INFOPLUS
Version 1.0, released into the Public Domain.
By Andrew Rossmann, 6/25/90
Originally based on Steve Grant's Public Domain SYSID 4.4.
Usage: [d:][path]INFOPLUS
A system description for DOS-based PC/XT/AT- and PS/2-class machines.
SYSID generates 18 screens of information about the host system and
runs under DOS versions 3.0 and later.
My primary sources of ideas in SYSID were Ray Duncans "Advanced MS-DOS"
and Terry Dettman's "DOS Programmer's Reference." The ideas of Prakash
Chandra,Terje Mathisen,Bob Smith, and others appear in various places.
Some of the techniques SYSID uses are not documented or officially
supported by either IBM or Microsoft. Where possible I have followed
the undocumented routine with a comment describing my source for the
technique.
INFOPLUS.PAS - Main file source code
PAGE_xx.INC - Each of the pages
INFOPLUS.ASM - assembly language procedures
Using INFOPLUS is easy. Just use the PGUP and PGDN keys to move from page
to page. HOME and END will move to the first and last pages, respectively.
If you hit ENTER, you can then type in the page you want to go to. Hit ESC
to end the program. Some pages won't fit all on one screen, for that you hit
the DOWN ARROW key to get more information.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann v 1.0 (6/25/90)
All: Due to confusions with Steve Grant continuing to release
new versions, I am renaming my version to INFOPLUS.
The documentation for SYSID 4.4 states that the source and
object code are public domain. SG's newer versions are
copywritten, and no longer contain source code. All
of my versions WILL ALWAYS continue to contain the source
code, and WILL ALWAYS be public domain!! Like FRACTINT, I
hope for this program to slowly grow as people add their own
ideas.
All: Changed colors to blue background, with text of LightGray
and LightCyan.
You now press the DOWN ARROW key to continue a long screen.
This lets you move to another page without looking at all
the information.
A title telling what is on the page appears at the bottom.
Page 0: New page, shows contents of each page. HOME always goes here.
Also, this eliminates the chance that scanning the ROM could
lock up the program, preventing its use. If that happens, you
can just go to another page directly.
Page 2: The V20/V30 should be correctly detected.
Page 3: Added detection of XMS, DPMI (untested) and VCPI.
DPMI detection is tentative, since it's still in the formative
stages. Windows 3.0 is the first program to support it.
Under EMS 4, handle names will be listed (not all programs
give their handles names.)
Page 9: Added count of FCB's (File Control Blocks.)
Added count of Dos STACKS (DOS 4 only.)
Page 10:Added detection of DOS (should always be YES!!)
Added detection of JP Software's 4DOS (and other info on it.)
Added detection of CD-ROM extensions.
Page 13:For default drive, tells what type it is, if it is removable,
has doorlock detection, is JOIN'd, or SUBST'd (and shows the
true path.)
Page 17:New page, just thanks you for using INFOPLUS, and gives
some places I can be reached.
--------------------------
The following are my versions of SYSID. It's very likely that some
of these version numbers may overlap Steve Grant's!!
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (5/28/90) v 5.1
Page 2: Corrected bug in 386 detection code actually in SYSID.ASM.
This bug could cause lock-ups or exception errors on
386, 386SX, or 486 systems.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (1/19/90) v 5.0
Page 9: Added buffer count (and read-ahead) for DOS 4!
Page 15:Added several more partition types.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (12/31/89) v 4.8
Page 2: Added recognition (I hope) of the '486. This involved
replacing the code that detects the 286/386 with newer
code by Robert Collins.
Page 5: Added the extended modes of the Paradise VGA boards.
(Considering that the CRT unit forces the screen into a
standard text mode at startup, most of the entries are
sort of useless right now.)
Page 15:Added Disk Manager, Speedstore, Split (?), and GB (?) to
the recognized partition types.
Corrected some erroneous numbers in the starting cylinder
and sector.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (9/30/89) v 4.7
All: Re-compiled under Turbo Pascal 5.5.
Page 9: Reduced the number of files to 255 due to a potential bug
under DOS 3.30.
Page 10:Added a few extra programs to the multiplex listings. Some of
these will probably only be recognized under DOS 4 or newer.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (7/2/89) v 4.6
Page 9: Under DOS 3.30 or newer, use a new DOS function call to set
up space for up to 256 files. The number of total files
available will now be closer to the FILES= setting, instead
of being stuck at the 20 that is the default size.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (6/7/89)
Changed the version to 4.5.
ALL: Pressing <ENTER> will bring up a 'Page no.=>' prompt. You
can then type in the number of the page you want to jump to.
Page 9: Added OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Serial number to
list. Not everyone uses this. Put file handle table sizes
on one line.
Changed current time to conform to the format of the current
country code, including 12-hour format.
Page16: Corrected more DOS4 errors in the Dos Disk Parameter Block
listings. It seems the number of sectors per FAT has grown
from 1 byte to 1 word. This pushed the sector # of directory,
address of device header, media descriptor, access check,
and next block pointer up 1 byte.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (6/3/89):
I upped the letter to 'V'.
Page 9: Added 'Boot disk was'. This will display which disk drive
was used to boot the computer under DOS 4. Under DOS 3,
this will always display (unknown).
