Date: Wed, 11 Jan 1995 04:14:00 -0400 (AST)
From: Bill Davidson <bdavidson AT ra DOT isisnet DOT com>
Subject: Re: Ramdrive 
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
Cc: Stephen Turnbull <turnbull AT shako DOT sk DOT tsukuba DOT ac DOT jp>,
        djgpp AT sun DOT soe DOT clarkson DOT edu



On Wed, 11 Jan 1995, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
  
> How can this be when go32 reports only 1900K free before the
> program starts:
Ok, if you didn't see my latest post, go32 reported 1400Kb and info 
reported 1768 Kb.  How can this be?  How the f*** should I know?! I just 
started using this package!  Could the difference between total extended 
memory and extended+conventional memory be it?

> You might also try without RAMDRIVE at all.  If you have a disk
> cache installed, RAM drive doesn't help much (about 10% reduction
> of compilation time at best doesn't justify losing 1 MB of RAM if
> you only have 3MB to spare, IMHO).  If you don't have disk cache,
> install one, and be sure it's set to write-back (aka delayed-write)
> operation.  This *does* affect compilation speed quite a bit.
Point taken, and that seems to be my only choice at this point.  I might 
add that the DJGPP docs and readmes are a bit divergent on this point; 
some reccommend the use of a ramdrive, some don't.  However, in trying to 
make things work I have noticed that the ramdrive provides marginal 
improvements (especially under C++, which seems to instantiate the word 
"glacial").  It's just that some of the files (including, I think, the 
FAQ... I'll check that) suggest using a ramdrive, and I tried using 
Microsoft RAMDRIVE.SYS which comes with MSDOS, and it crashes.  Sure, I 
can live without a ramdrive, but it wasn't my idea in the first place, 
and everybody tells me it should work, but it doesn't.

> 
> Did you try what I suggested on 9 Jan (running without ANSI.SYS and
> without go32=ansi)?
Yes.  Thanks for the tip, but I am afraid it had no effect.  I do 
appreciate your taking the time to read about my problem and answering.  
Right now I am suffering from "permutation fatigue".  I used to laugh at 
people who had trouble configuring DOS systems...  But then, I used to 
use DOS 3.3.
Incidentally, I still use an old mono monitor and Hercules compatible 
video.  I notice that all refernces to video are to VGA.  Could this be a 
problem? (But if so, what the heck has RAMDRIVE got to do with it?)
Bill Davidson
bdavidson AT ra DOT isisnet DOT com