Setup Problems on Hitachi Flora M- or NM-Series Computers

ID: Q188184

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you are installing Windows 98 on a Hitachi Flora M-series or NM- series computer, the screen may switch to flashing colored text and your computer may stop responding (hang) after the file copy stage of Setup is finished. If you try to start Windows 98 in Safe mode, your computer may hang when the desktop is loaded.


CAUSE

This behavior can occur if your computer has more than 16 megabytes (MB) of memory installed or double buffering is being loaded in the Msdos.sys file. There may be an incompatibility between your computer's BIOS and the Dblbuff.sys file.


RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, contact Hitachi about obtaining a BIOS update for your computer.

If you cannot obtain a BIOS update for your computer, you may be able to work around this issue by not loading double buffering. Note that some computers, especially those that use a SCSI hard disk, may require double buffering to work properly. If you are not sure whether your computer requires double buffering, contact your computer's manufacturer. To avoid loading double buffering, use any of the following methods:

Method 1

Use the Step-By-Step Confirmation startup method to avoid loading double buffering. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Restart your computer. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup menu appears.


  2. Choose Step-By-Step Confirmation from the Startup menu.


  3. Press N when you are prompted to load the Dblbuff.sys file. Press Y for all other prompts.


Method 2

Edit the Msdos.sys file to prevent double buffering from being loaded. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Restart your computer. Press and hold down the CTRL key until the Windows 98 Startup menu appears. Choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only from the Startup menu.


  2. Type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line:

    attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys
    edit msdos.sys


  3. In the [Options] section of the Msdos.sys file, locate the line that reads "DoubleBuffer=<n>."

    NOTE: If this line is not present, add it. Add the following line in the [Options] section: 
    
      DoubleBuffer=0


  4. Change the "DoubleBuffer=" line to read: 
    
      DoubleBuffer=0


  5. Save and then close the Msdos.sys file.


  6. Restart your computer.


Additional query words: display garbled 


Keywords          : kbenv kbhw kbsetup win98 
Version           : WINDOWS:
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: February 9, 1999