NEED, AVOID AND SNIFF
Last updated by Roedy Green on 2008-03-11
PURPOSE
NEED.COM, AVOID.COM, and SNIFF.COM are a trio of utilities
for ensuring the environment is friendly before continuing.
They will test the waters for and report back on such things
as:
1. Is DESQview running?
2. Is there sufficient conventional, extended and expanded
RAM?
3. Is there sufficient free disk space?
4. Are the necessary DOS utilities loaded like QEMM,
SHARE, and BTRIEVE?
5. Do you have a sufficiently powerful CPU? and NPX
(numeric co-processor)?
6. In this the right day of the month, or day of the week,
time of day to run this job?
You tell NEED what you want, then it does all the tests then
returns a simple GO/NO-GO ERRORLEVEL you can test. If it is
0 all is ok. If it is 1, one or more of the requirements
failed.
Since MASM source code is provided to registered owners,
(see the end of this document for information on
registering) and since it was written very modularly, it is
very easy to cannibalize routines from it to include in your
own code so long as the code is not used for military
purposes.
NEED, AVOID and SNIFF are copyrighted but may be copied
freely and used for any purpose but military. See the end
of this document on how to register if you want the latest
version or the MASM source code.
TYPICAL USE
NEED and AVOID are a complementary pair of utilities. NEED
is for telling what you WANT, and AVOID is for telling what
you DON'T WANT. SNIFF is just for finding out what's out
there, without any preconceived notion of how it should be.
NEED DESQview DOS3.3- 80386! C:3MB
If Errorlevel 1 GoTo Trouble
DESQview means you must be running under DESQview.
DOS3.3- means you need DOS 3.3 or lower.
80386! means you must have an 386 processor, no more
no less.
C:3MB means you must have at least 3 MB of free
disk space on drive C:.
AVOID DESQview DOS3.3- 80387!
If Errorlevel 1 GoTo Trouble
DESQview means you must be NOT running under DESQview.
DOS3.3- means you cannot run on DOS 3.3 or lower.
80387! means you program will not work if there is
an 80387 numeric co-processor present.
SNIFF DESQview DOS CPU C:
Rem Sniff does not use the errorlevel.
DESQview means is DESQview is running?
DOS means what version of DOS is running?
CPU means what kind of CPU do you have?
C: means how much space is left on drive C:?
SUFFIXES
Just skim this section on first reading. It will make a lot
more sense later once you have seen some more examples.
Some parameters may have a trailing + ! or -.
+ means "and up" as in "DOS3.3+"
- means "and lower" as in "DOS3.3-"
! means "this and only this" as in "DOS3.3!"
If you don't specify a suffix, both NEED and AVOID presume
!.
However, for capacity-type words such as EXP:400K, NEED
presumes +.
YEAR:1991, MONTH:12, DAY:31, HOUR:23 and MINUTE:59 have a
default suffix of !. It never hurts to override the
default. Using explicit suffixes will make your BAT files
easier to understand. The default suffixes are shown with
the documentation on each possible parameter.
In other words:
NEED DOS3.3
means the same as:
NEED DOS3.3!
means you want JUST DOS 3.3 and nothing else will do.
where:
NEED DOS3.3+
means you want DOS 3.3 or higher.
NEED DOS3.3-
means you want DOS 3.3 or earlier.
Similarly:
AVOID DOS4.01
means the same as:
AVOID DOS4.01!
means you want to avoid DOS 4.01, but all other versions are
acceptable.
AVOID DOS4.01+
means you want to avoid DOS 4.01 and all later versions.
AVOID DOS4.01-
means you want to avoid DOS 4.01 and all earlier versions.
The three suffixes + - and ! make sense for version-type
parameters.
None of the suffixes make sense for a parameter like QEMM
which is either present or not. However, suffixes do apply
to CPU and NPX-type parameters like 80386DX and 80387 which
can be ordered by power. e.g. NEED 80286+ means you want an
80286 or more powerful CPU.
For capacity-type parameters like C:40MB, only + makes
sense, which is the default anyway. However, in AVOID, only
C:40MB-makes sense. This all sounds much more confusing
than it really is. Just experiment, you will catch on
pretty quickly.
Is all that on suffixes just too confusing? Rejoice. SNIFF
ignores all your suffixes. No matter what you do with them
it will accept them.
GENERAL SYNTAX RULES
On first reading, just skim this section.
K or KB means "measured in 1024 byte units". For example,
to insist on having at least 400 kilobytes (40,960 bytes) of
free RAM type:
NEED RAM:400KB
M or MB means "measured in megabyte (1024x1024) units". For
example, to insist on 20 megabytes (20,971,520 bytes) of
free space on drive C:, type:
NEED C:20MB+
The use of FORWARD SLASH / to introduce a switch is
optional.
You can say:
NEED /DESQview
or
NEED DESQview
If there are no separating slashes, then parameters must be
separated by blank space. No spaces are allowed within a
single parameter however.
The command line is CASE INSENSITIVE. You can put letters
in any combination of upper and lower case you like.
Numbers may contain optional commas. The commas are
ignored.
Numbers may also contain decimal points.
In Norway, home of the world's most enthusiastic beta
testers, the roles of comma and decimal point are reversed.
In general the "thousands separator" and "decimal separator"
are taken from the DOS Country.Sys information, so comma and
decimal are different dependent on your country. Either the
comma or point may be used in version type parameters such
as /DOS4,01 or /DOS4.01.
Parameters have a short form and sometimes various alias and
long forms. Intermediate length names are not allowed. If
I did allow intermediate forms, then later I might later
implement a new parameter that could break existing BAT
files by rendering existing use of a an intermediate length
parameter ambiguous.
You can put as many parameters as will fit on the command
line. There is only one output_the ERRORLEVEL which is
either 0 for GO, 1 for NO GO, or 4 for syntax error. The
program will display messages for each test passed or
failed. They can be suppressed with >NUL:. If you want to
have individual control for recovery purposes, test only one
parameter at a time. The utility is around 8K, so it will
not take long to load it multiple times, especially if you
have caching.
Any syntax error beckons a help display with a brief summary
of the syntax.
There are three kinds of commands:
1. Plain words that test for the existence of something.
e.g. 386MAX 8086 PCDOS EXP
2. Capacity words with a colon followed by a number: e.g.
RAM:40K C:2MB EXP:400,000
3. Version words followed directly by a number without a
colon: e.g. DOS4.01 PCDOS5.0
Note that some words come in more than one flavour. For
example, /EXP tests for the existence of a expanded memory
manager, but /EXP:400,000 checks that a certain amount for
free expanded RAM is available. /PCDOS checks that any
version of IBM PC DOS is running, but /PCDOS3.1 tests that
version 3.1 is running.
