Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!mailrus!ncar!ico!dougp
From: dougp@ico.isc.com (Doug Pintar)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.i386
Subject: Re: Help needed with ISC 2.2 installation.
Message-ID: <1990Jul24.193422.29239@ico.isc.com>
Date: 24 Jul 90 19:34:22 GMT
References: <860@augean.ua.OZ.AU> <8689@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu> <32012@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: dougp@ico.ISC.COM (Doug Pintar)
Organization: Interactive Systems Corp., Boulder CO
Lines: 33

In article <32012@cup.portal.com> emeyer@cup.portal.com (Eric Paul Meyer) writes:
>
>2) Install floppy crashing
>
>When I pressed the interrupt key while installing, INSTALL destryoed
>my INSTALL floppy, beyhond any hope of repair. The INSTALL has some
>serious bug to do that. I can repeat the step easily. RESULT: I cannot
>install my system and I need a new disk from INTERATIVE. (See below).
>Note: The INSTALL software destroyed the INSTALL disk by writing 0xff
>in every second byte on sector 7/8/11/12 of track 0 side 0, sector
>4/5/7/8 of track 0 side 1 and in the FS block (track 0 side 0 sector 1)...
>
This is not an INSTALL problem as stated, but rather seems to be due to a
hardware conflict.  Eric doesn't say, but I'd be willing to bet that he has
a VGA controller set up to run with a 16-bit BIOS.  Quite a few of these
boards seem to drive the AT bus into 16-bit mode ALL the time, rather than
just when their BIOS is being accessed.  This tends to screw up 8-bit DMA to
the floppy, with every other byte being written as 0xFF.  The solution is to
jumper- or switch-set the VGA board to being in 8-bit mode (if it is possible
to do this -- it is on most) or to plug the board into an 8-bit slot.  This
will in no way affect system performance, as we don't use the BIOS anyway
once the system boots.  Most VGA chipsets use 8-bit paths internally anyway.

This has fixed the problem in every instance I'm aware of.  DON'T try a
new diskette until you've changed your configuration, or it'll get scunged,
too.  If it's any consolation, this one bit the ISC VP in charge of technical
product stuff, too... :-)

>3) Dealing with INTERACTIVE
>
I hope this, at least, helps some people.  We each do what we can...

Doug Pintar