Liren Large Software Subsidy 16/16.iso/t/t180/1.img/Q387.DOC

Text File | 1992-11-21 | 21.3 KB | 460 lines

                  Documentation for Q387, Version 3.1
                    Copyright, 1991, 1992, QuickWare
                            P.O. Box 684652
                          Austin, Texas 78768
                              512-280-1452
                            November 21, 1992

     Q387  Version  3.1  is  a math  accelerator  and  math  coprocessor
emulator.   It  will both increase the performance of your  computer  in
math  intensive  applications and allow you to  run  applications  which
require a math coprocessor,  and this is all done without any additional
hardware.  The benefits of Q387 are -

Benefits -

     o Reduces computation times by up to 80% for graphics, analysis,
       CAD, font generation for desktop publishing, games, etc.

     o Allows the running of programs which require a math chip, such as
       AutoCAD, Mathematica, COSMOS/M, AutoDesk 3D Studio, Renderize,
       etc.

     o Fully compatible with DOS, most Expanded Memory Managers (EMMs),
       Windows 3.X 386 Enhanced Mode and Windows 3.1 Standard Mode, and
       most DOS Extender applications (such as AutoCAD 11, 12, and 386,
       Quattro Pro, etc.).

     o Accurate math coprocessor emulation.

     o Uses NO DOS memory (loads into extended memory completely).

     o Important for portables - uses NO extra power. Q387 actually
       will let you run your laptop or notebook through more work,
       while using no additional power.  A coprocessor chip will
       significantly shorten the time you can use your portable.

     o Low cost, only $25.

     o Free upgrades to enhanced releases.


Requirements -

     o 386SX, 386DX, or 486SX based computer, IBM PC or compatible,
       with at least 1.5 Megabytes total memory.

     o Q387 uses about 330k bytes of extended memory.

     o A 386 compatible Expanded Memory Manager (EMM), such as
       EMM386.EXE (comes with DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1), QEMM386,
       386MAX, or the EMM386.SYS that comes with Dr. DOS 6.0.


How Q387 works -

     Run Q387 from your Autoexec.bat file or from DOS.  You must have an
Expanded  Memory  Manager (EMM) loaded first.   Q387  requests  Extended
Memory  from the EMM for its exclusive use, and then loads  itself  into
that  extended memory.  It leaves absolutely no trace of itself  in  DOS
memory, or in any memory directly accessible by DOS, thereby using  none
of this valuable resource.  Q387 instructs your computer to use Q387  to
perform  math  operations instead of your application's  math  routines.
Intel  has built this capability into the design of the 386  and  higher
chip.  Since Q387 runs completely in extended memory, it can utilize the
full power of the 386 chip, such as 32 bit operations and fast access to
large  amounts of inexpensive memory.  This has allowed us  to  optimize
Q387  for  speed.  We have also used advanced  numerical  techniques  to
increase  speed.   The net result is that all math functions  with  Q387
operate  many  times faster than the built-in math functions  that  come
with your applications.

Example  benchmarks - on a DELL System 310, 4Mb ram, 32k cache,  20  Mhz
386, with EMM386.exe loaded, all times in seconds.

   Run      Run Without           With          Speed Increase
   Number      Q387               Q387            Factor

     1         14.0               3.8               3.68
     2        142.0              64.0               2.20
     3         22.4               6.2               3.61
     4         17.7               4.0               4.42
     5         49.0               9.5               5.05
     6        342.1              80.2               4.26
     7        226.0              98.0               2.31

Run Descriptions -

     Run 1 - Zoom out on a drawing, Generic CADD, by Generic Software.
     Run 2 - Render "Bicycle" on Alias Upfront, running in Windows 3.1
             Standard Mode, by Alias Research and SketchTech Inc.
     Run 3 - AMD math coprocessor demo, Tree fractal.
     Run 4 - AMD math coprocessor demo, Compound interest calculation.
     Run 5 - Plot a graph on screen, GRAPHER, by Golden Software.
     Run 6 - Prepare data file for 3-d viewing, SURFER, by Golden
             Software.
     Run 7 - Render "BOX" on POVRAY, or, Persistance of Vision Ray
             Tracer, a freeware ray-tracing program available on
             America On-Line and other BBS's, search for "POV".

