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Day-to-day running Win 9x/ME with more than 1 GiB RAM


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I have completed work on a 64-Bit RAMDISK as well as a 32-Bit RAMDISK, neither of which use XMS Memory. Since Windows does not know this memory exists, it doesn't manage it or allocate precious System Arena space for it. I have been able to create and use 2GB RAMDISKs without problems. I haven't as yet determined the difference in behavior between HIMEM.SYS and HIMEMX.SYS, there isn't anything obvious in the source code for HIMEMX.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have done some further research on HIMEMX: HIMEM is recognized by Windows during Windows Startup, so it is hooked, letting Windows take over management of all XMS calls. Any XMS Memory that was allocated before Windows Startup is not included in available Memory for Windows but is mapped into the System Arena so Windows can support the Programs and Drivers that reserved the Memory. Since most RAMDISKs use XMS Memory, they tie up System Arena space. This is why a large XMS based RAMDISK  cannot be used because the System Arena runs out of space. HIMEMX is not recognized by Windows so calls to it are executed in Virtual Mode. HIMEMX uses the BIOS Interrupt 15 call to manipulate Extended Memory. Windows hooks this Interrupt so it can manage the Memory. Windows uses the standard XMS calls to take over the Free Memory during Startup. The difference is that Windows does not know about XMS Memory that was Allocated before Startup so it doesn't reserve space in the System Arena for it. This is why there seems to be more space for DOS Boxes etc. The problem is that actually using this Memory invokes the Interrupt 15 call which then causes Windows to allocate Pages to the System Arena to manage it. Reading or Writing a Large RAMDISK quickly fills up the System Arena and leads to a crash. You can setup a large XMS RAMDISK using HIMEMX but your system will crash if you try to fill it up. I also observed a problem combining HIMEMX with EMM386 whenever exceeding approximately 1408MB. EMM386 appears to allocate all of the XMS memory and then release what it doesn't need. Above 1408MB EMM386 does not release approximately twice the amount of Memory above 1408MB, so the available memory actually decreases as the total amount of RAM increases.

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  • 8 months later...

I've been doing some tests with RLoew's non-XMS RAMDSK32... Here are the results:

Gigabyte i-RAM hardware ramdisk vs. RLoew's software-only non-XMS RAMDSK32

GB i-RAM 1.5GiB (Win 98 SE) FAT-32
------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 © 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
------------------------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read * : 122.1 MB/s
Sequential Write * : 120.4 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 115.1 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 119.4 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 44.3 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 41.0 MB/s

*Test Size : 100 MB

Obs: The GB i-RAM is a SATA-I device, so its theoretic maximum allowable data transfer is 150.0 MB/s...

=====================================

RLoew's RAMDSK32 1.5GiB (Win 98 SE) FAT-16

------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 © 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
------------------------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read * : 275.7 MB/s
Sequential Write * : 180.2 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 269.6 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 82.5 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 248.9 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 41.0 MB/s

*Test Size : 100 MB

Obs: using the SYSENTER Method.

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Now, to provide a comparison with another very reliable software ramdisk (this one works only under the Win NT family OSes) here are some more results:

Gigabyte i-RAM hardware ramdisk vs. Gavotte's software-only NT-only RRAMDISK

GB i-RAM 1.5GiB (Win XP SP3) FAT-32

------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 © 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
------------------------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read * : 132.9 MB/s
Sequential Write * : 126.2 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 132.9 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 125.8 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 58.6 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 51.7 MB/s

*Test Size : 100 MB

Obs: The GB i-RAM is a SATA-I device, so its theoretic maximum allowable data transfer is 150.0 MB/s...

=====================================

Gavotte's RRAMDISK 1.5GiB (Win XP SP3) FAT-32

------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 © 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
------------------------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read * : 308.4 MB/s
Sequential Write * : 315.6 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 270.7 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 276.1 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 36.1 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 34.9 MB/s

*Test Size : 100 MB

Obs: 1)Gavotte's RRAMDISK.SYS is a WDM device that only exists after Win XP has fully initialized.
2) RRAMDISK.SYS v. 1.0.4096.5_200811130 was used for this test.

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RLoew's seventh machine has been added (and it has 8 GiB and a triple-core CPU!!!)

Now that's just showing off!

:D

Not until I figure out how to use all the cores in the Triple Core in Windows 9X.

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RLoew's seventh machine has been added (and it has 8 GiB and a triple-core CPU!!!)

Now that's just showing off!

:D

Not until I figure out how to use all the cores in the Triple Core in Windows 9X.

That's very interesting to hear.

Any news on the resource expander front btw ?

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Not until I figure out how to use all the cores in the Triple Core in Windows 9X.

Perhaps then I can get Windows 98 to recognise both of my two physical processors too!

:)

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  • 3 weeks later...
Here you go -

http://rloew1.no-ip.com

It's not free, but worth every penny in my opinion.

Thank you!

PS: Is this the program mentioned by rloew, or there's another one?

There is no other! It's the one and only RAM Limitation Patch! :thumbup

BTW, if you had read post #1 looking for it, you'd've found it. The link is there, among the last few lines... :whistle:

(And no, I'm not a personal friend or relative of Rudolph, just a very satisfied customer!) :yes:
The same goes for me: I know him only through the internet. However, since we have been discussing Win 9x/ME here for a long time now, and across many threads, by now I do consider RLoew among my MSFN friends, and have his posts in very high regard. :yes:
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  • 2 months later...
This topic has been updated!

What's New?

on post #2:

frankminek's system has been added.

Let's keep the list up-to-date:

If you are using 9x/ME with more than 1 GiB RAM, do PM me your info and you shall be added to the list!

I'm considering the convenience of increasing memory to 2GB.

Is rloew's patch enough for it or it is needed to do anything more?

Thanks!

BTW I wonder why this thread is not placed as important so that it may be found easily by any visitor of this forum. I had difficulties to reach it because it was 5 pages behind the current one.

IMHO this is one of the most relevant things in this forum looking towards the future use of Windows 98.

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I'm considering the convenience of increasing memory to 2GB.

Is rloew's patch enough for it or it is needed to do anything more?

Thanks!

My Patch will support up to 4GB of RAM without other support.

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