ID:CT QRAM and C&T NEAT Chip Set Quarterdeck Technical Note #146 by Daniel Travison This technical note discusses a very specific configuration, systems implementing the NEAT Chip Set and an EMS driver that does not provide mappable areas other than the page frame. Typically, QRAM is placed in your CONFIG.SYS file on a line AFTER your EMS driver. When the system is rebooted, QRAM reports "Nothing useful to do." On a system that contains the NEAT Chip set, QRAM can use the system's shadow RAM feature to provide High Ram. The objective is to allow QRAM to use the Shadow RAM provided by the NEAT Chip Set while allowing the EMS driver to provide expanded memory with a page frame. The key to making this setup work is to have QRAM exclude the area the EMS driver uses for the page frame and also load QRAM BEFORE the EMS driver. STEP 1: Boot your system with your EMS driver in your CONFIG.SYS file. STEP 2: Run Manifest (MFT.EXE) and display the First-Meg/Overview screen. You will see something similar to the following map: Memory Area Size Description 0000 - 003F 1K Interrupt Area 0040 - 004F 0.3K BIOS Data Area 0050 - 006F 0.5K System Data 0070 - 0B7C 44K DOS 0B7D - 21AF 88K Program Area 21B0 - 9FFF 506K [Available] ÍÍÍConventional memory ends at 640KÍÍÍÍ A000 - AFFF 64K VGA Graphics B000 - B7FF 32K Unused B800 - BFFF 32K VGA Text C000 - C7FF 32K Video ROM C800 - D000 32K Unused --->D000 - DFFF 64K Page Frame <--- Page Frame address E000 - EFFF 64k Unused F000 - FFFF 64K System ROM NOTE: Manifest is located in the directory where QRAM is installed. Manifest is started by typing MFT. STEP 3: Locate the entry for the page frame. If you do not see it, you may not have your EMS driver installed in your system. Refer to the documentation that came with the system for information on installing the EMS driver. Most EMS drivers have the letters EMM or EMS in their file name. STEP 4: Record the starting and ending address of the page frame. For example: The memory map above shows the page frame starting at D000 and ending at DFFF. Your system may have the page frame using some other address range. This is the address range you will need to have QRAM exclude. STEP 5: This step involves editing your CONFIG.SYS file. You can use any editor of your choice as long as it is capable of saving files in an ASCII format. Many word processors also have this capability. The documentation may refer to them as TEXT, ASCII, or NON-DOCUMENT files. If you are not sure, or do not have an editor or word processor, read the chapter in your DOS manual on using EDLIN. This editor is provided with DOS and can be used to edit the CONFIG.SYS file. Your CONFIG.SYS file will be located in the root directory of the drive the system boots from. a: Determine where the QRAM.SYS file is located. The install program will place it in the C:\QRAM unless you specified something else. b: Add a device statement for QRAM in your CONFIG.SYS file. This must be placed on a line BEFORE your EMS driver. The device statement will need an EXCLUDE parameter to tell QRAM not to use the area the EMS driver needs for the page frame. (refer to your Manifest First-Meg/Overview screen for the page frame addresses). For example: if QRAM is installed in the C:\QRAM subdirectory and the page frame is using the address range D000-DFFF as shown above, your vice statement for QRAM will look like the following: DEVICE=C:\QRAM\QRAM.SYS EXCLUDE=D000-DFFF c: Reboot the computer and watch for the QRAM sign-on display. If QRAM is successful, it will report the areas of High RAM it creates. You may now run OPTIMIZE to get your resident programs and drivers loaded into the high RAM. NOTES: This may also be useful for systems with the NEAT Chip Set and EMS drivers that DO provide mappable areas other than the page frame. To determine if you will benefit, perform the steps above and run Manifest when complete. You may find this approach allows QRAM to create more High RAM areas using shadow ram. Copyright (C) 1991 by Quarterdeck Office Systems * * * E N D O F F I L E * * *