Standard Benchmark - same machine as above, QAPlus V4.21, Whetstones.

            Run Without           With            Speed Increase
               Q387               Q387            Factor

               62.3K              292.6K          4.69


Comparison  with FRANKE.387 (another 387 emulator) on same machine  with
same configuration as above -

                           FRANKE.387    Q387          Speed Increase
                                                       Factor
AutoCAD 10,
Zoom-All on "Airplane"     13.4 sec.     7.4 sec.      1.81

QAPlus V4.21, Whetstones   93.7K         292.6K        3.12

Also,  FRANKE.387  is  either not active or causes  an  error  with  DOS
Extenders and Windows.


Windows 3.1 -

     If  you use Windows 3.1, your Windows applications with  Q387  will
run  somewhat  faster in Standard Mode (WIN /s).  This is  due  to  some
overhead  operations  required to handle the multi-tasking  of  Enhanced
Mode.   Enhanced Mode does offer virtual memory, however, so which  mode
is  best to use depends on the math content of your  application  versus
its need for more memory.  DOS applications run much faster in DOS  than
in  a  Windows  3.X DOS box (this has nothing to  do  with  Q387).   Dos
Protected  Mode  Interface (DPMI) compatible DOS  extender  applications
(e.g.  AutoCAD  12) will run in a DOS box.  Like  Windows  applications,
these  will run slower as compared to running them in regular  DOS,  but
you can multi-task multiple DOS boxes.


Our method of distributing Q387 -

     We  distribute Q387 as what might be called "protected  shareware".
The distributed program is the full working version, except that it runs
for  20  minutes  at a time before it does a safe DOS  terminate  of  an
application. (DOS shells may not be visible after the Demo.  Also, a few
programs will lock up or cause the machine to reboot when the demo times
out.  You should run the DOS utility "CHKDSK /f" if this happens.  It is
best to terminate your application yourself before 20 minutes is up, and
reboot  your computer.)  This way, at little or no cost to you, you  may
fully  evaluate the performance of Q387 for yourself.  You may  run  the
demo as much as you please, and it will satisfy the needs of many people
who  only need it for short periods of time.  If you are satisfied  with
the  performance of Q387 and need it to run for longer than 20  minutes,
we  will, for a fee of $25 (see below for additional  options),  provide
you  with a "Run Code" which is a license to run Q387 unimpeded.  It  is
not copy protected, but the Run Code will only work on one computer.  We
feel that this arrangement is a reasonable compromise between your  need
to  verify  the integrity of Q387 and the need to support this  kind  of
work.  You will not receive a disk with your Run Code since you  already
have the full program.

     To run Q387 as a demo, just type "Q387" at the DOS prompt.  If  you
are using Windows 3.X, load Q387 before you get into Windows.  Q387 will
then  load itself into extended memory and display an order form on  the
screen.   If you want to order a Run Code, you can do a print screen  at
that  point  to print the order form.  Q387 will return you to  the  DOS
prompt.   It will not itself perform any demonstration.  You should  run
your  math  intensive  applications with Q387 loaded  to  see  how  they
perform with Q387.


Getting a Run Code -

     Fill  out the order form which appears on your computer  screen  at
the start of the demo.  If you don't have a printer for printing out the
order  form, please include all of the required information which is  on
the  order form.  We will, within three working days of  receiving  your
order, mail to you a Run Code which will allow Q387 to run indefinitely.
You  will  need  to  include your Machine  Code,  a  number  which  Q387
determines and prints on the order form at the start of a demo run.  The
Run  Code  is specific to the machine on which you run the demo,  so  be
sure to get the Machine Code of the computer you intend to use Q387  on.
The  Run Code also represents a license to run Q387 on one machine  only
(see  below  for volume discounts).  If you change your  motherboard  or
your BIOS chips, your old Run Code will no longer work.  You may get one
new Run Code, for a service charge of $5.  This may also be necessary if
you change your hard disk drive controller.

