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MS Windows 3.X and QEMM Advanced Troubleshooting This QEMM 7 technote is an abridged version of a technical bulletin that is available through our standard support channels. The information contained in this version pertains ONLY to QEMM version 7.0. If you need information relating to earlier versions of QEMM you can obtain the unabridged version from the following sources: Quarterdeck Technical Support BBS: WINFLOW.TEC CompuServe: WINFLO.ZIP Q/FAX: #207 Subject: Step-by-step troubleshooting procedure in flowchart style for solving conflicts between MS Windows 3.x and QEMM. YES, this document IS long! PLEASE do not be intimidated by its length. You will only need to refer to portions of it. --------------------------------------------------------------- QEMM versions 5.11 and above are fully compatible with and able to run Windows 3.x in all of its modes (Real, Standard, and 386 Enhanced in the case of Windows 3.0 and Standard and 386 Enhanced for users of Windows 3.1) This technical note has been written to help you troubleshoot and fix Windows 3.x problems relating to the use of QEMM. We have included an example scenario for you to follow in order to make this process as "user friendly" as possible. At the end of each step you will see three question marks (???) followed by a question. The answer to each question determines the next step you must follow. The troubleshooting procedure will take several steps to complete. You will have to skip ahead to different parts of this technote depending on the results of previous steps, so PLEASE FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY. Steps A, and B are located near the end of this technote. --------------------------------------------------------------- EXAMPLE Windows 3.x PROBLEM SCENARIO: "I installed QEMM and ran the OPTIMIZE program to load my TSRs and device drivers into upper memory. I'm running Windows from my network drive (drive F:). I get into Windows without a problem, except when I load my scanner program I get an 'UAE: Unrecoverable Application Error' error message and my system crashes". SCENARIO ASSUMPTIONS: QEMM has been loaded onto the local C: drive and QEMM is installed in the C:\QEMM subdirectory. Windows 3.x has been installed on the NETWORK drive in the F:\WINDOWS subdirectory. (STEP 1) DETERMINING WHETHER STEALTH ROM IS INVOLVED ------------------------------------------- If you have enabled QEMM's Stealth ROM feature your Windows problem may be related to its use. Check your CONFIG.SYS file for one of the two Stealth ROM parameters (ST:M or ST:F.) ??? If the QEMM386.SYS line DOES NOT have a ST:M or ST:F parameter and you are having problems in Windows 3 - Real or Standard mode, then go to STEP 3. ??? If the QEMM386.SYS line DOES NOT have a ST:M or ST:F parameter and you are having problems in Windows 3 - Enhanced mode, then go to STEP 2. ??? If the QEMM386.SYS line DOES have a ST:M or ST:F parameter proceed below. We want to remove all Stealth-related parameters (ST:M, ST:F, XST=, XSTI=, DBF=, FSTC, FRAME=) to test whether Stealth ROM is involved. Here is an example of removing these parameters: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS R:1 RAM ROM X=D000-D3FF ST:M XST=C000 <--delete---> Edit your CONFIG.SYS file and remove the Stealth-related parameters, then reboot your computer and try to recreate the problem. ??? If the problem still exists and you are having problems in Windows 3.x Enhanced mode, then go to STEP 2. ??? If the problem still exists and you are having problems in Windows 3.x Real or Standard mode, then go to STEP 3. ??? If the problem goes away, then it is due to a conflict with QEMM's Stealth ROM feature. You should refer to our technote STEALTH.TEC. This technote was installed into your QEMM\TECHNOTE directory when you installed QEMM 7. (STEP 2) CONFIGURE WINDOWS TO AVOID CONFLICTS WITH QEMM You are having problems with Windows 3 - Enhanced mode. Windows 3.x has several configuration files which it loads at startup. We can modify one of these startup files, SYSTEM.INI, to instruct Windows not to conflict with QEMM. The SYSTEM.INI file is at least 60 lines long and is broken up into sections by brackets [ ]. Add OR modify the following three parameters to the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file (located in the WINDOWS directory): EMMExclude=A000-EFFF VirtualHDirq=False SystemROMBreakPoint=False Save the SYSTEM.INI file. Now run Windows 3.x - Enhanced mode and try to recreate the problem. ??? If the problem still exists, go to STEP 3. ??? If the problem goes away, it has been solved. You may want to try decreasing the range of addresses you have excluded from Windows use in the EMMExclude line. [For