Category : Alternate Operating Systems - Quarterdeck DesqView, CP/M, etc
Archive   : QTEC9306.ZIP
Filename : QTEST.TEC

ID:QT Quarterdeck QTEST utility
Quarterdeck Technical Note #177 Filename: QTEST.TEC
by Stan Young CompuServe:
Last revised: 2/12/92 Category: QEMM

Subject: Describes the QTEST program, which can be used to test systems
to see if they would benefit by using QRAM. Notes on how and where
to get QTEST.

The QTEST Program
WHAT IS QTEST?

The QTEST program is provided at no charge to anyone interested in finding out
how QRAM, a product of Quarterdeck Office Systems, will react on different
systems. QRAM (pronounced "cram") is intended to help you get more available
memory below 640K by reducing DOS overhead, and by placing resident programs
and drivers that normally run below 640K into the unused areas of memory
between 640K and 1024K.

HOW IS QTEST INSTALLED?

No installation is necessary; the file QTEST.COM may be run from any available
drive; even the disk on which it is supplied. QTEST can be given the parameter
HELP if you want to know about the possible command line options.

WHY IS QTEST USEFUL?

Unlike our other memory management products, QEMM-386 and QEMM-50/60, QRAM is
not a memory manager. It is instead a program which USES expanded memory,
video memory and/or shadow RAM which MAY exist on your system. This memory is
used by QRAM to load resident programs and drivers into memory beyond 640K.

In environments where QEMM-386 or QEMM-50/60 would be appropriate, these
products provide ALL of the software support necessary for using High RAM and
increasing the available memory below 640K. By reading the hardware
requirements on the back of our manuals, it is fairly easy to determine
whether your system meets the hardware requirements required for success.

But on 8088 or non-PS/2, 80286 based systems, where QRAM might be appropriate,
QRAM is dependent on both hardware and software which has been provided by
third party vendors. Given the right software/hardware combination, QRAM can:

1. Load resident programs and drivers into EEMS or EMS 4.0 memory beyond 640K
to increase your available DOS memory.

2. Load resident programs and drivers into Chips & Technology Shadow RAM if
it exists on your system.

3. Allow DOS to be extended into your EGA or VGA video card memory when
running text based programs.

However, it may be difficult for the average user to determine the exact
capabilities of the available hardware and software drivers. With respect to
the use of EMS 4.0 memory, even a sophisticated user may have difficulty
determining exactly how QRAM will be able to use the memory on his machine.
This is due to the fact that EMS 4.0 is a fairly "loose" specification and
that some makers of EMS 4.0 hardware and software do not implement all of the
features of EMS 4.0 which are important to QRAM.

It was with these concerns in mind that Quarterdeck created QTEST as a service
to its prospective QRAM users.

QTEST will tell you what QRAM will be able to do on your system in its current
configuration, and will tell you whether (or not) QRAM could be useful to you.

HOW DO I GET QTEST?

QTEST is available via modem at no charge (other than phone and system
charges) on the following systems:

1. Quarterdeck Bulletin Board, public files section, under the name
QTEST.ZIP. BBS phone number: (310) 314-3227.

2. Quarterdeck's Compuserve Forum. Type "GO QUARTERDECK" from the system
prompt. QTEST is available in library #1 under the name "QTEST.ZIP".

3. Quarterdeck's BIX Forum. Type "Join DESQview" from the system prompt.
Select "Receive" from the forum menu. The filename is "QTEST.ZIP".

4. On various private bulletin boards which participate in the DESQview
SmartNET or FIDOnet echo.

QTEST is also included for no charge on our "Quarterdeck White Papers"
diskette, a collection of technical notes covering the use of Quarterdeck
products. The White Papers diskette is available direct from Quarterdeck for
$10 and can be ordered by credit card by calling our orders department at
(800) 354- 3222 or (310) 314-3222.

