DOCUMENT ID: 1333-02 SYNOPSIS: Removing conflicting driver device probes from a MDB diskette OS RELEASE: 2.1, 2.4 PRODUCT: Solaris KEYWORDS: MDB device probe conflict SYMPTOMS: Controller cards with same hardware address are falsely classified. DESCRIPTION: As the population of devices for the P.C. market grows the demand for hardware addresses increases. Solaris uses device addresses to determine the required drivers during the initial loading of the operating system. The program used to probe devices on the Multiple Device Boot (MDB) diskette may incorrectly sense a device due to the a duplicate address being used by another controller. SOLUTION: The MDB diskette must be modified in the field to remove device drivers not required by the local system. Required Tools: A bootable DOS 5.0 > system with these commands available: DISKCOPY, DISKCOMP, RENAME, ATTRIB, EDIT, and DIR. Background: The MDB diskette is a special BIOS bootable, in DOS format. The structure of the diskette is DOS, hence DOS commands are utilized for modifications. There are real mode and protected mode drivers on the diskette. Procedure: All operations and commands assume the first addressed drive (A:). Part One: Disable the real mode driver. 1) Determine if DOS can read the diskette using the DIR command. COMMAND: dir a: RESPONSE: a directory listing of the diskette. 2) Make a clone of the MDB diskette COMMAND: diskcopy a: a: RESPONSE: Alternate messages to insert the source (MDB) and target (clone). 3) Compare the clone and MDB diskettes COMMAND: diskcomp a: a: RESPONSE: Alternate messages to insert the source (MDB) and target (clone). 4) Customize the clone diskette a) Make A: the active drive COMMAND: a: b) List the diskette contents COMMAND: dir RESPONSE: A directory listing. Note the driver files with the suffix "BEF" and the name portion which matches a name in the documentation. c) Select a file from the list as the object for modification d) Change the attribute of the file to allow writing. COMMAND: attrib +w filename.BEF e) Disable the device probe COMMAND: ren filename.BEF filename.DEF Continue steps c through e until all desired drivers are disabled. Part two: Disable protected mode driver. This section requires editing a system file and adding an exclude clauses. 1) cd \solaris 2) Edit system.add Several lines will be present starting with the clause "forceload". Locate the name of a driver matching the file name of the "BEF" file. 3) replace the clause "forceload" with "exclude". This will prevent the driver from trying to load. 4) Save the edited file and try the system install. The proof of successful completion of clone diskette modification is the complete loading of Solaris. DATE APPROVED: 05/08/95