example, change EFFF to DFFF. If your problem returns, change it back. If it does not, try CFFF. You can also try changing A000 to B000 and, if that works, C000.] (STEP 3) CREATE A CLEAN ENVIRONMENT FOR QEMM ----------------------------------- To determine whether the Windows 3.x problem is related to QEMM, you have to remove all unnecessary lines from the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and then run Windows to see if the problem still exists. First, you need to make backup copies of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files (which are located in the root directory) because we are going to modify these files. To make the backup copies of these files type the following commands at the DOS prompt: 1) C: 2) CD\ 3) COPY CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.OLD 4) COPY AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.OLD Now, edit your CONFIG.SYS file so that only the lines that are ABSOLUTELY necessary to recreate the Windows problem remain in the CONFIG.SYS file. You need the QEMM386.SYS line and the FILES= line as a minimum, delete every other line unless it is ABSOLUTELY needed to recreate the problem. The following is an example CONFIG.SYS file for our scenario. (The # indicates lines which are ABSOLUTELY necessary to include in the CONFIG.SYS file in order to recreate the problem.) #1 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM AROM=C800-CBFF 2 DEVICE=C:\UTIL\CACHE.SYS #3 FILES=25 4 BUFFERS=30 #5 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:2 C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 6 DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS 7 DEVICE=C:\FAXING\FAX.SYS #8 SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:768 #9 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:3 C:\NETW\NETWORK.SYS 10 STACKS=0,0 Below is an explanation of why we are keeping certain lines. You may want to look at the Windows 3.x example problem scenario located on the first page of this technote again.) line 1) We NEED the QEMM driver to recreate the problem line 2) A disk cache IS NOT necessary to recreate the problem line 3) We NEED to include the FILES= statement line 4) The BUFFERS statement IS NOT needed line 5) The scanner IS part of our problem line 6) ANSI.SYS IS NOT needed to recreate the problem line 7) The fax board has NOTHING to do with the problem line 8) The SHELL= statement tells DOS where the command processor is line 9) We NEED to log on to the network to run Windows line 10) The Stacks statement IS NOT necessary (If you are not sure if a line is absolutely necessary in YOUR CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files, you might want to refer to your DOS manual or the documentation that accompanied your software programs for information.) This leaves our CONFIG.SYS with: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM AROM=C800-CBFF FILES=25 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:2 C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:768 DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:3 C:\NETW\NETWORK.SYS If you ran QEMM's OPTIMIZE program, some of your device drivers have been loaded high. We want to make sure these drivers are loaded low for the time being. This is because some device drivers behave incorrectly when loaded high. All we have to do is remove the LOADHI.SYS (and the /R:x parameter if used) from these lines. For example: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\LOADHI.SYS /R:2 C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 <------delete---------> would become: DEVICE=C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 This leaves our CONFIG.SYS with: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS RAM AROM=C800-CBFF FILES=25 DEVICE=C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:768 DEVICE=C:\NETW\NETWORK.SYS Modify the QEMM line as follows with the parameters ALL ON THE SAME LINE: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS X=A000-C7FF X=F000-FFFF FILL:N TM:N CF:N SH:NONE DO NOT add the RAM parameter to this line! ??? If you are using the Stealth ROM parameter (ST:M or ST:F), DO NOT include this parameter at this time. BUT make a note of it, as you will add this parameter back to the QEMM386.SYS line in STEP 8. ALSO, you will want to remove any Stealth-related parameters you may be using at this time: XST=, XSTI=, DBF=, FSTC, FRAME=. If your QEMM386.SYS line previously contained a parameter to EXCLUDE an area of memory such as EXCLUDE= or X= or AROM= or ARAM=, then you should also add this parameter to the end of the QEMM386.SYS line. In our example we previously had AROM=C800- CBFF on the QEMM line. DO NOT add any INCLUDE= or I= parameters, if you previously had them. Finally, boost