Article ID: 172912
Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
This article was previously published under Q172912
SYMPTOMS
When you perform Windows mirroring on a computer using IDE drives and
the master drive on the primary channel fails, the system may appear to
stop responding. You may also experience very erratic mouse movement. This
can happen even if the system drive is configured as master on the primary
EIDE controller and shadow drive is configured as master on the secondary
EIDE controller.
CAUSE
When your computer is running Windows NT or Windows 2000, the ATAPI device driver continues
to request communication to the primary EIDE device on the master channel.
This process will eventually timeout and Windows will then continue
to run by using the primary (shadow) drive on the secondary channel. The
length of this timeout delay depends on the processes running and the
specific hardware in use.
RESOLUTION
Because of the nature of IDE architecture, the system may appear to stop
responding or erratic mouse movement may occur. This behavior is expected
when a mirrored IDE drive fails.
If an instantaneous switchover from the primary drive to the shadow drive
of the mirror set is desired, then switching to a SCSI-based disk subsystem
is recommended.
Keywords: kbhardware KB172912