# Out of Base Memory



## WishingBubble (Aug 14, 2000)

Please can anyone help? I have a Dos based game, Frankenstein by Regenerator, which installs on the hard drive without any problem. It is supposed to be played in the Dos environment, but when I come to play the game I get an error message, "Out of Memory, 595K Base Memory Needed" and the games shuts down. I am running an IBM Compatible with I'm AND K62 Chip, 64mb Ram, Sound blaster Card and Speakers, with Windows 98. Is there someone who can explain what 595K base memory is and how I can increase what I have to this required amount? That way I will be able to play the game, the only other alternative is to discard the game altogether. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as I would rather keep the game than bin it.


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## ETS (Oct 13, 1999)

Hi wishingbubble,

DOS based programs must operate in the first 640k of your system memory. That area is the base memory the message is talking about. Your game program requires 595k of that.

When you boot your computer into MSDOS mode, certain programs required by DOS are loaded into that memory area and if there is not enough left after they load then your game will not run.

The way to rectify this situation is to cause those startup programs to load somewhere else so you will have enought left to run your game.
To do this, requires editing your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. These 2 files are located in your ROOT DIRECTORY C:\
in other words.
If you can load those files into a text editor and look at them, and then post the exact contents of each on this board we may be able to help you edit them.
Also there is a DOS utility called MEMMAKER that may be installed on your hard drive which when run will make these edit changes for you.


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## WishingBubble (Aug 14, 2000)

I loaded the Autoexec.bat and the Config.sys into notepad as you requested. They don't look like very big files, I hope I copied the correct one,(I only have one autoexec.bat and one config.sys).
This is the Autoexec.bat:

mode con codepage prepare=((850) C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\ega.cpi)
mode con codepage select=850
keyb uk,,C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\keyboard.sys

This is the Config.sys:

device=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\display.sys con=(ega,,1)
Country=044,850,C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\country.sys


Your other point about MEMMAKER, this is not installed on my computer, so was unable to use it. 
I hope that the above information is what you require, if not please let me know. I thankyou for your kind assistance.


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## roverman (Jul 17, 2000)

Memmaker is a great idea, but I think it is a DOS program and didn't come with Win95 or above. 

You might add this to your config.sys:
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
FILES=60
BUFFERS=20
DOS=HIGH,UMB

Our 3.1 machine has this line added after himem.sys
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe ram highscan I=b000=b7ff. 

With the above, it sits at 596k free.

Boot to Dos Prompt
Run "mem/c |more" to view what programs are running in memory and it will tell you what your free memory is. 

How does this work. With Memmaker, you can configure a little bit better. 

Randy.


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## WishingBubble (Aug 14, 2000)

Dear Randy
Firstly, I tried your suggestion of the altered config.sys which changed the memory slightly. I entered the other statement after himem.sys, the one from your 3.1 machine and my computer got the hump. So I deleted that statement.
Below are the "mem/c |more" from the MSDos prompt within Windows and also from the C:\prompt on startup.
This is mem/c from the MSDos Prompt within the windows environment: 
Memory Summary:

Type of Memory Total Used Free
Conventional 655,360 81,184 574,176
Upper 0 0 0 Reserved 0 0 0
Extended(XMS)65,994,752 204,800 65,789,952
---------------- ----------- -----------
Total memory 66,650,112 285,984 574,128

Total under 1 MB 655,360 81,184 574,176

Total Expanded (EMS) 66,502,656 (63M)
Free Expanded (EMS) 16,777,216 (16M)
Largest executable program size 574,160(561K)
Largest free upper memory block 0 (0K)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.

This is the mem/c from restarting the computer, pressing F8 and clicking on command prompt only:
Memory Summary:

Type of Memory Total Used Free
Conventional 655,360 69,904 585,456
Upper 0 0 0
Reserved 0 0 0
Extended (XMS)65,994,752 69,632 5,925,120
---------------- ----------- -----------
Total memory 66,650,112 139,536 66,510,576

Total under 1 MB655,360 69,904 585,456


Largest executable program size 585,328(572K)
Largest free upper memory Block 0 (0K)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.

I hope from the above you can help me to sort out the memory.
Thanks a million WishingBubble


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## roverman (Jul 17, 2000)

Try this line again without the last bit of info:

device=c:\windows\emm386.exe ram

See if that helps. 

Unfortunately without memmaker, you can't do a better job of configuring DOS. I'm not sure you would want to run it with 98 installed.

Do you need the mouse driver for Frankenstein? If not, REM the driver out of Autoexec.bat or Config.sys (if it is there). 

When you run mem/c |more, what does it show for the keyboard and country.sys memory? 

You are not too far off what you need for memory, but the final bit is going to be tough going. 

Rem out one statement at a time that is the least important and reboot. See what difference it makes if any. Keep trying until you reach the 595 mark. 

Reply back with what you've come up with. 

Randy.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

I would suggest making the entry look like this:

device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems

EMS takes a piece of your lower 640, and the RAM command at the end turns EMS on.

I would also get rid of the FILES and BUFFERS lines. I don't think they hurt, but I am sure they aren't helping.

