[A83] Re: Problems with Virtual TI [OT]
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[A83] Re: Problems with Virtual TI [OT]
>Sorry, but that's entirely incorrect. The SysRq key has been on keyboards
>since the 84 key keyboard with the original IBM PC. It's a normal key like
>any other. The BIOS doesn't put the key into the keyboard buffer.
Aaaah! There is a keyboard buffer! (in the BIOS)!
SUCKER
>Since
>modern operating systems don't use the BIOS to read keys, that aspect is
>pretty irrelevant. You can read the key as a scan code like every other
>key.
>
>The 286 had a protected mode that allowed it to access up to 16 megs of
>memory, but it has nothing to do with the SysRq key. Entering protected
>mode on the 286 involves enabling A20 on the address bus, building the GDT,
>and enabling protected mode on the CPU machine status word, along with some
>other things necessary if you want to be able to leave it.
>
> > The SysReq key was brought in under the 286 for a System Request. What
>it
> > does it move the machine from being a normal 16-bit machine with a
>memory
> > cap of 640K to a Protected Mode machine with access to more the 1Mb of
> > memory capability. Different OS's use it for different things now, such
>as
> > switching to a 'fix' mode. On many keyboards, it has become a CTRL
> > function of the printscreen key, as screenshoting is more important to
>some
> > people than keeping their machine up without restarting. The SysReq key
> > has become like Scroll Lock and Pause: Only people who really know what
> > they are doing use them. Pause, for example, can help debug your
>startup
> > under DOS or Windows by stopping the load sequence until you press
>Enter.
>
>
>
>
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