your FILE= statement to at least 40. Your final CONFIG.SYS looks like: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS X=A000-C7FF X=F000-FFFF FILL:N TM:N CF:N SH:NONE AROM=C800-CBFF FILES=40 DEVICE=C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:768 DEVICE=C:\NETW\NETWORK.SYS PLEASE NOTE: ALL QEMM parameters MUST BE on the QEMM device line, not on a separate line as they appear above. Also, your CONFIG.SYS may only need the QEMM386.SYS and FILES=40 line. Do not be concerned if your CONFIG.SYS file is not 5 lines long.) Save the CONFIG.SYS and we will modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The following is an example AUTOEXEC.BAT file: ECHO OFF PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C:\UTILS;C:\EDITOR;F:\WINDOWS; C:\QEMM\LOADHI C:\UTIL\FASTKEYB PROMPT $P$G C:\QEMM\LOADHI /R:1 C:\NETW\LOGIN SET TEMP=F:\WINDOWS\TEMP FAXSETUP 125 The only lines we need to keep are the PROMPT and PATH statements and the network login. This leaves our AUTOEXEC.BAT as: PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C:\UTILS;C:\EDITOR;F:\WINDOWS; PROMPT $P$G C:\QEMM\LOADHI /R:1 C:\NETW\LOGIN Now we want to make sure all drivers that were loaded high during Optimize are loaded low. We want to remove the LOADHI (and the /R:x parameter if used) from these lines. C:\QEMM\LOADHI /R:1 C:\NETW\LOGIN <----delete-------> This leaves our final AUTOEXEC.BAT with: PATH C:\;C:\DOS;C:\UTILS;C:\EDITOR;F:\WINDOWS; PROMPT $P$G C:\NETW\LOGIN (Your AUTOEXEC.BAT may only need the PATH and PROMPT lines. Do not be concerned if your AUTOEXEC.BAT is not 3 or more lines long) Save the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Now reboot your machine and try to recreate the problem. ??? If the problem still exists, go to STEP 4. ??? If the problem goes away, go to STEP 6. (STEP 4) USE THE MICROSOFT DRIVERS INSTEAD OF QEMM ----------------------------------------- Since the problem still exists using a clean environment for QEMM, we have to determine whether QEMM is involved in the problem or if it is related solely to Windows. To do this we will modify your CONFIG.SYS to use the Microsoft drivers instead of QEMM and try to recreate the problem. First, make a backup copy of the "clean environment" version of CONFIG.SYS file by entering the following 3 commands at the DOS prompt: 1) C: 2) CD\ 3) COPY CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.Q We will attempt to recreate the problem by using the Microsoft drivers, HIMEM.SYS and either EMM386.SYS or EMM386.EXE, depending on your versions of DOS and Windows. Loaded together, HIMEM and EMM386 create an environment similar to that of QEMM. These files will most likely be located in your \WINDOWS, \DOS, or root directory. Edit the CONFIG.SYS, replacing the QEMM device line with HIMEM and EMM386. In our example, we will use HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE and assume that both are in your DOS directory. DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ON 4096 FILES=40 DEVICE=C:\SCAN\SCANNER.SYS 256 SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:768 DEVICE=C:\NETW\NETWORK.SYS Use a number smaller than 4096 on the EMM386.EXE line if you have less than 4 megabytes of RAM on your system. Save the CONFIG.SYS, reboot, and try to recreate the problem. ??? If the problem still exists, QEMM is not involved in the problem you are having in Windows. The next STEP is for you to consult your Windows documentation or contact either Microsoft Windows Technical Support or the makers of the resident program or driver which is giving you trouble. ??? If the problem goes away, go to STEP 5. (STEP 5) CONFIGURE QEMM SIMILARLY TO THE MICROSOFT DRIVERS ------------------------------------------------- We want to configure QEMM to emulate the Microsoft drivers, and we will use the MANIFEST program to see what the Microsoft drivers are doing. 1) Exit Windows or reboot your computer to get to the DOS prompt. 2) Type the following at the DOS prompt to start MANIFEST: CD\QEMM MFT Once in Manifest, tap the DOWN-ARROW key once. This will give you the "First Meg/Overview" screen. The box in the center of the screen will look like something like this: Memory Area Size Description 0000 - 003F 1K Interrupt Area 0040 - 004F 0.3K BIOS Data Area 0050 - 006F 0.5K System Data 0070 - 0FB0 61K DOS 0FB1 - 21F8 73K Program Area 21F9 - 9FFF 504K [Available] Conventional memory ends at 640K A000 - AFFF 64K VGA Graphics B000 - B7FF 32K Unused B800 - BFFF 32K VGA Text C000 - C7FF 32K Video ROM C800 - CFFF 32K Unused D000 - DFFF 64K Page Frame <--------------------- E000 - EFFF 64K Unused F000 - FFFF 64K System ROM Look for "Page Frame" We will use the QEMM parameter FRAME= to instruct QEMM to place the Page Frame in the same