When you select the Supplementary menu option from the Boot menu, the firmware displays this screen:
ARC Multiboot Alpha AXP Version 3.5-11
Copyright (c) 1993 Microsoft Corporation
Copyright (c) Digital Equipment Corporation
Supplementary menu:
Install new firmware
Install Windows NT from CD-ROM
Set up the system...
Display hardware configuration
Boot menu...
Use the arrow keys to select, then press Enter.
Installing new firmware results in the following:
If you want to save the information that is currently in the NVRAM, you can use the saveenv and restenv utilities, which are available from Digital Equipment Corporation. Run these utilities from the Run a program menu to save your current NVRAM settings to a file on the disk, and then restore them.
1. Put the disk with the utilities in the floppy drive.
2. On the Boot menu, click Run a program, and enter a:\saveenv. You see the following message:
This saves the environment variables into the floppy file fwenv.sav. Continue (Y,N)?
When you click Y, you see these messages:
Opening eisa()disk()fdisk()fwenv.sav. Saving the firmware environment variables. Environment successfully saved! To restore them, run the Restenv program. Press any key to continue.
3. On the Supplementary menu, click Install new firmware, and follow these steps:
Searching floppy and CD-ROM for the firmware update tool...
If the tool cannot be found or is corrupt, this message is displayed:
Error: Bad device name/number or partition number, press any key to continue
If the firmware files are found, messages like these are displayed:
DECpc AXP 150 Flashfile Update Utility, revision 2.09 Copyright (c)1992, 1993 Microsoft Corporation Copyright (c)1993 Digital Equipment Corporation This will update your machine's firmware. Press the "Y" key to continue with the update. Hit any other key to abort.
After selecting Y, you have choices such as the following:
Select location of update file.
Use the arrow keys to select, then press Enter.
Hit Escape to abort.
Floppy #0\jensfw.bin
CD-ROM\jensfw.bin
Other location
Exit
Select the floppy disk or CD-ROM, depending on the location of the firmware files. When you press Enter, you should see:
Loading the update file... Reading the update file...
followed by:
The update file is good! The name of the firmware update is...:
The name depends on the firmware version.
Press the "Y" key to continue the update. Hit any other key to abort.
When you select Y, you see:
Are you *really* sure? Press the "Y" key to continue the update. Hit any other key to abort.
When you select Y again, you should see information similar to:
Firmware ROM type: 0. Updating these blocks: 7 8 9 10 11 The update has succeeded. Power-cycle the machine to see the changes. Press any key to continue...
The blocks that are updated depend on the firmware version being updated.
4. Do not restart the computer yet. On the Supplementary menu, click Run a program, and enter a:\restenv. You see the following messages:
Restenv version 4.31 This restores the environment variables from floppy file fwenv.sav. Continue(Y,N)?
Enter Y, and you see the following messages:
Opening eisa()disk()fdisk()fwenv.sav. Checking fwenv.sav type bye. Reading the environment variables. The environment variables have been restored Power-cycle the machine after you return to the firmware Press any key to continue
Press any key.
5. Restart your computer. You will get some error messages about the EISA configuration being out of date, which you can ignore for now.
6. Put the floppy disk with EISA configuration utility in the floppy drive.
7. On the Supplementary menu, click Set up the system.
8. On the Setup menu, click Run EISA configuration utility from floppy. All you should need to do when running this utility is press ENTER until you return to the Setup menu. The Setup menu is described later in this chapter.
9. On the Setup menu, click Supplementary menu, and save changes.
10. Restart the computer again. You should now be running with the new firmware.
When you select Install Windows NT from CD-ROM, the firmware displays the message:
Loading Microsoft Windows NT Setup. . .
The next screen is the standard Windows NT Setup screen. The rest of the installation is identical to installing Windows NT on an X86-based computer.
You can also run the Repair procedure by selecting this option. When Windows NT Setup displays the Welcome to Setup screen, select R for repair. The rest of the repair procedure is identical to what happens on an x86-based computer.
Selecting Set up the system takes you to the Setup menu, which enables you to change the configuration options for all operating systems, and the computer configurations options stored in the NVRAM. You can change the following types of information:
The following example shows the Setup menu. If you make changes to the computer configuration by making selections from the Setup menu, the additional selection:
Supplementary Menu, and save changes...
appears as the last line of the menu. Changes are not actually saved to the NVRAM until you make this selection. This example includes the additional line.
