32bit disk access in Windows 3.11 \ VOGONS

32bit disk access in Windows 3.11

Topic actions

Post a reply

First post, by egbertjan

Posted on 2023-10-01, 02:29

egbertjan Offline

Rank Member

Rank: Member
Posts: 133
Joined: 2019-08-20, 08:52
Location: The Netherlands

I have 3 with dos and windows 3.11 with the following mother orders ASUS P5A-B, FIC VA502 and a KM-S4-1 / Rectron RT. What I would like to have 32bit disk access File access in Windows 3.11.

On the KM-S4-1 / Rectron RT with a 30GB transfer SSD that is seen by BIOS as 8GB the maximum that DOS can use over 4 partitions. I can enable 32bit disk access with the Micro House Driver and get a significant improvement in the speed of the hard drive.

On the FIC VA502 with a 120GB Samsung 840 SSD it is seen as 120 GB by the BIOS and is divided into 4 parties with the largest ones that can handle DOS and Windows 3.11 at most. The rest of the space is not partitioned. If I install the Micro House Driver for 32bit disk access here. I get a bsod when I try to start Windows 3.11.

On the ASUS P5A-B with a 120GB Samsung 840 pro SSD it is seen as 120 GB by the BIOS and is divided into 4 parties with the largest ones that can handle DOS and Windows 3.11 at maximum. The rest of the space is not partitioned. If I install the Micro House Driver for 32bit disk access here. I get a message that my IDE controller is not supported when I want to start Windows 3.11 and then Windows 3.11 does start.

I can get 32bit File Access to work on all 3 motherboards and it also provides a significant speed improvement. Can someone please explain to me what exactly 32bit File Access does?

Who knows how I can get the 32 bit disk access working on these 2 motherboards on my ASUS P5A-B and FIC VA502?

Reply 1 of 3, by Cyberdyne

Posted on 2023-10-01, 06:36

Cyberdyne Offline

Rank Oldbie

Rank: Oldbie
Posts: 900
Joined: 2011-09-18, 18:45
Location: Estonia, Tallinn

Microhouse is not some magic pill. It is over 20 year old driver. It does not like IDE2SD devices also. My 2GB SD card just hangs at startup if 32bit disk access is enabled.

I am aroused about any X86 motherboard that has full functional ISA slot. I think i have problem. Not really into that original (Turbo) XT,286,386 and CGA/EGA stuff. So just a DOS nut.
PS. If I upload RAR, it is a 16-bit DOS RAR Version 2.50.

Reply 2 of 3, by Jo22

Posted on 2023-10-01, 07:28

Jo22 Offline

Rank l33t++

Rank: l33t++
Posts: 9630
Joined: 2009-12-13, 07:06
Location: Europe

^That's fair, I guess. It was a good driver, but it doesn't get any younger. 🙁

egbertjan wrote on 2023-10-01, 02:29:

I can get 32bit File Access to work on all 3 motherboards and it also provides a significant speed improvement. Can someone please explain to me what exactly 32bit File Access does?

32-Bit File Access = HDD Cache, like SmartDrive

32-Bit Disk Access (aka FastDisk) = Windows HDD driver, running as a Virtual Device Driver (VXD) in 32-Bit Protected Mode (Windows 3.1 uses its 386 Enhanced-Mode kernal).

The use of FastDisk also allows Windows to filter/trap the MS-DOS API and BIOS calls for HDD (int 21h, int 13h).

If both are loaded, Windows 3.1x is completely self-sufficient and doesn't need to call MS-DOS or BIOS anymore. It's running fully in Protected-Mode all the time. Like Windows 95,essentially.

That's why Windows 3.1x with Fast Disk running can also run MS-DOS programs in a window and provide a seamless mouse cursor.
Say EDIT or QBasic..

Temporary Swap File = An ordinary file on the HDD which Windows 3.x uses for swapping out stuff. MS-DOS is being used to access it (via int 21h).

MS-DOS in turn then uses BIOS interface to talk to HDD (via int 13h).
Or alternatively, it uses a driver, if say a HDD cache like Smart Drive is running on top of DOS.

Anyway, that depends on how DOS is made/which type of DOS is used (there are many DOSes by different companies).

Some HDD cache drivers may also act like the int 13h BIOS routines and then DOS doesn't really know it's not talking to BIOS.

Temporary Swap File (BIOS) = Same as above, but Windows 3.x is using BIOS to access the file (via int 13h). If it does this, it must handle FAT files system on its own, like a disk defragmentation utility (Defrag, Compress).

Permanent Swap File = A special "file" that has the shape of a big continuous block (one piece).
It's not movable, Defrag and Compress try to ingore it during defragmentation.

The permanent thing means that Windows doesn't need to use the FAT/DOS to access this swap "file". It can directly access it by using the known, physical location.
It uses clusters or sector addresses, so to say (knows start/end location of the block).

Speaking under correction. What I wrote is very rushed, also.
I now need a coffee and make some breakfast. 🥴☕

Edited. Edited.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//