Win95 Hanging due probably to Adaptec 2940
After an extended period of time (over an hour and less than 8 hours) my pc
will suspend (I believe) disk activity screwing up whatever is running at the
time. This screwing up could include anything from stopping downloads to
locking up my machine due to screen saver running siezing. This last one
finally pissed me off in that it made me HardBoot and ended up destroying
my Video Driver.
I have Win 95 OEM2 on a P-Pro 200Mhz and 128MB RAM.
I have an Adaptec 2940 SCSI host adapter with Bios 1.25 (as recomended) on it
on SCSI ID 7. I used EZ-SCSI 4.0 to support the adapter.
2 Quantum 4GB SCSI hard drives hang off it with Win95 wishfully on SCSI ID #6
and an empty drive slated for Red Had Linux 5.0 on SCSI ID#5 all
as recommended.
Other stuff include SCSI CD ROM and DAT Tape backup and Hercules Thriller 3D
video card.
It seems that ever since I played with EZ-SCSI 4.0's disk spin down parameters to
set it to go off after so many hours, it never seemed to turn off. I could
be wrong with this as I am in bed when problem arises, but all points to
this.
Another thing that makes me wonder is another problem related possibly to the 2940
adapter. I tried to partition my disk for Red Had 5.0 and attempted to load it.
It seemed to load ok, but when tried to reboot, it seemed to change the
partition id's to a number 10 greater than they should be...I think this is a
technique used for hiding files/partitions somehow. I am using System
Commander 3.09 to allow me to primary boot Win95 and secondary boot
the Linux with Master boot record in first partition and not the master boot
partition.
I am confused by this point and don't know what to do next to remove this problem as
I am not an exptert in 2940 type problems and don't know why disk partitioning
and disk stopping even though all seems set up correctly. In another experts
discussion I had learned that the newer version of Adaptec worked most
efficiently by making most used devices close to SCSI Adapter SCSI Id.
Thank you for any help you can give. If there is any information I can give to help with
understanding or fixing, please let me know.
JohnE
will suspend (I believe) disk activity screwing up whatever is running at the
time. This screwing up could include anything from stopping downloads to
locking up my machine due to screen saver running siezing. This last one
finally pissed me off in that it made me HardBoot and ended up destroying
my Video Driver.
I have Win 95 OEM2 on a P-Pro 200Mhz and 128MB RAM.
I have an Adaptec 2940 SCSI host adapter with Bios 1.25 (as recomended) on it
on SCSI ID 7. I used EZ-SCSI 4.0 to support the adapter.
2 Quantum 4GB SCSI hard drives hang off it with Win95 wishfully on SCSI ID #6
and an empty drive slated for Red Had Linux 5.0 on SCSI ID#5 all
as recommended.
Other stuff include SCSI CD ROM and DAT Tape backup and Hercules Thriller 3D
video card.
It seems that ever since I played with EZ-SCSI 4.0's disk spin down parameters to
set it to go off after so many hours, it never seemed to turn off. I could
be wrong with this as I am in bed when problem arises, but all points to
this.
Another thing that makes me wonder is another problem related possibly to the 2940
adapter. I tried to partition my disk for Red Had 5.0 and attempted to load it.
It seemed to load ok, but when tried to reboot, it seemed to change the
partition id's to a number 10 greater than they should be...I think this is a
technique used for hiding files/partitions somehow. I am using System
Commander 3.09 to allow me to primary boot Win95 and secondary boot
the Linux with Master boot record in first partition and not the master boot
partition.
I am confused by this point and don't know what to do next to remove this problem as
I am not an exptert in 2940 type problems and don't know why disk partitioning
and disk stopping even though all seems set up correctly. In another experts
discussion I had learned that the newer version of Adaptec worked most
efficiently by making most used devices close to SCSI Adapter SCSI Id.
Thank you for any help you can give. If there is any information I can give to help with
understanding or fixing, please let me know.
JohnE
Hi John! Hi Ian, I'll just watch over your shoulder a bit!
Dennis
Dennis
Me too:))
Bud
Bud
ASKER
Thanks for your answer busuka. I will try it before I go to work today. As it will
take time to actually know that the problem is gone, I will implement it before
I spend all day at work today. As this server type computer was set up for
UPS originally, you may be onto something. The machine was pre-settup this
way for me when I bought it. I did not get any of these problems, though, until
I switched around scsi id's and also played with the EZ SCSI power management.
I would get some nightly modem hangup's but could still regularly download
large files. I will try what you said though as it sounds plausible. I will turn on
my screen saver again (which really showed off the problem) and try to get
the problem to reoccur. It may take a day, but will respond back.
I know I am in good hands as smeebud and dew_associates were the people who
helped me with my problem last time and ran me through the SCSI rearrangement.
Thank you for all of that help guys. If you have any ideas about why the Linux
install works until reboot and partitioning number increases, let me know. Because
of this I have not been able to load Red Hat 5.0. Could these two problems be
related somehow?
In the meantime I will do as you say busuka. Thank you.
JohnE
take time to actually know that the problem is gone, I will implement it before
I spend all day at work today. As this server type computer was set up for
UPS originally, you may be onto something. The machine was pre-settup this
way for me when I bought it. I did not get any of these problems, though, until
I switched around scsi id's and also played with the EZ SCSI power management.
