will NOT ║ ║ work with PRINT, SHARE, FASTOPEN, MODE, or ║ ║ HyperDisk.) ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 4.8 The /RESTRICT Option When used, this option restricts which 128k regions of upper memory may be allocated for use with HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR. For a detailed discussion of why these regions may need to be restricted and how to control the restrictions, see the discussion of the RESTRICT option in the detailed description of LASTBYTE.SYS. 4.9 The /!NOPAUSE Option All of the utility programs (*.EXE files) that come with The Last Byte Memory Manager support the command line option /!NOPAUSE. This option eliminates the wait-for-keyboard pause Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 17 after an error message is displayed. When one of these programs terminates with an error message, it also returns a non-zero errorlevel which can be tested in batch files to make automatic decisions about how to proceed. The /!NOPAUSE option simply makes use of the errorlevel more practical. 4.10 The /NOENV Option (HIGHTSR only) All programs, including TSR's, are allocated two regions of memory when they are loaded: One is the area for the program itself, and the other is for a copy of the environment. Most TSR's don't make use of their environment, and some actually release it to the operating system rather than hanging onto it. If HIGHMEM finds an environment block, the corresponding entry in the "Description" column will have the name of the TSR that it belongs to (such as "CLOCK.EXE") followed by the indication "[Env]". Occassionally, you may see a similar indication "[Dat]"; this is a data block explicitly allocated by the TSR for some unknown purpose. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ The authors of some TSR's attempt to save a bit │ │ of memory by having the TSR eliminate its own │ │ Program Segment Prefix (PSP) during initializa- │ │ tion. Doing so makes it impossible to identify │ │ the TSR'senvironment block. However, this byte │ │ saving mentality will usually mean that the TSR │ │ initialization code also eliminates its environ-│ │ ment block, so this is rarely a problem. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ If you see a block labelled "[Env]" in the output of HIGHMEM, then you can use the /NOENV command line option of HIGHTSR to release this block, even if the TSR didn't: HIGHTSR /NOENV CLOCK As noted earlier, some TSRs will release their environment anyway and so you may be tempted to load them without using the /NOENV option. This usually will create a "hole" in upper memory since the TSR's environment is almost always allocated just below the TSR itself. Use of the /NOENV option forces the environment to be allocated down in conventional memory (where it will be reclaimed later) so that the "hole" is eliminated. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 18 CHAPTER 5 - HIGHUMM.SYS: A UMB PROVIDER HIGHUMM is a device driver that creates, and lets application software use, Upper Memory Blocks (UMB's) in the upper memory area via a standard protocol that is part of what is known as the Extended Memory Specification (XMS). The number, size, and location of UMB blocks vary widely depending upon the types of hardware adapter cards resident within the upper address space. If HIGHUMM is installed, you may use the DOS 5 DEVICEHIGH and LOADHIGH commands as alternatives to HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR. HIGHUMM can also be used to advantage with other software such as 4DOS, BUFFIT, WAS, and DOSMAX. These options are discussed in the next chapter. HIGHUMM may be installed in one of two ways: 1. If an XMS driver has not been loaded, HIGHUMM will become a UMB-Only XMS device driver. All other XMS functions will return failure, indicating that the function is not implemented. For example, DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS {and any LASTBYTE options} DEVICE=HIGHUMM.SYS 2. If an XMS driver (such as HIMEM.SYS) has already been loaded, HIGHUMM will link into it, adding the UMB functions. For example: DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS {and any options} DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS {and any options} DEVICE=HIGHUMM.SYS Do not install HIGHUMM using either HIGHDRVR or the DEVICEHIGH command; simply use a DEVICE command, as shown above. 5.1 The /REPLACE Option Although described in the XMS specification, most XMS device drivers so not implement the UMB functions. If your XMS driver happens to also be a UMB provider, HIGHUMM will abort with a corresponding error message. You may then use the /REPLACE option on the HIGHUMM.SYS command line to force it to take over responsibility for providing UMBs. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 19 5.2 The /NOSPLIT Option HIGHUMM requires that LASTBYTE.SYS be installed first. It automatically loads itself into upper memory, putting much of itself into Bank-Switch memory if available. (You can prevent this by using the /NOSPLIT option.) 