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QEMM-386 Version 6.0 Additional Information This file contains information which does not appear in the current manual. **** If you would like to print this file, simply type COPY READ.ME PRN: ─┘ at the DOS prompt. **** USING THE NEW QEMM PARAMETERS **** This version of QEMM386 features several new parameters. Some of these parameters enable compatibility with special-purpose programs and computers. In general, INSTALL and OPTIMIZE will automatically place the parameters you need and most users will not need any additional parameters. Our experience has shown that many people who have trouble with QEMM386 have added parameters which they do not fully understand. We recommend that you do NOT add any other parameters unless the default ones are not working well. **** PROGRAMS THAT LOAD THEMSELVES HIGH **** Some programs load themselves high. Popular programs with this ability include the Super PC-Kwik disk cache and the Norton N-CACHE. It is sometimes possible for these programs to load themselves high in cases where QEMM386's LOADHI programs cannot because the programs use less memory to load themselves high than they do when loaded by another program, such as LOADHI. When running OPTIMIZE make sure that any of your programs with this ability are configured to load themselves into conventional memory. After the OPTIMIZE process has been completed you may have the program in question load itself high if you wish. **** MIRROR **** This program, written by Central Point Software and packaged with MS- and IBM-DOS 5.0, performs two functions. First, it makes a backup copy of the File Allocation Table(s) (FAT); second, it can load a resident portion of itself that tracks files as they are deleted, in order to expedite their recovery. This feature is invoked by using the "/Tx" switch (where "x" is the letter of the drive to be monitored) on the MIRROR command line. The copy of the FAT(s) that MIRROR makes may be too large to load into available high RAM. (This data cannot be spread over multiple High RAM regions.) If this happens when MIRROR loads, it will report that it has failed to perform this function. However, the undelete tracking feature MAY HAVE INSTALLED SUCCESSFULLY. Type LOADHI at the DOS prompt to make sure that MIRROR loaded successfully. If there is insufficient High RAM to perform the first function of MIRROR above 640K, but there is enough High RAM to perform MIRROR's second function (the resident portion of MIRROR requires only 6.4K of memory), you may load MIRROR low once without the "/Tx" switch (to perform MIRROR's first function). Then load MIRROR high with the "/Tx" switch in order to load its resident portion above 640K and make a successful copy of the FAT(s). **** REPEAT PERFORMANCE **** The "Repeat Performance" keyboard-enhancing program malfunctions if loaded above 63K. As a result it may not be loaded high. To prevent OPTIMIZE from attempting to load RP.SYS high, perform one of the following steps: 1. Create a file called OPTIMIZE.EXC in your QEMM-386 directory that contains the single line: RP Any other program that you wish not to load high can be placed on a different line in the same file. See the descriptions of the Optimize /COMMANDFILE switch and of OPTIMIZE.EXC later in this document. 2. Remark out the RP.SYS device line by placing "REM" at the beginning of the device line. Doing this will cause OPTIMIZE to ignore the line completely. Once the OPTIMIZE process has been completed, be sure to remove the "REM" so that RP.SYS will load. 3. At the Options menu (during the Analysis phase of OPTIMIZE), choose Option #2. Option #2 will allow you to choose not to load individual programs high -- use this to tell OPTIMIZE not to load RP.SYS high. **** VENTURA PUBLISHER PROFESSIONAL **** When the ST:M or ST:F parameters are in effect and the statement STACKS=0,0 appears in the CONFIG.SYS file, Ventura Professional Version 2 (and possibly version 3) will not operate properly. Removing the STACKS=0,0 statement should solve the problem. **** UNUSED ROMS **** QEMM386's Stealth feature will not move ROMs which are not actively in charge of some hardware in your system. On some computers, there are ROMs that are never used during the system's normal operation. Some disk ROMs, the top portions of some video ROMs, and devices that only use their ROMs during bootup (before the CONFIG.SYS is loaded) fit into this category. Such ROMs will be left behind by Stealth, but are possible candidates for QEMM386's INCLUDE parameter, gaining you even more High RAM. Use the Analysis feature of QEMM386 (Analysis reports also appear in Manifest) to discover if these ROMs may be safely included. **** TROUBLESHOOTING QEMM386 WITH STEALTH **** STEP 1: Determine whether Stealth is involved in the problem. * Remove the ST:M or ST:F parameter and any FRAME or FR parameters from your QEMM386.SYS device line of your CONFIG.SYS file and re-run OPTIMIZE. If the problem still occurs, the problem is not related to Stealth. At this