I would get some nightly modem hangup's but could still regularly download
large files. I will try what you said though as it sounds plausible. I will turn on
my screen saver again (which really showed off the problem) and try to get
the problem to reoccur. It may take a day, but will respond back.
I know I am in good hands as smeebud and dew_associates were the people who
helped me with my problem last time and ran me through the SCSI rearrangement.
Thank you for all of that help guys. If you have any ideas about why the Linux
install works until reboot and partitioning number increases, let me know. Because
of this I have not been able to load Red Hat 5.0. Could these two problems be
related somehow?
In the meantime I will do as you say busuka. Thank you.
JohnE
Wow, my squad got a powerful backup. Johny, you in safe hands now :)))
One Sage and two Geniuses ... not bad.
One Sage and two Geniuses ... not bad.
ASKER
Nice try busuka, but the bios had the APM disabled and upon looking in the
system A.P.M. window, no driver was loaded and all was disabled.
Back to drawing board, but good try.
JohnE
system A.P.M. window, no driver was loaded and all was disabled.
Back to drawing board, but good try.
JohnE
I think I'll watch for awhile.
Dave
Dave
Drats ! I'm not familiar with EZ-SCSI, hey ... backup :)
ASKER
Anybody, Anybody, Beuller, Beuller!!!
JohnE, I think we have a mix of issues that have to be straighened out before looking towards the Red Hat issue. Here's the way I see it, you have System Commander running which has it's own problems, and spin down on a SCSI drive that may be causing the system to shut down. The spin down feature is nice, but even OSR2 doesn't handle it correctly. Here's my suggestion for getting back to were I believe you belong.
1. Let's work on correcting the Spindown issue, and in the process, let's disable any screensavers during the process. We don't need the added nuance of a screensaver problem.
2. Next, let's approach the issue of SCSI drive ID's to make sure they are what the should be in the event 4.0, system commander or partition magic change the parameters to something other than what they should be.
3. Last, we'll work on the Red Hat issue.
If this appeals to you, let's try and correct the spin down so that it doesn't occur any longer. Verify all Bios setup issues, and reload Adaptec EZ-SCSI 4.0 if necessary. Make sure you disable any and all screensavers.
Let me know where you are on the issues here!
Dennis
1. Let's work on correcting the Spindown issue, and in the process, let's disable any screensavers during the process. We don't need the added nuance of a screensaver problem.
2. Next, let's approach the issue of SCSI drive ID's to make sure they are what the should be in the event 4.0, system commander or partition magic change the parameters to something other than what they should be.
3. Last, we'll work on the Red Hat issue.
If this appeals to you, let's try and correct the spin down so that it doesn't occur any longer. Verify all Bios setup issues, and reload Adaptec EZ-SCSI 4.0 if necessary. Make sure you disable any and all screensavers.
Let me know where you are on the issues here!
Dennis
ASKER
I think this is the only way. Before I started playing with the EZ-SCSI 4.0's power management, I did not have these problems....this is also around the time of switching
SCSI id's around. I had played with the SCSI power management to see if would like
using it as my computer is on most of time. I did not as the machine saw that there was no system activity going on and would poper down even in the middle downloads. I believe that because I have a decent size RAM (128MB) it may have never realized that activity was occuring due to little need to hit file system. I could be very wrong in this as
Windows 95 is ...somewhat lame compared to my more appreciated UNIX systems. As downloads continued to have problems after I disabled all power mangement in BIOS, in the system device manager, and in the EZ-SCSI utility, I figured I might be having modem or ISP problems. This didn't pan out as I noticed that the modem could still be connected even though downloads truncated and I also noticed that the screensaver also froze in middle of night on several occasions in a similar way as downloads stopping. When forceably rebooting machine by poper offing it (as no other way), the screen driver got corrupted and had to be reinstalled. I have read manyl of Smeebud's tuning methods including the guy's with the icons that wouldn't be created on the desktop...what a killer. I don't see this stuff helping me. I also understand that it could be something else causing these problems, but thought one of you might know of such a situation.
SCSI id's around. I had played with the SCSI power management to see if would like
using it as my computer is on most of time. I did not as the machine saw that there was no system activity going on and would poper down even in the middle downloads. I believe that because I have a decent size RAM (128MB) it may have never realized that activity was occuring due to little need to hit file system. I could be very wrong in this as
Windows 95 is ...somewhat lame compared to my more appreciated UNIX systems. As downloads continued to have problems after I disabled all power mangement in BIOS, in the system device manager, and in the EZ-SCSI utility, I figured I might be having modem or ISP problems. This didn't pan out as I noticed that the modem could still be connected even though downloads truncated and I also noticed that the screensaver also froze in middle of night on several occasions in a similar way as downloads stopping. When forceably rebooting machine by poper offing it (as no other way), the screen driver got corrupted and had to be reinstalled. I have read manyl of Smeebud's tuning methods including the guy's with the icons that wouldn't be created on the desktop...what a killer. I don't see this stuff helping me. I also understand that it could be something else causing these problems, but thought one of you might know of such a situation.
John, there could be many reasons for the lockups, but I'm kind of old fashined in my methods. I try and stabilize the system without alot of things going on in the background and make sure the system performs as it should. Then I begin the tuning process. It takes a little longer than shooting from the hip and maybe hitting a solution, but in the end I know the system is stable. By getting your basics together, in this case the motherboard, scsi controller and drive(s), we can go on to video and other issues knowing that the drives are doing what they should be.
