Using TELLME
                             ------------

              Copyright 1991 by Phar Lap Software, Inc.


    TELLME is a utility that produces a report describing the system
on which it is run. TELLME provides information on the CPU, BIOS,
DOS, environment, extended memory, XMS, EMS, VCPI, DPMI, and so on.
The utility provides a complete picture of a system so that
compatibility problems can be resolved. TELLME provides the following
information about a system:

o   Type of CPU and numeric coprocessor
o   Information about the DOS version being run
o   Information about the BIOS ROM being used
o   A print out of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files
o   A list of important environment variables for 286|DOS-Extender
    (PATH, LIBPATH, RUN286, LIB, INCLUDE etc.)
o   Information about various extended memory allocators (INT 15H, XMS, 
    EMS/VCPI, VDS, and DPMI)
o   Presence of Windows, DESQview, SHARE, and DOS extenders.
o   Statistics about the RUN286.EXE file and its DLLs.
o   Conventional memory usage
o   Speed of mode switches under 286|DOS-Extender

    Most of TELLME runs in real mode. The last portion of the program
uses a separate program, TELLPROT.EXE, to launch 286|DOS-Extender and
run in protected mode. 

    For example, if you have two megabytes of memory, yet receive
"insufficient memory" messages from a DOS-Extended application built
with 286|DOS-Extender, you can run TELLME to see what the problem
is:

C:\>tellme > tellme.log

    TELLME.LOG might, for instance, show that an XMS extended-memory
manager is present, but that no XMS memory is available:

-----XMS-------------------------------------------------------
XMS version.....................................2.0
Driver version..................................2.96
HMA.............................................Present
A20.............................................Off
Size of largest XMS block.......................0K bytes
Total free XMS memory...........................0K bytes

    One situation in which this might happen is you are running under
Windows 3 Standard or Real mode, but have not set the "KB Limit" in
the XMS Memory section of an appropriate Windows .PIF (Program
Information) file. The result is that DOS-extended applications can't
get any extended memory. In any case, TELLME can tell you what's
going on.

    If you have isolated a problem to a particular area, you can 
tell TELLME to only run certain tests. For example, the following
runs only the XMS test:

C:\>tellme -xms > tellme.log

    The final test that TELLME performs uses TELLPROT.EXE to run
286|DOS-Extender.

    A complete list of TELLME switches is provided by running TELLME
-HELP. Rather than run the entire TELLME test suite, selected
portions can be turned on or off. A complete list of TELLME switches
is provided by running TELLME -HELP or TELLME -?:

C:\>tellme -?
TELLME [switches]
    -CPU                 Perform CPU test
    -BIOS                Perform BIOS test
    -DOS                 Perform DOS test
    -MEM                 Perform conventional memory test
    -CONFIG              Print out CONFIG.SYS
    -AUTOEXEC            Print out AUTOEXEC.BAT
    -ENV                 Print out important environment variables
    -INT15               Perform INT 15 extended memory test
    -XMS                 Perform XMS test
    -EMS or -VCPI        Perform EMS test
    -VDS                 Perform VDS test
    -DPMI                Perform DPMI test
    -FILE                Print out DOS-Extender version information
    -MOUSE               Perform mouse test
    -RUN                 Run the DOS-Extender
    Placing a "NO" in front a of switch disables a test.  Example: -NOEMS

    These switches can also be used to avoid certain tests. For
instance, in the unlikely event that 286|DOS-Extender does not work
on a machine (for example because of an buggy BIOS), then the TELLME
test that runs 286|DOS-Extender won't work either and should be
avoided, at least until the incompatibility has been resolved. To do
this, run TELLME -NORUN. For example:

C:\>tellme -norun > tellme.log

    If all the TELLME tests run properly, then an application built
with 286|DOS-Extender should also run properly in the same
configuration. This makes TELLME a useful test of 286|DOS-Extender
compatibility. 

    In addition to TELLME, compatibility problems can also be
diagnosed with the SWTEST and BIOSDUMP utilities. These are used for
testing the protected/real mode and A20 switching methods used by
286|DOS-Extender, and to generate ROM BIOS images. See the document
SWTEST.TXT for more details.

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