Gateway 6400 FAQ-UUUUUUUU

[jandaman]

Got rails?

 

[Kostya17]

Chumster,
sorry for delay--finally checked with my cowbox. I have the following settings in "Advanced->Boot Settings Config":
System Keyboard: Absent
Wait for F1 if Error: Disabled
It boots fine without keyboard/mouse (no questions whatsoever). Had to plug in USB mouse to shut down. Try to unplug the switch and reboot. If it boots without KVM--there's definitely something wrong with the switch.

 

[Kostya17]

Yet another hardware upgrade,
thanks to "Hot Deals". I've got Cendyne 32xCDR drive, Artec 16xDVD, another MaxtorATA100 card. Interesting glitch--2 Maxtor cards installed on the same PCI bus would lock-up SCSI controller. The only workaround I found so far is to move them to different PCI busses. Weired? I think so... Well, my current working PCI card layout:
* Bottom PCI slot (#1?)--------Empty
* Next slot (1st 64-bit, #2)----Maxtor ATA100 connected to ATA HD
* Next Slot (2nd 64-bit, #3)---ATI AIW
* Empty slot
* SB Live!
* Empty slot
* Top PCI slot (#7?)------------Maxtor ATA100 connected to DVD-ROM and CDR (both masters)

Anybody else tried to install 2 ATA controller cards? Let me know.

 

[aim2073]

<FONT size=1>My FINAL PCI card layout:

* Bottom Slot ---------------Pinnacle Studio PCTV Pro
* Next Slot (64-bit)-----Creative SB Live! Mp3+ 5.1
* Next Slot (64-bit)-----Maxtor Ultra ATA 133 IDE
* Next Slot ---------------U.S. Robotics 56K Pro
* Next Slot ---------------Maxtor Ultra ATA 100 IDE
* Next Slot ---------------ADS Technologies Pyro 1394 card
* Top Slot ---------------3dfx Voodoo3

Memory 1792MB, 2 CPU(x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 10 933), 4 IDE HD(2x160GB, 2x80GB, all Master,
2x60GB backup), 2 SCSI HD(Fujitsu 36GB, IBM original, Ultra 160) loaded. FD removed(no use).

By the way, just make sure the ATA 100 be recognized before ATA 133, or else CANNOT start OS from
SCSI HD, and also use BTWDM driver for your Pinnacle Studio PCTV Pro if your have one(Great card, bad
customer support so far). Everything works and fine for use as a workstation!

Hopefully this will help a little. have fun!

My first post in this terrific forum.

******************** IRQ SUMMARY ********************************************

(ISA) 0 System timer
(ISA) 1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
(ISA) 3 Communications Port (COM2)
(ISA) 4 Communications Port (COM1)
(ISA) 6 Standard floppy disk controller
(ISA) 8 System CMOS/real time clock
(ISA) 9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
(PCI) 10 ServerWorks (RCC) PCI to USB Open Host Controller
(PCI) 11 Conexant's BtPCI WDM Audio Capture
(ISA) 12 Microsoft PS/2 Mouse
(ISA) 13 Numeric data processor
(ISA) 14 Primary IDE Channel
(PCI) 16 3dfx Voodoo3
(PCI) 17 Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
(PCI) 18 Promise Technology Inc. Ultra IDE Controller
(PCI) 19 U.S. Robotics 56K Fax PCI
(PCI) 20 Intel(R) 82559 Fast Ethernet LAN on Motherboard
(PCI) 21 Windows XP Maxtor Ultra ATA 133 IDE Controller
(PCI) 22 Creative SB Live! series(WDM)
(PCI) 23 Conexant's BtPCI WDM Video Capture
(PCI) 24 LSI Logic 53C1010-33 Device
(PCI) 25 LSI Logic 53C1010-33 Device

******************** IRQ SUMMARY ********************************************
</FONT>

 

[Kostya17]

aim2073,

Impressive! You managed to fill-up all PCI slots
Got a question: why don't you disable those critters:
(ISA) 3 Communications Port (COM2)
(ISA) 4 Communications Port (COM1)
(ISA) 6 Standard floppy disk controller
(ISA) 14 Primary IDE Channel

You're not using them, right? Or you've got serial mouse dangling on COM1?
I disabled all COM ports, ||-port, and built-in IDE controller to free-up IRQ lines

 

[aim2073]

Kostya17

Thx for the advice.

DO NOT know it's SAFE to disable COM1 COM2 or not.