5.3 The /RESTRICT Option When used, this option restricts which 128k regions of upper memory may be allocated for use with HIGHUMM. For a detailed discussion of why these regions may need to be restricted and how to control the restrictions, see the discussion of the RESTRICT option in the chapter on LASTBYTE.SYS. 5.4 Limiting UMB Memory If you want to limit how much upper memory can be allocated by HIGHUMM as UMB's, you can specify this in kbytes as an option on the HIGHUMM.SYS command line, as in: DEVICE=HIGHUMM.SYS 60 This provides a guarantee that some amount of upper memory will never be allocated by HIGHUMM.SYS, and will thus still be available for other uses. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 20 CHAPTER 6 - SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS 6.1 Specifying Command Line Options with Indirect Files Some of the device drivers and utility programs in The Last Byte Memory Manager package may require lots of options to be specified. To avoid lengthly command lines, these options can be placed in a text file if the name of that file is specified on the command line preceded by the '@' character. For example, you'd begin to run out of room if all of the following options were required on the LASTBYTE.SYS command line: PHYSICAL=82C302 NAME=Joe_Blow KEY=12345678 APPEND=64 DOS=F000:32 ? As an alternative, create a corresponding text file called LASTBYTE.CFG (for example), and put the options into it: PHYSICAL=82C302 NAME=Joe_Blow KEY=12345678 APPEND=64 DOS=F000:32 ? (Carriage returns in the indirect file are treated as blanks) Then the CONFIG.SYS command line becomes simply: DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS @LASTBYTE.CFG In effect, options taken from the indirect file are inserted into the command line, so that one or more indirect file references may be placed among other options on the command line: DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS ? @TLB.1 A=32 @C:\TLB\TLB.2 Indirect files may be used on the command line of any device driver (.SYS files) or utility program (.EXE files) in The Last Byte Memory Manager package. 6.2 Using the DOS=F000:32 Option The 64k region starting at paragraph address F000 is the Bios ROM. Many computers use a Bios ROM developed by AMI or Phoenix. The more recent versions of these ROMs devote the first 32k to initialization code that is only used during the boot sequence, and use the second 32k for that portion that must remain available at all times. (This seems to be true of the Award Bios as well, but has not been verified.) By the time your computer gets to the point in its boot sequence where it is installing the device drivers (e.g., when it is Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 21 installing LASTBYTE.SYS), the Bios initialization code is no longer needed. If you have one of these AMI or Phoenix Bios chips, you can capture another 32k of upper memory by using a DOS=F000:32 option on the LASTBYTE.SYS command line. Of course, whenever you press Ctrl-Alt-Del to do a warm boot, the ROM Bios initialization code needs to be executed again! And that could be a problem since you've effectively disabled it with the DOS=F000:32 option! Fortunately, LASTBYTE.SYS intercepts all keyboard input and keeps an eye out for Ctrl-Alt-Del. When it sees the warm boot request, it will force a cold boot if you've used the DOS=F000:32 option. This re-enables the entire 64k Bios ROM so that the initialization code is reactivated before the processor tries to execute it. Otherwise a normal warm boot is used. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WARNING: Some TSRs intercept keyboard interrupt ║ ║ 9, and jump directly into a fixed location in ║ ║ the Bios ROM where the Warm Boot code begins. ║ ║ Unfortunately, this will bypass LASTBYTE.SYS's ║ ║ attempt to turn the ROM back on. ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 6.3 Video Display RAM above 640k In general, the region A0000-BFFFF is the video display buffer area. Various display adapters (MDA, Hercules, CGA, EGA, and VGA) typically use only a small subset of this space. The Last Byte Memory Manager automatically senses what kind of video display adapter is installed and reserves the space it uses. The MDA (monochrome) adapter implements a 4k text buffer at B0000-B0FFF, and the CGA (color) adapter implements a 16k text and graphics buffer at B8000-BBFFF. The Hercules adapter uses the entire 64k region at B0000-BFFFF in graphics modes, although only the first 4k of this space (B0000-B0FFF) is used for text modes. The EGA and VGA adapters have a 64k graphics display buffer at A0000-AFFFF, and a 32k text display buffer at either B0000-B7FFF (when used with a monochrome display), or at B8000-BFFFF (when used with a color display). The following chart summarizes these regions as well as some of the DOS and APPEND optons you may be able to use on the LASTBYTE.SYS command line