     When you get your Run Code, you will run Q387 as follows -

<path to Q387>\Q387 xxx-xxx-xxx

where xxx-xxx-xxx is your Run Code.  You may have this anywhere in  your
Autoexec.bat  file so that Q387 loads automatically each time you  start
your  computer.   Q387 is not a DOS TSR (Terminate  and  Stay  Resident)
program,  so  the order in which you load it  is  inconsequential.   You
would  not  use any LOADHI with it.  Q387 uses no DOS  memory,  nor  any
Upper  Memory Block, nor any of the Upper Memory area (the area  between
1024k and 1088k).


Expanded Memory Managers (EMMs) tested with -

     1.  DOS 5.0's EMM386.exe and Window's 3.1 EMM386.exe, by Microsoft.
     2.  QEMM386.exe version 5.1 and 6.0, by QuarterDeck Office Systems.
     3.  386MAX version 6, by Qualitas. Does not currently work with
         386MAX version 5.
     4.  Dr. Dos's EMM386.sys, version 6.0, by Digital Research.
     5.  Memory Miser 386 Version 1B43, by SoftLogic Solutions Inc.

DOS Extenders tested with -

     1.  386|DOS Extender, by Phar Lapp.
     2.  Intel 386/486 C Code Builder, by Intel.
     3.  DOS 16/M, by Rational Systems.
     4.  The 16 bit DOS extender that Borland uses with Borland C++
         and Quattro Pro (probably DOS 16/M).
     5.  Window's 3.1 Standard Mode, by Microsoft.
     6.  Window's 3.X 386 Enhanced Mode (also functions as an EMM and
         multitasker), by Microsoft.  Runs and multi-tasks DOS boxes
         and 16 and 32 bit Windows applications.
     7.  Q387 will not currently work with the ERGO 32 bit DOS
         extender.  This was used by the Lahey FORTRAN compiler, but
         Lahey has switched to the Phar Lapp 386|DOS Extender, which
         Q387 does work with.

Applications Q387 has been tested with -

     1.  AutoCAD 10, 11 and 12, by AutoDesk, Inc.
     2.  COSMOS/M, by Structural Research Inc.
     3.  Surfer and Grapher, by Golden Software.
     4.  Generic CADD, by Generic Software.
     5.  DesignCAD, by American Small Business Computers, Inc.
     5.  Borland C++, by Borland International, Inc.
     6.  Intel 386/486 C Code Builder.
     7.  Quattro Pro, by Borland.
     8.  Various engineering analysis C programs compiled with Borland
         C++.
     9.  Lahey FORTRAN, F77L-EM/32, Version 5.00, the "DEMO" program.
    10.  AutoDesk 3D Studio Version 2.0, by AutoDesk, Inc.
    11.  Animator Pro, by AutoDesk.
    12.  PSPICE Student Version 3.06, by MicroSim Corporation.
    13.  Renderize, Windows Pro v1.3 demo, by Visual Software, Inc.
         (a 32 bit Windows program that requires a coprocessor to run).
    14.  Alias Upfront, by Alias Research and SketchTech Inc.
         (a 16 bit Windows program).
    15.  Persistance of Vision (POV), a freeware raytracing program.
         Uses the 32 bit Intel C 386/486 Code Builder compiler.

Diagnostic utilities tested with -

     1.  Advanced Micro Devices' math coprocessor demo.
     2.  CheckIt, Version 3.0, by TouchStone Software Corporation.
     3.  QAPlus, by DiagSoft, Inc.
     4.  PC Labs Benchmark Series 5.0, by PC Magazine.
     5.  CHKCOP V2.00, by Intel Corp (a 387 checker).


Included files -

     Q387.exe - The Q387 executable.  This is a a self-expanding,
                compressed file.  Compressed with PKlite Professional
                (PKlite is a trademark of PkWare, Inc.)
     Q387.doc - This file.
     OFF.exe  - Will disable Q387 after it has been loaded.  It does
                not remove Q387 from memory.  Do not run from within
                Windows.
     ON.exe   - Reenables Q387 after it has been disabled by "OFF.exe".
                Do not run from within Windows.


