Borland Programmer's Resource/Borland_Programmers_Resource_CD_1995.iso/info/ntkb/ntkb.exe/Q103/2/84.TXT

Text File | 1993-11-16 | 25.4 KB | 634 lines

DOCUMENT:Q103284  04-NOV-1993  [W_NT]
TITLE   :Contents of Windows NT SETUP.TXT, Part 1
PRODUCT :Windows NT
PROD/VER:3.10
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
 - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

This article is part 1 of 2 articles that contain the complete text of
the SETUP.TXT. These articles contain the following:

 - Part 1 (this part) contains:

     1.0 Removing Previous Versions
     2.0 General Hardware Notes
     3.0 Specific Computer Systems
     4.0 General Disk Drive Information
     5.0 SCSI Devices

 - Part 2, the companion article to this one, contains:

     6.0 Error Messages
     7.0 Video Display Drivers and Adapters (x86 Computers)
     8.0 Removable Media
     9.0 Supported Keyboard Layouts
     10.0 Installing Windows NT over NextStep
     11.0 Converting File Systems During
          Installation
     12.0 Reporting Problems

Introduction
============

Feedback from the thousands of Windows NT beta sites has shown that
Windows NT Setup proceeds smoothly in the vast majority of cases.
However, there are cases where you may experience difficulties with
hardware incompatibilities or conflicts. SETUP.TXT contains
information that you may need in order to install Windows NT or
Windows NT Advanced Server (the article applies to both) on some
hardware configurations.

For more information on installation, see the chapters "Installing
Windows NT" and "Troubleshooting" in the "Windows NT System Guide" or
the "Windows NT Advanced Server System Guide."

1.0 Removing Previous Versions

If you have installed a prerelease version of Windows NT, you should
delete it before installing this version. Depending on the release,
the Windows NT Boot Loader may not support booting both this release
of the operating system and a previous release.

2.0 General Hardware Notes

Windows NT has a very wide range of hardware support--including
support for over 1600x86 uniprocessor systems, over 25x86
multiprocessor systems, as well as supporting RISC systems (for
details please see the Hardware Compatibility List). To cover a few
outlying cases, we've included these notes.

2.1 Interrupt Conflicts

A common problem in a computer with several supported devices is
conflicting interrupts, I/O ports, or memory usage. Where possible, we
have identified such cases in this document. However, if one of the
supported devices does not seem to work, it may be due to the
particular hardware configuration. For more specific information, see
your hardware manual or contact your system manufacturer.

2.2 ROM Shadowing

If you encounter persistent installation problems on multiprocessor
systems, try installing with ROM shadowing disabled.

2.3 Intel EtherExpress 16 LAN Adapter

In some cases, selecting "early" in the I/O Channel Ready box can stop
the network adapter card from functioning correctly and may require
reconfiguring with the Intel SoftSet utility. If you are unsure
whether your system can take advantage of this network setting,
consult your hardware vendor.

3.0 Specific Computer Systems

3.1 ACER AcerFrame 3000 MP

Before installing Windows NT, disable shadow RAM Video
BIOS.

3.2 IBM Personal System/2

On some IBM PS/2 systems only planar memory is recognized when booting
from the Windows NT CD-ROM boot disk or Disk #1 of the floppy disk
installation set. This is a memory card problem. You may encounter
this problem if your system contains a card with the following part
numbers:

FRU-88F0075
Option 87F9856 or 87F9860

Newer model cards are available that correct this problem. Part
numbers for the newer cards are:

FRU-87F9916 or 34F2825
Option 34F3077 or 34F3011

Using Kingston expansion memory can also correct this problem.

It is recommended that before you install Windows NT, you update your
system configuration using the PS/2 Reference Diskette version 1.21 or
later

3.3 Installation on the IBM ThinkPad

The IBM ThinkPad 700c and 720c portables require an ABIOS patch to
install and run Windows NT. Copy the following files from the ThinkPad
Reference Diskette onto C:\

     ABIOS.SYS
     SF*.BIO

3.4 Olivetti LSX5030

For the Olivetti LSX5030, disable all ROM shadowing.

3.5 Toshiba T4400SX Monochrome

The Toshiba T4400SX display is not supported when an external monitor
is connected.

3.6 Gateway Nomad and TI Travelmate Notebooks

To successfully install Windows NT on these machines, you must choose
"Custom Setup". If you encounter problems running setup while scanning
for SCSI Adapters, you can delete the SCSI drivers from the setup
diskette to solve the problem.

To properly use the floppy drive with Windows NT, configure the system
using its setup utility. Set the Advanced Operating System option to
Auto. When power management drivers for these machines are available
from Texas Instruments, using the Auto option will not be necessary.

