Tools for Troubleshooting Setup
Windows 98 makes available a number of programs and log files for troubleshooting problems that occur during the
setup process. Here’s a rundown of some of the more helpful troubleshooting aids.
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Windows 98 Setup creates several log files. These files are located in the C:\ directory:
Bootlog.txt records the current startup process for starting Windows 98. Detlog.txt records the start of
a detection test and the test outcome. It keeps a record of devices Setup finds during the detection process. Netlog.txt
logs network components detected by Setup. Setuplog.txt records what took place during Setup, including successes
and failures. This record is used by Safe Recovery to determine where Setup will resume. Detcrash.log records which
detection steps were successfully completed so that Setup will not fail because of the same problem.
Two utilities can complement the logs. The Automatic Skip Driver Agent utility (Asd.exe) shows which drivers Windows
had trouble with during startup and were therefore disabled or skipped. The Microsoft System Information utility
displays system information, such as hardware resources, devices installed, and corresponding device drivers. The
following sections describe these logs and tools in detail.
Why Bootlog.txt?
Have you ever seen an invalid Vxd or a loadfailed error message when booting Windows? Or do you see references
to devices no longer on your system? One of the more useful troubleshooting log files maintained by Windows 98
is Bootlog.txt. This file consists of five sections that describe the sequence of events performed by Windows during
system startup.
Creating the Bootlog.txt file
Bootlog.txt is created automatically during the initial running of Windows following setup. This is the one and
only time that Bootlog.txt is created automatically. If you want to create this file interactively during the boot
process, press [F8] when the message Now starting Windows 98… appears. On the resulting menu, select option 1-Logged.
Alternatively, you can create Bootlog.txt by starting Windows 98 from the command prompt using the win /b switch.
If you wish to create Bootlog.txt on every startup, the switch can be put in the appropriate section of the Win.ini
file.
I highly recommend that you run this feature to learn the sequence of steps the operating system goes through to
start the system. That way, you will be able to more easily isolate problem areas when errors occur.
Format of Bootlog.txt,
Bootlog.txt contains five sections. These sections and what they do follows:
Section 1: Loading real-mode drivers
This first section presents the loading process of real-mode drivers, such as Himem.sys, Emm386.exe, and Setver.exe.
Real-mode drivers are written for the original 8086/8088 16-bit architecture for Intel chips and must be loaded
into the first megabyte of RAM. Take a look at Figure A. An error-free loading of a real-mode driver returns a
Loadsuccess=drivername entry. If the loading of a real-mode driver was unsuccessful, the returned entry is Loadfailed=drivername.
Figure A
Here’s the result of loading real-mode drivers.
A Loadfailed=drivername entry only indicates that the related device driver refused to load. In some circumstances,
this is valid because the device may not be needed or detected by Windows.
Section 2: Loading VxDs
In this section, Windows loads the VxDs (virtual device drivers). A virtual device driver provides low-level hardware
support for Windows. For example, Vmm32.vxd contains the Windows 9x kernel. Think of a virtual device driver as
a low-level software component that manages a single resource, such as a hardware or system device, thus allowing
many concurrent threads or accesses. As in the first section, an unsuccessful load returns a Loadfailed=drivername
entry for the VxD that refused to load.
Section 3: Initialization of critical VxDs
Once all the VxDs have been loaded, Windows will initialize the system-critical VxDs, such as VCache (disk-caching
software), among others.
Section 4: Device initialization of VxDs
Once all the system-critical VxDs have been initialized, Windows will initialize the rest of the VxDs. An unsuccessful
VxD initialization returns a Deviceinitfailed=devicename entry.
Section 5: Successful VxD initialization
This section verifies that system VxDs have successfully initialized.
Using Detlog.txt
The Detlog.txt file records which hardware components have been detected by the system and what their parameters
are. The Detlog.txt file is located in the root directory of the startup drive after Windows 98 has been installed.
Entries in Detlog.txt are in the order of the hardware information discovered as each step of the detection process
is carried out. Detlog.txt is an ASCII file created for users to read. Windows 98 Setup reads the binary information
in Detcrash.log.
During Windows 98 Setup, after Setup restarts your computer for the first time, it begins hardware detection. Detection
can also occur when you use the Add New Hardware option in Control Panel to add a new device.
Hardware detection is a continuous loop through a three-part process. The first step in the process is to identify
the activity to be performed. Second, the routine queries the system to see if the device is at the default address
for that device. Third, it verifies whether it was successfully detected. As you can see by the entry for a disk
drive in Figure B, IRQ (interrupt request lines) and DMA (direct memory access channels) allocated to the device
are also listed.
Figure B ..............................................................Click for
a Larger Image
Detlog.txt lists detected hardware and verifies their IRQ and DMA settings.
By creating an updated Detlog.txt file every time the detection process runs, the detection module tracks the detected
devices and the I/O port addresses used. Any existing Detlog.txt is renamed Detlog.old.