SNIFF is much more laid back than NEED or AVOID. You may
optionally leave out the version or the capacity so:
RAM RAM: RAM:4K C C: C:100K DOS DOS4.1+ are all
equally acceptable to SNIFF.
NOTE
The suffix shown after each word following is the DEFAULT
SUFFIX you will get if you don't specify a suffix.
PARAMETERS
386! You require an 80386-DX CPU.
386MAX! You must be running with the 386MAX memory
manager active.
486! You require an 80486-DX CPU.
4DOS! You must be running under 4DOS. If you are
running under COMMAND.COM under 4DOS this
will still be considered as running under
4DOS.
80186! You require an 80186 CPU.
80188! You require an 80188 CPU.
80286! You require an 80286 CPU.
80287! You need an 80287 numeric coprocessor.
80386! You require an 80386-DX CPU.
80386DX! You require an 80386-DX CPU.
80386SX! You require an 80386-SX CPU.
80387! You require an 80387 numeric coprocessor.
80486! You require an 80486-DX CPU.
80486DX! You require an 80486-DX CPU.
80586! You requere a Pentium CPU.
8086! You require an 8086 CPU.
8087! You require an 8087 numeric coprocessor.
8088! You require an 8088 CPU.
A20 You require that A20 addressing line be
active for high memory access.
AND Since multiple conditions are combined with
an implied AND, this word is never necessary.
You just include it to make things clearer
when you are using a mixture of ANDs and ORs.
e.g. NEED C:10MB AND RAM:300K. see also OR.
ANSI You require that ANSI.SYS be loaded in your
CONFIG.SYS. Some other drivers may partially
simulate ANSI.SYS, and will appear to
NEED/AVOID as if they are ANSI.SYS. If you
use redirection e.g. SNIFF ANSI >
TEMP.TXT under DOS versions prior to 4.0,
then the ANSI test will not work. Under old
versions of DOS, Windows in real mode also
interferes with the ANSI test.
APPEND You require the DOS APPEND command to be
active.
ASSIGN You require the DOS ASSIGN command to be
active.
AT You require a AT style BIOS. See /BIOS.
BIOS+ NEED BIOS is a synonym for NEED EXOTIC+.
AVOID BIOS is a synonym for AVOID EXOTIC-.
SNIFF BIOS means "What kind of BIOS do I
have?" Exotic, XT, AT or PS2? The test
depends on the machine id byte at location
F000:FFFE in the ROM BIOS. If your machine
is a non-standard "exotic" clone, SNIFF
cannot tell which kind of BIOS you have.
SNIFF will report the non-standard machine-id
code. Please report it to me and details
about your machine, so I can teach SNIFF to
recognize it. BIOSes are ranked so that you
can say:
NEED XT+
meaning EXOTICs will not do, but XT, AT or
PS2 is ok. When NEED says you have an AT, it
simply means you have an AT BIOS. This has
nothing whatsoever to do with your CPU. It
might be a 286, SX, 386 or 486. When it says
you have an XT BIOS, you might even have even
have an Intel Inboard 386. If it says you
have a PS2, there is a good chance you don't
have a PS/2 microchannel machine. You simply
have a BIOS of the style used by PS/2
computers.
BTRIEVE You require the Novell BTRIEVE Btree indexed
file manager to be loaded.
BUS NEED BIOS is synonymous for NEED ISA+. It
normally only makes sense with SNIFF to tell
what kind of BUS you have, ISA, MCA, or EISA.
C:3MB+ there must be at least 3 MB of FREE disk
space on drive C:. You may use drives A:
through Z:. Note SNIFF C: will tell you the
amount of UNUSED, FREE, UNALLOCATED,
AVAILABLE space on your drive. IT DOES NOT
REPORT THE *TOTAL* AMOUNT OF SPACE ON YOUR
DRIVE. Only unallocated disk space is of any
interest or use to programs.
CPU+ This does not make much sense in NEED or
AVOID though you may use it. In SNIFF it
means "What kind of CPU do I have?" Run these
tests under DOS. OS/2 or Windows can
interfere with the determination.
D:1+ There must be at least one free byte of disk
space on drive D:. This could be used to
detect the presence of drive D:
DAY:31! means you can only run this program on the
31st of the month. /DAY:28+ means you can
only run it on the 28th, 29th, 30th or 31st
of the month. Beware of using /DAY:31 since
in many months it never happens.
DESQ You must be running under DESQview.
DESQ2.31! You must be running under DESQview version
2.31.
DESQview ou must be running under DESQview.
DESQview2.31! You must be running under DESQview version
2.31.
DOS10.0! You must be running in the OS/2 compatibility
box which is considered as DOS 10.0+
DOS2.1! You must be running under DOS 2.10.
DOS3! You must be running under DOS 3.00.
DOS3.00! You must be running under DOS 3.00.
DOS3.31! You must be running under DOS 3.31
DOS5.0! You must be running under DOS5.0. NT
simulates running under DOS 5.0.
DOS7.0! You may specify any version number, not just
those listed here. NEED/AVOID can tell
DOS4.00 and DOS4.01 apart even though DOS4.01
lies about its true identity. In theory,
this is impossible. How does NEED do it?
Register and peek at the source code.
DPMI You must be running with a DOS Protected
Memory Interface manager (DPMI). There is NO
matching DPMI:40K test for determining how
much DPMI RAM is available since running such
a test would require entering protected mode.
The only time this test will ever come up
true is if you are running under Windows 3.x
in enhanced mode.
DRDOS You must be running under Digital Research
DRDOS, any version. Both DRDOS and DRMDOS
are treated as equivalent.
DRDOS5.0! You must be running under DRDOS 5.0. You can
specify any version. Internally DRDOS
pretends to be Compaq DOS 3.31.
DV You must be running under DESQview.
DV2.31 You must be running under DESQview version
2.31.
DX! You require an 80386-DX CPU.
EISA You must have an EISA bus.
EMM You must have an expanded memory manager
active. EMM is an alias for EXP.
EMM:100,000+ You must have 100,000 free bytes of EMM RAM
EMM is an alias for EXP. See /EXP for more
details.
EMS You must have an expanded memory manager
active. EMS is an alias for EXP.
EMS:1MB+ You must have 1 megabyte of free expanded
RAM. EMS is an alias for EXP.
ENV:300+ You must have 300 or more FREE bytes in the
SET environment. ENV is an alias for
ENVIRONMENT.
ENVIRONMENT:1K+ You must have 1024 (1K) or more FREE
bytes in the SET environment.D OS tacks the
current program name onto the end of the SET
environment. SET considers the area used by
the program name as free. So you should ask
for a little extra to give DOS room. Please
note SNIFF /ENVIRONMENT will NOT report the
total size of your environment just the
REMAINING FREE SPACE. This is what is of
interest to programs wanting to fill it up
with SET commands.
