Microsoft KB Archive/121058

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DIR Results in Strange Characters When Using SCSI Drive

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Q121058

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows 95

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SYMPTOMS
When you are running MS-DOS version 6.0 or higher and you press the F4 or F8 key at the Starting Windows prompt, running the DIR command causes strange characters rather than a directory listing to be displayed.

CAUSE
This problem occurs if your hard disk is a SCSI drive that requires double buffering and the following line is loading in the CONFIG.SYS (CONFIG.DOS) file:

  DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D800-DFFF

RESOLUTION
To correct this problem, insert the command doublebuffer=1 in the MSDOS.SYS file. To insert this line, do the following:

 Start Windows 95. Click the Start button on the taskbar and then click Run.  In the Open box, type the following: "attrib -s -h -r c:\msdos.sys" Click the Start button on the taskbar and then click Run.  In the Open box, type the following: "notepad c:\msdos.sys"  In the [Options] section, add the following line: "doublebuffer=1" NOTE: The doublebuffer=1 setting is a conditional setting that enables double buffering for controllers that need it.  Click Save on the File menu.</ol>

If the above steps do not correct the problem, you may need to use the doublebuffer=2 setting instead of the doublebuffer=1 setting. To do so, follow these steps:

<ol> Click the Start button on the taskbar and then click Run.</li>  In the Open box, type the following: "attrib -s -h -r msdos.sys"</li> Click the Start button on the taskbar and then click Run.</li>  In the Open box, type the following: "notepad c:\msdos.sys"</li>  In the [Options] section, modify the doublebuffer=1 line that you added in step 6 above so that it appears as follows: "doublebuffer=2" NOTE: The doublebuffer=2 setting is an unconditional setting that enables double buffering regardless of whether the controller needs it or not. </li> Click Save on the File menu.</li></ol>

MORE INFORMATION
This is a MS-DOS 6.x configuration problem, not a problem in Windows 95. When you boot under Windows 95, double buffering is automatically provided if needed. This is not the case with MS-DOS versions 6.0 and higher.

This problem is known to occur with the following SCSI hard disks:

<pre class="FIXEDTEXT">  Seagate ST1200N external drive Additional query words: 1.0 1.00 6.00 6.2 6.20 6.21 6.22 garbage trash settings double-buffering scuzzy 3rdparty

Keywords : diskmem win95

Issue type :

Technology : kbWin95search kbWin95