Network Unable to Start with Compaq Netflex32 NIC

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5

SYMPTOMS

When you install Windows NT on a computer that has a NetFlex32 card and more than 16 MB of physically memory, Setup may not be able to start the network. At the network settings box during the graphical user interface (GUI) portion of Setup, the following error may appear:

   Network could not start because dependency services failed to start.

CAUSE

This error is caused by a problem with the Netflex32 card and the Windows NT hardware abstraction layer (HAL) that loads during setup; the HAL to fails to allocate enough memory to start the services.

If the computer is the first on the network, and going to be a primary domain controller (PDC), you can continue installing Windows NT; the card will work properly when machine is rebooted. If the computer is going to be a backup domain controller (BDC), and must talk to the PDC to finish installing, Setup will not complete successfully.

This problem has been attributed to Compaq's NetFlex32 driver.

RESOLUTION

To work around this problem, either install Windows NT over the network, or bring the machine down to 16 MB of RAM. This will allow the services to install properly and finish installation. Once the machine is running Windows NT, the RAM can be re-installed.

Compaq has verified this to be a problem with the Netflex32 driver and should have a fix in Compaq Support Software Diskette (SSD) version 1.14 or later.