XP with SCSI "mystery" finally solved

[EvilHorace]

Original thread title: ["Beware: XP can break your SCSI PC!"]

Being bored, daring, or possibly a temporary bout of insanity , I tryed installing XP over my known good version of Win2K on my SCSI dual boot PC. It's working now on this PC (my older IDE Celeron PC, upgraded from Win2K) so I wasn't anticipating a total disaster that's now occured.
XP checks for any hardware/software issues and lists them before install, giving you the option to stop but then during install (near the end too), I see this message at the bottom of the screen saying that I might need 3rd party SCSI and Raid drivers (really nice at that point, thanks MS! )
Of coarse, if the thing can't boot,how would one
do that?
Well......Blue error message screen! (not a BSOD but close)

I can't proceed past that, I've tryed doing what it suggests, still no change. Can't even go into XP safe mode.

The same PC dual boots and thanks to FP, it's now funtional in Win98SE once again so at least the PC isn't totally shot.

I posted this story in more detail here:
http://www.xp-erience.org/modules.php?o ... ad&tid=617
....but so far havent gotten a "good" answer IMHO ( I shouldn't need to now reflash my Abit KT7raid Mobo, no)
It's not OCd now either BTW, the 1ghz AMD T-Bird CPU is at 1ghz. Yes, 256mb ram too.

It may not be a SCSI or Raid related issue but I mentioned that because I saw that message as it was finishing its XP install so it might indeed be the problem (and then maybe not). There's some sort of serious conflict and my SB Live value card is still removed from the mobo as I've read those have been problematic with XP as well.

Any ideas how I get fix this new mess?

Can I get a DOS prompt (maybe) and go back to a Win2K install (forgetting about XP on that PC)?

BTW, yes...I'm sorry Shouldn't even tryed XP on that box

[FlyingPenguin]

Can you boot into XP safe mode? If you're still getting the boot menu you should be able to hit F8 to bring up boot options and select safe mode.

From withing safe mode you might be able to uninstall XP - there should be an uninstall option in the Add/Remove Programs section of Control Panel.

As far as I know there's no way to uninstall XP from the DOS prompt.


A FAIR WARNING TO ALL: Make a Ghost image of your drive BEFORE upgrading the OS. I've been burned too!

[EvilHorace]

Doesn't do safe mode at all.

There's really nothing a great importance on that PC anyway and I did save all my photos to cds before too. It still does Win98 anyway so it's not a total loss but it'd surely be nice to fix the other OS to something usuable.

[FlyingPenguin]

Well if you don't mind losing whatever's installed, just delete the \WINDOWS and \PROGRAM FILES folders on the XP partition (or wipe the whole partition) and reinstall Win2K.

[EvilHorace]

OK, if I become totally convinced there's no other cure for fixing XP on that PC, that's what I'll do. Thanks.

I'd like to be able to fix XP on it but (to me now), it's not looking good.

[EvilHorace]

I found this at that XP sites bug report page (same error I'm seeing)



Issue:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

Additional Information:

The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or Stop 0x0000000A errors are able to be generated by both software and hardware issues. The message indicates that a kernel mode process or driver attempted to access a memory address that it did not have access to.

These error messages are generally formatted in the following fashion:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0xwwwwwwww, 0xxxxxxxxx, 0xyyyyyyyy, 0xzzzzzzzz)

0xwwwwwwww The address that was referenced improperly.
0xxxxxxxxx IRQL that was required to access the memory.
0xyyyyyyyy Type of access.
0xzzzzzzzz Address of instruction that attempted to access 0xwwwwwwww.

Cause:

This issue can be caused by any of the following possibilities:

Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT issue
Windows NT 3.51 upgrade from Windows NT 4.0
Service Pack
Driver issue
Hardware issue
Solution:

Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT issue

Exact error is as follows:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000015a, 0x0000001c, 0x00000000, 0x80116bf4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT 2.5.1(9607) and 2.5.2(9609) are not compatible with Windows NT 4.0

Uninstall Mcafee

Windows NT 3.51 upgrade from Windows NT 4.0

Exact error is as follows:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000015a, 0x0000001c, 0x00000000, 0x80116bf4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If you have upgraded your computer to Windows NT 4.0 from Windows NT 3.51 and have a server with Gateway Services for Netware to Windows NT 4.0 installed remove the Gateway Services for Netware and reinstall the service to resolve this issue.

Service Pack

Exact error is as follows:

STOP 0x0000000a (0x00000006, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, **********) IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

********** - This portion may vary

Earlier service packs may have had issues with the TCP handling and updating the Service Pack will resolve the issue. Ensure you have the latest service pack installed in the computer.

Links to locations to download the latest service packs can be found through our Windows NT download section.

Driver issue

Drivers which have errors of their own can also cause the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error. Consider updating or reinstalling your drivers (more specifically your network and/or SCSI drivers).

For a listing of driver manufacturer company pages see our drivers page.

Hardware issue

In the event that the above information does not help to resolve your issue it is possible that the computer may be encountering a hardware issue. Attempt to exchange or replace hardware in the computer. Our recommendation would be:

RAM / CPU / NIC

MdSalih

P.S. would have written it simpley but don't have time atm...


