Category : System Diagnostics for your computer
Archive : IFP1P158.ZIP
Filename : INFOPLUS.HLP
Output of file : INFOPLUS.HLP contained in archive : IFP1P158.ZIP
shows what information. Hitting the
page.
The keys that are active on this page, and all others are:
While displaying help:
want to go to. Type in the number, and then hit
immediately to that page. If you don't type a number and hit
file on disk. Just follow the prompts on the screen. Pressing
at any of these prompts will cancel the printscreen operation.
When asked about Normal or IBM ASCII: if you pick Normal, any
characters on screen that are not part of the standard ASCII set
(such as line drawing characters) will be converted into the
closest equivalent normal ASCII character.
The page is printed with a header at the top giving the Page
number, it's description, and the date and time. You may optionally
add a line of your own, which you could use to identify the
computer it's on, or similar.
Unlike using the PrtScr (or PrintScrn) key, only the data part of
the screen is printed. Not the very top and bottom lines.
the Down Arrow key to get the extra information.
displayed data.
When starting INFOPLUS, you can use some command-line parameters.
Syntax:
INFOPLUS [B][D][M][C][F][NP][NV][AP[:filename]][H][?]
where:
B = Write to screen using BIOS (default under Desqview)
D = Write directly to screen memory (default)
M = Use monochrome colors (default under MODE BWxx)
C = Use normal colors (default)
F = Leave 16550 FIFO's enabled
NV = Do not perform VGA chipset detection
NP = Do not read Partition Table
AP = AutoPrint all screens, ask for setup
AP:filename = AutoPrint to a file or device
H or ? = This help screen
ex: INFOPLUS B M NV
Run INFOPLUS using BIOS, monochrome colors, no VGA check.
$END
On this page, INFOPLUS will attempt to identify the type of computer you
have, and the ROM (Read Only Memory) that it contains.
NOTE!!: If you are using QEMM 6, and are using the Stealth option, some
ROMs may not be identified.
Machine Type: This uses a byte in the BIOS ROM, and, on some machines,
some extra information to determine the computer type, and
in some cases, the exact model. If your computer is an AT
or a 386/486, you get some extra information telling you
about other hardware aspects of the computer. If you have
a PC/XT type computer, and you see information about DMA
channel 3 being used or not, you can probably disregard the
information, as some clones don't properly support the
function call used.
BIOS source: INFOPLUS scans the computers main ROM BIOS, looking for a
copyright message, which it displays.
BIOS version: If you have a Phoenix BIOS in an AT or better, you'll
find out the version.
BIOS date: INFOPLUS displays what should be the date at a specific
location in the ROM BIOS.
BIOS extensions:Some add-in cards have ROM BIOS's of their own to handle
special functions, and to extend the features of the
computer. The most common are for the video and hard disk
controller boards.
Video BIOS's are found in all video cards except those that
only support CGA or Monochrome graphics. It typcially
starts at C000. (NOTE: I've noticed that some VGA cards lie
about their size. If your VGA card supports extended modes
such as 800x600, but the size shown is only 24K, then you
might have problems with programs like QEMM and Windows 3.
The BIOS's on these cards are really 32K. For QEMM, add the
line X=C000-C7FF or ROM=C000-C7FF.)
Unless you have an AT with an MFM or IDE controller, you'll
probably have a hard disk BIOS at C800. Other common
addresses are D800, and DC00. Some hard disk controllers
have what seems like two BIOSs. One part is only needed at
boot-up and for formatting the disk. The other is used to
hold the 'real' parameters of the disk, and translate
cylinder, head and sector counts into something else.
$END
On this page, INFOPLUS attemts to determine the CPU and math coprocessor
that you have.
The CPU is determined by exploiting minor differences between the CPU's.
INFOPLUS can detect the 8088, 8086, V20, V30, 80188, 80186, 80286, i386,
i486, and i486SX. Currently, INFOPLUS cannot distinguish between the
i386SX and the i386DX. Also, the AMD clones (Am386DX and Am386SX) are
indistinguishable from their Intel counterparts.
**********The i386 POPAD bug**********
If an i386 is detected, a test for a minor bug is done. Failure of this
test is nothing to worry about. The majority of CPU's will fail.
TECHNICAL NOTE: On many 386's, the EAX register can be lost after a
POPAD (POP All Double, the complement of PUSHAD) is performed. The most
common fix is to put a NOP immediately after the POPAD. This is a very
well known bug, and programs that use 386 specific code should work around
it.
For a 286/386/486, INFOPLUS will inform you of some of the special
registers and status bits of these CPUs.
In Coprocessors, INFOPLUS can detect the 8087, 80287, and 80387. It also
informs on whether the BIOS flat has been set. On PC/XT computers, this
bit is determined by a DIP switch setting. On AT's and better, by a CMOS
setting.
For a 386/486, INFOPLUS checks to see if the BIOS has set a flag for the
Weitek coprocessor. Not all BIOSs support this flag.
