Q&A: Hardware and Compatibility Information

- Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1 - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SUMMARY

The following information is also included in the Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that is available on CompuServe in the WINNT forum. This article contains the Hardware Information section, including the following topics:

• System Requirements for Windows NT/Windows NT Advanced Server
• Hardware Compatibility List (HWFEED.TXT)
• Full Screen MS-DOS Support on RISC-based Computers
• Device Driver Requests
• DELL Computer Only Recognizes 16 MB of Memory
• Limits of Support for Removable Media
• Sharing Communication Port Interrupts
• DMA Speed on an Adaptec 154x SCSI Controller
• AMI SCSI Controllers
• Adaptec 154x SCSI Controller BIOS Versions
• Installing the Sony CDU-31a CD-ROM with Windows NT
• MediaVision ProAudio Spectrum (PAS16) Sound Card
• Using Sound Blaster Pro With the Sound Blaster 1.x Driver
• Installing the Sound Blaster CD-ROM Driver for Windows NT
• Adding a CD-ROM After Installing Windows NT
• SCSI and ESDI Drives with More Than 1024 Cylinders
• Archive Python Tape Drive - No drive detected
• NEC CD-ROM Slow Downs
• ATI Driver Won't Display a Higher Resolution
• Trouble-Shooting ATI Problems
• Display 16 and 32 Bit Color Modes in ATI Adapters
• UART Support
• System Hangs on Micronics Motherboard with Ultrastor U34F
• S3 Based Video Card and High Resolutions
• Intel SatisFAXion 400/i Modem
• TIGA Drivers for Windows NT
• No Speaker Driver for Windows NT

MORE INFORMATION

System Requirements for Windows NT/Windows NT Advanced Server

Question:

What are the minimum hardware requirements to run Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server?

Answer:

Windows NT has the following hardware requirements:

• An x86-based microprocessor (386/25 or higher) with 12 MB or more of RAM for this release, or an ARC-compatible RISC-based computer with 16 MB of RAM such as the MIPS R4000, MIPS R4400, or DEC Alpha.
• A hard disk with approximately 75 MB of free disk space for Windows NT (92 MB on an ARC computer), 20 MB of which will be used for the virtual memory paging file.

• An x86-based microprocessor (386/33 or higher) with 16 MB or more of RAM for this release, or an ARC-compatible RISC-based computer with 16 MB of RAM such as the MIPS R4000, MIPS R4400, or DEC Alpha.
• A hard disk with approximately 90 MB of free disk space for Windows NT (110 MB on an ARC computer), 20 MB of which will be used for the virtual memory paging file.

Hardware Compatibility List (HWFEED.TXT)

Question:

How do I know if my hardware is supported and what do I have to do to get it supported?

Answer:

Microsoft provides a list, 1193HW.TXT, of tested hardware that is known to work with Windows NT. It has been posted on CompuServe in Library 1 of the WINNT forum. For your convenience the hardware list is also available in Word for Windows format, called 1193HW.DOC. The hardware listed in these files have been tested on Windows NT and are fully supported.

Any absence from this list does not imply that the hardware will not work with Windows NT, only that it is untested and not supported at this time.

The form, HWFEED.TXT, is provided as a means for you to request support for your hardware. It is also in Library 1 of the WINNT forum. You can mail it via CompuServe mail to the Internet address listed in the form. Information from these surveys is compiled by the development team to help clarify where support is needed most.

Also, since many drivers are being written by third party companies, contact your vendor to indicate that you need a driver for their hardware to run under Windows NT. This will help expedite the process external to Microsoft as well.

Full Screen MS-DOS Support on RISC-based Computers

Question:

How do I get full screen MS-DOS support on my RISC-based computer?

Answer:

Full screen support will not be provided under Windows NT on RISC-based computers.

Device Driver Requests

Question:

Is there a driver available for my hardware yet?

Answer:

Microsoft posts all new, fixed and updated drivers in Library 2 of the WINNT forum on CompuServe. Microsoft is making every attempt to keep this library updated with drivers as they become available. If you have hardware that is not currently supported, or does not have a driver posted in WINNT, Library 2, please make a device driver request by filling out the HWFEED.TXT form and mailing it to Microsoft at WINNTHW@MICROSOFT.COM (INTERNET:WINNTHW@MICROSOFT.COM, if sending mail from CompuServe).