As I noted, start from the Bios/Cmos setup and come forward through scsi setup including drivers (blow the old one's out and start over if necessary as it will save time and work for you in the long run). When you've gottent through this part and you know power down is no longer occurring, then go to control panel, display and change the display adapter to vga. Uninstall any video software and drivers, reboot the system and reload the video drivers again. Hopefully, this will give you a stable system and we can start picking off the other issues.
Dennis
As I noted, start from the Bios/Cmos setup and come forward through scsi setup including drivers (blow the old one's out and start over if necessary as it will save time and work for you in the long run). When you've gottent through this part and you know power down is no longer occurring, then go to control panel, display and change the display adapter to vga. Uninstall any video software and drivers, reboot the system and reload the video drivers again. Hopefully, this will give you a stable system and we can start picking off the other issues.
Dennis
Did you select CTRL+A when the SCSI bios came up and try disabling Ultra-SCSI? Perjaps you can select the lowest denominator in the ID configuration R/W and try that. A 2940 that I was using seemed to be conflicting with an ATI Mach 64 a while back. Updated drivers weren't the answer, reinstalling windows didn't change a thing and I didn't have any success with adjusting the damn card. Most of you techs will think I'm full of Sh**, but I turned the acceleration to "None" in System Properties/performance/vid
I understand this is an isolated case and didn't work on a majority of my SCSI problems, but not everything is obvious.
G@RY
I understand this is an isolated case and didn't work on a majority of my SCSI problems, but not everything is obvious.
G@RY
No John I don't think that.
Just for your information:
=======
Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
To find your System's Graphics Acceleration settings:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Choose Properties, that takes you to your System's Properties
3. Click Performance Tab
4. Click the Graphics button.
There you can adjust the speed of your Graphics Accelerator
There are three reasons why your graphics hardware may have difficulties using
the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting. First, Windows 95 may have
misidentified your display adapter or monitor during the installation procedure. If
so, Windows 95 isn't using the proper drivers to communicate with your devices.
Second, the version of display driver your system is using may be outdated. Many
graphics hardware manufacturers have improved their drivers and released
updated versions that perform more efficiently than the older versions. Third, your
display adapter may be an older, less sophisticated, model. If that's the case, it
simply may not be able to handle the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting.
Regardless of the cause, you'll want to begin your troubleshooting expedition by
making sure that you have installed on your system the correct and most recent
graphics hardware drivers available. If Windows 95 misidentified your display
adapter or monitor during the installation procedure and you later install the most
current drivers, you should use your system for a few days before adjusting the
graphics acceleration setting. You may have solved the problem with the new
drivers and will be able to safely and reliably use the Full graphics hardware
acceleration setting. More detailed information on identifying and obtaining
graphics hardware drivers.
Adjusting the setting
If you continue to have problems or if you discover that your display adapter is an
older model, you'll want to adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting to an
appropriate level. The Hardware Acceleration slider
actually has four notches. The notches from left to right correspond to None,
Basic, Most, and Full. Moving the slider to the left gradually disables Windows
95's graphics acceleration features and lets you eliminate system crashes caused
by graphics operations. To adjust the setting, access the Advanced Graphics
Settings dialog box as we described earlier. Then, move the slider down a notch,
click OK to close the Advance Graphics Settings dialog box, and click Close to
dismiss the System Properties sheet. When the System Settings Change dialog
box, prompts you to restart your system, click Yes to do so.
Identify @ Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
Best places to download updated drivers
Web Site Address
The Drivers HeadQuarters Web site [www.drivershq.com]
WinDrivers.com [www.windrivers.com]
Windows95.com Drivers Updates [www.windows95.com/drivers]
Windows Sources DriverFinder [www.zdnet.com/wsources]
Conclusion
Before you adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting, make sure that
Windows 95 is correctly using and identifying the display adapter card and
monitor. If it's not, you'll need to install the proper driver.
Just for your information:
=======
Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
To find your System's Graphics Acceleration settings:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Choose Properties, that takes you to your System's Properties
3. Click Performance Tab
4. Click the Graphics button.
There you can adjust the speed of your Graphics Accelerator
There are three reasons why your graphics hardware may have difficulties using
the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting. First, Windows 95 may have
misidentified your display adapter or monitor during the installation procedure. If
so, Windows 95 isn't using the proper drivers to communicate with your devices.
Second, the version of display driver your system is using may be outdated. Many
graphics hardware manufacturers have improved their drivers and released
updated versions that perform more efficiently than the older versions. Third, your
display adapter may be an older, less sophisticated, model. If that's the case, it
simply may not be able to handle the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting.
Regardless of the cause, you'll want to begin your troubleshooting expedition by
making sure that you have installed on your system the correct and most recent
graphics hardware drivers available. If Windows 95 misidentified your display
adapter or monitor during the installation procedure and you later install the most
current drivers, you should use your system for a few days before adjusting the
graphics acceleration setting. You may have solved the problem with the new
drivers and will be able to safely and reliably use the Full graphics hardware
acceleration setting. More detailed information on identifying and obtaining
graphics hardware drivers.