ARC Multiboot Alpha AXP Version 3.5-11 Tuesday, 2-20-96 2:53:19 PM
Copyright (c) 1993 Microsoft Corporation
Copyright (c) 1993 Digital Equipment Corporation
Setup menu:
Set system time
Set default environment variables
Set default configuration
Manage boot selection menu...
Setup autoboot
Machine specific setup...
Edit environment variables
Reset system to factory defaults
Help
Supplementary menu, and do not save changes...
Supplementary menu, and save changes...
Use the arrow keys to select, then press Enter.
If any of the changes that you make by using the Setup menu result in inconsistent information in the NVRAM, the selection with the error is in yellow text. And the following message is displayed at the bottom of the screen, also in yellow text:
The yellow items should be done before booting Windows NT
Note
The Setup menu on other versions of the Alpha-based computer firmware might have different entries. For example, you might have the entry Run EISA configuration utility from floppy.
To set the system date and time, select Set system time from the Setup menu. You can enter the following information:
Tuesday, 2-20-1996 3:03:48 PM Enter the new date (mm-dd-yy) : Enter time (hh:mm:ss) :
When setting the time, you must enter the time in 24-hour format. For example, the time listed above should be entered as 15:03:48.
You automatically return to the Setup menu when you enter both fields.
To set the defaults for booting, select Set default environment variables on the Setup menu. This example shows the user selecting the SCSI Hard Disk as the location of the default system partition.
Tuesday, 2-20-1996 3:08:48 PM
Enter location of default system partition:
Select media:
SCSI Hard Disk
Floppy Disk
CD-ROM
Enter SCSI bus number: 0
Enter SCSI ID: 0
Enter partition (must be FAT or NTFS): 1
To set the default configuration, select Set default configuration on the Setup menu. The available selections depend upon your computer hardware.
Tuesday, 2-20-1996 3:09:28 PM
Select monitor resolution:
1280x1024
1024x768
800x600
640x480
Select floppy drive capacity:
5.25" 1.2MB
3.5" 1.44MB
3.5" 2.88MB
Is there a second floppy:
Yes
No
Select keyboard:
U.S. 101-key keyboard
Japanese 106-key keyboard
French 102-key keyboard
German 102-key keyboard
Spanish 102-key keyboard
Spanish variation
Canadian French 102-key keyboard
Swiss 102-key keyboard
Italian 102-key keyboard
Finnish/Swedish keyboard
Norwegian keyboard
Danish 102-key keyboard
Enter SCSI Host ID (0-7) for SCSI bus number :
After selecting the setting in each group, you are returned to the Setup menu.
When you select Manage boot selections menu on the Setup menu, you can configure and manage the operating systems that appear on the Boot menu at startup. You can also configure custom startup folders and files if you have installed multiple copies of Windows NT.
The following choices are available on the Boot selections menu:
Tuesday, 2-20-96 2:59:19 PM
ARC Multiboot Alpha AXP Version 3.5-11
Copyright (c) 1993 Microsoft Corporation
Copyright (c) 1993 Digital Equipment Corporation
Boot selections menu:
Add a boot selection
Change a boot selection
Check boot selections
Delete a boot selection
Dump boot selections
Rearrange boot selections
Setup menu...
Use the arrow keys to select, then press Enter.
Select Add a boot selection on the Boot selections menu if:
When you make this selection, you can enter information similar to the following:
Note
The right justified arrows (<----) in these examples indicate which selection was made, or the information that was entered.