EXOTIC AVOID EXOTIC means stay away from non-
standard BIOSes. See /BIOS.
EXP You must have an expanded memory manager
active. EXP is an alias for EXPANDED.
EXP:400K+ You must have 400 or more free bytes of
expanded RAM controlled by a LIM EMS EMM
memory manager. EXP is an alias for EXPANDED.
EXPANDED You must have an expanded memory manager
active.
EXPANDED:70K+ You must have 70 K of free expanded RAM. Note
SNIFF /EXPANDED will tell you the amount of
UNUSED, FREE, UNALLOCATED, AVAILABLE expanded
RAM. IT DOES NOT REPORT THE *TOTAL* AMOUNT OF
EXPANDED RAM. Only unallocated RAM is of any
interest or use to programs.
EXT:3MB+ You must have 3 or more megabytes of free
extended RAM. EXT is an ALIAS for EXTENDED.
EXTENDED:100K+ You must have 100K or more free extended RAM.
The RAM can be any type_XMS, VDISK or INT 15.
If you want to measure only the modern XMS
RAM, use /XMS. Note SNIFF /EXTENDED will
tell you the amount of UNUSED, FREE,
UNALLOCATED, AVAILABLE extended RAM. IT DOES
NOT REPORT THE *TOTAL* AMOUNT OF EXTENDED
RAM. Only unallocated RAM is of any interest
or use to programs. Often all your extended
RAM has been converted to EXPANDED so that
explains why there is none left.
FRIDAY! It must be Friday. Sunday is considered the
first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
HANDLES:15 You must have at least 15 free file handles.
File handles are needed to open more files.
There are three limits, the global limit for
all programs combined, which you set is the
CONFIG.SYS HANDLES=30. There is also the per
task limit (normally 20). However, HANDLES
measures how many FREE handles are left in
the current task_in other words, how many
more files could you open safely. Some
clever progams may be able to increase the
per task limit, and thus go beyond what
HANDLES considers the limit. Some other
programs might close some files, which again
could increase the limit beyond what HANDLES
thinks is correct. The main way you chew up
handles is by loading TSRs that fail to close
the unused standard handles.
ISA You must have an ISA bus.
HELP Displays a short syntax summary. You need
this manual though to get all the possible
commands. PLEASE DO NOT PASS THIS PROGRAM ON
WITHOUT THIS MANUAL. It is too complex for
on-line help only. If you vandalize this
package and pass it on without the manual, I
might even be tempted to do something illegal
and unpleasant to you.
HIMEM You must be running under Microsoft's memory
manager, HIMEM.SYS that comes bundled with
DOS.
HOUR:23! This means you may only run this program in
the between 11PM and midnight. Uses 24 hour
time. see also MINUTE and TIME.
KEYB You must have KEYB installed. It may or may
not be configured to a non-American layout.
LAN You must be actively attached to a LAN. It
works by testing to see if any of drives C:
to Z: are remote. CD-ROM drives are detected
and specially handled so they do not count as
LAN drives.
LIM You must have an expanded memory manager
active. LIM is an alias for EXP.
LIM:0.7MB+ You must have 0.7 MB of free expanded RAM.
LIM is an alias for EXP.
MCA You must have a MCA (PS/2-style) bus.
MIN:59! This means you may only run this program in
the last minute of the hour. see also
MINUTE, HOUR and TIME.
MINUTE:59! This means you may only run this program in
the last minute of the hour. see also MIN,
HOUR and TIME.
MONDAY! It must be Monday. Sunday is considered the
first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
MONTH:12! This means you may only run this program in
December. /MONTH:2- means you could only run
it in January or February. /MONTH:10+ means
you can only run it in October to December.
MOUSE! You must have a mouse operational.
MSDOS You must currently be running some version of
Microsoft's MS DOS. See PCDOS for warnings
on difficulty telling PC and MS DOS apart.
When it does not matter, just use the
/DOS4.01 command.
MSDOS3.3! You must currently be running Microsoft's
version of MS DOS version 3.3.
NCACHE You require Norton NCACHE disk cacher to be
loaded possibly as a device driver in
config.sys or as a TSR in autoexec.bat.
NETBIOS You must have a NETBIOS type LAN active.
NPX You must have some sort of numeric processor
installed. There are individual commands for
the various types: /8087 /80287 /80386 and
/80486. Note the /80486 CPU always has a
built in processor. In SNIFF /NPX just
displays your numeric coprocessor type.
OR Allows you to do several groups of tests.
Only one group needs to succeed to be
considered as overall success: e.g.
NEED 80387 80386 OR 80486
This means you must have BOTH and 80387 and
an 80386, OR an 80486 which has a built in
numeric co-processor. See further hints on
logical combining later and also the AND
command.
PCCACHE You require Central Point's PCTools PCCACHE
disk cacher to be loaded. Note there is no
dash in the name. It has been tested with
version 4.4 and 6.0. I do not yet know if it
works with other versions, in particular 7.1.
PCDOS You must currently be running some version of
IBM PC DOS. NEED has a difficult time
telling PC DOS apart from MS DOS, and in many
cases will confuse them. NEED works by
asking DOS which drive is the Boot drive. In
versions prior to 4.00, DOS does not know, so
NEED just guesses the same as the SET
COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM:. Then it looks
for the hidden, system read-only file called
IBMBIO.COM. If it finds it, it presumes
PCDOS, otherwise it assumes MSDOS. You can
see the many ways this test could fail to
operate properly.
1. Olivetti MS DOS calls their file
IBMBIO.COM instead of IO.SYS.
2. If you booted from A: with PCDOS 3.3,
and set your COMSPEC to C:, NEED will not
know to look on your floppy.
3. You have installed DRDOS on top of your
PCDOS.
It leaves the IBMBIO.COM file in place.
Normally you should use plain /DOS5.0 when it
does not matter if you have PC or MS DOS. I
have discovered the following MSDOS versions
masquerade as PCDOS: Compaq, Wyse, DRDOS,
Corona, possibly Northgate. See /MSDOS.
PCDOS4.00! You must currently be running version 4.00 of
IBM's PC DOS.
PCMOS You must be running the PCMOS multitasking
operating system.
PENTIUM You must have a Pentium (586) CPU.
PERI You must be running under the Periscope
debugger.
PERI5.1 You must be running under Periscope 5.1.
PERISCOPE You must be running under the Periscope
debugger.
PERISCOPE5.1 You must be running under Periscope 5.1.
Works for any version.
PS2 You must have a PS/2 style BIOS. Note there
is NO slash! This test is NOT for detecting
microchannel computers. See /BIOS.
QEMM You must be running under the control of the
QEMM memory manager from Quarterdeck.