Adjusting the setting
If you continue to have problems or if you discover that your display adapter is an
older model, you'll want to adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting to an
appropriate level. The Hardware Acceleration slider
actually has four notches. The notches from left to right correspond to None,
Basic, Most, and Full. Moving the slider to the left gradually disables Windows
95's graphics acceleration features and lets you eliminate system crashes caused
by graphics operations. To adjust the setting, access the Advanced Graphics
Settings dialog box as we described earlier. Then, move the slider down a notch,
click OK to close the Advance Graphics Settings dialog box, and click Close to
dismiss the System Properties sheet. When the System Settings Change dialog
box, prompts you to restart your system, click Yes to do so.
Identify @ Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
Best places to download updated drivers
Web Site Address
The Drivers HeadQuarters Web site [www.drivershq.com]
WinDrivers.com [www.windrivers.com]
Windows95.com Drivers Updates [www.windows95.com/drivers]
Windows Sources DriverFinder [www.zdnet.com/wsources]
Conclusion
Before you adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting, make sure that
Windows 95 is correctly using and identifying the display adapter card and
monitor. If it's not, you'll need to install the proper driver.
Bud, you gotta read the posts guy, this one has nothing to do with video acceleration!
Dennis
Dennis
I can see that plainly now Dennis.
Thanks.
I think I posted this in the wrong question.
Bud
Thanks.
I think I posted this in the wrong question.
Bud
ASKER
Just got home at 11:00 from work...to kiss my wife on the cheek and work on the
Pentium Pro. Guys...I must say interesting answers. I can say that I did have a
different video card (a Elsa Winner 2000 Pro) with stable drivers and the problem
was occuring then with downloads getting hung up upon. I got the Thriller 3D about
a month ago and have several times reinstalled the lates drivers with no change.
I haven't tried turning off video performance. Might as well shoot me ;p
Other driver version follow:
Titan Pro At Mother board probably the latest bios version S1662
My Adaptec 2940 UW has the most stable Bios for Window and Linux
version 1.25 even though there is a 1.33 version which is
more recent. That version may have some Linux oriented
bugs in it.
I have the lates System Commander Regular version of 3.09 which I had to
ask them to send me. Sys. Commander blame Red Hat
for partitioning problem and Red Hat blames Sys. Commander.
So I got the circular, warlike non-help from both.
I have Win 95 OEM2
I have updated all of my drivers in hopes that they would remove these problems before,
but they failed to resolve anything. I would prefer to not reload Win 95 again as I am
missing some application disks I need.
I take it that nobody has heard, off of their cuff of this problem before. Still waiting
for somebody to slap me some of that expert's advice!!!
JohnE
Pentium Pro. Guys...I must say interesting answers. I can say that I did have a
different video card (a Elsa Winner 2000 Pro) with stable drivers and the problem
was occuring then with downloads getting hung up upon. I got the Thriller 3D about
a month ago and have several times reinstalled the lates drivers with no change.
I haven't tried turning off video performance. Might as well shoot me ;p
Other driver version follow:
Titan Pro At Mother board probably the latest bios version S1662
My Adaptec 2940 UW has the most stable Bios for Window and Linux
version 1.25 even though there is a 1.33 version which is
more recent. That version may have some Linux oriented
bugs in it.
I have the lates System Commander Regular version of 3.09 which I had to
ask them to send me. Sys. Commander blame Red Hat
for partitioning problem and Red Hat blames Sys. Commander.
So I got the circular, warlike non-help from both.
I have Win 95 OEM2
I have updated all of my drivers in hopes that they would remove these problems before,
but they failed to resolve anything. I would prefer to not reload Win 95 again as I am
missing some application disks I need.
I take it that nobody has heard, off of their cuff of this problem before. Still waiting
for somebody to slap me some of that expert's advice!!!
JohnE
ASKER
Forgot the off topic REJECTION!!!
John, I won't post an answer until this is resolved and that's presuming that I provide the resolution. There's just to many things that are possible. Please see my 3/23/98 4:10A post and work through that.
ASKER
Hey Jason. I am interested in what you to say as it may be in context with my problem.
I had previously installed the different bios without avail, but may be having such an
adapter problem....and it "seems" related to power management though I could be
wrong. Could what you are saying also cause possible partitioning problems when
trying to reboot after successfully loading Red Had Linux? I do have a Ultra/Wide
card. Originally when the computer was set up it was set up with drives on
SCSI ID 1 (Win95) and SCSI ID 2 (Linux), Plextor cd ROM on SCSI ID 3, and
DAT backup on SCSI ID 4. Now I have them exactly reversed starting with
Win95 on SCSI ID 6 following down. I know that the SCSI ID's do show up
in the SCSI configuration menu as would be expecte and do show up when the
machine boots up (though they boot in order of ID 6,3,4,5). Maybe you can tell
me what to look for in terms of terminating the devices as it has been a while since
I played with them and am not very knowledgeable with this.
If I can Dennis of Dew_Associates, I would prefer not to have to reload the whole system.
It would cause me to lose some invaluable programs...though I will if no options.
thanks again for all of your help and posts.
JohnE
I had previously installed the different bios without avail, but may be having such an
adapter problem....and it "seems" related to power management though I could be
wrong. Could what you are saying also cause possible partitioning problems when
trying to reboot after successfully loading Red Had Linux? I do have a Ultra/Wide
card. Originally when the computer was set up it was set up with drives on
SCSI ID 1 (Win95) and SCSI ID 2 (Linux), Plextor cd ROM on SCSI ID 3, and
DAT backup on SCSI ID 4. Now I have them exactly reversed starting with
Win95 on SCSI ID 6 following down. I know that the SCSI ID's do show up
in the SCSI configuration menu as would be expecte and do show up when the
machine boots up (though they boot in order of ID 6,3,4,5). Maybe you can tell
me what to look for in terms of terminating the devices as it has been a while since
I played with them and am not very knowledgeable with this.