(ISA) 6 Standard floppy disk controller------------- Good idea!
(ISA) 14 Primary IDE Channel-----------not enough IDE channel left(4 HD), have to use these onboard IDE for CDRW and DVD ROM

 

[Kostya17]

aim2073,

I was never able to use the busmaster feature on built-in IDE controller (Sux2K would lock-up). As a result, my HP9900 8xDVD/12xCDR combo won't "back-up" DVD disks faster than 1.2x. That was the reason I switched to Promise/Maxtor controllers a while ago and disabled built-in IDE. How is your DVD drive doing on stock IDE controller? Did you use it with SmartRipper?
Edit: can you burn CDRs at full speed on stock IDE?

I disabled COM ports along with ||-port about 3 months ago when I "upgraded" to USB printer. No problems so far.

 

[aim2073]

Kostya17

I was never able to use the busmaster feature on built-in IDE controller (Sux2K would lock-up).
***If I connect a bootable HD to the onboard IDE, it will boot from that disk instead of the SCSI HD. That sux!
even you connect a non bootable HD there sometime it'll cause trouble.So forget about connecting HD to the onboard
IDE. SCSI to run OS and IDE HD for storage. DVD and CDROM no problem there at all.

Did you use it with SmartRipper?
***You bet! Just for fun.

Edit: can you burn CDRs at full speed?
***Yes.

you may give WinXP a shot, use the lateset bios and also try using ATA 100 and ATA 133 card together. 2 ATA 100 card, good luck!

6400 now very stable and fast, never crash(running XP). Will NOT mess it anymore unless somebody give me a video card
like MX400 for free.

 

[Aar0n]

So I finally got off my butt and found a second CPU for my GW6400. I verified it is the same stepping and physically installed it. However, based on the manual, it looks like I need to run some kind of config utility to enable it.

The GW manual says I need to run muloader.exe off the install CD once I've installed the second chip. I can't find the disc that came with the server; nor can I find any links to the utility online.

Could someone confirm that this is the correct final step to installing the second chip? Also, could someone email me a copy of the utility, muloader.exe?

thanks...

Aaron
aaron at aer0.com

 

[purpledemon]

Aar0n ....
i dont think you have to do anything special to install a second proc, other than plug it in ...

thats all i did for my second 1 ghz chip ... just plugged it in, it got detected and works fine ...

 

[Kostya17]

File muloader.exe does not exist on my GW CDROM. I also searched for m*.e*; here are the results:
Mdac21.exe
MXTrapDest.exe
MOUSE.EXE

Are you sure your manual says muloader.exe?

 

[rlc]

so happy to find a topic related to Gateway 6400 Server YEAH!!!

ok, i am running Inno3D GeForce2 MX 400 PCI on the gateway, but i am also interested in the GeForce4 MX420 PCI card, i bought a Visiontek GeForce4 MX420 PCI w/ TV-Out, which will work, but all my scsi controller are disabled. i think there is a GeForce4 MX420 PCI version made by PNY out there, have anyone here tried it yet? by the way, i think if the PCI video card that comes with a TV-Out option, will somehow disable the scsi channel... i might be wrong, but that's my guess.

thanks Kostya17 for start this thread!!

 

[Kostya17]

rlc

The root cause for VGA<->SCSI compatibility is buggy BIOS. It tries to force the SCSI and VGA to use the same IRQ10. There's this IRQ conflict, VGA wins and SCSI disappears :-( Skywhr already pointed that out. When I troubleshooted SIS video card, I tried it in every PCI slot--did not help.

You can try to disable IRQ assignment to VGA in BIOS and see if that helps. If it does, the next step will be tweaking the Windows settings to let the card use any available IRQ after Winders boots-up (if that's possible at all). Unfortunately, I don't have the card anymore to try it :-(

If it works, let us know ;-)

 

[YoungFart]

Got a ATI Radeon PCI 32MB SDR on sale at CC and spent the weekend troubleshooting it.
Well, it looks like the shared 32/64 bit PCI slots are not that forgiving - the card was giving me a black screen at the Win2K bootup once the drivers were installed.
I moved it to the top PCI slot and that resolved it.
Just my $0.02 worth.

I also called GW business support and they told me that muloader utility is not needed for 6400/7400 servers. It was used for some older systems.

You can see all the GW6400 available downloads HERE

 

[Kostya17]

YoungFart,

does this card have TV-out?

 

[YoungFart]

Originally posted by: Kostya17
YoungFart,

does this card have TV-out?

It sure does. The one I got has an S-video out plug. Here is info
The $29.95 deal is over though.

