EMS and usbmass.exe problem \ VOGONS

EMS and usbmass.exe problem

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First post, by tauro

Posted on 2016-12-03, 01:45

tauro Offline

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I need to load EMS (EMM386.exe) and USBMASS (proprietary usb 2.0 driver) on this harddrive-less Pentium 1 computer.

With ems, while usbmass.exe loads, when I check my usb stick dir, instead of the list of files, all I see is "IO.SYS" and nothing else.

So I guess this has to do with emm386 and how it is using some part of the memory that usbmass.exe needs, because without ems, usbmass.exe works fine.
I was trying many configurations but although I read a lot and tried a lot, I'm a complete ignorant of how to fine-tune emm386 and assign "parts" of the memory.

The usbmass.exe allows one to define the start address of i/o pool and the start address of memory pool, the help page says:

/IO:n start address of I/O pool (default 0x00002000)
/M:n start address of memory pool (default 0x000D0000)

So what parameters should I pass to either emm386.exe or usbmass.exe to get them both working at the same time?

Reply 1 of 4, by Jorpho

Posted on 2016-12-03, 04:15

Jorpho Offline

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tauro wrote:
I was trying many configurations but although I read a lot and tried a lot, I'm a complete ignorant of how to fine-tune emm386 and assign "parts" of the memory.

Rather than waste time suggesting things you've already tried, why not say some more about what you've done so far?

Reply 2 of 4, by mrau

Posted on 2016-12-03, 10:06

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DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE X=?

Reply 3 of 4, by tauro

Posted on 2016-12-03, 12:38

tauro Offline

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mrau wrote:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE X=?

Yes, I guess that could work, but I don't know precisely what part of memory I should specify next to X=

After many shots in the dark, I came across with a solution. I don't have an idea why it works but it does. I'd like you to help me figure out why. I can do all the tests that you want.

config.sys

dos=high,umb
device=himem.sys
device=emm386.exe ram i=eeee-efff

With this config.sys now usbmass.exe works. I can mount the iso with shsucdhd/shsucdx and play it directly from the flash drive, with soundblaster/adlib music and voices. No hard disk. No CD drive. Magic.