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Text File  |  1992-07-14  |  18KB  |  223 lines
  1.                                                                                 
  2. PRINT SELECTION FOR APAR - II06082 92/07/14                                     
  3. APAR= II06082  SER=                            DD DOC                           
  4. INFORMATION ON INSTALL PROBLEMS RELATED TO BIOS                                 
  5. OS2INFOAPAR OS2INSTL                                                            
  6. STAT= INTRAN       FESN5NFO000-000  CTID= II0000 ISEV= 4                        
  7. SB92/06/10  RC          CL          PD           SEV= 4                         
  8.                        PE=                       TYPE= I                        
  9. RCOMP= INFOPCLIB    PC LIB INFO ITE RREL= R001                                  
  10. FCOMP=                              PFREL= F     TREL= T                        
  11. ACTION=             SEC/INT=                     DUP/                           
  12. USPTF=              PDPTF=                       DUPS 0                         
  13. DW92/06/10  RT          SC          FT                                          
  14. RE          PT          UP          LP                                          
  15. PV          AP          EN          FL                                          
  16. LC92/07/02  RU92/06/10                                                          
  17.                              CUST INST LVL/SU=                                  
  18. FAILING MODULE=              FAILING LVL/SU=                                    
  19. SYSROUTE OF:          RET APAR=             PS=                                 
  20. COMP OPER ENV=                                                                  
  21.                                                                                 
  22.                                                                                 
  23. SYSRES=      SYSIN=      SYSOUT=      CPU=             RE-IPL=                  
  24. OPTYPE=                 SPECIAL ACTIVITY=          REGRESSION=                  
  25. PRE-SCREEN NO.=          RSCP= RS000                                            
  26. ERROR DESCRIPTION:                                                              
  27. os2infoapar os2instl                                                            
  28. INFO APAR OS/2 INSTL - Information on Install BIOS Problems                     
  29.                                                                                 
  30. LOCAL FIX:                                                                      
  31. Due to the wide variety and many sources for PC compatible                      
  32. equipment, many different combinations of hardware components                   
  33. and BIOS revisions exist.                                                       
  34.                                                                                 
  35. OS/2 is an advanced operating system that may require more up to                
  36. date BIOS than DOS and Windows.  Many install problems and other                
  37. problems may be resolved by updating BIOS.                                      
  38.                                                                                 
  39. You will need to determine your BIOS manufacturer, version, and                 
  40. date, and this should be checked with the manufacturer for                      
  41. compatibility with OS/2.                                                        
  42.                                                                                 
  43. If you need help determining your BIOS information, see "TIPS ON                
  44. GETTING BIOS INFO" below.                                                       
  45.                                                                                 
  46.                                                                                 
  47. SOME BIOS COMPATIBILITY INFO                                                    
  48. ============================                                                    
  49.                                                                                 
  50. The following table lists dates and revision levels required                    
  51. for OS/2 to work with listed components:                                        
  52. Component           Date ("mmddyy")         Revision Level                      
  53.                                                                                 
  54. AMI BIOS                                                                        
  55. --------                                                                        
  56. IDE hard drives     040990                                                      
  57.                                                                                 
  58. SCSI                092588 or later (need OS/2 compatible and                   
  59.                     may need special installation procedure)                    
  60.                                                                                 
  61. Other drives        092588 or later                                             
  62. MFM, RLL, ESDI, etc.                                                            
  63.                                                                                 
  64. Keyboard controller                          F only  *                          
  65.                                                                                 
  66. * Revision level 0 or revision level 9 with non standard ID                     
  67. code format indicates motherboard OEM manufacturer -                            
  68. nonstandard BIOS. This may or may not work with OS/2, and                       
  69. it may have "custom" functionality for the specific                             
  70. motherboard which may preclude upgrading.  The motherboard                      
  71. manufacturer should be contacted for further information.                       