Copyright considerations:

Although QTEST is a copyrighted program, Quarterdeck grants to you a limited
license which permits you to distribute it to others, on disk or
electronically, as long as the program and its documentation are not modified
in any way, proper credit is given to Quarterdeck, and no fee is charged
beyond the cost of materials.

Documentation for The Technical Information Screen:

Most of the output of QTEST is in plain English and does not require
documentation. Some explanation of the "Technical Information" screen which
is displayed after QTEST runs may be useful however.

After it runs, QTEST displays a screen similar to the one below.

Memory Map if QRAM is used

x = 048C
Ax00 ???? H = High RAM
Bx00 ???? M = Memory Fill
Cx00 ???? v = Vidram Use
Dx00 ???? F = Page Frame
Ex00 ???? X = Unusable
Fx00 ???? - = Hide

Each question mark shown above represents a 16K section of high memory address
space, in the range of 640K (A000 Hex) to just under 1 Megabyte (FFFF Hex),
which may be available to QRAM or not, depending on the current configuration.

In your QTEST output, each question mark will be replaced by one of the
characters from the table on the right, indicating the current status of that
particular memory location. Here's what the characters mean:

{H = High RAM} - Each H is a 16K block into which QRAM could load a resident
program or driver.

{M = Memory Fill} - Each M is a 16K block into which QRAM could extend DOS to
provide more memory for all programs. This occurs when you have appropriate
EEMS or EMS boards and CGA or Monochrome video cards.

{v = Vidram Use} - Each v is a 16K block into which QRAM's VIDRAM utility
could extend DOS to provide more memory for text based programs. This is only
available on EGA and VGA cards and only when running in text mode, as this
same memory area is used for displaying graphics.

{F = Frame} - Each F is a 16K block which is currently making up part of the
EMS Page Frame. The Page Frame is an area of memory addresses where expanded
memory is accessed by most programs. All of the expanded memory can only be
seen a little at a time; the Page Frame is a "porthole" through which the
expanded memory is accessed. Page Frame memory is not normally available to
QRAM, but could be used if QRAM were loaded with the FRAMELENGTH=0 parameter.
This disables expanded memory, but makes the 64K area available to QRAM. On
some EMS boards this may be your only option.

{X = Unusable} - Each X is a 16K block, which due to other installed hardware,
or limitations of your hardware or software cannot be used at all by QRAM.

{- = Hide} - These are sections of your expanded memory which appear to have
been made available by your expanded memory driver, but in which QRAM detects
a conflict with other installed devices. In these conditions, it hides the
memory so that it will not be used by QRAM or other expanded memory utilities.

WHAT QTEST CANNOT DETECT:

QTEST tests your system in its "current configuration". It cannot determine
how your system would react if set up differently. If you have a system which
you believe to have Chips & Technology shadow RAM and QTEST does not see the
shadow RAM, be sure that your shadow RAM has been enabled. If you are loading
an expanded memory driver which might be using up this shadow RAM memory, try
disabling it. If it turns out you have usable shadow RAM, QRAM can be loaded
before the expanded memory manager and both could be used.

If you have an expanded memory board you believe should support EMS 4.0 high
memory areas in addition to the Page Frame, check your board's manual to see
if there are any adjustments in software or hardware which must be made to
enable this feature. QTEST also cannot determine which of your memory
resident programs, device drivers, or pieces of DOS can be loaded into High
RAM. This is determined by QRAM's OPTIMIZE program. You can get some idea of
what might be loaded high by comparing the resident size of your TSRs to the
High RAM available. However, such programs often require MORE memory to get
started then they take up after they have "squished" themselves into their
final state. Some could prove to be too large to load into high memory.

Therefore, it is difficult to tell exactly how much memory will be saved below
640K in your system. Since QRAM's OPTIMIZE program usually CAN find something
to load into High RAM, the most important thing to know is whether you can get
High RAM. This is what QTEST tells you.


************************************************************************
*This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long as it*
*is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed for profit. *
* Copyright (C) 1990-2 by Quarterdeck Office Systems *
************************ E N D O F F I L E *************************