 

[sleefer]

Here's some usefull info for some of you. This server will take 1GB memory modules. I think that Gateway states that the max is 2GB (4x512MB). I have installed 2 1GB modules in my server and it is running fine. I haven't tried over 2GB total yet, don't know if it will go beyond what I have installed. Crucial also shows 512MB as the largest module for the server. Asus website shows 4GB total for the board, but we all know that's with a different BIOS chip. Anyway, just thought that someone might find this information of some value.

 

[cleek]

Linux users

Add a SCSI HP9210i CDRW for ~60 bucks

 

[Kostya17]

Tualatin Update:

Finaly got .13um Celery for under $50, insulated 3 pins as discribed over here and supplied VCC to VTTPWRGOOD as outlined at madonion forum. The 6400 would boot, correctly set VCC to 1.48V and show CPU as "i(Unknown) at 1000MHz". It would go through the memory/IO test and stumble on SCSI. There it shows error message for a fraction of the second (could not catch it yet) and BOOM!--black screen. Reboot--all the same ("unknown CPU", memory test/IO test, SCSI kaboom).

Well, I will play with it a lil' more tonight and let you guys know how it goes. So far the results are not outstanding

 

[ClearToLand]

Hey Guys,

I love to LURK and to use GOOGLE to find answers, and *HATE* to have to post messages to ask questions, BUT...

• Is there anyplace else where people post Gateway 6400 questions? Is there a good Technical forum somewhere, not 6400-specific, where I might find some answers to my questions?
  
• Has anyone else got the ATI AIW128 PCI to run on WinNT4.0 SP6? [I've got it running on Win98 & Win2K] I *thought* I had it running on NT4 SP6, but now when I formatted and tried to reload everything, I can't get the latest ATI AIW128 NT4 driver to load - keeps going to BSOD , STOP: error 1E in ntoskrnl.exe when attempting to load atixxcd.sys. I pulled the AIW and the built-in Rage works fine - loaded the latest ATI Rage NT4 driver no problem. Tried the AIW in the top slot and both 64-bit slots - NG [but, works anywhere in Win98 & Wink2K]. Before I re-formatted the logical drive, I tried deleting all ATI*.* files and going through the Registry per instructions on several previously mentioned web sites. Hints please!!!
  
• Besides the stock IBM SCSI, I've added 2 Maxtor/Promise ATA100 cards. I was running 2 Maxtor 45GB 7200RPM drives as Masters, one on each channel of the first ATA card. Was having problems copying large (>1GB TiVo Linux backup images) files between drives - the process would slow down to such a crawl that days would go by and it wouldn't finish. I tried moving the card to different slots and that problem "appears" to have gone away - for now. The NEW problem is the addition of 1, maybe 2, Maxtor 80GB drives (1 5400RPM and 1 7200RPM). I'm trying to use PartitionMagic 7.0 to copy logical drives from the extended partition of 1 of the 45GB drives onto the empty 80GB. I've run PM from Win98 and from the floppies with the same poor results - PM reports everything it creates via the COPY command on the 80GB as bad (I forget the exact error codes since its been a few weeks since I last worked on the 6400 and gave up again in frustration). CREATE works OK, but then I'd have to manually copy all the files, but, if I have to...
  
• I moved the original CD to the onboard Secondary Master and added a Plextor 12/10/32A to the onboard Primary Master. Have been using EZCD 4.05 Deluxe with the Plextor on other machines no problem. Last night when I tried to copy a CD on the 6400, EZCD insisted that whatever blanks I put in the Plextor, they were ALL unrecordable. I tried 3 different brands and before I delete and reload EZCD (or try loading it under Wink2K Wrk), I thought I see if anyone here had any suggestions. It's amazing how many problems surface when you try to mix-and-match your own systems. Sometimes they work and sometimes you waste (invest?) hours trying to figure out why they won't. When you're young, it's fun - but, when you get older, it gets "old" - sometimes you wish you could just plug something in and it would work.

So, bottom line, the 6400 is a learning tool - I have the IBM HD set up with multiple OSs (98, NT4 Wrk, NT4 Srv, Win2K Wrk, Win2K Srv) using the MS boot loader. (I used to use System Commander, then PQ Boot, limiting myself to 3 OSs, all loaded on Primary partitions. Now, nothing is on a Primary except the boot loader and a hidden Emergency Copy of Win98 - everything is on logical drives on the IBM and it seems stable (except for the NT4 AIW128 problem). I want the 6400 to replace my P233 "server" which plays & stores my MP3s, checks for and forwards my E-Mail, has 2 printers for spooling, has a SCSI Scanner for photocopying and add PVR capability with scheduled recording and web and ftp servers. ATI MMC versions 7.5 and 7.6 are working pretty well under Win98 using SVCD parameters with very minimal frame dropping (compared to the unbearable frame dropping with version 6.4 (or 6.3?) that came on the CD with the AIW128 card).

