PC World Komputer 1995 November

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******************************************************************* * PC-CONFIG by M.Holin, PO-Box 1146, 38678 Clausthal, Germany * ******************************************************************* * * * THE ultimate System-Info und Benchmark-Program for MS-DOS! * * * ******************************************************************* * Telephone: +49(0)5323/3350 Fax:3380 * * E-MAIL: Z-Netz: M.HOLIN@mib.central.de * * UUCP: M.Holin@mib.central.de * * Fido: 2:2437/125.16 * ******************************************************************* * Scroll this text with the Cursor Keys or PAGE-UP / PAGE-DOWN * ******************************************************************* What can CONFIG do, that other programs cannot? ================================================= 1) Shows ISA, EISA, MCA, VLB and PCI Mainboards 2) Identify C&T, G2, OPTI, ELITE, SIS, ETEQ, UMC, Forex Chip Sets 3) Identify 386 & 486 processor caches and their size (8-256 KB) 4) Tell a DX from a SX CPU, identify RapidCAD, Cyrix486, Pentium 5) Identify VGA- card manufacturer, chip-set and BIOS version. * 6) Identify over 600 expansion cards in Microchannel (MCA) systems 7) Identify a variety of harddisk cache software 8) Show HI-DOS memory under DOS 5, 386MAX, QEMM386 and MOVE'EM 9) Find areas of memory of different speeds in the first megabyte and in extended memory 10) Test for hardware shadow-RAM for main and VGA BIOS. 11) Show the physical parameters of ESDI harddisks * 12) Identify SCSI HD-controllers and their manufacturers 13) Establish the rotational speed of the harddisk * 14) Display the name, cache size and contoller version IDE harddisks * 15) Identify the frame speed for VGA cards * Registered Version only! Copyright und License Agreement: ================================= CONFIG is (c) copyright Michael Holin PO BOX 1146 38678 Clausthal Germany The user of this software recognizes and accepts that this program and all rights thereto are protected by copyright and other rights of possession. The user gains none of these rights for himself through purchase or use of the program, but only the right to useage of the program not exclusive to himself. The program, parts of the program or the documentation thereof may not be copied, except for the purpose of a back up copy for safekeeping. The purchaser may use a single purchased copy only for his own purposes, and only on one computer at one time. It may be neither passed freely nor sold to third persons. Neither the program nor its documentation may be altered in any way, extended, changed for use on other systems, or translated into other languages without express written permission from the author. By using this program, the user accepts these conditions of license and use. Without the presence of the file CONFIG.REG in the same directory as CONFIG.EXE, the capabilities of the program are limited. Keep this file CONFIG.REG in a safe place, it will also be needed for future versions of CONFIG. Prices: ======= Private Version: Commercial Version: -------------------------------------------------- 55 DM or 29 US$ 165 DM or 100 US$ School students, students, schools, youth centres, charitable organisations and the like will be charged reduced price on production of appropriate proof. If you pay by check, please enter the equivalent amount of YOUR currency. You can also pay by credit card. See REGISTER.FRM for details! System Requirements: ==================== IBM PC,XT,AT or compatible with minimum 260 KB free RAM MS-DOS ver. 2.0, better ver 3.0 or higher CGA, MDA, EGA, VGA compatible graphics adapter Guarantee agreement: ==================== The program and instructions are handed over as seen, the author takes no responsibility for the suitability of the program for any particular purpose. In particular, the author takes no responsibility for damage or consequences directly or indirectly intentionally or unintentionally which may arise from use of the program or its documentation. The program, the Documentation and the prices are subject to change at any time. Files in this package: ====================== CONFIG.EXE - The program CONFIG.TXT - This text CONFIG.INI - The configuration file with switches. Changes can be made here with a text editor. CONFIG.FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions and their answers CONFIG.REG - Contains your name and your code! Please save this carefully and in your own interest do not let it be known. CONFIG.MCA - Contains information about Microchannel Cards. CONFIG.VGL - File with its own comparison list. Can be edited with an ASCII editor CONFIG.XXX - A hard copy of the monitor screen (made with F10). Brief Description: ================== PC-CONFIG is principally a program which can list the componenets of your computer without you having to touch a single screw to look inside While there are several of this kind of program (let's call them computer test or diagnostic programs) available on the international