Please note: Because of current support demands, this is a one-way alias; Microsoft will not respond directly to you to confirm that your request has been received.

The hardware compatibility list, 1193HW.TXT, and HWFEED.TXT files can be found in Library 1 of the WINNT forum on CompuServe.

DELL Computer Only Recognizes 16 MB of Memory

Question:

Why doesn't Windows NT recognize any memory above 16MB on my Dell machine?

Answer:

Some DELL machines have a BIOS problem which prevents it from seeing greater than 16MB of RAM under Windows NT. If your machine demonstrates this problem, please contact Dell to obtain the latest BIOS upgrade applicable to your particular Dell model.

Limits of Support for Removable Media

Question:

I see some removable media drives on the hardware compatibility list, but I'm having some problems. What are the limits of support for removable media?

Answer:

Under Windows NT, Bernoulli drives and removable SCSI drives support a subset of the functionality that is provided for fixed media devices. Only a single partition can be created on a removable drive. Also, while removable FAT volumes can be freely exchanged, removable NTFS volumes require that a system restart when you change the media. Microsoft is aware of the problems currently surrounding removable media and is working to improve the situation for future releases.

Sharing Communication Port Interrupts

Question:

Can I share communication port interrupts?

Answer:

Windows NT supports two communication ports sharing the same interrupt on non-MCA machines. However, only one port can be in use at a time. A communication port will not be created if another type of device is using the same interrupt.

DMA Speed on an Adaptec 154x SCSI Controller

Question:

Can I set the DMA speed on an Adaptec 154x SCSI controller?

Answer:

Currently, the AHA154X.SYS driver has a hard-coded DMA transfer rate of 5.0 MB. Even if you change jumper settings, the driver still transfers data at this rate.

AMI SCSI Controllers

Question:

What issues should I be aware of when installing Windows NT with an American Megatrends SCSI controller?

Answer:

• Installation in the Adaptec emulation mode may be accomplished by setting the controller 32-Bit Driver Mode to Disabled.
• Amercan Megatrends is developing new ROMs which will allow operation with the 32-Bit Driver Mode Enabled as a Bustek Family Controller. Contact them for availability.

Adaptec 154x SCSI Controller BIOS Versions

Question:

Are there any issues regarding Adaptec 154x SCSI controller BIOS versions?

Answer:

The 1988 version 3.08 Adaptec 154x BIOS has a problem with the Scatter/Gather feature. This problem is detected by the Adaptec driver and the feature is disabled. If you have this BIOS version a message is displayed informing you that the Scatter/Gather feature has been disabled. If you get this message, you can contact the Adaptec BBS (408-945-7727) and get the most recent version, 3.20, of the BIOS at no cost.

BIOS versions after 3.08 do not have this problem.

The latest 154x BIOS also supports drives that are larger than 1 GB (even under MS-DOS). Windows NT supports this option.

Installing the Sony CDU-31a CD-ROM with Windows NT

Question:

How do I install the Sony CDU-31A CD-ROM drivers for use with Windows NT?

Answer:

The Sony CDU-31A CD-ROM is not by default available for setup or for use with Windows NT. However, there is a driver and setup information for this CD-ROM on the Windows NT CD-ROM.

NOTE: Most Gateway 2000 computers that ship with the Sony CDU-31A CD- ROM drive come with the Sony COR-334 host adapter. This host adapter is an OEM version of the Sony CDB-334 and is identical to this card in all respects.

The factory defaults for the Sony COR-334 and CDB-334 are: I/O base port address set to 340 hex, DMA channel set to none, and IRQ set to none. No IRQ setting is necessary for the card to operate correctly under MS-DOS, and therefore most COR- 334 and CDB-334 adapters are not configured for an IRQ. However, Windows NT requires the use of an IRQ. Use the instructions in the README.TXT file to configure the adapter for use with Windows NT. The driver and installation instructions are located in the following directory on the CD:

   \drvlib\storage\sony_31a\x86 (or MIPS)

MediaVision ProAudio Spectrum (PAS16) Sound Card

Question:

How can I get my ProAudio Spectrum sound card to work under Windows NT?

