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This section contains useful information on configuring
and using your host adapter.
Configuring SCSI Devices
Your host adapter can transfer data on the SCSI bus at a
maximum negotiated transfer rate of 10 MBytes/sec. For
reliable data transfers, the following requirements
should be met:
Internal and external cables should be terminated
with active terminators, either provided by the SCSI
device at the end of the cable or by a separate termi-
nating plug. The terminator on the AHA-2930B is an
active terminator.
For all SCSI devices connected to the host adapter,
make sure you use high-quality SCSI cables to ensure
reliable data transfer. Select cables labeled "SCSI II"
to ensure cable compliance to the SCSI specification.
Note that cables with a 25-pin DB25 connector may
not meet SCSI II standards. However, if you must use
this cable, restrict the external cabling to a minimum
length (always leave parity checking enabled to ver-
ify reliable data transfers).
When one or more Fast SCSI devices are connected to
the host adapter, the combined length of all cables
(internal and external) should not exceed 3 meters
(9.8 feet) to ensure reliable operation when transfer-
ring data at 10 MBytes/sec.
Your host adapter can support the SCSI Configured
AutoMatically (SCAM) protocol, which automati-
cally assigns SCSI IDs dynamically and resolves SCSI
ID conflicts at bootup. To enable or disable SCAM
support, see Additional Options: Boot Device Options on
page 10.
If your system includes SCSI disk drives or other
devices that support SCAM and SCAM is enabled,
you do not need to manually assign SCSI IDs to these
devices. Most SCSI devices currently in use, however,
do not support SCAM, and you must set their SCSI
IDs manually.
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Configuring Disk Drives
Every hard disk must be low-level formatted, parti-
tioned, and logically formatted before you can use it
to store data. Most SCSI hard disks are physically for-
matted at the factory and do not need to be formatted
again.
If you connected a new hard disk drive to your host
adapter, you must partition and logically format the
drive. For DOS and Windows (3.x and 95) use the
DOS Fdisk and Format commands (see your com-
puter and DOS documentation). For other operating
systems, see your operating system documentation.
If you are booting from a SCSI hard disk drive, make
sure the Hard Disk (or Drives) setting in your
computer's CMOS setup program is set to None or
No Drives Installed, as required for SCSI hard disk
drives. (See your computer documentation.)
If the motherboard has an embedded SCSI controller,
disable the embedded controller after you install the
AHA-2930B.
If you installed both SCSI and non-SCSI (e.g., IDE)
disk drives, the non-SCSI disk drive is always the
boot device
Installing Multiple Adapters
You can install multiple SCSI host adapters if unused
I/O ports and BIOS addresses are available.
Each host adapter you install forms a separate SCSI
bus with a different set of SCSI devices.
SCSI IDs can be reused as long as the ID is assigned to
a device on a different host adapter (for example,
each host adapter can have a device with SCSI ID 0).
If you have two or more SCSI host adapters, enable
the BIOS only on the host adapter you have selected
as a boot device. Disable the BIOS on the other host
adapter(s).
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