VM/386 Basic Troubleshooting

Step 1: Isolate the Problem.
  1. Gather as much information as possible about the system (hardware, memory addresses, hardware interrupts, version of DOS, version of VM/386 etc.)
  2. Make note of when you first noticed the problem ( at boot up, when you load a particular module of VM/386, when you load a particular application program module, etc.)
  3. Note what changes occurred before you started experiencing the problem. (new hardware? new software? changed settings? moved equipment? etc.)
  4. Note if you can reproduce the error or if it is intermittent.
  5. Note what the error looks like. Is there a hex dump? If so what does the first line of the dump say? Do the LED lights light up? Does the system freeze? Where does it freeze? etc. After narrowing down the sources of the error by answering questions such as these, you can begin to solve the problem.

Step 2: Take the following steps to solve the most common problems experienced with VM/386.
  1. Update the C:\VMINTS file. If you change ANY hardware in your system, you MUST reinitialize VMINTS by booting from the VM/386 floppy disk and choosing #1, "Just update VMINTS." It is not necessary to copy the file yourself. You can use the installation disk from a previous VM/386 version to update VMINTS. Just be sure to copy VMINTS into the C:\ directory.
  2. If you changed your video card or hard disk controller, you should also run VMSETVID or VMSETHD, respectively, to reset drivers for video and hard disk. If your disk controller is SCSI, remember that you need to run VMSETHD /I, say "N" to defaults, choose option #2 for INT 13 access, and enter your card's IRQ.
  3. Check your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files for ANY conflicting software or commands. These would most likely be TSR's, device drivers, and memory managers. Do not install HIMEM.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS file or load DOS high if you wish to run VM/386. See page 45 of the User's Manual for details.
  4. Make sure you have updated your VM/386 system with the latest changes in CHANGES.EXE. A copy of CHANGES.EXE is on the VM/386 installation disk. This file is updated frequently, however, so you should download the most recent version. Running CHANGES.EXE will extract a READ_NOW.TXT file and APPLY.EXE. This second file is a self-extracting archive that contains the latest enhancements and fixes for VM/386 (be sure to look for the changes file for the version you are running.) Instructions for running APPLY.EXE are in READ_NOW.TXT.
  5. If you have security enabled, disable it and see if your problem goes away. If so, make sure you are not blocking access to a directory to which DOS or an application needs access.
  6. Verify that the switch settings, IRQ's, and port numbers used by your hardware agree with the values in VMSYSDEF. Make sure you know which add-in boards are in your computer and the ports and IRQ's that are used by those boards. Make sure that any new multiuser board that is added to your system is not set to use a port or an IRQ that has been taken by the CPU for internal system purposes. Although standard IBM-machine architecture allocates IRQ's 0, 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, and 14 for system use, some machines may use additional system resources. Information regarding the IRQ's used by a particular manufacturer should be listed in the machine's documentation.
  7. Run the manufacturer-supplied diagnostics for any equipment that may be defective. Diagnostics for Maxspeed SS-x and SV-x equipment are available on the IGC BBS. They are SSTEST.EXE and MAXDIAG.EXE, respectively. Maxspeed SG-x equipment may also be diagnosed from MAXDIAG.EXE.
Step 3:
If the above steps do not solve the problem, use the information gathered in the first two sections to refer to the appropriate section of TECHNOTE.TXT.

Step 4:
If you are still experiencing problems, please contact IGC Technical Support.