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1992-03-09
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ID:RM REMM.SYS Driver Optimization
Quarterdeck Technical Note #101
by Myke Keefe
last revision: 12 February 1992
Owners of the AST line of computers and/or memory boards on 8088, 8086, and
80286 based computers need to run the program REMM.SYS to activate the
expanded memory features they provide.
REMM.SYS is installed in your CONFIG.SYS file by adding the line:
DEVICE=REMM.SYS
EXTENDED MEMORY
If you have a 286 based system with only 640K of RAM, then you should set
aside 128K of memory as exTENded and load QEXT.SYS (Quarterdeck Extended
Memory Manager) in your CONFIG.SYS file after REMM.SYS. This adds support for
a new memory specification called XMS (eXtended Memory Specification) which
can be used in addition to EMS to provide memory beyond 640K to your programs.
If your computer already has at least 64K of extended memory already you do
not need to allocate any memory from the AST memory board as exTENded.
RESOLVING MEMORY CONFLICTS
If you have any options installed in your computer like network boards or non-
standard video adapters or hard disk controllers or other "unusual" features
you should proceed with caution. If you have such things then please be
familiar with REMM's /X (eXclude) parameter as you will probably have to use
it to prevent a memory conflict. Check the owner's or installation manuals
for these types of adapters/options to determine if they use any memory
between 640K and 1024K as ROM or if they set up a of RAM buffer in reserved
memory. These areas will probably need to be eXcluded from use by REMM.SYS
GETTING MORE HIGH ADDRESS SPACE & REDUCING REMM'S MEMORY USAGE
To reduce the risk of memory conflict, REMM will not make available all areas
that you can utilize with Quarterdeck's DESQview and QRAM products. Usually
you can reclaim 32K or more by utilizing unused video memory. See below for
instructions on how to do this. REMM.SYS can be told to use areas with the /L
(incLude) parameter on REMM.SYS. This tells REMM to use an area that it may
not normally use by default.
You can also minimize the amount of memory that REMM.SYS itself uses by
limiting Process IDs and Contexts. We have found that most users generally
use only 8-10 of either PIDs and Contexts and don't need all 64 or 255 that
REMM will allocate by default. To limit PIDs and Contexts you should use the
parameters /P=16 and /C=16. This is shown in the following examples.
To include the unused monochrome areas available when you only have an EGA or
VGA adapter attached to a COLOR monitor use this example:
DEVICE=REMM.SYS /P=16 /C=16 /L=B000-B7FF
If you are using a Monochrome or Hercules Graphics Adapter, you can gain 64K
of additional memory by including A000-AFFF. For example:
DEVICE=REMM.SYS /P=16 /C=16 /L=A000-AFFF /X=B000-BFFF
A whole 96K of RAM can be reclaimed if you have a Color Graphics adapter (CGA)
by using this example:
DEVICE=REMM.SYS /P=16 /C=16 /L=A000-B7FF /X=B800-BFFF
If you have an AST Premimum computer you can use /S=E000 to place the EMS Page
Frame at E000 and thus get 64K more memory for DESQview or QRAM.
For example, if you had a Premimum 286 with a VGA the line would be:
DEVICE=REMM.SYS /p=16 /c=16 /L=B000-B7FF /S=E000
HIGH SPEED COMMUNICATIONS IN DESQVIEW
If you intend to use baud rates greater than 2400 baud while using
Quarterdeck's DESQview, you may want to use the older REMM 3.x versions.
These older versions of REMM.SYS only support EEMS (AST's proprietary expanded
memory specification), but operate much faster than the newer versions, which
also support the more popular EMS 4.0 specifications. AST may speed up their
EMS 4.0 drivers in the future, so you may want to check their BBS for newer
versions.
MULTI-TASKING WITH REMM.SYS
AST Memory Products support multi-tasking if set up properly. Please refer to
Appendix B of the DESQview manual, especially page 149 of the DESQview 2.0
manual; Quarterdeck Technical Bulletin #136, "EMS 4.0 boards and DESQview",
contains more information on this matter.
All versions of REMM.SYS and further information can be downloaded from the
AST Research BBS: (714) 727-4723. I recommend downloading REMMINFO.TXT for
more information about the Rampage Expanded Memory Manager.
************************************************************************
*This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long as it*
*is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed for profit. *
* Copyright (C) 1990-2 by Quarterdeck Office Systems *
************************ E N D O F F I L E *************************