Answer:

If a MediaVision sound card has a SCSI interface, the CD-ROM interface is supported by the drivers provided with Windows NT. If the MediaVision sound card contains a proprietary CD-ROM interface, then the CD-ROM interface is not supported by the drivers currently available. The only PAS 16 board that is currently supported by Windows NT is the 50-pin SCSI version. This board uses the driver TSLCDR.SYS under MS-DOS.

Using Sound Blaster Pro With the Sound Blaster 1.x Driver

Question:

What considerations should be made when using my Sound Blaster Pro with the Sound Blaster 1.x driver?

Answer:

When using the Sound Blaster 1.x driver provided with Windows NT to run with the Sound Blaster Pro, the DMA channel must be set to 1. Note: The Sound Blaster 1.x driver only supports mono sound, not stereo. There are updated drivers for the Sound Blaster Pro available on CompuServe in the PACVEN forum.

Installing the Sound Blaster CD-ROM Driver for Windows NT

Question:

How do I install the driver for my Sound Blaster CD-ROM drive?

Answer:

The Windows NT CD includes a driver for the CD-ROM interface on the Creative Labs Sound Blaster card. This driver is included only on the CD (not on the floppy disks) and is located in the DRVLIB\STORAGE\MKECR5XX\X86 directory. This driver also supports the Panasonic CR-52x family of CD-ROM drives and the Panasonic CR-56x family of CD-ROM drives. More information on installation is contained in the README.TXT file included with the driver.

NOTE: The Sound Blaster CD-ROM driver (MKECR5XX) that ships with Windows NT is for accessing data, MIDI, and .WAV files only. It is not compatible with either the Media Player (CD Audio option) or the CD Player utilities provided with Windows NT and cannot play CD Audio files.

Neither the Sound Blaster Pro or the most prevalent CD-ROM drives that accompany the sound card and its proprietary interface (Panasonic CR- 521 and the CR-561) support Multimedia (CD Audio) operation in Windows NT.

Adding a CD-ROM After Installing Windows NT

Question:

What do I need to do to make Windows NT recognize my new CD-ROM?

Answer:

From the Services application in Control Panel, locate the Scsicdrm and Cdaudio entries. Set the Startup value for Scsicdrm to System so the service starts when the system boots. If your CD-ROM does not support SCSI- 2 CD Audio, set Cdaudio Startup to System. Note: Some SCSI-1 CD-ROMs require the Cdaudio service as well.

To start these services without restarting Windows NT, highlight them one at a time and press the Start button.

SCSI and ESDI Drives with More Than 1024 Cylinders

Question:

Can I use SCSI drives and ESDI drives with more than 1024 cylinders?

Answer:

SCSI uses RBA (relative block address) addressing. Usually, you do not need to worry about a 1024 cylinder limit with a SCSI drive until it becomes very large (greater than 1 GB). Some SCSI cards have a jumper for greater than 1 GB support. Check you SCSI documentation to see if your SCSI controller has this feature.

ESDI uses CHS (cylinder, head, sector) addressing and has a 1024 cylinder limitation. Some controller cards get around this by implementing a translation scheme in the onboard controller BIOS. Windows NT (and other protected mode operating systems) must duplicate the code found in these BIOS chips in order to duplicate this behavior. Unfortunately, there are many ways of performing this translation, making it necessary to incorporate them all in the standard AT disk driver. Support for every ESDI translation scheme was not included in Windows NT.

NOTE: Some ESDI controllers implement this translation in hardware, making it totally transparent to the system and allowing the standard driver to work without change. Check your controller documentation to see which type of translation is provided by your hardware.

Archive Python Tape Drive - No drive detected

Question:

Why do I get the following error message?

   Archive Python: No drive has been detected.
   Make sure a drive is attached and power is on.

The Archive Python driver was not installed. From the Options menu of Windows NT Setup choose Add/Remove Tape Devices to install the proper driver.

NEC CD-ROM Slow Downs

Question:

When my NEC CD-ROM plays audio CDs Windows NT slows down dramatically. Why?

Answer:

It was recently discovered that NEC Intersect CD-ROM readers have switches that enable disconnects during accesses to the reader. This switch is off by default, disabling disconnects. Because of this, while your CD-ROM is being read, no other devices on that SCSI bus can be accessed. Since reads from a reader can take a significant amount of time, having this switch off can noticeably degrade system performance. This slow-down may occur even if you are not using the CD-ROM reader.