location. (In our example, the Page Frame starts at D000.) Hit the ESCAPE key twice to exit MANIFEST and type the following: 1) CD\ 2) RENAME CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.M [Save the CONFIG.SYS w/Microsoft drivers] 3) COPY CONFIG.Q CONFIG.SYS [Bring back the STEP-4 CONFIG.SYS] Add the following parameters to the end of the QEMM386.SYS line of your CONFIG.SYS file: X=0000-3FFF XBDA:N MR:N RH:N VDS:N FRAME=XXXX [NOTE: XXXX should be replaced with the starting address of the Page Frame when using the Microsoft drivers. In our example, this is D000.] The QEMM386.SYS line for this EXAMPLE now looks like this: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS X=A000-C7FF X=F000-FFFF FILL:N TM:N CF:N SH:NONE AROM=C800-CBFF X=0000-3FFF XBDA:N MR:N RH:N VDS:N FRAME=D000 Again, these parameters should all be on the same line. Reboot and try to recreate the problem in Windows. ??? If the problem still exists , then go to STEP A. ??? If the problem goes away, then go to STEP 6. (STEP 6) CREATING HIGH RAM FOR QEMM -------------------------- We have properly configured QEMM to work with Windows without High RAM. Now we will add the RAM parameter to the QEMM386.SYS line in your CONFIG.SYS to create High RAM. Edit your CONFIG.SYS file and add RAM to the end of the QEMM386.SYS line (DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS ... RAM). Reboot your machine and try to recreate the problem in Windows. ??? If the problem reoccurs, then go to STEP 7. ??? If the problem does not occur, then proceed below: In STEP 3, we added several parameters to the QEMM386.SYS line including: X=A000-C7FF, X=F000-FFFF, and CF:N. We will now attempt to recover some (or all) of the high RAM we excluded. Edit the QEMM device line in the CONFIG.SYS file and delete these parameters ONE AT A TIME. Each time you remove a parameter, save the CONFIG.SYS, reboot, and try to recreate the problem. If the problem does not reoccur you don't need that parameter. If the problem does return, then you need that parameter. Replace it and try removing the others. ??? If the problem still does not occur and you WERE using the Stealth ROM feature (ST:M or ST:F) then go to STEP 7. ??? If the problem still does not occur and you WERE NOT using the Stealth ROM feature (ST:M or ST:F) then go to STEP B. (STEP 7) ELIMINATING HIGH RAM CONFLICTS ------------------------------ It appears that one of your adapters is using memory addresses between 640 and 1024K and QEMM is not detecting its use, thereby mapping memory into the same addresses. We are going to exclude all areas of High RAM in order to test this theory. If it is accurate, we will pinpoint the area that actually needs to be excluded. At the DOS prompt type: CD\QEMM MFT This will load Manifest. Tap the DOWN-ARROW key once so we are looking at the "First Meg/Overview" screen. The box in the center of the screen will look something like this: Memory Area Size Description 0000 - 003F 1K Interrupt Area 0040 - 004F 0.3K BIOS Data Area 0050 - 006F 0.5K System Data 0070 - 0FB0 61K DOS 0FB1 - 21F8 73K Program Area 21F9 - 9FFF 504K [Available] Conventional memory ends at 640K A000 - AFFF 64K VGA Graphics B000 - B7FF 32K Unused B800 - BFFF 32K VGA Text C000 - C7FF 32K Video ROM C800 - CFFF 32K High RAM <------------| D000 - DFFF 64K Page Frame | E000 - EFFF 64K High RAM <------------| F000 - FFFF 64K System ROM We will exclude these High RAM areas (C800 to CFFF and E000 to EFFF) from QEMM's use. To do this add the following to your QEMM device line: X=C800-CFFF X=E000-EFFF Our example QEMM386.SYS line now looks like: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS ... RAM X=C800-CFFF X=E000-EFFF NOTE: If you have a SCSI hard disk controller and/or bus- mastering device, be sure to load SMARTDRIVE in your CONFIG.SYS file. (SMARTDRIVE is a disk cache shipped with both DOS and Microsoft Windows.) See your DOS manual or Windows documentation for further information on loading SMARTDRIVE. Reboot your machine and try to recreate the problem in Windows. ??? If the problem occurs, then go to STEP A. ??? If the problem goes away, there was a memory conflict. Now we will we try to pinpoint the address range causing the conflict, as only this area needs to be excluded. EXAMPLE: We have excluded C800-CFFF which is a 32K area and E000- EFFF which is a 64K area. (These numbers are in hexadecimal; if you want to better understand hexadecimal numbers, refer to HEX.TEC, our technical note on this subject.) These 2 areas are comprised of six 16K areas (C800-CBFF, CC00-CFFF, E000-E3FF, E400- E7FF, E800-EBFF, EC00-EFFF). To narrow down the exclude, add X=C800-CBFF to the QEMM line, reboot the computer, and try to recreate the problem. Do this for each address range. In most