The built in InPort/QuickPort mouse adapter requires a mouse driver
from Texas Instruments to work properly under Windows NT. You can use
a serial mouse until this driver is available from Texas Instruments.

In order to use the internal modem for these computers, you will need
a power management driver and software from Texas Instruments.

The best configuration for the NE2000 Network Adapter under Windows NT
is at IRQ5 and  I/O Port 340H.

3.7 Gateway 2000 and Micronics Gemini 486 VESA Local Bus
Motherboards

Windows NT may stop running on systems that use Ultrastor's U34F Local
Bus controller with the Micronics Gemini 486 VESA Local Bus
motherboard. Some older Gateway systems include this combination of
hardware.

The problem is a timing issue that only appears with Windows NT, the
Ultrastor U34F, and the Micronics Gemini 486 VESA Local Bus
motherboard. Disabling the motherboard's external cache should allow
Windows NT to run. The problem does not occur with ISA bus controllers
from Ultrastor. This problem does not occur on Gateway 2000 or
Micronics VESA Local Bus motherboards with a blue OverDrive socket.

If you encounter this problem, you can resolve it by an upgrade
offered by Micronics for the Gemini 486 VESA Local Bus motherboard.
The motherboard will need to be returned to Micronics for an upgrade.
The Micronics reference number for this is VLBA03. Micronics can be
reached at [phone] for additional information. If you have a
Gateway computer, contact Gateway 2000 at [phone] for upgrade
information.

3.8 Zeos Freestyle/SL Notebook Computer

When performing a Windows NT installation on this computer, you must
power off the computer after the text- based portion of Setup is
complete and you have been prompted to press CTRL+ALT+DEL to restart
the computer. Otherwise a keyboard controller failure may occur.

4.0 General Disk Drive Information

4.1 Volume Sets Created Via the BIOS

On controllers other than the UltraStor 124f, Windows NT does not
support disk controllers that create volume sets via the BIOS (i.e.,
two different drives merged into a single drive letter).

4.2 Caching Disk Controllers and Drives

Windows NT supports caching disk controllers and drives
only if one of the following is true:

 - The controller has a driver that specifically supports caching
   (several of these exist: DPT and IBM SCSI Caching Adapter).

 - Write-through is active (i.e., write caching is disabled) either by
   setting it manually or by default when the computer starts.

 - The entire cache option is off, either by setting it manually or by
   default when the computer starts.

Using a caching controller or drive in other situations risks loss of
data if the computer is rebooted or a power failure occurs before the
cache has flushed itself. You can minimize risk by waiting at least 1
minute (less if you know the maximum time the cache waits before
flushing itself) after all system activity stops before rebooting. The
disk activity light is a good indicator of how write caching is being
done on your system. This applies to the initial Windows NT
installation as well as shutdown. Note that unexpected power failure
at any time can potentially corrupt data on the disk, possibly to the
extent that the disk becomes unreadable. Making the delay time that
write data is cached before being flushed to disk as small as possible
reduces this risk.

4.3 IDE/ESDI Drive Support

The Windows NT IDE/ESDI drive support is limited to two disk drives
per controller. A second IDE/ESDI controller from Compaq (on Compaq
machines only) or built in like the Gateway 2000 VESA local bus
machines is supported by the standard Windows NT product. If you have
a need to configure from 2 to 6 IDE or ESDI controllers in one system,
contact MS Product Support Services for details on how to do so.

4.4 Installing onto Systems with an ESDI Drive Containing
More Than 1024 Cylinders

In some cases, Windows NT installation proceeds normally until the
first boot from the hard drive where Windows NT is installed. The
Windows NT Boot loader will load various files and then produce a
Fatal System Error: 0x0000006b with the message that Phase 1 Process
Initialization failed. Following this message will be some type of hex
dump and the system will be locked up. If you experience this
difficulty the following information can help.

Testing has been done on the following ESDI controllers using a hard
drive with a capacity exceeding 516 megabytes (MB) (MB=1,048,576
bytes) formatted. The MS-DOS limit of 1024 cylinders creates a
situation where special BIOS mapping on the controller is used to
change the geometry of the drive. ESDI drives are capable of being
prepared with various values of "sectors per track" (spt) such as 53
or 63 spt geometry during a low-level format. Here is a brief example
of a drive capacity using a different spt format:

    1024 cylinders  X  15 heads  X  53 spt  X  512 bytes
    per sector = 398MB formatted capacity

   -or-

    1024 cylinders  X  15 heads  X  63 spt  X  512 bytes
    per sector = 472MB formatted capacity