commercial market, you will certainly want to put PC-CONFIG on the short list. The main users of PC-CONFIG are professionionals and interested amateurs, who like to be informed over the hardware configuration of their computers, be it because they wish to make sure a computer really has what it claims to have before buying it, or because they change the hardware of their computers often and wish to confirm that everything runs properly together. The Window HARDWARE: ==================== Machine: At this point the computer BIOS is searched for possible clues as to the computer manufacturer (e.g. Commodore, Unitron....) and the computer is gererally classified (XT,AT,AT386). At the same time, particular chip-sets are tested for:- Chips & Technologies, G2-, OPTI, SIS, UMC, FOREX, ETEQ, ELITE, CONTAC, SHASTA (see also below: problems) BIOS: The copyright string found in the BIOS is displayed here. It may be that the BIOS copyright does not belong to the computer manufacturer. This is because many manufacturers use licensed versions of a BIOS. In this way, a Unitron computer for example has a Phoenix BIOS. BIOS-Date: This shows how old the BIOS-version is, und thus the age of the computer. Also checked is whether the BIOS (in computers built since 1987) is copied into shadow RAM. If BIOS calls run as quickly as normal RAM calls, it can be assumed that the BIOS has been copied into RAM. In the case of a 386er, shadow RAM is assumed if the call is 32 bits wide. BIOS-Extension: The address of any BIOS extension such as VGA-ROM or SCSI controller ROM is displayed Bus System: Displays whether the computer has a standard ISA (= Industry Standard Architecture) bus, an EISA (=extended ISA) bus, IBM's Microchannel Architecture (MCA), the popular VESA-Local-Bus, or Intels PCI Bus. Processor: The CPU is identified (88,86,188,186,286,386DX/SX,486DX/SX,Pentium, Cyrix486, RapidCAD,V20,V30). 80386 or 80486 processors are tested whether they are running in REAL or VIRTUAL mode (many memory managers such as 386MAX run the processor in virtual mode). The processor clock speed is displayed, together with the number of wait states on a memory access (8 and 16 bit CPUs only). RAM-Access: Tested here is whether the computer accesses memory:- a) in normal mode b) in Page-Mode, that is within a small page fast and outside a page slower (with waitstates). This makes possible the use of slower, cheaper RAMs at high clock frequencies. c) through a processor cache (80386 & 80486 only) Tries to destinguish between frist and second level cache of the cpu. Main Memory: Total amount of memory and amount of free memory. Extended Mem: Memory above 1 MB (only on ATs). The amount of extended memory still free is obtained from a XMS driver if used, otherwise through Int 15h. Expanded Mem: Expanded memory to LIM specification (in XTs oder ATs). This sort of memory extension can be used by many programs, and for this reason most memory managers for 386 computers change extended memory through software into expanded memory. In this case the amount of expanded memory is contained within the amount of extended memory. Graphics card 1: CGA, MGA, Hercules, EGA, and VGA video adapters are recognised. The BIOS of EGA and VGA cards are searched as above for a possible manufacturer's identity. VGA cards are tested, whether they allow 8 or 16 bit access. This is normally immediately reflected in the speed of the card. Thus even in the fastest IBM PS/2 models, the maximum video throughput is only 500kB/s, because of the 8 bit bus. A 16 bit bus card with a Tseng ET4000 chip reaches a throughput of over 2000kB/s. VGA Chip-set: CONFIG attempts to identify the chip-set of any Super VGA card which may be present. The following chip-sets can be recognised:- ATI, NCR, Trident, Video 7, Genoa, Paradise, Chips & Technologies, Above, OAK Technology, Tseng, ZyMOS, Cirrus, Ahead, Yamaha, S3. EGA/VGA-BIOS: Any further available information about the BIOS of the installed graphics card will be displayed here (only for ATI, TRIDENT, AHEAD, TSENG, GEMINI und some OAK cards). Graphics card 2: If an additional monochrome graphics card should be present, this will be displayed here Video mode: The active video mode number, plus the number of columns and lines. NPU: Intel 8087, 80287, 80387, IIT 80287, 80387 and software coprocessor emulators can be identified. Game card: CONFIG will attempt to identify any Joystick port which is present. Unfortunately the identification for game cards is not standardised and other computer test programs may come to different conclusions. Generally it can be assumed, if CONFIG says a game port is present, then one is definitely present. If CONFIG says no game port is present, then "probably" none is present. Floppy drives: The number and the type of floppy drives present. IO Ports: The number of parallel and serial ports installed. The Window HARDWARE 2: (registered version only) ====================== Here is checked whether the main BIOS can support an extended keyboard (i.e. with the extra F11 and F12 