Error A2105 with PUSHA and POPA Instructions

Last reviewed: January 23, 1995
Article ID: Q40192

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Macro Assembler for MS-DOS, version 5.1

MASM generates the following error message if the PUSHA or POPA instructions are used without a prior .186, .286, or .386 directive:

   A2105: Expected: instruction, directive, or label

This error does not clearly indicate exactly what the problem is. By default, the Macro Assembler generates code for the 8086 processor, for which these instructions have not been implemented.

Page 302 of the "Macro Assembler 5.1 Programmer's Guide" states that these instructions are implemented only for the 80186, 80286, and 80386 processors.

If you have an 8086-based computer, you will have to push and pop the registers individually, using PUSH and POP. If you have a 80186, 80286, or 80386-based computer, add the appropriate directive to the code.

Additional reference words: kbinf 5.10
KBCategory: kbtool
KBSubCategory: MLIss

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Last reviewed: January 23, 1995
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