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Unable To Access Disk Drive Running WP Under
DocumentID: 653639
Revision Date: 29-Feb-96 8:29:25 PM

The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS

Problem

Symptoms: When a user runs WordPerfect through Microsoft Windows 3.0, WP does not recognize the A: or the B: drive. When the user tries to save a file to or retrieve a file from either drive, the error "Drive Not Ready Reading Drive : 1) Cancel 2) Retry" appears. Solutions: Users running WordPerfect under Microsoft Windows 3.0 have found that MS Windows in 386 Enhanced mode disables the A: or B: disk drive which prevents them from accessing these drives. The error "Drive Not Ready Reading Drive..." may occur. If the drive is disabled, suggest that the user first try using the startup option /NC. If that does not solve the problem, the following troubleshooting options may be tried, but may or may not work in every situation:

1.      Users should first try the /NC startup option. Also, if users do not want to completely disable the enhanced cursor speed, they can change the Cursor Speed option in the WP Setup screen (Shift-F1).

2.      Try disabling any screen savers for this type of problem. One user found the problem linked to a screen saver, which is a big user of system timing.

3.      Try adding the following commands to the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file by retrieving the SYSTEM.INI file (located in the WINDOWS directory) using a text editor such as Notepad:

      HIGHFLOPPYREADS=FALSE
       EMMEXCLUDE=E000-EFFF
or
      HIGHFLOPPYREADS=NO
       EMMEXCLUDE=E000-EFFF

      To do this:
      1.      Go into File Manager (found in the Main group in Program Manager)
      2.      Choose the drive where the Windows directory is found
      3.      Choose the directory for Windows
      4.      Find the SYSTEM.INI file and click twice to open the file into Notepad
      5.      Find the [386Enh] section of the file and add the two lines mentioned above
      6.      Save the file and exit Notepad

      If the above memory exclusion/exclude statements do not correct the problem, also add the following command:
            IRQ9Global=YES

4.      Another quick option is to try the following:
      1.      Exit Windows
      2.      Insert a disk into the drive that was having problems being accessed
      3.      Change to that drive and do a directory (For example, say the problem drive was the A drive. You would then type A: and press Enter to change to that drive.)
      4.      Type DIR, which will do a directory of the drive, then change back to the hard drive and start Windows.

      This little trick will let each DOS program that you start up read that the A: drive had been accessed and will read the drive properly.

5.      Try loading ANSI.SYS into conventional memory instead of loading it into high memory (LOADHI). Also make sure the user has the disk in drive A: prior to executing WP from Windows.

6.      Check the WordPerfect .PIF file. If there is not an X in the Exclusive box, try putting one in. Also, make sure the Background box does not have an X. Users can also try setting the XMS memory to 0 and 0.

7.      Another customer found that taking out the /NC switch and setting the cursor speed to normal corrected the problem.

8.      Try starting Windows in Standard mode.

9.      Try using the .PIF file that comes with WP 5.1 DOS.

10.      Try reducing the SMARTDRV.SYS parameters in the CONFIG.SYS file (e.g., from 2048 to 1024). An example of how the command line looks in the CONFIG.SYS file is as follows:
      DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.SYS 1024 512

11.      One user corrected the problem by rearranging the order of commands in the CONFIG.SYS file.

      Old CONFIG.SYS
      files=30
      buffers=24
      stacks=0,0
      shell=c:\command.com /e:1000/p
      lastdrive=i:
      device=...HIMEM.SYS
      device=...SMARTDRV.SYS 768 256

      New CONFIG.SYS
      device=...HIMEM.SYS
      files=30
      buffers=24
      stacks=0,0
      shell=c:\command.com /e:1000/p
      lastdrive=i:
      device=...SMARTDRV.SYS 768 256

12.      One customer using the DMDRVR.BIN driver for the Seagate hard drive encountered this problem. According to Seagate this is a conflict between Windows and the DMDRVR.BIN driver.

13.      One customer corrected the problem by modifying the settings in PCCONFIG--specifically the size of the communication buffers, the number of sockets, and the number of SPP connections. The specifics on what to change them to cannot be determined; these settings are machine specific.

Answer:

Details:


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