Install May Stop Responding on SCSI Drives Greater Than 8.4 GB

 Last reviewed: September 5, 1996
Article ID: Q153941
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.50
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.50
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.51
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.51

SUMMARY

When you install Windows NT on a very large capacity SCSI drive (such as a Seagate ST410-800N 10 GB SCSI drive), the system may stop responding during the three-boot-floppy disk phase of the installation process, when Windows NT attempts to load the SCSI device driver.

CAUSE

The Translation For Drives Greater Than 2GB option may be enabled on a SCSI controller with the large capacity SCSI drive attached.

The maximum drive size that can be translated by a SCSI controller BIOS is computed as follows: 

   255 heads x 63 sectors/track x 1024 cylinders x 512 bytes/sector =
   8,422,686,720 bytes or 8.4 GB

Resolution

Disable Translation For Drives Greater Than 2GB in the SCSI adapter BIOS before you install Windows NT.

For additional information on drive translation and disk partitioning, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q114841
   TITLE     : Windows NT Boot Process and Hard Disk Constraints

   ARTICLE-ID: Q138364
   TITLE     : Windows NT Partitioning Rules During Setup

KBCategory: kbsetup
KBSubcategory: ntsetup
Additional reference words: Adaptec 2940 3.50 3.51 Seagate ST410-800N

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Last reviewed: September 5, 1996
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