point, please refer to the QEMM386 manual for assistance. If the problem goes away when ST:M or ST:F is removed, continue to Step 2. STEP 2: Fine-tune your Stealth settings. A. Keep the Stealth parameter (either ST:M or ST:F) on the QEMM386.SYS device line and add XST=F000. For example, after adding XST=F000, your QEMM386.SYS device line might look like this: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM ST:M XST=F000 After you have made this change, re-boot your machine to see if the change helped. B. If section A solves the problem, remove XST=F000 and replace it with X=F000-FFFF FSTC. Reboot and try again. If X=F000-FFFF FSTC DOES NOT solve the problem, you must keep XST=F000 on your QEMM386.SYS line. If X=F000-FFFF FSTC DOES solve the problem, look at QEMM's "Analysis" report. You can see the Analysis report inside Manifest (go to the "QEMM-386" menu, then across to "Analysis") or from the command line by typing QEMM ANALYSIS MAP. Trim the exclusion range on the QEMM386.SYS line to match that specified by the Analysis report. A sample (partial) Analysis report appears below: n=0123 4567 89AB CDEF Fn00 IIII IIII IIII IIOO In this example, Analysis is telling us that the address range from FE00 to FFFF needs to be Excluded on the QEMM386.SYS device line. Thus the X=F000-FFFF parameter would be changed to X=FE00-FFFF. This should solve the problem and allow QEMM386 to create the maximum possible amount of High RAM. Once you have found the smallest exclusion that works, remove the FSTC parameter, which was used only to give accurate Analysis reading with Stealth. You should run OPTIMIZE again in order to take advantage of the extra memory that may be available. C. If none of the above solves the problem and you have determined that the problem only occurs under the following conditions: * Stealth is present (i.e. the ST:M or ST:F parameters are on your QEMM386.SYS device line); * XST=F000 does not solve the problem. ...then keep ST:M or ST:F on your QEMM386.SYS device line and place the starting address of your page frame (with the FRAME or FR parameter) at the starting address of your video ROM. (For example, if your video ROM is located at C000 you would add FR=C000 to your QEMM386.SYS device line.) In many cases this is sufficient to solve the problem. D. If the substitution in Section C does not work, try replacing the FR or FRAME parameter you just added (in the example above, FR=C000) with an XST parameter (in our example we would add XST=C000). If this solves the problem, remove XST=C000 and replace it with X=C000-C7FF FSTC. If this last substitution solved the problem, use QEMM's Analysis feature to fine-tune the necessary range of exclusions that will allow the maximum amount of High RAM. (See Section B, above, for more details on how to do this.) Remember: The addresses mentioned above are simply examples for illustration purposes; your machine's ROMs may be located elsewhere. E. It is very possible that there are other ROM areas on your machine, often in the D000-DFFF or E000-EFFF range. The procedures outlined in sections C and D, above, are also effective for resolving conflicts with these ROMs. If your hard disk controller has its own ROM, it is often helpful to place the page frame at the beginning of this ROM. Often the locations of these ROMs can be determined through QEMM's Analysis procedure or by examining the Manifest First Meg/Overview screen when QEMM is not resident. **** HOOKROM.SYS **** HOOKROM.SYS is a device driver that is included with your QEMM386 package. HOOKROM allows you to load drivers before the QEMM386.SYS driver in the CONFIG.SYS and still utilize QEMM386's Stealth features successfully. Certain device drivers need to load before QEMM386, but if special precautions aren't taken QEMM386 will not be able to implement the Stealth feature. HOOKROM solves this problem. To use HOOKROM, load HOOKROM.SYS at the very beginning of the CONFIG.SYS file, then load your other drivers as you normally would. While this isn't necessary for most systems, there are some popular devices that will require the use of HOOKROM.SYS. Some of these include the Intel InBoard (PC and AT), the SOTA Express, some VDS drivers (such as Adaptec's ASPI4DOS), and others. **** SPECIFIC COMPATIBILITY ISSUES **** SETUP PROGRAMS, SETUP HOTKEYS On some machines it is possible to access the computer's Setup program at any time simply by pressing a "hotkey". Other machines provide software programs for system configuration. Many of these systems will need some portion of the F000-FFFF range excluded in order to work successfully with ST:M or ST:F. QEMM's Analysis procedure may assist in tracking down the necessary exclusion, provided that a reboot is not forced when exiting the setup program. If your setup program reboots the system upon exit, trial-and-error testing is the only recourse. SUPER VGA On many Super VGA systems C000-C0FF or C000-C1FF may need to be excluded in order to access the card's high-resolution modes. DESQVIEW VERSIONS 2.34 AND EARLIER Versions of