If I can Dennis of Dew_Associates, I would prefer not to have to reload the whole system.
It would cause me to lose some invaluable programs...though I will if no options.
thanks again for all of your help and posts.
JohnE
SCSI ID is exactly SCSI-bus priority. Standard recommendation that
adapter itself has ID 7 (highest priority). I maybe way off, but
looked like you have problems with RedHat because MBR on Win95 is
not see RedHat. Did you tried to reverse order for HDDs and put
Win95's ID lower that RedHat's one ?
adapter itself has ID 7 (highest priority). I maybe way off, but
looked like you have problems with RedHat because MBR on Win95 is
not see RedHat. Did you tried to reverse order for HDDs and put
Win95's ID lower that RedHat's one ?
ASKER
SCSI ID 7 is the adaptor's scsi id. The Windows 95 disk sits next to it in SCSI id 6.
Still don't know what to do. I have nearly given up on long downloads as they all
fail. Turned screen saver off too as it will die. If I do all this, does it mean my
system is fixed :(((
Still don't know what to do. I have nearly given up on long downloads as they all
fail. Turned screen saver off too as it will die. If I do all this, does it mean my
system is fixed :(((
John, as I stated earlier, the system needs to be stabilized. I understand that you have disabled power management as well as the screen saver (correct?). Have you reloaded the video driver as noted above? If this is also correct let's run some download tests to see if this operation times out. Also, the Win95 ID move to ID 6 should be okay as it makes it next in priority. I am concerned about what moved this, eg: which program changed the ID's without your intervention.
Dennis
Dennis
ASKER
Wow Jason thanks for the reply, but please read my postings. The power settings had all been turned off in CMOS, SCSI bios, and in the device manager. As for the fdisk stuff, as I said, the partitions after successfully loading Red Hat Linux on the second hard drive were all messed up (partition numbers 10 greater than what they should be = hidden) whether due to the Linux fdisk, System Commander, or adapter, or whatever.
As for loading of the drivers, I had loaded them in the order of the system the CPU Bios,
then the Adaptec Bios, then the video driver (several times). I will try some more downloads tonight and see if they work. I don't think they will if they are over 10MB,
but I will try.
As stated in the beginning of this letter in thanks to you Dennis previously we worked our way through rearranging my devices to be most efficient. The reference number to that was qid=8630022804 in referernce to being unable to uncompress *.exe files on this same machine. Remember I invited you to dinner after all your help if you were ever in central NJ. :) The writeup is pertinent here, though, as it shows the exact (and very long) walkthrough you took me through to help me with this problem. We attempted to disable the Bus Master IDE controller at that time. Upon looking at the device manager now, it seems that the Bus master IDE controller is still disabled, but I see the Creative Labs IDE Controller active. It doesn't seem to be causing any known problems, though it could be not what I am looking for. Please check out that message Dennis as you were King then.
Note:::: To others please read the history of this before jumping in...as it is starting to get long to download and if it gets too long, my computer will hang up on you all!!!! HEHE.
JohnE
As for loading of the drivers, I had loaded them in the order of the system the CPU Bios,
then the Adaptec Bios, then the video driver (several times). I will try some more downloads tonight and see if they work. I don't think they will if they are over 10MB,
but I will try.
As stated in the beginning of this letter in thanks to you Dennis previously we worked our way through rearranging my devices to be most efficient. The reference number to that was qid=8630022804 in referernce to being unable to uncompress *.exe files on this same machine. Remember I invited you to dinner after all your help if you were ever in central NJ. :) The writeup is pertinent here, though, as it shows the exact (and very long) walkthrough you took me through to help me with this problem. We attempted to disable the Bus Master IDE controller at that time. Upon looking at the device manager now, it seems that the Bus master IDE controller is still disabled, but I see the Creative Labs IDE Controller active. It doesn't seem to be causing any known problems, though it could be not what I am looking for. Please check out that message Dennis as you were King then.
Note:::: To others please read the history of this before jumping in...as it is starting to get long to download and if it gets too long, my computer will hang up on you all!!!! HEHE.
JohnE
Key word John "King then". Now is now...<grin>.Let's try and cure the download problem, as I believe it to be unrelated to the drive issue.
ASKER
Were you really "The King"...and I thought Elvis was dead ;)
I will do as you say about fixing the download problem. I am looking for any
ideas, but still have in back of head that it is related to the adaptec...hope I am
wrong. In terms of the download problem, I tried downloading some stuff this
morning and got an unusual, but valid disconnect from my provider. This is
relatively unusual in relation to my problem as when the download problem does
occur, my modem remains connected in most all cases (except this morning).
It is this remaining connect and no warning notification that is strange. Usually
Windows acknowledges a network problem, but when my download problem
occurs the download screens just disappear. As with the Screen Saver, which
would just lock up at a given time....seems like they happen the same kind of
way possibly...though not conclusively. The problem with this is that it it is
hard to have heppen when I want it to, but I could try messing with power
management again and setting it for 2 minutes and see if same problems do
occur. Wonder if they would happen the same way. Don't know if this is a
valid test. This problem isn't easy to diagnose and I realize it. I wish I were
able to turn this lame situation around, but don't know how to.
