System error

[24giovanni]

I am getting the following error on my win98 se machine. "emm386 not installed. Insufficient memory". What do I need to do to fix this please?

TIA

[glc]

Make sure the following 3 lines are at the top of your config.sys file, edit it as necessary. They should be in this exact order.

device=c:\windows\himem.sys
dos=high
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe

[24giovanni]

here they are

DEVICE=C:\ESSAUDIO.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
DOS=HIGH,UMB,AUTO
FILESHIGH=80
BUFFERSHIGH=40,4
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CPQIDECD.SYS /D:IDECD001
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:2048


Autoexec.bat is the following:

C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVGFRE~1\BOOTUP.EXE
@ECHO OFF


C:\ESSAUDIO.COM










SET Path=%Path%;"C:\Program Files\Executive Software\DiskeeperLite\"
Set tvdumpflags=10

Still getting error. Now what please?

[24giovanni]

Originally Posted by glc Make sure the following 3 lines are at the top of your config.sys file, edit it as necessary. They should be in this exact order. device=c:\windows\himem.sys dos=high device=c:\windows\emm386.exe

It worked the very 1st time i shutdown/startup but on the next try it didn't work. Now what please?

[GaryRouth]

Hi 24giovanni

Try it with the file looking like this:

device=c:\windows\himem.sys
dos=high
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe NOEMS
DEVICE=C:\ESSAUDIO.SYS
FILES=80
BUFFERS=40,4
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\CPQIDECD.SYS /D:IDECD001
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /P /E:2048


Here's a tutorial about the various usages for config.sys and autoexec.bat settings --- http://www.computerhope.com/ac.htm

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[P.S. -- remember to save the changes! ]

late edit - [P.S. #2 -- why are you using the Shell command? It's not usually recommended, except for unusual circumstances]

[24giovanni]

I ried various options but nothing is working. I didn't put the shell command there, the system did. I did move DEVICE=C:\ESSAUDIO.SYS to the 3rd line save, exited. shutdown my computer and started it up and i didn't get the error. I then rebooted again and that's when I got the error again. When system was back up i looked at the file again it was at the top without me putting it there. That is what I am questioning about. What would cause that?

[GaryRouth]

Are you planning on running games in DOS on this computer? Most of those setting changes that you made are commonly made to help DOS games run better in MS-DOS Mode. You don't need most of them at all for Windows.

Apparently, the ESS audio startup program is doing the changing for you at startup (ESSAudio.com).

If your CD player is standard enough to use the Windows 98 built-in ATAPI/IDE CDrom drivers, and if you aren't planning on extensive real-mode DOS use, you can use a completely blank config.sys and autoexec.bat files, and Windows will be happy as can be.

Where did the current ESS drivers come from?
...Gary

[glc]

Rearrange the config.sys again and lock it read-only. EMM386 *has* to load before essaudio.sys or you WILL get the error.

[GaryRouth]

glc - do you think that essaudio.com will generate an error if the config.sys is read-only?

It sounds like onboard ESS audio on an older Compaq.
... Gary

[24giovanni]

in autoexec.bat I put a ; in place of C:\ESSAUDIO.COM and I no longer get the error. What will that do please?

[24giovanni]

Originally Posted by glc Rearrange the config.sys again and lock it read-only. EMM386 *has* to load before essaudio.sys or you WILL get the error.

If I do this do I type attrib -a -s -h emm386 hit enter and then make the changes?

[GaryRouth]

Actually, I believe glc was referring to making the file config.sys read-only. You don't have to make that change in DOS, you can simply right-click the file in Windows Explorer & change it's Properties there. [In Windows Explorer's View menus, make sure it's set to "Show All Files"]

Just to see, you can leave things as they are, and if your sound works fine in Windows, that'll do. If you need to customize your DOS environment for a particular game, you always have the option to make a special MS-DOS Mode short-cut for that = you can put all sorts of special settings just for that game to work best.

. . . Gary

[24giovanni]

I will do what glc and you suggest and give it a try. If that works, I'll leave it like that. Otherwise I will just comment it out as I have already done. Thanks for all the help.

[glc]

attrib +r c:\config.sys

Instead of using a ; the standard dos way of doing things is put a rem in front of the entry -

rem c:\essaudio.com