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                  ISA Bus: Software Compatibility: DOS 5.0                 
                                                                           
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DOS 5.0 AND ABOVE BOARDS (CLASSIC BUS)

  Above Boards all work well with DOS 5.0, appearing to have no
  compatibility problems.  However, there are some issues to be considered:

      If you are using EMM.SYS and HIMEM.SYS, EMM.SYS should come before
       HIMEM.SYS.  Generally EMM.SYS should be the first driver in your
       config.sys file.  EMM.SYS must come before HIMEM.SYS when both are
       present, because of the way HIMEM.SYS manages INT15.

      Please use the latest version of our software, both the
       drivers and utilities, such as installation software.  This
       software is available on our BBS and Compuserve, or you can
       call and request that a disk be sent to you.  If you must use
       EMM 3.2, you will need to add the E parameter to your EMM.SYS
       line.  NOTE: THIS MEANS THE ABOVEBOARD MUST NOT PROVIDE ANY
       EXTENDED MEMORY.

      In general, installation programs for hardware and software should
       be run on a "clean" system - that is, one that has been booted
       from a DOS diskette without lots of drivers and TSRs loaded into
       memory.  Disk caches in particular (such as SMARTDRV) can cause
       the loss of data when some installation programs are run.  Do not
       run the Above Board INSTALL program or the earlier SETUPAB while
       SMARTDRV is active.

      If your system is having problems with EXTENDED memory usage, and
       specifically with HIMEM.SYS, check the README file that came with
       DOS. The Above Board is fully compatible with HIMEM.SYS, but some
       system motherboards implement the A20 address gate in non-standard
       fashions and can either require special parameters on the
       HIMEM.SYS line, or be totally incompatible with HIMEM.SYS.

  DOS 5.0 is the first version of DOS to make significant use of EXTENDED
  memory, and to acknowledge Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs).  For that reason,
  both extended and expanded memory become an issue with DOS 5.0.

      If you are trying to use your Above Board to provide UMBs in an
       8086, 8088 or 80286 system, you will need to have either an Above
       Board Plus, an Above Board Plus 8, or an upgraded Above Board 286.
       In addition, you will need a UMB manager program such as QRAM or
       MOVE'M.  Also, UMBs can not be provided in any address space that
       is either being used by or reserved for other devices.

      The Above Board Plus can map the range from C000 to EFFF on PCs or
       XTs.  On ATs, the Above Board Plus will not map the E000 range,
       since the IBM AT has ROM sockets on the motherboard that decode at
       this range, and a hardware conflict would occur that could
       eventually damage either the motherboard or the Above Board.  In
       both PC/XT and AT systems, Above Boards will not map RAM into the
       A000-BFFF address range, as this range was reserved by IBM for
       video buffer.

  Above Boards that can provide DOS 5.0 (HIMEM) compatible extended
       memory in systems with a 286, i386, or i486 CPU:
       Above Board AT
       Above Board PS/AT
       Above Board 286 & PS/286
       Above Board Plus & Plus I/O
       Above Board Plus 8 & Plus 8 I/O

  Above Boards that can provide UMB support in conjunction with a UMB
       utility such as MOVE'M or QRAM:
       Above Board Plus or Plus I/O
       Above Board Plus 8 or Plus 8 I/O
       Above Board 286 or PS/286 with upgrage installed

  The Above Board PC, Above Board PS, Above Board AT and Above Board PS/AT
  can provide UMB support only if the user is willing to give up access to
  expanded memory.

  For more information, please refer to our articles on those two topics:
            
       Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs)  FaxBACK doc 1158
       High Memory Area (HMA)      FaxBACK doc 1250



End of file                 Intel FaxBack # 1156          December 2,1992