JohnE
I will do as you say about fixing the download problem. I am looking for any
ideas, but still have in back of head that it is related to the adaptec...hope I am
wrong. In terms of the download problem, I tried downloading some stuff this
morning and got an unusual, but valid disconnect from my provider. This is
relatively unusual in relation to my problem as when the download problem does
occur, my modem remains connected in most all cases (except this morning).
It is this remaining connect and no warning notification that is strange. Usually
Windows acknowledges a network problem, but when my download problem
occurs the download screens just disappear. As with the Screen Saver, which
would just lock up at a given time....seems like they happen the same kind of
way possibly...though not conclusively. The problem with this is that it it is
hard to have heppen when I want it to, but I could try messing with power
management again and setting it for 2 minutes and see if same problems do
occur. Wonder if they would happen the same way. Don't know if this is a
valid test. This problem isn't easy to diagnose and I realize it. I wish I were
able to turn this lame situation around, but don't know how to.
JohnE
John, for now, leave power management and the screen saver off so we're not chasing ghosts.
John and Dennis.
John, you said, "Most of you techs will think I'm full of Sh**, but I turned the acceleration to "None" in System Properties/performance/vid
I replied, "Just for your information:
=======
Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
To find your System's Graphics Acceleration settings:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Choose Properties, that takes you to your System's Properties
3. Click Performance Tab
4. Click the Graphics button.
There you can adjust the speed of your Graphics Accelerator
There are three reasons why your graphics hardware may have difficulties using
the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting. First, Windows 95 may have
misidentified your display adapter or monitor during the installation procedure. If
so, Windows 95 isn't using the proper drivers to communicate with your devices.
Second, the version of display driver your system is using may be outdated. Many
graphics hardware manufacturers have improved their drivers and released
updated versions that perform more efficiently than the older versions. Third, your
display adapter may be an older, less sophisticated, model. If that's the case, it
simply may not be able to handle the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting.
Regardless of the cause, you'll want to begin your troubleshooting expedition by
making sure that you have installed on your system the correct and most recent
graphics hardware drivers available. If Windows 95 misidentified your display
adapter or monitor during the installation procedure and you later install the most
current drivers, you should use your system for a few days before adjusting the
graphics acceleration setting. You may have solved the problem with the new
drivers and will be able to safely and reliably use the Full graphics hardware
acceleration setting. More detailed information on identifying and obtaining
graphics hardware drivers.
Adjusting the setting
If you continue to have problems or if you discover that your display adapter is an
older model, you'll want to adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting to an
appropriate level. The Hardware Acceleration slider
actually has four notches. The notches from left to right correspond to None,
Basic, Most, and Full. Moving the slider to the left gradually disables Windows
95's graphics acceleration features and lets you eliminate system crashes caused
by graphics operations. To adjust the setting, access the Advanced Graphics
Settings dialog box as we described earlier. Then, move the slider down a notch,
click OK to close the Advance Graphics Settings dialog box, and click Close to
dismiss the System Properties sheet. When the System Settings Change dialog
box, prompts you to restart your system, click Yes to do so.
Identify @ Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
Best places to download updated drivers
Web Site Address
The Drivers HeadQuarters Web site [www.drivershq.com]
WinDrivers.com [www.windrivers.com]
Windows95.com Drivers Updates [www.windows95.com/drivers]
Windows Sources DriverFinder [www.zdnet.com/wsources]
Conclusion
Before you adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting, make sure that
Windows 95 is correctly using and identifying the display adapter card and
monitor. If it's not, you'll need to install the proper driver.
So, make sure all your drivers are good, [that does not alway mean the latest]
No conflicts in DM
I have read the posts.
Jonh, Please open another question. title it BOOTLOG.TXT, offer 0 points and post your bootlog there refereing to https://www.experts-exchange.com/Q.10044193
that way it won't make this thread unbearable.
Bud
John, you said, "Most of you techs will think I'm full of Sh**, but I turned the acceleration to "None" in System Properties/performance/vid
I replied, "Just for your information:
=======
Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
To find your System's Graphics Acceleration settings:
1. Right click on My Computer
2. Choose Properties, that takes you to your System's Properties
3. Click Performance Tab
4. Click the Graphics button.
There you can adjust the speed of your Graphics Accelerator
There are three reasons why your graphics hardware may have difficulties using
the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting. First, Windows 95 may have
misidentified your display adapter or monitor during the installation procedure. If
so, Windows 95 isn't using the proper drivers to communicate with your devices.
Second, the version of display driver your system is using may be outdated. Many
graphics hardware manufacturers have improved their drivers and released
updated versions that perform more efficiently than the older versions. Third, your
display adapter may be an older, less sophisticated, model. If that's the case, it
simply may not be able to handle the Full graphics hardware acceleration setting.
Regardless of the cause, you'll want to begin your troubleshooting expedition by
making sure that you have installed on your system the correct and most recent
graphics hardware drivers available. If Windows 95 misidentified your display
adapter or monitor during the installation procedure and you later install the most
current drivers, you should use your system for a few days before adjusting the
graphics acceleration setting. You may have solved the problem with the new
drivers and will be able to safely and reliably use the Full graphics hardware
acceleration setting. More detailed information on identifying and obtaining
graphics hardware drivers.
