DOS 5.0 and 386MAX The newest version of the PC operating system now features memory management functionality not found in earlier versions. DOS 5.0 can load 40KB of DOS' resident overhead into the HMA, providing an instant 40KB gain on 80286 and higher microprocessors. Though DOS 5.0 can load both TSRs and device drivers into high DOS, the enhanced features of 386MAX and BlueMAX allow the user to fully utilize the memory management capabilities of the DOS 5 environment. 386MAX and BlueMAX both contain important features not found in DOS 5.0's memory management support. Among these features are the automatic MAXIMIZE program, the ability to accurately determine the initialization and resident sizes of TSRs and device drivers, and the use of FLEXFRAME technology. The MAXIMIZE program automates the loading process by modifying the appropriate lines in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. MAXIMIZE calculates the initialization and resident sizes of TSRs and device drivers, using these values to select the appropriate segment of high DOS in which to load programs. This ensures proper loading of resident software. In some cases, the initialization size of a TSR may be greater than the largest block of high DOS available, but the resident size of the TSR appears to be small enough to fit into high memory. Since the program must load in contiguous memory, a user would not be able to load the program high. With FLEXFRAME, 386MAX can allow such a TSR or device driver which loads in a segment of high DOS adjacent to the EMS page frame to initialize into the address space used by the page frame. Once resident, the TSR or driver "shrinks" to use the address space under the page frame. With the above advanced features, the memory management products from Qualitas are capable of quickly and optimally configuring a user's system. Integrated with DOS 5.0, 386MAX and BlueMAX provide the best possible memory management scenario possible for today's memory-aggressive applications. Installing DOS 5.0 with 386MAX Both 386MAX and BlueMAX are compatible with DOS 5.0. Because 386MAX and BlueMAX provide XMS support, the High Memory Area(HMA) is available to DOS 5.0 without loading HIMEM.SYS. DOS 5.0 automatically recognizes the presence of 386MAX and does not insert the HIMEM.SYS driver in CONFIG.SYS upon installation, however, the user must manually insert the DOS=HIGH statement in CONFIG.SYS in order to allow DOS to use the HMA. DOS 5.0 inserts DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE as the first device line in CONFIG.SYS. This device line may be moved after the line which loads 386MAX.SYS in order to load SETVER.EXE into high DOS with 386LOAD.SYS. Users of 386MAX and BlueMAX versions prior to 5.12 may experience a minor problem if DOS 5.0 is installed prior to 386MAX and DOS 5.0 memory management statements are in effect in either CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT. These statements are DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE, DOS=UMB, DEVICEHIGH, LOADHIGH, or LH. Both 386MAX and BlueMAX now ship with a product called STRIPMGR which automatically strips other memory management programs. The STRIPMGR.EXE and STRIPMGR.LST which shipped with version 5.10 and 5.11á of 386MAX and BlueMAX did not contain the necessary code to strip the new DOS 5.0 statements. These files have since been modified and are available from our BBS and CompuServe. If DOS 5.0 has been installed before 386MAX and the user has a pre-5.12 version of 386MAX or BlueMAX, then the individual should consider running the new version of STRIPMGR before installing 386MAX or BlueMAX in order to remove the DOS 5.0 memory management statements. The user may also remove the statements manually before installing 386MAX or BlueMAX. Other installation issues which a user may encounter include: Incorrect DOS Version: 386MAX users prior to version 5.12 may have to add 386LOAD.COM or 386LOAD.SYS to the internal SETVER table if attempting to load a program into high DOS which is already contained in the SETVER table. To do so, verify that the device line for SETVER.EXE is loaded in CONFIG.SYS. If the device line is not present, insert a line which reads: DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE into the CONFIG.SYS file. Reboot the machine, change current the working directory to the 386MAX subdirectory, and type: SETVER C:\DOS 386LOAD.COM 4.01 where the filename represents the appropriate program loader and version of DOS ( in this example 386LOAD.COM and DOS 4.01; if you have additional questions concerning SETVER, consult your DOS 5.0 documentation ). Packed File Corrupt: This error message is displayed when attempting to run an executable program in a DOS environment with less than 64KB of conventional memory being consumed by DOS and resident programs. The problem is actually caused by a bug in a component of the packed executable which mistakenly flags an error. Use the LOADFIX program shipped with DOS 5.0 to bypass this problem. LOADFIX loads the program at the 64KB boundary in conventional memory. EDIT and QBASIC: The EDIT and QBASIC programs shipped with IBM's PC-DOS 5.0 make use of the ROM BASIC area in the PS/2 system BIOS. This area is removed during BIOS compression with BlueMAX. To resolve this issue, BlueMAX users can download the EMSBASIC program which copies the ROM BASIC instructions into the EMS page frame. EMSBASIC is available from our CompuServe data library in a self- extracting format under the name EMSBASIC.EXE.