Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v1.20 ================================================== Driver v1.20 for Windows NT 3.1 Installation instructions for the 7800 Family Windows NT 3.1 driver: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Read this to find out about =========================== Installing and/or updating the 7800 Family driver for Windows NT Removing a host adapter Swapping a host adapter Information on restoring a configuration if Windows NT fails to boot Installation Overview ===================== This readme provides the information needed to install and use the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager (driver) for Windows NT 3.1. If you are performing a first time Windows NT installation, see 'Installing Windows NT and the Driver' below to begin driver installation. If Windows NT is already installed in your system, see 'Updating Windows NT with the Driver' below. Installing Windows NT and the Driver ==================================== This section describes how to install the aic78xx.sys driver at the same time you install Windows NT 3.1. If Windows NT 3.1 is already installed and you wish to install or update the aic78xx.sys driver, see 'Updating Windows NT with the Driver' below. Installing Windows NT 3.1 and the Driver ========================================= Follow these instructions only if you are installing Windows NT 3.1 for the first time. You may install Windows NT from a floppy drive or from a CD-ROM drive; whichever you choose, make sure the hardware installation is completed prior to following these steps. 1 If you choose to install Windows NT from a floppy drive, locate the Windows NT Disk 1 for Floppy Installation. If you are installing from a CD-ROM drive, locate the Windows NT Setup Disk for CD-ROM Installation. 2 Put the diskette into drive A (not drive B) and turn on your computer. 3 When prompted, select Custom setup. Caution: If you choose Express setup, the installation process is unable to detect your Adaptec host adapter and the installation fails. 4 Windows NT Setup displays all recognized host adapters. If no host adapters are installed, Windows NT Setup displays none. Press S to configure additional SCSI adapters. 5 From the list of additional SCSI adapters, select Other and press Enter. (Requires disk provided by a hardware manufacturer). 6 Insert the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set diskette for Windows NT into drive A and press Enter. 7 The screen displays the adapter drivers supported on the diskette. Use the down arrow to select Adaptec AHA-2940/AIC-78xx (PCI) NT 3.1 and press Enter. 8 If you want to add other host adapters (that are not a part of the 7800 Family), do so at this time by repeating Step 5 for each additional adapter and inserting the appropriate disk provided by the hardware manufacturer. All Adaptec 7800 Family host adapters use the same driver; it is not necessary to install the aic78xx.sys driver again. 9 Press Enter to continue with the Windows NT operating system setup. Follow the instructions given onscreen and in the Windows NT installation documentation. Updating Windows NT with the Driver =================================== This section describes how to update/install the aic78xx.sys driver if Windows NT 3.1 is already installed. If you are installing Windows NT 3.1 for the first time, see 'Installing Windows NT and the Driver' above. Updating Windows NT 3.1 ======================== Follow these instruction only if Windows NT 3.1 is already installed. 1 Select and start the Windows NT Setup program. (Its icon is usually found in the Main program group.) There is a brief pause while Windows NT Setup scans your hardware -configuration. 2 Select the Options pull-down menu and then select Add/Remove SCSI Adapters. The SCSI Adapter setup program displays a list of all host adapters currently installed. 3 Click the Add button to add another host adapter type to the list. A list of additional SCSI adapters appears. 4 Expand the list of additional SCSI adapters; select Other and press Enter. (Requires disk provided by the hardware -manufacturer). 5 Insert the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set diskette for Windows NT into drive A and press Enter. 6 Enter the path to the installation files by typing a:\winnt\3_1 7 The screen displays the adapter drivers supported on the -diskette. Use the down arrow to select Adaptec AHA-2940/AIC-78xx (PCI) NT 3.1 and click OK. The driver is added to the list of SCSI adapters. 8 Select Adaptec AHA-2940/AIC-78xx (PCI) NT 3.1 from the list of SCSI adapters and click Install. At this point, Windows NT Setup checks to see if the specified driver (in this example, aic78xx.sys) has already been copied to the system disk. 9 If the following message appears, click New to replace the existing driver and skip to Step 13. The SCSI Adapter selected is already installed If the following message appears, continue with Step 12: Please enter the full path to the Windows NT SCSI Adapter files 10 Change the path to the directory (i.e., a:\winnt\3_1) with the desired device driver, then click Continue. The device driver is copied to your system disk and the -Windows NT configuration is updated so that the new device driver loads when Windows NT reboots. 11 When the installation is complete, Windows NT Setup again displays a list of currently installed host adapter types. Verify that the new host adapter appears on the list; the string should look similar to Adaptec AHA-2940/AIC 78xx (PCI) NT 3.1 12 Add other types of host adapters if necessary (see Step 4 above), or click Close to exit the SCSI adapters portion of -Windows NT Setup, and then close the program. 13 When you see this message, click OK to exit: The changes you have made will not take effect until the computer is restarted If this message does not appear, no changes have been made to the Windows NT system configuration. 