with these adapters. Unfortunately, the ROM bios on a (very) few PC's may write into locations outside the area reserved for a particular type of display. If you decide this is happening, you may need to add one or more Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 22 EXCLUDE options to the LASTBYTE.SYS command line to disable that region. LASTBYTE.SYS Command Line Options for Display Adapters Adapter Reserved DOS APPEND ------- -------- ------- ------- CGA B800:16 96 MDA B000:4 64 Hercules B000:64 B400:48 64 EGA/VGA A000:64 BC00:16 96 w/Color B800:32 Display EGA/VGA A000:64 B400:16 64 w/Mono B000:32 Display VGA Bios C000:32 C600:8 (see next section) Notes: (1) Windows 3.0 may write in the region B000-BFFF. (2) The ability to use the DOS and APPEND options depends on the availability of memory in the indicated region. 6.4 Video Adapter Bios ROMs MDA and CGA use the standard ROM Bios; they have no ROM of their own. EGA and VGA adapters, however, incorporate their own ROM Bios chip right on the adapter card. LASTBYTE.SYS successfully recognizes these ROMs, but has to treat VGA in a special manner: The VGA adapter made by IBM has a 24k ROM installed at C0000-C5FFF, which means that the 8k at C6000-C7FFF should be usable. Although almost all VGA clones have a ROM signature that indicates 24k, many of them use the C6000-C7FFF space for ROM Bios or RAM extensions that provide their "Super VGA" features. In particular, the Video7 and Paradise VGA's incorporate their own RAM from C6000-C7FFF. (This may also be true of other VGA boards that uses a VLSI chip manufactured by Chips and Technologies, Tseng Labs, Paradise, or Headland Technologies.) For this reason, when LASTBYTE.SYS finds anybody's VGA adapter, it automatically assumes that there is a 32k ROM at C0000-C7FFF. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 23 6.5 LASTBYTE.SYS and Expanded Memory Expanded memory always has an associated device driver. If that driver is loaded before LASTBYTE.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS file (and if the hardware is enabled) LASTBYTE.SYS will recognize the 64k EMM page frame of the expanded memory and do the right thing: It will treat the page frame like any other adapter ram and disable the motherboard RAM that falls in the same address space so that it doesn't interfere with the page frame. For example, if the EMM driver is loaded first, LASTBYTE.SYS will report the 64k EMM page frame as "EMS Page Frame". This works fine, of course, but loading the EMM driver first precludes the possibility of loading it into upper memory. To get the EMM driver into upper memory means that it must be loaded after LASTBYTE.SYS, but you must be careful! If LASTBYTE.SYS is loaded first, the page frame will be recognized only in two cases: 1. The page frame used by the expanded memory controller built into some memory controller chips will be recognized and reported as "EMS Page Frame". 2. The page frame of a REAL expanded memory board is (if enabled) recognized and reported as "Adapter RAM". In either case, LASTBYTE.SYS will not use that memory space. ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WARNING: Some EMS boards must be enabled by ║ ║ their device driver before they respond as ║ ║ read/write memory. This prevents LASTBYTE.SYS ║ ║ from recognizing them, and you may need a ║ ║ BANKSWITCH option to keep LASTBYTE.SYS from ║ ║ using the page frame memory space. ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ If you don't have an expanded memory board, but have used a device driver (like EMM386) that EMULATES expanded memory using extended memory, then LASTBYTE.SYS will not know about the page frame unless the emulator is loaded first. If LASTBYTE.SYS is loaded first, then you must use a EXCLUDE (not BANKSWITCH!) command line option of LASTBYTE.SYS to reserve a 64k region where the emulated page frame can be placed. For EMM386, the page frame must be positioned at C000, C400, C800, CC00, D000, D400, D800, DC00, or E000. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 24 6.6 Fine-Tuning your Adapter Hardware Configuration Many adapter cards occupy some portion of the upper address space. Some of these cards, such as SCSI Disk Controllers, often have DIP switches or jumpers that can be used to set the address space they occupy to one of a few alternatives. If the memory map displayed by HIGHMEM is fragmented because one of these adapters sits between two "....DOS Free" areas, you may want to try to reposition the address space occupied by that adapter by modifying the DIP switch or jumper settings on the card. Having one large free memory block is better than two smaller ones because TSR's and device drivers almost always require more memory during initialization than once installed. In other words, neither of the two smaller blocks may be large enough for the installation, but might if they were combined. