"Fatal Exception Error" with Iomega IDE Zip Drives

 Last reviewed: March 17, 1998
Article ID: Q160800
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release version 2

SYMPTOMS

When you are using an Intel motherboard with an AMI/Intel BIOS or an Iomega IDE Zip drive installed on the secondary IDE channel, you may receive a "Fatal Exception Error" error message when you start the computer without a disk in the Zip drive or you eject the disk from the Zip drive.

CAUSE

This problem can occur if the following conditions exist:

  • The computer has an IDE removable drive that uses Media Status Notification (the Iomega IDE Zip drive is one such drive).
  • The computer's BIOS unmasks the PIC for the IRQ on the controller on which the drive is located.
  • The drive is accessed with no disk in the drive.
  • The BIOS touches the Alt Status register when an interrupt is vectored to it.

When these conditions exist, an interrupt may be reflected to the BIOS, which can cause a fault.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 95. An update to address this problem is now available, but is not fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft does not recommend implementing this update at this time.

This issue is resolved by the following updated files for Windows 95: 

   Esdi_506.pdr version 4.00.956 (dated 5/14/96) and later
   Voltrack.vxd version 4.00.954 (dated 3/6/96) and later
To install this update, follow these steps:

  1. Download the Remideup.exe file from the online service listed below to an empty folder.

  2. In My Computer or Windows Explorer, double-click the Remideup.exe file you downloaded in step 1.

  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

The following file(s) are available for download from the Microsoft Software Library: 

 ~ remideup.exe (size: 147096 bytes)
For more information about downloading files from the Microsoft Software Library, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q119591
   TITLE     : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services
The following files are installed by Remideup.exe: 

   File name     Version    Date/Time       Size    Destination folder
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Esdi_506.pdr  4.00.1116  8/25/97 11:16a  24,426  Windows\System\Iosubsys
   Voltrack.vxd  4.00.954   3/6/96 9:54a    18,518  Windows\System\Iosubsys
NOTE: The Voltrack.vxd file is installed on Windows 95 computers only. This file is not installed on computers running OSR2.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about issues resolved by updates to this component, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q171353
   TITLE     : Computer with Ultra DMA IDE Controller May Hang

   ARTICLE-ID: Q161642
   TITLE     : Auto Insert Notification May Prevent Automatic Suspend

   ARTICLE-ID: Q154976
   TITLE     : Error Message Running Jet Database Engine Stress Test

   ARTICLE-ID: Q154436
   TITLE     : Errors Accessing Hard Disk with Spin-Down Enabled

   ARTICLE-ID: Q154435
   TITLE     : Windows 95 IDE Support for SMART, DMA, and ATAPI Tape
               Drives

   ARTICLE-ID: Q153471
   TITLE     : Problems with Removable IDE Drives in Windows 95

Additional query words: 95
Keywords : osr2 win95 kberrmsg kbhw kbfixlist
Version : 95
Platform : WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: March 17, 1998
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