$END
On this page, INFOPLUS displays how your RAM is being used.
Total conventional memory: This is the type of memory typically used by DOS
and programs.
Free conventional memory: This is the amount of memory left after DOS,
drivers, and TSRs take some. INFOPLUS does not
count itself as using any.
Extended memory: This is the amount of memory on a 286/386/486 that is
above the 1 Meg mark. This may not be the total amount.
Some programs that use extended memory subtract what they
use, and report that to INFOPLUS. Also, programs such as
QEMM and HIMEM.SYS will 'steal' all of it because they
want to manage it in a way that allows different programs
to share it. If you use a memory manager, this will
probably be 0K.
XMS driver: One of the major problems with extended memory is that there
was no correct way of accessing it. There were major problems
with programs interfering with each other. XMS stands for
eXtended Memory Specification. It's a standard interface for
programs to access extended memory.
HMA stands for High Memory Area. On a 286/386/486, it's
possible to access the first 64K of extended memory without
going into a special CPU mode. Access to that area is done by
enabling or disabling A20 (address line 20.) Some versions
of DOS are capable of placing some of their code and BUFFERS in
the HMA. Infoplus tell you if it is using it, and how much is
left over (or being wasted, depending on your point of view!)
The XMS driver also handles Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs).
Infoplus will display if any area is available, and how big the
largest block is.
DPMI driver: With the growing complexity of programs, some need more than
the normal 640K of memory to run. DPMI stands for DOS
Protected Mode Interface. It allows programs to run in
protected mode, yet still access regular DOS functions. It was
introduced with Windows 3, and offers greater protection from
interference by other programs than VCPI. DPMI is available on
286/386/486 computers.
Expanded memory: Expanded memory was one of the first ways of getting more
than 640K in a computer. It does this by taking the extra
memory and breaking it up into 16K 'pages.' It puts up to
4 of these at a time in a 64K window in an unused area of
memory accessible to the CPU (called the page frame.)
Expanded memory is often called EMS (Expanded Memory
Specification.)
All EMS drivers have an internal driver name of EMMXXXX0.
The latest specification is 4.0. Unfortunately, 4.0
requires some hardware specifics for FULL compliance. Many
4.0 drivers are not hardware compliant. Their hardware is
in compliance with the older standard, version 3.2.
Some EMS drivers also support VCPI (Virtual Control
Program Interface.) This was the first standard to allow
programs to run in protected mode, yet still access DOS
functions. Unfortunately, it's too easy for programs to
interfere with each other, or unncessarily block another
VCPI program from working. VCPI is only available on
386/486 computers.
$END
On this page, INFOPLUS displays the programs currently in memory.
All programs that are resident, or currently running, have a small
signature in memory. If a program uses DOS to allocate data blocks, they
will also show up here. This signature gives the name of the program (in
most cases), and the memory it is using.
MCB: Memory Control Block, the segment where the program is.
PSP: Program Segment Prefix, holds specific information about the
program. Various important vectors, pointer to the environment, and
the commands you pass onto the program (like /h).
Parent: This is the segment that 'owns' the program. In other words the
program that called it.
Env: A block will show here if that memory block is the environment to
a program.
Owner: The programs name, or it's owners name.
Interrupts: A list of interrupts (in hexadecimal) that the program appears
to have taken over, or at least point into the memory being
used by the program.
$END
On this page, you get some general information about your current video.
Active video subsystem: The type of video system you are using that moment.
Inactive video: If one system is a VGA, you can have an inactive board.
Initial video mode: The mode the computer will boot up in. Often set by a
DIP switch or CMOS setting.
Current video mode: The current text mode.
Current display page: There can be up to 8 pages of text (0 through 7).
Most often, this will be 0.
Video buffer offset and size: The amount of memory needed to display a page
of text, and the address into the video
segment where the page starts.
Active display port: This is the port used to control the video.
CRT mode register: A value used to setup the video controller.
Current palette: Another value used by the controller.
Colors: A block containing each of the 16 possible color values.
Current colors: The colors that the BIOS is currently set to. (INFOPLUS
usually bypasses the BIOS, so the colors won't be the same
as what you see on the screen.)
Text rows and columns: The current screen size.
Scan lines/character: How many scan lines make up each character.
Cursor scan lines: Which lines of the above count that are used for the
cursor.
$END
On this page, you will get information very specific to your video
system.
NOTE!! If you have QEMM 6 or newer, and are using Stealth, some chipsets
may not be detectable if the ROM is overlayed by High RAM. It should be
detectable if it is under the Page Frame.
INFOPLUS will attempt to determine your display adapter type (CGA, EGA,
etcc.) For a VGA, it will then attempt to determine the type of video
chipset used. Depending on what's found, you may get extra information
telling about the type of display and version of chipset used.
Font and address show the various fonts that are available. CGA systems
will have only 1, whereas VGA's typically have 8.