Adjusting the setting
If you continue to have problems or if you discover that your display adapter is an
older model, you'll want to adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting to an
appropriate level. The Hardware Acceleration slider
actually has four notches. The notches from left to right correspond to None,
Basic, Most, and Full. Moving the slider to the left gradually disables Windows
95's graphics acceleration features and lets you eliminate system crashes caused
by graphics operations. To adjust the setting, access the Advanced Graphics
Settings dialog box as we described earlier. Then, move the slider down a notch,
click OK to close the Advance Graphics Settings dialog box, and click Close to
dismiss the System Properties sheet. When the System Settings Change dialog
box, prompts you to restart your system, click Yes to do so.
Identify @ Check Your System's Graphics Hardware
Best places to download updated drivers
Web Site Address
The Drivers HeadQuarters Web site [www.drivershq.com]
WinDrivers.com [www.windrivers.com]
Windows95.com Drivers Updates [www.windows95.com/drivers]
Windows Sources DriverFinder [www.zdnet.com/wsources]
Conclusion
Before you adjust the graphics hardware acceleration setting, make sure that
Windows 95 is correctly using and identifying the display adapter card and
monitor. If it's not, you'll need to install the proper driver.
So, make sure all your drivers are good, [that does not alway mean the latest]
No conflicts in DM
I have read the posts.
Jonh, Please open another question. title it BOOTLOG.TXT, offer 0 points and post your bootlog there refereing to https://www.experts-exchange.com/Q.10044193
that way it won't make this thread unbearable.
Bud
ASKER
I will do that now Bud...Look for BOOTLOG.TXT
I will post some new interesting information there. Something happened
last night. Went bump in the dark.
JohnE
I will post some new interesting information there. Something happened
last night. Went bump in the dark.
JohnE
Here goes:
I've played around with the 2940 Adapters for awhile. It still sounds like a termination/cable issue. Make sure you are not double terminated - the very last SCSI device in the chain only. The termination for the drives may be active on both drives. Check the jumper settings on the drives themselves, and ensure that both don't have termination enabled. 2940's are real susceptible to multi-terminated devices. Second 2940's are susceptible to bus noise caused by heating of the gray cabling that most PC's use. What happens is the more devices on the bus, the more unstable the bus becomes as the cable heats up. It usually shows itself as a lock up. I ran into the problem at HP while setting up test software. The program ran fine for awhile, but extended testing locked the bus after say 2-6 hours. You may have to use an external type cabling (twisted pair) - the multi-colored kind. Second, disable your pagefile, scandisk and defrag, then restore your pagefile. Third possibilty, check the voltage on your hard drives. Make sure you have adequate voltage. Most hard drives will FOC if the voltage falls below the threshold; usually they will try to spin up several times, but a lot of times they just stay spun down. Secondly, if the PWA/HDA (Printed Wire Assembly/Hard Drive Assembly) has a legitimate problem, it may cause problems. Here's another thought, ASPI hides certain errors from the Host, without reporting only the most serious errors. Windows will run until it tries to access the disk. Just because you 128MB of RAM does not prevent it from doing so, causing program execution to halt. It may report an error, or it may not.
I've played around with the 2940 Adapters for awhile. It still sounds like a termination/cable issue. Make sure you are not double terminated - the very last SCSI device in the chain only. The termination for the drives may be active on both drives. Check the jumper settings on the drives themselves, and ensure that both don't have termination enabled. 2940's are real susceptible to multi-terminated devices. Second 2940's are susceptible to bus noise caused by heating of the gray cabling that most PC's use. What happens is the more devices on the bus, the more unstable the bus becomes as the cable heats up. It usually shows itself as a lock up. I ran into the problem at HP while setting up test software. The program ran fine for awhile, but extended testing locked the bus after say 2-6 hours. You may have to use an external type cabling (twisted pair) - the multi-colored kind. Second, disable your pagefile, scandisk and defrag, then restore your pagefile. Third possibilty, check the voltage on your hard drives. Make sure you have adequate voltage. Most hard drives will FOC if the voltage falls below the threshold; usually they will try to spin up several times, but a lot of times they just stay spun down. Secondly, if the PWA/HDA (Printed Wire Assembly/Hard Drive Assembly) has a legitimate problem, it may cause problems. Here's another thought, ASPI hides certain errors from the Host, without reporting only the most serious errors. Windows will run until it tries to access the disk. Just because you 128MB of RAM does not prevent it from doing so, causing program execution to halt. It may report an error, or it may not.
ASKER
Hey evansj...got your message...sounds like you may be on to something. Your
writing is very condensed in terms of how to check certain things out, but I would
like to check into it and understand it a bit more. I will follow up all responses
to what you said in the continueation link we had created as follows:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/Q.10045246
I hope you will follow up on this as the rest of the reason others have given is still
a bit ambiguous.
Thanks much.
writing is very condensed in terms of how to check certain things out, but I would
like to check into it and understand it a bit more. I will follow up all responses
to what you said in the continueation link we had created as follows:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/Q.10045246
I hope you will follow up on this as the rest of the reason others have given is still
a bit ambiguous.
Thanks much.
