Microsoft KB Archive/130376

= Installing Windows NT On a Caching SCSI Controller =

Article ID: 130376

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5

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This article was previously published under Q130376



SYMPTOMS
When you install Windows NT 3.5 on a Windows NT file system (NTFS) partition using a SCSI Host Adapter with an onboard cache, Windows NT may not get installed correctly. After the initial installation completes the system reboots for the first time and then tries to convert the FAT partition to NTFS. The conversion appears to take place correctly and then reboots a second time. The system continually reboots itself.



CAUSE
When the conversion from FAT to NTFS takes place, the SCSI controller caches information about the converted partition (in this case NTFS). When the computer is rebooted, the SCSI controller is supposed to write status information to the disk, indicating that it is now an NTFS partition. Some computers, such as the Intel P90 PCI, issue a hard reset when the computer is rebooted. This flushes the partition status information from the controller's cache before it is written to the disk. Because the data in the cache is lost, the Windows NT continues to try to convert the FAT drive to NTFS after the computer is rebooted.



WORKAROUND
In some cases this problem can be avoided by either disabling the SCSI onboard cache or by physically removing it. The cache for some controllers may need to remain enabled. In particular, on some controllers that support hardware RAID, disabling cache is not possible. In that case, the only workaround is to install Windows NT as FAT on the boot drive.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.5. This problem was corrected in Windows NT version 3.51.

Additional query words: 3.51 prodnt scsi install

Keywords: KB130376

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