____________________
Mail: MdSalih
Private Message: MdSalih

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EvilHorace

XP Home



"Drivers which have errors of their own can also cause the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error.

On my PC, it says to make sure all hardware and software is properly installed and if prob still exists, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable Bios memory options such as caching or shadowing.


That's my error message and I was running Win2K with service pack #2 installed, plus it's a SCSI HDD. During the final part of the XP install, I saw a message that said I might need 3rd party SCSI or and/Raid drivers BUT how exactly can I do that now that it won't boot past that error screen? IE: NO OS!

It refuses to go into XP safe mode too so I'm totally stumped. If I could go into safe mode, I could dissable a few things but that's just not an option now.
Any ideas short of re-formatting (something that one shouldn't need to do for an OS upgrade IMHO)?


Pretty nasty mess IMO.

[Kakarot]

I know in win2k the boot menu has a recovery console type of option, which is like win2k's version of a DOS prompt. From there you can do lots of things, like replace drivers etc. I haven't really used it much so I don't know much about it. I've never used XP so I don't know if it has something similar or not. May be something to look into tho.

EDIT: here is what windows 2000 help has to say about using the recovery console(for windows 2000--and I was wrong, its not on the boot menu unless you install it).... maybe its the same way with XP... not sure:

To run the Recovery Console on a system that will not start

Insert the Windows 2000 Professional Setup Disk 1 (3.5-inch) into your disk drive or, if you have a bootable CD-ROM drive, insert the Windows 2000 Professional CD into your CD-ROM drive.
Restart your computer.
Follow the directions on the screen. If you are using the Setup disks, you will be prompted to insert the other Setup disks into the disk drive. It may take several minutes to load files. Choose the options to repair your Windows 2000 installation, and finally to start the Recovery Console.
Notes

You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.
To see the commands available on the Recovery Console, type help at the command prompt.
As an alternative, you can install the Recovery Console on your computer so it is always available. See Related Topics for information on installing the Recovery Console.

[EvilHorace]

I'll look into that but I have my doubts such an option exists with XP. XP doesn't create a bootable floppy as Win98/Win2K did. I think they've omited that as an option and from the error screen, I don't see any useable options if it can't even do safe mode.

[Kakarot]

As it mentions in the quote above you can boot off the CD also to do the recovery console. Yea, I did notice right off the bat the complete lack boot disks(or the option to make them) for the install.

[EvilHorace]

Being short on work today, I browsed over to Anandtechs OS forum where there's many XP related stories but at the top someone there has compiled a really neat list of usefull XP info.
I even found a link for a downloadable XP bootup floppy
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/rele ... seid=33291
Perhaps with that, I can try another install over what's there now in the event that just maybe (?) it'd work a second time.

Now (it's been a while) but with a dual boot OS, does anyone here know or remember how to boot a new OS while leaving the other one (Win98) intact? I don't know if it'd be possible to accidentally boot over that working OS.
I initially upgraded from inside the Win2K OS, installed the cd and the program began from Windows as one normally does upgrades. During the install, at one reboot it actually showed 3 OSs (Win98, Win2K and XP but the next time it only showed Win98 and XP).
If that still won't work, can I try a Win2K OS install the same way, from a bootable floppy without having to delete existing files in that partition? If not, that's no big deal as I can still access and save any files I want to while in Win98 and move them to another partition or HDD.

[Emo]

I don't have a suggestion for what's going on, but I just want to remark that I installed Win XP Pro over the weekend and it was the easiest install I've done in years. My computer is mainly scsi (Adaptec 29160 with IBM 36LZX as bootup drive, two Plextor 40x and 8x20) but I have a pair of IBM ide drives off Hotrod Pro 100 RAID controller. Win XP recognized all devices with no problem and has run great so far. I did a clean install from the CD after formatting the C:\.

[EvilHorace]

What NO one ever mentioned anywhere was that during both XP and Win2K install, it re-boots and IF the installer fails to see and take immediate action when a message shows briefly at the very bottom of the screen regarding hitting the F6 key to install 3rd party SCSI adaptor software, you'll get that blue error screen and that error screen tells one nothing about the fact that one failed to install the SCSI adaptor driver but apparently leaves one on a "wild goose chase" instead .

This time, after formatting the D drive and re-installing Win2K, I caught that message and responded in time the second time (re-booted). Once the SCSI adaptor cards driver was installed, Win2K installed.
The same would work perfectly for XP too if Tekram has XP drivers for my card and I'll check but probably keep Win2K in that PC until I'm convinced that XP is better (not yet impressed with this PC) and that all the needed drivers are available for my newer PCs cards, etc.
It runs fine with both Win98SE and Win2K so I can't justify problems due to poor driver support.

Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind on that but not at the moment.

At the time being, Tekrams site doesn't list ANY XP drivers for my SCSI adaptor http://store.tekramusa.com/shop/product ... =4&sku=416 (not found via search there either or listed in drivers, everything but)
............so unless (by chance ?) the Win2K driver would work, XP won't install on my SCSI machine.