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Text File | 1993-05-05 | 143KB | 2,256 lines

_______ ____|__ | (tm) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of tm | | |_| Shareware VMiX 386 Version 2.85 |__| o | Professionals ----------------------- -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Copyright (c) 1985-1993 Commercial Software Associates Post Office Box 36 BBS (714) 720-1139 (24 Hrs.) Corona del Mar, California 92625 VOICE (714) 720-1214 (8-6pm PDT) _______________________________________________________________ | | | WHAT IS VMiX? | | ------------- | | | | VMiX is a multitasking and multiuser environment for | | IBM PC's and PS/2's (PC, XT, AT, PS/2) compatibles. | | | | Version 2.85 configures itself to your processor. If you | | have an 8088 or 8086, then your applications must share | | the up to 570 Kbytes available after VMiX loads in low | | memory. | | | | If you have an 80286, then VMiX can multitask in low | | conventional memory or it can task switch applications | | to extended memory. VMiX can not execute tasks in 286 | | extended memory. Swapped tasks can be swapped back from | | 286 extended memory automatically for a timeslice of the | | processing or they can remain suspended until reactivated | | by the user. | | | | If you have an 80386/486, VMiX will multitask in extended | | memory. It will execute each task in virtual 8086 Mode, | | with protected mode pagging, virtualized video and key- | | board, mapping a new 640 Kbytes to each new task. With | | DOS 6.0 relocated to high memory and VMiX relocated to | | upper memory above video ram, up to 600Kb can be used by | | each application. | | | | Multitasking is supported at the console, in windows or | | full screen(s). All tasks execute concurrently, at the | | console, remote terminal, or at the console while running | | at a remote VMiX server. Since the console video display | | can be virtualized, you can switch between screens (each | | with multiple windows). If you do not like windows at | | your console or flipping screens, you can choose to use | | terminals or PC's attached to the COMM ports. | | | | The VMiX environment uses the best from DOS and UNIX in | | its implementation of the user control shell and multi- | | tasking. The user has a choice between two interfaces: | | the VMiX shell, which is transparent to the DOS shell | | (you get both sets of commands), or the VMiX pull-down | | menus, a user friendly multi-threaded environment. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | Applications that do not write directly to the video, | | will display correctly at a terminal in all VMiX modes. | | Applications that write directly to the video, can be | | virtualized at the 386 console or at terminals only when | | using VMiX in 386 Mode with VMiX's ANSI terminal emula- | | tion. Any commercially available remote console utility | | can be used in other modes to handle direct video writes. | | | | VMiX.INI is a text autoconfigure file that allows start- | | up scripts, remote login passwords, and remote login | | scripts to be specified by the system administrator. | | | | VMiX is fully compatible with DOS 3.1 through 6.00 | | VMiX can now also be used with DRDOS and XDOS. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | WHAT IS AHEAD FOR VMiX? | | | | - A DPMI interface, so that the VMiX protected mode | | driver can be loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file and not | | with the multitasker VM_BOOT.EXE. | | - A file system distributed among several VMiX hosts, | | allowing sharing of remote hard disks. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | VMiX is not free public domain software. | | It is copyrighted commercial software distributed as | | 'TRY BEFORE PURCHASE', shareware software. | | | | | | You may copy VMiX freely for non-commercial distribution, | | provided you follow the restrictions listed below in the | | LIMITED SHAREWARE LICENSE: | | | | | | *** COPYRIGHT NOTICE *** | | | | Copyright (c) 1985-1993 | | by: J. Anthony Borras | | All Rights Reserved | | | | | | LIMITED SHAREWARE LICENSE | | | | - VMiX 386 may be copied for others to | | try, subject to the following copying | | restrictions specified by this time | | limited license: | | | | All copies distributed to others | | must include a copy of the Copyright | | Notice, the Limited Shareware License, | | Disclaimer of All Warranties and | | Liabilities, and the Software License | | Agreement. These documents are ALREADY | | incorporated into file TECHREF.DOC in | | the distribution archive VMIX???.EXE. | | | | A registration fee of $59 is required | | from personal users (up to 3 CPU's) as | | a condition of continued use of the | | program beyond a trial usage period of | | 30 days. | | | | - The party agrees that unauthorized | | usage under this agreement will cause | | great damage to the licensor, Commercial | | Software Associates. | | | | | | Purchase Price/Registration....... $59. | | | | SOURCE license ................... CALL | | | | SITE license ..................... CALL | | | | UPGRADE Version 2.XX ............ $20. | | | | California residents add 7.75% sales tax | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT VMiX? | | -------------------------- | | | | VMiX is supported shareware, it has undergone over 40 | | releases in the last 8 years, each with new and enhanced | | features. | | | | VMiX is A COMMAND LINE MULTITASKER or you can make use of | | its pull-down menus shell, VW.EXE. The startup program | | now has a /quiet option to totally emulate a multitasking | | DOS prompt, with no user interface modifications, except | | that the VMiX commands will also be available. | | | | VMiX provides an easy to install and operate environment | | that can be used to multitask DOS on 8086 computers. It | | can also be used to task switch applications to extended | | memory on 80286 AT's. VMiX's native environment is the | | 80386, on those computers, use of extended memory and | | emulated expanded memory is automatic. | | | | VMiX allows 2 or more computers running VMiX to be linked | | as a distributed processing environment, where different | | client machines can execute programs in other servers. | | VMiX also provides remote modem access to any of your | | multiuser PC hosts. | | | | If you can execute your applications from DOS, they are | | already installed for VMiX. VMiX does not use PIF or | | other types of application configuration files. | | | | | | APPLICATION SCREEN HANDLING | | logged-in | | do do -W terminal | | -------------------------------------------- | | 8086 Mode Text Mode Text Mode Text Mode | | Graphics Mix Txt/Grphcs - | | BIOS Video BIOS Video BIOS Video | | - - ** Direct Video | | -------------------------------------------- | | 286 Mode Text Mode Text Mode Text Mode | | Graphics Mix Txt/Grphcs - | | BIOS Video BIOS Video BIOS Video | | - - ** Direct Video | | -------------------------------------------- | | 386 Mode Text Mode Text Mode Text Mode | | Graphics Mix Txt/Grphcs - | | BIOS Video BIOS Video BIOS Video | | Direct Video Direct Video Direct Video | | | | ** VMiX will handle programs executed at a terminal (COMM | | port) that do direct video screen writes only in 386 Mode,| | in other modes you will need to use VMiX in conjunction | | with a program like 'Remote Console'tm (see below). | | | | The VMiX interface is layered, to protect the casual user | | who just wants to get maximum utility and does not need | | or wants to learn the full system. For the advanced user,| | VMiX provides an internal 'debug' shell, which can be | | coupled with a DOS debugger, as a concurrently executing | | VMiX task, to examine other live applications. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | HOW TO INSTALL MY APPLICATIONS? | | ------------------------------- | | | | If you can execute your applications from DOS, they | | are already installed for VMiX. VMiX does not use PIF | | or other types of application configuration files. | | | | Applications that write directly to the screen can | | co-exist with other applications at the console, but | | will not display properly when running VMiX in non-386 | | computers. On 286 and 8086 PCs, applications that write | | directly to video can bleed-through to other tasks also | | running at the console, and will not display correctly | | when using a remote terminal. On 286 and 8086 PCs, you | | might be able to get around this problem by setting a | | different video page with the command 'set video -p', | | before starting the application. | | | | VMiX will multitask and provide remote user support on | | any 100% IBM compatible, for any processor and installed | | memory configuration (See StartUp System Options, below). | | | | If total system memory is less than 3 Megabytes, only the | | text portions of the Video Memory will be virtualized and | | protected for each task (to allow as many text tasks as | | possible to be executed with limited memory resources). | | Consequently, unless you start a new task after the parent| | console is already set to graphics mode, new tasks that | | set the video to graphics mode will NOT have their video | | protected, when you switch the display between multiple | | applications. