Memory problem on Win98, but I think I know the soln

Grisha · Post by **Grisha** » Thu Sep 21, 2000 11:58 am

I keep getting that FFFF;FFF type General exception on my Win98 128RAM PIII500 Viper 770 Ultra system when running WiR, but I think I know what the problem is. In my autoexec.bat file there are some DOS himem.exe and a 386m type commands that need to REM'ed out. I think they're there, because I recently loaded an old DOS run baseball game of mine. Does this sound like the correct solution?

Aragorn · Post by **Aragorn** » Thu Sep 21, 2000 12:56 pm

Yeah, i think you're right on target. When i played second front i also had to "rem" a few lines in autoexec.bat, but i can't remember which ones... himem sounds like a good choice though. I think the soundcard is another option to rem, or printers/scanners/modem (if connected) might also free some extra memory...

Grisha · Post by **Grisha** » Thu Sep 21, 2000 5:56 pm

thnx aragorn

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Thu Sep 21, 2000 6:56 pm

For memory problems under either Win 95 or 98, try using just the following commands in your config.sys file (these should maximize your memory for WIR):

device=c:\windows\himem.sys
dos=high,umb

This is how I have been running it on 2 different machines while beta testing without any memory problems, period. You want the himem.sys command because that make the memory above the first 640k available for certain drivers (including DOS) and then the DOS=HIGH, UMB will put the necessary DOS stuff into that available upper memory from himem. This should leave you nearly the full 640k for running WIR.

I used to be great at freeing memory to run DOS games, as the old V4V series would not run without a perfect memory set up. This should do it for everyone. Anything extra will increase your chances of memory problems.

------------------
Rick Bancroft
Semper Fi

Grisha · Post by **Grisha** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 9:39 am

I basically REM'ed out the himem.exe line and that 386em line, and it works fine so far. I have Win98 2nd Edtn.

Longstreet_slith · Post by **Longstreet_slith** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 5:31 pm

Originally posted by RickyB:
For memory problems under either Win 95 or 98, try using just the following commands in your config.sys file (these should maximize your memory for WIR):

device=c:\windows\himem.sys
dos=high,umb

This is how I have been running it on 2 different machines while beta testing without any memory problems, period. You want the himem.sys command because that make the memory above the first 640k available for certain drivers (including DOS) and then the DOS=HIGH, UMB will put the necessary DOS stuff into that available upper memory from himem. This should leave you nearly the full 640k for running WIR.

I used to be great at freeing memory to run DOS games, as the old V4V series would not run without a perfect memory set up. This should do it for everyone. Anything extra will increase your chances of memory problems.

I could not help seeing your reference to the V for Victory games and memory. I realize this is not the forum for asking this type of question, but I recently acquired the V fo Victory games and have a question that perhaps you could help me with. I can get the games to run out of DOS mode (I have Win 95) but upon exiting back to Windows, I find that the time on my system clock has changed! Why in the world would these games chnge my system clock and how can I prevent this from occurring?

Thanks!
Longstreet

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 7:09 pm

Originally posted by Longstreet:
I can get the games to run out of DOS mode (I have Win 95) but upon exiting back to Windows, I find that the time on my system clock has changed! Why in the world would these games chnge my system clock and how can I prevent this from occurring?

Thanks!
Longstreet

Longstreet,

This one is beyond me. I have run some of these games under Win 95 and never noticed the clock but it could have been happening. I can't think of any possible solution - either the operating system or the game program is causing it. Try one thing, though. Restart the computer (totally off and back on). There are certain cases where programs effect the Windows clock display but do not effect the actual system clock, thus when you restart the Windows clock display gets reset to the correct time by the system (I do not believe they communicate when the computer is running - only at start up).

------------------
Rick Bancroft
Semper Fi

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 7:20 pm

Originally posted by Grisha:
I basically REM'ed out the himem.exe line and that 386em line, and it works fine so far. I have Win98 2nd Edtn.

Grisha,

I would bet, based on what you did working, that it is the 386em (I am guessing it is actually emm386?)command that was causing the memory problem. The emm386 command takes some or all of the memory above the first 640k and maps it to a specific memory type (I don't remember anymore if it is extended or expanded). In doing this it creates address lists or something to that effect in the first 640k to map the upper memory. This lowered the available first 640k, I do remember, causing memory problems for programs needing the first 640k maximized. The more ram you have the more this command would lower the first 640k. It sounds like we are getting the cause of the memory problems narrowed down - the emm386 command I bet. With more input from others with memory problems, we can confirm it - if everyone with memory problems has the emm386 loading, that would mean it is the primary cause. There could be other problems too, but I bet this is the primary one.

------------------
Rick Bancroft
Semper Fi

Longstreet_slith · Post by **Longstreet_slith** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 11:49 pm

Longstreet,

This one is beyond me. I have run some of these games under Win 95 and never noticed the clock but it could have been happening. I can't think of any possible solution - either the operating system or the game program is causing it. Try one thing, though. Restart the computer (totally off and back on). There are certain cases where programs effect the Windows clock display but do not effect the actual system clock, thus when you restart the Windows clock display gets reset to the correct time by the system (I do not believe they communicate when the computer is running - only at start up).

[/B][/QUOTE]

Thanks for your advice. I never receive any kind of error messages or problems with my computer. I really like the old classic V4V games and would hate to not play them. From your computer experience, do you see any reason why I should not? Obviously, it is easy to change the clock setting in Windows! Small price to pay, I think. But I don't want to be causing any problems with my system if there are inappropriate changes in my system memory! What do you think?

Thanks,
Longstreet

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Fri Sep 22, 2000 11:58 pm

Originally posted by Longstreet:
Thanks for your advice. I never receive any kind of error messages or problems with my computer. I really like the old classic V4V games and would hate to not play them. From your computer experience, do you see any reason why I should not? Obviously, it is easy to change the clock setting in Windows! Small price to pay, I think. But I don't want to be causing any problems with my system if there are inappropriate changes in my system memory! What do you think?

Thanks,
Longstreet

I think your memory should end up okay. It sounds like your entire problem is related to either your software (Windows) clock or the internal hardware clock, and either way it should not impact anything else on your system.

------------------
Rick Bancroft
Semper Fi

Grisha · Post by **Grisha** » Sat Sep 23, 2000 9:33 am

RickyB,

I'll go back and selectively REM those two lines to see if it is the emm386 command, and post the results here

Grisha · Post by **Grisha** » Tue Sep 26, 2000 7:48 pm

RickyB,
It is indeed the emm386.exe file

RickyB · Post by **RickyB** » Tue Sep 26, 2000 9:29 pm

Originally posted by Grisha:
RickyB,
It is indeed the emm386.exe file

Grisha,

Thanks for checking it out - it will help everyone out. This will also work for the PacWar update, which uses even more memory than WIR, I guess.

frank1970 · Post by **frank1970** » Mon Oct 02, 2000 2:27 pm

Don´t you think Memmaker would do it?
On my Computer it worked great (I use Win98).
But be cautious: at some computers memmaker could pissibly cause problems!!!

[This message has been edited by Frank (edited October 05, 2000).]