Troubleshooting Device Management

This section describes specific problems in device configuration and how to correct them. For information about general procedures and Windows 98 tools that can be used in troubleshooting, see Chapter 27, "General Troubleshooting." Chapter 27 also includes information about what to do if you are having trouble booting to Safe Mode.

As a general troubleshooting step, always make sure that you are using updated drivers. You can get updated drivers from the Windows Update Web site, as described in Chapter 27, "General Troubleshooting." Also, check the \Drivers directory on the Windows 98 compact disc. Also, make sure that your drivers have been digitally signed by Microsoft by using the Digital Signature Tool, also described in Chapter 27. If they have not been digitally signed, try the Windows Update Web site. If you do not find drivers there, contact your hardware manufacturer and ask for drivers that bear the "Designed for Microsoft Windows 98/Windows NT" logo.

Your first and best resource for diagnosing problems due to changing device settings is the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid in Help.

To use the Hardware Conflict troubleshooting aid

1. In any Help window, click the Contents button.
2. Click Troubleshooting, click the listing called Windows 98 Troubleshooters, and then click the topic called Hardware Conflict. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Correcting Problems with Enabling PC Cards

If you have the correct drivers and protected-mode PC Card support is activated, but the device is still not available, your computer is probably using the wrong memory window for the device. Windows 98 selects a default set of commonly supported settings. Your socket might not support certain interrupt settings, so you might be able to get a PC Card socket to work by changing the IRQ. Similarly, your socket might not work on certain memory windows, and changing the memory window might solve your problem.

To change the memory window for a PC Card device

1. In Device Manager, click your PC Card socket, and then click Properties.
2. In the PC Card controller properties, click the Global Settings tab.
3. Make sure that the Automatic Selection check box is not checked.
4. Change the Start address according to information from your hardware manual.

   Typically, selecting a Start value higher than 100000 will work.

5. Restart Windows 98.

To change the interrupt for a PC Card device

1. In Device Manager, click your PC Card socket, and then click Properties.
2. Change the IRQ from its default to a value that does not conflict with other IRQ settings used on your computer.
3. Restart Windows 98.

If Windows 98 still does not detect your PC Cards, you should disable the Windows 98 protected-mode PC Card support. If you do so, you will be able to use your PC Card only with real-mode drivers.

To disable protected-mode PC Card support

1. In Device Manager, click your PC Card socket controller, and then click Properties.
2. In the Device Usage box, select the Disable in this hardware profile box.

   The new configuration should appear in Device Manager. If not, restart Windows 98.

Correcting Problems with the Display

If your computer has problems with the display, determine whether the problems persist when you use lower screen resolutions and different color depths with the display driver. If the display driver fails and changing resolutions does not resolve the problem, check or replace the current display driver. Also, make sure the installed display driver is the correct one for the installed display adapter.

Windows 98 includes safeguards that in most cases prevent unsupported settings from being implemented. However, problems can result when Windows 98 has incorrect information that a monitor or display adapter can support certain functionality. This usually happens only if Windows 98 misidentifies the display adapter or Plug and Play–compliant monitor, or the user misidentifies a legacy monitor, and Windows 98 attempts to exceed the display adapter's resolution or color depth capabilities or the monitor's supported refresh rates.

If Windows 98 correctly identifies your display adapter, and you attempt to set the adapter to a setting it does not support, in most cases you will see an error message stating that the display adapter does not support the chosen resolution or color depth. Less commonly, Windows 98 might try to set the chosen resolution or color depth, and your system might lock up.

Windows 98 can identify Plug and Play–compliant monitors and automatically adjust refresh rates available in the user interface to correspond to the settings provided in the monitor’s INF file listing the monitor's capabilities. This results in reliable monitor operation and usually prevents users from setting incorrect or incompatible refresh rates.

