Novell NetWare 386 v3.xx Servers and DOS
Boot Partitions
Further to IPB 2045 (issued on 26th October
1990) where we reported problems with NetWare 3.1 servers failing to load NLMs correctly
if DOS 4.01 was used to DOS boot the server, we have also experienced (and had reported) a
small number of problems with servers that have been DOS booted using MS-DOS 5.0.
The few problems seen with MS-DOS 5 are not the same as those under DOS
4.01. They tend to manifest themselves as memory related problems, however, a few problems
have been seen with partition corruption, FAT errors, and apparent drive failure has also
occasionally been experienced.
We are not as yet sure exactly what causes the problems, but they occur
within a short time of the server being initially started. If a server has been running
successfully for a period of more than 30 minutes, it will NOT need to have the version of
DOS downgraded.
Servers installed with other versions of DOS which experience problems
should first be booted from an Apricot MS-DOS 3.3 system disk (assuming the DOS boot
partition is less than 32MB), and then SERVER should be run from drive C:. If the problem
persists, then contact Apricot's Technical Support Department for further assistance. If
however the problem is cured by booting under DOS 3.3, you should then consider changing
the system so that it boots from DOS 3.3. We would still like you to contact the Technical
Support department however, so that we can get a fuller picture of the type of failures
experienced.
DO NOT change the version of DOS just for the sake of it.
Also, If you ARE required to change the version of DOS, you should NOT
use FDISK to remove the existing DOS partition. So long as the DOS partition is less than
32MB, a simple FORMAT C: /UA: after having booted the server from a DOS 3.3 System Disk
will suffice. If the DOS partition IS greater than 32MB, you should take a FULL BACKUP of
the NetWare server, as removing the DOS partition will also remove the NetWare partition.
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