Falcon 3.0 under OS/2 2.0

From OS2World.Com Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

By Eric Pinnell.

Dear Falconers,

Many of you have been trying to run Falcon 3.0 under IBM's new OS/2 2.0 operating system, but have been confused and bewildered by the huge array of DOS settings available to you. So, after consulting technical manuals (The IBM Red Books), here are a list of settings you need, and why they must be set that way:

DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION to OFF

(If Falcon is running in background, it will suspend processing. Otherwise, it will eat too much CPU cycles)

DOS_HIGH to ON

(This will give us extra memory for the DOS session)

DOS_LASTDRIVE to D (or whatever your highest drive letter is)

(This will give us some more memory)

DOS_UMB to ON

(More memory by using Upper Memory Blocks)

DPMI_DOS_API to DISABLED

(Falcon Doesn't use DPMI memory, so we gain speed by not emulating DPIM)

DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT to 0

(We don't use DPMI)

HW_ROM_TO_RAM to ON

(This speeds up BIOS functions)

IDLE_SECONDS to 60

(Makes Idle detection a long time)

IDLE_SENSITIVITY to 100

(this disables idle detection, so Falcon will always be checked to see if it needs CPU

MOUSE_EXCLUSIVE_ACCESS to ON

(We only plan to use the program with the 1 mouse pointer)

VIDEO_ONDEMAND_MEMORY to OFF

(Saves memory by not allocating video buffer)

VIDEO_ROM_EMULATION to ON

(Speeds processing by putting ROM in RAM)

VIDEO_SWITCH_NOTIFICATION to ON

(Lets app know when switching to full screen mode)

VIDEO_8514_XGA_IOTRAP to OFF (Only for 8514 Cards)

Eliminates 8514 video buffer overhead)

XMS_HANDLES to 32

(For mapping HMA)

XMS MEMORY_LIMIT to 0

(Not using XMS memory)

XMS_MINIMUM_HMA to 0

(Any HMA request will be filled)

With these settings, you can expect to get a frame rate of roughly 70% of that of DOS (your mileage may vary). You will find that if you had memory manager problems before, OS/2 is much more stable and less likely to crash and burn.

If you have any comments, please feel free to address my CIS UID at 70031,435.

Eric Pinnell