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | HOW MUCH MEMORY WILL REMAIN AFTER VMiX IS INSTALLED? | | ---------------------------------------------------- | | | | On a 640Kb memory 8088 PC or 80286 AT with DOS 6.0 and | | no low memory installed TSR's, there will remain 470Kb | | to 576Kb of memory for applications. VMiX can be told | | to fill memory above 640Kb with 96Kb of additional | | program space, in text modes on EGA/VGA equipped systems. | | | | On the 80386, each task gets it's own 640Kb from your | | extended memory pool, however only 470Kb to 600Kb will be | | free depending on your DOS configuration and whether VMiX | | has been relocated to upper memory. | | | | How big a program you can run and multitask under VMiX | | will depend on your configuration (FILES, BUFFERS, etc.) | | and the size of VMiX's footprint in DOS space. Normally, | | VMiX has a DOS resident size of 125Kb, but if VMiX has | | been relocated to upper memory this size is only 38Kb. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | HOW DO I VALIDATE THAT VMIX IS WORKING CORRECTLY? | | ------------------------------------------------- | | | | To test VMiX, we recommend that you perform the two | | tests below: | | | | ----- TEST 1: Validates that VMiX itself is working | | correctly. | | | | invoke VMiX as follows: (from the directory where | | you copied VM_BOOT.EXE) | | | | VM_BOOT do /set | | | | and press ENTER | | This will start 2 tasks: | | the startup main window, | | where the keyboard will | | remain unless you press | | Shift-Tab, and | | a VMiX debugger task | | displaying information | | about the 'set' command. | | If both windows display activity, the TEST PASSED.| | From the root window type 'quit' and press ENTER | | to exit VMiX. | | | | | | ----- TEST 2: Validates that VMiX, your version of DOS, | | and your system's ROM BIOS, get along fine. | | | | invoke VMiX as follows: (from the directory where | | you copied VM_BOOT.EXE) | | | | VM_BOOT do dir c: / set process -d1 / type c:\autoexec.bat | | | | and press ENTER | | This will start 2 tasks: | | the startup main window, | | displaying autoexec.bat | | (where the keyboard focus| | will remain) and a second| | windowed task doing your | | directory. | | | | 'set process -d1' just adds a 1 second delay. | | If both windows display activity, the TEST PASSED.| | From the root window type 'quit' and press ENTER | | to exit VMiX. | | | | | | ----------------------------- | | | | IN THE EVENT THAT VMiX FAILS TO BOOT OR THE SCREEN HANGS | | DURING THE TESTS, CHECK THE SECTION 'VMiX STARTUP PROBLEMS',| | GIVEN BELOW. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | HOW TO INSTALL VMiX? | | -------------------- | | | | For more detailed information, see 'GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS',| | THE EASY WAY' and 'THE ADVANCED WAY', given below. | | | | | | VMiX is easy to install. Simply copy the executable | | files in the VMiX archive to your directory, include the | | install directory in your PATH, remove other extended | | memory managers from your CONFIG.SYS and execute the boot | | module VM_BOOT.EXE | | | | If you want the VMiX interface to look just like DOS, | | start VMiX with the /quiet switch in the start command: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT /q etc. ... | | | | We recommend you start VMiX, at least once, without the | | /quiet option, to see the additional information normally | | reported when VMiX boots with its normal interface. | | | | | | If VMiX FAILS TO START correctly on your computer, you | | can use several other startup options. | | | | 'VM_BOOT 8086' will force real mode on 80286/386/486 PC's.| | | | 'VM_BOOT 286' will force 80286 VMiX Mode on 80386/486 | | computers. | | | | 'VM_BOOT low' or VM_BOOT low 286' will inhibit relocation| | of portions of VMiX to extended memory. | | | | 'VM_BOOT ems=ffff' will inhibit VMiX from relocating its | | stacks to upper memory. | | | | Some EGA/VGA's will display no cursor or what appears to | | be a broken cursor when Shift-Tab is pressed to switch | | tasks. To correct this, start VMiX with the command line | | | | 'VM_BOOT egacur' | | | | Use of these options might allow VMiX to execute in your | | environment. | | | | Refer to the section below 'VMiX STARUP PROBLEMS' for | | additional problem advice. | | | | You can customize how VMiX starts-up by including other | | command arguments in the VM_BOOT command line, from DOS. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | RELOCATING VMiX to UPPER MEMORY (386/486) | | ----------------------------------------- | | | | Your system must be at least a 386 computer and must | | have a minimum of 160 Kbytes of unused space above the | | video ROM and before the system ROM (C800 - EFFF). | | | | Start VMiX with the command line: | | | | C:\VMiX\> VM_BOOT ems=ffff/loadup vm_boot etc. .... | | | | VMiX will start and load a second copy of | | itself to upper memory, then the first copy | | will shutdown, return to the DOS prompt and | | automatically restart the upper memory copy. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | RECOMMENDED CONFIG.SYS (file contents for DOS 6.0) | | ---------------------- | | | | SHELL = C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:512 | | FCBS = 0,0 (Optional) | | STACKS = 9,192 (Optional, Do not set to 0,0) | | DOS = HIGH (Do not use the UMB option!) | | BUFFERS = 15 (Why use more?) | | FILES = 20 (More than 20, if apps need it.) | | LASTDRIVE = H (Optional, set your last drive here) | | DEVICE = HIMEM.SYS | | DEVICE = MOUSE.SYS /2 (Mouse Driver on COM2, if any...) | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | RECOMMENDED CONFIG.SYS (file contents for DRDOS 6.0) | | ---------------------- | | | | SHELL = C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:512 | | FCBS = 0,0 (Optional) | | HIDOS = ON | | BUFFERS = 15 (Why use more?) | | FILES = 20 (More than 20, if apps need it.) | | LASTDRIVE = H (Optional, set your last drive here) | | DEVICE = HIDOS.SYS | | DEVICE = MOUSE.SYS /2 (Mouse Driver on COM2, if any...) | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | G E N E R A L I N S T R U C T I O N S | | | | 1) BEFORE USING VMiX 386, you must copy | | the self-extracting archive from the | | Shipping Diskette to your system | | hard disk (or 1.2+ MBYTE floppy). | | | | NEVER use the Shipping Diskette to | | actually run VMiX 386. Use the | | copies that you have made from it | | and keep the Master Disk in a cool, | | secure place. | | | | STEP 1: Insert the Shipping Diskette in Drive A: | | | | STEP 2: Make a VMiX subdirectory in your hard disk. | | | | md \VMiX | | cd \VMiX | | | | | | STEP 3: Copy A:*.* to C:\VMiX | | | | STEP 4: Execute the archive to extract the files. | | | | STEP 5: Verify that the CONFIG.SYS file, in your | | boot directory, includes the following 2 | | lines and no DEVICE= lines that invoke an | | extended memory driver like 386MAX.SYS, | | QEMM.SYS, EMM386.SYS or SMARTDRV.SYS. | | Also verify that you are NOT using an | | ANSI.SYS driver. | | | | BUFFERS = 15 (or more) | | FILES = 20 (or more) | | | | | | 2) TO EXECUTE THE VMiX 386 PROGRAM you | | will need MS-DOS Version 3.10 or | | above, and 256Kb of memory. A color | | graphics card, VGA is recommended | | for the console display. | | | | If you have a Monochrome Adapter, | | VMiX will sense it. | | | | VMiX 386 does not need to operate in | | protected mode in all configurations. | | It will execute properly in PC's | | with 8088 processors. | | | | Start VMiX by typing: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT <ENTER> | | | | After VMiX starts, typing a '?' will | | display all the available commands. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | TYPE: debug <ENTER> | | (the prompt will change to: - ) | | | | Next, try 'set' or 'exam' and VMiX | | VMiX will display how to complete | | the command. VMiX will prompt for | | most command line arguments, not | | included in the command line: | | | | TYPE: set video -m<ENTER> | | to see the video modes available, | | | | TYPE: set term -t<ENTER> | | to see the terminals supported. | | | | From the - prompt, type 'quit' to | | to return to the root shell. | | | | NOTE: The debugger shell is now | | obsolete, you can enter the commands | | shown above directly from the root | | shell !!! | | | | 3) TO START VMiX 386 WITH THE PULL-DOWN | | MENUS INTERFACE: | | | | Set the PATH for the VMiX utilities: | | | | C:\VMiX> PATH = C:\VMiX <ENTER> | | | | Start VMiX by typing either: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT VW <ENTER> (for color) | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT VW -m <ENTER> (for BW mono) | | | | When VMiX starts, the top screen line | | will display the available menus. | | Move to the desired menu by pressing | | right or left-arrow keys. Select a | | menu by pressing the down-arrow key, | | <ENTER>, or by typing the CAPITALIZED | | letter of the menu name. | | | | Select a menu option by first moving | | to the desired item with the down- | | arrow and press <ENTER> to execute | | the option. Exit from the VW utility | | or pull-down menu with the <Esc> key. | | | | Pull-down options that display an ->, | | indicate an additional pull-down, | | reachable by pressing <ENTER> or the | | right-arrow key. | | | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | When using a NON-ANSI terminal to run | | VW.EXE, first use <Ctrl><F> to enable | | function key emulation, then <Ctrl><L> | | becomes right arrow, back-space will | | act as left-arrow, <Ctrl><J> and | | <Ctrl><K> will act as down-arrow and | | up-arrow correspondingly. | | | | Pressing the [Home] key, while in VW, | | will cause a repaint of the VW menu. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | THE EASY WAY TO START VMiX (With Pull-Down Menus) | | -------------------------- | | | | C:\VMIX> PATH = C:\;C:\VMIX; (all your apps .EXE paths here) | | | | C:\VMIX> VM_BOOT egacur/set re -x/set vi -s/set sys -c/vw | | | | | | Configuration explanation: | | | | Before you start VMiX, set your DOS path for all the antici- | | pated executables you wish to multitask. | | | | 'egacur' Optional, makes sure the cursor displays OK. | | | | 'set re -x' NO multiusers at your COMM ports, disables | | remote logins, so as not to interfere with | | what you already have connected at the ports. | | | | If you want multiusers, delete this command. | | | | 'set vi -s' Display a status line, so you can determine the| | name of the foreground task (where the kbd is).| | | | 'set sys -c' Enable a software cursor, so you can see where | | you are, even if another task disables the | | hardware cursor or your task has gone to sleep.| | | | 'vw' Run the Pull-Down Menu shell, from where to | | start other VMiX DOS shells. With VW, you will| | usually start a new shell, from where to start | | your multitasking application (or you can | | launch your applications directly). | | | | | | ALTERNATE STARTUP: USING VMiX.INI: | | | | VMiX.INI is a text script file that is processed by the | | VM_BOOT.EXE program during startup. | | | | Edit the above configuration commands into your VMiX.INI | | [startup] section: | | | | [startup] | | set re -x/set vi -s/set sys -c | | do -W /set process -d5/vw | | | | Note: 'set process -d5' just inserts a 5sec. delay. | | then, save your VMiX.INI file and start VMiX: | | | | C:\VMIX> PATH = C:\;C:\VMIX; (all your apps .EXE paths here) | | | | C:\VMIX> VM_BOOT egacur | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | THE ADVANCED WAY TO START VMiX (Command line multitasker) | | ------------------------------ | | | | C:\VMIX> PATH = C:\;C:\VMIX; (all your apps .EXE paths here) | | | | C:\VMIX> VM_BOOT /quiet/egacur/set sys -c | | | | | | Configuration explanation: | | | | Before you start VMiX, set your DOS path for all the antici- | | pated executables you wish to multitask. | | | | | | 'quiet' Optional, disables all start messages and | | retains DOS's look and feel. | | 'egacur' Optional, makes sure the cursor displays OK. | | 'set sys -c' Enable a software cursor, so you can see where | | you are, even if another tasks disables the | | hardware cursor or your task has gone to sleep.| | | | After VMiX starts, you would use the 'set remote -l ????', | | 'set baud -c ????' and maybe 'set terminal -t ???? to con- | | figure logins via the COMM ports. These commands could | | also have been added to the startup line above or could have| | been edited into your copy of the VMiX.INI file. The system| | defaults are COM1 (9600 Baud) for the remote link and ANSI/ | | VT-100 terminal emulation. | | | | To start multitasking applications, you will normally use | | the 'do [-W]' command or you can press Shift-ENTER or | | Shift-Shift-ENTER after a command, to start it multitasking.| |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | USING YOUR COMM PORTS for remote user logins | | --------------------- | | ----- if your printer, mouse, or modem is on COM1, | | then COM2 is available for user logins: | | (NOTE the lower case 'L', below) | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -l2 / (etc.) | | | | ----- if your printer, mouse, or modem is on COM2, | | then COM1 (VMiX default) is available for logins: | | | | NO COMMAND NEEDED | | | | ----- if you are using both COM1 and COM2, | | then set VMiX to COM3 to avoid interferance: | | (NOTE the lower case 'L', below) | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -l3 / (etc.) | | | | or, to globaly disable all login polling use: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -x / (etc.) | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | ----- if you are connecting at a baud rate other than | | 9600 baud (VMiX default), set the baud with: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -l2/set baud -c2 2400/ | | (etc.) | | | | VMiX supports interrupt driven serial I/O up to | | 115,200 Baud. For information on these and the | | 'set baud -c' command see TECHREF.DOC | | | | ----- if you want to enable passwords and have entered | | them into your VMiX.INI file, as well as specified | | 'rshell' or the name of your autostart program(s) | | to run after a valid logon: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -l2 vsetup / | | set baud -c2 2400 / (etc.) | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | MULTIUSER CABLING | | | | The RS232 cabling for COM1 or other terminal/modem serial | | ports where you intend to have VMiX loggins, should be cons- | | tructed depending on whether the host PC will be connected | | to a dumb terminal or to another PC acting as a terminal. | | | | A NULL MODEM serial cable can also be used when connecting to | | a second PC, but will not work when connecting to a terminal. | | | | | | PIN PIN | | | | H 1 1 | | O | | S 2 -- - _ _ _ - -- 2 | | T -_ __ - - | | 3 __ _ - - - - _ __ 3 T | | S E | | e 4 4 R | | r M | | i .--5 5 I | | a .-| N | | l | `--6 6 A | | | L | | P | 7 ------------------------- 7 | | o | Also add the jumpers | | r | .--8 8 to the terminal side,| | t `-| if using a 2nd PC as | | `--20 20 a terminal. | | | | | | | | | | See Part II, Using VMiX 386, for | | detailed instructions regarding the | | use of VMiX 386 commands and options. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | VMiX STARTUP - SYSTEM OPTIONS | | | | The boot command syntax is: | | | | VM_BOOT [8086] [286] [low] [high] [quiet] [text] [ems=] | | [exclude=] [egacursor] [cgacursor] | | [ / [ command ] /... ] | | | | The '/' separator is optional between options, but is | | required between commands. | | | | where (NOTE abbreviated syntax): | | | | 8086 option forces 8086 (real mode) operation on | | 80286/386/486 computers. | | | | 286 option forces 80286 (standard/protected mode) | | operation on 386/486 computers, instead of | | enhanced/protected mode. | | | | The two commands above, manually disable VMiX from | | attempting to set its own 80386 enhanced/protected mode | | environment (useful for getting around compatibility | | problems, on some computers and to execute newer applica- | | tions that require DPMI protected mode managers resident | | (Windows or most compilers). | | | | lo option inhibits the relocation of VMiX code/data | | to extended XMS memory. | | | | hi option forces the relocation of VMiX code/data to | | extended XMS memory, when using 8086 Mode on a | | 80286/386/486 computer. | | | | q option disables all start messages and retains | | DOS's look and feel. | | | | text option disables the loading of graphics fonts in | | 8086 Mode to save usable memory. | | | | ems= option allows an EMS segment to be specified for | | VMiX own data use. On 386 computers, this is not | | needed since VMiX automatically relocates data | | areas to its own EMS and XMS managed areas. | | However, VMiX could select the wrong EMS segment, | | after scanning for ROMs or RAM in upper memory, | | and crash. | | | | This option allows a safe upper memory segment to | | be manually selected (38Kb free size is required).| | | | (ems=ffff, totally disables VMiX use of the upper | | memory EMS area.) | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | On 8086 PCs or 286 ATs, if an EMS board is | | installed and an EMS manager is driver is present,| | VMiX can use EMS to reduce its low memory size | | by 38Kb. | | | | The general command format is 'EMS=????', | | where ???? is the Hex Segment Address of the EMS | | area (i.e., VM_BOOT ems=d000), 38Kb of contiguous | | space is required. On 386 ATs, VMiX automatically| | uses its own EMS emulator unless you specify | | ems=ffff. | | | | exc= option allows the user to exclude a block of | | extended memory, starting after the first megabyte| | of conventional memory, by specifying a size in | | kilobytes to skip. This excluded area will not be| | touched by VMiX. | | | | The general command format is 'EXC=????', | | where ???? specifies the number of 1Kb blocks of | | extended memory to exclude. | | | | If VMiX detects a resident XMS memory manager like| | HIMEM.SYS, it will automatically exclude memory | | that is already in use. | | | | egacur option corrects a video BIOS bug that fails to | | indicate that CGA cursor emulation is disabled. | | | | cgacur option corrects a video BIOS bug that fails to | | indicate that CGA cursor emulation is enabled. | | | | [ command ] any valid DOS or VMiX shell command, | | separated by a '/' | | | | | | NOTE: Some EGA/VGA's will display what appears to be a | | broken VMiX cursor when Shift-Tab is pressed to | | switch tasks. To correct this, start VMiX with | | the command line 'VM_BOOT egacur'. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | QUICK START TO VMiX MULTITASKING | | | | To begin the program, as you get familiar with it, just | | type at the DOS prompt: | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -x | | | | or, | | | | C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT /q /set remote -x | | | | The first form is preferred, because it offers a nicer | | interface than DOS. The second form does not change | | the DOS interface, but converts DOS to a multi-user and | | multitasking environment. | | | | In both cases, use of the COMM ports for logins is dis- | | abled, until you determine which ports are not going to | | be used by other programs, mice, or modems and VMiX is | | free to takeover them. | | | | VMiX has an .INI file, which is shipped fully commented | | with examples. As shipped, VMiX.INI is always automati- | | cally processed, but does nothing. Once you are familiar | | with VMiX, you can include the startup commands that your | | installation needs, to arrive at the configuration and | | active programs you desire. Note that any command line | | parameters after VM_BOOT.EXE are executed after the .INI | | file is processed. | | | | Now, for your first multitasking, type 'dir' and press | | Shift-ENTER, instead of the usual plain 'ENTER'. | | The typed command or program will be multitasked in a | | window. After it completes, the window might be left | | behind; press Shift-Tab to clear it. | | | | If you had pressed 'ENTER' with BOTH Shift keys down, | | for the 'dir' command above, then the task would have | | been executed full screen, in its own virtual flippable | | screen. To flip screens, or switch between windows, | | just press Shift-Tab. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | The TECHREF.DOC manual is big and spread out, but it | | describes each VMiX command in more detail. | | | | Basically, these are the commands that you must master | | FIRST, to start using the multitasking features right- | | away. | | | | | | ? Pressing '?' will display a list of avail- | | able VMiX commands. Typing a VMiX command | | that requires additional parameters, will | | display usage information. Any command can | | be abbreviated to 2 or more characters. | | | | | | exec This command allows you to partition the | | use of your PC's memory between tasks. | | By default, on 8088 and 80286 computers, | | VMiX partitions each new DOS task into | | 224Kb chunks of available memory. On the | | 80386 the default partition size is 576Kb. | | | | To override the defaults, you might type: | | exec -m128 | | | | this sets the partition size to 128Kb. | | Any new program, after that, will only see | | a maximum of 128Kb available, until the next| | 'exec -m' reduces or expands the current | | limit. | | | | In 286 processors, when you intend to use | | the 'swap' command to move programs back and| | forth from extended memory, it is usually | | better to enable all of low memory before | | starting the first task ('exec -m640'). You | | will then use 'swap' to move the task to | | extended and all the low memory will be | | freed for another new task. Most programs | | will work better if you use the '$$' prefix | | described below. | | | | In 80386 processors, selecting a partition | | size smaller than the 600Kb default, will | | cause new tasks to use the parent's memory | | partition and will not be mapped to their | | own 640Kb, from the extended memory pool. | | | | | | do This command allows you to specify a new | | DOS task. 'do' is short for 'dosjob'. | | To execute BASIC in a window, you would | | type: | | do c:\basic | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | The 'dosjob' command can be omited, if you | | press Shift-ENTER, instead of just 'ENTER' | | after the command. | | c:\basic (press Shift-ENTER) | | | | 'do' is the basic VMiX command to start a | | new and separate process. A forward slash | | '/' must preceed any VMiX shell command | | given after the 'do'. The '/' must NOT be | | used, if the command is for DOS. | | | | | | do -W To execute BASIC and give it the full | | screen, you would type: | | do -W c:\basic | | | | The keyboard shortcut is to press Shift- | | ENTER (with both Shift keys pressed, for | | full screen) instead of just 'ENTER'. | | | | c:\basic (press Shift-Shift-ENTER) | | | | On the 386/486 the -W switch virtualizes | | the video segment of the task, allowing it | | to be moved to and from the foreground | | without disturbing the display of other | | tasks. | | | | On 8088 or 286 systems you should specify a | | new video page or video mode to obtain | | a virtualized and separate console for the | | task (otherwise the output of one task could| | bleed through to that of another): | | do -W / set video -p / filespec | | or, | | do -W / set video -m / filespec | | | | | | Shift-ENTER This is equivalent to the 'do' command. | | You press Shift-ENTER at the end of a | | command to multitask it in a new window. | | | | Shift-Shift-ENTER This is equivalent to the 'do -W' | | command. You press ENTER with both Shift | | keys held down at the end of a command to | | multitask it with a new full screen. | | | | Shift-TAB Once you have started several windows, or | | full screen tasks, you will need to move | | the keyboard and/or video display between | | them, so that input to each task can be | | safely directed to only that task. You | | move the keyboard and foreground display, | | in round-robin fasion by pressing the | | <SHIFT> and <TAB> keys simultaneously. | | Shift-Tab will also clear any defunct | | window partitions, when there is only one | | shell active. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | Some tasks disable the cursor blinking, so | | its difficult to determine which task is | | actively receiving input. In those cases, | | you should enable cursor emulation with: | | set system -c | | | | and/or enable the console status line with: | | set video -s | | | | do /rshell The easiest way to operate in the VMiX | | environment is to create a new virtual DOS | | machine every time you wish to perform a | | new task. Anytime you use the 'dosjob' cmd | | you are creating a new virtual DOS machine, | | but it is more flexible to start it as a | | new shell from which to launch DOS commands | | than just to have it do a program. To clone| | the startup (root) command shell into a 2nd | | shell, you would type: | | do /rshell or do -W /rshell | | | | The / tells VMiX, this is not a command for | | DOS but for VMiX. VMiX will ask you for | | a login name. This is the name that the | | VMiX status line will display when this task| | is at the foreground for kbd input, type: | | su | | | | This is a reserved name for a VMiX operator | | with 'kill' and 'swap' process priviledges. | | | | do . To clone a DOS command shell as the 2nd | | window, you would type: | | do . | | or, | | . (and press Shift-ENTER) | | | | To close the window, type from DOS: | | exit | | | | NOTE THAT THE VMiX SHELL PROMPT DIFFERS | | FROM THE DOS SHELL PROMPT IN THE SINGLE | | SPACE THAT FOLLOWS THE PROMPT. | | | | From the VMiX Shell | | a directory request would look like: | | C:\VMiX> dir | | From DOS it would look like: | | C:\VMiX>dir | | | | | | set The 'set' command gives you access to all | | the VMiX configuration options. | | To display a list of all the commands and | | arguments associated with the 'set' command | | enter 'set' from the keyboard. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | $$ When not in 386 Mode, you might find that | | some programs might crash or fail to execute| | correctly. To provide system protection, | | where changes effected by one task to the | | system interrupt table might interfere with | | the interrupts handlers expected by a second| | task, precede the filename and path with the| | characters '$$': | | $$[drive:][path]filename | | or, | | do $$[drive:][path]filename | | | | | | NOW THAT YOU KNOW EVERYTHING, YOU CAN CHOOSE TO FORGET | | ALL ABOUT IT AND INSTEAD, USE THE VMiX PULL-DOWN MENUS | | BY TYPING, AFTER VMiX STARTS: | | | | C:\VMiX> c:\vmix\vw | | | | See the 'GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS section above and | | TECHREF.DOC for VW operating information. | | | | VW requires your PATH to include the directory where | | the VMiX utilities reside. | | | | REMEMBER THAT ANY COMMAND YOU CAN GIVE FROM INSIDE VMiX | | CAN ALSO BE STATED IN THE VM_BOOT COMMAND LINE OR INCLUDED| | IN THE [startup] SECTION OF YOUR VMiX.INI FILE. | | | | Congratulations, you are now a certified VMiX SysOp. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | APPLICATION NOTE: Using the BRIEF EDITOR | | ---------------------------------------- | | | | NOTE for Brief Editor users: if running Brief from a | | remote ANSI terminal session, start the editor with the | | -p flag in the command line, to force Brief to only use | | the first video page. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | APPLICATION NOTE: Using COMMUNICATIONS or BBS SOFTWARE | | ------------------------------------------------------ | | | | NOTE if you intend to run drivers that use IRQ2 or | | IRQ5, like a network or bisynch communications card: | | load the software (i.e., IPX and NET5 for Novell) BEFORE | | VMiX is loaded. This will be fixed in a future version. | | | | Communications programs that use IRQ3, IRQ4, or IRQ7 | | will work correctly regardless of when they are loaded. | | | | IF THE PROGRAM OR DRIVER PORTION THAT USES COMM PORTS | | IS INSTALLED BEFORE VMiX, YOU DO NOT NEED TO GIVE VMiX | | ANY SPECIAL COMMANDS. | | | | IF THE PROGRAM OR DRIVER PORTION THAT USES COMM PORTS IS | | IS EXECUTED AFTER VMiX, YOU NEED TO ISSUE THE VMiX | | COMMAND 'set remote -i' ONCE, ANY TIME BEFORE EXECUTING | | YOUR PROGRAM. | | ______________________________________________________ | | | | If you are loosing characters during communications, | | do not use the 'set vi -s' and 'set sys -c' commands | | at startup, since these 2 commands degrade performance. | | ______________________________________________________ | | | | NOTE if you are running a BBS communications fossil: | | OpusComm Version 5.30+ works the best. | | | | X00.SYS also works, but whereas file downloads do not | | loose any data, there seems to be characters lost at | | the callers BBS screen (uses different fossil call). | | | | BNU does not loose screen characters or file transfer | | data, but seems to hang when other tasks are running. | | BNU Version 1.70 is available from our BBS. | | | | NOTE if you are running Binkley Version 2.55+: | | you must leave some extended memory free for Binkley. | | Start VMiX with the command line VM_BOOT exclude=500, | | to exclude 500 Kbytes from VMiX's pool, for Binkley. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | IMPORTANT NOTICE | | | | VMiX STARTUP PROBLEMS: | | | | We have found that the following are the most frequent | | causes of VMiX 386 failure. | | | | a) System locks after starting a second window or after | | logging from a remote terminal, when the screen needs | | to scroll: | | | | You might be using an ANSI.SYS driver in CONFIG.SYS | | that does not support multiple windows or is otherwise | | incompatible with VMiX. We provide VMANSI.COM, a TSR | | that can be executed before VMiX, to install an ANSI | | driver. This driver does not currently support | | keyboard redefinition. You can also use Quarterdeck | | Office System's DVANSI.COM (for DESQview) with VMiX. | | | | b) The screen is cleared during VMiX bootup and System | | hangs, or VMiX displays the Warning Message "8086 Mode | | another 386 PM detected" and then locks: | | | | The contents of your CONFIG.SYS specify a device | | driver that uses extended memory in conflict with | | VMiX in 386 Mode. (for example, QEMM.SYS, 386MAX.SYS, | | EMM386.SYS, or SMARTDRV.SYS) | | | | Refer to file 'VMiX.DOC' for recommended contents for | | CONFIG.SYS. | | | | c) VMiX slows down to a crawl or just hangs: | | | | Failure to reassign VMiX's default port for user | | logins, COM1, to another port number, when that port | | is already in use (modem, mouse, etc.). Recommend to | | start VMiX with a non-existent port for user logins: | | (NOTE the lower case 'L', below) | | | | VM_BOOT set remote -l4 (ie., COM4) | | | | d) System fails to boot completely, crashing before | | giving you a prompt: | | | | In 386 Mode, VMiX incorrectly maps your ROM and high | | DOS memory usage. VMiX loads portions of itself to | | the first available area between C000 and F000. It is | | possible for VMiX to erroneously identify an area in | | use, as being free. In that case, VMiX will fail to | | boot. Force VMiX to use a known free area with the | | startup command: | | | | VM_BOOT ems=D000 (ie., if D000 is free) | | or, | | VM_BOOT ems=FFFF (ie., do not use EMS) | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | e) Using 'swap' with a previously loaded external program | | or TSR that uses extended memory, when VMiX is in 286 | | Mode and has not been told to reserve extended memory | | already in use, at boot time: | | | | VM_BOOT exclude=500 | | | | If 500Kb are already in use. | | | | f) System fails to boot and the screen stays blank: | | | | Cable connected to COM1 port which causes VMiX port | | test to hang during startup. Recommend to test VMiX | | with the serial cable disconnected during the VM_BOOT | | process. Make a new cable as described above or use | | a null modem cable. | | | | g) Using VMiX with DOS 4.01 on some 386 computers will | | boot OK, but multitasking will be erratic or lock the | | System. Try the retail version of DOS 4.01 or switch | | to Version 6.0, if possible. | | | | h) System or application hangs while running a communica- | | tions program: | | | | Some communications program like ProComm or Telix, | | that install their own COMM port interrupt routines | | AFTER VMiX is booted, require that you issue the | | command 'set remote -i' before running the application.| | The command is a toggle, so it is usually only used | | once, at bootup. | | | | i) Cannot run a second application or System locks: | | | | Some 386 CPU's (particularly SX's) cannot virtually | | page the first 4Kb of memory. If VMiX will not run | | a second task, this might be the case. To get around | | this problem, use the command 'set dos -s0' to tell | | VMiX not to page any low memory segments. | | | | j) Cannot login and get not response at a terminal: | | | | Your cable might be incompatible (See 'Multitasking | | Cabling', above). To test your cable, from DOS type | | the following commands (assuming COM1): | | | | C:\> mode com1: 9600,n,8,1 | | C:\> mode lpt1:=com1 | | | | then, press <Ctrl><P> to echo the screen to COM1 and | | do a DIR. If the screen hangs, then the cable is not | | responding correctly. | | | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | k) The following vendor's 386 computers are known to | | crash (incompatible) or not crash (compatible) VMiX | | during 386 protected mode startup: | | | | Incompatible Compatible | | ---------------- ------------------- | | CompuAdd 386 ACER 386/486 | | HP Vectra 386 ALR VEISA 486/33 | | IBM PS/2 30 ALR MPS 386/33 | | IBM PS/2 50 ALR PowerFlex 386/486 SX | | Opti 386 SX AST BRAVO 386/486 | | Zenith 386 AST Premium 386/486 | | AT&T 386 | | Cheetah cAT 386/20 | | Cheetah Gold 486 | | COMPAQ 386/25 | | COMPAQ 386/SX | | COMPAQ 486/33 | | COMPAQ Deskpro | | COMPAQ LTE | | COMPAQ SystemPro | | Dell System 310 | | Dell System 486 | | DTK 386 | | Epson Equity | | Everex 386/16 | | Everex Step 386/25 | | Everex Tempo 486/20 | | Gateway 2000 386/20 | | IBM PS/2 60/70/80 | | Micronics 386 | | Monolithic 386/16 | | Northgate 386 | | Olivetti M386/20 | | PC Brand 386/33 | | Tandy 5000MC | | Toshiba 5100 | | ZEOS 386/486 | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | SHIPPING LIST | | | | The VMiX 386 System consists of the 39 files described below. | | | | These files reside in the four self-extracting archives: | | | | VMIX???.EXE (Shareware distribution VERSION ???) | | VMIX386.EXE (Shareware, only for 386/486 computers) | | Available from our BBS | | VMIX386.EXE (Registered Owners ONLY) | | FOR8086.EXE (Registered Owners ONLY) | | VMIXAPI.EXE (Registered Owners ONLY) | | | | | | EXECUTABLE or OBJECT FILES | | | | - VM_BOOT.EXE - | | The complete VMiX startup program. | | To start, type VM_BOOT from DOS's C> prompt and press | | ENTER. | | | | - VM_B.EXE - | | This is a 386 coded shareware version of the VMiX startup | | program, which we have made as small as possible to save | | memory (lacks some functionality found in VM_BOOT.EXE). | | To start, type VM_B from DOS's prompt and press ENTER. | | | | - DPATH.EXE - | | Utility executed by user to set the directory search PATH | | for data files (not usually needed, since VMiX now vir- | | tualizes the default directory of each task). | | | | Use DOS's 'PATH =' or 'SET PATH =' for executables. | | Use VMiX's 'DPATH =' or 'SET DPATH =' for data files. | | | | - DSTAT.EXE - | | Utility executed by user to view device and channel | | status. | | | | - LOADUP.EXE - | | Utility to load TSRs, from inside VMiX, to upper memory | | above 640Kb. Will also relocate VMiX to upper memory. | | | | - MONITOR.EXE - | | Debugging utility used to monitor process information, | | system memory and open files status. | | | | - OUTSIDE.EXE - | | DOS shell spawning utility for sysops running BBS | | software under VMiX. This utility can be used by a bbs | | caller to exit via the modem to a VMiX shell. | | The syntax is: | | outside.exe [-c ????] | | where ???? is the COMM port (default is COM1) | | | | - PS.EXE - | | Utility executed by user to view process status. | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | Cont'd | | ------ | | | | - VMANSI.COM - | | Utility executed before VMiX to install an ANSI console. | | A multitasking compatible alternative to ANSI.SYS | | | | - VSETUP.EXE - | | Utility automatically executed by VM_BOOT.EXE, at startup,| | to process the VMiX configuration file (VMiX.INI). | | Also, optionally used with the command 'set remote -l' to | | configure COMM port logins (passwords and auto-start). | | | | - VT.EXE - | | Utility executed by user to start a remote session at a | | second, serialy connected, VMiX host. | | | | - VW.EXE - | | Utility executed by user to start the pull-down menus | | interface to the VMiX shell. | | | | - VMiX.INI - | | Sample VMiX configuration file (editable text file) | | | | - SYSGATE.OBJ - | | Link object file for accessing the VMiX API (Application | | Programming Interface). | |_______________________________________________________________| _______________________________________________________________ | | | SOURCE FILES DOCUMENTATION FILES | | | | DPATH.ASM DPATH.DOC | | LOADER.ASM READ.ME | | SYSGATE.ASM VMiX.DOC (this file) | | VMANSI.ASM REVISION.LOG (upgrade history) | | VT.ASM TECHREF.DOC | | DSTAT.C | | LOADUP.A | | LOADUP.C | | MONITOR.C | | OUTSIDE.C | | PS.C | | VSETUP.C | | VW.C | | C_BIOS.H | | $_CONFIG.H | | $_KERNEL.H | | $_MEM.H | | $_PROC.H | | IO_CHAN.H | | IO_IRP.H | | IO_OBJ.H | |_______________________________________________________________| VMiX COMMAND LOOK-UP - QUICK REFERENCE |ROOT |DEBUG....................................| |LEVEL..|LEVEL..|LEVEL............................