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 25 CHAPTER 7 - USE WITH OTHER SOFTWARE 7.1 Microsoft's FASTOPEN and MODE programs The FASTOPEN and MODE programs that come with MS-DOS are TSR's and as such may be loaded into upper memory with HIGHTSR. Once installed, each requires very little memory, something on the order of 10k or less. However, neither will install unless a lot of memory is available - approximately 50-90k. (The actual requirement depends partly on command line options; you can determine the requirement using the /SIZE option of HIGHTSR.) ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WARNING: Do NOT use the /LOW option of HIGHTSR ║ ║ with FASTOPEN or MODE - it won't work and could ║ ║ damage data on your disk! ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ The worst part is that if FASTOPEN fails to install itself successfully, it doesn't issue any error message - it simply doesn't display the normal "FASTOPEN installed" sign-on message. Moral: Let FASTOPEN and MODE be the first TSR's that are installed into High Memory in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that they get access to the maximum amount of memory. The second hassle with these two TSR's is that they cannot be removed by using the advanced utilities HIGHMARK and HIGHUNDO. Evidently they modify memory other than that tracked by HIGHMARK (the interrupt vector table and that memory allocated to them). 7.2 Microsoft's SHARE program MS-DOS 4 installs the SHARE program automatically if you have a hard disk which is greater than 32 MB in a single partition. It does this without asking because it is otherwise possible to corrupt the data on the disk when running programs that use the old File Control Block (FCB) approach to access files. Unfortunately, some internal parts of MS-DOS 4.0 also still use FCB's! So don't try to prevent SHARE from being loaded by removing it from your system! If MS-DOS can't find it, you'll get a warning message during the boot saying that "SHARE should be loaded for large media". You could load it during AUTOEXEC.BAT processing, but you'll still get the warning because the check occurs during CONFIG.SYS processing. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 26 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ NOTE: Version 5 of MS-DOS has corrected this │ │ problem and no longer loads SHARE automatically │ │ regardless of the size of your hard disk. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ So how can you load this TSR into upper memory without getting the warning? MS-DOS recently introduced the "INSTALL=" directive that allows TSR's to be installed during CONFIG.SYS processing. Programs that Microsoft suggests be loaded in this manner include FASTOPEN, KEYB, NLSFUNC, and SHARE. For example: INSTALL=C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE The above command, however, causes SHARE to be loaded down in conventional memory. to get it into upper memory, use: INSTALL=HIGHTSR.EXE C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE ╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WARNING: Do NOT use the /LOW option of HIGHTSR ║ ║ with SHARE - it won't work and could damage ║ ║ data on your disk! ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 7.3 Microsoft's MS-DOS 5.0 With the introduction of MS-DOS 5.0, Microsoft has added extensive support for loading software into high memory. This includes not only device drivers and TSRs, but also the MS-DOS disk buffers, the master environment, and most of the operating system itself. Most of this capability requires the use of an Upper Memory Block (UMB) provider such as Key Software Products' HIGHUMM.SYS. Although the MS-DOS 5.0 version of EMM386 now provides such support, there are several disadvantages to using it instead of The Last Byte Memory Manager to load software high: 1. EMM386 requires a 386 or better processor. (HIGHUMM does not.) 2. EMM386 requires that HIMEM.SYS be loaded first. (HIGHUMM does not. However, HIMEM is also needed to load the operating system itself into extended memory; The Last Byte Memory Manager allows you to load HIMEM into upper memory using HIGHDRVR.) Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 27 3. Using HIMEM and EMM386 as the basis of UMB support requires that both be loaded into conventional memory. 4. EMM386 puts the processor into protected mode, adding an instruction execution time penalty of about 5%. There are two basic approaches that you can take to load software into upper memory using MS-DOS 5.0 and The Last Byte Memory Manager. The first of these is to install HIGHUMM and use the 'DEVICEHIGH' and 'LOADHIGH' commands introduced in MS-DOS 5.0; the other is to use HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR. We recommend the latter approach because HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR provide a richer set of options for controlling the load high process. 