cases only one of the six will be needed to prevent the problem, although some devices require more than a 16K exclude. You will have to experiment to determine what area(s) need to be excluded. ??? Once you have determined which area needs to be excluded, if you WERE using the Stealth ROM feature go to STEP 8. ??? Once you have determined which area needs to be excluded, if you WERE NOT using the Stealth ROM feature go to STEP B. (STEP 8) ADDING THE STEALTH ROM PARAMETER BACK ------------------------------------- We have properly configured QEMM to work with Windows 3.x with High RAM. We will now enable Stealth ROM. Edit your CONFIG.SYS file and add ST:M or ST:F (and any Stealth-related parameter that was ORIGINALLY on your QEMM386.SYS line) to the end of the QEMM386.SYS line: DEVICE=C:\QEMM\QEMM386.SYS ... RAM ST:x [other stealth parameters] Reboot your machine and try to recreate the problem. ??? If the problem still does not occur, then go to STEP B. ??? If the problem does occur, your Windows 3.x problem is related to the use of Stealth ROM. At this point you should refer to STEALTH.TEC in your QEMM\TECHNOTE directory. Once you resolve the Stealth-related problem with your current CONFIG.SYS go to STEP B. ----------------------------------------------------------------- (STEP - A) Your problem requires further troubleshooting. Please call our Technical Support line at (310) 392-9701 for further assistance. When you call please have the following information available: 1) Your original CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT (now CONFIG.OLD and AUTOEXEC.OLD) 2) Your current CONFIG.SYS (QEMM386.SYS, FILES=40, NECESSARY drivers ONLY.) 3) Your current AUTOEXEC.BAT (PATH and PROMPT, other NECESSARY commands ONLY.) 4) CONFIG.Q (only if you have gone thru STEP 4) 5) CONFIG.M (only if you have gone thru STEP 5) (STEP - B) CONGRATULATIONS! You have successfully configured QEMM and Windows 3.x to work together. Now enter the following commands at the DOS prompt: 1) C: 2) CD\ 3) RENAME AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.Q 4) COPY CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.Q 5) COPY CONFIG.OLD CONFIG.SYS [Bring back your original file] 6) COPY AUTOEXEC.OLD AUTOEXEC.BAT [Bring back your original file] Edit the CONFIG.SYS file and replace the original QEMM386.SYS line with the one you have created by using this technical note (now in CONFIG.Q) and make sure FILES= at least 40. Reboot the machine and try to recreate the problem in Windows. ??? If the problem does not occur, it is solved. ??? If the problem now occurs, we know that a command line in either your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT is causing the problem. To determine which line in which file is the culprit, we will bring back the AUTOEXEC.BAT (Path and Prompt) that we previously created in STEP 3: Enter the following 3 commands at the DOS prompt: 1) C: 2) CD\ 3) COPY AUTOEXEC.Q AUTOEXEC.BAT Reboot your machine and try to recreate the problem in Windows. ??? If the problem still exists, then we know that the command line which is giving us a problem is located in the CONFIG.SYS file and if the problem goes away, the command line is in the original AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You now need to delete command lines from either the CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT (depending on which file we determined was causing the conflict) to find the single command line causing the conflict. Once again, bring back your original AUTOEXEC.BAT: 1) COPY AUTOEXEC.OLD AUTOEXEC.BAT Now you must systematically determine which command line is giving you trouble. Try deleting one line at a time (if you have a long CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file try deleting 2-3 lines at a time) until you find the problem. Once you determine the line causing the problem: 1) If the device driver or TSR is loaded into High RAM, use the procedure in STEP 3 to load it low and see if this corrects the problem. 2) Read the manual or call the Technical Support Department of the product you are loading for assistance in solving the problem. 3) Some TSR's and device drivers can be configured to use conventional memory, XMS, or EMS (or a combination of these.) Depending on how you currently have it configured, try the other options. 4) You may need to permanently remove that line. ***************************************************************** Trademarks are property of their respective owners. This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long as it is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed for profit. Copyright (C) 1992-93 by Quarterdeck Office Systems ****************** E N D O F F I L E ************************