Conference giadev::decstation

I've seen weird stuff happen like this before. Try new drivers available at
the
Matrox home page    http://www.matrox.com

Steve Kaniowski
Regional Support
Australia
[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

    I re-installed the updated Matrox Millenium drivers (dated 17-March)
    from their web site.  Same problem - no animation on the pointer.  Not
    really a big deal but it irks me - any other suggestions?
    
    /Chris/

    Any real-mode drivers being loaded from CONFIG.SYS?
    
    			Steve

    You aren't by any chance running REACHOUT? If so, remove the statements
    from SYSTEM.INI in the [Enh386] section that refer to REACHOUT.
    
    glen kelley

    Nope - this is a brand spanking new Win95 and Plus! installation.  No
    software other than Office 97 running and no real mode drivers in sight
    - in fact this is the first time in my life I've ever had empty
    CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
    
    Couldn't get much cleaner from a software point of view - I have my
    doubts about the Matrox MGA though - the Celebris 6200 uses an OEM
    version (on a chip), right?.  Anyone else got animated pointers working
    on this spiffy new machine?
    
    /Chris/

    
    	One item that probably doesn't apply is we have had to re-apply
    the plus kit after installing Office 97 or changing themes access
    violates the unzipper.
    
    						Bill 

     The qualified video drivers are on pcbu web site,they are at 
     http://pcbu.ako.dec.com ,look for Celebris GL products.
     These drivers has been tested and qualifed with different OS.
    
    regards,
    Judy

    You may try to upply the techtip from the PCBU WEB/BBS:
    
    IJ90IDEA.TXT - Compatability Mode Fix Tech Tip for Starion Systems
    

    Thanks to all for your help - I believe that I am now on the track of
    the problem but still have not fully understood it nor resolved it.
    
    I do indeed have the Win95 configuration running in DOS compatibility
    mode.  The System Performance applet indicates comaptibility mode on
    the diskette A: and hard drive C: - the Help text says that this is
    usually due to real mode drivers loaded in CONFIG.SYS but as I have
    previously stated, my CONFIG.SYS is empty.  
    
    The tech tips referred to (IJ90IDEA.TXT) explains how to edit the
    registry to change NOIDE values - but this is not applicable to our
    Celebris 6200i systems.
    
    Help!  I have a bunch of these new machines.  How do I get them out of
    DOS compatibility mode?
    
    /Chris/

    Have you done a search in the registry for the entry NOIDE? Even
    thought the tech tip is for a different system, it may have the same
    problem. See if the NOIDE is present in the registry and if it is,
    remove the line and see if it helps.
    
    regards,
    glen kelley

    Yes - I've searched the registry for NOIDE - it doesn't exist which is
    why I stated it was not relevant - sorry if that wasn't clear.
    
    What are the more generic reasons that a system goes into DOS
    compatibility mode?  Will a re-install of Win95 fix the problem?
    If someone is going to say "yes - re-install Win95" does the disk
    really need to be FDISK'd prior to install to have any effect on
    compatibility mode?
    
    /Chris/

    I had a similar problem last week with a DECpcXL.  I tried to use the
    Starion fix too, but there was no NOIDE statement that I could find
    either.  FInally, my third re-install of windows, after renaming all
    config.*, autoexec.* files and deleting all suspicious log files and
    leftover install processing files - essentially emptying the C:\root of
    individual files, everything installed right and I got rid of the
    compatibility mode problem.  To be on the safe side, I also put in some
    later dated .sys files for the CMD60xx IDE chips that were purported to
    fix the win95 compatibility problem.  I found them by doing an ALta
    Vista search for cmd + ide.  They didn't seem to be on the cmd site. - I
    think it was the Acer site that had them, at
    http://www.acer.com/aac/win95/trouble/cmdwin95.htm.  
    
    I haven't tried them on my Starion at home yet.
    
    Also, at http://www.ece.uvic.ca/~wakeddy/notes/PCIController.html,
    there is some info on problems with the CMD controllers that appears to
    imply a manufacturer's cover up of some sort..........Jon.........
                          

    Sorry - the pointer to the controller flaw info is old news - see note
    6548 for more info..................Jon...............................

    What I think happens is that for some unknown reason, Win95 loses its
    way and sets the compatibility mode. Running the Detect New Hardware
    does not resolve this. The only way that I've found is to re-install
    Win95 from the CD - this uses a clear copy of the hardware detect
    module and will detect that your hardware will run in protected mode.
    Normally you do not have to change anything to re-install - its
    preserves your current registry settings.
    
    What I have done is to keep a copy of the registry files (SYSTEM.DAT
    AND USER.DAT) in backup copies that I have re-loaded when I've
    encountered this problem.
    
    This problem appears to happen to a number of systems (both Digital and
    others) and is not specifically related to the hardware. It seems to
    happen more often when you switch back and forth between Windows and
    DOS and use the CDROM during the DOS mode.
    
    glen

    Thank you to all my colleague for sticking with me on this weird
    problem.  I finally bit the bullet and destroyed a Win95, Plus,
    Exchange and Office97 disk config  and performed a fresh FDISK, re-install
    of Win95.
    
    No problems now with compatibility mode on the diskette nor the C drive
    and the machine now has the blinding speed I expected.
    
    *BUT* : Now the Ethernet interface is inoperative whereas it previously
    worked OK. The win95 install failed to detect it which is pretty
    unusual in my experience of Win95 installs.
    
    The interface is  DECchip 21142 fast Ethernet but when I
    (manually) load the drivers, Win95 shows it with an exclamation mark
    and suggests that I update the driver.  When I do this, I just end up
    chasing my tail.
    
    I really think that noter .-1 has put his finger on the essential
    issue.  Win95 sometimes gets confused on hardware detection when you
    use a DOS based CD-ROM driver.  My next move will be to transfer the
    Win95 distribution media onto the hard disk and perform yet another
    re-install without ever using the CD-ROM.
    
    Thanks for the help so far;
    
    /Chris/
    
    P.S. Anyone have a pointer to the latest and greatest 21142 Win95
    drivers?  I'm using the ones provided on the Celebris CD-ROM but I'd
    like to compare with the PCBU's latest version - couldn't seem to find
    one on their web server.

Look at www.networks.digital.com

		Steve

    This issue is now closed.  Basic problem was definitely the presence of
    compatibility mode on the hard disk - possibly related to the original
    manner that the IDE CD-ROM was set yp.  Fix was to re-install Win95 from
    scratch.
    
    Supplemental problem was that the distribution CD supplied with the 
    Celebris 6200GL has a glitch with the naming convention of the drivers
    for the on-board 21142 Ethernet interface.  Fix was to accept Win95's
    detection as generic PCI EThernet interface but to force the use of the
    21142 drivers rather than generic drivers suggested.
    
    /Chris/