7.3.1 Using DEVICEHIGH and LOADHIGH To use this approach, your CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following lines: DOS=HIGH,UMB DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS {and any options} DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=HIGHUMM.SYS {and any options} Then you can use the MS-DOS 5.0 DEVICEHIGH command in additional lines of your CONFIG.SYS file to load your other device drivers into upper memory, as in: DEVICEHIGH={device driver to be loaded high} DEVICEHIGH={device driver to be loaded high} . . . DEVICEHIGH={device driver to be loaded high} With this CONFIG.SYS file, your AUTOEXEC.BAT file may load TSRs high using the MS-DOS 5.0 LOADHIGH command as in: LOADHIGH C:\DOS\PRINT 7.3.2 Using HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR The second approach is to use the HIGHDRVR and HIGHTSR utilities of The Last Byte Memory Manager in the normal manner. To use this approach, your CONFIG.SYS file should contain the following lines: Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 28 DOS=HIGH DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS {and any options} DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS Then you can use HIGHDRVR in additional lines of your CONFIG.SYS file to load your other device drivers into upper memory, as in: DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS {device driver to be loaded high} DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS {device driver to be loaded high} . . . DEVICE=HIGHDRVR.SYS {device driver to be loaded high} With this CONFIG.SYS file, your AUTOEXEC.BAT file should load TSRs high using HIGHTSR as in: HIGHTSR C:\DOS\PRINT 7.4 Microsoft Windows In general, The Last Byte Memory Manager has a high degree of compatibility with Windows 3.0 and 3.1. If you are having trouble running Windows, first be sure that your system is properly configured so that it runs without The Last Byte Memory Manager installed. If you have isolated the problem to their combination, then perhaps the following information will help to correct the problem: 7.4.1 Modifying the Windows SYSTEM.INI File With Windows running in 386 enhanced mode, LASTBYTE.SYS and Windows will both try to use the upper memory area, thus creating a conflict. To avoid the conflict, you must ask Windows to not use this region. This can be done with a few configuration options in the [386Enh] section of the Windows SYSTEM.INI file: EMMExclude=A000-FFFF HighFloppyReads=no DualDisplay=yes SystemROMBreakPoint=no If you have used the EXCLUDE option of LASTBYTE.SYS to disable any region of the upper memory, then Windows may be told it is ok to use that area. For example, if LASTBYTE.SYS is loaded using the line: DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS EXCLUDE=D000:64 then you may use the following configuration option (in addition Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 29 to the EMMExclude option above) in your SYSTEM.INI file: EMMInclude=D000-DFFF The EMMInclude option will take precedence over the EMMExclude option when the two overlap, as above. 7.4.2 Positioning an EMS Page Frame If you are using the Real or Standard modes of Windows, you may have installed an EMS device driver for those applications that need expanded memory. In an attempt to reduce fragmentation of upper memory, it is useful to position the EMS Page Frame either at the bottom or top of an otherwise empty region of upper memory. However, if you have used the DOS=F000:32 option to gain another 32k of DOS memory, don't position your EMS Page Frame at E800 - Windows will not run with it any higher than E000. The Enhanced 386 mode of Windows will automatically emulate expanded memory for those applications that require it. Unfortunately, Windows ignores the EMMExclude option and positions the EMS page frame in upper memory. If the same 64k area is used by The Last Byte Memory Manager for something else, your system may hang. To correct the problem, add an "EMSPageFrame=nnnn" option in your SYSTEM.INI file to tell Windows where to put the page frame, combined with an "EXCLUDE=nnnn:64" option on the LASTBYTE.SYS command line to keep it from using this area. 7.4.3 "Unsupported Data Configuration" The 386 Enhanced mode of Windows 3.0 (not 3.1) has a restriction that it cannot run when certain types of software have been loaded high. When this happens, Windows will terminate and display the error message, "Unsupported Data Configuration". This only happens in 386 Enhanced mode, and is not related in particular to use of The Last Byte Memory Manager. Device drivers that are known to load high without this problem include HIMEM.SYS, MOUSE.SYS, SETVER.SYS, ANSI.SYS, and all the Key Software Products device drivers. A device driver and a TSR known to cause this problem are EGA.SYS and DOSKEY.COM. If you are experiencing this error message, you can either run Windows in another mode, or try modifying your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to locate and remove the offending software. Microsoft has removed this restriction in version 3.1 of Windows. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 30 7.4.4 HIGHMEM and Windows 386 Enhanced Mode MS-DOS applications run from inside Windows 3.0 are given their own "virtual" address space of 640k. Windows tells the processor to map memory references in this space to the particular 640k of physical memory which has been allocated to the application. References outside this range are considered invalid and thus return garbage. Since HIGHMEM is a program that inspects upper memory between 640k and 1 meg, there's no way it can execute properly in this context. HIGHMEM will behave normally outside of Windows. 7.5 HyperWare's HyperDisk HyperDisk is a shareware disk caching utility. If you use its "XS" option to load itself into the 48k block starting at E400, be sure to exclude this area by using the following option on the LASTBYTE.SYS command line: DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS EXC=E400:48 A better approach is to use either HIGHDRVR or HIGHTSR (as appropriate) to load HyperDisk high (without HyperDisk's "XS" option). This method guarantees that the minimum amount of upper memory will be used. HyperDisk can be downloaded from HyperWare's BBS at (615) 864-6871, or obtained directly from: HyperWare RR#1, Box 91 Pall Mall, TN 38577 Voice: (615) 864-6868 FAX: (615) 864-6870 7.6 J.P. Software's 4DOS 4DOS is a shareware replacement for COMMAND.COM. HIGHUMM.SYS may be used to move the 4DOS command processor and its master environment into "Upper Memory Blocks" (UMB's) in the upper memory area, thus reducing the amount of conventional memory below 640k used by 4DOS from 3.4k bytes to 256 bytes. First you must install HIGHUMM.SYS as described earlier in this manual. Then add a "SHELL=" line to CONFIG.SYS for 4DOS, including the options /U (to place the command processor in an UMB) and /E:512U (to place the master environment in an UMB). Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 31 The value 512 is of course only an example - other environment sizes may be specified. You may also want to specify these options for secondary shells in the 4DSHELL environment variable. Consult the 4DOS documentation for further details. 4DOS may be downloaded from Channel 1 BBS at (617) 354-8873, or obtained directly from: J.P. Software CompuServe: 75300,210 P.O. Box 1470 BIX: "trawson" E. Arlington, MA 02174 Internet, Bitnet, etc: Voice: (617) 646-3975 75300.210@compuserve.com Fax: (617) 646-0904 7.7 David Hamilton's BUFFIT There's a very nice shareware scroll-back TSR called BUFFIT that saves lines of text that have been scrolled off the top of the screen and allows you to pull them back down for review. One of the advantages of version 3.0 and later of BUFFIT is that it will load itself entirely into a UMB provided by HIGHUMM.SYS, thus using no conventional memory at all. To install BUFFIT into upper memory, first you must install the HIGHUMM.SYS device driver by inserting the following lines in your CONFIG.SYS file: DEVICE=LASTBYTE.SYS {and any LASTBYTE options} DEVICE=HIGHUMM.SYS Then all you have to do is reboot your computer and run BUFFIT from the command line, or else add it to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. BUFFIT is available from a number of BBS's, usually under the filename BUFFIT30.ZIP. 7.8 Charles Lazo's WAS On a computer with no expanded memory, you might want to use HIGHEMS3 to provide some Expanded Memory for Charles Lazo's scroll-back TSR, WAS.COM. This utility saves lines of text that have been scrolled off the top of the screen and allows you to pull them back down for review. WAS is available from a number of BBS's, usually under the filename WAS062.ZIP. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 32 7.9 Philip Gardner's DOSMAX DOSMAX is a set of utilities that compliment The Last Byte Memory Manager by moving all of the DOS "subsegments" (BUFFERS, FILES, FCBS, LASTDRIVE, STACKS, etc.), COMMAND.COM, and the DOS kernel into Upper Memory Blocks provided by HIGHUMM. Set up your CONFIG.SYS file as follows: DOS=HIGH DEVICE=C:\DOSMAX\STOPMAX.SYS DEVICE=C:\TLBMM\LASTBYTE.SYS DEVICE=C:\TLBMM\HIGHDRVR.SYS C:\DOSMAX\DOSMAX.EXE DEVICE=C:\TLBMM\HIGHDRVR.SYS C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\TLBMM\HIGHUMM.SYS /REPLACE If you wish, you can eliminate the use of STOPMAX.SYS by appending the /I+ or /B+ option to the DOSMAX.EXE command line. Using the full pathname of DOSMAX.EXE (i.e., C:\DOSMAX\DOSMAX.EXE) is very important. The resident stub must be able to exec DOSMAX.EXE at the proper time, and this requires the full path to DOSMAX.EXE. DOSMAX may be obtained from: Philip B. Gardner 10461 Lever St. Circle Pines, MN 55014 (612) 785-9439 Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 33 APPENDIX 1 - HOW TO REACH US The Key Software Products telephone (415-364-9847) is shared by our BBS, FAX, and voice mail answering system. Approximate hours of operation are: Voice mail and FAX: 8am - 5pm PST (weekdays) BBS system: 5pm - 8am PST (24 hrs on weekends) BBS