DESQview prior to version 2.4 do not work reliably with the Stealth parameter. MICRO CHANNEL MACHINES XST=E000 does not work with IBM PS/2 machines featuring the Micro Channel architecture, and it may not work with some other Micro Channel machines. TOSHIBA 5100 This computer has been found to be incompatible with QEMM386's ST:M parameter, but the ST:F parameter should work fine. with the ST:F parameter. OPTIMIZE will automatically detect this incompatibility and choose ST:F on these machines. There are two different BIOSes on this machine -- one for video and one for the system -- and the BIOSes on the Toshiba 5100's that Quarterdeck has tested address each other directly, a method of operation that directly conflicts with the Stealth process. However, our testing has shown QEMM386's ST:F parameter to be compatible with the 5100. AT&T 6386/SX WGS Some of these machines (and other Intel motherboard-based AT&T computers, such as the 6386/25 WGS) may require the addition of XST=E000 when the ST:M parameter is in use. There may be an option for relocating the video BIOS in the AT&T Setup program that may solve the problem. GRIDCASE 1550SX This machine requires X=E800-E9FF without Stealth; when Stealth is enabled with ST:M this machine also requires XST=E000. AST PREMIUM EXEC 386/20SX NOTEBOOK The AST Premium Exec 386/20SX is incompatible with ST:M; OPTIMIZE's ST:F test will appear to fail, but ST:F should work when FR=EC00 is added to the QEMM device line. ADAPTEC ASPI4DOS If ASPI4DOS.SYS is loaded before QEMM386 it may be necessary to exclude up to 12K of the F000- FFFF range when using QEMM386's Stealth function. The location of the areas that need to be excluded will vary from system to system, but it should be detectable by the Analysis procedure. This problem does not occur if ASPI4DOS is loaded after QEMM386, but unless the DISKBUF parameter is used with QEMM386 it is necessary to load ASPI4DOS low. AMI BIOS With some AMI BIOS machines (on which shadowing is taking place and there are user-defined drive types) FE00-FEFF may need to be excluded for Manifest to be able to identify the hard disk correctly. ATI VGA WONDER This graphics card requires the page frame to be at C000 when the ST:M parameter is in effect. GEOWORKS ENSEMBLE Our testing has shown GeoWorks Ensemble to be incompatible with both variations of Stealth. NEC PRINTSCR.EXE This is a screen-printing enhancer for NEC computers, and it needs to see a portion of the BIOS when loading. When using Stealth, exclude FE00-FEFF so that PRINTSCR.EXE can load successfully. NORTON BACKUP When using Stealth, Norton Backup requires the X=FE00-FFFF parameter on QEMM-386, and may require reconfiguration after you have specified that parameter and rebooted. PCSA PCSA's EMS loader (DMNETHLD) may not work on all systems with ST:M and ST:F. The XST=F000 may solve the problem when it occurs. Some DEPCA cards may fail with the PCSA software and ST:M unless the page frame is placed at the beginning of the DEPCA's card's 16K ROM. PLUS IMPULSE/HARDCARD II These devices may need to have XST applied to their ROM(s) when using Stealth. The default location for a Hardcard II ROM, for example, is C800. In this case adding XST=C800 to the QEMM386.SYS device line should help. If you are unsure about the location of your Hardcard II or Impulse ROM, consult your Hardcard or Impulse manual. PSI HYPERSTOR 816/1600 HARD DISK CONTROLLER Some versions of this controller may require the page frame to be placed at the beginning of the controller's ROM BIOS (which is often located at C800). A small exclusion in the F000-FFFF range (probably X=FE00-FFFF) may also be necessary. RAMBIOS.SYS This driver may need XST=C000 if run after QEMM- 386 when Stealth is active. (If RAMBIOS is run before QEMM-386, it will inhibit the use of the Stealth feature.) We recommend that you use the QEMM parameter ROM=C000 instead of running RAMBIOS. SIDEKICK PLUS Our testing indicates that SideKick Plus will not work with Stealth unless SKPLUS is prevented from using EMS. One workaround for this problem is to use Quarterdeck's EMS.COM program (included with QEMM-386) to temporarily allocate all EMS before SKPLUS is loaded -- then use EMS.COM again to free up your machine's EMS memory after loading SKPLUS. STB 800/16 VGA CARD This graphics card requires the page frame to be at C000 when Stealth is active. **** NEW PARAMETERS **** DISKBUFFRAME=xx (DBF) Useful when using programs that write directly into the page frame using BIOS- level calls, such as some EMS-using disk caches (including PC-CACHE, Norton N- CACHE, and the Compaq cache). In most cases it is preferable to reconfigure the cache so that it uses extended memory. The value specified by 'xx' (representing number of kilobytes of RAM to be used for buffering) can be anything, but useful values might be 2 and 10. The memory used by DISKBUFFRAME comes from conventional memory. When DISKBUFFRAME is active, QEMM386 will only buffer INT 13's (disk reads and writes) that directly access the EMS page frame. QEMM-386 should