For an EGA or VGA, you get information on the type of display, the amount
of memory (NOTE: INFOPLUS is not capable of getting the amount of memory
on some VGA chipsets. It will therefore use a standard VGA call, which
typically returns 256K for compatibility reasons.)
$END
This page gives information about the type of keyboard and mouse you
have.
Keyboard: INFOPLUS checks if you have an enhanced (12 function key)
keyboard, and if your computer supports it. It also shows the
current state of the various lock keys.
The buffer holds keystrokes you type ahead. The standard buffer
holds 15 keys (each key takes 2 bytes.) Many buffer extenders
hook the keyboard at a lower level, and therefore won't show up
in the buffer size count.
Internal modem/serial printer: This lets you know if an equipment word bit
is set. This is typically only used in the
PCjr.
Game port: INFOPLUS checks for a game port, and also tells you if the
equipment word reports one.
Mouse: If you have a mouse and a Microsoft or compatible driver, you will
get information about your mouse.
Mickeys are a measurement of mouse movement. The numbers shown are
the number of 'mickeys' needed to move the cursor one pixel (or
spot) on the screen.
MDD stands for 'Mouse Display Driver'. A mouse driver will often
have many display drivers built in. Others can be linked on newer
versions.
$END
This page gives information on the printer and serial ports, along with
various sound cards.
Up to 3 printer ports will be shown. The ports are found in a special
table in the BIOS data area. The Busy, ACK, Paper out, Selected, I/O
error, and Timed out values are what the printer is reporting. If you set
your printer off-line, and re-display the page, the Selected line should
change.
Up to 4 serial ports will be shown. The port addresses are found in a
special table in the BIOS data area.
The interface between the serial device and the computer is called a UART
(Univeral Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter.) There are several types
typcially used in a PC. The 8250 is usually found in PC/XT's, and internal
modems. The 16450 typically in AT/386/486's.
A newer type is the 16550. There are several versions. The most common
is the 16550A/16550AN/16550AFN. These versions contain a 16 byte buffer
that lets incoming data build up before the computer must read it.
If a program (such as Desqview) has set the port to 0, then INFOPLUS has
been denied access to it. This is often done to prevent programs from
interfering with each other.
INFOPLUS can detect several sound cards, including the Adlib, Sound
Blaster, Roland MPU-401, and Gravis UltraSound.
The Adlib is used by many games, and is cloned by the Sound Blaster. It
offers several sound and rhythm voices for music and games. There is also
a special SOUND.COM driver that offers an interface to play music.
INFOPLUS checks to see if this driver is loaded.
The Sound Blaster, in addition to it's AdLib capabilities, also has a
digital channel and stereo capabilities. The port shown if found is the
one used to access the digital capabilities, and is selectable by a jumper
on the card.
The Roland MPU-401 is actually a MIDI controller.
The Gravis UltraSound uses true digital synthesis to generate sound. It
has on-board memory (up to 1024K) to hold instrument samples. It can
emulate an AdLib or SoundBlaster through software adapters. INFOPLUS will
display it's base port, and the amount of memory on the card.
$END
On this page, you will get ALOT of general information about DOS.
DOS version: Your current version. If DR DOS is detected, you also see it's
version.
INFOPLUS will display the OS/2 version number if you are running
it in a Compatibility box.
Under DOS 5, if you have tried to use the SETVER command to
change the version of DOS that INFOPLUS normally looks for,
you will be told what it was changed to. (INFOPLUS knows how
to find the true DOS version, bypassing SETVER.) INFOPLUS will
also tell you the revision letter of DOS 5, whether or not it
is using the HMA, and whether or not it is based in ROM.
OEM serial number: Some versions of DOS support a number.
System date/time: The current date and time as given by DOS. It is shown
in the format of your current country settings.
Command load paragraph: The memory segment where programs are loaded. The
lower this number is, the more memory you have
available.
Ctrl-C check: This is the setting of the BREAK command. When OFF, you can
stop a DOS command only when it is writing to the screen.
When ON, you can stop it during copies and disk reads.
Disk verify: This is the setting of the VERIFY command. When ON, DOS will
attempt to re-read any data written to disk. It only checks if
it can read it. It does NOT compare what it reads back with
what it wrote.
Switch prefix character: For DOS commands (and some programs) this is the
character you use to let a program know that it is
being given a command (like /H). Many programs are
hard coded to use the '/' character. Many Unix
users prefer using '-'. When the prefix is set to
'-', you can use '/' in paths, instead of '\'.
Starting with DOS 5, this character is set to '/',
and cannot be changed.
\DEV\ prefix: When you access devices such as PRN or LPT1, you can also use
\DEV\PRN. This was probably to make it work similar to Unix.
Reset boot: This is a flag in the BIOS data area that lets the computer
know what to do when you hit CTL-ALT-DEL.
Boot disk: The drive used to boot the computer. This is shown only for DOS
4 or newer.
DOS flags: This is the memory address for special flags that let TSR's and
similar know when it is safe to make a DOS call while another
program is active.
