We have a GE Frame-6 gas turbine controlled by Mark-V/IDOS, and we have a problem like <I> computer’s screen freezes every three/four hours every day. This problem started when we purchased a new industrial computer P4/3.4GB/512MB DDRAM/80GB HD and loaded the site specific files and installed the GE Arcnet card (contemporary controls). The first day I believe the < I> computer runs very well but next day screen starts freezing. I formatted the hard drive and reloaded the software but the problem is still the same. Further tests have been carried out when the screen freezes and here are the results:

* The screen freezes with the data on the screen and it’s not a lost Arcnet communication.
* When screen freezes “Invalid” error message does not come on top right corner, it stays normal.
* When screen freezes, keyboard and mouse do not respond, it’s like the whole computer hangs, so we reboot the computer by reset button.
* There no error messages on the <C> display.
* Resolution of the display driver does not have any affect, the problem remains same.

What could be the problem? Why is this happening?

 

This question has been asked here and answered before. IDOS was written for specific BIOSs; it does not run on any BIOS on any PC/motherboard combination. Because IDOS remaps interrupts (it is a multitaksing operating system that schedules MS-DOS as one of its tasks) it doesn't run very well on every PC. Personally, I've never had much luck trying to get IDOS to run on a P4-equipped PC other than the ones GE provided with their operator interfaces.

Industrial operator interfaces running proprietary software can*NOT* be expected to and will*NOT* behave like a typical Wintel PC. Just because the CPU can run most consumer and commercial applications and OSs (operating systems) does not mean it will run every proprietary OS and application.

This is likely the single reason why GE uses specific PC/motherboard/hardware configurations; they test the software with the hardware and "certify" the hardware will run the software. Just consider how much time, effort, and money any company would spend trying to support their application on every PC/motherboard/hardware configuration. Even "Generous Electric" has a limit to its resources.

You took a risk in buying a PC which was not supported by GE. Not every risk pays off when it does it's great. When it doesn't, well, it doesn't and you learn from the experience. It's possible that someone could spend some time (how much depends on a lot of things) working on your PC and determine what the problem is and get the operator interface up and running, but that would take someone sitting in front of the PC and methodically and logically working through a number of possibilities, something we can't do in a public forum like this. At least one person has had some success in getting a "generic" P4 PC to run IDOS, but specific details were sketchy, likely because a LOT of time was spent trying this and that and the "solution" was likely a combination of things which all had to be configured just so for IDOS to run on that particular PC, so even if we knew the exact details the solution may not be applicable to your PC/motherboard/hardware.