QRAM You must be running under the control of the
QRAM memory manager from Quarterdeck.
RAM:500K+ There must be at least 500K free conventional
RAM.
NEED automatically adjusts the figure to be
what you would have if NEED were not running.
NEED gives you the size of the largest free
chunk into which you could load a program_not
the aggregate size of all the little free RAM
fragments. Note SNIFF /RAM will tell you
the amount of UNUSED, FREE, UNALLOCATED,
AVAILABLE conventional RAM. IT DOES NOT
REPORT THE *TOTAL* AMOUNT OF conventional
RAM. Only unallocated RAM is of any interest
or use to programs. Often all your
conventional RAM has been eaten up by TSRs,
so that explains why there is so little left.
REAL You must be running in REAL mode, i.e. not
under a virtual memory manager or any DOS
extender that runs in protected mode. If you
were running under Windows in /r mode, but
had QEMM working, you would be in virtual
mode. If you were running under Windows
standard or enhanced mode you would be in
virtual mode. If your run in the OS/2
compatibility box, you will be in REAL mode,
even if you have an 80386 or 80486. If your
are running under QEMM, you will always be in
virtual mode.
SATURDAY! It must be Saturday. Sunday is considered
the first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
SHARE You must have DOS SHARE active. If you are
running in Windows Enhanced mode, Windows
acts like SHARE to help the various multi-
processing tasks stay out of each other's
hair, and so it will appear as if the SHARE
utility itself is loaded.
SLOW SLOW forces any sensitive subsequent tests to
be done the slow duddy, inaccurate, mundane,
Windows way. You would use this if, for
example, you had an ancient version of QEMM
that was interfering with the CPU type
determination tests. NEED automatically uses
the SLOW tests when it detects Windows in
enhanced mode. If your virtual monitor is
interfering with a test and exploding, try
using SLOW. e.g.
NEED SLOW SX
SMARTDRIV! You require that the SMARTDRIV.SYS caching
program be loaded. Other brands of cacher
that mimic SMARTDRV may give false positives,
however NCACHE and PCACHE will not since
there are special checks for them.
SUNDAY! It must be Sunday. Sunday is considered the
first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
SX! You require an 80386-SX CPU.
THURSDAY! It must be Thursday. Sunday is considered
the first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
TIME:13:00! This means you may only run this program in
the 60 seconds following 1 PM. Uses 24-hour
time. To allow to run between 1PM and 1:30PM
you would write:
NEED TIME:13:00+ TIME:13:30-
There is an implied AND between the two
parts. To allow to run between 11:30 PM and
1:30 AM you would write:
NEED TIME:23:30+ OR TIME:01:30-
Alternatively you could write:
AVOID TIME:01:31+ AND TIME:23:39-
TUESDAY! It must be Tuesday. Sunday is considered the
first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
V20! You require a NEC V20 CPU.
V30! You require a NEC V30 CPU.
VCPI You must be running under the control of a
Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI).
If you have QEMM or 386MAX you will see VCPI
active. It will remain active under Windows
real and standard versions but will disappear
under Windows enhanced since Windows enhanced
mode cannot tolerate programs that use
protected mode, unless they are specially
coded to run by Windows rules.
VCPI:500K+ Your require at least 500K free RAM under the
control of a Virtual Control Program
Interface (VCPI). By now you get the idea.
SNIFF /VCPI reports FREE VCPI RAM, not total
VCPI RAM. A program like DESQView might take
it all to parcel out to support its windows.
WEDNESDAY! It must be Wednesday. Sunday is considered
the first day of the week if you use + and -
suffixes.
WEEKDAY+ This does not make much sense in NEED or
AVOID, but in SNIFF it can be used to display
the day of the week e.g. Sunday.
WIN2! You must me running under Windows 386 version
2.x
WIN3E! You must be running under Windows 3.x in
Enhanced mode. When you are in enhanced
mode, you will find the DPMI manager becomes
active, and Windows suddenly thinks it is
impertinent to ask about VCPI. If you do,
she will give you a protection violation.
SNIFF just says VCPI is not there if WIN3E is
present.
WIN3R! You must be running under Windows 3.x in Real
mode. If you have QEMM running the Microsoft
Windows test reports Windows in real mode as
if it were in standard mode. Since the
machine is in REAL mode, you will never see
any DPMI protected mode RAM.
WIN3S! You must be running under Windows 3.x in
Standard mode. Since the machine is in REAL
mode, you won't see any DPMI protected mode
RAM.
WFWG! You must be running under Windows For
WorkGroups.
WIN95! You must be running under Windows 95
WINDOWS+ You must be running under control of some
version of Windows (even version 2 is ok).
In SNIFF it displays the version of Windows
you are using if any. Versions order
include: WIN2 WIN3R WIN3S WIN3E WFWG and
WIN95. If you run under DOS under WinOS2
that will be considered as NOT running under
Windows. Similarly if you run in a DOS box
under Windows/NT emulation, it will not be
considered running under Windows.
XMS There must be an XMS extended memory manager
active.
XMS:400K+ There must be at least 400K of free extended
RAM managed by an XMS memory manager. Sniff
/XMS reports only FREE XMS RAM, not total XMS
RAM. If you have less than you think you
should, consider that with QEMM, XMS and EXP
memory are drawn from the same pool. An
EXPANDED memory user may have gobbled up your
XMS RAM. Many programs quietly eat up EXP
RAM -- 4DOS, BTRIEVE, . . . If you are
running under DESQView, you control the
amount of XMS RAM available to a window with
the [Maximum Expanded Memory Size in K]
option. QEMM treats XMS and EXP as if they
were almost the same.
XT You require an XT style BIOS. See /BIOS.
YEAR:1992! This means you can only run the program in
the year 1992. If you used /YEAR:1992+ you
could only run it starting in 1992 and in
subsequent years. Note you MUST specify
/YEAR:1991. You cannot just say /1991.
Z:10.0MB+ Drive Z must have 10 MB or more free space on
it.
TROUBLE SHOOTING
Wrong Amount of RAM, Disk Space, etc
Many users have reported a "bug" that NEED, AVOID and SNIFF
are calculating the free memory or free disk space
incorrectly. These programs are designed to calculate
**FREE** space_NOT TOTAL SPACE! In other words they
calculate how much room is LEFT.
NEED and AVOID are the advance guard who go in to see if it
safe for more delicate programs to follow. These
application programs don't give two hoots how much RAM you
have or how much disk space you have in total. What they
care about is how much RAM or disk space is AVAILABLE that
they can USE.
In addition users are alarmed when SNIFF reports NO free XMS
RAM or no free EXPANDED RAM. Often, the reason there is no
FREE RAM, is because some program is USING all of it. This
is good. Otherwise you would be WASTING it.
