emm386.exe

[reet]

hi there!!

I was trying to install a soundblaster Live! 5.1 soundcard, but my puter wouldn't cooperate. I uninstalled, reinstalled, uninstalled....etc, and finally ended up with the following error when going into win98SE:

While initializing device IOS
Error: real mode system memory allocation failed

sytem would boot into safe mode fine. finally narrowed it down to the config.sys file. when unchecking c:\windows\emm386.exe the system will correctly boot and seems to work fine in win98se.

do I need this file?

[edfair]

Unless you have something else in config.sys that requires it to be loaded from there you can delete the line.
Most 98SE config and autoexec that I've seen have zero length. The important stuff is loaded separately by windows.

[TwoRails]

I would recommend keeping it if you have any older programs that require it's use. It is a legacy from DOS. Do you also have HIMEM in the command line? They are typically used together.

Here is a description from MS's site:

SUMMARY
EMM386.EXE version 4.45, which ships with MS-DOS 6.0, dynamically allocates and releases memory that conforms to the Extended Memory Specification (XMS), the Expanded Memory Specification (EMS), or the Virtual Control Program Interface (VCPI) specification. For example, if a program releases a certain amount of EMS memory, other programs that need XMS memory can request and receive additional XMS memory from the released EMS memory. In other words, EMM386.EXE can provide extended or expanded memory as needed by adjusting the EMS memory pool

TwoRails

[GaryRouth]

Might want to run a Registry Cleaner, too, if you've been installing/uninstalling a lot. If you don't have a program already, I like RegClean 4.1: it was updated to work well with Win98se and it's free. Details of how to use it are in the ReadMe.txt file http://download.com.com/3000-2094-88...ml?tag=lst-0-1

The Live! has a "DOS Emulator" device for using the Live! with DOS games. If you don't have any, you can disable that device in Device Manager, and edit the memory managers references in your .ini and .sys files like edfair and TwoRails mention.

Or you can try the whole install thing over again after running your Registry cleaner & see if you have better luck. Try a different PCI slot, perhaps. [note: if you happen to have a Live! card going into a Via KT133 based system, there were timing issues with the 686b Southbridge of that chipset (where PCI/IDE timings are handled) - sometimes more recent drivers helped. Sometimes mobo bios updates helped. Sometimes it was a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz that helped

Best of luck
. . . Gary