AST RESEARCH, INC.        TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 1507           6-14-96



TITLE: FIFA 96 Soccer, Adv! 6066d, 611, 613E


SUMMARY

   The content of CMOS RAM is modified after running a game called 
   FIFA 96 Soccer on the Advantage! 6066d, 611, and 613E systems.

   This issue affects the following systems: 501766, 501693, and 
   501839.


ISSUE

   When the system is rebooted after running the FIFA Soccer game 
   with the sound enabled, the following configuration changes will
   have occurred in CMOS setup:

   The Date and Time are cleared.
   The Primary Hard Drive is set to none. 
   The sound card is set to add-in.
   The joystick is set to add-in.

   If EMM386 is loaded with the NOEMS parameter alone, the system 
   hangs when the FIFA 96 Soccer game starts.


BACKGROUND

   The DOS4GW DOS extender used by FIFA 96 Soccer violates reserved 
   upper memory addresses, causing the CMOS configuration changes. 
   EMM386, when loaded, prevents the DOS extender from accessing 
   these memory addresses.

   When loaded with the NOEMS parameter, EMM386 is incompatible with 
   FIFA 96 Soccer.  However, if the Virtual Control Program Interface 
   is disabled, FIFA 96 Soccer will work as designed.


ACTION

   Configure EMM386 to provide UMBs and disable Expanded Memory 
   Specification (EMS) memory access and the VCPI by using the 
   following statements and EMM386 command line in CONFIG.SYS:

      DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
      DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS NOVCPI DOS=HIGH,UMB


NOTES

   AST used a FIFA96.EXE executable dated 05/12/95 of the FIFA 96 
   Soccer game to verify the problem and resolution that are described
   in this bulletin.

TAN 000146GL

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