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Conference giadev::decstation

Title:DECstation PC Conference
Notice:register note 2, see notes 3 & 4
Moderator:TARKIN::LININD
Created:Tue Jan 10 1989
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:7470
Total number of notes:34994

7332.0. "onboard sio test hangs, CMOS checksum mismatch, shutdown hangs" by LNZALI::BACHNER (Mouse not found. Click OK to continue) Tue Jan 28 1997 08:45

I'm seeing three problems on my Venturis FP590:

- while a power-up boot (to NT boot manager --> Windows 95) usually works fine,
  the PC experiences frequent hangs when I do a warm restart (e.g. by using 
  the Shutdown option 'Restart Windows 95', or whatever the exact wording is
  in the English Windows version, or by pressing <Ctrl+Alt+Del> when some piece 
  of software hangs the PC). During POST, the line 
  110: Initiate Onboard SIO
  is displayed at the bottom of the screen and then the PC just hangs.

- also during warm reboots, but not as often as the above symptom, I get an 
  error message that the CMOS checksum is incorrect, and that I should enter 
  Setup. In setup I can't find any strange settings (though I'm not sure about
  the original values of all of them), and exiting with a Save operation usually
  cures the problem.

- sometimes, a normal Windows 95 shutdown just hangs before I get the message 
  'it is now safe to turn off your computer'. When this happens, the disk 
  activity LED remains lit. (This is the onboard EIDE controller, with a single
  850 MB disk attached to it. The only other disk controller is an ASUS AS200 
  SCSI adapter, with the Symbios/NCR 53C810 chip; this one has only a CD-ROM
  drive attached to it).

Is there anything I should check ?  Or is this more likely related to a
hardware/component problem ?

Thanks for your help,
Hans.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
7332.1Venturis FP590 and SIO hangsPCBUOA::GKELLEYTue Jan 28 1997 08:569
    Do you have any PCI devices installed such as a network card? If so,
    the problem may be a PCI reset problem where the NIC or other PCI
    device is still holding the memory or bus. Usually this is solved by
    powering off the system. Also, if you're running Win95, make sure that
    the Plug&Play OS value in BIOS (I don't really know if that is in your
    system) is set to Yes (this is necessary when running legecy devices in
    a Win95 system that has P&P devices).
    
    glen kelley
7332.2LNZALI::BACHNERMouse not found. Click OK to continueTue Jan 28 1997 11:4421
Yes, I do have a PCI device - an ASUS AS200 SCSI controller (based on the
NCR/Symbios 53C810 chip - hope I remember the model number correctly).

I've already tried both PCI slots but this did not help.

The other cards I've installed in that PC are both ISA-cards - a DE205 NIC and a
Terratec sound card.

> Usually this is solved by powering off the system.

It certainly is. But I hate to press the power switch when I don't really want
to stop working. I've heard that powering a system on is the most 'dangerous'
thing with respect to breaking hardware.

And yes, BIOS is set to PnP OS.

Thanks for your explanation - probably deserves me right for buying a cheep SCSI
card. But then, with the onboard NCR SCSI controller on my other PC, I didn't
want to mix too much hardware types to remain free in swapping disks etc.

Hans.
7332.3PCI resetPCBUOA::GKELLEYTue Jan 28 1997 17:238
    The problem is wide spead in the PC industry and is not limited to
    Digital. In all new models starting with the Venturis FX, we have put a
    fix in to hard reset the PCI buss. This is not the best solution, but
    with all the differences in implementation of the PCI spec (and the
    lack of clear guidelines in the NIC area) it was felt that this was the
    best way to solve the problem.
    
    glen kelley
7332.4what kind of fix ?LNZALI::BACHNERMouse not found. Click OK to continueThu Jan 30 1997 08:078
> In all new models starting with the Venturis FX, we have put a
>    fix in to hard reset the PCI buss.

Is this a 'hardwired' fix or a BIOS fix ?  If the latter, is ist realistic to
expect BIOS updates for the 'older' PCs ?  (Yeah, 'old' is relative...)

Thanks.
Hans.
7332.5Venturis FX and PCI resetPCBUOA::GKELLEYThu Jan 30 1997 11:073
    Hardware fix, no BIOS fix for older systems.
    
    glen kelley
7332.6does Windows 95 something special ?LNZALI::BACHNERMouse not found. Click OK to continueTue Apr 08 1997 15:419
Is shutting down / restarting Windows 95 such a strange thing ?  I found out
that the hang during 'initiate onboard SIO' *only* happens when I restart
Windows 95 (or use <Ctrl+Alt+Del> from Windows 95).

I can happyly restart DOS 6.22 or Windows NT 3.51 - it only hangs after Win95.

Confused&curious,

Hans.
7332.7Use power down to resetPCBUOA::GKELLEYWed Apr 09 1997 12:228
    The problem is with the "soft" boot (using Crtl-alt-del). First, you
    should never use this method to reboot Win95, second, if you're
    planning to reboot, why not power down? It really doesn't affect the
    hardware like it did years ago.
    
    With a hard power down, you are always assured that the PCI gets reset.
    
    glen kelley