On 7 Mar 2006 03:37:44 -0800, "Alex Wenzel"
put finger to keyboard and composed:

Well, I didn't expect answers to a German message erroneously posted in
an all-English group, I'm amazed...

Here are some more clarifications:
The problem is already gone. It was solved by entering the BIOS once,
changing *nothing* and saving on exit. Strange.
But anyway, I'm interested in what exactly the problem was.

I can only imagine that some register in your motherboard chipset was
disturbed in such a way as to affect himem's ability to control the
A20 address line. AFAIK, the keyboard controller is somehow involved.

BTW: Before I tried the failed Ubuntu install to the separate parition,
everything worked correctly.
And I later did another install of Ubuntu (from another CD, the first
one turned out to be defective), whithout getting the "himem.sys"
error. Some other problems, but nothing related to DOS/Windows. Now
everything works and dual boots fine.
Please see additional comments below.

glee wrote:
Do you have any of these versions of Norton SystemWorks installed: Norton
SystemWorks 1.0, Norton SystemWorks 2.0, Norton SystemWorks 2000, Norton SystemWorks
2001, Norton SystemWorks 2002?

None of them. But an old version of Norton Utilities (4.0). But nothing
from these programs seems to start at boot time.
There is, however AVG Free Antivirus installed, which checks at boot
time.

If you still get an error message, please refer to the next solution.

Restart the computer in Safe Mode Command Prompt Only.
Type edit config.sys to open the Config.sys file in the DOS Edit program.
The Config.sys file may include the following line. You may need to append a space
and /M:1 only or add the entire line.

device=c:\windows\himem.sys /m:1
snip
The value for the /M: line can range from 1 to 17. The value of 1 works for most
computers. IBM PS/2 and Compaq Prolinea computers may require a value of 2.

What exactly is "himem.sys /m:1" for?

The following are excerpts from the online help for himem.sys. A20 is
address bit 20. If himem.sys is unable to control A20, then you will
have no access to memory beyond 1MB, including the first 64K segment
above the 1MB boundary (ie the HMA).

================================================== =====================
HIMEM is an extended-memory manager--a program that coordinates the
use of your computer's extended memory, including the high memory area
(HMA), so that no two applications or device drivers use the same
memory at the same time.
================================================== =====================

/A20CONTROL:ON|OFF

Specifies whether HIMEM is to take control of the A20 line even if
A20 was on when HIMEM was loaded. The A20 handler gives your computer
access to the HMA. If you specify /A20CONTROL:OFF, HIMEM takes control
of the A20 line only if A20 was off when HIMEM was loaded. The default
setting is /A20CONTROL:ON.

================================================== =====================

/MACHINE:xxxx

Specifies what type of computer you are using. Usually, HIMEM can
detect your computer type successfully; however, there are a few
computers that HIMEM cannot detect. On such systems, HIMEM uses the
default system type (IBM AT or compatible). You might need to include
the /MACHINE option if your computer is a type that HIMEM cannot
detect and if HIMEM does not work properly on your system by using the
default system type.

Currently, systems that require this option include Acer 1100,
Wyse, and IBM 7552.

The value for xxxx can be any of the codes or their equivalent
numbers listed in the following table.

Code Number Computer type
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

at 1 IBM AT or 100% compatible
ps2 2 IBM PS/2
ptlcascade 3 Phoenix Cascade BIOS
hpvectra 4 HP Vectra (A & A+)
att6300plus 5 AT&T 6300 Plus
acer1100 6 Acer 1100
toshiba 7 Toshiba 1600 & 1200XE
wyse 8 Wyse 12.5 Mhz 286
tulip 9 Tulip SX
zenith 10 Zenith ZBIOS
at1 11 IBM PC/AT (alternative delay)
at2 12 IBM PC/AT (alternative delay)
css 12 CSS Labs
at3 13 IBM PC/AT (alternative delay)
fasthp 14 HP Vectra
ibm7552 15 IBM 7552 Industrial Computer
bullmicral 16 Bull Micral 60
dell 17 Dell XBIOS
================================================== =====================

Most of the answers I got in the German group insist that this is a
sign of an upcoming hardware failure. I'm not sure about that. Memtest
finds no errors in RAM. What do you think about it?

"Alex Wenzel" wrote in message
newsp.s5ynmqp4l0h2fi@tp600e...
(some stuff unreadable for the non-German speaking audience; dealing
with the error messages "HIMEM.SYS is missing. Make sure that the file
is in your Windows directory." and "Unable to control A20 line. XMS
driver is not installed.")

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.