Accuracy -

     Q387  performs all arithmetic to the exact same accuracy as  a  387
coprocessor.  This is 64 bits of precision.  Transcendental calculations
may  be different by as much as the lowest 4 to 5 bits.  This  is  still
much more accurate than can be represented by a double precision number,
which is the highest precision variable type typically used.


EMM configuration options -

     Q387  requires that an EMM be active, but expanded memory does  not
have to be available.  Many regular DOS applications use expanded memory
if  it is available to increase their performance (using  fast  expanded
memory instead of the slow disk).  Before Q387 V3.0, however, the use of
an  EMM significantly slowed down math intensive applications (when  run
without   a  coprocessor  on  the  computer).   With  Q387,   your   DOS
applications  can now have the benefit of both Expanded Memory and  very
fast math operations.

     One  penalty  associated with the use of expanded  memory  is  that
available high memory will be reduced by 64k (required for the  expanded
memory  "page frame"), leaving less room for device drivers  and  TSR's.
Also,  Windows  cannot use any of your expanded memory in  386  Enhanced
Mode.  If you don't want to use expanded memory, you can specify to  the
EMM  that it not use a page frame, thus reclaiming the lost 64k of  high
memory.  This is accomplished as follows in your CONFIG.SYS file -

device = <path to DOS>\EMM386.EXE NOEMS                (for DOS 5)
device = <path to QEMM>\QEMM386.SYS FRAME=0            (for QEMM386)
device = <path to 386MAX>\386MAX.SYS NOFRAME           (for 386MAX)
device = <path to DR DOS>\EMM386.SYS /F=none           (for DR DOS 6)


If you are using EMM386 and older DOS Extender programs (e.g. ACAD 11)-

     Older DOS Extender programs such as AutoCAD 11 can only make use of
Expanded Memory when an EMM is present, so it's best to allocate  almost
all of your available memory to Expanded Memory in this case.  You  must
reserve  enough  Extended  Memory  for  Q387  to  load,  however.   With
EMM386.exe, a straightforward way to do this is as follows (this example
is for a computer with 4 Meg of RAM) -

device = <path to DOS>\EMM386.EXE L=340 2912

where  the  "L=340" parameter tells EMM386 to reserve 340k  of  extended
memory.   The  "2912"  parameter tells it to allocate  2912k  bytes  for
expanded memory (if that much is available).  If you don't tell the  EMM
to  reserve a sufficient amount of Expanded Memory, older  DOS  Extender
applications  will give you some confusing message such as  "Conflicting
protected mode environment", or "The 386 chip is currently executing  in
virtual  8086 mode...", etc.  QEMM and 386MAX make both types of  memory
available  from  the  overall supply of memory, so  you  don't  have  to
reserve any memory explicitly for extended or for expanded memory.


If you use 386MAX on a Dell System 310 -

     Q387 does not function correctly on Dell System 310 computers  when
running 386MAX.  We have not been able to determine the cause of this as
yet. However, 386MAX appears to have problems with the 310 even  without
Q387 installed.


If you are using QEMM386 -

     You need to include the "ON" parameter on the "device=QEMM386" line
in  your config.sys file.


Updates -

     Due to our distribution method, we are able to provide free updates
to  all registered users.  All you have to do is to  periodically  check
your favorite BBS for a more recent release of Q387.  The Run Code which
you  purchase  will  work  for  these  later  releases.


Backups -

     You really only need to keep your Run Code safe, as Q387 itself  is
available from many BBS's.  Make a backup of Q387 if you don't have easy
access  to a BBS.  If you lose your Run Code, we will look up  your  Run
Code  for a processing fee of $5.  Just send us your Machine Code  (it's
on the order form) and tell us you need a replacement Run Code.


Viruses -

     Q387  was scanned for viruses with the Norton AntiVirus  before  it
was Zipped.  All major BBS's (and most local BBS's) do this as well.  We
have never gotten a virus from any BBS.

