#MS-DOS 6.0 problems!!
9 messages in this thread
Attention bridgeboard owners…
The current word is, MS-DOS 6.0 is not compatible with ANY machine with a
Phoenix BIOS.
Since the 286/386/486 has a combonation PHOENIX / CBM BIOS you will most
likly have problems using MS-DOS 6.0 with your bridgeboard.
Please get in touch with MicroSoft BEFORE you purchase MS-DOS 6.0 or if
you are having problems, to see if they have fixed this incompatiblity.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
I've been running DOS 6.0 at work since it's early beta stages and now
with the final release. I have a Phoenix BIOS and AMI BIOS based 486's..
neither have problems with DOS 6.0…
-Jonathan
I haven't any hands on experience with MS-DOS 6.0. I'm only relaying what
I have heard.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Dave,
Well..since I'm running an NCR notebook with a Phoenix BIOS and MS-DOS
6.0 with NO problems…then your "current word" is quite wrong.
Why don't you try to verify these wild rumors before you post them?
Microsoft has been quite willing to note that certain revs of certain BIOS
ROMs are incompatible (in particular the AMI BIOS roms before a certain
rev level [which level I forget]) and I've seen NO mention of any
incompatability with the Phoenix BIOS ROMs either from Microsoft or from
users.
BTW, NCR (AT&T) has just certified ALL their ISA/EISA machines for use
under MS-DOS 6 and every NCR machine we have has a Phoenix BIOS ROM…so I
presume (but don't know for sure) that all their machines use Phoenix
ROMs.
Don
I've gotten this information from a buddy of mine at Sharp. They put
MS-DOS in about 20 machines. About 10 of them had a Phoenix BIOS and would
not work. When they got in touch with Micro Soft they were told there are
problems with the Phoenix BIOS. This is the word right form MS.
This is not a WILD rumor..it is the word right from MS. Maybe the tech guy
they spoke to was an idiot…I don't know.
If you look at the post…I asked people to verify this info by calling
MS. If I had the time to sit on hold for hour I would call and find out
myself, and I do have plans to. But right now I am unable to call.
Better to be safe then sorry…..
Dave
PS…tell my customer who is shipping me his 486 board right now that 6.0
works OK. He finally got 5.0 but on the machine. To bad it crashes each
time he tries to run a program.
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Dave,
On Sharp machines, the problem is NOT the BIOS, but rather the
SAVE_TO_DISK (or perhaps SLEEP_TO_DISK..I forget the exact wording Sharp
uses) sleep mode that Sharp laptops use. This is a problem with Sharp
machines and DoubleSpace…and it's been stated so by MicroSoft.
So yes, your buddy is (in your own words) an idiot.
Do you honestly believe that MicroSoft wouldn't thoroughly test any new
release with the #1 selling BIOS ROMs?
FYI, the reason the SAVE(SLEEP)_TO_DISK is causing problems is when a
Sharp goes into sleep mode…it writes all it's memory out to disk. When
doublespace is active, that information gets compressed of course.
Everything is well and good at this point…then the problem occurs. The
system powers down the CPU and RAM. What's supposed to occur when it
comes out of suspend mode is that it re-reads that information from disk
and back to RAM. Of course at this point, it can't find it…the save
file is no longer visible since doublespace is not yet been reactivated.
This is what the Microsoft product support folks have been saying. It
certainly makes a whole lot more sense than some generic problem with all
ROMs from a major manufacturer.
As to your customer…I would strongly suspect the fault lies somewhere
other than in DOS 6 itself. It is possible that DOS 6 brought out an
existing weakness in the 386BB itself…or in your modifications to the
board to make it a 486 BB. I have no idea which may be true.
In fact, it could be as simple as your customer not following the
upgrade instructions or reading the manual. DOS 6 in an of itself, is
nothing but DOS 5 with a few new utilities. For example, many folks
reported problems trying to use the versions of EMM386 or SmartDrv that
were supplied with Windows 3.1 rather than the newer versions of the same
programs supplied with DOS 6. As soon as they switched to the new
versions (and this IS mentioned in the manual) their problems
disappeared.
Don
My buddy works at Sharp, he is a teacher….and quite frakly will make you
look like a slobbering fool when speaking about networks. I was stating
that maybe the tech support guy at MS was an idiot….
Do I honestly believe they won't test it?? Wouldn't surprise me. Seens
their policy is make the hardware conform to the software.
I do not think these all sharp notebook, though I do know SOME where.
He said the machines WOULD NOT EVEN boot.
The problems my customer has is with DOS 5.0 installed. 6.0 SEEMED to
uninstall, but he can't get ANYTHING to run right.
Dave
Elite MicroComputers – Flying high on AutoPilot
Dave,
We weren't talking networks here Dave, we were talking about the
effects of DOS 6 and Phoenix BIOS ROMs. Lots and lots of people could make me
look like an idiot when it comes to PC based networks…just about anyone
can…I don't do PC networks unless they hook into my minis at work…and then
only via TCP/IP.
Why don't you call your buddy back…and have him recheck his facts
about what exactly is going on. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the
problems are related to the sleep_to_disk issue as I've (and Sharp and
Microsoft) stated.
Again…I'd suggest your buddy didn't follow the manuals. There are
several steps along the way where there are prompts specifically stating that
if you continue you will not be able to uninstall using the uninstall disk
(presuming your customer made one in the first place). I've seen messages from
users who ignored those warnings…and are having severe problems trying to get
back to DOS 5 without having a backup or doing a full re-install from scratch
of DOS 5. The problems they were experiencing dealt with mixing incompatible
versions of the software for the most part.
Don
I'm not having problems – and I don't think any of the people up here who
have installed DOS 6 are, either. I checked GEnie a few days ago, and
didn't find any reports there. I'm just not sure that's an accurate
report. The Phoenix BIOS is pretty widely used.
…..Nancy
From Edmonton, AB, Canada