| | 0 | 1 | 2 | |_______._______._________________________________| | . . | |[debug]. . | | |set . | | . |baud | | . . -c " sets COMM port: chan, | | . . baud, parity, word, stop"| | . |dos | | . . -e " toggles DOS environment | | . . protection ON/OFF" | | . . -f " toggles DOS process file | | . . inherit ON/OFF" | | . . -n " sets DOS INT21 function | | . . maximum nesting level" | | . . -p " sets DOS current process | | . . PSP: nuPSP(seg)" | | . . -s " sets DOS virtual size | | . . (4Kb blks)" | | . |font | | . . -t " sets font type (0 - 3)" | | . |pool | | . . -a " adjusts program memory: | | . . MCB(seg), nusize(para)" | | . . -d " toggles SCSI DMA double | | . . buffering ON/OFF" | | . . -m " sets program partition | | . . size (0 - 1024Kb)" | | . . -o " sets program memory | | . . owner: MCB(seg), | | . . nuPSP(seg)" | | . |process | | . . -b " sets shell buffer size | | . . (0 - 127)" | | . . -d " sets process wait: | | . . seconds | | . . -h " toggles hardware | | . . priviledge ON/OFF" | | . . -q " sets queued process con- | | . . tention timer (0 - 255) | | . . -s " toggles system | | . . priviledge ON/OFF" | | . . -t " sets duration of process | | . . time slice: ticks - 1" | | . . -w " sets I/O wait before | | . . preemption: count" | | . |remote | | . . -a " toggles polling of all | | . . channels ON/OFF" | | . . -c " sets remote console | | . . channel" | | . . -i " toggles fast RS232 | | . . ON/OFF" | | . . -l " sets terminal login | | . . channel" | | . . -x " toggles terminal logins | | . . ON/OFF" | | . |system | | . . -c " toggles cursor emulation | | . . ON/OFF | | . . -d " sets frequency of | | . . scheduler: ticks - 1" | | . . -m " toggles operator | | . . messages ON/OFF" | | . . -s " toggles swapper ON/OFF | | . . -t " toggles scheduler ON/OFF | | . . -v " toggles 736Kb DOS space | | . . ON/OFF" | | . . -w " sets shutdown wait: | | . . seconds" | | . |terminal | | . . -t " sets terminal type (0-9) | | . |video | | . . -c " sets video bg/fg colors" | | . . -C " sets window bg/fg colors"| | . . -m " sets video mode (0 - 18)"| | . . -p " sets vide0 page (0 - 3)" | | . . -s " toggles status line | | . . ON/OFF" | | . . -w " sets window size: | | . . row0, col0, row1, col1" | | . . -W " regenerates screen | | . . windows (Shift-Tab moves | | . . kbd between tasks)" | | |init | | . |comm | | . . -c " sets COMM port: chan, | | . . baud, parity, word, stop"| | . |print | | . . -p " inits parallel port:chan"| | . |clock " resets the VMiX system | | . timer 11msec clock" | | |examine | | . |mcb | | . |memory | | . . " : seg[:offset] [= byte]" | | . |status | | |assign | | . " :[process ID], obj type, channel"| | . |gdt | | |deassign | | . " : channel" | | . |gdt | | . |memory | | |quit | |rshell | |remote | | -a " toggles global polling ON/OFF" | | -c " sets remote console channel: channel ID" | | -i " toggles fast RS232 ON/OFF" | | -l " sets terminal login channel: channel ID" | | -x " toggles terminal logins ON/OFF" | |swap | | " : process ID" | |chprio | | " : process ID, new priority" | |[exec] | | -a " adjusts program memory: MCB(seg), | | nusize(para)" | | -d " toggles SCSI DMA double buffering ON/OFF"| | -m " sets program partition size (0 - 1024Kb)"| | -o " sets program memory owner: MCB(seg), | | nuPSP(seg)" | | |path " utility displays/sets | | . program file search path"| | |dpath[.exe] " utility displays/sets | | . data file search path" | | . -v " sets verbose mode (default)" | | . -q " sets quiet mode" | | . -r " allows data read only" | | . -w " allows data read/write (default)"| | . -h " help" | | |dstat[.exe] " utility displays all | | . VMiX objects/channels" | | . -a " selects only assigned objects" | | . -r " selects only free objects" | | |loadup.[exe] " VMiX loadhi utility to | | . place TSRs above 640Kb" | | . [/seg=] " forces load to specified | | . segment" | | . [/size=] " specifies size for upper | | . memory block in Kbytes" | | . [/help] " displays help" | | . " : filespec" | | |monitor[.exe] " utility monitors process | | . or system: process ID" | | . -f " monitors all open files" | | . -m " displays 1 megabyte memory map" | | . -p " displays VMiX memory pool info" | | . -r " monitors process registers and | | . system memory: process ID" | | |ps[.exe] " utility displays all | | . processes status" | | |vmansi[.com] " utility to install an | | . ANSI video driver" | | |vsetup[.exe] " utility to process | | . VMiX.INI file" | | |vt[.exe] " utility to login to a | | . remote VMiX host" | | |vw[.exe] " VMiX pull-down menus | | . utility" | | . -i " interactive keyboard mode" | | . -m " LCD or BW monochrome mode" | | " : MS-DOS command" | |dosjob | | " : MS-DOS command or / VMiX command" | | [-W] " gives process the full screen: MS-DOS | | command or / VMiX command" | |spawn | | -c " sets channel for STDIO and executes | | command: channel ID / command line" | |kill | | " : process ID" | |quit | |_________________________________________________| KEY: ___ : arguments after a ':' indicate command data that follows [ ] keywords enclosed in '[ ]' indicate optional parameters VMiX TERMINAL - IBM FUNCTION KEY EMULATION _________________________________________________ | | | Press ^F (1 beep) PC Keyboard emulation ON | | Press ^F again (2 beeps) emulation OFF | | | | | | for press | | | | IBM PC KEY TERMINAL KEY | | | | [F1] 1 | | [F2] 2 | | [F3] 3 | | [F4] 4 | | [F5] 5 | | [F6] 6 | | [F7] 7 | | [F8] 8 | | [F9] 9 | | [F10] 10 | | | | <Ctrl>[Break] ^C | | <Ctrl>[NumLock] ^S | | <Ctrl>[F3] ~ | | [PgUp] + | | [PgDn] - | | [Ins] ^I | | [Del] ^D | | [End] ^E | | [UP] ^J see note| | [DOWN] ^K see note| | [LEFT] ^H see note| | [RIGHT] ^L see note| | [Home] [Home] | | <Alt> <Shift> | | | | | | | | NOTE: The <Ctrl> key symbol for the terminal | | keyboard has been abbreviated as ^ | | | | ^F (1 beep) enables the Keypad ARROWS to work | | directly, when in VT-100 terminal emulation. | |_________________________________________________| When using VT.EXE as your terminal program to connect from one VMiX system to another, the above emulation is done automatically across your communications interface. Use your IBM keyboard as you would normally, from within VT.EXE, and the same keystroke will be signaled at the remote host running the application. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELEASE NOTES _____________ * See the REVISION.LOG file for enhancements and bug fixes to this version. In Summary Version 2.85 is a new release and provides: THIS VERSION NOW INCLUDES a 386 optimized VMiX which is as small as possible, so you can have MORE free DOS space in each virtual DOS machine. With the small version you will be able to relocate VMiX to upper memory when LESS than 160 Kb memory is available due to the presence of additional adapter ROMs in your system (See SHIPPING LIST above). - NOW ALSO COMPATIBLE WITH MS-DOS 6.0 - DO NOT START NEW VERSIONS OF VMiX WITH THE COMMAND LINE: VM_BOOT vsetup THIS IS NOW DONE AUTOMATICALLY, TO READ VMiX.INI 1. Fixed a SCSI drive DMA bug which made access to the drive impossible, if the SCSI drive was the boot drive. Double buffering is needed for correct operation of a SCSI drive DMA. If your SCSI adapter does NOT use DMA, then you do not need this option. When in protected mode, double buffering is now activated if a SCSI BIOS is detected. Additionally, double buffering can be toggled ON/OFF with the new VMiX command 'set pool -d'. 2. Added a new command line switch for starting VM_BOOT.EXE, /quiet, that makes VMiX disable its normal user interface and operate from a modified DOS prompt that keeps all the VMiX commands, but looks more like DOS. The /QUIET or /q option is just a look and feel option that disables all startup messages, normally printed during boot and makes the look and feel more like booting a multiuser and multitasking version of plain DOS. 3. The DOS prompt line of a second concurrent DOS task will now display the process ID, PID, for that task, along with the default drive and path prompt. The process ID is only inserted on the prompt line of tasks at the console and not at user terminals or call-in users. 4. The VMiX kernel will handle context sensitive interrupt processing when running communicationd software. A context sensitive interrupt is a hardware interrupt that can occur while another task is executing, but needs to be serviced as if the owner task was executing at that time. VMiX currently virtualizes IRQs #3, #4, and #7. The first two are normally used by the COM ports and the last by network or asynchronous adapter cards. IRQs #3 and #4 are accessed via VMiX channels 1 - 4 (the COM ports 1 - 4) and IRQ #7 is accessed via channel 5 (LPT1). We have improved this capability (see REVISION.LOG). You can now run a communications program in one 386 Mode partition and something else in another, while conducting a download or other serial or network communications. Note: Communications programs are very sensitive to disk I/O by other tasks, this may interfere with high baud rate links !!! To enable context sensitive interrupts on IRQ #3 or #4, you MUST invoke the command 'set remote -i' if the baud rate is lower then 19.2 KBaud. If you use the 'set baud -c ....', to set a Baud rate above 9600, then context sensitive communications are automatically enabled. Context sensitive interrupts on IRQ #7 devices are automatically enabled. You can optionally use the assign command to ensure that a task is the owner of the interrupts (i.e., installed the driver). Note that the IRQ #7 channel is always 5 (the LPT1 port). For example, 'assign 2 5' will assign channel 5 to process ID #2, and 'assign . 5' will assign channel 5 to the current process. IF YOU INTEND TO RUN COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS, start VMiX with the options given below (you do NOT want VMiX to poll for user logins at a COMM port that an application intends to use for communications): C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -x/set remote -i (disable all COMM logins) or, C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -l4/set remote -i (logins only on COM4) or, C:\VMiX> VM_BOOT set remote -i (logins only on COM1, default) Other VMiX commands for optimizing communications: 'chprio' - to increase the priority of a COMM program. Start a new task with 'do -W /rshell', login and then enter 'chprio . 15' to set a priority (in the range 2 - 31) of 15. Finally, start the program. (the default priority is normally 7) 'set process -q????' - where ???? is the time (count - 1) before a blocked task is given a big priority boost. (default = 175 or 1.9 sec.) NOTE: ???? is a number 0 to 255 representing the number of timer tick counts MINUS ONE that a task can block other tasks in the READY queue because its priority is constantly been increased by the VMiX preemptive scheduling mechanisms. This keeps tasks running interrupt intensive programs (like communications programs) from blocking totally other tasks. The default setting is 175, resulting in a maximum blocked delay for other tasks wanting a time slice of (176 * 11msec.) 1.9 seconds. A 2400 baud program will receive interrupts about every 3msec., causing each time an increase of its priority by 2. The scheduler runs every 11msec., thus finding the priority of that task higher by 6 and usually higher than other tasks, so without the contention timer described above, the current task could hog the system and not give other tasks a time slice. 