Under DESQview no XMS, EXPANDED or EXTENDED memory is
available unless you edited the PIF to tell DESQview to
allot some.
Also merely having Extended or Expanded RAM hardware is not
enough for it to be usable by your programs. For expanded
RAM you must have an expanded memory manager of some kind.
For extended RAM you must have an INT 15 or XMS or VDISK
style memory manager. Usually the expanded and XMS drivers
are loaded as part of CONFIG.SYS. Int 15 should supported
as part of your AT BIOS. If you don't have an appropriate
memory manager, the memory is not usable and so SNIFF will
report 0 bytes available.
Canned Bat Files
I have included a sample file called SNIFFTST.BAT that
exercises SNIFF to tell you everything it knows about your
machine. You can use that as a model to create your own
works using SNIFF. Make sure SNIFF.Com is on the path or
modify the file to use explicit directory names on
SNIFF.COM.
I have also included a sample file called NEEDTST.BAT that
exercises NEED. You can use it to model your use of
NEED.COM. There is also a file called AVOIDTST.BAT that
exercises AVOID.COM.
Tracking the Cause of errors
NEED and AVOID are not very helpful in their error messages.
If you are having trouble figuring out what NEED or AVOID
are complaining about, try your tests separately rather than
putting many on one line. However, by looking at which
tests on the line it has completed, you can guess which
command it is choking on.
Perhaps you have inserted some invalid space. Particularly
watch /DOS4.01, not /DOS_4.01. Perhaps you have applied a
suffix +, ! or - that does not make sense in that context.
Perhaps you are using one of the parameters that has not
been implemented yet. You might be trying something like
/QEMM:5.12. There IS no version support test for QEMM yet.
Possibly you have found a bug in NEED/AVOID/SNIFF. This is
most likely if you are using an older version of DOS. I
personally have only tested with MS DOS 4.01 and DOS 5.0,
though my beta testers have tried it on quite a variety of
machines.
You can try the SLOW parameter if your machine is hanging on
the CPU type determination tests. e.g. try:
NEED /SLOW 486
NEED /SLOW SX
Care With Colons
Be careful with colons. Sometimes they must be present.
Sometimes they must be absent. Check the list of supported
combinations. Note the following:
NEED DOS4.01 *NOT* NEED DOS:4.01
NEED MSDOS *NOT* NEED MSDOS:
NEED C:40K *NOT* NEED C40K
NEED MOUSE *NOT* NEED MOUSE2.0
NEED EXT:1 *NOT* NEED EXT
INVALID SUFFIXES
You and I may have a disagreement about which suffixes make
sense on which parameters. If NEED rejects your command
line, try removing suffixes. Note the following is ILLEGAL.
Even if it were legal, it would not mean what you think:
NEED DESQview-
Instead, to insist DESQview to be absent, say:
AVOID DESQview
Even though I don't show it in the manual, actually the !
suffix is always allowed, so the following is LEGAL.
NEED DESQview!
And Versus Or_Logical combining
When you combine tests they are combined with an implied
AND. You can override the usual meaning with OR. To make
things clear you may also insert an explicit AND.
The most likely error you will make is this:
NEED 80286 80386DX
This will always fail. What is says is your CPU must be
simultaneously both an 80286 AND and 80386. It cannot, so
the test always fails. All the tests on the line must pass.
To get the effect of 80286 OR 80386 you could handle this in
several ways:
NEED 80286 OR 80386DX
If you wanted to include the SX too, you would have to say:
NEED 80286 OR 80386SX OR 80386-DX
You could also handle it by testing one at a time:
NEED 80286! >NUL:
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO OK
NEED 80386! >NUL:
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO OK
:TROUBLE
ECHO Neither 80286 nor 80386
...
:OK
ECHO Is an 80286 or an 80386
The >NUL: hides the error messages that NEED would generate.
Note the spelling of >NUL: with one "L". If you said >NULL
DOS would try to direct the output to a file called NULL.
On a LAN this might not be legal.
You could handle it another way_using AVOID.
AVOID 8086- 80486+
This says avoid any CPU the equivalent of an 8086 or lower,
and an 80486 or higher. Anything else should be an 80286,
SX or 80386.
You are likely to make a similar same error this way:
NEED Monday Wednesday Friday
That will not work because NEED is so pea-brained it thinks
you mean it must be Monday AND Wednesday AND Friday all at
the same time, today_which can never happen. You need to
say:
NEED Monday OR Wednesday OR Friday
Note that ALL those ORs are needed. You CANNOT say:
NEED Monday Wednesday OR Friday
Dinosaur-brained NEED thinks you mean NEED (Monday AND
Wednesday) OR Friday. Note that NEED does not understand
parentheses or the word "AND"_just the word "OR".
You can use NEEDs insistence on redundancy to your
advantage. If you say:
NEED C:4MB EXT:1MB OR C:5MB
This means you need 4MB free on C: AND a megabyte free
extended RAM, or failing that 5 MB free on C:, or both. It
a good idea to leave a few extra spaces before and after the
word OR to make the meaning clear to your readers. NEED
does not need the extra space.
TIME requests usually have a combined pair:
To allow to run between 1PM and 1:30PM you would write:
NEED TIME:13:00+ TIME:13:30-
There is an implied AND between the two parts. You could
put the AND in explicitly if you wanted like this:
NEED TIME:13:00+ AND TIME:13:30-
In the current version ther is no contraction to avoid
typing the word TIME twice.
To allow the program to run between 11:30 PM and 1:30 AM you
would write:
NEED TIME:23:30+ OR TIME:00:30-
Alternatively you could write:
AVOID TIME:00:31+ AND TIME:23:39-
Watch out with AVOID. The wordings are not so intuitively
obvious as with NEED.
AVOID C:10MB- AND D:10MB-
means don't run unless both C: and D: each have 10 MB free.
The AND is implied and could be left out.
AVOID C:10MB- OR D:10MB-
means don't run unless one of C: or D: or both has 10 MB
free. In other words, all is ok if even one of the
expressions separated by ORs is ok.
DESQview
If you are using DESQview, run NEED, AVOID and SNIFF at
protection level 0 (set on the second page of PIF options).
NEED does some tricky instructions to find out what sort of
CPU you have, and if you have the protection turned up
DESQview/QEMM will freak.
If you have a very old version of DESQview or QEMM you may
have to use the SLOW parameter.
DESQview will provide no extended, expanded or XMS RAM to a
program running under it unless you set the Maximum Expanded
Memory Size in K on the second page of the CP (change
program) screen. That one number provides a pool of RAM
from which expanded or extended RAM can be carved.
