Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!inebriae!bill From: bill@inebriae.UUCP (Bill Kennedy) Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386 Subject: 386/ix 2.0.2 install help (long) Keywords: ESDI WD1007 ISC 2.0.2 Message-ID: <441@inebriae.UUCP> Date: 9 Nov 89 13:40:13 GMT Distribution: na Organization: W.L. Kennedy Jr. and Associates, Pipe Creek, TX Lines: 100 I'm having a problem installing ISC 2.0.2 that I'm sure is something others have seen before, sorry for the length, just `n' if you don't want to hear about it. Also, please email if you can help, I doubt that this is a common or general problem. In fairness to ISC tech support, they have been helpful, but I seem to acquire the needed wisdom incrementally (one call per step) and I need to buckle up and get the darned thing done. The system is an old Micronics 16MHz motherboard, 6Mb RAM, no math chip. The BIOS is Award 2.09 (my vendor says that's OK for ESDI), monochrome video, Everex 60Mb tape, Computone AT-8, Logitech bus mouse, vanilla cloneware serial/parallel card. Everything but the video card, disk controller, and memory card were removed for the install. The drives are a pair of CDC 150Mb ESDI's. 967 cylinders, 9 heads, 36spt. The hard disk controller is a WD-1007-WA2 (hard/floppy combo), '89 copyright on the BIOS EPROM The system is running 1.0.6 with a pair of ST-506 drives. Here's what all transpired. First attempt (after formatting both drives with the controller BIOS, no alternate sector mode) stopped when the boot floppy tried to sign on, it stalled (hard stop) trying to display the amount of memory found. ISC tech support suggested trying another monochrome card, I snorted at that, but another video card did the trick. I've been able to use either card since, but in fairness, ISC was correct, I was just being hard headed. The next symptom was an inability to make a 32Mb DOS partition starting on cylinder 1. The fdisk would ask where I wanted it, I'd reply cylinder 1 for 199 cylinders and it would faithfully lay down a 200 cylinder partition starting on zero. At this point I still had the Computone AT-8 in the backplane, ISC suggested removing it, I did, but made no real progress. I deleted all partitions, tried using DOS fdisk, no behvaior change, so I just allocated the whole drive to UNIX. The final symptom at this point was no boot from the hard disk, no sign on or anything, just a flashing activity light, some seek chatter on drive zero and an occaisional activity flash on drive one. After I removed the DOS partition altogether I would get a very brief message on the screen about boot being unable to open something and the BIOS memory check would start again. Back to Santa Monica for more help. A side note to ISC if you're reading this, I understand how busy the phones get and hold on toll is an unavoidable evil, but a phone system that just drops the connection after five or six minutes is infuriating. It happened four times in one day, it can't be an isolated problem. When you're paying prime time LD to sit on hold it's a real attitude challenge to be cheerful when you're just dropped without ever having reached a human... Third try at ISC got a pretty savvy guy. The other two were OK, but this was the first tech I could understand without effort and who seemed to have a pretty good knowledge of the product. He was also sympathetic to my asking for his name so I wouldn't have to explain everything from scratch on each call, I haven't been able to reach him since :-( He suggested that I reformat the drives and use the alternate sector mode. The trade off of losing one sector per track vs getting installed seemed reasonable, so I did it. I also used DOS' (3.3) fdisk to lay down the DOS partition. All seemed normal, the DOS partition formatted OK and seemed to work (stay tuned) and 2.0.2 seemed to install OK, the controller had allocated the spare sector for the bad spots on the drive. This is where I stuck and abandoned the install and went back to 1.0.6. Now the system behaves as though it really wants to boot off of the hard disk. It comes up and signs on with "Loading the UNIX Operating System..." and the drive zero activity light flashes a few more times, but the boot does not proceed from there. I'll speculate that the first level boot sector reads in OK but the controller/drive aren't being handled correctly from there and there isn't enough read in to be able to display a meaningful complaint. I thought it might be waiting for a or something, but it doesn't time out and proceed, it just stalls. With as many 2.0.2's out there installed and reading this group, I'm pretty sure that one of you will be able to help me quicker and easier than my finding that tech at ISC again. I'm not bashing their tech support, I must emphasize that each time I was able to get through I was given a suggestion that got me one step farther, but I don't know how many steps are remaining... Surely someone has encountered this already. Is it the second ESDI? At one point I did disconnect the other drive, but it didn't seem to help or harm (and it's a pain to keep setting up and setting up again). I can't return to the effort until Saturday and I will try with the second drive disabled, but eventually I have to have both working. Has anyone installed 2.0.2 with two ESDI's? If need be, I'll get another BIOS, but my vendor (who has never been mistaken before) assures me that Award 2.09 is old but still OK for a WD1007 controller. If I do need another BIOS, please tell me what to get (sorry, but only known-to-work please, I don't want to add another level of distraction) and I'll do it. Finally (mercifully!) some maybe related observations. When it wouldn't boot from the floppy I tried AT&T Vr3.1 with the exact same result, but Microport V/AT 2.4 came up and played. I didn't proceed with either of the other OS' but the boot behavior might suggest something. There are also some anomalies in DOS' behavior. The format seemed to go OK and the restore from diskettes appeared normal, but chkdsk reports all manner of things that should and shouldn't be directories and the files that I restored don't seem to be there. That suggests (to me) a BIOS problem, suggestions and experiences are eagerly sought and most welcome. Please email to the .signature address, that's the system I'm trying to install, it's back up on 1.0.6 (hopefully for only another day or so). Thanks a bunch, and sorry for the length. -- Bill Kennedy {texbell,att,cs.utexas.edu,sun!daver}!ssbn!bill bill@ssbn.WLK.COM or attmail!ssbn!bill