Hardware Inventory Hangs at 30% When Detecting the Game Port

• Microsoft Systems Management Server versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2

SYMPTOMS

If the network card's I/O address is set to 200h, hardware inventory will hang and ultimately fail when trying to detect the game port.

CAUSE

When inventory verifies whether the game port adapter is in the computer (using Getother.exe), it makes a call to port 201h (this is the industry standard setting for game ports). This call impinges on the network card address range, causing the network connection to hang.

The issue is discussed in QUE's "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" (4th edition):

   The game adapter does not use much in the way of system resources. The
   card does not use an IRQ, DMA channel, or memory, and requires only a
   single I/O address (port) 201h. The adapter is controlled by reading and
   writing data to and from port 201h.

WORKAROUND

There are three possible workarounds to this problem:

1. Set the net card I/O address to another value (recommended).

2. Create an Smssafe.tmp file and add "GamePorts=CRASHED" to prevent it from being inventoried.

3. Remove Getother.exe from your SMS site, so that the it is never called during the inventory process. (Not Recommended)