ASKER
Hey evansj...got your message...sounds like you may be on to something. Your
writing is very condensed in terms of how to check certain things out, but I would
like to check into it and understand it a bit more. I will follow up all responses
to what you said in the continueation link we had created as follows:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/Q.10045246
I hope you will follow up on this as the rest of the reason others have given is still
a bit ambiguous. I will repost your response there.
Thanks much.
writing is very condensed in terms of how to check certain things out, but I would
like to check into it and understand it a bit more. I will follow up all responses
to what you said in the continueation link we had created as follows:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/Q.10045246
I hope you will follow up on this as the rest of the reason others have given is still
a bit ambiguous. I will repost your response there.
Thanks much.
#2:
SCSI is ID prioritized. Your boot drive should be zero, the Linux volume, one. The CD-ROM and DAT backup should have your high SCSI ID's. Remove all terminating jumpers from the two drives. I'm not up on Quantum's, but check for a row of pins on the board. It may have designation TE,TP,TP,SS, etc. Remove jumper on any TE set of pins. Second, check the jumpers on the DAT and CD-ROM. However, whatever device is PHYSICALLY last in the daisy chain, must have termination. You can have ID 6 first, ID 4 second, ID3 third, and ID0 last in the chain. Whatever device is ID0 in this case would be terminated. What I would recommend is:
boot drive = SCSI ID 0
Linux Drive = SCSI ID 1
CD-ROM = SCSI ID 5
DAT Backup = SCSI ID 6
This gives room to add more drives. During boot up press ctrl-a to access 2940 BIOS settings. Set boot drive to SCSI ID 0. Disable SCAM support (Sometimes causes problems). If there are both external and internal devices hooked to the 2940, disable termination. Else leave it alone. Also set transfer rate back to 20 if you were set to 40. See if this helps. If it does let me know so I can reissue as an answer.
SCSI is ID prioritized. Your boot drive should be zero, the Linux volume, one. The CD-ROM and DAT backup should have your high SCSI ID's. Remove all terminating jumpers from the two drives. I'm not up on Quantum's, but check for a row of pins on the board. It may have designation TE,TP,TP,SS, etc. Remove jumper on any TE set of pins. Second, check the jumpers on the DAT and CD-ROM. However, whatever device is PHYSICALLY last in the daisy chain, must have termination. You can have ID 6 first, ID 4 second, ID3 third, and ID0 last in the chain. Whatever device is ID0 in this case would be terminated. What I would recommend is:
boot drive = SCSI ID 0
Linux Drive = SCSI ID 1
CD-ROM = SCSI ID 5
DAT Backup = SCSI ID 6
This gives room to add more drives. During boot up press ctrl-a to access 2940 BIOS settings. Set boot drive to SCSI ID 0. Disable SCAM support (Sometimes causes problems). If there are both external and internal devices hooked to the 2940, disable termination. Else leave it alone. Also set transfer rate back to 20 if you were set to 40. See if this helps. If it does let me know so I can reissue as an answer.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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SCSI is ID prioritized. Your boot drive should be zero, the Linux volume, one. The CD-ROM and DAT backup
should have your high SCSI ID's. Remove all terminating jumpers from the two drives. I'm not up on
Quantum's, but check for a row of pins on the board. It may have designation TE,TP,TP,SS, etc. Remove
jumper on any TE set of pins. Second, check the jumpers on the DAT and CD-ROM. However, whatever
device is PHYSICALLY last in the daisy chain, must have termination. You can have ID 6 first, ID 4
second,
ID3 third, and ID0 last in the chain. Whatever device is ID0 in this case would be terminated. What I
would
recommend is:
boot drive = SCSI ID 0
Linux Drive = SCSI ID 1
CD-ROM = SCSI ID 5
DAT Backup = SCSI ID 6
This gives room to add more drives. During boot up press ctrl-a to access 2940 BIOS settings. Set boot
drive
to SCSI ID 0. Disable SCAM support (Sometimes causes problems). If there are both external and internal
devices hooked to the 2940, disable termination. Else leave it alone. Also set transfer rate back to 20 if
you
were set to 40. See if this helps.
should have your high SCSI ID's. Remove all terminating jumpers from the two drives. I'm not up on
Quantum's, but check for a row of pins on the board. It may have designation TE,TP,TP,SS, etc. Remove
jumper on any TE set of pins. Second, check the jumpers on the DAT and CD-ROM. However, whatever
device is PHYSICALLY last in the daisy chain, must have termination. You can have ID 6 first, ID 4
second,
ID3 third, and ID0 last in the chain. Whatever device is ID0 in this case would be terminated. What I
would
recommend is:
boot drive = SCSI ID 0
Linux Drive = SCSI ID 1
CD-ROM = SCSI ID 5
DAT Backup = SCSI ID 6
This gives room to add more drives. During boot up press ctrl-a to access 2940 BIOS settings. Set boot
drive
to SCSI ID 0. Disable SCAM support (Sometimes causes problems). If there are both external and internal
devices hooked to the 2940, disable termination. Else leave it alone. Also set transfer rate back to 20 if
you
were set to 40. See if this helps.
if you have 2940UW play with auto termination hi/lo lo/hi lo/lo hi/hi if you run both cables Ulta and Wide also set termination power on SCSI devices
Enter BIOS Setup, go to Power Management and disable it.
Also: enter Device Manager, expand last element of tree (System
devices), go to APM section, select it and click properties, check
'disable APM polling' checkbox.
PS: Feel free to reject my answer if it not solves your problem.