With older legacy monitors, however, it is possible to set refresh rates incorrectly. Because Windows 98 does not communicate with legacy monitors, it is possible for a user to select an INF file of a monitor with a greater range of refresh rate capabilities than that of the actual monitor installed. If you select a higher refresh rate than the monitor can support, you will see corrupted display with an image that looks like a misadjusted horizontal with oscillating multiple images. If this happens, Windows 98 should return the monitor to its original refresh rate after a few moments.

Note

If the video signal is set to an unsupported refresh rate, newer monitors may mute the video signal and generally return an error message such as "Invalid sync" or "Unsupported mode."

To determine whether any performance problems might be related to the display adapter, you can progressively disable enhanced display functionality using the System option in Control Panel. On the Performance tab, click Graphics, and then use the slider to select new settings. For information, see Chapter 26, "Performance Tuning."

If Windows 98 does not recognize the display adapter, try using the basic VGA driver (by definition, a generic 640 x 480, 16-color driver). However, keep in mind that multiple display support is not available when you are using a basic VGA driver. If you have a vendor-supplied driver disk for the display adapter, you can install the OEM drivers. If the drivers were not written for Windows 95 or Windows 98, some advanced display features might be disabled.

If an error occurs during display adapter initialization, the computer stops responding. To restart the computer, press CTRL+ALT+DEL. This problem might occur if you are using a video accelerator card and you change the display from the default setting (640 x 480, 16 colors) to 1024 x 768, 256 colors in the properties dialog box for your display adapter. Although Windows 98 might accept the changes, the error still results. The Super VGA (SVGA) driver (1024 x 768) included with Windows 98 is designed only for nonaccelerated SVGA display adapters. To correct this problem, change the display driver back to the default VGA setting.

To see if the display error is corrected by changing the screen color setting

1. In the Display option in Control Panel, click the Settings tab.
2. Check the setting in the Colors menu. If the selection is other than 16 Colors, select 16 Colors.
3. Click Apply.
4. Retest the condition that was causing the display error. If the error does not recur, you might want to temporarily operate at a lower resolution until you can upgrade the display driver to a version that functions without error.

To check the display drivers

1. In Device Manager, click the plus sign (+) next to Display Adapters.
2. Double-click the specific display adapter shown (for example, Cirrus Logic).
3. In the Adapter properties dialog box, click the Driver tab, and then click Driver File Details.
4. Click each file shown in the Driver files box. If available, the Provider, File version, and Copyright information appears below the file tree (some vendors’ display drivers might not contain version information).
5. Check displayed file versions for compatibility. Windows 98 display driver files have version numbers starting at 4.00 or higher.
6. If you have an incompatible driver, you can reinstall the original driver from the Windows 98 disks or get new drivers from the Microsoft Download Service (MSDL) as described in Appendix I, "Windows 98 Resource Directory." If Microsoft drivers do not support the display adapter, contact the display adapter vendor for updated drivers, or check the Microsoft Windows Update Web site.

To check where the driver is loading from

• To ensure that a Windows 98 version of the display driver is installed, check the [boot] section of System.ini for the following entry:

  display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv
  

If this entry is specified, the display entries in System.ini are ignored, and the display drivers are loaded from the registry. If the entry specifies any driver other than Pnpdrvr.drv, the display drivers are loaded from System.ini.

To find out if an incorrect display driver is installed

1. Restart the computer, and then press the left CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu message appears.
2. Choose Safe Mode, which uses the standard VGA (640 x 480 x 16-color) driver.

   If this resolves the display problem, the display driver is probably involved. Try replacing the driver with a newer version, or reinstall the driver from the original disks.

To see if the display error is corrected by changing screen resolution

1. In Control Panel, double-click Display, and then click the Settings tab.
2. Check the setting in the Screen area menu. Select a setting with a lower resolution.
3. Click Apply.
4. Retest the condition that was causing the display error.

To load VGA on your next boot

• In the [boot] section of System.ini, change the value of DisplayFallBack from 0 to 1.