14 Restart your computer and Windows NT. It is possible that some drive letter assignments may change from the previous configuration. Caution: If you are updating the driver that controls the boot host adapter from which Windows NT loads, you must complete the additional steps listed below in Updating the Boot Host Adapter. Updating the Boot Host Adapter ============================== If the driver you are updating controls the boot host adapter from which Windows NT 3.1 loads, you must update the device driver in two locations (because Windows NT boots in a two-stage process): the Windows NT device driver directory (i.e., \winnt\system32\drivers\aic78xx.sys) and c:\ntbootdd.sys. In the first stage of booting, no software configuration is available and Windows NT loads the device driver to control the computer boot disk from the file c:\ntbootdd.sys. Therefore, when you perform the steps described above to update a driver you must also explicitly copy the aic78xx.sys device driver to c:\ntbootdd.sys (meaning that aic78xx.sys is copied over and renamed as c:\ntbootdd.sys). 1 Click the Command Prompt icon in the Main program group. 2 Switch to the root directory of the C drive by typing: cd \ 3 Since the c:\ntbootdd.sys file is system, hidden, and read only; you must use an attribute change program to disable the -hidden and read only attributes so that the file can be modified. To disable the attributes, type attrib\ntbootdd.sys -r -h -s 4 To copy the aic78xx.sys device driver to ntbootdd.sys, type copy %systemroot%\system32\drivers\aic78xx.sys ntbootdd.sys 5 To change the attributes of the ntbootdd.sys file back to the original, type attrib\ntbootdd.sys +r +h +s Removing a Host Adapter ======================= Removing a host adapter can be as simple as physically removing it from the slot when your computer is shut down. Windows NT boots and functions properly in this configuration, but a warning message is generated every time you boot Windows NT. Caution: If you have removed a host adapter but still have other host adapters of the same type installed in your computer, do not use Windows NT Setup to remove the device driver. To eliminate the warning message, you must update the Windows NT software configuration, as described in these steps: 1 Select and start the Windows NT Setup program. There is a brief pause while Windows NT Setup scans your hardware -configuration. 2 Select the Options pull-down menu and then select Add/Remove SCSI Adapters. The SCSI Adapter setup program displays a list of all host adapters currently installed. 3 Select the host adapter you want to remove and click the Remove button. When the Windows NT Setup program asks you for confirmation, click OK. Because SCSI device drivers are loaded during system bootup and because they may be needed to load Windows NT itself, a screen may appear warning you that Windows NT may not start if you remove the SCSI adapter. 4 If you are sure you are removing the correct host adapter type, click OK. 5 Return to Step 3 if you want to remove driver support for other types of host adapters, or click Close to exit the SCSI adapters portion of Windows NT Setup. 6 Close the Windows NT Setup program. When the following message appears, click OK to exit: The changes you have made will not take effect until the computer is restarted. If this message does not appear, no changes have been made to the Windows NT system configuration. 7 Restart the computer. Note: Windows NT Setup does not delete the device driver from your system disk; it only updates Windows NT software configuration information so that the device driver is no longer loaded during system bootup. Swapping a Host Adapter ======================= Swapping one type of host adapter for another is similar to the procedure for adding a host adapter. The important distinction is that you make all software configuration changes while Windows NT is running and before you make the hardware changes. 1 Install the driver for the new host adapter by following the steps in Updating Windows NT with the Driver above. It is not essential to remove the device driver for the host adapter you are replacing. Windows NT dynamically detects the absence or presence of host adapter hardware, and no problems should arise if you leave the existing device driver installed. You may remove the device driver later, after you have successfully rebooted Windows NT. However, if you leave the driver in, the system alerts you with an error message of the extra device driver every time you boot. See Removing a Host Adapter above. 2 Once the new device driver is installed, shut down Windows NT and replace the existing host adapter. 3 Restart your computer and Windows NT. It is possible that some drive letter assignments may change from the previous configuration. Note: For Windows NT 3.1 only: If the host adapter you are swapping controls the computer boot device, you must follow the additional steps in Updating the Boot Host Adapter above. Troubleshooting =============== The boot manager for Windows NT contains recovery logic to allow you to return to the last known good configuration. If you have changed your host adapter configuration and Windows NT no longer boots, follow these steps to recover: 1 Undo any hardware changes you have made to the computer since it was last operational. 2 Reboot the computer. Watch the display carefully during bootup. If the following message appears, press the Spacebar and follow the instructions on the screen to continue booting with the last known good configuration: Press spacebar NOW to invoke the Last Known Good menu 3 Once your computer is operational again, check all of the hardware and software configuration changes you want to make. Look specifically for conflicts with parts of the existing system configuration that are not being changed. If you cannot determine the source of the error, contact Adaptec Technical Support for assistance at the telephone numbers listed below. Adaptec Phone Numbers --------------------- Technical Support: Automated Technical Support: U.S. and Canada: (800)959-7274 ============================ International : (408)945-2550 Interactive FAX Service On-line Questions & Answers Live Technical Support: U.S. , Canada & ======================== International : (408)934-7274 M-F: 6:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time Bulletin Board Service (BBS) (408) 945-7727 24 hours a day (up to 14400 baud, using 8 bits, 1 stop bit, no parity) Literature Hotline (800) 934-2766 M-F: 6:00am to 5:00PM Pacific Standard Time Software Ordering (U.S.A. and Canada) (800) 442-7274 M-F: 6:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time International Software Ordering (408) 957-7274 M-F: 6:00am to 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time