Windows
Windows is full of bugs and interferes in many ways with
NEED, SNIFF and AVOID. I did the best I could to defend
these programs against Window's meddling. I had to revert
to some extremely SLOW, inaccurate tests in place of the
normal ones to avoid invoking Window's wrath. In addition,
Windows interferes with ANSI.SYS. Under older versions of
DOS, in REAL mode ANSI.SYS hangs up unless you give it a
prod by hitting a key when NEED asks for a cursor position
report during the ANSI test.
Windows and Himem.Sys
If you use Windows with Himem.Sys, here is what to expect:
Type of in Win in Win in Win
Ram /r /s /3
expanded no no yes
extended yes no yes
XMS yes no yes
VCPI no no no
DPMI no no yes
REAL mode yes yes no
Please note: There is NO VCPI ever and NO DPMI except in /3
enhanced mode. This is NORMAL. About ten people have
reported it as a bug. In WorkGroups For Windows and Windows-
95, there is an implied /3 option. There are no real or
standard modes.
Windows and QEMM
If you use Windows with Quarterdeck's QEMM.Sys, here is what
to expect:
Type of in Win in Win in Win
Ram /r /s /3
expanded yes no yes
extended yes no yes
XMS yes no yes
VCPI yes yes no
DPMI no no yes
REAL mode no no no
Please note: Windows gobbles up all the XMS RAM in /s mode.
The XMS driver is there, but all the RAM is gone. Because
QEMM provides both EMS and XMS from the same pool of RAM,
effectively Windows in standard mode then gobbles up all the
expanded RAM as well. QEMM does its memory mapping magic by
using the PAGING (virtual memory) mapping registers. To do
this it puts the machine into virtual 86 mode. That is why
Windows /r (REAL mode) shows up as virtual.
Crashes
Sometimes NEED, SNIFF and AVOID will just hang up or make
the machine go crazy. In those cases you can try the SLOW
parameter to use the less accurate, slower tests.
For example try:
SNIFF SLOW CPU
NEED SLOW SX+
Here are the tests that most likely might give you trouble
if you run with a meddling virtual monitor (such as Windows,
Compaq memory management, QEMM, 386MAX etc.). A VM is a
sort of mother program that slaps your wrists any time you
use "interesting" instructions. What follows is tech-talk.
Don't worry if it makes no sense.
REAL vs Virtual Sniff does an smsw instruction that
mother might not like. Other tests may do a
REAL test as a side effect.
286 vs 386 Sniff used to do an SGDT instruction, but
windows meddled and made everything look like
a 286. Sniff no longer ever uses this test.
The code for it is available as part of the
registered version, as commentary.
SX vs 386 Sniff tries to toggle bit 4 (the ET bit) of
register CR0. If you have an SX, 386 or 486,
this test will be used. This bit tells which
kind of NPX you have.
386 vs 486 Sniff tries to toggle bit 18 (the AC
alignment check bit) in the extended flags
register. Some virtual monitors will not let
you. If you have an SX, 386 or 486, this
test will be used.
Reporting Bugs
The following people helped test out about 15 versions of
NEED/AVOID/SNIFF before we let it loose on the world at
large. They go by the Bix handles (@bix.com) of: aGurski,
aRog, Blaszczak, bQuerry, bStrauss, dSparks, Fred.Robinson,
gChicares, hGessau, instantel, JeBarr, lFirrantello, Ligo,
M.Love, macbeth, Mike123, mReay, pRoub, rbabcock, rlis,
sSchneider, terjeM, tron and wlMoore. Even more, they
helped write the code and research the code.
After 3.0 went out, these people reported and helped track
down more bugs: avi, making, rCharney, tfrost, tjeffries and
yendor.
Frank Pearsall of Indiana University suggested the LASTDRIVE
and CURRENT checks.
They found all kinds of problems, especially when testing on
older or oddball machines. There is still a good chance you
might get to have the joy of finding a bug for yourself. If
you do, please report it.
PLEASE LABEL FILES WITH YOUR NAME. When you send me code,
messages or bug reports, please label everything with your
name and a way to contact you (e.g. your BIXid) INSIDE THE
FILE. I receive so many downloaded files, I have no way of
remembering who sent me what. I WANT to give you credit.
PLEASE TELL ME ABOUT YOUR MACHINE. There have not been any
bugs in quite a while I could reproduce on my computer or
any of the computers in my office. The bugs you find are
most likely specific to your machine. I need to know as
much as possible about your machine so I can code around
whatever is making the code fail. Please tell me at least:
Manufacturer and version of DOS, CPU chip Type, BIOS maker,
anything unusual about your machine. If you have any
assembler debugging experience, please let me know that too.
I have tested all of this code many times. It works fine on
MY machine and on about 25 other people's machines. If it
does not work on yours, it is most likely because there is
something different about your machine and mine. So if you
baldly tell me the XXX test does not work, that gives me no
clues to track it down.
To avoid embarrassment, check the notes in this manual on
the parameter you are reporting on and the TROUBLE SHOOTING
section. It might be I deliberately designed the program to
behave differently than you expected, or there is a bug I
already know about that I cannot bypass.
And finally TELL ME WHICH VERSION OF NEED you are using,
every time you report a problem. I don't have records of
which versions each of you are using. I have been putting
out sometimes three versions a day, and you may be reporting
a bug that was already fixed, or you may be reporting an old
one that has resurfaced in a new form. To find out the
version just type NEED, SNIFF or AVOID by itself on the
command line.
To make it very clear what the bug is, tell me exactly what
you typed_preferably only ONE TEST ON A LINE, what result
came back, and what result you were expecting. Sometimes
people send me long lists of what look like perfectly valid
test results. They forget I don't know anything about what
the results SHOULD look like.
Unfinished Business
ANSI Windows in real mode has a bug that
interferes with cursor position reporting.
This interferes with the /ANSI test in old
versions of DOS under Windows. If you use
redirection, the fallback ANSI test (only
used in old versions of DOS) will not work.
SX vs DX Windows interferes with the normal test so I
have to use a less accurate test that takes
an obscenely long time to run.
386 vs 486 Windows interferes with the normal test so I
have to use a less accurate test.
PCDOS vs MSDOS I have not been able to find a completely
reliable way to tell IBM PC DOS apart from
Microsoft MS DOS. Part of the problem is
vendors deliberately broke the rules to make
their products look more like IBM PC DOS than
they were supposed to.
IDEAS FOR FUTURE VERSIONS
102KEY You have a PS/2 type keyboard
83KEY You have an XT type keyboard
84KEY You have an AT type keyboard
CANARY A utility that runs the tests in order of
difficulty. It would run the easy ones
first, then the ones that require greater
compatibility. It would die part way
through. Your rank before death is your
canary compatibility rating. You would use
it to test a clone before you bought it. I
would add tests not part of the current
suite.
