home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Software Vault: The Gold Collection
/
Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
/
cdr12
/
qemm70tn.zip
/
XSTI.TEC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-06-08
|
9KB
|
210 lines
QEMM's XSTI STEALTH ROM PARAMETER
This QEMM 7 technote is available from the following sources:
Quarterdeck Technical Support BBS: XSTI.TEC
CompuServe: XSTI.TEC
Q/FAX: #233
Subject: Detailed information on using QEMM's XSTI parameter.
PROBLEM:
When starting up your computer you see the following message:
QEMM386: Disabling Stealth ROM because QEMM could not locate the
ROM handler for INT XX"
POSSIBLE CAUSES:
A) You are loading a driver before QEMM which is grabbing
interrupt XX.
B) A ROM is loading a handler for interrupt XX into RAM.
C) You are using a computer which was upgraded to an 80386 with
an add-in board, such as the Intel "Inboard PC."
SOLUTIONS:
A) Load the driver in question after QEMM. If it must be loaded
before QEMM, load HOOKROM.SYS before you load this driver.
HOOKROM is a device driver that allows QEMM to find the eventual
ROM handler for interrupts that are hooked by drivers that must
be loaded before QEMM. During installation of QEMM, HOOKROM is
installed in the QEMM directory. The new line would look like
this:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\HOOKROM.SYS
B) Add the parameter "XSTI=XX" (where "XX" is the number of the
interrupt reported in the message) to the QEMM386.SYS line of the
CONFIG.SYS, then add the appropriate exclude to this same line in
order to keep QEMM from mapping over the portion of the address
space where the ROM handler for interrupt XX resides. (See "HOW
DO I FIND THE APPROPRIATE exclude?" below.)
It may also be possible to reconfigure your system in such a way
that the ROM no longer redirects an interrupt into RAM. This is
the case with the Invisible Network. (See "KNOWN USES FOR XSTI"
near the end of this technical bulletin.) It is also possible
that a program you are trying to run, or even your operating
system, wants to have a particular interrupt remain unStealthed.
XSTI, with the appropriate exclude, is necessary to get your
program, or operating system, working with Stealth ROM.
C) Add the following parameters to the QEMM device line in your
CONFIG.SYS file: XSTI=70 XSTI=74 XSTI=75 XSTI=76
A typical QEMM line would look like this:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ST:M XSTI=70 XSTI=74 XSTI=75
XSTI=76
HOW DO I FIND THE "APPROPRIATE EXCLUDE?"
You find the appropriate exclude by excluding all the address
space occupied by ROMs, using the parameter FSTC, and doing an
Analysis. The first thing you need to do is locate all your
ROMs. You can do this by looking at the First Meg/Overview
screen of Manifest. Those with non-Microchannel machines and VGA
video typically have a system ROM at F000-FFFF and a video ROM at
C000-C7FF. Those with PS/2s or other Microchannel machines
typically have one ROM at E000-FFFF. Add-on devices, such as
some disk controller cards and network cards, may also have ROMs,
which you must exclude as well.
A typical QEMM line for a non-Microchannel machine is:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ST:M XSTI=XX X=F000-FFFF X=C000-
C7FF FSTC
On a PS/2 or most Microchannel machines, the line will look like
this:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ST:M XSTI=XX X=E000-FFFF FSTC
In the above examples, XX is replaced with the interrupt reported
in the QEMM error message.
Reboot your computer with this CONFIG.SYS. Stealth ROM should
work this time. Use your computer for a while, then look at the
QEMM/Analysis screen of Manifest. You will see a chart that
looks something like this:
n=0123 4567 89AB CDEF
0n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
1n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
2n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
3n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
4n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
5n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
6n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
7n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
8n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
9n00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
An00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
Bn00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
Cn00 IIII IIII OOOO OOOO
Dn00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
En00 OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO
Fn00 IIII IIII OOII IIIO
Consulting the ANALYSIS section of your Manifest or QEMM manual,
you will read that an "I" indicates a portion of the address
space that HAS NOT been accessed and an "O" indicates a portion
of the address space that HAS been accessed. You must exclude
that portion of the address space in the eXcluded ROMs where you
now see "O"s.