The switch is number 5 and should be set to ON. It can be found in a little box labeled SW1.

ATI Driver Won't Display a Higher Resolution

Question:

Why can't I make my Windows NT ATI drivers display higher resolutions?

Answer:

The ATI driver uses the monitor resolutions that the adapter has been physically configured for on the card itself. This prevents the driver from setting the monitor to a resolution it may not support. Use the ATI INSTALL utility to configure the monitor settings for the desired resolutions. Note: The driver will not display a resolution that the adapter does not have enough memory for.

Trouble-Shooting ATI Problems

Question:

I loaded Windows NT ATI driver and it does not function correctly. How do I track down the problem?

Answer:

If you have ROM BIOS shadowing enabled, disable it. Make sure you do not have a conflict between the memory base address or I/O port address assignment for the ATI card. Make sure you do not have any other peripheral devices set to the same settings. Look out for conflicts between your ATI card and a SCSI controller in the area of I/O port address assignment particularly. Use the event logger to determine when a conflict has occurred and what I/O addresses are in conflict.

Display 16 and 32 Bit Color Modes in ATI Adapters

Question:

I have an ATI card that I want to display 16 bit or 32 bit color. It does not work. Is there something wrong with the driver?

Answer:

16-bit and 32-bit color modes are currently only available when the memory aperture is enabled. Check to make sure that the memory aperture is enabled. If you are using an ISA ATI card in an EISA PC (or any PC), be advised that the aperture can only be enabled if you have 12 MB or less of system memory. (This is an ISA addressing restriction.) To display 16-bit or 32-bit color in an EISA PC, you need one of ATI's EISA card products. The same applies to MicroChannel (MCA) PCs. Contact ATI for information on how to obtain the correct card.

UART Support

Question:

Does Windows NT support 16550 UART chips?

Answer:

Windows NT will work with a 16550 UART chip. FIFO support will be enabled by default if detected on the machine. However, if you experience dropped connections, or loss of characters during high transmission speed, we recommend disabling the FIFO support.

System Hangs on Micronics Motherboard with Ultrastor U34F

Question:

How can I make Windows NT work on my system that has a Micronics 486 VESA local bus motherboard with an Ultrastor U34F local bus controller?

Answer:

There are two ways to work around this problem. You can disable the external cache on your motherboard. Or, you can return your motherboard to Micronics for repair. Micronics is aware of this problem and has a fix available. The reference number for the Micronics fix is VLBA03. Micronics can be reached at (510) 651-2300.

This problem is caused by a timing conflict between Windows NT, the Ultrastor controller, and the Micronics motherboard. Note: This problem does not occur on Micronics MX30 motherboards or ISA bus controllers from Ultrastor.

S3 Based Video Card and High Resolutions

Question:

I have an S3 based video card, when I try to use the high resolution drivers included with Windows NT my screen turns an orange color and the logon box is black, what's wrong?

Answer:

You have a device configured to address 02E8 (COM 4).

The S3 graphics controller chip uses the port address 46E8 for one of its register sets. When only the first 10-bits of this 16-bit address are decoded in any operation the address appears as hex port address 02E8, which is a popular hex port address for a COM 4 serial port. This results in an address conflict and can prevent COM 4 from functioning and also strange colors or unpredictable behavior in Windows NT.

Intel SatisFAXion 400/i Modem

Question:

How do I get my Intel SatisFAXtion 400/i modem to work under Windows NT?

Answer:

The Intel SatisFAXtion 400/i is not currently supported under Windows NT. Please contact Intel for information regarding the availability of a device driver for this modem.

TIGA Drivers for Windows NT

Question:

Are there TIGA drivers for Windows NT?

Answer:

We do not have support for the TIGA cards at this time. Check GO MSL for any new or updated drivers.

No Speaker Driver for Windows NT

Question:

Will there be a speaker driver for Window NT?

Answer:

In the current release of Windows NT, there is no support for a PC speaker driver. The very nature of this driver prohibits its use. A preemptive multitasking operating system will not allow enough CPU cycles to generate the sound. The sound is generated by pulse with modulation which requires 100% of CPU time while the sound is being played. Sound cards offload this to their DAC chips.