Thus using 63 spt will yield 74MB more space. Windows NT is perfectly
compatible with either geometry, and depending on the drive/controller
can access the remaining cylinders beyond 1024. This space can be
partitioned and formatted but not accessed by MS-DOS as the boot OS.
However, some controllers can successfully remap the remaining
cylinders beyond 1024 so that either MS-DOS or Windows NT can use the
entire capacity. An example would be:

    1632 cylinders  X  15 heads  X  53 spt  X  512 bytes
    per sector = 634MB formatted capacity

Testing has been done on the following ESDI controllers with their
Windows NT compatibility results:

DTC (Data Technology Corp)

    Model 6282-24:

Maximum Windows NT compatible geometry is to use 63 spt and limit of
1024 cylinders under MS-DOS. Windows NT will be able to access the
cylinders beyond 1024. Do not low- level the drive using Head Mapping
Mode.

    Model 6290-24:

Maximum Windows NT compatible geometry is to use 63 spt and limit of
1024 cylinders under MS-DOS. Since this card does not have an onboard
BIOS, Windows NT cannot access the remaining cylinders beyond 1024.

    Model 6290 SEZ (Dual SCSI/ESDI Controller):

Maximum Windows NT compatible geometry is using BIOS translation in
the EISA configuration using 63 spt and limit of 1024 cylinders under
MS-DOS. Windows NT can access the remaining cylinders beyond 1024.

    Model 6295-24:

Maximum Windows NT compatible geometry is to use 63 spt and limit of
1024 cylinders under MS-DOS. This model does have an onboard BIOS so
Windows NT can access the remaining cylinders beyond 1024. Do not
low-level the drive using Head Mapping Mode.

Adaptec

    Model 2322D:

Several methods that can achieve maximum drive capacity are as
follows:

1. Disable drive translation and the on-board controller bios. Then
   use a user defined drive type with the actual drive parameters. For
   example:

      Drive Type in CMOS=48 Cylinders=1632  Heads=15 SPT=53

   This will give 634MB capacity. MS-DOS will still be limited to the
   first 1024 cylinders which makes 398MB available. Windows NT will
   be able to access the cylinders beyond 1024 yielding another 236MB.

2. This option allows both MS-DOS & Windows NT to access the entire
   drive. Jumper the controller for Drive Splitting. Disable drive
   translation and the on-board controller BIOS. Set up the first
   physical drive in the CMOS as:

      Cylinders=1024  Heads=15  SPT=53

   which will give a drive capacity of 398MB. Set up the second drive
   (it appears as a physical drive) in the CMOS as:

      Cylinders=606  Heads=15  SPT=53

   This will yield another 236MB. Windows NT will actually see the
   drive as two physical drives.

UltraStor

All models with PROM versions less than #####-009

Maximum Windows NT compatible geometry is to use 63 spt and limit of
1024 cylinders under MS-DOS. Windows NT will be able to access the
cylinders beyond 1024.

All models with PROM versions equal to or greater than
#####-009

Maximum Windows NT compatible geometry is to use "Track mapping"
during Low-Level formatting. Both MS-DOS and Windows NT will have
access to entire drive capacity.


5.0 SCSI Devices

Windows NT supports over 60 SCSI host adapters, over 30 SCSI CD-ROM
drives, over 40 SCSI tape drives, over 10 SCSI removable media
systems, and SCSI scanners. Here are some detailed notes on Windows
NT's SCSI support.

This section provides information on configuring SCSI devices when
running Windows NT.

5.1 SCSI CD-ROM Devices

The SCSI and CD-ROM support built into Windows NT 3.1 requires
that CD-ROMs provide SCSI parity to function properly. For many drives
this is a configurable option or is active by default.  Check the
documentation for your CD-ROM to find specifics on how this is
configured for your drive. Examples of drives which do not provide or
support SCSI parity are the NEC CDR-36 and CDR-37 drives.

5.2 Installing from a SCSI CD-ROM Device

When you are installing Windows NT from a SCSI CD-ROM device, make
sure that the device does not have an ID of 0 or 1. Some SCSI BIOS
programs reserve 0 and 1 for hard disks. If you set your CD-ROM with
an ID of 0 or 1, you will likely see an extra partition in Setup that
does not exist.

If you have 2 CD-ROM devices connected to the same SCSI Host Adapter,
then Windows NT Setup does not necessarily install using the CD-ROM
that contains the higher SCSI ID. If using one CD-ROM results in Setup
displaying a message "Please insert the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive,"
then remove the CD and try the other CD-ROM. Setup chooses one CD-ROM
drive and refers to it as 'the' CD-ROM drive.

