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NOTE: If Dell installed the Windows NT operating system, all of the SCSI drivers required by the PowerEdge 8450 system are preinstalled. You do not need to use the procedures in this section unless you need to reinstall the drivers at a later date. |
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Overview • Dell-Installed Microsoft® Windows NT® Server 4.0 • Customer-Installed Windows NT Server 4.0 • Symbios SCSI Configuration Utility • SCSI Driver Installation for Windows NT Server 4.0
This section describes how to install the Dell small computer system interface (SCSI) device drivers included with your Dell PowerEdge 8450 computer system. These device drivers are designed to work with the system's integrated Symbios 53C896 Ultra2/low voltage differential (LVD) SCSI-3 controller.
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NOTE: If Dell installed the Windows NT operating system, all of the SCSI drivers required by the PowerEdge 8450 system are preinstalled. You do not need to use the procedures in this section unless you need to reinstall the drivers at a later date. |
SCSI drivers are provided for Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0. Use the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD to create a diskette of drivers for your operating system.
The Symbios 53C896 host adapter has two channels. The first channel supports one or two 1-inch internal SCSI hard-disk drives via the standard SCSI backplane board, and the second channel supports external SCSI devices attached to the external SCSI connector on the system back panel.
The Symbios 53C896 host adapter uses SCSI device drivers provided by Dell. The Symbios SCSI basic input/output system (BIOS), which is stored in your computer system's flash memory, links these SCSI device drivers to the 53C896 SCSI controller chip.
If you are using an optional Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller, the corresponding SCSI device drivers are installed at the same time as the SCSI device drivers for the 53C896 host adapter. You can also refer to your Dell PowerEdge Expandable RAID Controller documentation for information on installing SCSI device drivers for this RAID controller.
For instructions on installing SCSI hardware devices such as hard-disk drives, tape drives, or CD-ROM drives, trained service technicians should see "Installing Drives" in the Installation and Troubleshooting Guide. After the SCSI devices are installed, you may need to install and configure one or more SCSI device drivers so that your SCSI devices can communicate with your operating system.
The BIOS for the built-in Symbios 53C896 SCSI host adapter includes a menu-driven configuration utility.
To start the Symbios configuration utility, press <Ctrl><C> when the following prompt appears briefly during start-up:
Press <CTRL><C> to run SCSI utility...
The utility's main menu displays two options for configuring the integrated SCSI host adapter:
Additional options allow you to change the menu's color and to exit the utility.
The Symbios configuration utility uses menus to list options you can select. To select an option, use the up- and down-arrow keys to move the cursor to the option; then press <Enter>.
In some cases, selecting an option displays another menu. You can return to the previous menu at any time by pressing <Esc>.
To exit the Symbios configuration utility, press <Esc> until a message prompts you to exit. Any changes you made in the Symbios configuration utility take effect after the computer boots. (You can select No at the prompt if you are not ready to exit the Symbios configuration utility.)
This section provides the following information about installing the Dell SCSI drivers for Windows NT:
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NOTE: Refer to the Dell Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Operating System Quick Installation Guide for instructions for installing or reinstalling the Windows NT operating system on your server. The following procedures focus specifically on the installation of SCSI drivers. |
The Windows NT driver diskettes you created for the Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 operating system contain the files needed for Symbios SCSI driver installation. If you have an optional RAID controller, you will also need to install the Windows NT driver for the RAID controller. Depending upon the RAID controller you have, the driver may be on the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD or on a separate diskette included with the RAID controller.
To install the SCSI drivers at the same time that you install Windows NT, perform the following steps:
NOTE: If you have a RAID controller installed, you may have a RAID driver diskette included with your shipment. If so, use that diskette as noted during this procedure. If not, use the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant CD to create the RAID driver diskette.
NOTE: In the following step, there is no prompt to press <F6>. Watch the messages on the screen carefully.
This disables automatic detection of SCSI devices by Windows NT. The following message appears:
Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an adapter.
A menu offers options for using a driver diskette or not specifying a device.
NOTE: Do not install video drivers at this time. They must be installed after Windows NT Service Pack 3.0 is installed.
After the system reboots, the new drivers are active. Some drive assignments may have changed from the previous configuration. Be sure to complete the Windows NT Server 4.0 installation by performing the following tasks:
Refer to the Windows NT installation documentation for details.
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CAUTION: If you have removed a host adapter but still have other host adapters of the same type installed in your computer, do not remove the device driver. The other host adapters still need the driver to function properly. |
To remove a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) SCSI controller, remove the expansion card from its slot when your computer is shut down. Windows NT boots and functions properly in this configuration. However, if an unused device driver remains on the system, a warning message is generated and an entry is made into the system log file every time you boot Windows NT. To eliminate the warning message, you must update the Windows NT software configuration by performing the following steps:
The procedure for swapping a host adapter depends upon whether the new host adapter uses the same device driver as the previous one.
If the same device driver is used, shut down the computer, physically swap out the host adapter, and restart the computer. The device driver for the previous host adapter will function correctly for the new host adapter.
If the new host adapter does not use the same device driver as the previous one, add the device driver for the new host adapter while Windows NT is running and then make the hardware changes. To swap host adapters, perform the following steps:
- Click the Start button, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
- Double-click the SCSI Adapter icon.
- The SCSI Adapter window appears.
- Click the Drivers tab. A list of all installed host adapters appears.
- Highlight the driver to be added or insert the diskette containing the driver.
- Click Add.
It is not essential to remove the device driver for the host adapter you are replacing. Windows NT dynamically detects the absence or presence of host adapter hardware, and no problems should arise if you leave the existing device driver installed. You can remove the device driver later, after you have successfully rebooted Windows NT. However, if you leave the driver in, each time you boot the system you may receive an error message about the extra device driver. See Removing a Host Adapter.
The boot manager for Windows NT contains recovery logic to allow you to return to the last known good configuration. If you have changed your host adapter configuration and Windows NT no longer boots, perform the following steps to recover:
If you cannot determine the source of the error, contact Dell for assistance. See "Getting Help" in the Installation and Troubleshooting Guide for instructions on contacting Dell for technical assistance.