To change your display driver back to VGA

1. Restart the computer, hold down the left CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu message appears, and then choose Safe Mode.
2. After you have successfully booted to Safe Mode, in Control Panel, double-click Display, and then click the Settings tab.
3. Click Advanced, and then click Change. The Upgrade Device Driver Wizard is displayed. Click Next, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

If you want to use a high-resolution display driver with Windows 98, consult your display adapter manufacturer for the proper driver to use.

To correct jerky motion during multimedia playback.

• Use the Add New Hardware option in Control Panel to verify that the appropriate display driver is installed for the display adapter you are using.
• Check to see if Mscdex.exe is installed. If so, remove it and use Windows 98 CDFS drivers.
• If the problem occurs with MS-DOS - based applications, check and maximize available extended memory specification (XMS) memory in the virtual memory (VM).

Correcting Problems with Multiple Displays

This section describes problems that might occur with multiple displays. As a general troubleshooting step, make sure that your video card is on the list of supported video cards listed in Tables 24.4 and 24.5 and that you are using an updated driver.

An additional display does not appear in Display Properties.

If an additional display does not appear in the Display Properties dialog box, or if you cannot use additional monitors, check the following:

• Check the driver you are using for your displays. If you are using VGA or a Windows 3.1 driver, Multiple Display will not work. Keep in mind that the standard VGA driver is used whenever the desktop resolution is 640 x 480 and the color depth is 16 colors, so you should also make sure you have selected a higher resolution and color depth.
• Make sure you are not using a Windows 3.1 driver for your primary monitor.
• Make sure that all the display adapters you use are PCI-based. One of them can be a PCI-based adapter embedded in the motherboard. The bulleted list later in this section provides information about potential problems with this configuration.
• Check to see if you are using any third-party display control panels; if so, try removing them.

You might also have a hardware problem. Following are several problems you might experience with motherboard or on-board PCI video:

• The PCI motherboard video is hidden from the enumerator and might be identified incorrectly.
• Some systems vendors hide the motherboard video from PCI when another video card is detected in the system. If Plug and Play cannot find the device, Setup cannot start it. To determine whether you have this problem, check Device Manager. If only your add-in card is shown as present and working, this is likely your problem.
• Windows 98 cannot read the ROM from a motherboard video device. It might be possible to overcome this problem if you set up Windows 98 without any other display adapters in the computer.

The computer will not boot with multiple displays, or you see a Code 12 in Device Manager.

If your computer won’t boot or you see a Code 12, you might have a system BIOS bug. Try moving all the video cards to the slots closest to the motherboard.

In Device Manager, you are told that video card memory is in use.

If you check your video card in Device Manager and see a message stating that the region of memory the video card uses is already in use, try removing Emm386.exe, or set the following under the [386enh] section of System.ini:

Emmexclude C000-CFFF

Device Manager says your card will not work with Multiple Display.

If your card is on the list of supported cards listed in Tables 24.4 and 24.5, but Device Manager tells you that your card will not work with Multiple Displays, make sure that you are using the correct driver. For a list of supported drivers, see "Technical Notes on Multiple Display," earlier in this chapter.

You cannot use an absolute pointing device on your secondary display.

Absolute pointing devices work only on the primary display.

Correcting Problems with SCSI Devices

This section includes problems that might occur with SCSI devices.

A SCSI device fails to work.

The SCSI and CD-ROM support built into Windows 98 requires that CD-ROM drives provide SCSI parity to function properly. For many drives, this is a configurable option or is active by default. Examples of drives that do not provide or support SCSI parity are the NEC CDR-36 and CDR-37 drives.

If you have trouble with a SCSI drive, make sure the SCSI bus is set up properly (refer to your hardware documentation for specific details).

In some cases, adding or removing a SCSI adapter might prevent your computer from starting correctly. Check the following:

• The ends of the SCSI bus must have terminating resistor packs (also called terminators) installed.