Tuesday, 2-20-96 3:09:19 PM
Select a system partition for this boot selection:
SCSI Bus 0 Hard Disk 0 Partition 1
New system partition
Enter location of system partition for this boot selection:
Select Media:
SCSI Hard Disk <---------------------------------------------------
Floppy Disk
CD-ROM
Enter SCSI bus number: 0 <---------------------
Enter SCSI ID: 2 <---------------------
Enter Partition (must be FAT or NTFS): 1 <---------------------
Enter the osloader folder and name: \os\winnt40\osloader.exe <---------
Is the operating system in the same partition as the osloader:
Yes
No <----------------------------------------------------------------
Enter the location of os partition:
Select Media:
SCSI Hard Disk <---------------------------------------------------
Floppy Disk
CD-ROM
Enter SCSI bus number: 0 <-------------------------------------
Enter SCSI ID: 2 <-------------------------------------
Enter Partition: 2 <-------------------------------------
Enter the operating system root folder: \winnt <--------------
Enter a name for this boot selection: Boot Shadow Disk <--------------
Do want to initialize the debugger at boot time:
Yes
No <----------------------------------------------------
When you select Change a boot selection on the Boot selections menu, you can change environment variables for any of the boot selections that you have defined. This is a sample screen:
Tuesday, 2-20-96 3:15:09 PM
Selection to edit:
Boot Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (Default)
Boot Windows NT Workstation 3.51
When you select one of the entries, you see a screen like this one:
Tuesday, 2-20-96 3:17:19 PM
Use arrow keys to select a variable, ESC to exit:
Name:
Environment variables for boot selection 1:
LOADIDENTIFIER= Boot Windows NT Workstation 4.0
SYSTEMPARTITION=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk()partition(1)
OSLOADER=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk()partition(1)\os\winnt40\osloader.exe
OSLOADPARTITION=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk()partition(1)
OSLOADFILENAME=\winnt
OSLOADOPTIONS=nodebug
Use the arrow keys to select the environment variable to edit and press Enter. The screen changes to have the heading Value: under Name:. For instance, if you select OSLOADOPTIONS and press Enter, you see the following:
Name: OSLOADOPTIONS
Value: nodebug
Edit the value, and press Enter when done. Press the Escape key to exit this menu and return to the Boot selections menu.
Under normal circumstances, when you select Check boot selections on the Boot selections menu, the screen briefly displays the various startup selections as they are checked for validity. If there is a problem, such as an invalid path or file, the following information is displayed:
Tuesday, 2-20-96 3:25:11 PM
Problems were found with Windows NT Workstation 4.0... Choose an action:
Ignore problems with this boot selection
Delete this boot selection
Change this boot selection
The error is displayed in yellow text below the options, such as the following:
OSLOADER cannot be found, value is:
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\os\nt\xsloader.exe
The firmware only checks that the paths are valid and that the files or folders exist. It does not check file sizes, version numbers, dates, switches, or any other fields that might indicate consistency problems.
The firmware automatically returns you to the Boot selections menu.
If you have deleted a Windows NT installation from your computer, you should select Delete a boot selection on the Boot selections menu to remove it from the NVRAM. This is the screen you see when you select this option:
Tuesday, 2-20-96 3:25:09 PM
Selection to delete:
Boot Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (Default)
Boot Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Use the arrow keys to highlight the selection you want to delete, and press Enter. There are no warnings or checks, and the selection is immediately deleted. Changes are not saved to NVRAM until you exit the Setup menu, however.
When you select Dump boot selections on the Boot selections menu, the NVRAM resets to no boot selections.
This is a sample screen:
LOADIDENTIFIER= Boot Windows NT Workstation 4.0;Boot Windows NT Workstation 3.51
SYSTEMPARTITION=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1);
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2);
OSLOADER=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\os\winnt40\osloader.exe;
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\os\winnt351\osloader.exe;
OSLOADPARTITION=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1);
scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2);
OSLOADFILENAME=\winnt;\winnt
OSLOADOPTIONS=nodebug;sos debug baudrate:19200
Press any key to continue...
Changes are not saved until you exit the Setup menu, and select Supplementary Menu, and save changes. If you save changes when exiting, the only ways to restore boot selections are to manually reenter the information or use the Emergency Repair disk.
The most common reason for rearranging the boot selections is because you have added a boot selection, which is automatically placed at the top of the list.
You see a screen like this one when you select Rearrange boot selections on the Boot selections menu:
Tuesday, 2-20-96 4:01:03 PM
Pick selection to move to the top, ESC to exit:
Boot Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (Default)
Boot Windows NT Workstation 3.51
Use the arrow keys to highlight the selection you want to move to the top of the list, then press Enter. You can do this repeatedly to rearrange the boot selection into any order you want.
As before, changes are not saved until you exit the Setup menu, and select Supplementary Menu, and save changes.
When you are finished with all of your changes on the Boot Selections menu, you can select Setup menu to return to the Setup menu.
