
HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY TEST METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

This document is a guide for investigating potential hardware compatibility problems with Citrix application 
server products. This document contains hardware recommendations, configuration tips, and a procedure to 
help verify that the hardware in use is functioning properly with the application server. Whenever possible, 
select the application server hardware from the lists in Appendices A through L of the Citrix Solutions Guide. If 
this is not possible, use the information in this document to assist in hardware integration with Citrix 
application server products.

This document contains two sections:

Equipment Configuration
Installation Issues and Solutions

EQUIPMENT CONFIGURATION

This section covers basic tips for configuring equipment. To avoid debugging problems associated with 
complex configurations, it is best to verify proper operation with a simple configuration and add components 
one at a time.

Many hardware problems can be traced to an incorrect hardware configuration or contention for resources 
such as interrupts, I/O addresses,  and memory address space. To minimize these conflicts, know what 
resources each component in the system is using and maintain a hardware configuration sheet for each 
machine.

NOTE: Most new EISA machines have intelligent configuration utilities that do not allow resources to be used 
by more than one EISA component, and will complain if you try to make such an assignment. An example of 
this is the configuration utility of the DEC MTE machines. Another example is the IBM PC Server, which 
identifies used and unused resources. Be careful when adding an ISA adapter to an EISA system; since ISA 
adapters do not support the advanced EISA resource management features, you must know which resources 
are available to be assigned to the ISA adapter and ensure that EISA adapters added at a later time do not use 
those resources.

Physical Memory  (RAM)

Make sure that your hardware properly recognizes the installed amount of memory during the Power-On Self 
Test (POST). Some machines automatically adjust for physical memory changes, some require using a 
configuration utility to set the amount of memory, and some may require changes to jumper settings on the 
motherboard.

If the application server software is installed and running, run the following checks to ensure that the software 
recognizes the correct amount of memory:

1.	From an OS/2 prompt, enter: QUERY MEMORY /FREE and verify that the amount of total memory 
reported matches the amount of memory in the machine.

2.	From a DOS prompt, enter: QSYSMEM | MORE and verify that the amount of conventional 
memory plus the amount of extended memory equals the amount of memory in the machine. In addition, 
this tool will report on a per-slot basis the memory starting address and the window size allocated to each 
slot.

Consult the hardware documentation when changing memory or if the memory count does not match what is 
installed in the system. If either of the above commands reports an incorrect memory size, make sure that the 
proper SCSI controller device driver is loaded in the system (follow the procedure described in the system 
README  "ADD files for SCSI Adapter Support"). An incorrect memory configuration may cause incorrect 
system operation.

Interrupts (IRQs)

If a particular interrupt is not in use in your system, you may assign it to an adapter. For example, if you do 
not have a second parallel port (LPT2) installed in your system, the associated interrupt (IRQ5) is available for 
assignment to an adapter such as a network card. Listed below are some common interrupt assignments:

Interrupt	Usual Function/Assignment

NMI (Non-Maskable Interrupt)	Reports parity errors
0	System timer
1	Keyboard
2	Cascade input for second interrupt controller
3	COM2
4	COM1
5	LPT2
6	Floppy/Hard Disk Controller
7	LPT1
8	Real-time Clock Interrupt
9	Software redirected to interrupt 0AH
10	Generally Available
11	Generally Available
12	Generally Available
13	Coprocessor
14	May be used for hard disk controller
15	May be used for hard disk controller

Memory Windows

Another system resource that may cause contention problems is memory address space and how it is allocated 
to components within the system. Many intelligent peripheral devices require a block of vacant memory 
address space for their own use. This memory address space is used to move data between the peripheral 
device and the host memory. Each memory block assigned to a peripheral device must be unique; the memory 
blocks assigned to two peripheral devices cannot be shared or overlap.

It is important to ensure unique memory starting addresses for each adapter and make sure there are no 
overlapping assignments. Consult the documentation for your computer and peripheral devices to identify 
the memory starting addresses and block sizes.

NOTE: The application server install program presently defaults many DigiBoard adapters to use A0000H as 
the memory window. This value is not compatible with VGA adapters and may cause problems. During 
installation, be sure to select another memory window; e.g. D0000H. If the system is already installed, modify 
the DigiBoard device driver statement in CONFIG.SYS and reboot the system. If this is not done, running 
Windows sessions at the system console may cause incorrect system operation.

NOTE: Some EISA configuration utilities have menu selections that can be used to identify "used" and 
"unused" memory resources.

Some examples of peripheral devices and memory block size requirements to be aware of follow:

1.	The 3Com 3C507 Etherlink 16 network interface card (NIC) supports memory block sizes of 
16KB, 32KB, 48KB, or 64KB. The block size is selected from the 3Com configuration utility.

2.	A DigiBoard PC/2E adapter requires an 8KB memory window.

3.	DigiBoard PC/Xem ISA multiport adapters contain 256KB of on-board dual-port RAM that is 
accessed through a 32KB window.

INSTALLATION ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS

Citrix works very hard to maintain as wide a breadth of hardware compatibility as possible. New hardware 
configurations are tested with our currently shipping products as well as future versions. As a result, we have 
identified some incompatibilities and have working solutions to these issues that can be obtained from our 
BBS and Forum on CompuServe. The issues listed below are in reference to WINVIEW for Networks Version 2.3. 
Solutions to these issues will be incorporated into all future release levels.

1.	If WINVIEW installation cannot proceed past Diskette 1:  If the SCSI controller is an Adaptec 
2940 PCI or Integrated 7870 Adaptec PCI, there is a fix that can be downloaded from the Citrix BBS or the 
CompuServe Forum. The fix involves modifying Diskette 1 of the install, and modifying CONFIG.SYS 
after installation is completed.

2.	If WINVIEW is installed and boots but performance is sluggish and you cannot access any 
additional SCSI devices such as CD-ROM drives, tape drives, or secondary hard drives, the system is 
probably not using the proper SCSI controller driver. (One example is Hewlett Packard machines using the 
Adaptec Integrated EISA SCSI controller identified as the 7770 chip family with a version 2.0 BIOS. You 
can obtain a fix for this from our BBS or Forum on CompuServe.) If you do not have the hardware listed in 
the previous sentence, review the following items:

	A.	Review CONFIG.SYS and ensure that the proper driver is loaded 
(e.g.; for an Adaptec 2740 the statement BASEDEV=AIC7770.ADD should be present). Refer to the SCSI 
hardware controller manual to identify the name of the OS/2 driver used for your system.

	B.	Review the on-line README "ADD Files for SCSI Adapter Support." 
This README identifies currently supported SCSI controllers and the corresponding driver names, as 
well as configuration information.

	C.	From an OS/2 prompt, use the QUERY DEVICES command to verify 
that the proper OS/2 SCSI controller .ADD file has actually been loaded by the system.

	D.	From an OS/2 prompt, use the QACT32 /MON:3 command to look 
for a program running called "went.away." If this program is present, the system is using the 
IBMINT13.I13 SCSI driver, used by WINVIEW for installation purposes only. Check your SCSI controller 
manual for the name of the OS/2 driver and follow the instructions in the system README for 
configuring it to work with WINVIEW.

3.	If the system contains an Adaptec 2740 EISA SCSI controller with BIOS Version 2.x and 
WINVIEW installs but does not boot, and the error message "Can't find C:\OS2\COUNTRY.SYS" appears 
several minutes after the initialization messages, you will need to download a fix from the Citrix BBS or 
the Citrix Forum on CompuServe.

 



 

 


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