Shouldn't you use: DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS ?
You really do not want EMS unless you run specific apps that can us it (like older Word Perfect, etc)
Using DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM with no other parameters makes all Extended ram into Expanded ram iirc.

He is referring to Phil's starter pack, which in the EMC section is to enable EMS. I think his problem is most probably due to his PC already have something in E000, which conflict with EMM386's page frame. Try moving the it to D000 by adding FRAME=D000:

Line 2: DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM FRAME=D000

Horun wrote on 2020-07-19, 17:45:

You really do not want EMS unless you run specific apps that can us it (like older Word Perfect, etc)

This is just a tiny list of games that I personally know that require EMS. I am sure there are quite a few more:
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … hat_require_EMS

Horun wrote on 2020-07-19, 17:45:

Using DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM with no other parameters makes all Extended ram into Expanded ram iirc.

It doesn't change extended into expanded. It allows the memory to be used either as extended or expanded, depending on how the program wants to access it.

I had that problem too with Phils starter pack. It turned out it was the wrong version of DOS files.
They were mixed versions of DOS files.

Also make sure your paths are correct.

@intel486dx33

That is interesting. I actually had 2 sets of DOS floppy disks, but they are both 6.22. However, when trying to install the OS my disk #2 in set 1 stopped working. The odd part is they all have the same information.
I wonder if the EMM386.EXE is somehow corrupt. Very frustrating in general. I might just go with Windows 98/SE on the machine and go with DOS 7 for certain games. I am planning on building a Socket 7 MMX @ 233MHz to leverage all the speed settings...

Regarding EMS, 2 of the games I really want to play are X-Wing and TIE-fighter. But I also have to get expanded memory working to use the PCI sound card. It requires the use of DSDMA.EXE which uses expanded memory as well.

johnnystarr wrote on 2020-07-19, 19:58:

I might just go with Windows 98/SE on the machine and go with DOS 7 for certain games.

For a 700MHz Athlon, that's probably the better option.

dr_st wrote on 2020-07-19, 18:43:

Horun wrote on 2020-07-19, 17:45:

Using DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM with no other parameters makes all Extended ram into Expanded ram iirc.

It doesn't change extended into expanded. It allows the memory to be used either as extended or expanded, depending on how the program wants to access it.

Ok it has me confused as EMM386.EXE RAM in MSD shows that all XMS is listed as expanded. Example on my 486 with 8mb MSD says:
Expanded (EMS) LIM version 4, total 7488k (all the free ram). If I use EMM386.EXE 2000 MSD shows only 2M of EMS instead of 7.4M with remainder free XMS.
added: so by your explaination, using the RAM switch: if an app needed extended XMS it would take it back from the EMS pool, is that correct ?

johnnystarr wrote on 2020-07-19, 19:58:

Regarding EMS, 2 of the games I really want to play are X-Wing and TIE-fighter. But I also have to get expanded memory working to use the PCI sound card. It requires the use of DSDMA.EXE which uses expanded memory as well.

Did you try EMM386.EXE RAM FRAME=D000 as kalohimal suggested ? It looks like EMM386 uses E000-Efff for the EMS page frame by default which could be part of motherboard BIOS shadow or on board NIC rom address. C000 is video so D000 is logical. Also try EMM386.EXE 8000 FRAME=D000 that would give 8Mb of EMS which should be enough for any old DOS game plus your sound card just in case DOS 6.22 EMM386 is puking because you have more than 32Mb of ram... just a thought.

Horun wrote on 2020-07-19, 22:06:

Did you try EMM386.EXE RAM FRAME=D000 as kalohimal suggested ? It looks like EMM386 uses E000-Efff for the EMS page frame by default which could be part of motherboard BIOS shadow or on board NIC rom address. C000 is video so D000 is logical. Also try EMM386.EXE 8000 FRAME=D000 that would give 8Mb of EMS which should be enough for any old DOS game plus your sound card just in case DOS 6.22 EMM386 is puking because you have more than 32Mb of ram... just a thought.

Yes I tried FRAME=D000 and it just hangs. I can try "8000 FRAME=D000" also though. Just to note, I have disabled all shadow memory and have no NICs installed. I have disabled all onboard features like serial, USB and parallel ports.
The sound card is a PCI YMF744 Cobra card that requires DSDMA to even run. I suppose I can remove it and try again, perhaps there's some sort of issue there? FWIW, I had no issues on FreeDOS with this card / setup. The only issue I had with FreeDOS in general was I don't think some of the games liked the FAT-32 partition. The irony is I now have 2 drives (C and D), E is Optical. The D drive is a FAT-16 MS-DOS 6.22 formatted drive with all my games. I am tempted to reinstall FreeDOS on the C drive and call it a day 😁

johnnystarr wrote on 2020-07-19, 23:36:

Horun wrote on 2020-07-19, 22:06:

Did you try EMM386.EXE RAM FRAME=D000 as kalohimal suggested ? It looks like EMM386 uses E000-Efff for the EMS page frame by default which could be part of motherboard BIOS shadow or on board NIC rom address. C000 is video so D000 is logical. Also try EMM386.EXE 8000 FRAME=D000 that would give 8Mb of EMS which should be enough for any old DOS game plus your sound card just in case DOS 6.22 EMM386 is puking because you have more than 32Mb of ram... just a thought.

Yes I tried FRAME=D000 and it just hangs. I can try "8000 FRAME=D000" also though. Just to note, I have disabled all shadow memory and have no NICs installed. I have disabled all onboard features like serial, USB and parallel ports.
The sound card is a PCI YMF744 Cobra card that requires DSDMA to even run. I suppose I can remove it and try again, perhaps there's some sort of issue there? FWIW, I had no issues on FreeDOS with this card / setup. The only issue I had with FreeDOS in general was I don't think some of the games liked the FAT-32 partition. The irony is I now have 2 drives (C and D), E is Optical. The D drive is a FAT-16 MS-DOS 6.22 formatted drive with all my games. I am tempted to reinstall FreeDOS on the C drive and call it a day 😁

You can use FreeDOS' EMM386.EXE equivalent (JEMM386.EXE or JEMMEX.EXE ) on DOS 6.2 , AFAIK .

johnnystarr wrote on 2020-07-19, 23:36:

Yes I tried FRAME=D000 and it just hangs. I can try "8000 FRAME=D000" also though. Just to note, I have disabled all shadow memory and have no NICs installed.

Since you have everything non-shadowed try EMM386.EXE 8000 just to see what happens. Should only take a few minutes to edit the config.sys

darry wrote on 2020-07-19, 23:51:

You can use FreeDOS' EMM386.EXE equivalent (JEMM386.EXE or JEMMEX.EXE ) on DOS 6.2 , AFAIK .

Great idea !