5.3 Installing Windows NT with a Proprietary Adapter Driver

Some SCSI and proprietary CD-ROM adapter drivers are provided in the
Driver Library on the Windows NT CD. These drivers are contained in a
directory tree below the \DRVLIB directory. Some of the drivers will
have a README.TXT containing additional configuration information.

Please read this information before installing.

To install using one of these drivers:

1. Using your current operating system, access the Windows NT CD-ROM,
   and change to the directory containing the driver that you want to
   use.

2. Copy all files in that directory to a blank, formatted floppy
   placed in drive A: (Windows NT Setup requires the driver to be on a
   disk in drive A). Label the disk "Driver Disk."

3. Shut down your current operating system (if necessary), and reboot
   with the Windows NT CD-ROM Boot disk in drive A.

4. When Setup asks for Custom or Express setup, choose Custom.

5. When choosing an adapter press 'S' for additional SCSI adapters.

6. Choose "Other (requires disk provided by hardware manufacturer)."

7. Setup prompts for the driver disk. Insert the "Driver Disk" in
   drive A.

5.4 Installing with Unsupported CD-ROM Drives

Please refer to the chapter "Installing Windows NT" in the Windows NT
System Guide or Windows NT Advanced Server System Guide for
information on installing Windows NT from MS-DOS when your system has
an unsupported CD-ROM drive.

5.5 Adding a CD-ROM After Installing Windows NT

If you add a CD-ROM drive after you have installed Windows NT, use the
Devices option in Control Panel to configure device startup. For all
CD-ROM drives, set the Startup value of Scsicdrm to System. If your
drive does not support SCSI-2 Audio, also set the Startup value of
Cdaudio to System. Cdaudio should also be set to System for some
SCSI-1 CD-ROM drives, including the Denon DRD- 253; Pioneer-DRM-600;
NEC Intersect 73, 73m, 74, 84; and Hitachi 1750s, 1650s, 3650.

For more information on starting devices, choose the Help button in
the Devices dialog box.

5.6 NEC Intersect CD-ROM

NEC Intersect CD-ROM readers have a switch that enables disconnects
during accesses to the reader. This switch is off by default,
disabling disconnects. Because of this, while your CD-ROM is being
read, no other devices on that SCSI bus can be accessed. Since reads
from a reader can take a significant amount of time, having this
switch off can noticeably degrade system performance. This slow-down
may occur even if you are not using the CD-ROM reader. To avoid this
problem, set switch number 5 ON. The switch is located with switches
labeled SW1.

5.7 SCSI Termination

The SCSI bus must be properly terminated on both ends. If you are
using both an external and an internal SCSI device, it is best to
terminate the devices and remove the terminators on the SCSI adapter.

For the SCSI adapter to operate effectively, termination power must be
provided on the SCSI bus either by the adapter or by a SCSI device
connected to the bus. Some adapters provide termination power with no
configuration options. Others do not provide termination power (for
example, Future Domain 1660 and Trantor 128). Still others provide
termination power only if a jumper is set on the adapter (for example,
Future Domain 850M).

Please consult the documentation for your SCSI adapter and SCSI device
to make sure that termination power is present on the SCSI bus.

5.8 Adaptec

An Adaptec adapter might use conflicting memory addresses with other
cards such as network adapters. This requires reconfiguring the
hardware by changing jumpers.

DMA speed cannot be set on an Adaptec 154x SCSI controller. Currently
the AHA154X.SYS driver supports a DMA transfer rate of 5.0 MB.

The Adaptec AHA154xC card is extremely sensitive to termination and
cabling. Systems with this card should use SCSI-II cables and/or
SCSI-II active terminators. SCSI-II cables are available from Amphenol
Quintec and Icontec.  If these recommendations are not followed,
unreliable operation, including data corruption, is possible.

The Adaptec AHA-1542C and Denon DRD-253 are incompatible under Windows
NT. The AHA-1542C requires active termination and the Denon DRD-253
CD-ROM has built in passive termination.

The Adaptec 1640 Micro Channel adapter does not support the Maynard
2000 or 1300 DAT drives in this release. The 1640 adapter is not
supported on IBM PS/2 Model 70 computers.

There is a known problem using Micronics VL bus motherboards with
Adaptec 1542x adapters.

The 1988 version 3.08 Adaptec 154x BIOS has a problem with the
Scatter/Gather feature. This problem is detected by the Adaptec driver
and the feature is disabled. If you have this BIOS version a message
is displayed informing you that the Scatter/Gather feature has been
disabled. If you get this message, you can contact the Adaptec
Technical Support at [phone] for information on the most recent
version, 3.20, of the BIOS. BIOS versions after 3.08 do not have this
problem. The latest 154x BIOS also supports drives that are larger
than 1 GB under both BIOS/MS-DOS and Windows NT. Windows NT will be
able to access drives larger than 1 GB even without this upgrade
provided and extended partition is used.