Only other thing you may want to try is changing:

device=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\display.sys con=(ega,,1)

to

devicehigh=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\display.sys con=(ega,,1)

------------------
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## ETS (Oct 13, 1999)

Just a couple of additional comments to go with the above suggestions.
Make sure you put the Himem.sys and Emm386.exe lines at the top of your config.sys file. These must load first in order for any of the related commands like "devicehigh" to work.
Add the NOEMS command only if the dos game does not require expanded memory.
It might be helpful if you posted the first contents of the results of "mem/c |more. This will show us if any programs are actually utilizing upper memory instead of conventional memory.


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## WishingBubble (Aug 14, 2000)

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thankyou to all those that have been assisting me with my problem.

So far I have I inserted the lines as advised(NOEMS) and moved the HIMEM and EMS up to the top of the config.sys. I retried the mem/c |more command and recieved the following memory summary from the msdos prompt in windows and then using the F8 command at computer startup.
MEM/C |MORE using the Windows MSDos prompt: 
Modules using memory below 1 MB:

Name Total Conventional Upper Memory

SYSTEM 31,024(30K) 10,688(10K)20,336(20K)
DISPLAY 18,064(18K) 18,064(18K) 0 (0K)
HIMEM 1,120(1K) 1,120(1K) 0 (0K)
EMM386 4,320(4K) 4,320(4K) 0 (0K)
DBLBUFF 2,976(3K) 2,976(3K) 0 (0K)
WIN 3,648(4K) 3,648(4K) 0 (0K)
vmm32 71,008(69K) 1,456(1K) 69,552(68K)
KEYB 6,944(7K) 6,944(7K) 0 (0K)
COMMAND	7,408(7K) 7,408(7K) 0 (0K)
IFSHLP 2,864(3K) 0 (0K) 2,864(3K)
Free 598,544(585K)598,544(585K)	0 (0K)

Memory Summary:

TypeofMemory Total Used Free 
Conventional 655,360 56,816 598,544
Upper 92,752 92,752 0
Reserved 0 0 0
COMMAN 7,408(7K) 7,408(7K) 0(0K)
IFSHLP 2,864(3K) 0(0K) 2,864(3K)
Free 598,544(585K)598,544(585K) 0(0K)

Memory Summary:

TypeofMemory Total Used Free
Conventional 655,360 56,816 598,544
Upper 92,752 0 0 
Reserved 0 0 0
Extended(XMS)65,902,000 185,776 5,716,224
Total memory 66,650,112 335,344 6,314,768

Total under 1 MB 748,112 149,568 598,544

Total Expanded(EMS)66,437,120(63M)
Free Expanded (EMS)16,777,216(16M)
Largestexecutable programsize 598,528 (585K)
Largest free upper memory Block 0 (0K)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.


MEM/C |MORE using F8 command at computer startup: 
Modules using memory below 1 MB:

Name Total Conventional Upper Memory
SYSTEM 29,920(29K) 10,672(10K) 19,248(19K)
DISPLAY 1,120(1K) 1,120(1K) 0(0K)
HIMEM 4,320(4K) 4,320(4K) 0(0K)
EMM386 2,976(3K) 2,976(3K) 0(0K)
DBLBUFF 6,944(7K) 6,944(7K) 0(0K)
KEYB 6,944(7K) 6,944(7K) 0(0K)
DISPLAY 8,304(8K) 0(0K) 8,304(8K) 
IFSHLP 2,864(3K) 0(0K) 2,864(3K)
COMMAND 10,064(10K) 0(0K) 10,064(10K)
FREE 746,976(729K)629,152(614K)117,8241(115K)

Memory Summary:

Type of Memory Total Used Free
Conventional 655,360 26,208 629,152 
Upper 158,304 40,480 117,824
Reserved 0 0 0
ExtendedXMS)65,836,448 316,832 65,519,616

Total memory66,650,112 383,520 66,266,592

Totalunder1MB 813,664 66,688 746,976

Largest executable program size 629,024 (614K)
Largest free upper memory block 117,824 (115K)
MS-DOS is resident in the high memory area.

As you can see I now have 614K which is more than the required 595K for the game. Alas I attempted to play the game, but after loading the first 3 initial screens the game terminated itself. If you have any other ideas I would be most appreciative, otherwise I see the future of this game as destined for the garbage bin.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

One last thing to try. Grab a blank floppy, put it in the A drive and go to DOS and do this:

CD\
FORMAT A:
SYS A:
COPY CONFIG.SYS A:
A:
EDIT CONFIG.SYS

now remove the device=display and country lines and ALT-F and exit, say yes to save.

This should give you a boot disk with just the memory management commands and none of the other stuff that I am assuming only windows needs.

When you are done reboot with the disk in the drive - you should end up at an A prompt. Type MEM and see if you have enough room for the game. If so, give it a try.

------------------
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7/9 added two pay to listen to music sites

I've gotten 5 $18 amazon.com GCs in 4 weeks listening to music! http://www.rkfdcore.com/ebaypics/referrals.htm


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