MASM 6.1 General Questions & Answers FastTips (Complete)

 Last reviewed: July 31, 1997
Article ID: Q90311
6.10 MS-DOS kbref kbappnote

The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Macro Assembler for MS-DOS, version 6.1

Summary: 

  Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
                HA0620: MASM 6.1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                                                   Revision Date: 2/93
                                                      No Disk Included
The following information applies to Microsoft Macro Assembler, version 6.1. 

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  • Q. Why does fatal error DX1140 occur when I try to run Microsoft 

           Macro Assembler version 6.1 with the Microsoft Windows(TM)
       operating system?


        A. This error occurs because the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows
       directory (by default, C:\WINDOWS) fails to load some needed
       device. The Macro Assembler Setup program does not modify the
       Windows SYSTEM.INI file. Instead, Setup places the required
       changes into the NEW-SYS.INI file in the MASM61\BIN directory.
       Edit the SYSTEM.INI file located in the Windows directory to
       add the contents of the NEW-SYS.INI file. In a default
       installation, this procedure adds the following lines to the
       [386enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file:


              device=C:\MASM61\BIN\DOSXNT.386
          device=C:\MASM61\BIN\CVW1.386
          device=C:\MASM61\BIN\VMB.386

  • Q. What can I do when the LINK utility always gives me "L1101 - 

           Invalid Object Module" errors?


        A. Determine which version of the Microsoft LINK utility you are
       using. Type "link" at the MS-DOS prompt and look at the banner
       message displayed by the linker. If you are using Microsoft
       Macro Assembler version 6.1, you should use LINK version 5.31
       or greater. If you are using an earlier version of the linker,
       check the directories specified in the MS-DOS PATH environment
       variable for other files named LINK.EXE. An older version of
       the LINK utility cannot recognize an object module built by
       Microsoft Macro Assembler version 6.1.

  • Q. Why do random "system integrity" errors occur when I try to run 

           Microsoft Programmer's WorkBench with the Windows operating
       system?


        A. Some terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) applications cause
       "system integrity" errors when they run with Programmer's
       WorkBench. Edit your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files to
       remove all TSR programs and special device drivers from your
       system. To isolate the problem, load one TSR program at a time
       until the errors recur.

     4. Q. Why does CodeView tell me that my file has no symbolic
       information even though I requested symbols when I compiled and
       linked my application using Microsoft Macro Assembler version
       6.1?

    A. Versions of CodeView prior to version 4.0 do not understand the
       CodeView 4.0 information produced by Microsoft Macro Assembler
       version 6.1. You should use CodeView version 4.01, which is
       distributed with Microsoft Macro Assembler version 6.1. If you
       are using the correct version of CodeView, the problem may be
       caused by an incorrect version of LINK or CVPACK that creates
       incorrect debugging information. Use LINK version 5.31 and
       CVPACK version 4.01 with Microsoft Macro Assembler version 6.1.
       When you link your program, each utility displays a banner
       message that shows its version number. If you are using the
       correct version of the utilities and you specify full segment
       directives in your assembly source code, you may need to
       specify the class 'CODE' for your code segments. If your code
       segments do not have the class 'CODE', the assembly source file
       will not display when you enter CodeView.

  • Q. Why does NMAKE display a U1045 - "spawn failed: no space on 

           device" error?


        A. NMAKE produces a U1045 - "spawn failed: no space on device"
       error when inadequate expanded or extended memory is available
       or when inadequate disk space is free in the directory
       specified by the MS-DOS TMP environment variable. When this
       error occurs, close one or more applications to free more
       memory or delete unnecessary files to free disk space. You may
       also want to invoke NMAKE with the /M option to instruct NMAKE
       to swap itself to disk during a build.

  • Q. Why do errors occur when I use Microsoft Macro Assembler to 

           assemble source files that include CMACROS.INC?


        A. Microsoft has distributed many versions of CMACROS.INC. Most of
       these versions were distributed with assembly source files that
       relied on the macros in CMACROS.INC. However, these versions of
       CMACROS.INC were written to work with versions of Microsoft
       Macro Assembler prior to version 6.0. Because Microsoft Macro
       Assembler versions 6.0 and later more strictly check assembly
       language and macro syntax, they detect errors in older versions
       of the CMACROS.INC file that are not detected by Microsoft
       Macro Assembler version 5.1. To address this situation,
       Microsoft Macro Assembler versions 6.0 and later include a
       version of CMACROS.INC with the assembler. If you use Microsoft
       Macro Assembler version 6.0 or later, you should use the
       version of the CMACROS.INC file distributed with your
       assembler. Microsoft continues to distribute older versions of
       the CMACROS.INC file with assembly source files designed for
       use with versions of Microsoft Macro Assembler prior to version
       6.0.

  • Q. When I link my program, I receive an L2029 - "unresolved 

           external" error. How can I call an assembly language routine
       from a C++ program?


        A. A C++ module can access Microsoft Macro Assembler procedures
       and data only if the procedures and data are previously
       declared with "C" linkage. For further information about
       linking a C++ module with a Microsoft Macro Assembler module,
       refer to Chapter 12, "Mixed-Language Programming," of the
       Microsoft Macro Assembler "Programmer's Guide" and to page 36
       of the Microsoft "C++ Language Reference" manual provided with
       Microsoft C/C++ version 7.0.

     8. Q. Why does my program hang or give an illegal instruction error
       when the source code includes the .386, .386P, .486, or .486P
       directives?

    A. The 386 and 486 processors can operate in two modes: 32-bit
       operations as the default or 16-bit operations as the default.
       In either mode, a prefix byte at the beginning of an
       instruction, either 66h or 67h, instructs the processor to
       treat the instruction as a nondefault operation. For example,
       if the processor executes a prefix byte while in a 16-bit
       segment, it executes the instruction as a 32-bit operation.

       When Microsoft Macro Assembler processes a file that uses full
       segment declarations, it assumes that the default operations
       are 32-bit. To change this assumption, specify a USE16 modifier
       for the SEGMENT directive. When the assembler processes a file
       that uses simplified segment declarations, it assumes that the
       default operations are 32-bit if the source includes a .386,
       .386P, .486, or .486P directive before the .MODEL directive. If
       the processor directive occurs after the .MODEL directive, the
       assembler assumes that 16-bit operations are the default.

  • Q. Why can't I use the SEGMENT AT and ORG directives to place code 

           at an absolute address?


        A. The Microsoft LINK utility provided with Microsoft Macro
       Assembler is designed to generate relocatable programs that can
       be run with the MS-DOS or Windows operating systems. LINK is
       not designed to generate absolute addressable code. Other
       companies sell link and locate tools to generate this type of
       code.


           You can use the ORG directive to specify a relative offset to
       the first items in a segment (for example, 100h for code in a
       .COM file). Use the SEGMENT AT directive to access memory
       that's already in the computer at an absolute address, such as
       the ROM BIOS.

    • Additional reference words: 6.10 ivrfax fasttips
    KBCategory: kbref kbappnote
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    Last reviewed: July 31, 1997
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