Important Notice for Owners of AlphaServer 2000, 2100, and 2100A Systems

There is a version conflict between certain revisions of the Mainboard, I/O module, ARC firmware, and Windows NT 4.0 HAL files that can cause your system to malfunction. Therefore, if you run Windows NT on any of the following systems, you must upgrade your ARC firmware to version 4.50 or later, and update your Windows NT 4.0 HAL files to the version posted on Digital's WWW site. The systems affected are:

• AlphaServer 2000 4/xxx and 5/xxx
• AlphaServer 2100 4/xxx and 5/xxx
• AlphaServer 2100A 4/xxx and 5/xxx

The methods you use to update the firmware and HAL are different depending on whether:

• Windows NT 4.0 is already installed.
• You are performing a fresh install of Windows NT 4.0.
• You are upgrading from Windows NT 3.51 to 4.0.
• You have just replaced your I/O module or mainboard, and your system will not boot the ARC firmware.

Please observe that:

• If you are already running ARC firmware 4.50 or later, you can skip the steps in the instructions related to upgrading the firmware. The ARC firmware version currently installed in your system is displayed on the ARC Boot screen.
• If you are running ARC firmware 4.50 or later, do not downgrade to an earlier revision.

Upgrading the HAL and Firmware on Systems with Windows NT Already Installed

If you already have Windows NT 4.0 installed (but you are not upgrading Windows NT), follow these steps to upgrade the HAL and firmware files:

Note: You will need a blank formatted diskette for this procedure.

1. On the WWW, go to the URL: http://www.compaq.com/support/files/alphant/firmware/index.html

2. Select the link to your system as appropriate.

3. Download the ARC firmware 4.50 or later .ZIP file, as well as the Windows NT 4.0 HAL .ZIP file.

4. Unzip the firmware files into an empty temporary directory on your hard disk.

5. Unzip the HAL files into a separate empty temporary directory on your hard disk.

6. Open File Manager or Explorer, and select the OS directory on your system partition. The system partition is usually drive D:.

7. Within the OS directory, select the WINNT40 directory.

If you do not see any files in the righthand pane, change the File Manager or Explorer settings as appropriate to show all files and file extensions. These files normally have the hidden, system, and read-only attributes set.

8. In your OS\WINNT40 directory rename the HAL.DLL file to HAL.OLD.

9. Copy the .DLL file from the temporary directory on your hard disk into the directory containing the HAL.OLD file, and rename the file you copied to HAL.DLL.

10. Copy the FWUPDATE.EXE file from the temporary directory containing the unzipped ARC firmware files to an empty formatted diskette.

11. Shutdown and restart your system.

12. Follow the steps in the Updating the Firmware section to complete the upgrade process.

Your upgrade is now complete.

Installing the Upgraded HAL and Firmware Files on a Fresh Install of Windows NT 4.0

If you performing a first time installation of Windows NT 4.0, follow these steps to install the updated HAL and firmware files:

Note: You will need 2 blank formatted diskettes for this procedure.

1. On the WWW, go to the URL: http://www.compaq.com/support/files/alphant/firmware/index.html

2. Select the link to your system as appropriate.

3. Download the ARC firmware 4.50 or later .ZIP file, as well as the Windows NT 4.0 HAL .ZIP file.

4. Unzip the firmware files into an empty temporary directory on your hard disk.

5. Unzip the HAL files into a separate empty temporary directory on your hard disk.

6. Copy the FWUPDATE.EXE file from the temporary directory containing the unzipped firmware files to an empty formatted diskette.

7. Copy the files from the temporary directory containing the unzipped HAL files to a blank formatted diskette.

8. Shutdown and restart your system.

9. Follow the steps in the Updating the Firmware section to complete the firmware upgrade process.

10. Your firmware upgrade is now complete. When prompted, restart your system.

11. Begin Windows NT installation. When prompted for your system type, select "Other" and insert the diskette containing the updated HAL files (that you copied in step 7) into the disk drive. Press Enter twice to select and confirm that you want to install the files from the diskette.

12. Proceed with the remainder of the Windows NT installation normally.

Installing the Upgraded HAL and Firmware Files When Upgrading from Windows NT 3.51 to 4.0

If you already have Windows NT 3.51 installed, and are upgrading to Windows NT 4.0, follow these steps to upgrade the HAL and firmware files:

Note: You will need 2 blank formatted diskettes for this procedure.

1. On the WWW, go to the URL: http://www.compaq.com/support/files/alphant/firmware/index.html

2. Select the link to your system as appropriate.

3. Download the ARC firmware 4.50 or later zip file, as well as the Windows NT 4.0 HAL zip file. 4. Unzip the firmware files into an empty temporary directory on your hard disk.

5. Unzip the HAL files into a separate empty temporary directory on your hard disk.

6. Copy the files from the temporary directory containing the unzipped HAL files to a blank formatted diskette.

7. Copy the FWUPDATE.EXE file from the temporary directory containing the unzipped firmware files to an empty formatted diskette.

8. Shutdown and restart your system.

9. Follow the steps in the Updating the Firmware section to complete the upgrade process.

10. Your firmware upgrade is now complete. When prompted, restart your system.

11. Begin Windows NT 4.0 installation. When prompted for your system type, select "Other" and insert the diskette containing the updated HAL files into the disk drive. Press Enter twice to select and confirm that you want to install the files from the diskette.

12. Proceed with the remainder of the Windows NT 4.0 installation normally.

Installing the Upgraded HAL/Firmware Files if Your System Will Not Boot After an I/O Module or Mainboard Replacement

Note: You will need a second, working Alpha system to complete these steps.

Note: You will need a blank formatted diskette for this procedure.

1. On the WWW, go to the URL: http://www.compaq.com/support/files/alphant/firmware/index.html

2. Select the link to your system as appropriate.

3. Download ARC firmware 4.50 or later, as well as the Windows NT 4.0 HAL.

4. Unzip the HAL files into a temporary directory on your hard disk.

5. Unzip the firmware files into a separate temporary directory on your hard disk.

6. Copy the FWUPDATE.EXE file from the temporary directory containing the unzipped firmware files to an empty formatted diskette.

7. Insert the firmware update diskette into the disk drive of the non-working system.

8. Press in the Halt switch on your system console, and shut down and restart your system. Your system will reboot into the SRM firmware console.

9. At the command prompt, type the following 2 commands. Press Enter after each command. cat fat:fwupdate.exe > pmem:300000 jtopal 300000

10. Once the firmware update image has been loaded, you will be prompted with the following query, "If you have a floppy containing option firmware, Please insert it now and hit <return> when ready." Press Enter.

11. At the UPD> prompt, type update and press Enter. You are prompted to confirm the update. Type y and press Enter. Your firmware upgrade is now complete. When prompted, restart your system.

12. Open File Manager or Explorer, and select the OS directory on your system partition. The system partition is usually drive D:.

13. Within the OS directory, select the WINNT40 directory. If you do not see any files in the righthand pane, change the File Manager or Explorer settings as appropriate to show all files and file extensions. These file normally have the hidden, system, and read-only attributes set.

14. In your OS\WINNT40 directory rename the HAL.DLL file to HAL.OLD.

15. Copy the .DLL file from the temporary directory on your hard disk into the directory containing the HAL.OLD file, and rename the file you copied to HAL.DLL.