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AMIS, Optimize memory usage (Developers)

posted by ecm Homepage E-mail, Düsseldorf, Germany, 13.05.2011, 00:24

> > IMHO, AMIS should be included as part of ALL modern TSR's and device
> > drivers. There's really no good reason not to include it. The overhead
> > required to support it is small compared to the benefits it provides.
>
> ... make that all modern TSRs EXCEPT this keyboard driver ;=) Whatever the
> respective merits of AMIS and ye DOS int 2F, KBFR needs none of them :
> The whole point of the exercise is to shave "the last byte" off its
> resident portion.

I see. As I suggested, you could implement a build and/or run-time option similar to those currently there to remove/disable the multiplex interrupt handler. (One can even implement the run-time option so that it installs a smaller TSR, if the affected parts are moved to the end of the TSR.) Why throw away features that some might not want if they're easy to keep around disabled or commented in the source code?

Anyway, if your goal is to optimize the memory usage of this driver:
* Don't install using Int21.31 (as you do with option /C "don't relocate"), you're leaving the PSP (256 bytes) resident in that case.
* Don't leave the device part resident if you install the normal way. You would have to relocate the TSR's resident part to achieve this (even if /C is specified). (Alternatively, assemble the driver without the device driver part.)
* Consider minimizing memory fragmentation. If there's no UMA available or /C is specified, installing the driver probably fragments memory. (To avoid all memory fragmentation, you would have to relocate the PSP. Yes, it can be done.)

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