Money-back guarantee -

     If,  within  a  year of your purchase,  Q387 has  any  error  which
prevents it from successfully emulating a 387 math coprocessor with  any
of  your applications, we will refund to you the purchase price of  your
Run Code.


If you have a 286 machine -

     If  you don't have a 386 machine but do have a 286, then 386SX  and
486SLC conversion kits are available from other vendors which will allow
many  286's to have 386 style memory management and to run  applications
such as AutoCAD 11, when you have Q387 installed. Three of these vendors
are  - All Computers Inc. 1-800-627-4835, Sigma Data at  1-800-446-4525,
and  Gordan and Associates, 1-301-977-1329. 486SX motherboards are  also
getting to be VERY inexpensive, and with Q387, they are no longer "brain
dead".


If you have a 386SX machine -

     A  relatively  inexpensive upgrade which takes  full  advantage  of
Q387's emulation capabilities is to replace your 386SX chip with a Cyrix
486  SLC  chip.  While the Cyrix 486 SLC is more of a  hybrid  386/486SX
rather  than  a true 486SX, it is nevertheless a step above  the  386SX,
and,  with  Q387,  will  actually execute  most  of  the  transcendental
functions  (Sin, Cosine, Tangent, logs and exponentials)  faster than  a
387SX, due to its faster register-to-register instructions and its  fast
multiply  (4  times faster than a 486SX).  If you have a  portable,  you
will  possibly even get longer battery usage from this  conversion,  and
you will certainly be able to get more down on a single charge.  We know
of  at least two shops which will replace your 386SX with a 486SLC.   You
can  contact  the RSE Company at 512-282-2510 (Voice)  and  512-282-2482
(FAX/BBS), or Gordon and Associates at 301-977-1329.


Distribution of Q387 -

     Free  distribution of Q387 without Run Codes is both permitted  and
encouraged.  Distribution  of Q387 with Run Code(s)  is  not  permitted.
Both  software  and  hardware vendors are  welcome  to  distribute  Q387
without Run Codes.

     Q387  can  be found on several bulletin board  services.   Some  of
these  are  Compuserve (IBM Hardware Forum), GENIE (IBM  PC  libraries),
America On-Line, Delphi, and the Connect America (512-459-3341, 3351, or
3358). The Connect America BBS lets you get Q387 from the free downloads
section in Area 2.  You might also ask the sysop of your favorite  local
BBS to get Q387 for you.  Search files for Q387.  The full file name  is
Q387.zip, or Q387_V31.zip.

Payment options - (valid through December, 1994)

     o  $25 US currency with either a check from a US bank, or  a  money
       order (US currency money orders are available worldwide). We will
       pay sales tax for Texas residents.  If your state  requires
       you to pay sales tax on out-of-state mail order purchases, please
       add the required amount.  No sales tax is needed if you are not
       in the US.

     o Add  $5 (US and Canada only) if you want your Run Code faxed or
       called back (1 call only, include fax or phone #). Add $10 for
       fax  or call back to other countries. If call back,  the  number
       being called should be equipped with an answering machine, as we
       can only afford to call once, and we may call at any time of the
       day.  We will also mail the Run Code to you for your records.

     o $35 equivalent non-US currency written on a check from a
       non-US bank.  Please use the current exchange rate.  The higher
       amount is required to cover the bank's fees.

     o $35 US currency if by Company Purchase Order Number.  You may
       call and leave with us your Machine Code, PO number, company
       name, address, voice and fax telephone number, and contact
       person.  We then will, in most cases, fax back your Run Code
       by the following morning.  We will then bill your company
       with  the purchase order number for $35 US currency on a US  bank
       money order, or $45 equivalent non-US currency on a non-US bank.
       This option is available only for companies in the US, Canada,
       or England.

     We cannot accept credit cards as payment.


Volume discounts -

     If  your  organization would like multiple licenses  for  Q387,  we
offer the following discounts for volume purchases -

     1st license - $25.
     2nd through 10th licenses - $20 each.
     Each license over 10 licenses - $15 each.

     OEM's please call or write for special arrangements.


     Thank you for trying Q387.