function keys), and whether such a keyboard is connected UART-Chips: Here is shown which type of chip is installed on the serial interface (8250, 16450, 16550, 16550A, 16552), and the current port settings. SCSI-Controller: The manufacturer of any installed SCSI adapter is shown, together with the start address for the controller ROM Modem connected: Whether a Hayes-compatible Modem is connected, and if so on which port. Some modems can only be recognised immediately after initialisation. If required, the switch INITMODEM in the CONFIG.INI should be set to ON Sound Cards: Soundblaster, Adlib and Roland cards are searched for. Should this test collide with other hardware (Network adaptors for example), it can be disabled in the CONFIG.INI. Soundboards with AZTECH chipset are recognized. CD-ROM: Whether a CD-ROM drive is connected, and which version of the driver is in use. IDE Harddisks: If present, the name, cache size and controller version of an IDE harddisk will be displayed. This test can however lead to problems with other types (non-IDE) of controller. In this case the switch ATBUSINFO should be set to OFF The Window SOFTWARE: ==================== DOS-Version: The current DOS version is displayed. DR-DOS should be recognised. In most cases the language version should also be displayed (english, german or french). For DOS 5 will be noted whether it is currently loaded into the HMA (high memory area). If DOS has been started from an OS/2 DOS-Box, this will also be recognised. Networks: Is an MS-NetBIOS compatible network installed? In this case the network name for the computer will be displayed. Novell networks will be recognised. Mouse present: Microsoft, Genius, Logitech, Agiler, Reis-Ware, Unitron, und Truedox Mouse drivers can be recognised. Many mouse suppliers these days try to achieve a very high compatibility to the Microsoft original, so their drivers may be recognised as Microsoft. Note: If a program which changes the mouse interrupt has been loaded after the mouse driver (e.g. a screen saver), the mouse driver cannot be recognised. Mouse Type: If the mouse driver supports the function 36, the type (serial, bus, inport, HP-mouse) of mouse and the driver version number can be displayed EMS Driver: The type of EMS supported by the driver, and if possible the supplier name (e.g. Compaq, Toshiba...) and the pageframe address. XMS Driver: The XMS version supported by the driver, and the internal version number of the driver. Sofware Disk-Cache: The following can be recognised: Norton-Cache (V5 & V6), Smartdrive, IBMCACHE, Compaq-Cache, QCACHE, HyperCache, PC-Cache. If problems should occur, the test for these programs can be disabled with the switch SkipHDCacheTest in the .INI file. Fossil-Driver: This is a software extension of the BIOS for the serial port. A driver of this kind can be essential for the use of a high speed modem and the software which is used with it. 4DOS: 4DOS, the shareware replacement for COMMAND.COM, and its version number will be identified if loaded, as will those for NDOS, a version from Peter Norton. RAM-Disk: The following RAM disk types can be recognised: VDISK (PC-DOS und DR-DOS), RAMDRIVE (MS-DOS), 386DISK (386MAX), XPANDISK, NJRAM-Disk, SRDisk, xDISK, TurboDisk Memory-Manager: The following can be recognised: Windows, DesqView, 386MAX, QEMM386, Move'em, EMM386 The Window BENCHMARK: ===================== Speed relative to IBM-PC: The CPU speed relative to the IBM-PC is measured with a loop made up of frequent machine instructions such as AND, MOV, NOT, SHR, and accessing different memory segments. This value depends directly on in the CPU type, clock speed and waitstates, and is useful as a measure of pure processing speed. The loop is small, and will fit completely in a CPU-cache, if present. The real meaning of such a value is therefore debatable. Dhrystones & Whetstones: These are well known benchmark test from the Unix world, and the versions here are implemented in Pascal. The results from the pascal and C versions are compiler-dependent and not necessarily directly comparable. The larger the resulting value the better. The test routines fit completely into an 8 kB CPU-cache. Dhrystones gives a measure of the integer processing power of the CPU, Whetstones measures the performance of the Math Co-Processor. Both test were changed frequently in the 70's and 80's and there are versions in many programming languages. The pascal versions used here are the same ones used by Norman Juffa in his test program CTEST257. The results are not however comparable with CTEST257, because Juffa used his own run-time library for his program. VideoRAM-Throughput, Scroll, VideoWaits: The Video RAM throughput describes roughly how many characters can be written directly to the screen. This value, and the time taken to scroll the screen 1 line up, depends mostly on the speed of the video adapter, but partly also on the processor speed. The number of Video-Waits is also dependent on the CPU speed, but serves mostly as a basis for comparison with