Promise Technology FastTrak TX2000 User Manual
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Promise Technology FastTrak TX2000 User Manual

Promise Technology FastTrak TX2000 User Manual

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  • Page 1 Ultra ATA/133 RAID Card User Manual Version 1.3...
  • Page 2 Copyright Copyright by Promise Technology, Inc. (“Promise”), 2001. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the expressed, written permission of Promise. Trademarks All trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Important data protection information You should back up all data before installing any drive controller or storage peripheral.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    FastTrak TX2000™ User Manual Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ......................1 TX2000 RAID C ?............1 HAT IS THE (PAM)............2 ROMISE RRAY ANAGEMENT TILITY .................. 3 EATURES AND ENEFITS QUICK START ......................5 TX2000 ................ 5 NPACKING ....................6 NSTALLING ..................
  • Page 4 FastTrak TX2000™ User Manual ....................60 NSTALLATION SSUES ....................60 NSTALLATION CONTACTING TECHNICAL SUPPORT..............61 LIMITED WARRANTY....................63 RETURNING PRODUCT FOR REPAIR ..............65...

  • Page 5: Introduction

    The PC which you are using either already contains a Promise Technology FastTrak TX2000 RAID card installed by a third-party or you have acquired a FastTrak TX2000 retail product for your existing PC and will be installing the card yourself.

  • Page 6: Promise Array Management Utility (Pam)

    FastTrak TX2000™ User Manual FastTrak TX2000's bootable BIOS supports individual drives larger than 137 GB. With FAT32 and NTFS partitioning, the array can be addressed as one large single volume. Promise Array Management Utility (PAM) Professional RAID array management utility offers local and remote management and monitoring of all FastTrak arrays that exist anywhere on a network.

  • Page 7: Keys Features And Benefits

    FastTrak TX2000™ User Manual Keys Features and Benefits The following information offers an overview of the major features of your new Promise FastTrak TX2000 card. The table is divided into two areas: Advanced Hardware Design, and Compatibility. Advanced Hardware Design...
  • Page 8 FastTrak TX2000™ User Manual Compatibility Features Benefits Complies with PCI v2.2 Local Bus Provides highest level of hardware compatibility. standard Compliant with PCI IDE Bus Master Provides 32-bit I/O, IDE Bus Master, and Ultra standard. PCI IDE Bus Master ATA performance for optimal system support for Windows 98/95/ME, performance.

  • Page 9: Quick Start

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Quick Start This section is designed to quickly get your FastTrak TX2000 controller up and running using the default settings, which will be optimal for most users. If you wish to modify any of the default settings, please refer to page 14, Using FastBuild™...

  • Page 10: Installing The Card

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Installing The Card Installing the FastTrak TX2000 controller card in a system is a simple process. The card fits into any available 32-bit PCI slot (must be PCI 2.1 or 2.2 compliant), or the 32-bit portion of a 64-bit PCI slot, on the system’s motherboard (see figure below).

  • Page 11: Installing The Hard Drives

    WARNING: If you wish to include your current bootable drive using the Windows NT 4.x, Windows 2000, or Windows XP operating system as part of a bootable Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your FastTrak TX2000, do NOT connect the hard drive to the FastTrak TX2000 controller yet. You MUST install the Windows NT4, 2000, or XP driver software first (see page 30) to this drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller.
  • Page 12 Attach one Ultra ATA cable to each hard drive. Then attach one cable to each of the IDE connectors on the FastTrak TX2000 controller card. The colored edge of the cable(s) indicates pin 1 (see below), and the blue cable connector must be attached to the FastTrak TX2000 connector.

  • Page 13: Checking Cmos Settings

    IRQ as other PCI cards if those cards support PCI interrupt sharing. If you wish to boot from a FastTrak TX2000 drive array AND continue to use hard drives attached to your motherboard's IDE controller, refer to your motherboard manual for the specific...

  • Page 14: Creating Your Disk Array

    Failure to follow this accepted PC practice could result in data loss. Boot your system. If this is the first time you have booted with the FastTrak TX2000 card and drives installed, the Promise onboard BIOS will display the following screen.
  • Page 15 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Creating an Array for Performance NOTE: FastTrak TX2000 allows users to create striped arrays with 1, 2, 3, or 4 drives. To create an array for best performance, follow these steps: Using the Spacebar, choose “Performance” under the Optimize Array for section.
  • Page 16 NT 4.x, Windows 2000, or Windows XP operating system as part of a bootable Mirrored (RAID 1) array on your FastTrak TX2000, do NOT connect the hard drive to the FastTrak TX2000 controller yet. You MUST install the Windows NT4, 2000, or XP driver software first (see page 30) to this drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller.
  • Page 17 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Once complete, the following screen will appear confirming that your Security array has been created. Press any key to reboot the system. Array has been created. <Press Any Key to Reboot> Proceed to the Installing Driver chapter on page 30 to install the FastTrak...