I hate to give up on both versions of NT4 (even though I can't capture video under NT4, I'm curious about trying out the web and ftp servers and comparing them to the Win2K versions), but, the VGA resolution just doesn't cut it, I don't want to keep having to switch the monitor cable, and I don't want to have 2 monitors hooked up. Am I missing anything? Anyone have any suggestions or notes for me to compare with?

Thanks...

 

[Kostya17]

Tualatin Update:

Yep, looks like I DID get $50 paperwheight :-((( No matter what I do, GW would not boot with Celery 1A.

 

[Kostya17]

ClearToLand
[joke]
5 OS'es on 1 PC??? Are you trying to beat this guy?
[/joke]

My $0.02 input on your questions:

* I had troubles runing CDR drive on internal IDE; eventually I moved all devices to Maxtor (Promise) controller and disabled built-in IDE.

* I have 2 Maxtor controllers; one is dedicated for DVD/CDR, another for HDs

* Right now I have WD 120 GB and Maxtor 80 GB installed; both are configured as "cable select" on 2 separate channels; however, WDC is recognized as "master"; Maxtor as "slave". 2 drives, 2 channels, 2 identical cables--weired (yes, they both are connected to the "master" connector(s) on the cable(s), I didn't mess that one yet ;-).

* Recently I copied about 58GB of "backups" from WDC to Maxtor, took about half an hour. Since it works, I just left it as it is.

Try to leave both HD's as "cable select" if your problem returns.

 

[ClearToLand]

So Kostya17,

Looks like it's just you and me left here...

Originally posted by: Kostya17
ClearToLand
[joke]
5 OS'es on 1 PC??? Are you trying to beat this guy?
[/joke]

Naw... A few reasons:

1. It's nice to have an alternate OS to boot from when you screw one up
2. It's nice to see how different OSs response to the same programs, etc...
3. It's nice to be able to boot to the OS they have where you're working to see if Tech Support is BSing you or not...

* I had troubles runing CDR drive on internal IDE; eventually I moved all devices to Maxtor (Promise) controller and disabled built-in IDE.

Geez whiz - can't that built-in IDE be relied on to do anything???

* Right now I have WD 120 GB and Maxtor 80 GB installed; both are configured as "cable select" on 2 separate channels; however, WDC is recognized as "master"; Maxtor as "slave". 2 drives, 2 channels, 2 identical cables--weired (yes, they both are connected to the "master" connector(s) on the cable(s), I didn't mess that one yet ;-).

I don't understand how that "cable select" works for you - I thought it was an "old time" idea that needed a custom cable (like the floppy cable has the ribbon twisted for drive B: )

* Recently I copied about 58GB of "backups" from WDC to Maxtor, took about half an hour. Since it works, I just left it as it is.

I'll try "Windoze" COPY as soon as I can get the 6400 to boot again! I tried a "re-install in place" of the NT4 partition last night and it went into an endless loop on the "Upgrading" option on the NT4 boot loader menu. When I broke out of it and tried both Win2K Wrk and Srv partitions, I got errors stating the signature was 3030 instead of AA55. You see why that 18 year old kid had a good idea with 50+ bootable partitions?!?

So, backing up a few months, what's the story with your AIW128 PCI card? Mine runs fine in Win98 and Win2K, but, I can't load the drivers at all in NT4. You want to volunteer to grab the latest NT4 drivers from ATI and try it for me?

You *WERE* interested in PVR, weren't you? Well, the latest ATI 7.5/7.6 Radeon drivers are working just fine for me under Win98SE. I understand that ATI doesn't have any capture drivers for NT4, but, if I could get a video driver to work above VGA 640x480 that would be nice. I could play PVR in Win98SE and Win2kPRO, and still have a decent resolution in NT4. [And I haven't even LOOKED at my SBLive! card yet!!!]

 

[brianboru]

Hey there nice to see there are still a few people out there working on these boxes.

Looking to pick up a new video card. Seen a few people using MX400s and a couple of you guys seem to be using the old ATI All in Wonder cards... Anybody have an All in Wonder Radeon up and working? Alternately, any cheap MX400 card with TV out would prolly work fine for me...

Still trying to track down some cheap drive rails too. Guess nobody ever got together for a bulk buy eh?

 

[amgine]

The amounts I would have had to order in were way to large, I keep digging though. I have also been trying to mod some other rails to work, like the ones in dell optiplex's so I'll let everyone know if I get an easy way to do it and if I have spares.