I changed the file used to figure out the number of available
file handles from COMMAND.COM to the program itself. This is
because COMMAND.COM may not always be available (especially
if you are on floppies.) It's more likely the program itself
will be available. This uses a DOS 3 or 4 feature that lets
a program know it's full pathname. (ParamStr(0) in TP5).
Page10: Added extra information about the APPEND command under DOS
4. Will display which switches are active, and the path
currently in use.
Page15: Added several parition types, including 'Big DOS-16' (DOS 4
partitions >32M), XENIX, NOVELL, PCIX, CP/M, and BBT.
Page16: Modified the DISKREAD portion of SYSID.ASM for use under
DOS 4. Will now correctly read disks with partitions >32M.
Disks >32M under Compaq DOS 3.31 will probably not work.
Changes by Andrew Rossmann (5/29/89):
I named this version 4.44U for 'U'pdated. Don't know of any
newer versions.
Page 1: The search for the Copyright message in ROM has been
expanded to start at F000:C000 instead of F000:E000. This
test had returned nothing on my Tandy 1000SX. This may
cause longer waits on other machines. NOTE: the CPUID
routine does not detect my V20. It returns an unknown type.
I have no idea why, and I would like to know why. (I also
have an 8087 if that makes any difference.)
Page 7: If you had a mouse, some information about your keyboard
ended up scrolling off the screen. Some related info
has been put on 1 line to prevent scrolling.
Page 9: The method to find the number of available file handles
had a minor problem. It used the COMSPEC environment
variable to continuously open COMMAND.COM until an error
occurred, presumably a 'Too Many open files' error. BUT,
the files were opened as untyped files, which have a
default FileMode = 2 (read/write). If your copy of
COMMAND.COM was read-only (for virus protection), an
error 5 (Access denied) occured, and 0 available handles
was shown. This is fixed by setting FileMode:=0 (Read only)
before opening files.
The printer echo status is supported under DOS 4.
The number of buffers is still unknown as I am unable to
figure it out. Since DOS 4 can have a huge number of
buffers, and even put them in EMS memory, finding out their
count may be difficult.
Page13: Information about a floppy now supports the parameters
for 3.5" drives, and displays number of tracks.
Page16: Now supports DOS 4.0 and Compaq DOS 3.31 with partitions
>32M (maybe others if they follow the same format.)
If you have a disk formatted under DOS 4, the boot
record section will display the volume label, serial number,
and FAT type of the disk.
Known bugs:
1) Page 2: The CPU test for interrupts of multi-prefix string
instructions is reliable only on machines whose clock speeds are
less than about 15 MHz. The 8086 and 8088 are the only CPU's that
don't handle such interrupts correctly, however, and they aren't
(to my knowledge) ever run at anything like 15 MHz. (This 15 MHz
limit assumes that the timer tick interrupt occurs at the standard
rate of 18.2 Hz. SYSID could check that, too, I suppose.)
2) Page 5: The description of foreground color will not mention the
blinking attribute, even if it was enabled before you invoked
SYSID.
3) Page 10: SYSID used to report incorrectly the statuses of some of
the executable files which use the "multiplex interrupt" (INT
2FH). I have commented these status checks out of the source
code, determined to do battle with them another day. Can anyone
supply the correct INT 2FH functions for these files? Or are some
of them red herrings that simply check INT 2FH to see if *other*
files have been loaded (e.g. APPEND/ASSIGN)?
4) The error beep sometimes fails to sound when you press PgDn
while on the last page (or PgUp while on the first page). I have no
idea why. (!!corrected in version 4.5)
Both the source and object code of SYSID are hereby released into the
public domain. Neither version carries any warranty, expressed or
implied, of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Comments, suggestions, and questions may be addressed to:
BIXMail: sjgrant
CompuServe: 71101,706
Steve Grant
Long Beach, CA
January 13, 1989
-----------------------
My computer is a Tandy 1000SX running MS-DOS 4.01 and a Paradise VGA+.
Compiled under Turbo Pascal 5.5 and Turbo Assembler 2.00.
Much of the additional info came from Ray Duncan's "Advanced MSDOS
Programming" second edition (a must get book for anyone interested
in low-level stuff.) Also, additional information on the DOS 4 boot
sector format came from "The Norton Troubleshooter." A book that
comes with The Norton Utilities 4.5. Even more information comes from
Ralf Brown's interrupt list, which lists hundreds of goodies. It's
available via BBS's, and resides on SIMTEL20 and many other public
access UNIX sites.
Additional information on XMS and DPMI came from the book 'Extending
DOS' by Ray Duncan (and others.)
Information on additional partition values came from numerous people
of which I never wrote down their names!!
Andrew Rossmann
Wheeling, IL
Central Command, 1-708-359-9346 (1200/2400)
1-708-359-9396 (HST 14.4)
DDSW1 BBS, 1-708-808-7300 (6 lines),
1-708-808-7306 (Telebit PEP only!!)
Igloo BBS, 1-708-272-5912 or 1-708-272-5917 (Telebit PEP)
RCS Defender BBS, 1-708-390-6603
Unix Mail:
andyross@ddsw1.MCS.COM, or <well-connected>!ddsw1!andyross
-or-
andyross@igloo.UUCP
| 
Andrew Rossmann