Sony IDE CD-ROM Drive and 32-Bit Disk Access

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.1, 3.11
• Microsoft Windows for Workgroups versions 3.1, 3.11

SYMPTOMS

When you start Windows or Windows for Workgroups on a computer with a Sony CDU 55e IDE CD-ROM drive installed, you may receive a blue screen with the following error message:

   This program tried to access your hard disk in a way that is
   incompatible with Window's 32-bit disk-access feature (*wdctrl).

CAUSE

When the Sony CDU 55e IDE CD-ROM drive is installed as a "slave" to the "master" hard disk and 32-bit disk access is enabled, the CD-ROM drive uses the same primary IDE channel as the hard disk. The CD-ROM drive shares the hard disk's cable, interrupt, and port (IRQ 14, 1F0h).

Because this CD-ROM drive does not meet the WD1003 specification, the master hard disk loses 32-bit disk access capabilities and the WDCTRL driver does not load.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, use either of the following methods:

• Move the CD-ROM drive to a secondary IDE channel on the controller card. Note that this method requires using separate cables for the hard disk and CD-ROM drive.

  For information about configuring the hardware in your computer, please consult the hardware documentation or manufacturer.

• Disable 32-bit disk access. To do so, double-click the 386 Enhanced icon in Control Panel, click the Virtual Memory button, click the Change button, then clear the 32-Bit Disk Access check box.

MORE INFORMATION

The Sony CDU 55e CD-ROM drive is typically bundled with a Future Domain 16003 IDE controller and is installed on the secondary IDE channel by default using IRQ 15 and port 170h.

Sony's Setup program puts the ATAPI_CD.SYS driver in the CONFIG.SYS file and Corel's CORELCDX.EXE CD-ROM extension in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The CD-ROM drive works with either CORELCDX.EXE or MSCDEX.EXE, but both will fail if the CD-ROM drive is installed as a slave and 32-bit disk access is enabled.

Using an enhanced IDE controller instead of a standard IDE controller does not solve the problem under current versions of MS-DOS and Windows. Also, using third-party 32-bit disk access drivers (such as those from OnTrack, Western Digital, or MicroHouse) does not solve the problem.

The third-party products discussed in this article are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.