other video cards. It is not to be taken as an absolute value. With a VGA card for example, very different values will be measured depending on the selected video mode. As a general rule though, the fewer waits, the faster the card! EMS-Speed: The time measured here is that to blend in 1 (!) EMS page in the page frame. The measured value is compared with the time that this task would take on a 16MHz NEAT computer (100%). Other types of hardware EMS reach values around 90-110%, 386 software EMS (e.g. 386MAX) come in at around 70%, and 286 EMS emulators about 2%-5%. RAM Disk Speed: A file is opened, written to the RAM Disk for 1 second, closed, reread, deleted and so on repeatedly. From this the throughput capability of the RAM disk is calculated. Run your RAM Disk first in Extended Memory then in Expanded Memory, and see the difference! The drive letter for the RAM Disk will be automatically recognised if possible, but can be specified in the .INI file if necessary. DOS-Disk-Speed: Here, a file is opened, written for 4 seconds to the disk, closed, reread, deleted and so on repeatedly. From this the throughput capability of this DOS Disk is calculated. The effect of caches can clearly be seen here. The drive to be tested can be specified in the .INI file! If no drive is specified here, the current drive will be tested. Harddisk Tests: The harddisk throughput is established by means of time taken to carry out absolute write-accesses through the BIOS routines. This test must be done without any cache active, because the measured speed and the interleave factor calculation from it will be heavily distorted by an active cache. CONFIG will therefore not do this test, if it finds that a cache is indeed active. The test can be forced in spite of this with the entry FORCEHDTEST=YES in the .INI file. In the same way, the rotational speed of the harddisk can only be established, so long as no cache software is active, AND the harddisk has no hardware cache bigger than 32KB of its own. The average access time is decided from 100 random head positionings over the whole disk surface, and can vary from test to test by up to 5ms. The test can be skipped by pressing the SHIFT or CAPS-LOCK key. The Window Mem-Timing: ====================== Displayed here is the access speed for the different areas of memory. The speed of access to the main memory (first 640k) is defined as 1.0. It can now be compared, for example, how quick the access is to, say, the VGA BIOS at C000h, perhaps with factor 2.3. That means that accesses here need 2.3 times as long as main memory access. In addition, the throughput speed of the CPU cache memory (if present) and of the main memory will be measured. The value is given in kByte/sec. The quality of the CPU cache can ssen here, as can the effect of wait states on main memory access. For comparison, values for a 386/40 Forex-Chipsatz: Cache: 38000 KB, Mem: 22000 KB The Window VGA-Timing: (registered version only!) ====================== The most significant text and graphic modi are activated, and the picture frame rate measured. At each mode switch, the PC loudspeaker should click. The test lasts 30 seconds. Standard VGA cards run in text mode at 70Hz and in graphics mode at 60Hz. At 60Hz with a light picture background a slight flickering of the screen is probably noticeable. Modern graphics cards can manage 70Hz even in graphics mode, or are even freely configurable for each mode. It can happen that the computer crashes here because there very many different graphics adaptors and a mode on one does not always match exactly a mode on another. For this reason the number of modes tested can be limited by an entry in the .INI file. Demo-Mode and Auto-Log / Commercial Version: ============================================ Of interest to dealers is the DEMO-MODE, by which CONFIG can be set to run for a predetermined time repeatedly through the displays HARDWARE, HARDWARE2, SOFTWARE, BENCHMARK, COMPARE and INFO. Optionally a list of your own values can be displayed for comparative testing. This is ideal for a showcase or shop window demonstration. The DEMO mode can be activated either with an entry in the .INI file or from a running CONFIG by pressing the "D" key. The length of time the demo should run can also be entered in the .INI file When testing computers it is often desirable to produce a hard copy of all important screen displays. If the switch AUTOLOG in the .INI file is set to YES, then all displays defined in the switch LOG(PROTOKOLL) will be copied automatically into the file CONFIG.XXX The following screens may be logged: Hardware 1&2, Software, Benchmark, Chips, Mem-Timing, VGA-Timing, Drivers, IRQs, Notes. Logging can also be started independently from the .INI file with a command line parameter. Simply start CONFIG with the parameter p, followed by the the desired windows (see example), and the appropriate data will be logged in the file CONFIG.XXX. For example CONFIG phsm: p is for Protokoll (log) and the hsm for windows (h)ardware, (s)oftware, and (m)em-timing. If the log should be put somewhere other than the file CONFIG.XXX, this can be given as a second parameter, for example: CONFIG phsm prn and the log will be output immediately to the printer. Demo mode and Autolog are only available in the commercial version, and run only when a further key is entered into the .REG file. This feature can be ordered for DM 100,- at any time. Limitations: ============ -under Windows in 386 mode and other multitasking environments, it is not possible to make short term time measurements, which makes benchmark tests and the like impossible. -under DR-DOS 6.0 EMM386, the speed measurement test for extended memory causes privilege errors. The switch TESTEXTMEM must therefore be set to NO(NEIN) -PC-Cache V5.x is recognised as Multisoft QCache -There are problems with more than ONE continuous area HI-DOS -Some computers slow down their clock frequency when a floppy drive is running. CONFIG can usually recognise when it has been started from a floppy and waits for the drive to come to rest. However with some Compaq computers this recognition does not work, and for this reason the displayed value for the clock speed is wrong. In this case press "R" for Restart! -If ALL resident software is loaded in HI-DOS, this causes problems. -CONFIG cannot find RAMdisks loaded high under QEMM. -The amount of memory on a VGA card can sometimes only be properly identified if the monitor connected can also display the higher definitions. -No waitstates are measured with 386 processsors, because the procedure used here only gives correct values with 8 and 16 bit computers. (The discussion about wait states is a moot point anyway, because it is the real computing speed reached which is actually of interest.) -On some computers (e.g. IBM XT/286) there are problems with establishing the harddisk access times. What to do in case of problems: =============================== CONFIG is programmed at low level, close to hardware. For this reason, crashes must be reckoned with. Recognition of the Chip-Set on the main board is sometimes problematical. This test can be skipped by pressing the SCROLL-LOCK key, or by setting the switch TESTBOARD in the CONFIG.INI file. Should CONFIG still crash before the windows appear on the screen, start CONFIG with the command line parameter "log". In this case a file CONFIG.LOG will be opened on the current drive, in which all the tests will be logged. The last test logged is then the one causing the crash. It may be possible to skip this problem area with an appropriate entry in the .INI file. If you should discover bugs in the program, or other problems, please store the current screen contents in a file by pressing F10, and send me this file together with your comments AND your version number of CONFIG AND the date of your CONFIG.EXE file. I will then try to fix the problem. Errors in 80386-Processors: =========================== To my knowledge, INTEL overlooked at least four errors (bugs) in the production of the 80386 processor: 1) Early versions could not switch back to the protected mode from the real mode 2) Early versions did not carry out 32 bit multiplication properly. 3) Early versions incremented the EDI Register after a STOSB instruction incorrectly from 0000FFFFh to 00000000h, instead of to 00010000h! 4) The POPAD instruction did not restore the EAX register correctly under certain conditions. Whereas the bugs 1-3 were very soon corrected (they only apply to 16 MHz versions anyway), bug 4 was only discovered around the middle of 1990, and nearly all versions of the 386DX and 386SX from Intel and AMD to date (Jan 91) still have the error. The very newest versions, at least from Intel, have been corrected. The bug is however now well known to programmers and the instruction used with appropriate caution. CONFIG tests for the bugs 2-4. Literature: =========== CONFIG is based on various sources, among others: 1 - PC Intern Systemprogrammierung, Michael Tischer, Data Becker Verlag 2 - PC-Referenz für Programmierer, Thom Hogan, Systhema Verlag 3 - Assorted issues of the german magazine c't, Heise Verlag 4 - NEAT-P9 System Board Technical Reference Manual 5 - Programmers Technical Referenz for MS-DOS and the IBM PC, Dave Williams 6 - The Interrupt List, Ralf Brown ua 7 - INFOPLUS.PAS, Andrew Rossman & Steve Grant 8 - The HIMEM-Specifications from Microsoft 9 - the sourcecode from FRACTINT 10 - The IBM PS2 Technical Reference Manual The publications 5-9 are in the public domain and available in the SIMTEL20 PD-collection. Acknowledgments: ================ My thanks go to the following people who have helped me to develop and improve CONFIG. Thomas Kreiling, Mario Leinker, Peter Kruse, Guido Falkemeier, Thomas Haukap, Ibrahim Tertemiz, Mathias Helm, Jürgen Schlegelmilch, Kai Kluwe, Olaf Rathje, Michael Schulz, Karsten Wiborg, Frank Sämer, Ulrich Schlechte, Michael Kohl, Dirk Schmidt, Marc Zimmermann, Jürgen Fitschen, Hans Ullrich Siehl, Arnd Burghardt Special thanks to Jim Blackler for the english version of this text!