QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Commonly Asked Questions about 386MAX


All information pertains to both 386MAX and BlueMAX versions 7 and
earlier.


I have 4MB (or more) of RAM and I've installed 386MAX, but only 120KB
of programs load into high DOS Why?

Although it might seem that 4MB is more than enough memory to load all
your programs "high", extended memory may not be used to store TSRs
and device drivers.  Due to the original design of the MS-DOS
operating system, programs must be loaded within the first megabyte of
address space.	The first 640KB is called conventional memory.	High
DOS is the 384KB region between 640KB and 1MB.	Programs that are
relocated from conventional memory into high DOS must fit within the
confines of this region.  Unfortunately, the entire high DOS range is
not usable because some of the addresses in this region are needed by
your system hardware.  At a minimum, your video adapter and system
BIOS must use a portion of these addresses.  In addition, you may have
other adapters using memory in high DOS to address their RAM or ROM.
386MAX reclaims as many of the addresses between 640KB and 1MB as
possible by using advanced memory management features such as ROMSRCH,
VGASWAP, and FLEXFRAME technology.


How often should I run Maximize?

Maximize is a program which automatically reconfigures your bootup
files to load as many of your resident programs into high DOS as
possible.  You should rerun Maximize when changes have been made which
affect your low and high DOS memory.  If you have recently installed
some new TSRs or device drivers, rerun Maximize to try to load these
new programs into high DOS.  The addition of CD- ROM drivers or a new
mouse driver are examples of this type of event.  You should also
rerun Maximize if you make changes to the 386MAX.PRO file, so that
Maximize can reconfigure your bootup files to account for the new set
of options.  For example, you might add RAM=D000-D400 to 386MAX.PRO in
order to protect the addresses used by a new adapter in your system.

Rerunning Maximize will reconfigure your startup files to find the
best fit for your resident programs under this new environment.  It is
not necessary to run Maximize after installing applications on your
system unless those applications add resident programs to your
configuration files.


How do I run Maximize?

There are two ways to start Maximize.  You may run Maximize from the
DOS prompt in your 386MAX directory.  To do so, you must change to the
386MAX directory using the Change Directory command (CD \386MAX),
unless you have added 386MAX to your search path.  At the C:\386MAX
prompt, type MAXIMIZE and strike ENTER.  Alternatively, you may run
Maximize from the MAX shell program.  To run the MAX shell, type MAX
at the C:\386MAX DOS prompt.  Once in the MAX shell, select MAXIMIZE
from the menu.


Why might I want to run Full Maximize rather than Quick Maximize?

As our on-line help suggests, Quick Maximize is faster because
Maximize makes the decisions for you based on pre-set defaults.  Since
each system is different and each User preferences vary, there are
times when it is not appropriate to use Quick Maximize.  Here are two
of the most common examples of instances when you should use Full
Maximize:  You may have a TSR or driver that you know will not operate
correctly when loaded into high DOS.  To keep it from being Maximized,
run Full Maximize and toggle it to LOW during Phase II by using the F6
key.  Perhaps you have a high performance video card which behaves
incorrectly in certain modes when using VGASWAP.  Since, in most
circumstances, VGASWAP is a default setting of Quick Maximize, you
should run Full Maximize to decline using VGASWAP.


I do not want Maximize to relocate my Micro channel Adapters in my IBM
PS/2 system.  How do I prevent this from happening?

This is another good example of a situation where you should use Full
Maximize.  By default, Quick Maximize will try to relocate your micro
channel adapters to make your high DOS less fragmented.  If you do not
wish to have your adapters Maximized, you should run Full Maximize.
Full Maximize will display a list of your adapters during Phase I. To
prevent the relocation of a particular adapter, highlight it using the
arrow keys and toggle it to STATIC using the F6 key.


There are some changes I would like to make in my 386MAX options.
Where do I make these changes?

In your 386MAX directory, there is a text file called 386MAX.PRO.
This file contains the options used by 386MAX when it initializes.	To
change 386MAX options, edit this file with any ASCII text editor, such
as DOS EDIT or the editor in the MAX shell.  Consult your 386MAX
Reference Guide for more information on valid 386MAX options and their
implementation.


I have added an adapter card to my system which uses RAM or ROM in
high DOS memory.  How do I keep 386MAX from using the adapter's range
of addresses as high DOS?

