****************************************************** ELBOX FastATA 4000 Controller / A4000 Power Flyer ELBOX FastATA ZIV Controller / A1200 ZIV Power Flyer ****************************************************** FEATURES * High-speed Fast ATA controller * Enables operation of the devices in PIO-3 and PIO-4 fast modes up to 16.6 MB/s. * Data transfer is several times faster than in any ZORRO II or Fast ZORRO II controller. * Compatible with PIO-0 to PIO-4, UDMA-33, UDMA-66 devices. * Two IDE 3.5" ports enable connecting 4 EIDE devices (HDD, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, ZIP, LS-120, DVD) working at full speed. * Supports HDDs > 4 GB. * The set includes very advanced FastATA software for controlling EIDE devices and the fastest CD filesystem: AllegroCDFS. REGISTRATION If you would like to receive e-mail updates of the software written for the ELBOX FastATA 4000 (A4000 Power Flyer) Controller or for the ELBOX FastATA ZIV (A1200 ZIV Power Flyer) Controller, please send a message to: support@elbox.com subject: subscribe FastATA4000 or subscribe FastATA ZIV body: , , , , . INSTALLATION (FastATA4000 in A3000 or A4000) Insert the controller board into any ZORRO III slot. The board's elements must be placed UPWARDS. INSTALLATION (FastATA ZIV in A1200 with the ZIV busboard) Insert the controller into any ZORRO IV slot. Note: For using FastATA ZIV controller your ZIV busboard should be configured properly. ZIV busboard without any devices is not recognised by the system, so there is no possibility of checking its configuration. ZIV busboard is configured by three jumpers: CFG 0 CFG 1 CFG M Please follow ZIV busboard manual for setting of these jumpers. Checking if the ZIV busboard jumper configuration is correct is very simple: Start the computer with FastATA ZIV with 2 mouse buttons pressed and check the Expansion Board Diagnostic Menu. If ZIV busboard jumpers are set correctly you will see FastATA ZIV board (Manufacturer ID 2206, Product ID 30). If FastATA ZIV board is not present in this menu you must change ZIV busboard jumper settings. Note: (only for Blizzard 1240 users) Applies only to some Blizzard 1240 cards. When the MAPROM function is on, some Blizzard 1240 turbo cards configure differently at the computer's start-up than in further resets. If this is your case, with the MAPROM function on, at the computer's starting up the CFG 0 jumper should be set OPEN; the CLOSED setting is proper for further starts. With MAPROM function off, the CFG 0 jumper should be set OPEN. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION Note: If you use AmigaOS3.5/3.9 with no devices connected to the original A1200 IDE port, insert the following line at the beginning of the S:startup-sequence: SetPatch QUIET SKIPROMUPDATES scsi.device If you use AmigaOS3.5/3.9, remember to edit NSDPatch.cfg file (in DEVS: drawer). Add a "#" comment character in the lines where you already use an NSD device. FastATA software controls EIDE/ATAPI devices with its own scsi.device (version 1 revision 0) or 2nd.scsi.device or 3rd.scsi.device, ... Scsi.devices from FastATA software are NSD devices, so you should place "#" before scsi.device or 2nd.scsi.device line in NSDPatch.cfg file. Instead of editing NSDPatch.cfg file, you could change the SetPatch line (in S:startup-sequence file) as follows: SetPatch NONSD QUIET SKIPROMUPDATES scsi.device Note: New HDD installation (partitioning) or making any change in RDB of the HDD attached to FastATA controller is allowed only if FastATA.driver is running. FastATA.driver should be started before HDToolBox. The following files are provided in the enclosed FastATA floppy disk: FastATA.driver FastATAInstall FastATAPrefs AllegroCDFS AllegroCDFS.test1 Mountlists: CD0, CD1, CD2, CD3, PC4, PC5, PC6, PC7, CheckLMB ReadMeFirst History.txt DriveSpeed ATAPIFormat ReadTest FastATA.lha Copyright.doc Note: If you have only one drive attached to any port, jumpers on it should be set to SINGLE (MASTER). If you have two drives attached to any port, the first drive should have