Dos doesn't need any video driver, nvidia cards are usually good on dos.

If you use dos from windows 98 you can improve it with this:
config.sys:
DOS=HIGH,UMB,AUTO
LASTDRIVEHIGH=Z

You may switch to lower memory footprint cd drivers: XDVD2 and SHSUCDX
Same goes for memory stuff, XMGR.SYS instead of himem.sys

Nemo1985 wrote on 2024-09-18, 21:09:

Dos doesn't need any video driver, nvidia cards are usually good on dos. […]
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Dos doesn't need any video driver, nvidia cards are usually good on dos.

If you use dos from windows 98 you can improve it with this:
config.sys:
DOS=HIGH,UMB,AUTO
LASTDRIVEHIGH=Z

You may switch to lower memory footprint cd drivers: XDVD2 and SHSUCDX
Same goes for memory stuff, XMGR.SYS instead of himem.sys

Thank you for the suggestions. Is there a list of 'alternative' drives for stuff like CDs, memory, etc.?

Well...there are some more efficient drivers at https://dosprograms.info.tt/indexall.htm#utils. Also, if you want more DOS memory, I recommend you try QEMM97. You should find it at REMOVED Just do a search. 😀 One more tip: when I got my first PC, the EMM386 line included the argument "I=B000-B7FF." This buys 32k UMB RAM at the cost of the mono video buffer which is virtually never used. BTW, if you don't want to try QEMM, adding HIGHSCAN to EMM386's command line sometimes buys more UMBs. BTW, I'm just curious: what does your current memory layout look like?

Harry Potter wrote on 2024-09-18, 22:56:

BTW, I'm just curious: what does your current memory layout look like?

Without making any of the suggested changes:

Conventional: 637K Total (50K used) = 587K Free
Upper: 55K Total (47K used) = 8K Free
Reserved: 0K Total
Extended (XMS): 162,761K Total (665K used) = 162,096K Free

Largest Executable Program Size: 587K
Largest Free UMB: 6K

I meant a layout of all modules loaded, i.e. from "MEM/C" or "MEM/D."

BTW, if you use QEMM, you might need Stealth mode. 😀

Mem /c

Mem/d

Did you try out my suggestions? How do they work?

Harry Potter wrote on 2024-09-19, 10:19:

Did you try out my suggestions? How do they work?

No I haven't had a chance yet. Hopefully this weekend. I'll also need to read up on the syntax of these new programs unless they're literally just drop in replacements.

Any ideas on my sound card?

After reading someone elses post about autoexec and config files, I threw this together. I haven't tried it yet though.

Autoexec.bat
-------------
@ECHO OFF
SET PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND;C:\DOS;C:
PROMPT $P$G
SET TEMP=C:\TEMP
LH C:\DOS\CTMOUSE.EXE
LH C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\MSCDEX.EXE /D:IDECDROM /L:E
LH C:\WINDPWS\COMMAND\DOSKEY.COM /INSERT

Config.sys
-----------
LASTDRIVEHIGH=Z
DOS=HIGH,UMB
BUFFERSHIGH=30,0
FILESHIGH=40
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM I=B400-B7FF I=CA00-CBFF AUTO
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ANSI.SYS
DEVICEHIGH=VIDE-CDD.SYS /D:IDECDROM
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\SETVER.EXE

Lowering the LASTDRIVE letter should buy you a few bytes. 😀 Also, you can make an extra configuration and implement NOEMS in EMM386's command line there. It should gain 64k UMBs at the cost of EMS.

I find the DBLBUFF device driver funny. AFAIK, it shouldn't be necessary without DriveSpace. I think you can get rid of it by setting the DBLBUFF setting in MSDOS to 0. This should buy you a little more than 2k. You need to use ATTRIB to make it editable and visible, though. At the DOS prompt, type "ATTRIB -h -s -r c:\msdos.sys" then edit the file in a text editor. Be careful, though, as an error in that file can cause the system to not start up at all. Also, prepared for the possibility that I'm wrong. You should create a backup copy and, if the system stops working, press F5 at startup to bypass the config files, restore the file then reboot.

Well I tried it and this line caused it to hang:

DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE RAM I=B400-B7FF I=CA00-CBFF AUTO

Maybe because I have two different memory ranges in there? I removed everything after the second I and it worked again. However MSCDEX is too large to fit into upper memory and it's using 27K of conventional memory. How do I use SHSUCDX? Do I just replace the MSCDEX line with SHSUCDX? Does it take the same arguments?

I believe I have the SHSUCDX download available and will now check there. I believe it should work but probably require different command line syntax.

That's how I use it: SHSUCDX.COM /D:OPTICAL
It goes on autoexec.bat.
The label needs to be the same with the config.sys part (I noticed you use videccd).

I was wrong: I'll try to download it now.

I just replaced MSCDEX.EXE with SHSUCDX.COM in that line and it worked. I also changed the RAM location for EMM386 to B000-B7FF (from B400) and now I have 613K free!

Now I just need someone to tell me how to enable my Soundscape Opus card under DOS and I'll be all set.

Maybe it's a long shot but try to use unisound: UNISOUND - Universal ISA PnP Sound Card Driver for DOS v0.82a

Tempest: I'm glad you're happy. 😀 BTW, may I see the final results? I'm an egotist and want to see how my help worked. 😀

Harry Potter wrote on 2024-09-19, 21:13:

Tempest: I'm glad you're happy. 😀 BTW, may I see the final results? I'm an egotist and want to see how my help worked. 😀

Sure!