  • Page 18: Using Fastbuild™ Configuration Utility

    Configuration Utility offers several menu choices to create and manage the drive array on the Promise FastTrak TX2000 adapter. For purposes of this manual, it is assumed you have already created an array in the previous chapter and now wish to make a change to the array or view other options.

  • Page 19: Navigating The Fastbuild™ Setup Menu

    To rebuild a mirrored array, see “Rebuilding an Array” on page 27. To view controller settings, see “Viewing Controller Configuration” on page 29. NOTE: After installing the FastTrak TX2000 card and configuring an array using FastBuild, you should FDISK and format the arrayed drive(s) if you are using...

  • Page 20: Creating Arrays Automatically

    Supports the maximum performance. The storage capacity equals the number of drives times the capacity of the smallest drive in the disk array. NOTE: FastTrak TX2000 permits striped arrays using 1, 2, 3, or 4 drives attached in Auto Setup mode.
  • Page 21 TX2000 begins to perform an automatic data rebuild on the “spare” drive in the background without the need to restart the system. At a later time, the failed drive can be physically removed from the FastTrak TX2000 card and an extra drive added in its place to function as the “spare” drive.

  • Page 22: Viewing Drive Assignments

    (U5 refers to 100MB/sec transfers, U4 refers to 66MB/sec transfers, etc...) FastBuild (tm) Utility 1.xx (c) 1995-2001 Promise Technology, Inc. [ View Drive Assignments ] Channel:ID Drive Model...

  • Page 23: Manually Creating An Array

    The Define Array Definition Menu will next appear that allows drive assignments to the disk array (see next page). A user may use a single drive in either striping or spanning mode with FastTrak TX2000. In this rare scenario, the card will create an individual array ID but will offer conventional controller performance depending on the drive type.
  • Page 24 (for example, a 20.5 GB drive would be rounded down to 20 GB). This can be helpful in the event that a drive fails and an exact replacement model is no longer available. Without this feature enabled, FastTrak TX2000 will NOT permit the use of a replacement drive that is slightly smaller than the remaining working drive.
  • Page 25 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual drive to be used. Please note that users will lose a small amount of available storage capacity from both drives in order to arrive at a common drive size. NOTE: The Gigabyte Boundary feature is automatically disabled when creating a mirrored array (RAID 1) from an existing drive (versus using two brand new drives).
  • Page 26 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Adding Fault Tolerance to an Existing Drive FastTrak TX2000 will create a mirrored array using an existing system drive with data. You must assign the existing drive and another drive of same or larger capacity to the Mirroring array.
  • Page 27 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Use the arrow keys to choose which drive contains the existing data to be copied. WARNING: All target drive data will be erased. Make sure you choose the correct drive. Press [Ctrl-Y] keys to Save selection and start duplication. The following confirmation screen will appear.
  • Page 28 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Making a FastTrak TX2000 Disk Array Bootable WARNING: In order for you to boot from an array on the FastTrak TX2000, your PC or server must be configured in the CMOS Setup to use the FastTrak TX2000 as a bootable device (versus the onboard controller or another add-in card).
  • Page 29 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual How FastTrak TX2000 Orders Arrays During startup, the disk arrays on the FastTrak TX2000 are recognized in this order: 1) The array set to bootable in the FastBuild Setup, and 2) the Array number (i.e. Array 0, Array 1…).

  • Page 30: Deleting An Array

    FastBuild (tm) Utility 1.xx (c) 1995-2001 Promise Technology, Inc. [ Delete Array Menu ] Array No...

  • Page 31: Rebuildinga Mirrored Array

    NOTE: Drives MUST be replaced if they contain any physical errors. Follow these steps BEFORE using the Rebuild Array menu option: On bootup, the FastTrak TX2000 Startup BIOS will display an error message identifying which drive has failed. Press <Ctrl-F> keys to enter FastBuild Main Menu.
  • Page 32 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual FastBuild (tm) Utility 1.xx (c) 1995-2001 Promise Technology, Inc. [ Rebuild Array Menu ] Array No RAID Mode Total Drv Status Array 2 Mirror Critical Stripe Block: Not Available Gigabyte Boundary: [ Select Drive for Rebuild ]...

  • Page 33: Viewing Controller Settings

    The [System Resources Configuration] section of this submenu displays the PCI slot interrupt and port address used by the FastTrak TX2000. The resources used are determined by the Mainboard PCI PnP BIOS for the PCI slot in which the FastTrak TX2000 resides.