'set process -t????' - where ???? is the time (count - 1) a task will own the CPU in hundreds of a second. (default = 0 or 1/100 sec.) 'set system -t????' - where ???? is the time (count - 1) before the scheduler will run again in hundreds of a second. (default = 0 or 1/100 sec.) 5. Programs that make direct video writes are supported at remote COMM port terminals (remote logins). All video memory accesses will be redirected to the COMM port and will not appear at the console. (Feature available only in 386/486 computers). Remote ANSI users will now be able to see color screen displays from applications running in the host, but being displayed remotely. Fixed a bug that resulted in sudden scrolling of the remote display screen. Color support slows the screen display somewhat. If you want the speed but not the color, select VMiX VT-100 emulation with the command 'set terminal -t4' and leave the remote terminal set for ANSI emulation. YOU DO NOT NEED AN ANSI.SYS DRIVER IN YOUR CONFIG.SYS FILE TO USE THE VMiX REMOTE ANSI SUPPORT. IT IS BUILT INTO THE VMiX SYSTEM, AS WELL AS THE OTHER TERMINAL EMULATIONS SUPPORTED. High baud rates are set for a given channel, just as the standard rates, with the 'set baud -c ???? <baud rate>' or with 'init comm -c ???? <baud rate>'. Available baud rates are: 300, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, and 115200. The VMiX utility DSTAT.EXE will display the baud rate settings for all channels assigned to COMM ports. You can only set one COMM port at a time to use interrupt driven baud rates above 9600 for logins, other COMM ports handling simultaneous remote logins must be configured for 9600 Baud or below. Note that this restriction applies only to remote logins. You can, however, have a program that uses a second port, while a user is logged in at a high baud rate. The 'set remote -a' command allows all COMM port to be polled simultaneously for NEW login requests. This command slows down the scheduler. The default and preferred method is 'set remote -l ????' (to poll a specific free COMM port, at a time). Once a user has successfully logged in, you can change the polled port to another free port. This method offers less overhead. Also, other COMM port devices might be connected that could trigger fake logins during global polling (ie., modems, mice, or printers). Logins can be globally enabled/disabled with the 'set remote -x' command toggle. The default is logins enabled. The 'set remote -l' command controls the COMM port where user logins are polled for (when 'set remote -a' is in effect and VMiX is polling all ports, this command has no effect). However, this command is always used to set the port that a VT session will use to connect to a remote VMiX host. The 'set remote -l' command is also used to specify a program to execute (USUALLY VSETUP.EXE) after a connection is established at one of the COMM ports. The 'set remote -c' commands RELOCATES the operator console that the VM_BOOT program used during startup to the remote channel specified. That means the old console device (where the initial task is always running) is disabled and relocated to the specified channel. You can use the 'assign process' command to move it back to the original console device (See TECHREF.DOC). Pressing <Ctrl><F>, followed by <Ctrl><Z> will also return the Root process back to the startup console, but is not as clean as the 'assign' command. 6. VMiX supports the MSDOS, DRDOS, and XDOS operating systems. DRDOS does not pass our full stress test, but seems to work much better than before. Because of differences between DRDOS and MSDOS, it is not possible for VMiX to display a prompt showing the current default directory when using DRDOS. Specifically, the architecture of DRDOS does not allow different tasks to have different default directories. This will cause problems if you set different default directories for different VMiX partitions. The only way around this is to set an all inclusive PATH statement before starting VMiX (and also set an identical path for data files using the VMiX utility DPATH, after startup). You can load DOS to high memory (along with its BUFFERS) using the dos=high and device=himem.sys (hidos=on and device=hidos.sys for DRDOS) commands in CONFIG.SYS. You can experiment with memory utilization by removing dos=high, and letting VMiX use the high memory for itself. The net application space remaining should be about the same. 7. The LOADUP.EXE utility allows users to move VMiX or TSRs to upper memory (386 MODE IS REQUIRED). The TSR will be visible only to the process that started it, since each VMiX task is virtually mapped to a separate virtual first megabyte. This means that you can have different (or the same) TSRs active for each partition. If you need your TSRs to be visible to all VMiX tasks, it is better to start the TSRs before loading VMiX. LOADUP will NOT load TSR's on 8086 or 286 computers, unless upper memory is already provided by EMS hardware or other EMS software. To LOADUP VM_BOOT you will need 160 Kb of unassigned upper memory, usually all address space between your video ROM and the system's ROM. If upper memory space between C800 and F000 is all free, you can still use LOADUP VM_B (the smaller version of VMiX) to load VMiX up, if CC00 to F000 is free (144 Kb). VMiX is compatible with XMS drivers, like HIMEM.SYS and HIDOS.SYS. However, VMiX will not work with other 80386 virtual memory managers, like QEMM.SYS, WIN.COM, 386MAX.SYS, or EMM386.SYS and defaults to 8086 Mode when it detects them. Since you can not use another extended memory manager when using VMiX, the LOADUP utility has been provided to move TSRs or VMiX itself to upper memory. Since VMiX is not running at CONFIG.SYS time, there is still no way to do the same thing with device drivers, but we are working on it. LOADUP is not yet as smart as other LOADHI programs, The command syntax is: LOADUP [/help] [/segment=] [/size=] filespec TO LOAD TSRs (except VMiX itself) Hi ------------------------------------ We recommend that you do the first TSR load with /size=128 (number of 1Kb blocks) and reduce the size if LOADUP reports memory unavailable. For subsequent TSR loads, invoke LOADUP again, this time with /size=0, since the upper memory block has already being assigned, but not necessarily all used. New TSRs will look for unused memory within the upper memory block assigned in the first LOADUP. When LOADUP is first invoked, you want to specify a size equal to the largest contiguous space available above your video ROM area (depending on your HDisk controller and other installed adapters, this area size is usually between 64 and 160 kilobytes). If no size is given, LOADUP looks for 64 Kbytes in upper memory to load the TSR. The second, third, etc. time a TSR is loaded, you should specify a size of 0 (or, if known, the actual size required by the TSR). If you know what you are doing, you may also specify the load segment location (i.e., /segment=D000). If your TSRs requires less than 64 Kbytes, then 'LOADUP filespec' will work fine without any arguments. TO LOAD VMiX Hi --------------- The LOADUP.EXE utility will also RELOCATE VMiX TO UPPER MEMORY, in 386 computers. If your system has between 130 and 160 Kbytes unused space between the Video ROM and the System ROM, VMiX might fit there (depending on the Version, Shareware vs Reg'd). This reduces the DOS footprint of VMiX to only 38Kb, which will allow larger programs to fit in virtual memory partitions. To load VMiX high you must first have started a copy of VM_BOOT in your 386 computer with the startup parameter EMS=FFFF, so that the first copy of VMiX will not try to initialize EMS memory in the target upper memory area. To relocate VMiX requires 130 to 160 Kbytes of unused upper memory, from segment address C800 (or CC00) thru EFFF. If your loadup command is in the [startup] Section of VMiX.INI, the .INI file will be executed twice, once by the original VMiX and the second after VMiX starts in upper memory. However, the second loadup command WILL BE IGNORED, since VMiX is already loaded hi. You can not run LOADUP before VM_BOOT.EXE for the same reasons that you can not run LOADHI before starting (QuarterDeck's memory manager) QEMM.SYS. Sample command line to load VMiX to upper memory: VM_BOOT ems=ffff/loadup vm_boot ... (full version) or, VM_BOOT ems=ffff/loadup vm_b ... (smaller version) Wait until the first copy of VMiX has shutdown and the new upper memory copy has started. The entire process is automatic. You can enter options in the command line after 'loadup vm_boot' as you would, if not loading to upper memory. 8. VM_BOOT.EXE can use a very flexible configuration file, VMiX.INI, to assist you in configuring VMiX startup, entering passwords, and specifying user programs to autostart, after a remote COMM port login. The configuration file (optional) works in cunjunction with the VSETUP.EXE utility. This utility is automatically invoked by the VM_BOOT.EXE startup program if it finds a VMiX.INI file. It can also be used manually, from the command line, or appended to the 'set remote -l????' command. Note that any command line parameters after VM_BOOT.EXE are executed after the .INI file is processed. The sample VMiX.INI included, is intended as a template for you to make your own configuration file. VMiX.INI is a text file and can be edited with any editor. VSETUP currently performs 3 functions: 1) If it finds the [access passwords] Section in VMiX.INI, it backups the file to VMiX.BAK and encrypts the text passwords, changing the Section name to [encrpt passwords]. 