Many adapters use RAM or ROM in high DOS.  Network cards, scanners,
CDROM controllers, and SCSI drive controllers are common examples of
adapters which may need to use memory between 640KB and 1MB.  To keep
386MAX from reclaiming the memory addresses in use by your adapters,
use the RAM= command in the 386MAX.PRO file.  Consult the
documentation for your adapters to determine the appropriate range of
addresses to protect.  See Chapter 2 in your 386MAX User Guide for
more information on the use of the RAM= option.


Before using 386MAX, I used EMM386.EXE.  With EMM386.EXE, I used the
EXCLUDE (/X=) command to protect some addresses in high DOS for my
adapters' use.  I noticed 386MAX has an EXCLUDE command, should I use
it in the same manner as with my previous memory manager?

Although 386MAX does have an EXCLUDE option, it does not have the same
function as in the DOS memory manager.	The EXCLUDE statement
instructs 386MAX to avoid mapping EMS pages in a certain area.	In
general, the EXCLUDE= option is used for troubleshooting with older
EMS-aware applications.  Unless instructed by the README file to add
EXCLUDE= for an application in your system, it is rare that a user
would have a valid use for this option.  The proper way to protect an
adapter's RAM or ROM is to use a RAM= statement.  See Chapter 2 in
your 386MAX User Guide for more information on the use of the RAM=
option.


I have SMARTDRV.EXE (or another cache) installed.  Should I switch to
QCACHE?  Does it work better with 386MAX?

386MAX is fully compatible with any of the popular disk caches which
are available.	Qualitas includes QCache as an "extra" in the 386MAX
package for two reasons.  First, our INSTALL automatically offers to
replace old versions of SMARTDRV.SYS with QCache.  SMARTDRV.SYS, which
was shipped with Windows 3.0 and DOS 5.0, may experience problems with
disk transfers when loaded into high DOS.  QCache, which loads itself
into high DOS, provides a safe alternative to SMARTDRV.SYS, without
loss of system performance.  In addition, QCache introduces those
users who are currently operating without a disk cache to the
performance benefits of disk caching software.	If you have
SMARTDRV.EXE or another reputable disk caching program, you may
continue using it as before.


I just replaced a major component in my system, such as the
motherboard, hard drive, video adapter or system BIOS.	How do I
reconfigure 386MAX?

There is a simple way to reconfigure 386MAX for major system changes.
From your 386MAX diskette, run INSTALL /N.	The /N option instructs
the INSTALL program that this is a new machine and that it should
disregard any system specific options in the previous 386MAX.PRO file.

Alternatively, you may run INSTALL /N /R from your 386MAX directory.
The /R option instructs INSTALL to run from the files already existing
on your hard drive, eliminating the necessity of using the
distribution diskette.


When I try to run Windows I get the following error message, how do I
correct this?  "386MAX VxD Error V1014:  Disk Cache or other file I/O
software using EMS memory"

When invoking Windows, 386MAX checks to verify that no resident file
I/O software is using EMS memory.  Because Windows will use free EMS
pages to improve its own performance, conflicts may occur between
Windows and EMS-resident software.	When the EMS resident software
conducts file I/O, these conflicts may result in data loss.  Since we
do not consider this to be a stable environment, Qualitas does not
recommend using resident file I/O software in EMS when running
Microsoft Windows.	If you receive this warning, the best course of
action is to determine which file I/O software is causing the warning
and prevent it from using EMS memory.  Common examples of these
resident programs are network drivers, disk caches, and data
compression drivers such as Stacker.  For more information, consult
the 386MAX README file.


When I look at the files on my hard drive, I see a very large file
called 386spart.par which is using a number of megabytes of my disk
space.	Did 386MAX add this file and, if so, why?

Actually, despite the name, this file is not a 386MAX file.  When
running in 386 Enhanced mode, Windows will use a swap file to free RAM
by swapping information in memory to a reserved area of disk space.
To find more information about swap files, you should review the
sections on Virtual Memory in your Windows manual.


I would like to learn more about memory management.  Where can I look
for more information?

Fortunately, Qualitas has already provided you the information to get
you started.  Chapter Four of the User Guide provides introductions to
memory management.	From there you can turn to ASQ, where we provide a
tutorial to educate our users on memory management issues.	To run the
tutorial, run ASQ from your 386MAX directory and select Learn from the
menus.

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Qualitas and 386MAX are registered trademarks, and BlueMAX and RAMexam
are trademarks of Qualitas, Inc.  All other product names are
trademarks of their respective owners.