Thread View: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.misc
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Started by pmwg... Peter M. White
Wed, 19 May 1993 05:40
installing Populous II question
Author: pmwg... Peter M. White
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 05:40
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 05:40
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I am somewhat, but not very, computer competent and I am trying to install Populous II on a university machine. The problem is that I get a "Cannot find Expanded Memory" error. I know these here machines have something like 3 1/2 meg of memory, I can see it count it off when it is turned on, which is more than twice what is nominally required to run the program; so it strikes me as highly peculiar to have this problem. There is a cryptic message in the docs: "If you do not have memory manager software on your system you will not be able to use EMS." Does the system make a strong distinction between main memory and expanded memory that I am failing to understand? --Peter p-w...@uiuc.edu
lakers vs celtics
Author: bkp... BRIAN KEITH PIPA
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 05:57
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 05:57
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Wal-mart has it for $15 or $20 (i forget which) Brian -- | Brian Pipa | | bkp...@eos.ncsu.edu | | NCSU - Raleigh, NC USA |
Re: installing Populous II question
Author: szge... The Gersh
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 22:19
Date: Wed, 19 May 1993 22:19
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In article <C79EG...@news.cso.uiuc.edu> pmwg...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Peter M. White) writes: >I am somewhat, but not very, computer competent and I am trying to install >Populous II on a university machine. The problem is that I get a >"Cannot find Expanded Memory" error. I know these here machines >have something like 3 1/2 meg of memory, I can see it count it off >when it is turned on, which is more than twice what is nominally >required to run the program; so it strikes me as highly peculiar >to have this problem. > >There is a cryptic message in the docs: "If you do not have memory >manager software on your system you will not be able to use EMS." >Does the system make a strong distinction between main memory and >expanded memory that I am failing to understand? > >--Peter >p-w...@uiuc.edu Here is yet another memory explanation: There are many types of memory on the IBM compat. machines. The basic part is CONVENTIONAL MEMORY ------------------- Just 640K. This is because, Microsoft and IBM in their infinite wisdom, decided that 640K was a whole hell of a lot, and who would ever need to use more??? To remain compatible with older machine, even a mighty 486/66 still only has 640K of conv. memory. This is called the memory barrier, and is why DOS is considered so inferior to say, OS/2. Also, notice that this has nothing to do with the 386/486 architecture, these machine could easily access as much memory as they want, (32-bit architecture), but is done only to maintain compatibility so EVERYONE can run Wordperfect 5.1 for example. Machine that have conv. memory: 8088 to top of the line 486 Expanded memory: ---------------- Nowadays no machine that are sold actually have expanded memory physically. This is an older method of "getting more than 640K", which limits you to only 64K chunks of memory at a time. This causes it to be rather slow. Most machines nowadays run EMULATORS that emulate expanded memory so that programs that need it can use it. They convert part of extended memory (see below) into exapanded memory, using a certain standard (I think the current standard is LIM 4.0 EMS.) Machines that can use expanded memory: 286's and higher Extended memory: ---------------- Newer, improved way of accessing memory. Most new computers come with this inside. Himem.sys manages this extended memory, although some programs have their own managers (Zone66 comes to mind). Windows uses extended memory. Machines that can use extended memory: 286(?), 386 and higher What it all boils down to: Obviously your computer that you were trying to run your program on has EXTENDED memory. Your program wants to use expanded. Thus you have to run an emulator, for example emm386.exe that comes with dos5. If your computer is a 286 or lower, you cannot use emm386.exe (obviously!). Then you will have to find a specific emulator for your motherboard/chipset. Put this in the config.sys device=\dos\himem.sys device=\dos\emm386.exe ram #### (where #### is how much extended memory you want to turn into expanded, usually 1000 to 2000 or more) dos=high,umb This is only true if you have dos5 or higher. Hope this clears stuff up and does not bring in any more confusion. A book I recommend is Dos For Dummies. It explains a lot in an easy to understand format. It talks about memory for a bit. Disclaimer: I don't work for the publisher and I am not in any way connected to it... Steven
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