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1992-08-17
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POVMOD
Virtual Memory Utility for POV-Ray 1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This file contains a utility program for the POV-Ray IBM-PC protected mode
executable. It's purpose is to expand (or reduce) the amount of memory
available to POV-Ray during it's operation.
The "region size" consists of the physical RAM *PLUS* the amount of disk
space allocated to a swapfile for POV-Ray. The unmodified POV-Ray EXE will
render approx. a 15,000 triangle file. (Supports 3072K of memory. In a
machine with less than 4 megs of RAM the VMM may be used to raise it to
that amount. In a machine with *more* than 3072K of RAM it will go ahead and
use it, if available.)
To expand the virtual memory available, more Hard Disk space must be
allocated to POV-Ray. POVMOD will list the amount of physical RAM
available in the machine PLUS the free space on the hard disk. Any of
this disk space can be allocated for POV-Ray's use during a trace.
Use of POVMOD.
--------------
Place POVMOD in the same directory as POVRAY.EXE. From the command
line type:
POVMOD POVRAY.EXE <enter>
The program will run and present a list of the current parameters that
POV-Ray operates under. The number in the upper right corner of the table
(The one labeled "Region Size:") is the amount of memory (Both virtual
and physical combined AT THAT TIME.) that POV-Ray can use. I.E. the current
setting.
Press the (M)odify key to change the parameters. You can then manually
enter the amount of memory you want the program to use. The (A)ccept key
will configure the region size for the largest reasonable swap file size.
*** Remember you need enough free disk space to write out your image ***
*** file as it is created though!!! ***
For a 32,000 triangle image you need about 6000K of memory available.
The POV-Ray executable file will then be modified to reflect your choices.
Since much of this "memory" is usually a swap file on your hard disk you
will get *much* better performance with a recently de-fragmented disk.
The program will NOT allow you to allocate a larger region size than can
be created AT THAT TIME. I.E. if you have 6 Megs of combined RAM/Hard Disk
space avail. you cannot make the region size any larger than that. Also if
the region size is set to a particular amount and your hard disk is later
filled to the point that the free disk space is not large enough for the
required swap file to be created, the program will *NOT* run. It will error
with an insufficient memory message. You will need to modify the region
size to accommodate the smaller amount of disk space available.
An environment variable is used to "point" to the location of the swap
file. The DEFAULT swap file is C:\XMSWAP.TMP. To set it to another
location the following must be added to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
SET SWAP=d:\[subdir]\XMSWAP.TMP
Where d: is the drive and [subdir] is the subdirectory you wish to use
for the swapfile. You will need to reboot the machine for this parameter
to take effect.
The program supports a virtual memory space of 3.75 Gigabytes and can
use the physical RAM space of a machine up to 64 Megabytes.
(Note: The test triangle files referred to were generated with FRGEN 1.1.)
--------------------------------
OS/2 2.0 Note
--------------------------------
A CoProcessor *MUST* be installed in your machine to run POV-Ray under
OS/2. The FPU emulator in the POV-Ray program will not function in a
DOS VDM and OS/2's built in emulator is available to OS/2 "native" apps
only.
When running POV-Ray under OS/2 2.0 you need to set the DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT
value under the DOS SETTINGS for the session to a value GREATER than or
EQUAL to the Region Size you set in the POVRAY executable with this program.
POV-Ray can run in a Window with the render to screen option disabled.
I.E. Use the text display (+v1) to track the current line being traced.
Render to screen will work in a full screen DOS session. Note however
that you will *most likely* experience video color and/or sync difficulties
when switching to other programs during the trace. POV-Ray addresses the
video hardware directly, bypassing all of OS/2's video protection. When the
trace is finished POV-Ray resets the video to standard text mode, OS/2
can usually recover the video at that point. Also note that the amount of
physical XMS RAM displayed by POVMOD may not reflect the actual amount in
the machine. OS/2's DOS VDM supplies the amount specified under DOS SETTINGS
and POVMOD will report around or near that amount. However, OS/2 will supply
the requested DPMI memory at run-time.
Bill Pulver
CIS: 70405,1152 <---- Most often used.
Internet: 70405.1152@compuserve.com
Prodigy: NCCJ93A
Genie: B.Pulver
Delphi: BillP
Rev. 8/17/92