Edit: thought I got it... But no... -.-
So problem persists.

You can try adding NOAUTO option to dos= string:
dos=high,umb,noauto
It prevents loading some drivers that are loaded in the backgroung in DOS 7.1

No that didn't work

If nothing changed in terms of settings, but you are getting memory errors, this sounds like some incompatibility between the memory managers and 7.1

Are there any known caveats when using umbpci or xmgr or any of the device drivers he utilizes in conjunction with DOS 7.1?

Is there a specific reason for you needing it? My money is on FAT32 support.

Removing the usb drivers results no problem. So umbpci as well as xmgr seem to work with DOS 7.1 but as soon as usb drivers are loaded everything stops or something's not working...
But otherwise... whateva - looks like i've found a way. I rebooted now 20 times or so - and everything works with 615kb free conventional memory. I went back to the original dos memory managers.

config.sys now looks like this:

device=c:\dos\himem.sys /testmem:off
device=c:\dos\emm386.exe ram highscan ----- if i don't put in this highscan command i lose almost 40kb conventional memory
files=60
dos=high,umb
devicehigh=c:\drivers\toshv218.sys /d:DVD

and autoexec.bat:

@echo off
prompt $p$g
path c:\dos
set temp=c:\dos
set sound=c:\drivers\sb16
set blaster=a220 i5 d1 h5 p330 t6
set midi=synth:1 map:e
c:\drivers\usbdos\usbuhci.com
c:\drivers\usbdos\usbmouse.com
c:\drivers\usbdos\usbkeyb.com
c:\drivers\sb16\mixerset /p /q
c:\drivers\shsucdx.com /d:DVD
keyb gr,,c:\dos\keyboard.sys
c:\drivers\ctmouse.exe /r2

My dear fellow comrades... I managed to get umbpci work with DOS 7.1 ... I went back to the scratch and wrote an all new config.sys using umbpci + Hiram + himem and got a total amount of epic 631K free conventional memory... I feel like one of the first humans made fire... 😀

HIRAM has its source code released HIRAM19A.ASM. 😁
I added the same chipset code for enabling UMB and had HIMEM.SYS loaded in UMB. This freed up additional 1120 bytes and made 629KB of free conventional memory. There is nothing else to free. You've got 631KB and I wonder where else to shrink 2KB of DOS conventional memory footprint. I am using Win98SE DOS (4.10.2222).

Why do you need so much free conventional memmory? Most Dos applications/games will runon 620k or less. Having too much free can actually causew issues with some programs.

kjliew wrote:

HIRAM has its source code released HIRAM19A.ASM. 😁
I added the same chipset code for enabling UMB and had HIMEM.SYS loaded in UMB. This freed up additional 1120 bytes and made 629KB of free conventional memory. There is nothing else to free. You've got 631KB and I wonder where else to shrink 2KB of DOS conventional memory footprint. I am using Win98SE DOS (4.10.2222).

I just tell what I am seeing. As soon as possible I will make a photo.

Caluser2000 wrote:

Why do you need so much free conventional memmory? Most Dos applications/games will runon 620k or less. Having too much free can actually causew issues with some programs.

Why climb a mountain - one can't breath so good up there and it's damn cild. But man. What a feeling to reach the top. It's just for fun.

I figured out that 1KB was due to EBDA. If I had BIOS without EBDA, then I would have made 630KB.
The examples seem to max out at 629KB.
https://flaterco.com/kb/DOS-kernels.html
http://www.mdgx.com/mem7.htm#M

Ok ... Looks like I was early pleased... 😊 I was obviously to tired to look carefully. The shsucdx wasn't loaded properly. I will have a look later how proper loading of cdrom driver affects memory.

Before reading anything:

DOS 7.1 has no boot and memory problems! If you experience any problems, the problem is you! 🤣 🤣 🤣

Now let's read.

Well, looks like most of your problems are solved. The questions I have:

1. Which system is this? Do you really need DOS USB drivers?
2. Do you plan to use Win9x on it as well?
3. Himem/EMM386 and standard IDE CDROM drivers + MSCDEX are apparently slightly more compatible than XMGR, UMBPCI, XDVD2 and SHSUCDX. The end result might be a little less free conventional memory (maybe down to 610-620K depending on how many extra drivers you need), but from a practical point of view it's still enough for all games.

dr_st wrote:

Before reading anything:

DOS 7.1 has no boot and memory problems! If you experience any problems, the problem is you!

You should've read before. Then you would've noticed that I don't said anything else. You also would've noticed that it's me who has the problem not DOS itself. I am into this long enough to know that solving such problems is a matter of time, patience, gaining knowledge and thinking logical. This is the reason why I am here. So let's agree, that I AM not the problem but that I have the problem.

That was all in jest, in case the three laughing out loud smileys did not make it clear. 😉

Didn't want to start an argument. We are just writing and I am not very good in understanding indirect messages. Sry

So here it comes:

I cannot say for sure that I didn't make a mistake somewhere. But everything works - so... 631K.
The only thing that puzzles me is the questionmark in occupied xms memory.

dr_st wrote:

Well, looks like most of your problems are solved. The questions I have: […]
Show full quote

Well, looks like most of your problems are solved. The questions I have:

1. Which system is this? Do you really need DOS USB drivers?
2. Do you plan to use Win9x on it as well?
3. Himem/EMM386 and standard IDE CDROM drivers + MSCDEX are apparently slightly more compatible than XMGR, UMBPCI, XDVD2 and SHSUCDX. The end result might be a little less free conventional memory (maybe down to 610-620K depending on how many extra drivers you need), but from a practical point of view it's still enough for all games.

1. I am using an optical wheel mouse and I don't like the USB to ps/2 adapter. I extracted the DOS 7.1 from my Windows 98 SE so 2. No - I don't plan to do this for the moment. 3. Maybe - but momentarily I am focussing only on gaining as much memory as possible.

Looks great; no EMS, though? It will be fine until you try to run some game that uses EMS. For example:
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … hat_require_EMS

No EMS with umbpci.

Lazar81 wrote:

No EMS with umbpci.

There is an option for software-based EMS (LIMulator, EMS simulator etc.) if you leave enough free UMB block to fit the 64KB EMS page frame. Most of them are meant to be used with 80286 and if loaded in UMB, the EMS page frame stays in UMB, too. Most games requirement of EMS memory should work. It may not be a performant option, but if you are running ancient 8086/286 DOS games on Pentium or better CPUs, the CPUs should have more than enough spare cycles to simulate EMS memory with memcpy. Commercial variants such as TurboEMS, AboveDisk etc. have the options to locate EMS page frame, use XMS memory and load on-demand only when you need EMS memory.