Primary, Secondary or Both IDE Controllers Disabled After Attempting to Load Bus Mastering Drivers

Description of problem: One or both of the IDE controllers are disabled upon boot after loading the Intel Bus mastering drivers on a system with a Thor, Aurora, Tiger-eye, Mailman, or Venus systemboard.

Hardware/Software affected: All Thor, Aurora, Tiger-eye, Mailman, and Venus systemboards, Windows 95 CD discs with the part numbers SWROPC010ABWW and SWROPC009ABWW, and diskettes with part numbers SWRDSX065AAWW and SWRDSX065ABWW.

The following chart contains the Gateway part number, which is located on the invoice received with the computer, and the Reference name of the systemboard. For the sake of simplicity, the rest of this document uses the Reference name of the systemboard.

Gateway part #	Reference name
MBDSAC032AAWW, MBDSAC033AAWW, MBDSAC034AAWW, MBDSAC035AAWW, MBDSAC036AAWW, MBDSAC037AAWW, MBDSAC032ABWW, MBDSAC033ABWW, MBDSAC034ABWW, MBDSAC035ABWW, MBDSAC036ABWW, MBDSAC037ABWW, MBDSAC057AAWW, MBDSAC056AAWW	Tiger-eye
MBDSAC020AAWW, MBDSAC020ACWW, MBDSAC021ABWW, MBDSAC021ACWW,	Aurora
MBDSAC016AAWW, MBDSAC016ABWW, MBDSAC017AAWW, MBDSAC017ABWW, MBDSAC019AAWW, MBDSAC019ABWW, MBDSAC023AAWW, MBDSAC023ABWW, MBDSAC024AAWW, MBDSAC024ABWW, MBDSAC024ACWW, MBDSAC027AAWW, MBDSAC027ABWW, MBDSAC028AAWW, MBDSAC028ABWW, MBDSAC029AAWW, MBDSAC029ABWW, MBDSAC030AAWW, MBDSAC030ABWW, MBDSAC044AAWW, MBDSAC044ABWW, MBDSAC045AAWW, MBDSAC045ABWW, MBDSAC046AAWW, MBDSAC046ABWW, MBDSAC047AAWW, MBDSAC047ABWW	Thor
MBDSAC026AAWW, MBDSAC026ABWW, MBDSAC038AAWW, MBDSAC038ABWW, MBDSAC067AAWW	Venus
MBDSAC050AAWW, MBDSAC051AAWW, MBDSAC052AAWW, MBDSAC049AAWW, MBDSAC053AAWW, MBDSAC054AAWW, MBDSAC055AAWW, MBDSAC056AAWW, MBDSAC058AAWW, MBDSAC059AAWW, MBDSAC060AAWW, MBDSAC061AAWW, MBDSAC062AAWW, MBDSAC063AAWW, MBDSAC064AAWW	Mailman

Solution: The incorrect version of the Bus Mastering drivers are being used.

For the THOR systemboard, choose the "Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controllers".

For the Aurora systemboard, choose the "Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controllers".

For the Tiger-eye and Mailman systemboards, choose the "Intel 82371SB PCI Bus Master IDE Controllers".

For the Venus systemboard, choose the "Intel 82371SB PCI Bus Master IDE Controllers".

Section 1 - Removing the Splats (!) and reloading the Bus Mastering Drivers

System settings

Make sure that BIOS settings for PCI IDE INTERFACE and SECONDARY PCI INTERFACE are ENABLED, and also make sure that your BIOS corresponds to the amount of drives physically mounted in the machine. Refer to FaxBack^® document 3161 for more detailed instructions on the proper CMOS or BIOS settings.

On POST, verify that both the HARD DISK and CD-ROM are being recognized by DEVICE NAME. If not, use the CLEAR NVRAM DISK, boot to this diskette and run the CLRNVS file. The Clear NVRAM program may have to be run several times in order to properly clear the settings. NOTE: If NVRAM is cleared you’ll have to enter CMOS again and set boot options up properly. Be sure to document the settings before running the CLEAR NVRAM program. Refer to FaxBack^® document 3163 for complete instructions on creating and using the CLRNVS program.

Removing and reloading the bus mastering files

1. Right click the My Computer icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Click the word Explore on the menu that appears to open the Explorer window. In Explorer, double click the C:\ drive. Double click the WINDOWS folder. Under the Windows folder, locate and double click the INF folder on the left hand side of the screen.
2. On the right hand side of the screen the files within the INF folder are displayed. Locate the MSHDC.INF file on the screen. Right click the file MSHDC.INF, then click the word Rename that appears on the menu. The file is now highlighted. Type:

   MSHDC.XXX

   and press Enter to rename this file.
3. Press the F3 key at the top of the keyboard to search for another file. The blinking cursor is located in the Named: box. Type:

   IDEATAPI.MPD

   and make sure the Look In: box says My Computer. Click the Find Now button. DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE. Make sure that it is in the C:\PIIXIDE directory or the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS directory.

   If the IDEATAPI.MPD file is not on the hard drive, run the Intel Bus Mastering Installation program from diskette or CD and choose the Extract option. DO NOT use the Install option.

   Click the X button in the upper right hand corner of any open windows until you return to the Desktop.
4. Right click the My Computer icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Click the word Properties that appears on the menu. Across the top of the window are four tabs: General, Device Manager, Hardware Profiles, and Performance. Click the Device Manager tab to view this information.
5. Make sure the View devices by connection setting at the top of the screen has a bullet beside it. Highlight Plug and Play BIOS. Click the Remove button at the bottom of the screen. When prompted to restart Windows, choose No. Make sure the Display Adapter and CD-ROM are deleted. After all the above devices are removed, then restart Windows 95.
   If the CD-ROM is absent in Device Manager, the real mode drivers are probably loading. Delete or remark out any references to the CD-ROM in the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS and restart Windows 95.
6. When the system restarts, Windows 95 states that the display adapter is not configured properly. Click OK to start the Hardware Wizard. Click the NEXT button on the next two screens.
7. The system starts the detection process. A dialog box appears informing you that Windows could not open *.INF. This is normal since the system is searching for the renamed MSHDC.INF file. Click the Cancel button, then click the Finish button. When prompted, restart Windows 95.
8. When system boots up, Windows 95 reports New Hardware Found For Unknown Device. Click the Cancel button. When prompted by Windows 95, use the default drivers for any other components being added by clicking the Yes button.
   Note: At this point if you need to install the Intel bus mastering drivers, choose Have Disk and refer to the C:\PIIXIDE or the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS directory where the IDEATAPI.MPD file is located.
9. If ANY other messages appear prompting you to insert Windows 95 CD, click the Cancel button. The CD-ROM is not functional at this time. Click the No button when asked to restart after installation of the Primary IDE Controller. Install the Secondary IDE controller, then restart. The controllers should function properly.
   NOTE: More than likely the video drivers or other drivers must be reloaded after this procedure.

Section 2 - Creating a CLRNVS Diskette

Most of the time, repeated attempts to load the bus mastering drivers result in both controllers being disabled. This happens even though the IDE controllers are set to Enabled on the PERIPHERAL CONFIGURATION screen in the BIOS or CMOS. To reset the IDE controllers to a useable state, the CLRNVS utility must be run.

Refer to FaxBack^® document 3163 for complete instructions on creating and using the CLRNVS utility. Refer to FaxBack^® documents 3159, 3160, and 3161 for additional information about this difficulty.

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