LSS10999 wrote on 2023-02-24, 02:59:
If your PC has a LPT port, in most cases you get the option to configure it to your liking (ECP, DMA and such), as most SuperIO chips offer all the necessary features.
WFW 3.11 simply cannot run with that much RAM. 2GB is really a lot. From what I remember the cutline was about 256MB, and it was very hard to work it around other than physically removing the excess amount.
EDIT: Can you explain where did the system get stuck? Did it get stuck before/during DOS boot, or it was before Windows startup (that DOS has completed booting)?
I think the same, that's why it's so sad that the OP has WfW 3.11 on that HDD.
If it was plain old Windows 3.1, then Standard Mode could function. Believe it or not, it's like night and day.
Standard Mode is also much more lightweight, despite the segmentation overhead the CPU must deal with.
It doesn't use any swap files and virtual memory, of course. Merely what it gets my Himem.sys.
The little loved Standard Mode uses clean 16-Bit Protected Mode with segmentation (dosx+krnl286). No flat-mode, no V86.
The Standard Mode kernal also makes a little bit use of the Ring levels of x86, at least, if I rememember correctly.
Certain stuff is running in Ring 3, enhancing stability.
And since the segmentation unit of the 80286 MMU is still working , code can't be executed if it's in the data field.
(IA32/x64 needed many years to get this feature back: until when PAE and DEP appeared on the scene.)
By comparison, the 386 Enhanced Mode kernal uses Ring 0 for all things, that's why VXDs have full access. Much easier.
Enhanced Mode Windows 3.1x is like Windows 9x in several ways. Same limitations and issues.
Speaking of Standard Mode, there are two versions, actually. One is in krnl286, one in krnl386.
Only on 286 PCs the krnl286 is executed by default.
To run it manually:
C:\WINDOWS> \SYSTEM\DOSX
Edit: This is just an idea, of course, but.. Installing OS/2 could help fixing things, as well, maybe.
It integrates existing Windows 3.1 installations into its Win-OS/2 environment..
It also can be highly customized (many DOS related settings) and
OS/2-hosted Windows 3.1 VMs can more or less talk to real hardware (unlike NTVDM/WoW).
However, classic OS/2 is a bit finicky witht the hardware. It maybe suffers more on that overkill PC than WfW 3.11 already does.
Anyway, this was just an idea. No guarantee whatsoever.
Too bad we don't know that this Siemens application is really actually doing here.
If we knew, we could provide better help, perhaps.
Edit: If this wasn't Vogons, I would tell the OP that he/she should get rid of that silly LPT dongle.
Back in the day, there were inofficial patches floating that put an end to this practice. For good reason.
Anyway, I don't make advices to break any laws. In Germany (home of Siemens), users didn't had to accept all kinds of patronage stated by a company's EULA.
If the user was the rightfully owner and had a proof (invoice, purchase contract, license etc) such a dongle could be by-passed, maybe. Ask a lawyer.
Especially in a situation like this (LPT port nolonger common), this action is more than justified and is reasonable.
Also, at these crazy CPU speeds, timing issues could still occur with the dongle, even if an LPT port was available and technically functioning.
To my understanding, users in Germany have the right to help themselves in such pityful situations, if the provider of the product is unavailable or unhelpful.
But again, ask a lawyer. I don't know where the OP is from. I'm just thinking out loud.
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