This is directly on an ASUS PC with 2GB DDR3 RAM, not in a virtual PC.
The MEM command provides info:
Used memory 742kb
Free memory 2,095,898kb
Largest executable program size / free conventional 619kb
Free EMS memory 32Mb
Free XMS memory 2,095,279kb
Hence a small DOS programme should not be complaining about availability
of XMS
On 2025-03-03 13:48, tsie...@softcon.com wrote:
Ok, only thing I can think of in this case (assuming all drivers load
of course) is that whatever machine you're running it on doesn't have
anything it can use for ems/xms memory. What kind of setup are you
using when you boot into freedos?
If it's a virtual pc of some sort, then you'll need to configure that
machine to have more than 640K ram so that it can be used to create the
required memory.
What kind of information does the system give you when you run mem
after booting into menu option number 3?
If mem says there's no ems/xms ram, then that's your problem, if it
says it's available, and your program just isn't using it, then that's
a completely different problem.
On 3/3/2025 6:35 AM, da...@bp-asia.net wrote:
Menu options 1 and 2 both fail to boot and result in an endless loop,
as noted earlier.
So 3 is the boot option I use. Options 4 and 5 also boot, but have the
same XMS problem as 3.
On 2025-03-03 13:18, tsie...@softcon.com wrote:
Are you selecting number 3 from the menu when it boots?
It looks like that's the only option that loads all the drivers you
need for xms capabilities.
I don't have a machine here where I can test this configuration, but
just looking at the file you provide, selecting option number 3 should
do the trick for you. assuming everything loads properly of course.
On 3/3/2025 5:38 AM, da...@bp-asia.net wrote:
Hi,
Thanks for educating me about EMS and XMS - I had not really thought
about the difference before.
I am now using xmgr.sys as XMS manager and fdconfig.sys reads :
SET DOSDIR=C:\FreeDOS
!COUNTRY=001,858,C:\FreeDOS\BIN\COUNTRY.SYS
!LASTDRIVE=Z
!BUFFERS=20
!FILES=40
!MENUCOLOR=7,0
MENUDEFAULT=3,5
MENU 1 - Load FreeDOS with JEMMEX, no EMS (most UMBs), max RAM free
MENU 2 - Load FreeDOS with JEMMEX (more compatible)
MENU 3 - Load FreeDOS with JEMM386 (Expanded Memory)
MENU 4 - Load FreeDOS low with some drivers (Safe Mode)
MENU 5 - Load FreeDOS without drivers (Emergency Mode)
123?DOS=HIGH
123?DOS=UMB
123?DOSDATA=UMB
1?DEVICE=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\JEMMEX.EXE NOEMS X=TEST I=TEST NOVME NOINVLPG
2?DEVICE=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\JEMMEX.EXE NOEMS X=TEST NOVME NOINVLPG
34?DEVICE=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\HIMEMX.EXE
3?DEVICE=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\JEMM386.EXE X=TEST NOVME NOINVLPG
3?DEVICE=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\XMGR.SYS /B
12?SHELLHIGH=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\COMMAND.COM C:\FreeDOS\BIN /E:1024
/P=C:\FDAUTO.BAT
345?SHELL=C:\FreeDOS\BIN\COMMAND.COM C:\FreeDOS\BIN /E:1024
/P=C:\FDAUTO.BAT
However, I still get the same "XMS allocation error" message.
David
On 2025-03-01 04:20, tsie...@softcon.com wrote:
There's no xms memory, because you still haven't run an xms memory
manager from what I can tell. I'm not familiar with freedos, since I
have opendos and pts dos, both of which allow for multitasking, so I
typically use those instead of freedos, but as mentioned before, you
need to load a memory manager that handles the kind of memory you want
to use. EMS and XMS are not compatible memory types, and you can't
install one, and use it as if it were the other. You need to find a
driver that works with xms memory, then you'll have no issues running
those programs.
It's not a complicated process.
There's been multiple messages in this thread already showing different
memory managers that can work, but if you don't install one of them,
then you won't get the kind of memory you need.
On 2/28/2025 12:46 AM, david--- via Freedos-user wrote:
Hi Jerome,
Thank you for the detailed explanation. I had not appreciated that the
USB version of FreeDOS 1.3 is not a live system!
Having followed your instructions carefully, I now have the following
in fdconfig.sys :
SET DOSDIR=C:\FREEDOS
!COUNTRY=001,858,C:\FREEDOS\BIN\COUNTRY.SYS
!LASTDRIVE=Z
!BUFFERS=20
!FILES=40
!MENUCOLOR=7,0
MENUDEFAULT=2,5
MENU 1 - Load FreeDOS with JEMMEX, no EMS (most UMBs), max RAM free
MENU 2 - Load FreeDOS with JEMMEX (more compatible)
MENU 3 - Load FreeDOS with JEMM386 (Expanded Memory)
MENU 4 - Load FreeDOS low with some drivers (Safe Mode)
MENU 5 - Load FreeDOS without drivers (Emergency Mode)
123?DOS=HIGH
123?DOS=UMB
123?DOSDATA=UMB
1?DEVICE=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\JEMMEX.EXE NOEMS X=TEST I=TEST NOVME NOINVLPG
2?DEVICE=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\JEMMEX.EXE NOEMS X=TEST NOVME NOINVLPG
34?DEVICE=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\HIMEMX.EXE
3?DEVICE=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\JEMM386.EXE X=TEST NOVME NOINVLPG
12?SHELLHIGH=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\COMMAND.COM C:\FREEDOS\BIN /E:1024
/P=C:\FDAUTO.BAT
345?SHELL=C:\FREEDOS\BIN\COMMAND.COM C:\FREEDOS\BIN /E:1024
/P=C:\FDAUTO.BAT
Menu options 1 and 2 fail to boot, with an error message that, "The
shell is about to be terminated, though, this is forbidden".
