Contents of Windows NT SETUP.TXT, Part 2

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

SUMMARY

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

• Part 1 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 (this article) 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
  
  

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."

6.0 Error Messages

6.1 Couldn't Find NTLDR

This message is displayed if the file NTLDR is missing from the root of the C: drive. You can copy the file to C:\ from either the CD ROM or floppy disks.

To copy NTLDR from the CD ROM, make the CD ROM your current drive and enter the command:

     copy \i386\ntldr C:\

     expand ntldr.$ c:\ntldr

Generally, this error implies a problem in the file system. Run CHKDSK or another similar utility on the drive. Make sure your hardware is on the hardware compatibility list.

6.3 Error 0x00000069 or 0x00000067

This initialization error indicates that Windows NT is unable to communicate with the hard drive controller. Try the following:

• Slow down the DMA transfer rate on the controller.
• Make sure both ends of the SCSI bus are terminated.
• Make sure there are no IRQ or memory address conflicts.
• Make sure you are not using a faulty or unsupported driver.
• Make sure NTDETECT.COM is in the root of the boot drive partition.
• Make sure there are no missing Windows NT system files.

This error is caused by a hardware problem. In some cases, the computer's memory can be at fault, leading to an error that does not appear when running MS-DOS or Windows 3.x, but does appear when running Windows NT. Memory errors can occur when the access rate does not match the requirements of the system board or when the access rate varies between SIMM modules or chips on a module. Cache memory access rates that are too slow can also cause this problem. In general, the first steps toward troubleshooting are to make sure that contacts for all boards and memory modules are clean, that boards and memory modules are properly seated, and that the computer is free of dust.

6.5 System Error F002

If you receive a System Error F002, this probably means that your hardware is faulty; for example, you may be experiencing a memory failure. If this occurs, run the manufacturer's diagnostics procedure and check to see if your memory is the proper speed for your CPU.

7.0 Video Display Drivers and Adapters (x86 Computers)

Windows NT has excellent video support, supporting over 45 video display adapters, including excellent high-end support. Here are some detailed notes on Windows NT's video support.

The information in this section is applicable for x86 computers only. To select a video adapter other than VGA, you must run Custom Setup or run Windows NT Setup from the Main program group after you have completed installation.

This release supports the VGA standard video cards plus some newer video cards. If the video card you use is not listed in this section, select VGA as the display device in Windows NT Setup. If you choose a display mode in Setup that your hardware does not support, you will need to reinstall Windows NT. You should be careful when installing some of the higher resolution modes to be sure that your monitor supports the resolution and vertical refresh rates.

If the display mode selected by the user is not valid--because the video card was not present or because the card had insufficient video memory--an alternate driver will be selected by Setup automatically so that the computer is able to boot.

If you encounter problems read your video manual again for proper settings. You may have overlooked something in the manual that pertains to Windows NT if you previously installed the card under Windows 3.1.

In general, Windows NT video drivers do not use interrupts. Many VGA cards use jumpers to enable IRQ 2 interrupt for EGA compatibility. When possible, you should disable the IRQ 2 interrupt.

During setup Windows NT may allow you to set the vertical refresh rate for your card. Read your monitor manual to see what settings you can use. If you are unsure, set up at the lower resolution, and then later try higher resolutions. If after changing these settings and rebooting, you find that your display is not operating correctly, reboot again and use the "last known good" feature to restore your previous video settings. Be aware of the fact that some monitors may be physically damaged by wrong video settings.

Minimum video memory requirements for Windows NT:

640x480x16 colors                512K
640x480x256 colors               512K
800x600x16 colors                512K
800x600x256 colors               1M
1024x768x16 colors               512K
1024x768x256 colors              1M
1280x1024x256 colors             See individual driver
                                 requirements

If you experience a problem with the standard VGA driver, try the alternative VGA driver that programs the VGA directly. The standard VGA driver uses the VGA display adapter's BIOS to initialize the card. To use the alternate driver, rename the standard driver VGA.SYS to VGA.SAV. Then copy VGA_ALT.SYS to VGA.SYS and reboot.

7.2 8514/A and Compatible Cards

When installing Windows NT on a computer that has an 8514/A or compatible graphic card (for example, IBM's 8514/A or ATI's 8514Ultra), and the computer has an older version of BIOS, Custom Setup may display your video card as "Unknown."

You can change the video driver from "Unknown" to the Standard VGA (640x480, 16 colors) driver during Windows NT Setup. If you have an ATI 8514 Ultra graphic card, after Windows NT Setup is completed, you can run Windows NT Setup located in the Main group in Program Manager to select the appropriate ATI video driver. Express Setup will default the video driver to the Standard VGA (640x480, 16 colors) when an unknown video card is detected.

There is no other video driver for 8514/A or compatible graphic cards included in this release of Windows NT.

7.3 Cirrus-based Cards

For boards based on the Cirrus Logic chip set, select Cirrus with the appropriate resolution during Setup.

7.4 VESA VGA

The VESA VGA driver uses the newer standard for detecting if a card can handle the 800x600 Super VGA mode. VESA VGA is not supported, if you have a card that uses the old standard, or a card that required an MS-DOS-based TSR to implement Super VGA functionality. Standard VGA mode is supported instead.