Using Detcrash.log
The Detcrash.log file is created when the detection process causes Setup to stall or the computer to lock up during
the hardware detection portion of the startup process. Detcrash.log is a binary file. For troubleshooting a system
crash, check the last entry created in Detlog.txt. It would probably be useful to compare this file with the Detlog.old
file to determine what has changed.
Using Netlog.txt
Netlog.txt describes the detection results for network components during Windows 98 Setup. It is found in the root
directory. It also tracks subsequent network setup activity, such as the later installation of another protocol.
As you can see in Figure C, a number of cryptic headings provide detailed information on the network setup of the
Windows 98 system.
Figure C ................................................................Click
for a Larger Image
Netlog.txt shows the network components detected.
There are several other entries that will appear in the Netlog.txt:
Using Setuplog.txt
Setuplog.txt holds setup information created during installation by Windows 98 Setup. The log is found in the root
directory and is utilized during Safe Recovery. During the installation of Windows 98, entries are written to the
file, listing information about the specific steps as they occur in the setup process. This file is used by Setup
for recovery in case of setup failure, and it can also be used for troubleshooting errors that occur during installation.
The information in Setuplog.txt is used to ensure that the installation does not fail twice because of the
same problem. If Windows 98 Setup is restarted after a process fails, Setup reviews the contents of Setuplog.txt
to determine which steps completed successfully before the error occurred. If it is determined that a process started
but was not completed, that process is skipped, and the next part is processed. Even if Setup encounters devices
that cause several installation attempts, the installation process will always progress and skip the modules that
failed.
If an error occurs during installation, read Setuplog.txt to try to ascertain what process was in use when the
error occurred.
Understanding Automatic Skip Driver Agent
With Windows 98, Microsoft introduced a new tool called Automatic Skip Driver (ASD) Agent. As described in the
Windows 98 Resource Kit, ASD is used to detect and automatically disable device drivers or operations that fail
during startup—that is, ones that can cause Windows 98 to hang. The drivers that failed to load are bypassed the
next time you restart the computer. The ASD log file keeps a permanent record of all problems that ASD has detected.
If a device driver fails to load during startup, run Asd.exe. Disabled items can be viewed and reenabled. In the
Automatic Skip Driver dialog box, click the operation that failed and then click Details. The device’s Details
dialog box appears and provides a recommendation for solving the problem. This may include updating the driver
by running Asd.exe. If you run Asd.exe with no errors in the registry, you will receive a message stating that
no critical operation failures occurred.
Running Automatic Skip Driver Agent
There are two ways to access Asd.exe. From the Start menu, click Run and then type ASD and click OK. Alternately,
click Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Information. Select the Tools menu and click Automatic
Skip Driver Agent.
Using Automatic Skip Driver Agent
When Windows 98 starts, it attempts to load all device drivers required for the installed hardware. If a hardware
device or its driver is defective, the device driver may fail to load and cause Windows to hang. ASD identifies
the specific device(s) that failed to enumerate when Windows 98 started. (Enumeration is the process of identifying
which plug and play devices are in the computer and assigning the appropriate hardware resources to the devices.)
After two failed attempts to load, ASD disables the device driver or stops the operation that caused system startup
to fail. Windows will no longer attempt to enumerate the component.
Devices disabled by ASD may be identified by a yellow exclamation point (!) in Device Manager. The Device Manager
hardware error code associated with ASD is Code 11.
Along with device drivers, ASD can detect certain problems during startup and during normal operating system operation.
As outlined in the Windows 98 Resource Kit, examples of operations that ASD monitors include:
Understanding MSInfo
The Microsoft System Information (MSInfo) utility provides an excellent place to start your hardware troubleshooting.
MSInfo collects information such as devices installed or device drivers loaded, and it provides a menu for displaying
the associated system topics. Use it to diagnose computer problems and track down errors. For example, if a device
is not functioning, MSInfo reports the following when viewing “problem devices”:
This device has a problem: Code=##
MSInfo also provides links in the Tools menu to other tools used for troubleshooting.
Running MSInfo
To run MSInfo, select Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Information. You can also run MSInfo
by selecting Start | Run and typing MSInfo32 at the prompt.
The information displayed by MSInfo is divided into Hardware Resources, Components, and Software Environment. MSInfo
maintains a history of device drivers installed on the system. If you are unsure of a system’s recent history,
use MSInfo to better understand what has happened (see Figure D). To access this information, expand the subcategory
Components and then click History. If a device fails and its history indicates a recent driver upgrade, you can
try replacing it with the original driver and retesting.
Figure D
System Information can show the history of device driver changes.
The bottom line
We are all get to experience the cryptic hardware errors that occur in Windows 98. These troubleshooting logs and
utilities provide you with additional tools in your to help you with your problems.
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