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Well, with all the discussion about CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT,
and how great EZPlay is, I finally sat down to configure my
machine once and for all. Until IBM makes some new device
drivers!
I use my machine almost exclusively under Windows. So, I have
removed the DOS mouse, audio and pen drivers to free more
memory. Yes, I have a 750P, but these files should work on the
other members of the 750 family. These can also be used as
templates for your own special needs.
My setup:
750P, 4MB RAM, 170MB hard drive, Megahertz XJ1144 modem. I
also have a Yamaha tone generator connected to my serial port,
but that is handled under Windows.
So, here is my CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
FILES=30
BUFFERS=25 /x
DOS=HIGH,UMB
STACKS=0,0
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE FRAME=C000 NOEMS X=C000-C7FF
DEVICEhigh=C:\THINKPAD\IBMDSS01.SYS /S0=2
DEVICEhigh=C:\THINKPAD\IBMDOSCS.SYS
DEVICEhigh=C:\THINKPAD\DICRMU01.SYS /MA=C000-C7FF
DEVICEhigh=C:\THINKPAD\$ICPMDOS.SYS
DEVICEhigh=C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.SYS C:\THINKPAD\AUTODRV.INI
DEVICEhigh=C:\IBMVESA\VESA.EXE
DEVICEhigh=c:\dos\ansi.sys
-----END OF FILE
An explanation for those not intimate with config files:
Notice that the FILES and BUFFERS are kept pretty small. I've
had no problems with this so far. The /x on BUFFERS puts those
buffers in memory above the 640K boundary.
The DOS= line puts DOS in upper memory, and allows device drivers
to be installed there as well.
STACKS=0,0 forces windows programs to use their own stacks during
hardware interrupts. Setting this to 9,256 can be less stable,
but it can also be faster. I need to experiment with this one
some more. I have used 9,256, and I had some problems getting
Procomm Plus to connect, as it missed some of the characters from
the modem during handshaking. I have this with 0,0 as well, but
have a little more free memory.
EMM has a 2k region excluded for use by PC cards, as is suggested
for use with EZPlay. I moved this region from C800 to C000 to
avoid splitting upper memory. I still don't know what the FRAME=
option does.
The next five lines set up EZPlay to recognize my Megahertz XJ1144
modem. I wonder if taking big chunks out of the AUTODRV.INI file
would help free memory.
VESA.EXE is required by the windows video drivers, and I like
to have a 50 line screen in DOS, so ANSI is required. I could
use another ANSI driver, but this will do for now.
Now on to AUTOEXEC.BAT:
@ECHO OFF
MODE CON LINES=50
PROMPT $E[00m$E[30m$E[46m$P$G$E[37m$E[40m
PATH C:\DOS;C:\BAT;C:\NETMANAG;C:\WINWORD;C:\EXCEL;C:\BIN;
C:\WINDOWS;C:\THINKPAD;
SET TEMP=C:\TMP
SET DIRCMD=/OGN /L /A
LH C:\DOS\SMARTDRV 1024 1024
LH C:\DOS\SHARE /L:300
LH C:\DOS\DOSKEY.COM /INSERT
-----END OF FILE
Again, an explanation...
Like I said, I like to have a 50 line screen.
The PROMPT uses the ANSI driver (hey, it's installed...) to put
my prompt in inverse video.
The DIRCMD sorts all DIR output, listing all directories first,
alphabetically, then all (/A) files (even hidden ones), in
lowercase.
SMARTDRV allocates a 1MB disk cahce for DOS and Windows.
SHARE is required by Microsoft Access, and Word likes it, too.
I did reduce the number of file locks from 500 to 300, saving a
few bytes.
I like doskey. A lot. /INSERT leaves the command editor in
insert mode by default.
So with that said and explained, here's the output from a
MEM /C after booting:
Modules using memory below 1Mb:
Name Total = Conventional + Upper Memory
-------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
SYSTEM 13085 (13K) 12973 (13K) 112 (0K)
HIMEM 1072 (1K) 1072 (1K) 0 (0K)
EMM386 4256 (4K) 4256 (4K) 0 (0K)
COMMAND 2912 (3K) 2912 (3K) 0 (0K)
SMARTDRV 27296 (27K) 10896 (11K) 16400 (16K)
DOSKEY 4096 (4K) 4096 (4K) 0 (0K)
IBMDSS01 5456 (5K) 0 (0K) 5456 (5K)
IBMDOSCS 27264 (27K) 0 (0K) 27264 (27K)
$ICPMDOS 3344 (3K) 0 (0K) 3344 (3K)
AUTODRV 12368 (12K) 0 (0K) 12368 (12K)
VESA 8128 (8K) 0 (0K) 8128 (8K)
ANSI 4208 (4K) 0 (0K) 4208 (4K)
SHARE 11312 (11K) 0 (0K) 11312 (11K)
FREE 625200 (611K) 619136 (605K) 6064 (6K)
Memory summary:
Type of Memory Size = Used + Free
---------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Conventional 655360 (640K) 36224 (35K) 619136 (605K)
Upper 94656 (92K) 88592 (87K) 6064 (6K)
Adapter RAM/ROM 196608 (192K) 196608 (192K) 0 (0K)
Extended (XMS) 3247680 (3172K) 1224256 (1196K) 2023424 (1976K)
---------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
Total memory 4194304 (4096K) 1545680 (1509K) 2648624 (2587K)
Total under 1Mb 750016 (732K) 124816 (122K) 625200 (611K)
Largest executable program size 619040 (605K)
Largest free upper memory block 5840 (6K)
IBM DOS is resident in the high memory area.
-----END OF FILE
Well, maybe with that 6K, I could increase my FILES or locks in
SHARE.
I have also replaced the 1.1 audio driver with version 1.0
The 1.0 driver allows sampling and playback at any rate, while
1.1 only works at 44.1, 22.05, and 11.025kHz. (OK, maybe 48K, too.)
I think it's faster, too. Windows Sound Recorder and other WAV
editors update their displays about once per second with the 1.1
driver, and ten times per second with the 1.0 driver. And,
I have an external MIDI box, so I can gladly forego the cheesy
MIDI synth in 1.1. Oh yes, MOD4WIN, the shareware MOD player
for windows plays at exactly 11.0, 22.0 or 44.0 kHz, so no sound
comes out with the 1.1 driver, while it works fine with 1.0.
If any of you have suggestions to squeeze some more fat out of
this, please let me know how.
chris
schumann@macc.wisc.edu