Emulating Expanded Memory Using EMM386.EXE

ID: q74210

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft MS-DOS operating system versions 5.x, 6.0, 6.2, 6.21, 6.22

SUMMARY

To use EMM386.EXE you must have an 80386 or 80486 microprocessor and at least 105K of extended memory available under the Extended Memory Specification (XMS). Extended memory managers such as HIMEM.SYS provide XMS memory. EMM386.EXE uses the XMS memory to emulate expanded memory.

EMM386.EXE places expanded memory pages in the upper memory area (UMA), which is the address range between 640K and 1024K. This range is normally reserved for the system ROM BIOS, as well as video, network, and other hardware adapters.

MORE INFORMATION

LIM 3.2 Expanded Memory

To create a LIM 3.2 expanded memory page frame, you need to have a 64K contiguous block of memory available in the UMA. Using four-digit hex notation, a 64K block is equal to 1000h of memory (for example, E000h to EFFFh, or C800h to D7FFh). If you have a 64K block available in the UMA, the default values for EMM386.EXE will automatically create a LIM 3.2 page frame. Assuming you have a DOS directory, your CONFIG.SYS should contain the following lines:


   DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS
   DEVICE=EMM386.EXE

This will create a default of 256K of expanded memory. If you use the include or exclude switches (i=<mmmm-nnnn>, or x=<mmmm-nnnn), you may also need to specify the starting location of the page frame using the m<n>, frame=<nnnn>, or /p<nnnn> switches.

LIM 4.0 Expanded Memory

If you don't have a full 64K contiguous block available, you can create up to four LIM 4.0 expanded memory pages using 16K blocks of the UMA. Please note that these pages will not be LIM 3.2 compatible. Using four digit-hex notation, a 16K block is equal to 400h of memory (for example, D000h to D3FFh). Use the p<n>=<mmmm> switch to specify the location of each block. For example, you could use the following lines in your CONFIG.SYS to create four LIM 4.0 pages:


   DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS
   DEVICE=EMM386.EXE RAM i=C800-CFFF p0=C800 p1=CC00 p2=E000 p3=E400

Note: The address ranges used here are for demonstration purposes only. These address ranges may not work on your computer. Consult your hardware documentation to determine the address ranges used by your adapter cards.

See pages 606-607 of the version 5.0 "Microsoft MS-DOS User's Guide and Reference" for more information on these switches.

For more information on this subject query on the following words:

LIM and EMM386.EXE

Additional query words: 6.22 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20 emulation

Keywords : msdos
Version : MS-DOS:5.x,6.0,6.2,6.21,6.22
Platform : MS-DOS
Issue type :