  If you have only internal or only external SCSI devices, the ends of the bus are probably the SCSI adapter and the last device on the cable. If you have both internal and external SCSI devices, the adapter is probably in the middle of the bus and should not have terminators installed. If you disconnect a device that has terminators installed (such as an external CD-ROM drive), be sure to install terminators on whatever device then becomes the last one on the bus. One of the devices on the SCSI bus (usually the adapter) should be configured to provide termination power to the bus.

  Windows 98 supports as many internal and external SCSI devices as the SCSI controller supports. In addition to the requirement that the last external and the last internal SCSI device be terminated, some hardware has additional requirements for where it must be placed in the SCSI chain.

• Removable media must be mounted on the drive before running Setup.

  If you have a SCSI removable media device, such as a cartridge drive, make sure the media are mounted on the drive before running Setup. If no media is mounted on the drive, errors might occur during Setup that prevent installation of Windows 98.

A SCSI device works with MS-DOS but not Windows 98.

For many SCSI hardware devices, you can specify command-line parameters when the driver is loaded. By default, the Windows 98 miniport driver runs without parameters (in the same way it does for real-mode drivers). If you want to use a command-line parameter, if the device has a Windows 98 MPD file, you can add the parameter to the Settings tab in the Properties for the SCSI controller.

For information about the switches that can be used for a particular SCSI device, see the documentation from the device manufacturer. There are no additional parameters added by Microsoft.

For example, if your SCSI adapter has full functionality under MS-DOS but not under Windows 98, you can add any device parameters previously specified in Config.sys to the Adapter Settings box. As another example, for Adaptec 7700 SCSI devices, you might specify removable=off to disable support for removable media if you want to load another ASPI removable disk.

Setup does not automatically detect the SCSI CD-ROM drive.

If Setup does not automatically detect a SCSI CD-ROM drive, try the following:

• Try loading real-mode drivers for the SCSI controller, the CD-ROM driver, and Mscdex.exe, and see if the CD-ROM drive works in MS-DOS.
• If the drive does work in MS-DOS, in Device Manager, examine the SCSI controller’s properties to make sure it was detected correctly.
• Check your physical connections.
• Check the SCSI IDs for all devices to make sure they are unique.

Setup does not recognize the correct SCSI CD-ROM drive.

Windows 98 Setup can recognize multiple CD-ROM drives connected to the same SCSI host adapter. Therefore, if it does not recognize one of the CD-ROM drives, there is a hardware problem. For example, it could be caused by a legacy adapter with more than one device with the same SCSI ID.

You see an error message about your CD-ROM drive during Setup.

If you see an error message during Setup, and your SCSI or IDE CD-ROM drive does not appear in Device Manager, make sure your driver appears in the Ios.ini safe list. If a real-mode driver is loaded for the CD-ROM drive, and the driver does not appear in the Ios.ini safe list, Windows 98 Setup does not install protected-mode drivers for it, and it does not appear in Device Manager. If that happens, you must comment out the real-mode driver. For example:

rem device=c:\sbrpo\drv\sbpcd.sys/d:mscd001 /p:220

Then reboot your computer. Windows 98 should automatically detect and configure the CD-ROM drive.

A SCSI or IDE tape drive or scanner does not show up in Device Manager.

Windows 98 does not assign drive letters to tape drives and scanners, because they have no drive to assign a letter to; that is, they have no official hardware class designation. Therefore, they might appear as Unknown Devices in Device Manager. (If you run Microsoft Backup, however, they will be moved to a new device class and will not appear as Unknown Devices.) After you start Windows 98, it asks if you have a driver for these devices. If you have Windows 98 drivers, click Yes, and then type the path to where the drivers are located. To use existing real-mode drivers, click No. Windows 98 will continue to recognize and support these devices although they are listed as Unknown Devices.

A SCSI drive does not show up in My Computer.

