With Adaptec® Controller the Total Conventional Memory Reported is not Consistent


Issue: When using an Adaptec Controller with BIOS version 1.2S (part number CTRSCS003ABWW) the total conventional memory reported is not consistent. BIOS Versions 1.2s and later support bootable CD-ROMs and the BIOS uses an EBDA (Extended BIOS Data Area) of 2K. This area is used by Gateway's BIOS to store device information and the CD-ROM boot sector. The EBDA is at the top of conventional memory just below the 640K line and hence the decrease in size by 2K when using these BIOS versions. Because the 80386 paging mechanism of Windows deals with 4K pages of memory, the EBDA data area occupies 4K of space in Windows in enhanced mode.

Note: Normally, when Windows® is not running, the EBDA area takes up only 2K of memory because there is no limitation of 4K sized memory pages.

The following are examples of what may occur:

If the system is booted clean or the file ASPI8DOS.SYS is loaded with DOS or Windows 95 using an Adaptec controller BIOS rev 1.2s:

chkdskyields655,360 (not short)
memyields638k (2k short)
mem /cyields653,312 (2k short)

If they system boots loading ASPI8DOS.SYS and HIMEM.SYS with DOS/WFW or if it boots to Windows 95 using an Adaptec controller BIOS rev 1.2s, go into Windows. Working from the MS-DOS shell will show:

chkdskyields651,264 (4k short)
memyields636k (4k short)
mem /cyields651,264 (4K short)

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