Parameters: 1200/2400/9600/14400 baud (v.32bis/v.42bis) 8 data bits, No Parity If your call is answered by the voice mail system, it can take a message that will be automatically forwarded to someone who can return your call as soon as possible. In addition, it offers a touch-tone driven menu of useful information about our product. To send us a FAX, follow the following steps: Step 1: You'll be greeted by out Voice Mail system which will prompt you to press 1 if you have a touch-tone phone. Step 2: Press 1. You'll then hear a menu that prompts you to press 5 to send a FAX. Step 3: Press 5. In a few seconds, you'll hear a FAX tone; press start on your FAX machine. That's all there is to it. Be sure to include your FAX number for the reply which will be sent back to you in one or two days. If you have access to electronic mail, you can send us a message via any of the following: On COMPUSERVE, send mail to: >Internet:ksp!dan.lewis@ames.arc.nasa.gov On PRODIGY, send mail to: VGDC59A On INTERNET, UUCP, or BITNET, send mail to: ksp!dan.lewis@ames.arc.nasa.gov On FIDONET, send mail to: UUCP 1st line of message: To: ksp!dan.lewis@ames.arc.nasa.gov On MCI, Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 34 At the "To:" prompt enter: DAN LEWIS (EMS) At the "EMS:" prompt enter: Internet At the "Mbx:" prompt enter: ksp!dan.lewis@ames.arc.nasa.gov On APPLELINK, send mail to: ksp!dan.lewis@ames.arc.nasa.gov@dasnet# On TELENET's Telemail Service: Send to: [INTERMAIL/USCISI]TELEMAIL/USA 1st line of message: Forward: ARPA 2nd line of message: To: ksp!dan.lewis@ames.arc.nasa.gov Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 35 APPENDIX 2 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Last Byte Memory Manager wouldn't exist without all the companies that manufacture the shadow ram memory controller chips, and who have provided techinical information on how to program their configuration registers. If you know of a memory controller chip we haven't included, please let us know and we will try to add it. The Last Byte Memory Manager consists of almost a megabyte of source code, written mostly in C with a sprinkling of assembly language, and compiled using version 3.1 of the DeSmet/C-Ware C compiler. We are grateful for the simplicity, flexibility, and speed of this compiler, as well as the generous support provided by Joel and Susan Farley of C-Ware Corporation. The Last Byte Memory Manager could not have been created without the gracious support of many people. We wish to thank the following individuals who helped to test beta versions or offered useful suggestions for new features: Ron Cohen, J.B. Compton, David Durgee, Philip Gardner, Mike Hagerty, Scott Jordahl, Alan Lambert, Rob Nee, Kevin Parris, Dan Proctor, Graham Robertson, Ken Sanquist, Tony Sheehan, Peter Summers, Steve Hodsdon, Anthony Cox, My Phung, Martin Beckmann, and Prof. Timo Salmi (of the University of Vaasa, Finland). Thank's also go to Tom Rawson of J. P. Software for providing a copy of 4DOS, to Sue Nageotte of Digital Research for providing a copy of DR DOS, to Philip Gardner for providing a copy of DOSMAX, and to Pat Gelsinger of Intel Corporation for lending his intimate knowledge of the 80x86 instruction sets. And finally, a special thanks to Serge Caron, Roger Cross, and Philip Gardner for their suggestions, technical advice, patience, and friendship. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved Aug 11, 1992 THE LAST BYTE MEMORY MANAGER (tm) 36 APPENDIX 3 - LIMITED WARRANTY This software is provided 'as is' without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the program is with you. Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusions may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. Key Software Products has taken due care in preparing the documentation and software included in The Last Byte Memory Manager to ascertain their correctness and effectiveness. However, Key Software Products does not warrant that operation of this software will be uninterrupted or error free. In no event shall Key Software Products be liable for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the furnishing, performance, or use of this software. LICENSE You MAY use this software on any computer or computers in your possesion, but on no more than one computer at any given time. You MAY copy this software into any machine readable or printed form for backup or modification purposes in support of your use of the software. You MAY distribute the original unmodified, unlicensed version of this software, but you may not charge a fee exceeding $5.00 to cover the cost of duplicating, shipping, and handling. You may NOT distribute a licensed version of this software. You may NOT use, copy, modify, sublicense, assign or transfer this software and its license, or any copy or modification, in whole or in part, except as expressly provided for in this license. Copyright (C) 1990-92, Key Software Products. All Rights Reserved