Printer echo: This is toggled by typing Ctl-P, or Ctl-PrtScr. When on, any
text output by DOS will be echoed to the printer.
PrtSc status: This lets you know if Shift-PrtScr is available, and if the
last attempt was successfull.
Memory allocation: When a program is loaded, it can request blocks of
memory from DOS.
There are 3 ways DOS will look for one:
First fit: Start at the bottom of memory, and search
forward until it finds one that is big enough
or larger that what's requested.
Best fit: Search through all available blocks, and find
the one closest to the size requested.
Last fit: Start at the top of memory, and search
backward until it finds one that is big
enough or larger than what's requested.
The default is First fit, and outside of a running
program, any other settings can confuse DOS.
WIth the introduction of DOS 5, there are several
additional ways DOS will look for free memory. The new
ways involve searching the Upper Memory Blocks in
addition to conventional memory.
Buffers: These are the amount of BUFFERS allocated in CONFIG.SYS (or
defaulted to by DOS.)
DOS 4 also supports up to 8 read-ahead buffers. When a disk is
being read, and the sector being read is immediately after the
one previously read, DOS will read up to 8 sectors immediatlely.
That way, if they are needed, they will come from the read-ahead
buffer, instead of the disk.
DOS 4 also supports placing it's buffers in EMS memory. If so, it
will round the count UP to the next multiple of 30 (30 buffers
fit in each 16K EMS page.) If EMS is being used, INFOPLUS will
tell you which EMS handle is being used. DOS 5 does NOT support
the placing of buffers in EMS memory.
If DOS 5 is loaded high, the buffers will be placed in the HMA,
unless too many are specified. In that case, it uses conventional
memory.
File handles: Most current programs access files using what's called
'handles'. This is set by the FILES statement in your
CONFIG.SYS. Every program will have 5 of them used. These
are for CON, error device (always the screen,) PRN, AUX
(COM1), and NUL. There is a second 'screen' that gives
detailed information about currently open files.
File Control Blocks: An older method of access files used special blocks.
These methods were superceeded by handles, although a
few special functions still require using FCBs. The
default by DOS is FCBS=4,0 and typically never needs
changing.
Under DOS 4, FCBs can be dangerous. If a disk drive
partition is larger than 32 Megabytes, some of the
values in the block can 'roll over' at the 32M mark.
This can cause data to write in the wrong place! To
prevent disaster, DOS 4 will attempt to load
SHARE.EXE. SHARE translates FCBs into handles. It also
increases the number of FCBs to 16,8. You can regain
some memory by specifying FCBS=4,1 in your CONFIG.SYS.
This prevents SHARE from increasing the size.
DOS 5 has full support for large disks built-in. DOS 5
does NOT support the second parameter of FCBS= (the
protected FCB parameter.)
Stacks: When an interrupt occurrs, DOS will select a stack that is used to
temporarily store data. This can sometimes cause problems with
programs. There are two values, the number of stacks, and the size.
If no STACKS=x,y is found in CONFIG.SYS, DOS will use 0,0 for a
PC/XT, and 9,128 for all others. You can regain memory by
specifying 0,0. This tells DOS to use the current program stack to
hold data. Some disk caches recommend using STACKS=x,128, where x
is the number of sectors per track of your hard disk.
UMBs: Under DOS 5, Upper Memory Blocks (memory between 640K and 1M) can
be part of the memory allocation chain.
International information: This reports on various settings that programs
can use. This allows programs to display data
in a format that users in many countries are
used to seeing.
The second 'page' of page 9 displays the locations of your file handle
tables. Each table can hold information on several handles. The total
sizes of all tables should add up to the FILES= setting in your CONFIG.SYS.
If you don't specify one, DOS picks a default. Also, under Windows 3 in
enhanced mode, each window can have some private handles of it's own. The
amount is set using the PerVMFILES= entry in SYSTEM.INI, under the [386enh]
section. The default is 10. (If you have FILES=30, you will see 40 files
under Windows.)
Under each table entry is a listing of any open files in that table.
Information is displayed for each one giving which modes it was opened
with, date and time last modified, current size, and owners PSP. You can
use the PSP listing on page 4 to see which program has opened the file.
Most of the time, you will only see 3 files open (CON, AUX, and PRN).
These are the standard DOS devices. You will usually only see other files
if they are being held open by TSR's, or you have shelled out of another
program that didn't close it's files.
Under multitaskers such as Windows or Desqview, you can see most of the
open files. (Under Windows 3 enhanced, each window can have files that are
exclusive to it. You won't see those.) The owner PSP you see may not be
displayed on page 4 if the owner is running in another window.
$END
This page gives you information about various programs that are typcially
loaded into memory.
Some memory resident programs use a special interrupt to communicate with
other programs. By giving a special 'signature' with the command, many
programs can share this one interrupt.
DOS: Checks if DOS is readable!