Menu options 3, 4 and 5 all appear to boot OK, but then, when I try to
run some MSDOS apps, the result is the same failure as before, "XMS
allocation error", so no progress it seems.
Never mind, it is not important. I was just trying out FreeDOS in a
bit of spare time.
Thank you again for your time and patience.
David
On 2025-02-27 20:57, Jerome Shidel via Freedos-user wrote:
Hi,
While the USB media is technically a running version of FreeDOS,
the USB install media is not configured to be used as a portable
installation of FreeDOS.
It is configured for the single purpose of installing the OS and not
for general usage.
If you do not want to install FreeDOS onto a hard disk and cannot use
the LiveCD, you still
have a couple of options. For example, you could install FreeDOS into a
Virtual Machine or
turn the USB install media into a portable version of FreeDOS.
It is very simple to turn the USB install media into a portable version
of FreeDOS.
1) boot the USB install media.
2) quit the installer.
3) You will be returned to command prompt on drive C:. This is because
the internal drives get
Pushed up a letter by the BIOS when booting from a USB hard disk.
4) change directories to FDOS-x86. This is a copy of the Floppy Edition
installer that is included
on the USB media.
5) Run the Floppy Edition installer. This is a different installer than
the one you see when booting
the USB media. By default, the Floppy Edition will want to install to
drive C:. Since the BIOS
pushed the internal hard drives to D (and higher) to make room for the
USB drive as C:, this
Is fine. The Floppy Edition installs only packages which are part of
FreeDOS BASE.
6) You can select all the default options in that installer. However,
it will detect a previous installed
OS. This is the version of FreeDOS that is configured for installing
the OS. You can opt out of
backing it up. It will only be wasting space on the drive. If you do
back it up, you can delete the
backup files by hand later.
7) After install has complete. Reboot.
8) You will now have a portable version of FreeDOS on the USB.
9) You can delete the SETUP.BAT in the root directory. It was used by
the standard installer which
was overwritten and no longer available. You can also delete the
FDOS-x86 directory that contains
the Floppy Edition installer.
10) You can now use FDIMPLES to install or remove any of the normal or
standard packages which are
also included on the FullUSB Install media. If you are satisfied with
what packages are installed and
do not wish to add any additional ones, you can delete the PACKAGES
directory and free up 100's
of megabytes on the USB Stick for the installation of other software.
:-)
Jerome
On Feb 27, 2025, at 8:33 AM, david--- via Freedos-user
<freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote:
Hi,
I am using FreeDOS 1.3 on a USB stick.
On booting up, it ask for language selection, (English), and then asks
whether to install to hard disk, (refused), so it returns to DOS. I
have made no amendments to either the fdconfig.sys or fdauto.bat files,
which are exactly as provided in the original FreeDOS 1.3 download zip.
Quoting the contents of fdconfig.sys :
!COUNTRY=001,858:\FREEDOS\BIN\COUNTRY.SYS
!LASTDRIVE=Z
!BUFFERS=20
!FILES=40
DOS=HIGH
DOS=UMB
DOSDATA=UMB
DEVICE=\FREEDOS\BIN\HIMEMX.EXE
SHELLHIGH=\FREEDOS\BIN\COMMAND.COM [1] \FREEDOS\BIN /E:2048
/P=\FDAUTO.BAT
On 2025-02-27 18:57, Jim Hall via Freedos-user wrote:
Let's start with 2 quick questions: what version (what distribution) of
FreeDOS did you install, and what do you see first when FreeDOS starts
up on the computer?
I hope you're running FreeDOS 1.3 .. or maybe the release candidate for
FreeDOS 1.4. Both of these are available from the www.freedos.org [2]
website.
Both of these versions show a menu when FreeDOS starts up. It's
important to know what option you're selecting in that menu, because
XMS support will be provided by one of those options.
There should be a FDCONFIG.SYS file that comes with FreeDOS. Can you
look in this file? Is it a long file, or a short one, or is it empty?
Did you edit this file since installing FreeDOS?
On Wed, Feb 26, 2025, 11:59 PM david--- via Freedos-user
<freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote:
I am new to FreeDOS and have run into a problem whereby some
traditional MSDOS programs will not run, complaining about "XMS
allocation error".
In MSDOS the solution is an additional line in config.sys reading
"device=emm386.exe ram", but there does not appear to be a emm386.exe
equivalent in FreeDOS. I would very much appreciate an explanation,
please, about how to get around this problem.
Thank you
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Links:
------
[1] http://COMMAND.COM
[2] http://www.freedos.org/
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