CGA Original IBM CGA card or anything capable of
emulating it, e.g. EGA, VGA
CHIPSET Detect which motherboard chipset you have,
e.g. Ares, Mercury, Neptune, Saturn, Triton,
Opti-Viper
CP:134 Ensures a given code page is loaded.
CURRENT:C! Ensures current drive is C:
EGA EGA card present
FCBS How many free FCBs for opening DOS 1.1 style
files. This might be impossible to code
without interfering with your TSRs.
GRAYSCALE Grayscale VGA
HERC Hercules or Hercules-Plus card present
HERCPLUS Hercules Plus card present
INCOLOUR Hercules Incolour card present
LASTDRIVE:G+ Ensures that LastDrive in Config.Sys is set
to G or higher.
MONO IBM Monochrome, Herc, Herc-Plus, EGA or VGA
available_something capable of emulating mono
text.
PCKWIK Super PCKwik cache present.
PCI Detect PCI bus.
RZ-1000 Does your machine have this faulty EIDE
controller chip?
VGA VGA card present
If you have ideas on how to code any of the above, or better
tests for any of the existing NEED commands, please let me
know.
MODIFYING NEED AND AVOID
NEED and AVOID are written in MASM. Registered users get
the source code to use as they like. You may simply want to
pick through it to cannibalize ideas or routines for your
own programs. You may just want to satisfy your curiosity
how I did some of the tests.
The heavily commented code was written to make this as easy
as possible. In addition, in each routine I give references
to textbooks and essays where I figured out how to write the
code, so this can be a starting point for your own more
clever routines.
If you want to add your own tests to NEED, all you need to
do is write an assembler routine that does the test and
returns the result in DX:AX. It may trash any registers.
There are four basic kinds of test:
1. implied: e.g. /DESQview. Your test routines test
returns 0 for not present and 1 for present in AX. The
implied "level of presence" desired is 1. Just ahead of the
routine you must fill in a table entry that tells the name
of your new command, the name of your test, and set of flags
on which Suffixes are permitted. You don't have to make any
adjustments to the program, just add your routine.
2. Capacity: e.g. /RAM:604K. In this type your routine
returns the amount of RAM or whatever in DX:AX. The user
specifies the amount of it desired after the colon on the
command line.
3. Version: e.g. /PCDOS4.01 The version number follows
the command name without any separating punctuation. In
this case your routine returns the version number multiplied
by 100 in AX. e.g. DOS3.01 becomes 301.
4. Time: e.g. /TIME:23:59. In this case the result comes
back in minutes since midnight in DX:AX.
The best way to add a command is just to find a parameter
you understand, similar to the one you want to add, and use
that as a model. You don't have to understand any of the
general purpose parser. Everything you have to do is
localized in one place.
You also have to write a display routine that display the
result of your test. There are a number of subroutines you
can use to make that easier. Your display routine expects
the value in DX:AX and may trash any registers it pleases.
e.g. it might display "DESQview detected" when passed 1 in
DX:AX.
NEED, AVOID and SNIFF are so similar, they use the same
source code. You simply change one equate called
GENERATING, then you can generate a copy of NEED, AVOID or
SNIFF. Usually I do this automatically with the /D
parameter on the OPTASM assembler.
VERSION HISTORY
1. What's New In Version 6.4
2. detect Windows-95 WIN95.
3. convert documentation to Word For Windows 6.0
What's New In Version 6.3
1. detect new 486s than are retrofitted with the Pentium
CPUID instruction.
2. yet another improvement to ANSI test.
3. HIMEM.SYS detect.
What's New in Version 6.2
1. improvements to ANSI, SMARTDRV and PENTIUM tests.
What's NEW in Version 6.1
1. - /TIME /HOUR /MINUTE. More docs on logical
combinations.
2. AND operator. More docs on using AND and OR
3. improvements to ANSI and PENTIUM tests.
What's New In Version 6.0
1. source is now included.
2. test for the Pentium processor.
3. tests for the ISA, MCA and EISA busses.
What's New In Version 5.0
1. another attempt to fix the bug in the LAN detection
logic when CD-ROMS are present.
What's New In Version 4.9
1. detects PCMOS multitasking operating system.
What's New In Version 4.8
1. detects non-standard Phoenix ATs that use FC:81 model
id.
2. HANDLES now properly documented.
WHat's New In Version 4.7
1. BIOS test now works even if the BIOS fails to support
the INT 15 equipment determination interrupt properly.
What's New in Version 4.6
1. LAN test had a problem with a DOS bug. DOS uses int 2f
function 1500 for both detecting CD-ROMS and Graphics.Com.
CD-ROM drives masquerade as LAN drives. I have tried a new
method to get around the bug. Reginald Charney reported
this bug.
2. Phoenix 486 computers were using a new machine id code,
rather than duplicating one of IBM's. I added code FC 03 as
an AT code. Reginald Charney reported this bug.
What's New in Version 4.5
1. 4DOS presence test
What's New in Version 4.4
1. NCACHE to detect presence of Norton Disk cacher.
2. PCCACHE to detect presence of PCTools cache.
3. SMARTDRIV no longer gives false positives for NCACHE
and PCCACHE.
What's New in Version 4.3
1. SMARTDRV test for caching program.
2. fancier QEMM test that would not be fooled by a file of
the same name as the device driver.
What's New in Version 4.2
1. bug in ASSIGN test fixed.
What's New in Version 4.1
1. released to BIX 1991 June 25.
2. KEYB documented and fixed to work under DOS 5.0.
3. QEMM serious bug in test, just exits. Now fixed.
What's New in Version 4.0
1. released to BIX 1991 June 14
2. mostly fixes in the documentation. References to DOS
5, Share, Windows problems.
What's New in Version 3.9
1. released to the Vancouver PC User Society
What's New in Version 3.8
1. code changed in the HANDLES test to make it DOS 2.1
compatible.
What's New in Version 3.7
1. both fast and slow 386 vs 486 test. The fast test
works fine under Windows but fails under some virtual memory
managers such as Compaq's expanded memory manager.
2. the generic /DOS5.0 test now properly displays DR DOS
when run under DR DOS.
What's new in Version 3.6
1. detect more types of PS/2 BIOS and discriminate them
from AT BIOSes with the same model type.
2. added parameters so you can request or avoid PS2 and
EXOTIC.
3. added version checks on many interrupt calls to not
even try the call unless the DOS version is high enough.
This should make the code as a whole more robust on old DOS
versions.
4. use of documented ASSIGN test rather than undocumented
one.
5. This should make the test more robust on non-standard
DOS versions.
6. consistent wording_NOT DETECTED used throughout rather
than "NOT PRESENT" since many tests can give false
negatives.
7. Fixed bug in the test for PCDOS Version. (I
inadvertently deleted two lines of the routine.)