7.5 Diamond SpeedSTAR (and any ET4000 SVGA)

For the Diamond SpeedSTAR cards, select ET4000 with the appropriate display mode during Setup.

Some ET4000 adapters do not support the setting of refresh rates through software.

If you have a card with only 512K bytes of video memory, the 800x600x256 and 1024x768x256 color modes will not work correctly.

7.6 ProDesigner II Display

For the Orchid Technologies ProDesigner II and ProDesigner IIs cards, select ET4000 with the appropriate display mode during Setup.

7.7 S3 VGA

To run the S3 video driver, your graphics adapter must have at least 1 megabyte (MB) of video memory.

The vertical refresh rate for most S3 based video is set by dip switches on the card, or by running an MS-DOS program that programs the adapter's ROM. For these systems, select the default setting in Windows NT Setup. The MS-DOS setup program for these cards, must be run under MS-DOS. If you have a DELL machine or Number Nine card, you may use the other settings when listed.

If you experience difficulties using the S3-based video card on your Hewlett-Packard Vectra computer, call Hewlett-Packard technical support to upgrade your BIOS EEPROMS.

7.8 Trident

For Trident cards, select Trident with the appropriate display mode during Setup. Trident 8900c based boards do not show 256 color MS-DOS-based applications in frozen windows well.

7.9 Video Seven, Headland Technologies VRAM II, and VRAM II Ergo

For these devices, select Video Seven VRAM with the appropriate resolution during Setup.

When using the VRAM II with BIOS version 8.05, you may see random characters or vertical lines when rebooting. Contact Headland Technologies for a ROM upgrade.

The VRAM II Ergo display card also causes problems if its DIP switches are not set correctly. All the switches should be off (set to the right) except for switch #3. If this fails to correct your problem, please contact Headland Technologies technical support.

VRAM I BIOS rev. 1.18 does not support any 256-color modes under Windows NT.

The IRQ jumper settings should always be set OFF. Note that on BIOS rev. 8.57 and 8.59, the settings are the reverse of that shown in the documentation.

7.10 Western Digital/Paradise

For Western Digital cards, select WD with the appropriate display mode during Setup. We have performed testing on WD90C30 and WD90C31 chip sets.

7.11 XGA

For these devices, select XGA or XGA2 with the appropriate resolution during Setup. The XGA cards require 1 MB of video memory, and only support 256 color modes. Make sure that your monitor supports the modes you select.

Only install the XGA driver on portables with plasma displays if an external monitor is attached.

7.12 ATI

The ATI drivers support the following boards:

    GRAPHICS ULTRA
    GRAPHICS VANTAGE 8514/ULTRA
    GRAPHICS ULTRA PRO
    GRAPHICS ULTRA+

The GRAPHICS ULTRA PRO and GRAPHICS ULTRA+ with 2 MB of graphics memory and the aperture enabled support the following resolutions:

• 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 at 8 bpp with 256 colors
• 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 at 16 bpp with 65,536 colors
• 640x480, 800x600 at 24 bpp with 16,777,216 colors 640x480 at 32 bpp with 16,777,216 colors

• 640x480
• 800x600
• 1024x768 at 8 bpp with 256 colors
• 640x480 at 16 bpp with 65,536 colors

• 640x480
• 800x600
• 1024x768
• 1280x1024 at 8 bpp with 256 colors
• 640x480
• 800x600
• 1024x768 at 16 bpp with 65,536 colors

The following configurations are not supported:

The GRAPHICS ULTRA, GRAPHICS VANTAGE, and 8514/ULTRA at 1280x1024 and 16 colors.

The GRAPHICS ULTRA PRO, and GRAPHICS ULTRA+ if you have an ISA bus and NO aperture (that is, more than 12 MB of RAM) at the following resolutions:

    640x480, 800x600 at 24 bpp with 16,777,216 colors
    640x480 at 32 bpp with 16,777,216 colors]

Removable media drives (such as Bernoulli and Syquest) are supported for use with the FAT and NTFS file systems only.

Optical drives that support media with sector sizes larger than 512 bytes must have the 512-byte sector size media mounted while installing Windows NT, even if Windows NT is not being installed onto the optical drive.

If you install Windows NT or any portion of Windows NT onto removable media, be sure to shut down Windows NT before removing the media. (That is, choose Shutdown from the File menu of Program Manager.) Do not remove the media until after Windows NT has completed its shutdown process. Media must be installed to run Windows NT Setup.

9.0 Supported Keyboard Layouts

During setup, the following keyboard layouts cannot be used:

     Czech
     Greek
     Hungarian
     Polish Programmer
     Russian

10.0 Installing Windows NT over NextStep

NextStep makes nonconventional changes to partition tables that can distort measurement of the amount of space remaining on a drive. If more space is reported than is actually available, installation can fail due to lack of space on the drive.

11.0 Converting File Systems During Installation

If your disk is too fragmented, there may not be enough room for Setup to create the system files. If this occurs, Setup will not be able to convert a volume at the conclusion of installation. Before trying to convert the volume again, either delete some files, or back up and reformat the drive.

12.0 Reporting Problems

If you encounter a system problem, please report it to Microsoft using BUGREP.TXT. This file is located in the \SUPPORT\SUPTOOLS directory on the CD-ROM as well as floppy Disk #4 of the floppy install disk set. Additionally, SAMPBUG.TXT is an example of a completed bug report.