This probably indicates that there is something wrong with the SCSI drivers in Config.sys and Autoexec.bat, or that the protected-mode SCSI drivers fail to load. Look for an Ios.log file and check its entries, as described in "Real-Mode Drivers and the Ios.ini Safe Driver List" earlier in this chapter.

Correcting Problems with Other Devices

This section describes problems that might occur with devices other than the display or SCSI devices.

You see Code 11 error when installing a PCI device.

If Windows 98 hangs or reboots when you are installing a PCI device and then gives you a Code 11 error, you might have a problem with IRQ steering in your BIOS (a mechanism that enables Windows 98 to dynamically allocate ISA interrupts). To find out whether this is the cause, try turning off IRQ steering.

To turn off IRQ steering

1. In Device Manager, click your PCI bus, and then click Properties.
2. Click the IRQ Steering tab, and then clear the Use IRQ Steering check box.

When you reboot, Windows 98 will no longer dynamically allocate interrupts but will instead rely on your BIOS to do so.

The system stalls when accessing the CD-ROM.

After you press CTRL+ALT+DEL to shut down and restart the computer, Windows 98 might be unable to find the CD-ROM or might stall when trying to access the drive; sometimes, pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL will not reset the computer. This might occur if Windows 98 is relying on real-mode drivers for the Sound Blaster or Media Vision Pro Audio proprietary CD-ROM drive. If this is the case, you cannot access anything on the CD-ROM because its drivers cannot load. If this happens, turn off and then restart the computer. Use the Add New Hardware option in Control Panel to install the protected-mode drivers provided with Windows 98 for the specific CD-ROM device.

CD-ROM performance problems occur when AutoPlay is enabled.

This problem sometimes occurs with both protected-mode drivers and real-mode Microsoft Compact Disc Extensions (MSCDEX) drivers. To fix it, turn off AutoPlay, which is enabled by default, and then turn it back on again.

WAV files cannot be played.

If Windows 98 cannot recognize the sound card, you might not be able to play WAV files.

To verify sound card settings

1. In Device Manager, double-click Sound, video and game controllers.
2. Double-click the specific sound card, and then in the card’s properties, click the Driver tab so you can verify the drivers.
3. Click the Resources tab, and verify IRQ settings.
4. Check the Conflicting device list, and verify that no conflicts for the sound card settings appear in the list.

Ports for sound cards with multiple CD-ROM adapters are not detected.

If a sound card has multiple CD-ROM adapters, they often include a program that activates the port to be used. This program must run before Windows 98 runs. If it does not, Windows 98 will not detect the port.

An input device fails.

If an input device, such as the keyboard or the mouse, fails, do the following:

• Check the physical connection.
• In Device Manager, check the driver used for the device.
• Check for conflicts with the I/O and IRQ resources used.
• Check for conflicting drivers or applications.

The mouse moves erratically, or keyboard input fails.

For specific problems concerning mouse or keyboard operation, do the following:

• In Device Manager, check the mouse and keyboard drivers, replacing them if necessary.
• In Control Panel, click Mouse, and then check the Motion configuration for pointer speed.
• Check the port used for the mouse.
• Check the physical connection of the mouse and keyboard.
• Make sure there are no entries for real-mode mouse drivers in Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, Win.ini, and System.ini.
• Reboot the computer and hold down the left CTRL key until the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup Menu message appears, and then choose the Logged option. Check the Bootlog.txt file and verify that the mouse driver is loading.

Mouse reports GROWSTUB errors.

If you were using the Microsoft Mouse Manager with Windows 3.1, Windows 98 Setup automatically updates the Pointer.exe and Pointer.dll files in the Mouse directory. If these files are not updated correctly, the mouse might stall and report GROWSTUB as a running task in the Close Program dialog box. To fix this problem, remove all references to the mouse in the Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files, and make sure the correct POINTER files were copied to the Mouse directory and not just the Windows directory.

Additional Resources