The Setup autoboot selection on the Setup menu enables you to set your computer to automatically start the default selection if you do not make a selection from the Boot Loader menu.
You see a screen like this one when you select this option on the Setup menu:
Wednesday 2-21-1996 8:01:36 AM
Should the system autoboot:
Yes
No
Enter Countdown value (in seconds): 30
The Enter Countdown value prompt appears only if you select Yes. The countdown value provides the same functionality as the timeout value in the Boot.ini file on an x86-based computer.
When you select Machine specific setup on the Setup menu, you can set environment variables that are specific to the computer, such as:
Wednesday 2-21-1996 11:01:36 AM PCI Parity checking currently set to: Off Set PCI Parity checking currently set to: On Setup menu ...
Selecting one of the options sets the environment variable to the value specified. Selecting Setup menu returns you to that menu.
You can add, delete, or change information for the environment variables by selecting Edit environment variables on the Setup menu. The screen displays the variables that are defined, and their values, such as this example:
Wednesday 2-21-1996 8:09:16 AM
Use the arrow keys to select a variable, ESC to exit:
Name:
Environment variables:
CONSOLEIN=multi()key()keyboard()console()
CONSOLEOUT=multi()video()monitor()console()
FWSEARCHPATH=scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk()partition(1)
A:=multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0)
FLOPPY=2
FLOPPY2=N
KEYBOARDTYPE=0
TIMEZONE=PST8PDT
You can add environment variables by typing in the name of the new variable at the Name: prompt and pressing Enter. A prompt for Value: appears beneath the Name: prompt, and you enter the value.
For instance, to add the countdown variable:
Name:COUNTDOWN Value: 20
To delete an environment variable, select it with the arrow keys, or type in the name at the Name: prompt. Then press enter at the Value: prompt. Environment variables with no string value are deleted from the NVRAM.
Be careful when you select this option. When you execute this command, you might no longer be able to start the computer. Some reasons for the failure are:
Before you execute the command, write down all configuration information that you need to know, such as:
This is a sample screen:
Wednesday 2-21-1996 8:15:16 AM
This command will overwrite the environment, configuration,
and boot selections with new information.
Are you sure you want to do this?
Yes
No
Selecting Yes causes the default configuration information to be saved to NVRAM. Once you do this, there is no way to recover any previous configuration information. You have to rebuild all custom options and configuration parameters by using the firmware menus.
This selection displays the system help screen.
Wednesday 2-21-1996 8:26:11 AM Do the following steps, in this order, to set up the system: 1. Set system time. 2. Set default environment variables. 3. Set default configuration. 4. Create at least one boot selection. 5. Setup autoboot. -> A menu item with an arrow represents a section of the NVRAM with a
problem. Select these items (in top to bottom order) to repair the
NVRAM before attempting to boot or install Windows NT. "Reset system to factory defaults" does steps 2--5 for a typical system. Home, End, Delete, and Backspace will help you edit strings. The ESCape key returns from a menu and aborts a sequence. The firmware automatically reboots if the configuration is changed. Press any key to continue...
You return to the Setup menu when you press any key.
If you have made changes to the NVRAM by using the Setup menu, there are two ways to exit to the Supplementary menu:
Supplementary menu, and do not save changes... Supplementary menu, and save changes...
If you choose to save the changes, they are saved to NVRAM. If you did not make any changes, the second option does not appear on the screen.
Selecting Display hardware configuration on the Supplementary menu displays information about:
This is an example:
Friday 2-23-1996 10:46:15 AM Devices detected and supported by the firmware: multi(0)video(0)monitor(0) multi(0)key(0)keyboard(0) multi(0)disk(0)fdisk(0) multi(0)serial(0) multi(0)serial(1) scsi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) scsi(0)cdrom(4)fdisk(0) Press any key to continue...
Selecting any key displays a list of supported hardware, such as the following:
Friday 2-23-1996 10:46:55 AM Alpha AXP Processor and System Information: Processor ID 21066 Processor Revision 2 System Revision 1 Processor Speed 166.66Mhz Physical Memory 32 MB Backup Cache Size 256 KB Press any key to continue...
When you press any key, the firmware displays the next set of information. When all hardware information has been displayed, selecting any key returns you to the Supplementary menu.
When you select Boot menu on the Supplementary menu, the firmware returns you to the Boot menu.