NewDeal Technical Support Document 243
There is a 1993 release, too. Some customers report no problems using the 1993 update, but others have better results with only the May 1992 Business Upgrade.
At the DOS prompt, you can type the command
EDITOR CONFIG.SYSto edit the file. Use the arrow keys to move to the line with the current FILES setting, and change it to FILES=120 (capitalization doesn't matter).
We do not recommend loading the file table into high memory. Each file takes up about 100 bytes of memory, so raising FILES from 30 to 120 uses about 9K of conventional memory.
Unless your hard drive has been compressed, do not load the SSTOR.EXE device driver in the CONFIG.SYS. This may cause the message "Error reading drive D: Abort, Retry, Fail." Pressing F to choose Fail will bring up your program. The error should not occur if the drive is compressed.
SUPERPCK, like any other disk cache, puts heavy demands on your system. Adding the parameter /R:640 to the SUPERPCK line in AUTOEXEC.BAT may make the program more dependable, if you experience any problems.
A taskswitcher allows you to run more than one DOS program and switch quickly and easily among them. When you switch from one task to another, the program you are switching "from" is suspended and its exact state is saved to memory or to disk. When you switch back, the program resumes right where you left it, with the same documents open and the cursor or insertion point in the same place.
TASKMAXwithout any switches. In this case, TaskMAX runs with the parameters found in the TASKMAX.INI file (usually stored in the \DRDOS subdirectory). The TASKMAX.INI file is created or modified when you run DR-DOS's SETUP program. You can override the settings in the TASKMAX.INI file by using switches at the command line (or in your batch file) when you load TaskMAX.
Here are some examples of common switches and what they mean. For more information about configuring TaskMAX, consult your DR-DOS documentation.
TASKMAX /E:1024 - Gives TaskMAX one MB of extended memory in which to swap background tasks. If additional space is needed, TaskMAX will swap to disk.
TASKMAX /X:2048 - Gives TaskMAX two MB of expanded memory in which to swap background tasks
TASKMAX /L:768 - Allot a maximum of 768 Kb of the available expanded memory to each task. This switch cannot be used when loading TaskMAX. It can only be used after TaskMAX is running. To use it, you must enter two lines, as in the next example.
TASKMAX /X:1024 - Loads TaskMAX with one MB of expanded memory for swapIf you do not limit each program's use of expanded memory, then the first program that uses it might use it all, leaving none available for other programs you run later.
TASKMAX /L:512 - Limits each task no more than 512 Kb of expanded memory
You can automatically load several tasks from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, using the /C switch. Below is an example of the last four lines in one customer's AUTOEXEC.BAT file (this customer has a 386 computer with 4 MB of RAM).
TASKMAX /X:1024 - Loads TaskMAX with one MB of expanded memory for swap
TASKMAX /L:1024 - Limits each task to using 768 Kb of expanded memory
TASKMAX /C C:\NEWDEAL\LOADER - Runs Ensemble as a task
TASKMAX /C C:\GRAFWK\GWS - Runs Graphics Workshop as a task
In NewDeal software, your background tasks are listed in the Express menu. To switch from NewDeal to another task, simply click on the appropriate item in the Express menu.
To launch a DOS program as new task from within NewDeal, just double click on the appropriate icon to launch the DOS program.
To use TaskMAX or TaskMGR with NewDeal software, you must first enable TaskMAX support in NewDeal Preferences. Here's how:
When taskswitching is enabled, NewDeal provides an item called TaskMax Control... in the Express menu. The TaskMax Control panel allows you to switch among tasks, launch new tasks, delete tasks, or change the maximum amount of expanded memory allowed per task (same as using the /L switch described above). The TaskMAX Control panel also allows you to toggle clipboard support on or off. Clipboard support is available in TaskMAX. Clipboard support is not available in TaskMGR.
If your computer has less than 2 MB of RAM, then we recommend that you do NOT let your taskswitcher swap to memory. You will get much better performance in NewDeal if you let NewDeal use your extended or expanded memory instead. This means your taskswitcher will swap its tasks to disk and switching tasks will be slower, but the benefit of being able to switch among your programs without having to reopen your documents and find your place again will still be valuable.
To prevent your taskswitcher from using extended or expanded memory, configure it that way by running the DOS SETUP program (or edit TASKMAX.INI or TASKMGR.INI file by hand to set extended and expanded memory use to zero).
If your computer has 4 MB, then you may wish to carefully balance your memory use between your applications and your taskswitcher. The exact settings will depend on what software you use, how many tasks you normally run at once, and what you do with your computer. The more memory you allow your taskswitcher to use for swap space, the more quickly you'll be able to switch among your tasks. However, if you give your taskswitcher too much memory, then performance within your applications may suffer. This is especially true of performance in NewDeal, which benefits greatly from being able to swap to memory rather than to disk. We recommend starting out by giving your taskswitcher about one MB of your RAM and leaving the rest available to NewDeal and your other programs. Some trial and error may be necessary to find the optimum value for your specific needs.
If your computer has more than 4 MB, then you should have plenty of memory to give your taskswitcher one or two MB (or more) of RAM for swap space and still have enough for other programs that use it.
For more information about the features and options available when using TaskMAX or TaskMGR and how to configure it, consult your DOS documentation.
Start up NewComm and type AT&D0&W. The AT&D0 tells the modem to ignore DTR and the last &W tells the modem to save this setting in its non-volatile RAM memory so every time you use the modem this will work. Now you can use NewComm or your modem normally and you'll be able to taskswitch out without hanging up.
Also, your modem must be configured for IRQ 3 or IRQ 4. TaskMAX will not let you exit if a COM port is actively using IRQ 5 or IRQ 7.
To solve this problem, launch TaskMAX from the DOS prompt using the /F switch or include it in the line that loads TaskMAX in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
TASKMAX /FIf that doesn't help, you will have to use the /V option to force your VGA adapter to be accessed in the same way as an EGA display adapter. Use:
TASKMAX /Vor
TASKMAX /V:1Try both.
/I=B000-B7FFThis will add 32k to the UMB pool. Don't use it if you are using a monochrome adapter, since this is where the adapter code resides.
/I=D800-EFFFAbout 96k will be added to the UMB's.