The Adaptec AHA164x driver logs unnecessary errors. These occur while
NTBACKUP is in use with a tape connected to the AHA164x. The entries
look like:

7/10/93 2:41:40 AM      AHA154x Error   None    11
N/A [MachineName]  The driver detected a controller error
on \Device\ScsiPort1.

These entries may be ignored. Also when too many of these entries are
generated a pop-up is created indicating the error log is full. This
can be avoided by setting the system event log settings to overwrite
the events as needed.

5.9 Buslogic

When using a Buslogic 747 SCSI Adapter with an AST Manhattan SMP
computer, you must disable the adapter's BIOS. For more information on
disabling the BIOS, refer to the adapter's documentation.

5.10 Compaq Smart SCSI Array

The Compaq Smart SCSI Array must be configured to use any possible
interrupt other than IRQ 2 to function properly under Windows NT.

5.11 Dell Drive Array

The Adaptec emulation mode on the Dell Drive Array (DDA) must be
disabled for compatibility with the hardware's Windows NT driver.

5.12 Future Domain

The Windows NT driver that supports the Future Domain 845, 850, and
885 adapters assumes operation on IRQ 5. If the adapter is set for
another interrupt, the Future Domain driver will continue to work, but
in a polling fashion that may slow down operation of the system.
Further, the Future Domain driver will register to the system claiming
the use of IRQ 5 and this may disrupt operation of another device that
is actually configured for IRQ 5. If you are using one of the above
mentioned Future Domain adapters, please complete the Windows NT
installation normally, then change the IRQ information for the driver
in the registry. If the IRQ is incorrect, the driver will log an event
viewable in the Event Viewer Administrative Tool.

If you have a 16-bit Future Domain card or an 8-bit M series card
configured with an external SCSI device, make sure that SCSI
termination is correct. You must set a jumper on the card for this
setting. Check the cards documentation for details.

A Future Domain SCSI adapter might use conflicting memory addresses.
This requires reconfiguring the hardware by changing jumpers.

5.13 IBM PS/2 SCSI Adapter

To configure an IBM SCSI adapter with a BIOS dated before 1991 for use
with Windows NT, use a PS/2 Reference Diskette version 1.21 or later.

5.14 Maynard SCSI Adapter

You cannot use Express Setup to install Windows NT onto a hard disk
attached to a WD33C9C SCSI host adapter (Maynard SCSI adapter) because
Setup cannot identify this adapter. However, you can use Custom Setup
to install this adapter card. Or, after Setup, you can use the Setup
icon to install the adapter card.

5.15 Mylex DCE376 and Tangent 48933 USA

The Tangent and Zeos 433 EISA system comes standard with a Mylex 376
controller which operates in WD1003 emulation mode by default. This
will be no longer be necessary when a SCSI driver for this card
becomes available for Windows NT.

5.16 UltraStor SCSI Controllers

If you experience a problem in tape functionally with a supported 4mm
DAT Tape Device and an UltraStor 14F or 24F controller, contact
UltraStor for an upgrade to resolve this.

If you have an UltraStor 34F controller installed into a Micronics VLB
motherboard, it is recommended that you turn the motherboard external
cache off.

The UltraStor 124 adapter is compatible with removable media drives,
but does not allow the user to remove and replace media. For this
reason, Windows NT does not support removable media drives when used
with this controller.

The combination of the UltraStor 14F and DEC Talk Speech Synthesizer
Card can cause Windows NT Setup to fail due to an I/O port conflict.
To avoid this problem, either set the DEC I/O to 350, or delete the
file ULTRA14F.SYS from the boot floppy while leaving the DEC card at
default settings.

5.17 Trantor

These adapters are SCSI-termination sensitive. If Windows NT hangs
upon booting, or if Windows NT Setup cannot find devices attached to a
Trantor adapter, verify that the SCSI termination occurred and that
one of the SCSI devices attached to the Trantor adapter is providing
termination power.

The Trantor T228 MCA SCSI adapter is not supported on the
IBM PS/2 Model 95.

5.18 Texel DM-5024 CD-ROM

A firmware level of 1.10C is required to make the DM-5024 CD-ROM
compatible with Windows NT. Contact Texel at 1- 800-886-3935 for
information on this upgrade.

Additional reference words: 3.10 3.10 W_NTAS setup

KBCategory:
KBSubCategory: stp

=============================================================================

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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.