Diskdump.sys Common Buffer Size Is Changed

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When a Windows NT computer generates a stop error a crash dump may not be created if you are using a Symbios SYMC8xx driver.

The Diskdump.sys driver only allows 8 KB for the common buffer, which may cause a problem with the Symbios Flint driver. In the Symbios Flint driver, the amount of NonCachedExtension required may grow significantly. This growth is necessary to provide all of the necessary tables and scripts storage used to support the one interrupt for each I/O scripts processing.

CAUSE

Diskdump.sys driver has a hard coded value of 8K for the common buffer.

The Symbios driver was also corrected to resolve a problem with creating crashdumps on Compaq computers

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the following fix or wait for the next Windows NT service pack.

This fix should have the following time stamp:

   07/22/97  07:49 PM             13,456 Diskdump.sys (Intel)
   07/22/97  07:59 PM            935,360 Ntkrnlmp.exe (Intel)
   07/22/97  07:58 PM            915,840 Ntoskrnl.exe (Intel)
   11/07/97  04:57 PM             23,184 Symc810.sys  (Intel)

   07/22/97  06:49 PM             18,736 Diskdump.sys (Alpha)
   07/22/97  06:58 PM          1,395,264 Ntkrnlmp.exe (Alpha)
   07/22/97  06:58 PM          1,367,744 Ntoskrnl.exe (Alpha)
   11/07/97  04:54 PM             38,032 Symc810.sys  (Alpha)

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 4.0. A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression-tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.