AR# 783: FLOW ENGINE 6.0: Hangs or freezes during a compile
AR# 783
FLOW ENGINE 6.0: Hangs or freezes during a compile
Description
While compiling a design in the Flow Engine, the Flow Engine hangs or freezes. Everything in Windows still operates normally, but the compile never completes. The Flow Engine indicates that it is "running", but no progress is ever made. One cause is that the underlying DOS process for the compile has become disconnected from the Flow Engine application. Another is that the DOS process never launched successfully.
Solution
1
Disable SMARTDRV write caching in the AUTOEXEC.BAT using the /X option (see MS-DOS HELP on SMARTDRV): C:\DOS\SMARTDRV /X
2
Within Windows, disable 32-bit disk access and file access in the Virtual Memory dialog box via the 386 Enhanced icon in the Control Panel program group.
3
Do not use the MS-DOS utilities APPEND and FASTOPEN. As stated in MS-DOS HELP, these TSR's should not be loaded if running Windows. APPEND is typically invoked in the AUTOEXEC.BAT, and FASTOPEN is loaded in the CONFIG.SYS. REM out or delete these TSR's from your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS.
4
Within Windows, verify that "Exclusive in Foreground" is not selected in the Enhanced dialog box via the 386 Enhanced icon in the Control Panel program group.
5
Enlarging the available DOS environment space can also remedy Flow Engine problems.
Modify the config.sys so that there is a line reading:
shell=c:\dos\command.com /e:2048 /p
More parameters may be added to this line, of course. Some PC setups may require up to 2K of environment space in order to run the Flow Engine