prompt you with an on-screen message if you are using a program that requires the DBF parameter. EXCLUDESTEALTHINT=xx (XSTI) This parameter directs QEMM-386 not to grab the software interrupt xx (specified in hexadecimal) when the Stealth parameters are in effect. It is intended to be used if you have a program that refuses to start up if it detects that a particular interrupt is not pointing to the system BIOS or to 0000:0000. The XSTI parameter will cause system failures if the specified interrupt is ever called and eventually executes at the BIOS level, as QEMM-386 has given up managing the interrupt. This parameter is unlikely to be useful in any but the most extreme situations. **** OPTIMIZE NOTES **** This section contains information specific to OPTIMIZE. **** Files used or created by OPTIMIZE: HINTDATA.OPT - Used by MANIFEST after the OPTIMIZE process for providing optimization hints. UNOPT.BAT - Restores original (pre-OPTIMIZE) CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. Requires the presence of the *.QDK files created by OPTIMIZE. OPTIMIZE.INF - User-readable file that contains information about the OPTIMIZE process. OPTIMIZE.DAT - Data file that holds the next label and OPT<n>.BAT number used when processing CALLed .BAT files. LOADHI.OPT - Output file generated by the LOADHI programs during the Detection Phase and processed by OPTIMIZE during the Analysis Phase. **** New switches /COMMANDFILE - Also /CMD. This command specifies a file that gives OPTIMIZE a list of commands (or programs) which OPTIMIZE is not to process. Use this when OPTIMIZE is not to process certain programs or command-processor-specific commands. A 4DOS.CMD file is included that has a list of 4DOS commands which OPTIMIZE must be told not to process. You must add "/CMD=C:\QEMM\4DOS.CMD" to the OPTIMIZE command line in order to tell OPTIMIZE to use the 4DOS.CMD file. You may specify one program per line in the .CMD file. When you are specifying programs in the .CMD file that should not be processed, only use the name of the name of the file -- do not specify the drive, path, or extension (i.e. for the file C:\UTILITY\THISPROG.EXE only specify THISPROG). Placing a '#' as the first character on a line in this file causes the line to be ignored (the line will be treated as a comment). NOTE: This will not force a program to load "low" -- it merely tells OPTIMIZE to ignore the lines on which the programs or commands listed reside. Thus "LOADHI THISPROG.EXE" will be ignored by OPTIMIZE (although LOADHI will still load THISPROG.EXE high if it can), while "CHKDSK > THISPROG" will be processed by OPTIMIZE as usual. The special filename OPTIMIZE.EXC will be automatically processed as a command file by Optimize even without the /CMD parameter. /LOADLOW - Also /LOW. Causes OPTIMIZE to remove all LOADHI statements and /REGION (/R) parameters. /LOADLOW forces all programs to load into conventional memory. /QUICK - Also /Q. When this parameter is used OPTIMIZE will "press" the default key at each OPTIMIZE prompt, speeding the process considerably. **** New file OPTIMIZE.EXC - Treated exactly the same as files specified with the /COMMANDFILE switch, but this file is processed every time OPTIMIZE is run. **** GENERAL TROUBLESHOOTING INFORMATION **** This section contains information that can prove useful should you encounter a problem after installing QEMM386 onto your computer. This information is somewhat general in nature and, more importantly, covers the aspects of memory management that are not related to the Stealth process. Stealth troubleshooting is covered earlier in this document. **** QEMM reports "Unknown MCA Adapter ID: xxxx" If you get this message, then there is no entry for the Adapter ID xxxx in the MCA.ADL file. This message is for your information and is not fatal, although you may not have the proper areas excluded. If you want to ignore the message, then add NOPE to your QEMM386.SYS line. If you want to get rid of the message, see Appendix D in the manual to add the information about this card to your MCA.ADL file. If you want to help others, then you might want to upload a copy of the ADF file for this board to Quarterdeck's BBS so that we can add it to the MCA.ADL file which ships with QEMM. **** Analysis seems to say an area is usable but you can't reboot The Analysis feature of QEMM-386 will only give you information about things it "sees" while you are running. If the piece of your ROM that handles the "reboot" sequence isn't ever touched during normal use and you have INCLUDEd it, then you may not be able to reboot your machine. Of course, if you DO reboot, then you can't run Analysis to see what part of the ROM performs this function! If you have reboot problems, try including less of your ROM in 4K groups to see what location is used. **** Lotus 1-2-3 reports that "123 cannot start because the driver set is invalid." If you get this message you are probably using VIDRAM. 