Main Menu Running SP from Floppy Drive Starting SP from the Hard Drive On other IML systems, the cursor *should* jump to the top / right position on the screen on all IML-machines. Press the keys CTRL + ALT + INS. The interval for this is pretty short though - only a few seconds. Is Autoconfig Right For You? CP Codes Sent to LPT1 Menu Manuevers Start operating system Exits from system programs and loads the operating system.
You can use this if you are having minor problems with your setup. Example:
You want to try a different complex type, but don't want to go through
the drag of restoring the system partition and wiping the drive in the
process... Backup/Restore system partition Backup the System Diskettes Makes a backup copy of the reference and diagnostics diskettes off of the refdisk and diags disk. Obviously, you need the reference AND diagnostics diskette... Backup the System Partition Copies the information in the system partition onto two 1.44MB floppies. It will create a reference and a diags disk. Restore the system partition Installs the system programs and other critical startup files from diskette to the system partition. Note: This does NOT wipe out the system partition. Old files that are not on the refdisk and diags disk will remain. This sometimes leads to bizarre problems that defy logic. The most trouble free method when creating or restoring a system partition is to LLF the drive, then restoring the system partition. Some people claim they can restore a system partition without destroying the other data on the drive. I personally don't share their optimism. Spooky sez System partitions created for Type 1 through Type 3 systems
are invisible to the OS (some special cases prove the rule). Type 4 systems
use a "convenience" partition which IS visible to FDISK. Update system programs Copies a new version of the system programs to the system partition Set Configuration View configuration Displays current configuration. Display only, no changes possible. Change configuration Lets you change
configuration information. Only information enclosed in brackets ([....])
can be changed. Backup configuration Copies configuration information from NVRAM to the hard drive. Restore configuration Retrieves configuration information from hard drive or diskette (if you booted with them) to NVRAM. Run automatic configuration Restores the settings of the installed options to their default values. If you have manually set configuration settings, write them down before running Autoconfig. You can then change the settings back to your manual configuration if you experience problems with the autoconfig settings. Set and view SCSI device configuration Only information in brackets ([....]) can be changed. SCSI configuration verification
If, during POST, the SCSI configuration has changed (devices not present
or not operational), you can either have the system respond to the changed
SCSI information, or ignore it Enable / Disable
(Note: Possibly flash BIOS systems only) Presence error reporting (Enabled/Disabled) If device is not present or not powered on, Disabled keeps system from running autoconfigure. Use with external devices (scanners, etc). If you are having problems with a system which has been stripped or reassembled, check this! Not present (Keep/remove) Use Keep for external devices which may be powered off separate or removed. Example- a scanner. This can be a problem IF you had a device marked "Keep" that is now removed. Example- a CD Rom drive was marked as "Keep" and you change the ID. The setup program will still maintain that there is a CD Rom at the old address, PLUS a new CD Rom at the new ID. Cool, huh? If you are having problems with a system which has been stripped or reassembled, check this! Display Memory Map Displays memory addresses assigned to adapters. It does NOT show upper memory usage by drivers! Operational Error reporting If devices are not present or not operational, you can either have the system respond to the changed SCSI information, or ignore it Enable / Disable (Note: Possibly flash BIOS systems only) H09805 Non-Fixed Disk SCSI Devices not removed during Auto-Configuration Set Features Set date and time Date (MM-DD-YYYY) Time (HH:MM:SS 24Hr!) Set password and unattended start mode Set keyboard speed Speed that a character repeats when a key is held down. Normal / Fast Set console Display and keyboard or Display only Set startup sequence Select the sequence of drives that the computer will read from when you turn it on. For more detail. go to Select Drive . Note: If you remove the floppy drive from this list, there is a "safety" feature. The system will still boot with a reference disk regardless if the floppy drive is on the startup list or not. A normal boot disk will not work. Note: Sometimes autoconfig will slip RPL into the startup sequence. Remove RPL from this list if you do not want to RPL. If the system has RPL in the sequence and you do not see a SCSI hard drive, you had better czech Set Configuration to see if the SCSI adapter is installed, and then Set and View SCSI Device Configuration to see if the SCSI hard drive is installed. Note: Some systems let you choose a CD Rom as a startable device. You can try it, but I haven't heard of anyone being able to boot from a CD. I couldn't. Example: Default Startup Sequence Set power-on features Type 4 or
flash systems only! System error restart System won't check for errors in error log. If the error log is full, the system will put new errors into the error log, and remove the oldest ones to keep the total of errors at four. Note: Flash BIOS systems only! Set ignore error log System will
not report errors upon startup Enable / Disable Set fast startup mode Quick
POST check, instead of full POST routine. Enable / Disable For home users, this is fine, but if I was running a business
off this system, I would WANT the system to do it's full POST testing routine.
The extra two minutes may mean the difference between a system running
24/7 for months, or one that has a memory module just waiting to dump your
system into never-never land when the program tries to use it. Copy an options diskette The CORRECT way to copy a new ADF to the hard drive or to the refdisk. Have the new(er) ADF plus any *.IDP, *.ADP or *.DGS (IBM adapters only) files on a floppy. Run Copy an options diskette, follow the prompts. From personal experience, just copying an adf to the refdisk will FAIL every time. If you will be adding a different adapter, I suggest you
copy the options diskette FIRST, so the new ADF is already on the refdisk/system
partition. Otherwise, you will screw around with "ADF not found" then still
having to copy the option disk anyways... Test the computer Not my preferred way of running diagnostics. Use Ctrl-A
to run Advanced Diagnostics. Advanced diags lets you test one component
at a time, while Test the computer does ALL
the damn tests. Non stop. Advanced Diagnostics Doing a Ctrl-A from the main menu will bring up the advanced diagnostics. Run System checkout Run system checkout Allows you to run diags on single components. For a device to be shown, there has to be a DGS file for it. FAIK, IBM was the only one to make DGS files for their adapters / devices. Other makers just made stand-alone diagnostic programs. SCSI drives are covered by the IBM DGS, and so is memory. First screen is a list of installed devices. Only devices with a *.dgs file will be shown! Second screen: Device Test
List This shows after you choose Run Tests
Once Hard disks Here goes the big one! Format the
hard drive This will LLF the SCSI drive you select. Next screen asks Save grown defect list -or- Erase grown defect list Save Grown Defects keeps the list. I'd keep it. I had some interesting problems with an AIX install where some stuff wendt missing. LLF'd it, saved the list, the system then worked. YMMV. When you choose the drive and select save or erase grown defect list, the LLF program asks you twice if you want to continue. Read the message box- the first time you answer "Y", the second time it asks you if you want to stop, answer "N". Note: The system
refuses to format a drive with an active partition IF you booted from the
convenience (system) partition on that drive. To remove an existing system
partition, boot with a refdisk. More utilities Display revision levels Shows BIOS levels, refdisk and diags levels, planar and complex ID. Stand alone utility information As useful as something on a boar. Set and view system identification Display system error log Shows you up to four stored errors. You can delete errors from this screen Note: Only on systems that support error logs! Set character font Choose from #1, which is a "linedraw" font, sans serif, or #2 which is a serif font. Note: Flash BIOS systems only? |