DOCUMENT:Q154117 08-AUG-2001 [winnt] TITLE :No Drive Letter When Using PC-Card Type III Slot PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows NT PROD/VER:winnt:3.51 OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:kbhw kbHardware ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.51 - Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.51 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SYMPTOMS ======== When you have a computer with a PC Card type III slot and you start Windows NT 3.51, there may not be a new drive letter and the hard disk does not appear in Disk Manager. When you start the PC Card tool that comes with the Windows NT Resource Kit and try to view the configuration of the PC Card, the following pop-up dialog box appears: PCMCIA.SYS returned invalid configuration information. CAUSE ===== The PCMCIA driver in Windows NT has no information on how to deal with a tertiary IDE channel and thus does not configure it for use by a driver. RESOLUTION ========== Upgrade to Windows NT 4.0. -or- Obtain Service Pack 5 for Windows NT 3.51 (referenced below under STATUS) and then take the following steps: After you apply Service Pack 5, PCMCIA.SYS reports the device correctly and you can configure the settings for the use of ATDISK manually. Now that you have replaced the driver you should be able to see the configuration of the PC Card hard disk after reboot. It should have an I/O base of 0x160 and an available interrupt. WARNING: Using Registry Editor can cause serious, system-wide errors that may require you to reinstall Windows NT. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. 1. Open the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe). 2. Go to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Atdisk 3. On the Edit menu, click Add Key to create the following entry: Key Name: PARAMETERS Class: 4. Open the PARAMETERS key that you created in Step 3. 5. On the Edit menu, click Add Key to create the following entries Key Name: X Class: where X is the number of the additional drive, such as 2 for the third drive. For each additional drive, increment the Key Name by 1. Generally, you MUST specify the starting parameter as 2 or higher. This is so that you do not interfere with the primary or secondary controller that most BIOSes support. 6. Select the key that you created in step 5; it should be named 2. Using the Add Value option on the Edit menu, add the following three values: Value Name BaseAddress Data Type REG_DWORD String 0x160 Value Name DriveControl Data Type REG_DWORD String 0x16E Value Name Interrupt Data Type REG_DWORD String STATUS ====== Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. This problem has been corrected in the latest Microsoft Windows NT U.S. Service Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces): S E R V P A C K MORE INFORMATION ================ Windows NT 4.0 correctly configures a PC Card hard disk as a third IDE channel. Once you update your computer to Windows NT 4.0, you should remove the registry keys created in the steps above. Additional query words: prodnt ====================================================================== Keywords : kbhw kbHardware Technology : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNT351search kbWinNTW351search kbWinNTW351 kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS351 kbWinNTS351search Version : winnt:3.51 ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2001.