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AST RESEARCH, INC.            TECHNICAL BULLETIN # 0951                7-12-94

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                       POWERSTATION AND NEC EPP SCSI CD-ROM


PROBLEM:        The PowerStation and the NEC EPP SCSI Interface (NEC Model
                CD-EPPSCS101) fail to recognize the NEC MultiSpin 3X CD-ROM
                READER (NEC Model CDR-600) connected to the parallel port.
                Upon boot-up, the device is not recognized and returns the
                following error message:

                       "No SCSI host adapters detected.
                        Driver load aborted...
                        Press [return]_"

CAUSE:          When the NEC software is loaded on the PowerExec or the
                PowerStation, the default configuration is installed.  There is
                an incompatibility between this default configuration and
                the parallel port on the PowerStation.

SYSTEMS
AFFECTED:       All PowerStations (P/N 500982-XXX) using a NEC EPP SCSI
                Interface to connect to a NEC MultiSpin CD-ROM via the
                parallel port.

SOLUTION:       The software switches /I7 and /M64 must be added to the device
                statement that contains  the MA358.SYS driver.  The statement
                should be as follows:

                        DEVICE=C:\SCSI\CDROM\MA358.SYS /I7 /M64

                This selects IRQ 7 (/I7) and forces the device into Non-Epp
                Unidirectional (/M64) mode.  For more information on these
                switches contact NEC's technical support at 1-800-NEC-INFO or
                consult the NEC user's manual.

CAUTION:        In no case will AST Research, Inc. be liable for damage to the
                system or loss of data caused by improper or faulty
                installation of this drive.