  72.                                                                                 
  73. Phoenix Bios          051192                  1.03                              
  74.                                                                                 
  75. Always IN2000 SCSI                            VCN:1-02                          
  76.                             for host adapter: 2.5-2.7                           
  77. Quantam Plus Hardcard                         2.6                               
  78.                                                                                 
  79. PROCOMM+ SCSI MCA does not work - Contact PROCOMM for                           
  80. details on OS/2 support                                                         
  81.                                                                                 
  82.                                                                                 
  83. TIPS ON GETTING BIOS INFO                                                       
  84. =========================                                                       
  85.                                                                                 
  86. AMI BIOS's of modern vintage provide a Screen ID Code,                          
  87. visible at the lower left of the screen during the initial                      
  88. RAM count, and which can be made to return by resetting                         
  89. with Ctrl-Alt-Del.  The format of this ID code is:                              
  90.                                                                                 
  91. AMI BIOS and AMI BIOS Plus: aaaa-bbbb-mmddyy-Kc                                 
  92. AMI Hi-Flex BIOS: ee-ffff-bbbbbb-gggggggg-mmddyy-hhhhhhhh-c                     
  93.                                                                                 
  94. If the screen ID code is in a form other than this, the BIOS                    
  95. is either very old or was produced by a company with a source                   
  96. code license.  In the former case, contact us for update                        
  97. information. But in the latter case, only the motherboard                       
  98. manufacturer will be able to provide further information or                     
  99. updates.  Everex 386 BIOS's are in this latter category.                        
  100.                                                                                 
  101.                                                                                 
  102. BIOS UPDATES                                                                    
  103. ============                                                                    
  104.                                                                                 
  105. If a BIOS prior to the dates noted above requires                               
  106. replacement, note the following:                                                
  107.                                                                                 
  108. 1.  AMI BIOS and BIOS Plus series BIOS (16 character ID code)                   
  109. for CACHED motherboards are customized for individual mother-                   
  110. board designs, and can ONLY be obtained from the motherboard                    
  111. OEM, with only THREE common exceptions:                                         
  112.                                                                                 
  113. a) BIOS's with "aaaa" = E307 can often be replaced with a                       
  114.    standard type.                                                               
  115.                                                                                 
  116. b) BIOS's for Northgate or Motherboard Factory motherboards                     
  117.    EXCEPT the Northgate Slimline can, be replaced by a                          
  118.    standard type.                                                               
  119.                                                                                 
  120. c) BIOS's with "aaaa" = DAMI, DAMX, or EDAMI are usually for                    
  121.    cached boards designed and/or built by AMI, and if so, can be                
  122.    updated.                                                                     
  123.                                                                                 
  124. 2.  The complete Screen ID Code is required to properly address                 
  125. whether a BIOS update for other motherboards can be provided,                   
  126. and in the case of the Hi-Flex BIOS, the complete SECOND and                    
  127. THIRD lines of the ID Code are also necessary. If not visable                   
  128. immediately on the screen, they may be viewed by pressing the                   
  129. <INS> key during boot-up.                                                       
  130.                                                                                 
  131. 3.  For these AMI BIOS updates, Call Washburn & Co. to order                    
  132. new versions.                                                                   
  133.                                                                                 
  134.                                                                                 
  135.                                                                                 
  136. OTHER COMPATIBILITY ISSUES                                                      
  137. ==========================                                                      
  138.                                                                                 
  139. Following are a number of notes about usage, and about potential                
  140. compatibility problems with the microcode levels on various                     
  141. adapters and devices.                                                           
  142.                                                                                 
  143. Adapter:  All Adaptec adapters                                                  
  144. Note:     SCSI hard disks must be configured as SCSI target ID 0                
  145.           or 1 to be able to start up from that hard disk.                      
