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Last update: Sat Jul  4 22:46:26 PDT 1992


    VP/IX FAQ: freqeuntly asked questions for comp.unix.msdos
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                            SYNOPSIS



                          Introduction
                          ____________

 1) Last modification:
 2) Status of FAQ
 3) How to submit entries for the FAQ.
 4) Corrections to the FAQ.
 5) What is this newsgroup for?
 6) Which Unix should I run on my IBM compatible computer?

               Running and administration of VP/IX
               ___________________________________

 7) How do I use a joystick (FAX, widget) under VP/IX?
 8) How can I access 'Super VGA' modes undir VP/IX?
 9) How can I get MS Windows 3.0 to run under VP/IX.
 10) How can I get Windows 3.1 to run under VP/IX?
 11) Why do I get "General protection fault, cannot emulate instruction"
 when I try to run my favorite application under VP/IX?


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                          Introduction
                          ____________

1) Last modification:

     6/29/92

2) Status of FAQ

     This is the third edition of the  FAQ  for  comp.unix.msdos.
     As  there  is  very  little traffic in the group, and I have
     gotten little input  on  the  faq,  there  has  been  little
     change.   It is still really a rough draft, I expect it will
     take some months before it becomes fairly complete.

3) How to submit entries for the FAQ.

     Questions  should  be  those  that  appear   frequently   in
     comp.unix.msdos, and would ideally be complete with answers.
     They  should  also  be   pertinent   to   the   charter   of
     comp.unix.msdos.   If  you  would  like to suggest questions
     which should be included in the FAQ,  send  email  to  vpix-
     faq@fnx.uucp,  or uunet!pilchuck!fnx!vpix-faq if your mailer
     doesn't  grok  the  '@'  form.   The  machine  fnx  is   now
     registered in the maps, so it should be easy for everyone to
     reach.

4) Corrections to the FAQ.

     If you spot incorrect information in the FAQ, or would  like
     to  present  some  supplemental  information for an existing
     question, please send email  to  vpix-faq@fnx.uucp  just  as
     described   above.   For  corrections,  please  include  the
     incorrect section of the FAQ if possible.

5) What is this newsgroup for?

     From the newsgroup description for comp.unix.msdos:

     comp.unix.msdos    MS-DOS running  under  UNIX  by  whatever
     means.

     It is *not* for discussing what Unix is best to run on  your
     IBM  compatible  computer.  That means 386BSD, Linux, Minix,
     Dell (or anybody elses) Unix, or anything  remotely  simliar
     belong  somewhere  else.   This newsgroup is for discussions
     about running MSDOS emulators under the Unix  OS.   I  would
     also  say  fair  game  included  methods to read MSDOS disks
     under Unix.  A related but marginal topic is networking PC's
     with Unix systems, for example under PC-NFS.  Although there
     may be a better newsgroup to handle this discussion, it does
     directly  address  the issue of what do we do when we run up
     against the limitations of VPIX under Unix.

6) Which Unix should I run on my IBM compatible computer?

     This is not the correct newsgroup to discuss this topic  in.
     It  is  discussed  in the comp.unix.sysv386 FAQ, and further
     questions you might have would be much  better  answered  in
     that newsgroup.



               Running and administration of VP/IX
               ___________________________________

7) How do I use a joystick (FAX, widget) under VP/IX?

     Devices are either DDA (Direct Device  Attachment),  or  IEM
     (Installable Emulation Module) devices.

     IEM devices are better, because they  allow  devices  to  be
     shared between multiple VP/IX sessions.  Unfortunately, they
     require  a  device  module  to   be   linked   into   VP/IX.
     Programming this module is beyond the ability of most users,
     and must be supplied by the vendor.

     DDA devices are more complex to install, and only the  first
     VP/IX  session to request access to the device is allowed to
     use it.  VP/IX then maps the  hardware  addresses  specified
     for  the  device  to  that DOS session, and DOS accesses the
     device directly through  hardware.   DDA  devices  are  most
     likely  the  method  you will use if you have a non-standard
     device, since there is no programming required.

     Consult the Maintenance  Procedures  section  of  the  VP/IX
     Environment  Guide  for  information on how to configure DDA
     devices.

8) How can I access 'Super VGA' modes undir VP/IX?

     The answer to this is similar to the joystick answer, except
     that  there is a special case for the video display.  If you
     comment out both the "EGAROM" and the  "VGAROM"  entries  in
     the  vpix.cnf file, VP/IX will access the VGA BIOS directly.
     That is, it will recognize a special case of the DDA device.

     Unfortunately, there is a major problem with  this  in  that
     many   of   the   VGA  cards  out  there  use  286  specific
     instructions if they detect they are running  on  a  16  bit
     bus,  and  they  will give you the familiar emulation-error-
     abort message.  My ATI VGA-Wonder card behaves this way.  If
     you  know how to hack on machine level stuff, you could save
     the VGA BIOS ROMs into a file image and use  a  debugger  to
     try   and   patch   the  ROMs  to  not  use  the  'extended'
     instructions.  Otherwise you are stuck.

9) How can I get MS Windows 3.0 to run under VP/IX.

     Either get a patch from your VP/IX vendor to allow VP/IX  to
     correctly  deal  with  the  extended  instructions  used  by
     Windows 3.0, or apply the following  patch  to  the  Windows
     kernel:


          Copy disk 1 so that you can make changes.
          rename kernel.exe to kernel.dat on the copy.
          using debug or some such debuger change es:8b5a from 0B to 31
          as follows:
               debug kernel.dat
               d es:8b58 l8  /* should display 8B C4 0B C0 FF B1 20 D3 */
               e es:8b5a 31
               w
               q

          now rename kernel.dat to kernel.exe
          run setup from this copy it should work.

     This patch was distributed on the sco-list, I  think  it  is
     attributed     to:      >     From:     Ken     J.    Priddy
     <hpspkla.spk.hp.com!wwc1!pridke@relay.hp.com>

10) How can I get Windows 3.1 to run under VP/IX?

     You can't.

     Windows 3.1 no longer supports 'real' mode, and  VP/IX  does
     not support 'protected' mode, so there is no (practical) way
     to get the two to cooperate anymore.

11) Why do I get "General protection fault, cannot emulate instruction"
 when I try to run my favorite application under VP/IX?

     VP/IX uses the virtual machine mode of the 80386 to  emulate
     a  8086  MSDOS  environment  very closely.  Any program that
     requires a 80286 or higher to run cannot  run  under  VP/IX.
     They will get the protection fault error.

     There are many programs that try to determine  if  they  are
     running  on  an  80286  or higher machine, and use the added
     features of that machine if they think they are  running  in
     that  environment.   Unfortunately,  many  of  the  CPU test
     algorithms return '80286' as the machine when running  under
     VP/IX.  Your only real choices are either run the program on
     a different machine, or use a debugger to find the CPU  type
     test and disable it or force it to return the correct (8086)
     CPU regardless of what the CPU looks like.
-- 
vpix-faq:  Keeper of the comp.unix.msdos Frequently Asked Questions.
uunet!pilchuck!fnx!vpix-faq