SYSTEM.INI's NetDMASize= Switch and NetBIOS

 Last reviewed: November 21, 1994
Article ID: Q82790
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

Microsoft Windows operating system version 3.1's SYSTEM.INI switch NetDMASize= specifies the DMA buffer size (in kilobytes) for NetBIOS transport software if a network has been installed. The entry must appear under the [386ENH] section of SYSTEM.INI: 

   NetDMASize=<kilobytes>

MORE INFORMATION

This entry affects only the behavior of 386 enhanced mode. Especially on MCA machines, many network devices use DMA (Direct Memory Access). On these machines, a larger DMA buffer is required only if the network is loaded. This value will override the DMABufferSize entry if and only if a NetBIOS network is loaded before starting Windows and the size specified is larger than the size specified for DMABufferSize (default DMABufferSize is 16K).

For Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) machines (IBM PS/2 or compatible), the default NetDMASize is 32K. For non-MCA machines, the default value is 0 because most ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) network adapters do not use DMA.

KBCategory: kbnetwork kbenv
KBSubcategory: win31
Additional reference words: 3.10 3.1

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Last reviewed: November 21, 1994
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