So in terms of 2021 is it nowadays still the best way to stick with:
VIDECDD.SYS + MSCDEX

Or are there better alternatives recommended like
DVD2.SYS + SHCDX33F
Or
DVD2.SYS + SHSUCDX(3.07)

VIDE has issues if loaded up into an UMB..

What about OAKCDROM.SYS? 😉
- It's very compatible and dependable.

If you use Multimedia Cloaking, you can also get rid of the more memory hungry drivers to compensate for the additional memory consumption of OAK.

That Logitech mouse driver that Phil/Maulwurf1977 mentioned on page one uses a cut down version of it, I believe.
The full version also includes an MSCDEX replacement, I suppose.

Re: Tiny mouse driver ?

I use Oakcdrom.sys on most of my DOS systems, for me is one of the best ATAPI cdrom drivers imho..

Never used anything but VIDECDD. Usually just copy it from Phil's driver package and punch in all the lines onto config/autoexec manually.

Never had an issue with it in pure DOS.

What about the MSCDEX substitutes in terms of more free conventional memory?

VIDE-CDD v2.15 Is the most best compatible low level CD-ROM driver. I use it in everything, only 5kb memory footprint, the SYS file can be compressed also with UPX for your floppies.

But SHSUCDX has some issues sometimes, MSCDEX 2.25 is the most compatible, it is a memory hog, but you can load it high, or use it only when needed.

5kb of conventional memory is a bigger problem than 20kb of UMB.

Can anyone post good autoexec and config files? Im having a tough time with my 486 and memory

As you can see in this thread
soundblaster 16 problem

Load your devices and drivers high in Autoexec.bat and Config.sys.

Autoexec.bat
LH C:MSCDEX.EXE D:CD001. L:R

In config.bat
DEVICEHIGH = C:\*

Jo22 wrote on 2021-01-31, 17:35:

VIDE has issues if loaded up into an UMB..

Really? I always DEVICEHIGH it and don't recall any issues.

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-14, 05:51:

Can anyone post good autoexec and config files? Im having a tough time with my 486 and memory

I've posted mine before, e.g. here, but I've since understood that there can be major differences in compatibility and how much RAM you can actually free, depending on the systems. Mine are from a Super Socket 7 AGP board with a K6-II CPU, which is quite different from yours.

dr_st wrote on 2021-02-24, 16:40:

Really? I always DEVICEHIGH it and don't recall any issues. […]
Show full quote

Jo22 wrote on 2021-01-31, 17:35:

VIDE has issues if loaded up into an UMB..

Really? I always DEVICEHIGH it and don't recall any issues.

Law212 wrote on 2021-02-14, 05:51:

Can anyone post good autoexec and config files? Im having a tough time with my 486 and memory

I've posted mine before, e.g. here, but I've since understood that there can be major differences in compatibility and how much RAM you can actually free, depending on the systems. Mine are from a Super Socket 7 AGP board with a K6-II CPU, which is quite different from yours.

Thanks.

Cyberdyne wrote on 2021-02-01, 11:50:

MSCDEX 2.25 is the most compatible, it is a memory hog, but you can load it high, or use it only when needed.

You can also use the /E switch to load part of it into EMS if available. Can free about 10K as I recall.

The more general question is, what features do the smaller drivers drop to have such a small memory footprint. This is not well documented mostly.
e.g. Kanji file structures, CD-ROM XA, CD-I...

elianda wrote on 2021-03-14, 12:13:

The more general question is, what features do the smaller drivers drop to have such a small memory footprint. This is not well documented mostly.
e.g. Kanji file structures, CD-ROM XA, CD-I...

+1

Windows 9x also lost support for CD-i, for example.
In order to watch old CD-i movies it's necessary to either load DOS drivers and MSCDEX or use an experimental IFS.
There's a link in an old posting of my mine:
Re: Exclusive Windows 3.1, 95, 98, and ME Games List

There is no ultimate cd driver or sets of drivers. Theres only drivers that are better than others.
everyone would recommend having multiple start up configs, so why not just load drivers that work for your game, and if you have another game that doesn't work like that make another boot menu item and load a separate set of drivers.

dr_st wrote on 2021-02-24, 16:40:

Really? I always DEVICEHIGH it and don't recall any issues.

Same here

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:51:

dr_st wrote on 2021-02-24, 16:40:

Really? I always DEVICEHIGH it and don't recall any issues.

Same here

I will echo that experience .

I keep forgetting about XCDROM32, which is included with JEMM386. Has anyone here tried that?

Of course, JEMM can introduce different problems.

darry wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:52:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:51:

dr_st wrote on 2021-02-24, 16:40:

Really? I always DEVICEHIGH it and don't recall any issues.

Same here

I will echo that experience .

I actually have to rescind that statement 🤣... I was just testing a system that was previously working fine with VIDE-CDD loaded high.

Buuuuut when I added hardware EMS to the system, CDROM games that use EMS (DOTT, Star Trek 25th) stopped working properly. Loaded VIDE-CDD low (Because of remembering this thread!) and now all is well again.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-03-31, 21:41:

darry wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:52:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-03-29, 01:51:

Same here

I will echo that experience .

I actually have to rescind that statement 🤣... I was just testing a system that was previously working fine with VIDE-CDD loaded high.

Buuuuut when I added hardware EMS to the system, CDROM games that use EMS (DOTT, Star Trek 25th) stopped working properly. Loaded VIDE-CDD low (Because of remembering this thread!) and now all is well again.

Could it have something to do with certain segments of high memory not being DMA capable on a given machine (chipset limitation, AFAIK) and VIDE-CDD possibly not testing for that (maybe other CD drivers do test or maybe they always use low memory for memory used for DMA)?

If my guess is accurate, adding the hardware EMS card likely changed the UMA memory map because of the added 64KB pageframe and changed the high memory location that VIDE-CDD was loading into from one that worked to one that does not .

Please let me know if this makes sense or correct me if I am off base on this .