DRIVER.SYS: This is used to add in extra floppies, or to redefine a drive
that is not normally supported. Also, DOS 4 and 5 support
some of it's functions, and will always display as yes.
DISPLAY.SYS: This is used when non-US display characters are needed.
ANSI.SYS: This lets you display color, control the cursor, and
re-define keys.
This check is supported by DOS 4 and newer ANSI.SYS, and the
5/91 (or newer) version of NNANSI. Other versions will
probably not be detected.
EGA.SYS: This is used by Windows 3 and some mouse drivers. Some of the
registers used to control the EGA are WRITE ONLY. EGA.SYS is
an interface that lets programs keep track of things easier.
PRINT: This is DOS's program that will send a file to the printer
while running in the background. If PRINT is found, INFOPLUS
will display information about it on the right side of the
screen.
ASSIGN: ASSIGN lets you redefine drive letters. ASSIGN A=B B=A will
reverse the drive letters used by your floppies. ASSIGN by
itself cancels all redefinitions.
SHARE: This is used to control access to files in network and
multi-tasking environments. Under DOS 4, it also prevents
problems when FCBs are used on large partitions.
Windows and OS/2 DOS sessions have SHARE support built-in.
NLSFUNC: This is used when non-US displays and keyboards are wanted.
Windows has NLSFUNC support built-in.
GRAFTABL: The CGA lets you redefine the upper 128 ASCII characters in
graphics mode. GRAFTABL loads the normal high-ASCII
characters for display. There are two entries, one for DOS 4
and older, the other for DOS 5 and newer.
NETBIOS: These are interfaces for networks.
SHELLB: This is part of DOS 4's DOSSHELL program.
XMA2EMS: This is a program for PS/2's that convert extended memory to
EMS memory.
APPEND: Append lets you specify a PATH that is used when a program
attempts to open a file. It works similar to the PATH command
used at the DOS prompt. If found, extra information will be
displayed on the right side of the screen.
GRAPHICS.COM: This is a DOS program that lets the PrtScrn key print
graphics screen.
Crit.err.handlr: When a critical error occurs, it's possible to have a
special TSR handle things.
CDROM: Some CDROM's use this interface.
Network: This is supposed to be a generic Network information call.
DOSKEY: This is the command line editor for DOS 5.
DOS Extender: This is a new standardized check for DOS extenders. DOS
extenders allow programs to run in protected mode, accessing
more than 1M of memory.
SETVER list: SETVER is a DOS 5 command that allows you to change the
version of DOS that a program sees. There are many programs
already set in the default configuration. You must re-boot
DOS to put any changes into effect.
$END
This page displays information abot the environment space.
The environment space is used to hold information for programs to use. It
is controlled by using the DOS command SET.
Some commonly used variables:
COMSPEC: This is the program that controls the DOS prompt. It is also used
when you 'Shell to DOS' from programs.
PATH: These are the directories DOS will search when you type a command
it doesn't internally know. It first searches the current
directory, then all of the ones listed on the PATH. It tries each
directory by looking for a file with a .COM, .EXE, or .BAT
extention, in that order.
PROMPT: This is used to display the prompt.
TEMP: Used by many programs and DOS 5. Should point to a directory or,
more commonly, a RAMDISK, and is used by programs for temporary
storage.
Many programs use environment variables to hold information, such as
where their startup files are, and startup commands. INFOPLUS supports an
environment variable. If used, it contains the directory where INFOPLUS's
INFOPLUS.HLP file is located. If the .HLP file is in the same directory as
INFOPLUS.EXE, then you don't really need the environment variable.
$END
This page lists all the device drivers in use. Some are internal to DOS,
and others are loaded with DEVICE= lines in CONFIG.SYS.
The information shown is:
Device: The name of the driver, if given.
Units: For a block device, the number of units inside of it.
Header: The address where the driver resides.
Attributes: There are 16 bits that define what the driver does. Numbering
left to right, with left being 15:
15: 1 = character device, 0 = block device
14: 1 if IOCTL (special commands) are supported
13: if a block device, then 1 means to use the boot sector to
get information, 0 to use media ID byte.
if a character device, then 1 means you can output till
busy
12: unused (0)
11: 1 if open/close/removable media is supported
10: unused (0)
09: unused (0)
08: unused (0)
07: unused (0)
06: 1 if generic IOCTL and get/set logical drive supported
05: unused (0)
04: 1 if the CON device, and fast output (Int 29h) supported
03: 1 if the CLOCK$ device
02: 1 if the NUL device
01: if a block device, then 1 means 32-bit sectors supported
if a character device, then 1 means it is standard output
00: 1 if device is standard input
Strategy: This is the address used to setup a call.
Interrupt: The address called to execute a command.
Some common driver names:
EMMXXXX0: an EMS driver
XMMXXXX0: an XMS driver
\MMXXXX0: EMS driver disabled under Windows 3 (which supplies its own.)
SMARTAAR: Disk cache (older versions of SmartDrive)
SETVERXX: SETVER.EXE
If no name is given, but there is a number under Units, then that is
typically a disk or RAMdrive driver.