  146.                                                                                 
  147. Adapter:  Adaptec AHA-154x                                                      
  148. Drive:    IBM 0661 - 320MB SCSI                                                 
  149. Note:     Adapter BIOS will not recognize the drive as target 0                 
  150.           or 1 (Drives 80, 81).  For OS/2 2.0, the drive can be                 
  151.           used as a non-startup drive.                                          
  152.                                                                                 
  153. Adapter:  Adaptec AHA-174x                                                      
  154. Drive:    IBM WDS-3180 - 80MB SCSI, IBM WDS-3160                                
  155.           - 160MB SCSI                                                          
  156. Note:     Adapter will not recognize these drives when config-                  
  157.           ured in 'STANDARD MODE' (AHA-154x emulation). Instead,                
  158.           the AHA-174x adapter should be configured in "ENHANCED                
  159.           MODE'. This mode is supported by the OS/2 2.0 drivers,                
  160.           and the problem does not occur when the adapter is                    
  161.           operating in enhanced mode.                                           
  162.                                                                                 
  163. Adapter:  Future Domain TMC-850/860/875/885 w/BIOS revision                     
  164.           level 7.0.                                                            
  165.           Future Domain TMC-1660/1670/1680 w/BIOS revision level                
  166.           2.0.                                                                  
  167. System:   IBM Models 35 and 40 when the Future Domain adapter is                
  168.           controlling the startup diskette.                                     
  169. Note:     Will produce the message "Disk read error has occur-                  
  170.           red" when you attempt to start the Installation                       
  171.           diskette.                                                             
  172.           Contact Future Domain for a free BIOS upgrade.                        
  173.                                                                                 
  174. Adapter:  AMI SCSI Adapters                                                     
  175. Symptom:  AMI "Fast Disk" and AMI "Fast Disk II" SCSI adapters                  
  176.           are incorrectly recognized as Adaptec adapters.                       
  177. Problem:  At the final restart after the installation is comp-                  
  178.           lete, delete from the CONFIG.SYS file, any line with                  
  179.           "BASEDEV=AHA1xxx.ADD" (where "x" can be any character)                
  180.           Ensure the line "BASEDEV=IBMINT13.I13", appears in the                
  181.           CONFIG.SYS file.                                                      
  182.                                                                                 
  183. Adapter:  Bernoulli Boxes                                                       
  184. Notes:    44 and 89MB drives will work if connected to any other                
  185.           SCSI card other than Bernoulli's own card. The drive                  
  186.           will work as a large diskette and will be non-bootable                
  187.                                                                                 
  188. Adapter:  PROCOMM+ SCSI MCA adapters do not work                                
  189. Resolution: Contact PROCOMM for details on OS/2 support.                        
  190.                                                                                 
  191. Adapter:  IBM 16-bit SCSI cards (early versions)                                
  192. Symptom:  Early versions of the IBM 16-bit SCSI adapters may                    
  193.           experience problems and report erroneously that the                   
  194.           device is not functioning.                                            
  195. Resolution: Replace SCSI card with a card with updated microcode                
  196.                                                                                 
  197. Other problems:                                                                 
  198. Symptom:                                                                        
  199.           Slow hard drive speed and possibly no icons appearing.                
  200.           Other data corruption possible.                                       
  201. Problem:  Hard drive and adapter card settings not correctly                    
  202.           matched.                                                              
  203. Resolution: Ensure that hard drive and card are matched in their                
  204.           settings of SYNCH and ASYNCH mode.                                    
  205.                                                                                 
  206.                                                                                 
  207. Some contact phone numbers:                                                     
  208.                                                                                 
  209. Always Technology  818-597-9595.                                                
  210.                                                                                 
  211. Washburn & Co.     716-248-3627  (AMI Bios Upgrade)                             
  212.                    800-836-8026  (AMI Bios Upgrade)                             
  213.                                                                                 
  214. Phoenix            1-405-321-8333                                               
  215.                                                                                 
  216.                                                                                 
  217.                                                                                 
  218.                                                                                 
  219.                                                                                 
  220.                                                                                 
  221.                                                                                 
  222.                                                                                 
  223.