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by gemailhiot

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Upon booting the computer, a Pentium MMX type, the user gets the blue screen of death with the following message:

There are no stack pages. It may be necessary to
increase the setting of Min SP in system.ini to
prevent possible stack faults. There are currently 5 SPs allocated.

This a new problem. Are we looking at hardware or software failure?

if the MinSP setting must be added or changed in system.ini, what is the format of the parameter?
could it be that new software installed may have changed the setting from either its default or preset value?

Thanks

gilles mailhiot

11 replies

by k.dombek

Gilles:
I'd definitely say the new software is at fault.
Try starting up from a boot disk and then reversing the installation.

by syscokid

Boot with a boot disk, but then open system.ini and in the [386Enh] section, look for the line

MinSPs=5

Change it to 8. Each stack page requires 4 KB of memory, so iy should always be in multiples of 4.

Reference:
support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q149083

by syscokid

More likely, the new software is loading new drivers which cause you to run out of stack space.

Also, if you still get the error after changing minSPs to 8, try 12.

by lizzy

I have had to change the number of allocated Min SP's for several machines running a separate screen reader. It's not a big deal to increase the number of spare stack pages if you don't have to do it on tons of PC's. This applies to workstations running Windows 9x and is from the MS article Q149083:
To resolve this behavior, add the following line to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file, and then restart your computer:

MinSPs=4
If the behavior continues to occur, increase the number of spare stack pages in increments of 4 (for example, 8, 12, 16).

NOTE: Each spare stack page requires 4 KB of memory.

To edit the System.ini file for Windows 95, 98 and 98se:
Click Start, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and thenclick OK.
Click System.ini on the Window menu.
In the [386Enh] section, type the following line:
MinSPs=4
On the File menu, click Exit , and then click Yes to save the changes.
Restart your computer.

To edit the System.ini file for Windows Me:

Click Start, click Search, For files or folders.

In the "Search for files or folders named" box type "System.ini" (without the quotation marks) and make sure that the "Look in" drop-down box lists "Local Hard Drive (C:). Click on the Search Now button.

When the search results appear in the pane on the right side, be sure to double-click on the System.ini file that is listed "In Folder" C:\Windows. This should open the System.ini file up inside of Notepad.

In the [386Enh] section, add or edit the following line as applicible:

"MinSPs=4" (without the quotation marks)
On the File menu, click Save , then click the File menu again and click Exit.
Restart your computer.

by lizzy

I pay special attention to the multiples of 4 SP's and find only 5 alloted as strange. The default allotment is 4 and is not entered in the System.INI file--to increase it you need to add the line and sometimes you even need to add the [386Enh] section.

This is not to say that answer #1 is incorrect either. I think it's all a matter of programs that are poorly utilizing system resources and they need to be re-written! Hope this helps!

by joseph moore

According to Technet article Q149083:
"To resolve this behavior, add the following line to the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file, and then restart your computer:

MinSPs=4
If the behavior continues to occur, increase the number of spare stack pages in increments of 4 (for example, 8, 12, 16)."

Please read the entire article for details:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q149083
(please remove any spaces)

hope this helps

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