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SHADOW TEST v1.0

shadow ram test utility


SHADOW TEST is a utility to determine if shadow ram is working.
It does this by calculating access times for main ram and for BIOS
memory. By comparing these two measurements, one can make a
reasonable assumption as to whether the shadow ram is enabled. If
shadow ram is working then access time for the BIOS area will be
less than or equal to the access time for main ram memory.
However, if shadow ram is disabled access time to BIOS memory will
be longer because wait states are inserted in the memory cycle to
accomodate the slower BIOS rom memory. SHADOW TEST does not test
the actual quality of the RAM because shadow ram is normally write
protected. SHADOW TEST will report the ratio of the access times,
thus you may overide the program's judgement with your own. The
program bases its decision depending on whether the ratio of BIOS
to MAIN access time is less than 106%.

Try running SHADOW TEST twice: once with shadow ram enabled and
once with it disabled. This will give you a bench mark. Save the
numbers for comparison should you ever suspect problems with your
shadow ram circuitry.