2) If a VMiX.INI file is found during startup, VSETUP will be executed during startup and it will execute multiple command lines given in the .INI file [startup] Section. This is an alternative to typing all startup commands with the VM_BOOT command line. (System Options, however, can ONLY be given at the command line) 3) The utility VSETUP.EXE (or a user program) can also be specified with the 'set remote -l' command. VSETUP.EXE controls password access and the startup of any program given in the [remote startup] Section in VMiX.INI. Invoking 'set remote -l' without specifying VSETUP.EXE will reset logins to the standard access method (rshell). When VSETUP is triggered by a COMM port access, (you must have issued a 'set remote -l ???? vsetup' command) it will prompt for an access password and match it against the encrypted password list in VMiX.INI. After verifying access, it will dispatch the single command line under the [remote startup] Section, in VMiX.INI (this single command line can have multiple commands, separated by a '/'). NOTE that the ten (10) Startup System Options can ONLY be given at the VM_BOOT command line, and not inside VMiX.INI, since VSETUP runs after VM_BOOT has already started. To ensure that VSETUP.EXE can always find VMiX.INI, the best way to start VMiX is with a full filespec and path for VM_BOOT.EXE, ie., C:\VMiX\VM_BOOT (from the VMiX directory) then, you can change directories or reset path and VSETUP will always find VMiX.INI (during remote logins). Added the 'set process -d ????' command to allow a script to specify a wait interval, in seconds. (Mostly for purposes of VMiX.INI scripts.) We have noticed that it is better to put a small delay at the start of ant 'dosjob' sequence in the [startup] Section of the .INI file, to allow VSETUP.EXE to terminate and clear itself from memory before the 'dosjob' task starts dispatching DOS programs. 9. The VT.EXE remote utility allows two or more VMiX systems to serially link together (115.2 Kbaud maximum). This will form the basis for a VMiX distributed system in a network of two or more VMiX hosts. VT will start a remote session with the second computer via the COMM port currently specified by 'set remote -l ????' (you can determine the current setting with the 'examine status' command). You can use the 'set baud -c' command or the VW menus utility to set the baud rate at both computers, for the link. The default baud rate is 9600 baud. You will then be able to execute from host-1 any program on host-2. We will be adding mountable remote files systems soon. To set up a single remote session from host-1 connected to host-2 use the following: COMMANDS GIVEN AT COMMANDS GIVEN AT host-1 host-2 set remote -l1 set remote -l1 (COM1 for both) do vt.exe - (request to host-2 a session) login - (host-2 asks for session name) (you are in) - To set up dual links (one VT session on host-1 running on host-2, and another VT session on host-2 running on host-1 use the following: COMMANDS GIVEN AT COMMANDS GIVEN AT host-1 host-2 set remote -l1 set remote -l1 (COM1 for both) do vt.exe - (host-2 session) login - (session name) press Shift-Tab - (switch to Root) set remote -l2 set remote -l2 (COM2 for both) - do vt.exe (host-1 session) - login (enter name) press Shift-Tab - (return to VT) VT.EXE will now support the IBM Function Keys, without the need to toggle emulation (See Table, below) by pressing <Ctrl><F>. NOTE: To activate (and transmit to the remote host) the IBM function key equivalents (like Alt-X, PgUp, up-arrow, F3, etc.) you must toggle IBM emulation by pressing Ctrl-F (one BEEP will be heard). Then the application in the VT window will respond to the special IBM keys (see Table below, if NOT in ANSI emulation). If ANSI emulation is ON (default), then no key translation (as given by the Table below) is necessary. The IBM special keys will be sent as usual, directly from the keyboard. When not in ANSI emulation you will need to press Ctrl-F again to disable IBM emulation, after the special keys are used so that the keyboard Shift key will act correctly (this is a side effect of assuming that you could be at a terminal with no IBM special keys to press). NOTE: If you have started a VT session and type 'set baud -c1 2400', you will be setting the remote computer send baud rate, you will need to press Shift-Tab and switch to a local session to perform the same command for your local computer, so that they both sync at the new baud rate. To quit VT.EXE press Alt-Z. This will terminate the VT program, but will not quit the remote session. You should 'quit' the remote session first (by typing 'quit'), before pressing Alt-Z. 10. Added an alternate way to start NEW TASKS MULTITASKING. Pressing Shift-ENTER or Shift-Shift-ENTER, will start a new task, just as if you had typed 'dosjob' or 'dosjob -W', correspondingly. Shift-ENTER is used instead of just the ENTER key, after typing a command. If both Shift toggles are pressed when the ENTER key is hit, the new task will use the FULL screen. If only one Shift is held down, the task will start in a new WINDOW. If the command is for VMiX, like 'rshell', you must preceed it with a forward '/' (i.e., '/rshell'). DOS commands are always entered the same as in a DOS shell. 11. VMiX supports virtualized video in 386 Mode. In 286 computers, you must start tasks on different video pages (see below). This eliminates bleed-through by applications that write directly to the screen. Tasks started with the 'dosjob -W' command, and all tasks started at a dumb terminal will execute with virtualized video segments, in 386 Mode. The Shift-Tab hot key will bring a virtualized task's video to the foreground. VMiX now handles video mode swapping between graphics and text modes. The Shift-Tab hot-key will switch the console between tasks running in graphics modes and those running in text mode. The VW pull-down menus program (Process Menu) will allow new shells to be started in the video mode of your choice (and/or video page of choice in Text Mode). The same can be accomplished from the command line with: 'do -W /set video -m/rshell' (for mode select) or, 'do -W /set video -p/rshell' (for page select) Video mode switching will work in non-386 computers but the previous mode screen contents will not be saved. 12. The VW menu shell has been greatly improved. We can now recommend VW for regular use. VW can be used to start other programs or to select VMiX options. VW is a multiple thread environment (like OS/2). VW.EXE asks for a video page or video mode when starting a new VMiX shell or DOS shell with FULL screen (choose page 0, when in 386 Mode). VW will also ask if this is to be a REMOTE session, and it will auto- matically start a VT session with another VMiX host, if requested. The PROCESS menu now allows the setting of COMM port baud rates. If you have a monochrome display or are using an LCD screen, start VW with the -m option, for B/W. VW will respond to the [Home] key by repainting the menu bar. On non- 386 computers, switching to tasks executing in a different video page or a different video modes will sometimes not restore the VW menu bar on return to VW, so press [Home] to redisplay. 13. On systems with EGA/VGA, an additional 96Kb of DOS program space is available (64Kb in monochrome mode). To toggle the additional program space ON/OFF, use the VMiX command 'set system -v'. The default is OFF, when VM_BOOT is started. This option will allow large programs (684Kb maximum) to be executed with VMiX (the maximum without this option is about 588Kb). Even though VMiX uses extended memory in 286/386/486 ATs/PS2s, the user partition size is limited by the address space of DOS, which is now expandable to 736Kb. If VMiX is relocated to upper memory and you use this option, 684Kb program space is possible. This option can only be used in text modes. 14. I/O redirection is now fully implemented. Basically, if you start a process (with 'dosjob'), you can then use the utility DSTAT.EXE (use 'dstat -a' to view channel assignments) and determine what channels are available to relocate your process to. Note that available channels are shown as belonging to process 0, the scheduler. Two procesess can also share the same channel. You can use the 'assign' command to create a new channel and link it to a serial port (SRCSINK), to a printer port (CHRSINK), or to the console (SRCSINK) which in VMIX is referenced as port 0 (COM0). Lastly, you use the 'assign process' syntax to assign a new channel to your executing process. The original channel of the process will remain available to restore the process back to its original state (See TECHREF.DOC). Today VMiX is 120Kb of code and 40Kb of Kernel data. 70% Microsoft C and 30% MASM. VMiX is (C) Copyrighted 'try before you purchase software'. This gives us wide distribution for a low cost, thus keeping your purchase price also low. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you are ready to register your version, or require: pricing for support, programming interface documentation, the new printed manual, the source code, site licensing, corporate pricing, or other information, please contact us. Enjoy exploring VMiX and thanks for supporting its development, ComSoft Post Office Box 36 BBS (714) 720-1139 (24 Hrs.) Corona del Mar, California 92625 VOICE (714) 720-1214 (8-6pm PDT)