  • Page 34: Installing Drivers

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Installing Drivers This section details the FastTrak TX2000 driver installation when used with various operating systems. The software includes the driver necessary to identify FastTrak TX2000 to the operating system. Windows XP Installing Driver During New Windows XP Installation...
  • Page 35 Do not attach this drive or any other hard drive to the FastTrak TX2000 controller card before completing this step. After installing the FastTrak TX2000 card and rebooting your system, Windows XP setup will show a “Found New Hardware” dialog box. Under Windows XP, “Mass Storage Controller” will be displayed.

  • Page 36: Windows 2000

    When the “Windows 2000 Setup” window is generated, press “S” to Specify an Additional Device(s) Insert the Promise Technology driver diskette into drive A: and press “Enter” key. Choose “Win2000 Promise FastTrak TX2000 (tm) Series Controller” from the list that appears on screen, and then press the “Enter”...

  • Page 37: Ettings

    2000 operating system to a mirrored RAID 1 array on the FastTrak TX2000 card, the FastTrak TX2000 driver MUST be loaded to the hard drive while it is still attached to your existing hard drive controller. Do not attach this drive or any other hard drive to the FastTrak TX2000 controller card before completing this step.

  • Page 38: Windows Nt4

    FastTrak TX2000 driver diskette into drive A: and press the “Enter” key. Choose “WinNT Promise FastTrak TX2000 (tm) Series Controller” from the list that appears on screen, and then press the “Enter” key. The Windows NT Setup screen will appear again saying “Setup will load support for the following mass storage devices:”...

  • Page 39: Ettings

    Choose “Drivers,” and then press “Add.” In the “Install Drivers” dialog box, press “Have Disk…” When the “Install From Disk” appears, insert the “FastTrak TX2000 Driver” diskette in drive A:. Type “A:\NT4” in the text box window, then choose “OK.”...

  • Page 40: Windows Me

    The following details the installation of the FastTrak TX2000 drivers while installing Windows ME (with the FastTrak TX2000 controller card already in place). If you’re installing the FastTrak TX2000 drivers on a system with ME already installed, see “Installing Drivers with Existing Windows ME System.”...
  • Page 41 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Installing Drivers with Existing Windows ME System The following section details the installation of FastTrak TX2000 drivers on a system that has Millennium already installed and running. If you’re installing the FastTrak TX2000 drivers on a system during an installation of ME, see “Installing Drivers During Windows ME Installation.”...

  • Page 42: Windows 95/98

    The following three sections detail the installation of the FastTrak TX2000 drivers while installing Windows 95/98 (with the FastTrak TX2000 controller card already in place). If you’re installing the FastTrak TX2000 drivers on a system with Windows 95/98 already installed, see “Installing Drivers with Existing Windows 95/98”...
  • Page 43 When asked if you want Windows to search for the driver, choose “Yes (recommended).” 10. Insert the “FastTrak TX2000 Driver” diskette into the A: drive, then press “Next.” 11. When Windows informs you that it was unable to find the drivers, press “Other Locations…”...

  • Page 44: Ettings

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Installing Drivers with Existing Windows 95/98 The following three sections detail the installation of FastTrak TX2000 drivers on a system that has Windows 95/98 already installed. If you’re installing the FastTrak TX2000 drivers on a system during a Windows 95/98 installation, see “Installing Drivers During Windows 95/98...

  • Page 45: Dos/Windows 3.1X

    Insert “Disk 1” of your DOS installation diskettes into drive A:. Type “A:SETUP” at the “A:\” prompt. Continue with normal DOS installation procedure, and refer to your DOS manual for additional details. NOTE: The FastTrak TX2000 BIOS supports both DOS and Windows 3.1x without software drivers.
  • Page 46 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual...

  • Page 47: Understanding Disk Array Concepts

    FastBuild Auto Menu Setup This setup utility is used to build and manage FastTrak TX2000 disk arrays. The utility is menu driven and features the <1> Auto Setup option that uses a simple, interactive setup process. Once the array is built, all the array members store the configuration information in the drive’s reserved area.

  • Page 48: Disk Array Terms

    “<1> Auto Setup” option will configure your system. There are four disk array types in three categories that can be installed on the FastTrak TX2000 card. Striping is in the Performance category while Mirroring, Striping/Mirroring are in the Fault Tolerance category.

  • Page 49: About Raid Levels

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual About RAID Levels Striping (RAID 0) Reads and writes sectors of data interleaved between multiple drives. When any disk member fails, it affects the entire array. Performance is better than a single drive since the workload is balanced between the array members.
  • Page 50 With drives of different capacities, there may be unused capacity on the larger drive. Using a Spare Drive Under a RAID 1 setup, an extra “hot spare” drive (a third drive on FastTrak TX2000) can be attached to the FastTrak TX2000 and not assigned to the array. Such a drive will be activated to replace a failed drive that is part of a mirrored array.
  • Page 51 There are six combinations in which two drives can fail. FastTrak TX2000 protects the data array in four of those cases depending on drive type (some drives do not permit the Slave drive to continue to function if the Master drive fails).
  • Page 52 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Under RAID 0+1, the array maintains data integrity if any 1, 2 combination survives. Event Failed Drives Array Status Why? A1/A2 Working B1/B2 retain array integrity B2/B1 Working A1/A2 retain array integrity A1/B2 Working B1/A2 retain array integrity...

