How to install NetWare 6 on a PC Server that has multiple Host Bus Adapters

(Last modified: 29Aug2002)

This document (10066679) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

goal

fact

Novell NetWare 6.0

Booting from SCSI CD-ROM

DOS ASPI SCSI CD-ROM Drivers

ASPICD.SYS

symptom

When booting from the NetWare 6 Operating System CD the following error is reported:

Error: "ASPICD.SYS did not load"

cause

The error normally occurs if there are multiple SCSI Host Bus Adapters installed in the PC Server, but only one has a SCSI CD-ROM device attached.

The cause of this problem is that a DOS ASPI CD-ROM driver has been loaded for a Host Bus Adapter that does not have a CD-ROM device attached to it. Consequently when ASPICD tries to load in order to make the CD-ROM device accessible, it will fail to find the device and report the error above.

Full Explanation: When the boot loader for NetWare 6 starts it will try to load up to twelve different DOS ASPI CD-ROM drivers. It does this to determine which Host Bus Adapter has the CD-ROM device attached.

The NetWare 6 boot loader process will attempt to load every ASPI driver, one after the other. When the boot loader detects the fact that a driver has loaded successfully the remaining ASPI drivers are ignored. The boot loader will then load ASPICD.SYS with the intention of making the CD-ROM accessible as a DOS Device. Once ASPICD.SYS is loaded the rest of the NetWare 6 install process is executed directly from the CD-ROM device.

If the wrong ASPI driver gets loaded ASPICD is unable to access the CD-ROM, consequently the NetWare 6 install process will not be able to continue.

Example: A PC Server has an on-board SCSI Host Bus Adapter with a CD-ROM attached. It also has a RAID Adapter that is supporting a number of Hard Disk Drives in an array. The NetWare 6 boot loader starts loading its various ASPI drivers one by one. The ASPI driver for the RAID Adapter gets loaded successfully before the ASPI driver for the on-board SCSI Host Bus Adapter. ASPICD.SYS loads and then fails as the RAID Adapter has no CD-ROM attached.

fix

Created a bootable floppy diskette and changed the load order for the ASPI drivers to ensure the right driver is loaded for the Host Bus Adapter that has the CD-ROM attached.

This problem can be fixed by booting the PC Server from floppy diskette. This diskette needs to be prepared beforehand using MKFLOPPY and modified to load the right DOS ASPI CD-ROM driver for the Host Bus Adapter that has the CD-ROM device attached.

Full instructions on how to do this are given below:

Solution:

ACTION: Create a NetWare 6 bootable floppy diskette

1. Using a PC Workstation running any version of Microsoft Windows insert a blank floppy diskette into the floppy disk drive.
2. Insert the NetWare 6 Operating System CD into the CD-ROM drive.
3. If the Novell Deployment Manager is executed from the CD please close it down before continuing.
3. Open a DOS Command Prompt.
4. Change to the drive letter that the CD-ROM is assigned to. In this example Drive E: is assumed.
5. Change directory to E:\INSTALL.
6. Execute the batch file MKFLOPPY.BAT.
7. MKFLOPPY will copy the NetWare 6 boot image to the floppy diskette.

ACTION: Modify Floppy Diskette
1. With the floppy diskette still in the PC Workstation open a DOS Command Prompt.
2. Change directory to A:\DRIVERS
3. Change the file attributes for the file called LDSCSI.BAT from Read-Only to Read-Write, i.e. "ATTRIB -R LDSCSI.BAT"
4. Using a ASCII text editor open LDSCSI.BAT
5. Each ASPI driver is loaded using a utility called LODDVC.
6. Remark out (REM) all the '\DRIVERS\LODDVC' lines EXCEPT the line that loads the right ASPI driver for the Host Bus Adapter that has the CD-ROM attached.
Note: If you are unsure which ASPI driver this is please refer to your PC Server Vendor.
6. Save and close the batch file.

ACTION: Re-start the installation process
1. Boot the PC Server from floppy diskette.
2. Insert the NetWare 6 CD ONLY after the PC Server has started to boot from floppy disk (to stop the Server booting from CD-ROM by mistake).
3. Continue the installation as normal once the ASPI driver has loaded.

Additional Information:
The exact error message that gets displayed on the screen when this problem occurs is given below:

"CD Adapter 0-7, Any [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,A]?A

Driver initialization failed
Error: ASPICD.SYS did not load
Refer to README.TXT
Strike a key when ready..."

document

Document Title:	How to install NetWare 6 on a PC Server that has multiple Host Bus Adapters
Document ID:	10066679
Solution ID:	NOVL65707
Creation Date:	10Dec2001
Modified Date:	29Aug2002
Novell Product Class:	NetWare

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