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Two random questions, about GPU drivers, and my motherboard

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First post, by MrMateczko

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1. All Nvidia/S3/SiS Win9x graphic drivers have this string EMMExclude=C000-CFFF put in the 386enh section in System.ini during installation.
But, the latest ATI Catalyst 6.2 does not have this string included.

I've looked at Google too see what it does, and some says it makes the boot slower, is needed for a secondary display, and might cause problems with EMM386.exe.

Can someone explain me if is it needed for normal operation without a secondary display.
Will removing this remove my boot delay I have with my MX 440? It takes an additional second to boot to GUI after I install the driver. WIll it make the games run faster? (probably not :p)

2. My motherboard is an ASRock K8Upgrade-NF3, with the latest BIOS P2.40.
There's a few seconds delay after the POST screen, and before any booting starts. The cursor just blinks during that time. It takes about 4 seconds.
It happens regardless if I boot from my IDE HDD, or my USB Flash Drive. (I forgot if it happens without any boot devices)
I've tried all the BIOS options, but nothing fixed the issue.
Will downgrading the BIOS fix the problem?

Reply 1 of 4, by alexanrs

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About the first question...
Leave it alone. All it does is tell Windows' memory manager to skip using the C0000h range, which is reasonable (the video bios is usually there). The installer might've added that because Windows might have some issues identifying that the video BIOS occupies the whole 64Kb of the segment in some machines. Worst case scenario you will cause lockups by removing that.
As for EMM386.... there should be no conflict, but you can always add the parameter "X=C000-CFFF" so EMM386 and Windows' memory manager match.

Reply 2 of 4, by MrMateczko

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I'm still struggling with the second problem.
I've tried older BIOS versions, but it didn't help.
I've tried swithing IDE ports, changing from Master to Slave and Cable Select, I've tried every possible BIOS option, but still the delay after POST is there.
Interestingly, I can Ctrl+Alt+Del during the delay, and it reboots as it should.
It does not happen when the drive is not physically connected/disabled in BIOS.

I guess it's how ASRock designed it. It's only about 4 seconds but still...

Reply 3 of 4, by luckybob

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MrMateczko wrote:

There's a few seconds delay after the POST screen, and before any booting starts. The cursor just blinks during that time. It takes about 4 seconds.

I fail to see how this is a problem. You OBVIOUSLY never used server-grade hardware. My system takes 30-60 SECONDS before it even shows you a post screen.

stick with the latest bios and just count your blessings.

It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

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