In this example (which presumes that the ROMs were located from
C000-C7FF and F000-FFFF), the appropriate exclude is "X=F800-
F9FF", an 8K portion of the address space. This is the portion
of the address space where the ROM handler for the interrupt XX
resides. Our QEMM line, with appropriate excludes, would read as
follows:
DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ST:M XSTI=XX X=F800-F9FF
PLEASE NOTE: The FSTC parameter is used only during this
analysis process and should be removed afterward. Because the
last 64 bytes of the First Meg address space (in FFFC-FFFF) is
still addressed directly with Stealth ROM, the last 4K piece of
the QEMM/Analysis screen will always have an "O" in it, whether
an exclude is appropriate or not.
ALSO NOTE: This procedure IS NOT used to find INCLUDES in
portions of the address space NOT occupied by Stealthed ROMs. If
you wish to experiment with INCLUDES (in order to gain additional
High RAM) you must perform a complete analysis as described in
the ANALYSIS section of the QEMM or Manifest manual.
WHAT IF THERE ARE NO "O"S?
It is possible that there are no "O"s at all: this is because
the ROM handler for interrupt XX has been replaced by a new
interrupt handler and the one in the ROM is not being accessed at
all. No exclude is necessary in this case.
KNOWN USES FOR XSTI:
INVISIBLE NETWORK:
If you use the boot ROM on the Invisible network cards, it loads
32K of code into the top of the conventional memory address
space, and grabs interrupt 13. A much better solution than to
use XSTI=13 and the appropriate exclude is to disable the ROM
on the network card and load IS2BIOS instead. This will give you
32K more conventional memory (since IS2BIOS can be loaded high),
and you will not have the network card's ROM breaking up your
upper memory address space.
MS-DOS 5 ON SOME ZENITH MACHINES:
XSTI=18 and the appropriate exclude is necessary to print on some
Zenith machines. This is due to an obscure method used only in
some Zenith BIOSes. A Zenith version of DOS 5 may not have this
problem.
WORDSTAR 2000 version 1.01:
XSTI=15 and the appropriate exclude is necessary. This is due to
an ancient method of jumping directly to the code that an
interrupt vector points to. This version of Wordstar 2000 was
written in 1985. Newer versions may not have this problem.
VIDEO ACCELERATOR DRIVERS:
SPEED_UP.SYS is a driver that comes with the Orchid Prodesigner
video card. It makes a copy of the video ROM in RAM in order to
speed up your video. If it is loaded after QEMM on a system with
Stealth ROM enabled, it refuses to load, complaining that someone
else has taken Interrupt 10. If loaded before QEMM on the same
system, Stealth ROM will be disabled because QEMM cannot find the
ROM handler for Interrupt 10.
You can solve both of these problems with XSTI=10. No exclusion
is necessary because the video ROM is no longer being used.
Speed_up.sys can then be loaded after QEMM and (and can be loaded
into upper memory.) However, we strongly recommend that you NOT
load SPEED_UP.SYS, RAMBIOS.SYS, FASTBIOS.SYS, or any similar
driver. Using SPEED-UP.SYS costs you 36K of memory. Instead use
QEMM's ROM parameter, producing the SAME effect but using NO
address space between 0-1024K.
All you need to know to use the XSTI parameter is contained
above. If you REALLY want to read a long, highly technical
explanation of the above issues, you can refer to the unabridged
version of this technote which is available through our standard
support channels under the same filename.
Refer to CONTACT.TEC which is located in your QEMM\TECHNOTE
directory or see your Passport Booklet for information on
obtaining technical bulletins.
*****************************************************************
Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long
as it is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed
for profit. Copyright (C) 1992-93 by Quarterdeck Office Systems
******************* E N D O F F I L E ***********************