Oracle V6/DOS - Do I really have TOO MUCH memory?!

Hi Group,

I have been having problems transferring my Oracle V6 installation (Oracle files, database files, and program files) from one Pentium/DOS notebook to a new Pentium/DOS notebook. These notebooks are used as standalone machines, with data being uploaded and downloaded between them and our Oracle 7/AIX server periodically. I have done this transfer many times since we have upgraded our notebooks numerous times over the past few years, and it has always gone smoothly until now.

The main difference between the two notebooks that I am using is that the old one has 24 MB RAM while the new one has 40 MB. Other than that, they are almost identical machines, but, on the new notebook, the system would hang whenever I tried to load sqlpme. I suspected that the problem might be that way back in the dark ages when Oracle V6 was written, DOS machines weren't capable of accessing much memory compared to today and that the programs therefore may be having trouble dealing with the memory above 32 MB or so. I experimented with various autoexec and config changes but had no luck.

Anyway, I have just removed the 32 MB memory card from my new notebook, and Oracle, my database, and my application now start perfectly!! Mind you, this only leaves them with the 8 MB of on-board RAM, so I wouldn't want to look at the performance of the system right now, but the big thing is that it does work.

I'd be interested in hearing any comments or insights about this. Does it make any sense that Oracle V6/DOS comes up perfectly with only 8 MB RAM, but hangs when given 40 MB? I never thought I'd have to worry about buying too much memory!!

I would appreciate any suggestions on how I can get this working with the 40 MB RAM, since I'm not sure if I will be able to exchange my 32 MB card for a smaller one... I am fairly confident that the 32 MB card itself is not defective since the extra memory was all recognized by both DOS and Windows 3.11.

I have tried using the DYNAMIC_MEMORY parameter in my CONFIG.ORA to limit the amount of memory available to Oracle, but that didn't help either.

Thanks,
Patricia Clarke
pclarke_at_golden.net
Hybrid Turkeys
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Received on Mon Dec 30 1996 - 00:00:00 CST