  • Page 53: Troubleshooting & Tips

    Troubleshooting & Tips This section is used to assist with troubleshooting conflicts and FastTrak TX2000 installation problems. Also refer to the “README.TXT” file on the FastTrak TX2000 driver and utility diskette for more recent information as well as the PromiseOnline services listed in Appendix A.

  • Page 54: System Cmos Issues

    Critical Array Status Error Reported during Boot If a critical status error message appears on the FastTrak TX2000 BIOS startup screen for a mirrored array (see below), there is a drive in the array that has failed or is not responding.
  • Page 55 Unable to partition or format array There are two possible causes - If the FastTrak TX2000 controller is the bootable device, make sure that the array is set to be bootable - Enter the FastBuild BIOS utility by pressing Ctrl-F when prompted during boot Choose option [3], “Define Array”...

  • Page 56: Operating System-Related Issues

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Cannot Rebuild Mirrored (RAID 1) Array (see “Unable to Partition or Format array” above) Fatal Errors or Data Corruption Are Constantly Reported When Reading or Writing to Drive Array (see “Unable to Partition or Format array” above)
  • Page 57 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual “No Hard Drives Found” Message Appears During CD-ROM Install of Windows NT, 2000, or XP The "F6" key was not pressed at the appropriate time. Reboot the system, and press the "F6" key when the message "Setup is inspecting your computer's hardware configuration…" appears in Windows NT4 or the message "Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID...

  • Page 58: Performance Tips

    Use FastTrak TX2000 as D: or other non-bootable drive in a Striped Array For A/V editing, keep the original system boot drive on the standard IDE controller as C: drive.
  • Page 59 Certain brands of video capture cards can produce a “glitch” on play back of .AVI files. A setting of “Less” for PCI Bus utilization reduces the time which FastTrak TX2000 occupies on the PCI bus and frees that time for use by other PCI devices and will remove the “glitch” dropout effect on playback.
  • Page 60 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual NOTES...

  • Page 61: Frequently Asked Questions

    How can I change the resources that the FastTrak uses? The FastTrak TX2000 is fully PnP. This means all the resources that it uses are given to it by the PnP BIOS on the motherboard. The FastTrak TX2000 does support IRQ sharing, but this will not work unless ALL the concerned devices support the feature.
  • Page 62 FastTrak TX2000 implements three different types of RAID levels as follows: RAID 0 (stripe) For capacity -- The FastTrak TX2000 array will be as big as the smallest HDD in the array times however many HDDs are in the array. Any larger HDDs will simply be truncated.

  • Page 63: Drive Issues

    Do the HDDs on the FastTrak TX2000 have to be the same size? The HDDs that you use with the FastTrak TX2000 do not have to be the same size. If the sizes differ, the FastTrak TX2000 will “adjust” the HDDs so that they are compatible.

  • Page 64: Fasttrak Tx2000™ User Manual I I

    PCI slot priority. PCI slot #1 will be first, slot #2 second, etc. Put the FastTrak TX2000 controller in the PCI slot where it will be accessed ahead of other SCSI controllers if you want to boot from the array.

  • Page 65: Contacting Technical Support

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Contacting Technical Support Promise Technical Support provides several support options for Promise users to access information and updates. We encourage you to use one of our electronic services, which provide product information updates for the most efficient service and support.
  • Page 66 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Promise Europe E-mail Support support@promise.nl Fax Technical Support +31 (0)40 256 94 63 Attention: Technical Support Phone Technical Support +31 (0)40 256 94 61 8:30-5:00pm The Netherlands Time If you wish to write us for support: Promise Technology Europe B.V.

  • Page 67: Limited Warranty

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Limited Warranty Promise Technology, Inc. (“Promise”) warrants that for two (2) years from the time of the delivery of the product to the original end user: the product will conform to Promise’s specifications; the product will be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service.
  • Page 68 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual whether Promise has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Promise is not an insurer. If you desire insurance against such damage, you must obtain insurance from another party. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages for consumer products, so the above limitation may not apply to you.

  • Page 69: Returning Product For Repair

    FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual Returning Product for Repair If you suspect a product is not working properly, or if you have any questions about your product, contact our Technical Support Staff through one of our Technical Services, making sure to provide the following information:...
  • Page 70 FastTrak TX2000™ Series User Manual...

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