ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º Above Board 2 and 2 Plus Problems: Part 1 º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ IBM 5.25" EXTERNAL FLOPPY Customers have reported that using IBMCACHE and EMM.SYS together in a Model 60 caused the IBM external floppy controller to fail when the IBMCACHE size was less than 512K bytes. EMM LOADS, BUT CHKMEM SHOWS NO EXPANDED MEMORY This usually means another device driver or program is conflicting with EMM. Check the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files for other devices drivers. An example would be if you find the command DEVICE=VEM.SYS, remove it; it's the device driver for a program called Above Disk, which is one of the drivers which are incompatible with EMM. ABOVE BOARD 2 PLUS DOESN'T BOOT IN 50Z You can identify Above Board 2 Plus's that may have this problem by looking at the ASIC (a big square chip) closest to the right-hand side of the board (the end towards the back of the computer). If the first number on the ASIC is "LIA4352" call Intel Customer Support for assistance ** UNLESS ** the part number on the board (next to the serial number) is 301705-002, 301706-002, 301707-003, 301708-003 or higher revision (last number after dash). MESSAGE 111 ????? This message usually indicates a reserved memory conflict in your computer, overlapping extended memory addresses, but could also be a defective or incompatible SIMM. Check for other boards (such as the IBM Token Ring adapter) using the same memory address as the Above Board. Then use the Reference Diskette to change the memory addresses to avoid the conflict. Run the MCATEST utility to check if any SIMMs are defective. If you get this error during boot-up or while loading a program on an IBM Model 70 after installing an Above Board MC32, check the motherboard of the Model 70. If the SIMM connectors are under the hard drive, you may need a revised MC32. EMM REPORTS ALL MEMORY BAD EMM will report memory as bad if a ROM uses the first page frame of the EMM window. To check expanded memory, EMM uses the first page of the page frame. If a ROM uses that page, EMM can't run its memory test and will report all memory as bad. Use the EXPF parameter to move the page frame to a different, non-conflicting location. Also, make sure the part number of the memory chips in the SIMMS end in 9 and not 8 (for example TM4256GU9, not TM4256GU8). SOFTSET MESSAGE "BACKUP OF TRACK 0 ALREADY EXISTS" If you use the Above Board 2 Plus option diskette and receive this error, make a copy of the option diskette, go into the BACKUP subdirectory and erase the OLDTRK0 file. Then, retry the installation. "ERROR: THE ABOVE BOARD MC ROM COULD NOT READ THE HARD DRIVE..." The Above Board MC ROM could not read the hard drive to check for an Above Board IADF." The Above Board MC ROM displays this error message when it cannot read drive C. This happens when the Above Board MC ROM address is lower than the disk controller ROM address (for example, if the Above Board MC ROM is located at C800 and the disk controller ROM is at DC00). Be sure you have run SOFTSET. This will remove any unneeded Above Board iADF file, but you will see this message as long as the Above Board MC ROM executes before the disk controller ROM. You can use your computer's Reference Diskette to move the ROMs for these two boards to eliminate this warning message. Use one of the following methods (the method you should use depends on your disk controller type): 1. If you can change the disk controller's ROM address using your computer's Reference Diskette, move it to an address below the address used by the Above Board MC ROM. For example, if the Above Board MC ROM is located at CC00, move the disk controller ROM to C800. 2. If you can't change the disk controller ROM address using your computer's Reference Diskette but you have the option to disable it, then disable the disk controller ROM and move the Above Board MC ROM to the highest available address (usually DC00). Enable the disk controller ROM again. This should force the disk controller ROM to an address below the Above Board MC ROM. 3. If the disk controller ROM address can't be changed and you can't disable the disk controller using your computer's Reference Diskette, then follow these steps: þ Power down the system þ Remove the disk controller þ Boot with your computer's Reference Diskette and change the Above Board MC ROM address to the highest available address (usually DC00 -- if there is a conflict at DC00, choose the next lower Above Board MC ROM address until you find a value which does not cause a conflict). þ Power down the system þ Re-install the disk controller þ Boot with your computer's Reference Diskette. Answer 'N' to the question "Automatically configure the system? (Y/N)." þ Choose "Set configuration" from the Main Menu. Choose "Change configuration" from the submenu. Verify that the system setup shown is correct and press F10 to save the configuration. The Above Board MC ROM should now execute after the disk controller ROM, and the warning message should no longer appear. QUIKMEM2 MAXIMUM RAMDISK SIZE The maximum size of a QUIKMEM2 RAMdisk is 8Mb, even with EMM 4.0. LOW LEVEL FORMATS ON PS/2 SYSTEMS If you lose a hard disk boot sector in a PS/2 computer and you need to do a low level format, FDISK or FORMAT won't work. Follow these steps (this is for experts only!): 1. Start the computer with its reference disk 2. Press Enter at the IBM logo screen. The next screen you see will be a menu. 3. Instead of selecting a menu option, press Control-A. This accesses IBM's "secret" hard disk format and diagnostics. 4. Select Format. Be prepared to wait from 20 minutes to 2 hours while your hard disk is reformatted. "ERROR READING DRIVE A:" IN IBM MODEL 50/60'S (Field report) Several users have reported that their IBM Models 50 and 60 can't read 720K-byte diskettes. The "Error reading Drive a:" error occurs when the user is running programs (such as SOFTSET) from the disk or trying to copy from the disk. This is not a problem with the Above Board software; it's a problem with the Models 50 and 60. You can solve this problem by adding the DASDDRVR.SYS command to your CONFIG.SYS file. You can get DASDDRVR.SYS software from your local IBM dealer. NOTE: This problem is unrelated to the reference disk errors that can occur after you copy the Intel Option Disk. CHKMEM DOESN'T COUNT ALL EXTENDED MEMORY When certain memory-resident programs (such as HIMEM.SYS, IBM's Cache, and PC-Kwik) are installed, CHKMEM reports less than the total amount of extended memory in the computer. With HIMEM.SYS installed all of the extended memory is reconfigured as XMS memory (for DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.0) and is no longer visible to CHKMEM. Use the DOS 5.0 MEM utility or check the memory usage under Windows for an accurate extended memory check (in the Program Manager, open HELP, then ABOUT, it should display the memory amount). With IBM's Cache or PC-Kwik the difference between the total memory in the computer and the amount that CHKMEM reports is equal to the amount that the resident programs have allocated for themselves. IBM's cache and PC-KWIK use interrupt 15 to reduce the amount of total extended memory by the size of the cache. By doing this, other software (including CHKMEM) is unaware of the extended memory that the cache software is using. COMPUTERS WITHOUT A HARD DRIVE If you're using a PS/2 computer from which the hard drive has been removed, use "DEVICE=EMM" in the config.sys file to initialize the memory on an Above Board 2 Plus or boot from the OS/2 boot disk that comes with the Above Board 2 Plus. ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ End of file Intel FaxBack # 1560 August 27,1992