$END
This page gives various information about the current drive, as given by
DOS.
LASTDRIVE is the letter typically given as the LASTDRIVE= command from
your CONFIG.SYS. The default is E, unless you have more than 5 drives
defined, including floppies (a single floppy counts as 2), hard drives
(each partition is one letter), special drivers (such as Stacker or
Diskreet), and RAMdisks. Specifying extra letters allows you to use the
SUBST command effectively.
Logical drives are real drives, those created by the SUBST command, and
those created by special drivers.
The settings shown for the Diskette drives is for the last used floppy.
If a floppy has not been used since the last reboot, the data shown may not
be valid.
For the current drive, the drive type may not always be correct. There is
no standard way of telling if a drive is actually a RAMdisk or similar.
A door lock is used by high density drives to let DOS know if a floppy
has been removed. Some removable hard drives may also use this.
JOIN lets a drive act as if it was a subdirectory of another disk.
SUBST lets a subdirectory act as if it was a separate drive.
A cluster is what DOS uses to keep track of data on the disk. A cluster
consists of several actual sectors of data. A standard hard disk will have
4 sectors in each cluster (2K of data.)
$END
This page gives information about floppies and hard disks as given by the
computer's BIOS.
Floppies are numbered from 0 to 127, and hard drives from 128 to 255. A
PC/XT or clone may not give any information for floppies here. Most of the
information is self explanatory. There may appear to be more hard drives
shown than there actually is. This is normal. Many BIOS's support several
drives, and unused ones will have garbage data displayed.
$END
This page displays information about your hard disk's partition table.
The partition table is used by DOS on startup so that it knows where the
information is. It also keeps track of multiple partitions on a single hard
disk.
INFOPLUS will only display the first 4 partitions, since more than 4 is
not standardized.
INFOPLUS currently does not display logical drives in an extended
partition.
Some system ID numbers are duplicated by different operating systems.
I've tried to pick the most common one to use as a name.
$END
This page gives low-level information about your current drive, and all
real drives in your system.
INFOPLUS will read the boot sector of the current drive. This gives
information about that drive:
Media: The type of drive (RAMdisks may show up as anything.)
Sectors/cluster: The number of sectors that make up a cluster, the unit
that DOS allocates disk space in.
Bytes/sector: How big those sectors are.
Reserved sectors: How many sectors are set aside for special use.
FATs: File Allocation Tables. DOS uses these tables to keep track of which
clusters are currently in use, free, or bad. Most disks have 2.
Sectors/FAT: How many sectors are needed to hold all the FAT information
for each copy of the FAT.
Root directory entries: How many files can be put in the root directory of
the disk. Hard drives usually have 512.
Heads: How many read/write heads are on the disk.
Total sectors: The number of sectors on the drive.
Sectors/track: How many sectors are are on a track. In other words, the
number of pie wedges.
OEM name: A string that is usually in the boot record. Tells which version
of DOS formatted the disk.
Extended boot record: DOS 4 and newer supports an extended record that
contains the volume lable, the serial number, and a
FAT type string.
For each physical drive in the system, you can
on all the drives. Most of the information is the same as the above, with
some extra information:
DPB valid: This lets you know if this information is any good.
Device header: The address of the driver for this disk.
Root directory sector: The sector where the root directory begins.
$END
This page displays standard information found in AT/386/486 computers's
CMOS memory.
The CMOS is a small amount of memory that is used by many computers to
hold important information. It also is the clock/calender used to set the
time/date on bootup.
Most of the information is self-explanatory. You can change this
information by using your computer's SETUP program or special keystroke
combination.
Some computers automatically set the math co-processor bit themselves, or
may even use it for something else. It's not uncommon for this to be wrong.
NOTE!! 386 based PS/2's appear to have a non-standard format. Ignore
erroneous information and 'bad checksum' message.
$END
Resident programs and drivers: Some programs let you detect and get
information from them.
4DOS: A shareware program that replaces COMMAND.COM. It offers many
enhancements and reduced memory requirements. 4DOS 4.01 reports
itself as 4.00.
KSTACK.COM: Part of 4DOS 4.0 and newer. A utility to fake keystrokes.
NDOS: A licensed version of 4DOS that is part of Norton Utilities 6.
WildUnix: A resident program that lets you use things like DEL *X.* to
delete any filename ending in X. (DOS would delete everything!)
ANARKEY: A program that lets you re-define the keyboard.
DOS/16M: A protected mode interface that lets DOS programs access more than
1Meg of memory on AT's and 386/486s. Used by many major
programs.
Phar Lap DOS Extender: Similar to DOS/16M.
QEMM: Quarterdeck's memory manager.
Manifest: A system analyzer by Quarterdeck. It has a resident mode that
let's you get information while a program is running.
VIDRAM: A program by Quarterdeck that lets you use some of the EGA/VGA
display memory for DOS. This comes at the expense of graphics
modes, (CGA graphics allowed if NOEGA specified.)