8. new test to discriminate WIN3R from WIN3S.
What's new in Version 3.5
1. new HANDLES:15 parameter to ensure there are sufficient
file handles.
2. ALL.BAT to compile the SNIFF, AVOID and NEED
automatically.
3. divide overflow bug fixed. The Divide-by-10 routine
failed to consider dividing 640K by 10 would trigger
overflow.
4. command line of all blanks now treated identically to a
null command line.
5. the CPU type determining tests that measure the
instruction pre-fetch queue (PIQ) length are now done four
times, hopefully to sidestep some of the random effects of
DMA refresh.
6. even better code to detect a non-functioning BIO int 15
during the extended RAM test.
What's new in Version 3.4
1. new DEBUG command to turn on debugging register dumps.
2. new PCDOS test that should not be confused by DRDOS.
3. better code to guard against non-functioning BIOS
routines in the extended RAM determination.
What's new in Version 3.3
1. this version has debugging code to dump registers at
various points during the NEED C: and NEED EXP:40K commands.
The intent is to track down the source of division overflow
and freezing up in Compaq DOS and DR DOS.
2. new DOCs warning people of the difference between FREE
RAM and total RAM.
What's new in Version 3.2
1. credits added in the source code for all the methods
used.
2. new cleaner Btrieve Test.
3. new MSDOS test that does not get confused by the
presence of DRDOS.
What's new in Version 3.1
1. fix problem with 486 appearing as an SX. Reported by
Tfrost.
2. change word "prefix" to "suffix" in the docs.
3. fix bug in test for ASSIGN installed. Reported by
MKropp.
4. new way of testing BIOS_using machine model bytes.
Should fix problems with exotic clones with strange CMOS.
Problems reported by aGurski and tFrost.
5. two new BIOS types: EXOTIC and PS2.
What's new in Version 3.0
1. first version released to the public.
2. new QRAM test.
3. new parameter SLOW to force slow tests.
4. shorten the SX test under windows.
What's new in Version 2.5
1. better PCDOS discrimination test. Now uses SET COMSPEC
to guess the boot drive.
What's new in Version 2.4
1. code to avoid crashing in BIOS-deficient machines.
2. commas and decimal points now work, even when your DOS
has bugs and does not support the Country separators.
3. more sensitive BIOS type test to avoid false positives
on XT.
4. It now checks that the month in CMOS is in the range
1..12 for Ats.
5. tweaked code so that NEC V30 and V20 detected even when
DMA refresh interferes with the test.
What's new in Version 2.3
1. yet another new improved DESQ test. We now detect DESQ
version.
What's New in Version 2.2
1. better test for DESQview. Some DOSes sneak around the
old one.
2. new way of handling the default suffixes for AVOID so
that things like AVOID WINDOWS gives the effect you intend.
What's New in Version 2.1
1. detect DRMDOS as /DRDOS
2. new ANSI.SYS detector for Olivetti, fix Agurski's bug.
3. simpler /WINDOWS test
4. remove debug code
5. better /486 test.
6. SNIFF to display without having to specify what you
want.
7. new tests BIOS, CPU, NPX, WINDOWS and WEEKDAY primarily
for SNIFF.
8. more sensitive PC vs MS DOS test.
What's New in Version 2.0
1. better /80286 test
2. better SX vs DX test, however, we still use the old
test under Windows 3.x extended.
3. run the SX vs DX test longer under Windows trying to
average out the time slicing effects.
4. Separate tests for Windows and non-Windows.
5. Faster /REAL test that does not do a full CPU
determination.
6. add code for XT BIOSes that have no INT 15 support
whatsoever so that EXT:1+ gives 0. Fixes M.Love's bug.
7. inadvertently cleared up Agurski's /DESQview bug.
What's New In Version 1.9
1. - /WIN3E erroneously reported as version 4, now fixed.
2. VCPI test now returns 0 if running under WIN3E to avoid
crashing. Windows does not like programs asking about VCPI.
3. new test to discriminate an 80286 from an 80386 that
works even under Windows enhanced mode. Windows enhanced
mode interfered with the old test.
4. NEED no longer turns off DMA refresh. It caused some
machines to freeze.
What's New In Version 1.8
1. XT vs AT test now works at all times of day. It used
to think ATs were XTs after 6 PM at night. (It turns out
the clock is coded in BCD and I thought it was coded in
binary).
What's New In Version 1.7
1. insert manual DMA refresh while automatic DMA turned
off.
2. Correct a bug in QRAM that caused freezing on some
machines.
3. Correct a bug in VCPI: test that caused freezing on
some machines.
4. try CMOS test without High bit, to see if it works on
Terje's machine.
5. Guess C: as boot drive when boot drive unknown, in
attempt to tell MS DOS and PC DOS apart.
What's New In Version 1.6
1. add begin/end critical section on CPU timing loop to
stop DESQview from meddling during tests. Should more
accurately discriminate SX DX 486 CPUs.
2. experimental code in Test for DESQview to it if it
bypasses DOS bug giving false positive tests.
3. new ANSI.SYS test that should detect things like
DVANSI.SYS and ANSI.SYS in pre-DOS 4.00 that eluded the
earlier test.
4. safer VCPI test, tests for EMS driver first.
5. turn off DMA refresh during queue length and SX timing
test for more accurate results.
6. DRDOS version number test added.
7. - /XT and /AT to test BIOS type.
8. LAN test no longer fooled by CD-ROM drives masquerading
as remote LAN drives.
What's New In Version 1.5
1. EXT:400K now includes two kinds of VDISK extended RAM,
INT 15 RAM and XMS RAM in its calculations.
2. PERI or PERISCOPE now detects presence of PERISCOPE
DEBUGGER
3. PERI5.1 or PERISCOPE5.0 now detects periscope version.
4. NEED now does reports on the success or failure of all
the tests. You can get rid of this with output redirection.
5. OR allows you to continue if any one of a group of
tests work.
6. 80386-DX and other parameters with dashes in them were
changed since the parser got confused by the dash, thinking
it was a suffix.
7. more relaxed rules on which suffixes are allowed.
8. deleted /P1 /P2 /P3 CPU classes.
9. Avoid has more complex defaults for suffixes. They are
now specified on an individual basis for each command.
What's New in Version 1.4
1. ANSI detects presence of ANSI.SYS.
2. MOUSE detects presence of a mouse.
3. SX 386 and 486 now should be properly discriminated.
4. Numeric co-processors should be correctly identified.
What's New in Version 1.3
1. /VCPI:400K test to test amount of Virtual Control
Program Interface RAM.
2. /QRAM to detect Quarterdeck's QRAM.
3. /MONTH:12 to check for December.
4. /YEAR:1991 to check for year.
5. /DAY:31 to check that running an a given day of the
month.
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