TITLE: Troubleshooting Windows 3.1 and Novell DOS 7 DOCUMENT ID: TID21699 DOCUMENT REVISION: 1 DATE: 03AUG94 ALERT STATUS: Yellow README FOR: NA NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: Novell DOS 7 ABSTRACT: NA --------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER: THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSUE: IF WINDOWS 3.1 FAILS TO RUN AFTER NOVELL DOS 7 IS INSTALLED: Subsequent debugging steps may resolve the issue. It is highly recommended to use basic CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files during debugging to eliminate any conflicts with other TSRs and/or device drivers. 1. If this is an upgrade from Windows 3.0, the WIN.INI options LOAD and RUN may be affecting performance. These two lines tell Windows to execute an application on startup in much the same way that an AUTOEXEC.BAT works for Novell DOS. Not all Windows 3.0 applications are compatible with Windows 3.1. Place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of the RUN and LOAD lines of the WIN.INI. If this does not work, rename WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI to WIN.SAV and SYSTEM.SAV. Then rename WIN.BAK and SYSTEM.BAK to WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI (these .BAK files are created when you install Novell DOS 7 and selct the Windows installation option). If the SYSTEM.BAK and WIN.BAK files have been deleted, the current SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files can be restored to their original state by referring to the README.TXT (located in the NWDOS directory) and reversing the changes made to the .INI files. 2. Windows' WIN.EXE has a /D switch that can be used for troubleshooting when Windows does not start correctly. Refer to Microsoft Windows documentation and/or type WIN /? to see a listing and explanation of the options. 3. Try running Windows in Standard mode by entering the command "WIN /S". If Windows runs in Standard mode but not in Enhanced mode, refer to the next section for resolving problems with Enhanced mode. IF WINDOWS RUNS IN STANDARD MODE BUT NOT IN ENHANCED MODE 1. Windows in Enhanced mode will require a minimum of 1024K (1 Megabyte) of available XMS memory to run. Check available XMS memory with the MEM command. At the DOS prompt, prior to attempting to launch windows type: MEM The screen should look similar to the following example. -Memory Type--------Total Bytes ( Kbytes )----Available For Programs-- | | | | | Conventional | 655,360 ( 640K )| 598,560 ( 584K )| | Upper | 155,648 ( 152K )| 0 ( 0K )| | High | 65,520 ( 64K )| 7,297 ( 7K )| | Extended | 3,145,728 ( 3,072K )| 0 ( 0K )| | Extended via XMS | -------- | 1,048,576 ( 1,024K )| ----------------------------------------------------------------- | Largest executable program: 598,544 ( 584K ) | | Total Free DOS memory: 598,560 ( 584K ) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- In the above example there is 1,024K of available XMS. If you are using NWCACHE, you should also check to see if lending is enabled. To check the status of NWCACHE type "NWCACHE /S" at the DOS prompt. The resulting screen will be similar to the following example. NWCache R1.01 Novell Disk Cache Copyright (C) 1993 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright (C) 1985, 1990, 1992, Golden Bow Systems. ----------------------------------------------------------------- | Cache size: 2048 KB (XMS) | | Minimum cache size: 1024 KB | | Write-through drives: A B C | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | Current options: | | /MUX Program is loaded into upper and XMS memory using DPMS | | /BL=16 Lookahead buffer is in conventional memory, size is in KB| | /LEND=ON Lend memory to other applications - 1024 KB available | | /DELAY=OFF Write delay is disabled, caching is write-through | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | Disk Usage Statistics: | Error Statistics: | | Command Requests #Done Saved| 0 Memory Manager Errors | | Reads: 3195 541 83%| 0 Disk Transfer Errors | | Writes: 36 36 0%| 0 Errors Ignored by User | ----------------------------------------------------------------- The line /LEND= indicates if lending is enabled and the total amount of memory available for lending. Add the lending amount to the available XMS from the MEM report and this will be the total amount of memory that Windows will be able to use. In the two reports above this would result in 2048K of XMS memory. This should be enough to run Windows 3.1 in Enhanced mode. 2. If an EMS page frame has been created (/FRAME=AUTO or /FRAME=
) make sure that other applications are not using EMS prior to running Windows. To find out if this is occurring, change the /FRAME switch to /FRAME=NONE, reboot the machine, and then attempt to launch Windows again. If Windows runs then you may have an EMS application in memory. 3. Computers with less than 4Mb (megabytes) of memory need to be very careful in their use of DPMS, VDISK and NWCACHE. All of these programs use extended memory, and there may not be enough memory remaining for Windows to run properly. Example 1 describes how to determine if there is enough XMS memory available to run Windows. Computers with 2MB of memory should not use EMM386.EXE to create upper memory. In addition the HMA (High Memory Area) should not be used. The easiest method to install EMM386 but not create upper memory is to add the /OFF switch to EMM386 in the CONFIG.SYS file. In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file add the line "EMM386 AUTO". This should be added near the end of the AUTOEXEC.BAT. This line will re-enable EMM386 and provide Windows compatibility. Note: The switches DPMI and MULTI should be removed before adding /OFF. This will mean that the Novell DOS Task Manager will not be able to load using this configuration. However, 2MB of RAM is generally not enough memory for Task Manager. If DPMS is loaded, it should be removed through SETUP or by editing CONFIG.SYS. The DOS switch in CONFIG.SYS should be changed to DOS=LOW. This will disable DOS relocation into the HMA. HIBUFFERS should be changed to BUFFERS. If you are loading SHARE, NLSFUNC, or KEYB, add the switch /ML to force the program(s) into conventional memory. The program(s) will normally load themselves into the HMA. 4. If you have a SCSI Busmaster controller it must support VDS (Virtual DMA Services) either in hardware or by means of a driver. Any SCSI Busmaster controller that does not support VDS needs to use either a driver supplied with the controller or a cache with double buffering. To enable double buffering with NWCACHE add the following line to your CONFIG.SYS: DEVICE=C:\NWDOS\DBLBUF.SYS Continue to load the cache as before. No additional changes are required for double buffering. 5. If Windows does not run either in Standard or Enhanced Mode, try reinstalling Windows and choosing standard installation, and do not change the settings that Windows finds as default. (e.g., do not change VGA driver if that is what Windows has found). Before reinstalling run CHKDSK, DISKOPT and VIRUS Scan, also rename or completely remove existing Windows directory. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------