386^MAX: A memory manager by Qualitas.
MICEMM: Micronics Memory Manager. Comes with many computers that use the
Micronics motherboard. Gateway 2000 is a big customer.
NOTE: I have version 4F, and the detection does NOT work.
EMM386: Microsoft's memory manager. Comes as part of DOS or Windows. OK
for being 'FREE', but it isn't very efficient. It slows computer
performance much more than QEMM or 386^Max. EMM386 must be
providing EMS memory for it to be found.
VDS: Virtual DMA Specification is a controlled way for programs to transfer
memory to and from some hardware devices. SCSI controllers are one
example that need to use VDS under memory managers or Windows.
Desqview: Quarterdeck's multi-tasking program. If found, information about
available memory and screen modes/size is given.
DOS task switcher: DOS 5 & 6's DOSSHELL has a task switching option. You can
can run several programs at once, but only one at a
time. It is swapped in and out of memory. The switcher
also is detected as Windows in real/standard mode.
DRDOS TaskMax: A task switcher that comes with DR-DOS 6. It's equivalent to
DOS 5's DOSSHELL.
TAME: A shareware program that monitors DOS programs when running under
multi-tasking programs. If a program is doing nothing, it forces the
program to give up it's time slice, giving more to other programs.
Windows: This is the program by Microsoft. When version 3.x is in enhanced
mode, alot of extra information is given. The number of colors
given is what Windows itself it using. You'll typically see either
16 or 20. To find out the real number of colors, you need to look
at the bits/pixel and bit planes numbers.
Norton NCACHE: Disk Cache. Part of Nortons version 5 or newer.
Norton Diskreet: An encoded/secure 'drive'. Part of Nortons version 5 or
newer.
Norton DiskMon: Monitors disk activity. Part of Nortons version 5 or newer.
Norton FileSave/EraseProtect: Places deleted files in a safe place. Part of
Nortons version 5 or newer.
F-PROT: F-PROT is a shareware package of programs by Fridrik Skulason used
to protect a computer from viruses.
TBScanX: A resident virus scanner. Usable by other programs to check
themselves.
Flu_Shot+: A commerical virus protection program.
CAM-SCSI: A SCSI interface standard.
CMC Int. SCSI driver: A SCSI driver.
SMARTDRV: Microsoft's disk cache. Some other cache programs may also use
this interface.
If you use Super PCKwik's PCKWIN.SYS program, the IOCTL read will
fail under DOS, but work under Windows 3 enhanced.
Norton's NCACHE will show up here, as it emulates SMARTDRV 3.x's
interface.
HyperDisk: A shareware disk cache program. The Internal Data Version number
is not the same as the program version number.
Stacker: A program that automatically compresses data, pretending it's
a disk drive.
DBLSPACE: A part of DOS 6 that let's you create a new 'drive' that contains
your data, but compresses it.
pcAnywhere: A program that lets you operate a computer via the serial port.
Disk Spool II: A printer spooling program.
Microsoft/LANtastic: The network programs.
PC/TCP: A packet driver interface standard.
Inset: A program that integrates text and graphics.
Microsoft CD-ROM extensions: A standard for accessing CD-ROMs under DOS.
Fossil: A TSR or device driver for using the serial ports. Many BBS
programs use them.
Video Fossil: An extension of Fossil for working with video.
Advanced Power Management Spec.: Used for checking and controlling the
power usage of many laptops and portables.
Norton Guides: A TSR that pops up screens of information related to various
programs.
After Dark for DOS: A screen blanker that comes with After Dark for
Windows.
$END
This page displays programs that use the Alternate Multiplex Interrupt.
The Alternate Multiplex Interrupt is a standard created by Ralf Brown as
an alternative to the older Int 2Fh Multiplex. The AMI uses Int 2Dh
instead.
Programs chain into the interrupt looking for a 'signature' byte to be
passed in one or more CPU registers. If they are correct, a resident
program can act on it. If not, it's supposed to continue and call the
program that was previously in the chain. Unfortunately, no real standard
was set up, and with only 255 values possible, conflicts often happen.
Even worse, with more and more programs hooking into the interrupt,
execution speed could be seriously affected.
Ralf Brown (who oversees the Interrupt Listing, and is the author of
several PD/shareware programs) created this alternate format with strict
controls in mind. Programs are required to search for a free signature
byte, and some commands are standardized. Also, some data structures are
standardized to make detection and information gathering easier.
Some programs now use the Multiplex interrupt only for detection, and
return an address to call to actually do anything. The AMI also
standardizes this.
There aren't too many programs using the AMI yet. Most are currently
PD/Shareware programs.
$END
This page display extra information for some Memory Managers.
Currently, only QEMM 4.23 or newer is supported on this page.
For QEMM:
The first few lines display pretty much the same information as found on
page 18. You get the version number, the current mode, the address of the
API entry point (needed to find all this information) and the current
Stealth information (QEMM 6 or newer.)
