Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!mcnc!rti!bcw
From: bcw@rti.UUCP (Bruce Wright)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 640K limit
Summary: Depends ...
Message-ID: <3423@rti.UUCP>
Date: 14 Jan 90 23:09:58 GMT
References: <4668.25aed7f2@uwovax.uwo.ca>
Organization: Research Triangle Institute, RTP, NC
Lines: 21

In article <4668.25aed7f2@uwovax.uwo.ca>, 23031_676@uwovax.uwo.ca writes:
> The technical report is fine for hackers, but please try to answer this more
> elementary question:  Like many others, I have purchased a 1 mb system (NEC 
> 286), yet it is not clear that the extra 360 can be used for anything. Modal
> response is yes/no(!) DesQ and other software manuals speak about use of 
> extended memory over 1 mb, but not between 640 and 1 mb. Is there any way, 
> for any kinds of software, of getting any use out of this memory?

It depends on what the manufacturer did with the extra memory.  It is
possible to arrange to map the memory above 1MB, so that it looks like
normal memory above 1MB.  It's also possible to use it to copy the ROM-
BIOS into RAM, since RAM tends to be faster than ROM (This tends to be
used more for 80386 rather than 80286 machines).  The only thing that
almost no compatibles do (since it means that they are no longer very
compatible) is to map the memory between 640K and 1MB.  I am not
familiar with the machine you have (I've seen them but not used them),
so you should ask the manufacturer or the dealer where you bought the
machine.  There may be a technical manual which explains how memory on
your machines works - many manufacturers produce such a manual.

							Bruce C. Wright