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Dear Group,
The situation: When I start the TS4 Signal Server (either on- or
off-line), I get an error message "Security Block is missing. Please
install Security Block and try again." TS4 won't load.
The problem: My security block IS installed.
Control experiments performed, all without eliminating error message:
1. Test computer Parallel Port by printing a page: the page prints.
2. Same error message whether or not printer cable is attached to
Security Block.
3. Same error measage whether or not computer is booted up with or
without Security Block attached.
3. Remove all computer cards except video card, eliminate DOS partition
on harddrive, recreate DOS partition, reformat harddrive, reinstall
Win98, reinstall TS4. Note: the only card installed is a simple video
card and the only software installed is Win98 SE and TS4.
4. Use FAT 16 instead of FAT32 partitioning.
5. Use TS 3.5 instead of TS4.
6. Use simple video card instead of multi-monitor card.
7. The system.ini file in C:\Windows shows the line "device=ssiact.386"
as the first line under "386Enh".
8. The autoexec.bat file in C:\ shows the line "set ssi_act=10,10,10".
9. Installing SafeSoft doesn't eliminate the error message.
All of the above was done with a Pentium III/500 using Win98 SE and TS4
Build 23, both on CD.
Additional observations:
A. Several weeks ago, I installed TS4 on a P233 using Win98 SE. In
that computer, the same Security Block continues to work fine --- that
is, without the Security Block attached to the P233 Parallel Port, I get
the error message, and with it attached, I get no error message and TS4
loads.
B. I installed TS4 on the Pentium 500 when I first got it, a month or
so ago, and TS4 ran on it successfully with the Security Block. I
stopped using TS4 on the P500 several weeks ago in favor of installing
and using it on the P233. This weekend, I tried to run my old TS4
installation on the P500 and got the same error message. That was my
first observation that something was wrong. I did not think anything
about it and simply FDISKed and FORMATed the P500 harddrive, reinstalled
Win98 SE and TS4, and got the same result: the error message. After
that, I began doing the above experiments.
It appears to me that
(i) The Security Block may not be the problem, as it works
successfully on the P233, and
(ii) The problem lies somewhere within the P500, although not it
its operating system or in TS4, and is not cured by either FDISK or
FORMAT. Presumably, the problem first arose sometime within the last
few weeks, after I stopped using TS4 on the the P500 and before I tried
to restart TS4 on the P500 several weeks later. During this period, I
added several cards and several programs to the P500, but I have removed
all of them and reformatted its harddrive, all without resulting in TS4
recognizing its Security Block upon loading.
Perhaps the problem lies somewhere in the P500's BIOS. I have scoured
that BIOS, but the only thing I found that looked likely was that
"Parallel Port" was set to "Disabled". I changed its setting to
"Enabled" but still obtained the Security Block is missing" error
message upon rebooting.
At this point, I have run out of ideas. Might any of you have any
ideas? As you might imagine, I'm getting a little tired of this
situation.
Sincerely,
Richard
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