====================================================================== Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File) WW0863: SYSTEM HANGS WHEN RUNNING MS-DOS-BASED APPLICATIONS WITH NOVELL(R) NETWARE(R) ====================================================================== Revision Date: 9/93 1 Disk Included The following information applies to Microsoft Windows(TM), version 3.1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT AND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MAY | | ACCOMPANY THIS DOCUMENT (collectively referred to as an Application | | Note) IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER | | EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED | | WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR | | PURPOSE. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and | | the use of this Application Note. This Application Note may be | | copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All | | text must be copied without modification and all pages must be | | included; 2) If software is included, all files on the disk(s) | | must be copied without modification (the MS-DOS utility diskcopy is | | appropriate for this purpose); 3) All components of this | | Application Note must be distributed together; and 4) This | | Application Note may not be distributed for profit. | | | | Copyright (C) 1993 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved | | Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Windows is a | | trademark of Microsoft Corporation. | | CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe, Inc. | | NetWire is a registered servicemark and NetWare and Novell are | | registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. | |---------------------------------------------------------------------| Introduction ------------ If you are running Novell NetWare when you start an MS-DOS-based application or an MS-DOS command prompt from Microsoft Windows or Windows for Workgroups, the screen may turn black and leave the cursor flashing in the upper-left corner. If you have configured a program information file (.PIF) so that your MS-DOS-based application starts in a window, the screen is completely black; the flashing cursor does not appear when the system stops responding (hangs). Cause ----- The following factors can contribute to this problem (in order of probability): - Third-party device drivers or terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) programs - An incorrect system configuration - A problem in VIPX.386 - A problem in the Windows 3.1 virtual timing driver (VTD) This problem is uncommon and is difficult to reproduce since it is critical interrupt and/or timing dependent and generally occurs only on large networks with high traffic volumes, which generate many interrupts. Resolution ---------- To troubleshoot this problem, use the steps below. It is important to follow these steps in order and leave each change in place, even though one particular step alone may not correct the problem. Two or more independent problems may combine to cause the symptoms described above. 1. Remove or comment out all unnecessary commands from your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files to prevent conflicts with third-party device drivers or TSR programs. (To comment out a line, type REM at the beginning of the line. After you make these changes, restart your machine.) Starting your machine with a minimal configuration is called a "clean boot." A clean boot is a basic troubleshooting step to test possible conflicts between Windows and various TSR programs and device drivers. NOTE: Once you implement all the steps in this procedure and correct the problem, you can begin to undo the changes you made to clean boot your system. If the problem recurs, you can isolate the device driver, TSR, or application that is causing the problem. 2. Ensure your Startup group is empty, and comment out the LOAD= and RUN= lines in the [windows] section of the WIN.INI file. (To comment out a line, place a semicolon [;] at the beginning of the line.) After you make these changes, restart Windows. 3. In the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file, set the InDOSPolling= setting as follows: InDOSPolling=FALSE 4. Remove the TimerCriticalSection= setting from the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file, then restart your system. If this doesn't correct the problem, reinsert the line as follows: TimerCriticalSection=10,000 5. Upgrade to version 3.32 or later of the Novell shell and Windows driver components available on Novell's CompuServe(R) NOVLIB forum as DOSUP7.ZIP. These components are also available through NetWire(R) and authorized Novell resellers. 6. Novell has updated and released a new VIPX.386 driver that is designed to fix a majority of the critical interrupt problems. Upgrade to version 1.15 of VIPX.386, version 2.11 of IPX0DI.COM, and version 2.02 of LSL.COM. These files are available on Novell's CompuServe NOVLIB forum in a self-extracting file called BSDUP1.EXE. 7. Reboot your system to see if the problem still occurs. If it does, go on to step 8. 8. The VTDA.386 file included with this application note is designed to fix a very small percentage of timer-related problems. To install VTDA.386, follow these steps: a. Copy VTDA.386 from the enclosed WW0863 disk to your Windows SYSTEM subdirectory. For example, if you inserted the WW0863 disk in drive A and your Windows directory is called WINDOWS and is on drive C, type the following command at the MS-DOS command prompt and then press ENTER: copy a:\vtda.386 c:\windows\system b. In a text editor, such as Microsoft Windows Notepad, open the SYSTEM.INI file (located in your Windows directory). c. In the [386Enh] section, change device=*vtd to: device=vtda.386 d. Save the file. e. Quit and then restart Windows.