 ͻ
                                                                          
                   DOS 5.0 and Intel Inboard 386/PC                       
                                                                          
 ͼ

 DOS 5.0 INFO IN GENERAL

     DOS 5.0 (from Microsoft and IBM) both have been tested in systems
     equipped InBoard 386/PC and have been found to be compatible, with some
     limitations.  DOS 5.0 makes assumptions about the resources available
     to the mother board in systems with i386 CPUs.  One assumption is that
     any system with a i386 CPU must also have a 16bit data bus and all the
     supporting hardware that goes along with that size bus.  This
     assumption is incorrect in a system equipped with an InBoard 386/PC and
     is why utilities like EMM386.EXE do not work.

     For more information, please refer to: Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs), and
     High Memory Area (HMA), (FaxBACK docs 1158 and 1250 respectively.)

 EMM386.EXE INCOMPATIBLE WITH INBOARD 386/PC

     EMM386.EXE, the 386 control program that is provided with DOS 5.0,
     makes certain assumptions about all i386 family systems.  Because 386
     systems in general were based on AT, not PC, architecture, EMM386.EXE
     assumes that the system it is running on will have the BIOS support
     typical of an AT.  It also assumes the presence of a second
     programmable interrupt controller.

     For that reason, EMM386.EXE will not run on Inboard 386/PC equipped
     systems.  It is not an incompatibility with the Inboard, as much as it
     is an incompatibility with the base PC or XT type system.  To get equal
     memory management, we recommend Inboard 386/PC owners try either
     QEMM386 or 386MAX. Either of these provide the same EMS services, UMB
     support and High Memory Area (HMA) support that EMM386.EXE does,
     without the need to run HIMEM.SYS.  These programs actually use less
     RAM than the EMM386/HIMEM combination.

 HIMEM.SYS AND THE INBOARD 386/PC

     HIMEM.SYS from both Microsoft and IBM DOS 5.0 is fully compatible with
     the Inboard 386/PC. The command line for the Inboard 386/PC device
     driver must come before the command line for HIMEM.SYS in the
     CONFIG.SYS.

 DOS 5 MEM UTILITY AND THE INBOARD 386/PC

     The DOS 5 MEM utility does not always accurately report the memory
     configurations in systems equipped with an Inboard 386/PC. The most
     common error is the MEM utility reporting only the amount of
     Conventional memory and not the amount of Extended, XMS or EMS memory.
     The Inboard 386/PC sign on screen accurately shows the amount of
     Extended memory for the system.

 ICACHE AND DOS 5.0

     ICACHE, the disk cache provided with Inboard products, should not be
     run with SMARTDRV, or with any other disk cache. Double caching can
     cause data loss on the hard disk.  ICACHE is also not compatible with
     the large partitions (over 32 megabytes) supported by DOS 5.0.  In
     general, if the DOS 5.0 user wants to use a disk cache, they are better
     off using SMARTDRV, which is compatible with Inboards.

     SMARTDRV.SYS is the disk caching utility supplied with DOS 5.0 and is
     compatible with the Inboard 386/PC so long as it is not loaded into the
     UMB area by a Memory Managment utility.

     ICACHE will not load when the DOS=HIGH parameter is in the CONFIG.SYS.
     ICACHE will give the error "NOT ENOUGH MEMORY TO LOAD". Removing the
     DOS=HIGH parameter fixes this problem, but then DOS loads into
     Conventional memory (taking up about 47K).

 DOS 5.0 AND INBOARD 386

     DOS 5.0 and Intel Inboard 386 Products

     DOS 5.0 appears to be fully compatible with both the Inboard 386/PC and
     Inboard 386,  with the exception of the combination of Inboard 386/PC
     and EMM386.EXE.

     DOS 5.0 is the first DOS version to make significant use of extended
     memory.  It also supports the management of Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs)
     by DOS.  The Inboard has a direct affect on accessing these features of
     DOS 5.0.

     EMM386.EXE Incompatible with Inboard 386/PC

         EMM386.EXE, the 386 control program that is provided with DOS 5.0,
         makes certain assumptions about all i386 family systems.  Because
         386 systems in general were based on AT, not PC, architecture,
         EMM386.EXE assumes that the system it is running on will have the
         BIOS support typical of an AT.  It also assumes the presence of a
         second programmable interrupt controller.

         For that reason, EMM386.EXE will not run on Inboard 386/PC equipped
         systems.  It is not an incompatibility with the Inboard, as much as
         it is an incompatibility with the base PC or XT type system.  To
         get equal memory management, we recommend Inboard 386/PC owners try
         either QEMM386 or 386MAX. Either of these provide the same EMS
         services, UMB support and High Memory Area (HMA) support that
         EMM386.EXE does, without the need to run HIMEM.SYS.  These programs
         actually use less RAM than  the EMM386/HIMEM combination.

 HIMEM.SYS COMPATIBLE WITH BOTH INBOARDS

         HIMEM.SYS is compatible with both Inboard 386/PC and Inboard
         386/AT. In both cases, the Inboard driver (either INBRDPC.SYS or
         INBRDAT.SYS) should be loaded before HIMEM.SYS.  Generally the
         Inboard driver should load before any other drivers in the system.
         Inboard 386/PC systems have very little problem with HIMEM.SYS,
         since the Inboard provides the A20 gating services that HIMEM
         needs.

         Inboard AT installations in some non-IBM machines may experience
         problems with HIMEM if the system provides non-standard A20 gating
         services.  Please check the README file that comes with DOS 5.0
         regarding HIMEM.SYS switches, or refer to the computer
         manufacturer.

     ILIM386.SYS and EMM386.EXE are both 80386 control programs, and are not
     mutually compatible.  If you are running EMM386.EXE, or any other 80386
     control program, you should not also try to run ILIM386.SYS.

     ICACHE, the disk cache provided with Inboard products, should not be
     run with SMARTDRV, or with any other disk cache. Double caching can
     cause data loss on the hard disk.  ICACHE is also not compatible with
     the large partitions (over 32 megabytes) supported by DOS 5.0.  In
     general, if the DOS 5.0 user wants to use a disk cache, they are better
     off using SMARTDRV, which is compatible with Inboards.

     DOS 5.0, and Inboard 386/PC Windows 3.0

         Inboard 386/PC users who are running the Inboard 386/PC specific
         version of Windows 3.0 should use the version of HIMEM and SMARTDRV
         that are provided with DOS 5.0, not those that shipped with
         Windows.  If you are using QEMM386.SYS, you should be running
         version 5.11 or 5.12, if you are running 386MAX, you should be
         running version 5.1 with a file date of 1/10/91 or later.  With
         either 386MAX or QEMM386 do not run HIMEM.SYS.

     For more information, please refer to:
                    Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs)     FaxBACK doc 1158
                    High Memory Area (HMA)         FaxBACK doc 1250



End of file                 Intel FaxBack # 2650          June 25,1992
