• Re: UMBPCI: memory layout info

    From Kerr-Mudd,John@notsaying@invalid.org to comp.os.msdos.misc on Wed May 1 09:57:09 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Sun, 10 Sep 2017 06:38:52 GMT, Harry Potter <rose.joseph12@yahoo.com>
    wrote:

    If I upgrade from EMM386 to UMBPCI, what can I expect from the memory
    layout. I understand that it uses less RAM, but what *else* will it
    do to the UMB memory layout? Will it make more memory available?
    What about the EMS page frame? And what are the available switches?
    I can't find the last one in the docs.

    Are you going around in circles?


    --
    Bah, and indeed, Humbug.
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  • From T. Ment@t.ment@protocol.invalid to comp.os.msdos.misc on Wed May 1 15:36:59 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Wed, 1 May 2019 09:57:09 -0000 (UTC), Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

    On Sun, 10 Sep 2017 06:38:52 GMT, Harry Potter wrote:

    If I upgrade from EMM386 to UMBPCI, what can I expect

    Much trouble. I should say, just use EMM386, but you never listen.


    Are you going around in circles?

    Someone had to tell Harry about UMBPCI, didn't they. That's like giving
    matches to a child and sending them into a dry forest.


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  • From Mateusz Viste@mateusz@cant.remember to comp.os.msdos.misc on Wed May 1 17:23:03 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Wed, 01 May 2019 15:36:59 +0000, T. Ment wrote:
    On Sun, 10 Sep 2017 06:38:52 GMT, Harry Potter wrote:
    If I upgrade from EMM386 to UMBPCI, what can I expect

    Much trouble. I should say, just use EMM386, but you never listen.

    UMBPCI always worked perfectly for me. I do not use EMM386 at all, don't
    like V86 mode.

    Someone had to tell Harry about UMBPCI, didn't they. That's like giving matches to a child and sending them into a dry forest.

    There's always the possibility that once the forest is on fire, the child
    will perish there. We can hope, at least.

    Mateusz
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  • From T. Ment@t.ment@protocol.invalid to comp.os.msdos.misc on Wed May 1 20:06:26 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On 01 May 2019 17:23:03 GMT, Mateusz Viste wrote:

    UMBPCI always worked perfectly for me.

    I have one computer where it's perfect. All the others, DMACHK says
    ISA-DMA fails in UMBs. It reports the ISA-DMA failure with both UMBPCI
    and EMM386.

    So it's not clear if DMACHK has a problem, or if UMBPCI is fully safe,
    or not. They warn about the ISA-DMA problem in the readme though, so I
    presume they know what they're talking about.

    They say ISA-DMA in UMBs is trouble when you load SMARTDRV high and
    cache the floppy drive. Maybe I will try that, and see what happens to a
    (test) floppy disk.


    I do not use EMM386 at all, don't like V86 mode.

    What's wrong with V86 mode?



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  • From Kerr-Mudd,John@notsaying@invalid.org to comp.os.msdos.misc on Wed May 1 20:47:43 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Wed, 01 May 2019 15:36:59 GMT, T. Ment <t.ment@protocol.invalid>
    wrote:

    On Wed, 1 May 2019 09:57:09 -0000 (UTC), Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

    On Sun, 10 Sep 2017 06:38:52 GMT, Harry Potter wrote:

    If I upgrade from EMM386 to UMBPCI, what can I expect

    Much trouble. I should say, just use EMM386, but you never listen.


    Are you going around in circles?

    Someone had to tell Harry about UMBPCI, didn't they. That's like giving matches to a child and sending them into a dry forest.


    My point was that he asked this 18 mths ago.



    --
    Bah, and indeed, Humbug.
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  • From Mateusz Viste@mateusz@cant.remember to comp.os.msdos.misc on Thu May 2 06:27:34 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Wed, 01 May 2019 20:06:26 +0000, T. Ment wrote:
    On 01 May 2019 17:23:03 GMT, Mateusz Viste wrote:
    UMBPCI always worked perfectly for me.

    I have one computer where it's perfect. All the others, DMACHK says
    ISA-DMA fails in UMBs. It reports the ISA-DMA failure with both UMBPCI
    and EMM386.

    So it's not clear if DMACHK has a problem, or if UMBPCI is fully safe,
    or not. They warn about the ISA-DMA problem in the readme though, so I presume they know what they're talking about.

    They say ISA-DMA in UMBs is trouble when you load SMARTDRV high and
    cache the floppy drive. Maybe I will try that, and see what happens to a (test) floppy disk.

    Oh, I see - but I never load stuff that uses DMA high. That's probably I
    have no problems. I do remember however, many years ago, getting into
    problems with some CD driver (I think). Not loading it high resolved the issue, that's when I learned never to trust DMA when running from within
    UMB.

    I do not use EMM386 at all, don't like V86 mode.

    What's wrong with V86 mode?

    I don't like having some extra layer between me and the hardware. When my system crashes with an "invalid opcode" or similarly terrifying message,
    I don't want having to second-guess whether it's my program that's buggy,
    or the V86 monitor that went south. If bad stuff happens on bare
    hardware, then at least I know who to blame (the hardware, of course).

    Mateusz
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  • From Harry Potter@rose.joseph12@yahoo.com to comp.os.msdos.misc on Sun May 19 09:56:46 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    I just tried UMBPCI on my network configuration, and the driver crashed with an exception during start-up, forcing me to do a hard reset. :(
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  • From T. Ment@t.ment@protocol.invalid to comp.os.msdos.misc on Sun May 19 17:37:40 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Sun, 19 May 2019 09:56:46 -0700 (PDT), Harry Potter wrote:

    I just tried UMBPCI on my network configuration, and the
    driver crashed with an exception during start-up, forcing
    me to do a hard reset. :(

    Did you read this?

    https://www.uwe-sieber.de/umbpci_e.html


    On AMD K7/K8 you should not load high drivers of PCI network cards.




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  • From Harry Potter@rose.joseph12@yahoo.com to comp.os.msdos.misc on Sun May 19 11:03:18 2019
    From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

    On Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 1:37:40 PM UTC-4, T. Ment wrote:
    Did you read this?

    https://www.uwe-sieber.de/umbpci_e.html

    I thank you for the tip: it's unsuitable for my needs. :(
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