1-2-3 is trying to check on the graphics card's capabilities and VIDRAM is telling it that no graphics are allowed. If you run the 1-2-3 INSTALL program and delete the graphics entry, then 1-2-3 will work. The best way is to use 1-2-3 INSTALL's "Advanced Options" and "Modify Current Driver Set" selections. Then select the "Graph Display" item. Using the "Del" key on the driver which is selected. After doing this, press the "Esc" key and use "Save Changes" to save the driver set with a different name (we suggest 123VID). Then when you use 1-2-3 with VIDRAM simply enter 123 123VID and the right driver will be used. DESQview users may want to install a second version of 1-2-3 which passes 123VID as another parameter. **** Ventura Publisher reports error 19 Ventura Publisher 2 will not tolerate the Page Frame to be set higher than E000. QEMM-386 may, for various reasons, place the page frame higher than E000. If this happens then Ventura Publisher 2 will not be very happy. The best thing to do is to use the FRAME=xxxx parameter and choose the lowest available mappable address by running the QEMM.COM program and picking the first area above C000 which is at least 64K in size. **** Notification when DMA buffer is too small If a device which uses DMA, such as a floppy drive, performs DMA transfers larger than the current size of the DMA buffer, then QEMM-386 will display a message indicating that the size must be larger. QEMM-386 will tell you how large the buffer must be, and you will need to add a DMA=xx parameter with the correct size to the DEVICE=QEMM386.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS file. **** Oracle and VCPI Oracle is a VCPI compliant program, starting with version 2.1.34 of the SQLPME.EXE. You may want to contact Oracle to find out the status of the VCPI support of your version. It is also important to choose the Oracle configuration option that tells Oracle that it is running on a VCPI system. **** QEMM-386 and DOS Extenders Programs which use DOS extenders and also support VCPI (such as Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3 and 3.1), do NOT need to have any exTENDed memory reserved for them (i.e. you do NOT need to specify EXTMEM=xxx). These programs will use VCPI to convert expanded memory back into extended memory. **** Programs which use XMS Programs which use XMS to gain access to extend memory do NOT need to have any exTENDed memory reserved for them (i.e. you do NOT need to specify EXTMEM=xxx). QEMM-386 provides the XMS memory by converting exPANDed memory back into exTENDed memory for XMS use. **** Using Super PC-Kwik with LOADHI The Super PC-Kwik disk cache may cause OPTIMIZE some confusion when it is loaded high. While it is possible to load this program high, the amount of memory it may take when loaded high can be different than when the program is loaded low. Since OPTIMIZE loads all programs in low memory to calculate its size, you may find that programs loaded after the disk cache may not be able to load high. One possible way to avoid this problem is to use /t:8 with SUPERPCK. This parameter limits the amount of "look ahead" the cache uses to less than a full track. Refer to the Super PC-Kwik manual for mor information about the "/t" switch. **** References to QRAM The manual occasionally mentions one of Quarterdeck's products called QRAM (pronounced "cram"). This program can convert expanded memory into high RAM on 8088, 8086, and 80286 PCs. The QRAM product (which gets its name from the "Q"EMM "RAM" feature) is not needed in any way with QEMM; all of its features (and more) are available with QEMM. If you have other computers which are based on the 8088, 8086, or 80286 and have an EMS 4 expanded memory board, you may find that the QRAM product provides LOADHI capabilities similar to those of QEMM. **** Q/FAX Q/FAX, a service of Quarterdeck Office Systems, allows you to receive technical notes, product information and upgrade information right on your fax machine. The technical notes are particularly extensive and provide answers to the most common problems that may be encountered when using Quarterdeck products. Using Q/FAX is easy. Here's what you do: 1. Pick up the phone at your fax machine and call (213) 314-3214. Q/FAX is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This number is for outgoing Q/FAX service only. If you want to send us a fax, send to (213) 314-3217. 2. When you hear the computer answer, use your touchtone phone to enter the code number of the fax you want (from the Master List), followed by the pound sign (#). You may order up to three faxes per session. To correct an error, press the asterisk key (*) and enter the number again. 3. When prompted by the computer, press the "START/COPY" or "RECEIVE" button on your fax machine. This is often the green button on your machine. You may then hang up and should immediately receive your fax. The first fax you will want to request is our Master List of faxes (#100). This lists contains a full, up-to-date, description of all the faxes that are available, along with the numbers you enter to get them. ************ End of READ.ME ************