Environment
Situation
The abend described above only occurs on machines that have the NetWare Boot Loader installed instead of DOS, as the server boot mechanism. (This is a choice available during the new server installation process for NetWare 6.5.) The abend will only occur during a Support Pack upgrade from [NetWare 6.5 FCS, NetWare 6.5 SP1, or NetWare 6.5 SP2] to NetWare 6.5 SP4 or NetWare 6.5 SP5.
Reminder: If the NetWare server is booting from any version of DOS, there is no need to use either of the solutions outlined below.
Resolution
Solution Option 1: The simplest solution is to remove the obsolete mechanism (by deleting the file NWBoot.nlm) so that the command NWBoot, used during the Support Pack install when the NetWare Boot Loader is detected, is processed through the correct code path (inside Fatfs.nlm). After the Support Pack install is complete, and the server is rebooted, use the console command"nwboot–f"to insure that the latest NetWare boot loader code is installed. No further action should be necessary for future upgrades.
Solution Option 2: If the installation location or media cannot be modified, an alternate approach is to revert to the DOS boot load mechanism, install the support pack, then reinstate the NetWare boot loader when the installation is complete.
Step 1. On the NW6.5 SP2 (or previous) server, use the console command"nwboot–undo"
Step 2. Reboot the server so that the DOS boot loader is used
Step 3. Install the current Support Pack (NW6.5 SP5)
Step 4. Delete the file nwboot.nlm from the c:\nwserver directory
Step 5. Restore the NetWare boot loader using the console command"nwboot–f"and reboot the server one more time, to insure that the latest NWboot code is active.