The next section displays the types of memory that QEMM found when it
started. (NOTE on Top Memory: Some computers place the 384K of RAM that
would be in the ROM address space at the top of the 16M address. The BIOS
can optionally 'swap' some of this memory down and use it for shadowing.
You are better off turning BIOS shadowing off, and letting QEMM use all of
it.)
The next section displays what QEMM is using the memory for. The numbers
shown should be similar to what you see with Manifest, but may differ
slightly. Manifest rounds it's numbers to the nearest K, and calculates
totals in K, and not bytes. The 'Unassigned' value may differ by up to 1K
(1024 bytes.) Infoplus is simply more accurate.
After hitting
out all of the memory in a 16x16 grid. Each 'point' represents a 4K page of
memory. This is the smallest amount of memory that the 386 can remap. The
entries are similar to Manifest, but is 'upside-down' in comparison. Also,
the Memory type and Memory Access information is displayed together.
Stealth information details which addresses are Stealthed.
$END
This page lets you know how you can contact me.
If you have any questions, bug reports, or suggestions, I can be
reached at the following places:
Internet : [email protected]
Unix : uunet!infopls!andyross
CompuServe : >INTERNET:[email protected]
Infoplus BBS : (708)537-0247 (14400/9600/2400/1200 v32bis/v42bis/MNP)
This is my own BBS. You can always get the latest version here. Just log
in as INFOPLUS, and follow the instructions on screen.
RCS Defender : (708)390-6603 (2400/1200, 2 lines)
: (708)390-9662 (14400/9600/2400/1200 v32bis/v42bis/MNP)
Beacon : (708)615-0845 (2400/1200)
This version of INFOPLUS was compiled using the following equipment:
Hardware:
Gateway 2000 386/25 (Micronics ASIC motherboard w/ 64K cache)
4 Meg RAM
Microscience 110M ESDI, 3.5" HH
Ultrastor 12F ESDI controller w/ 32K cache
ATI VGA Wonder XL w/ 1M RAM
ProAudio Spectrum 16
Software:
MS-DOS 5.00
QEMM 6.00
4DOS 4.01
Super PC-Kwik 5.00
Turbo Pascal 6.0
Turbo Assembler 2.0
Turbo Debugger 2.0
KEDIT 4.00D2
Windows 3.10
Desqview 2.40
My primary sources of ideas in INFOPLUS were Ray Duncans "Advanced MS-DOS"
and Terry Dettman's "DOS Programmer's Reference." The ideas of Prakash
Chandra,Terje Mathisen,Bob Smith, and others appear in various places. Also
James Howard, John Levine, Mark Aitchison, Jay Caplan, David Tay, Heribert
Eisele, Matthias Heidbrink.
Some of the techniques INFOPLUS uses are not documented or officially
supported by either IBM or Microsoft. Where possible I have followed the
undocumented routine with a comment describing my source for the technique.
Much of the additional info came from Ray Duncan's "Advanced MSDOS
Programming" second edition (a must get book for anyone interested in
low-level stuff.) Also, additional information on the DOS 4 boot sector
format came from "The Norton Troubleshooter." A book that comes with The
Norton Utilities 4.5.
Even more information comes from Ralf Brown's interrupt list, which lists
hundreds of goodies. It's available via BBS's, and resides on SIMTEL20 and
many other public access UNIX sites. It's also available on the Infoplus
BBS. The name is INTERxxy.ZIP, where xx is the version, and y is the part
letter. (This version of Infoplus used INTER28.)
Additional information on XMS and DPMI came from the book 'Extending DOS'
by Ray Duncan (and others.)
Information on additional partition values came from numerous people of
which I never wrote down their names!!
Information on detecting VGA chipsets came from "Advanced Programmer's
Guide to Super VGAs" by George Sutty and Steve Blair. Published by Brady.
(NOTE! Beware of bugs in the detection routines in the above book!!)
Some extra VGA chipset detection help came for the source code for
Fractint 16.11.
Information on reading the CMOS came from a program posted by Mark
Aitchison on USENET.
Information on detecting UART types came from David Tay and David Nugent
([email protected])
More information on VGA chipsets came from "Programmer's Guide to the EGA
and VGA Cards, Second Edition" by Richard F. Ferraro. Published by
Addison-Wesley.
Information about how dangerous it is to pass too many flags, and info
about OS/2 came from Heribert Eisele ([email protected])
How to detect the Tandy 1000, and some models digital sound, came from
Frank Durda IV ([email protected])
Information about a bug in the LONGCALL routine came from Michael Holin
(HIMH%[email protected]).
Information about problems with Trident VGA chipsets came from MANY
people.
Information on the UltraSound came from Tran of Renaissance and Josua
Jensen.
$END
Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!
This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.
But one thing that puzzles me is the “mtswslnkmcjklsdlsbdmMICROSOFT” string. There is an article about it here. It is definitely worth a read: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mtswslnk/