jumpers set to MASTER, the second one to SLAVE. AUTOMATIC SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 1. Boot the computer from the hard disk. 2. Run FastATA-Install from the FastATA floppy disk. The installation proceeds fully automatically. If you do not use the standard IDE controller, FastATA-Install prepares all the AllegroCDFS mountlists for your CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD drives. Note: The Installer program (from the INSTALL Workbench) must be present in the C: drawer of the booting disk. Note: If you are using a standard IDE controller (which uses scsi.device) you need editing the device line in the CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW/DVD mountlist from scsi.device to 2nd.scsi.device. MANUAL SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 1. Copy FastATA.driver to the C: drawer. 2. Copy FastATAPrefs to the PREFS: drawer. 3. Add the following at the beginning of the startup-sequence: C:CheckLMB IF WARN SYS:Prefs/FastATAPrefs EndIF C:FastATA.driver QUIET Note: If you upgrade drivers, copy only new FastATA.driver and new FastATAPrefs to appropriate drawers. 4. For manual installation of AllegroCDFS, copy AllegroCDFS to the L: drawer. 5. Copy proper mountlists from FastATA:mountlists to DEVS:DosDrivers. HOW THE SOFTWARE WORKS The card creates a proprietary device for software FastATA control, whose name depends on the system's configuration. If you do not use a standard IDE port in the A1200 mainboard, the card will create a scsi.device. If you use a standard IDE port, the card will create 2nd.scsi.device. When several FastATA, A2091 cards are used, the card will create: 3rd.scsi.device, 4th.scsi.device... In the first start of FastATA.driver (in S:startup-sequence) switch all drives attached to the FastATA controller to modes stored by the FastATAPrefs program. In the second run, the FastATA.driver gives only information about the connected devices and their modes of operation: PIO 0 to PIO 5. Most of new HDDs could work in PIO5 but for using HDD in PIO5 your Amiga must have a turbo board with FastRAM on it. The FastATA Controller supports HDD > 4 GB by automatic HDD splitting into 4 GB logical units, guaranteeing 100% compatibility with the Operating System and any earlier software. If you connect hard disks > 4 GB, they will be automatically divided into units smaller than 4 GB. The split 4 GB units have Drive Revision 4Gxx in the HDToolBox program. In FastATAPrefs preferences, you can choose the mode of operation: either SPLIT (default) or NO SPLIT. The latter means that an installed HDD will NOT be divided into logical units. Then, use only the filesystems with NSD, TD64 or DirectSCSI commands implemented. Scsi.device created by FastATA.driver supports NSD, TD64 and DirectSCSI. Note: Run the FastATA.driver before partitioning HDDs larger than 4 GB! Note: Some filesystems (e.g. FFS) do not correctly support partitions larger than 2 GB. See also FAQ2 in the end of ReadMeFirst. ATAPI DEVICES If you have ATAPI-standard devices installed, the DEVS:DosDrivers drawer has to include an appropriate mountlist. The Unit parameter of the CD mountlist shall correspond to the Unit number for the given CD-ROM drive. PRIMARY MASTER Unit 0 use CD0 from FastATA:mountlists drawer PRIMARY SLAVE Unit 1 use CD1 SECONDARY MASTER Unit 2 use CD2 SECONDARY SLAVE Unit 3 use CD3 Note: CDx mountlists for AllegroCDFS are stored in the FastATAZ:mountlist drawer. Note: If you are using any other mountlist, always set the device=scsi.device (2nd.scsi.device, 3rd.scsi.device,.. depending of numbers of FastATA cards in computer) for HDD, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW drives and device=trackdisk.device for removable media like LS-120, ZIP-ATAPI. Removable media drives like LS-120, ZIP, etc. do not require any special mountlist when formatted with the Amiga operational system, as they are automatically recognised. When these media are used in the PC format, the DEVS:DOsDrivers drawer has to include an appropriate mountlist (PCx). Note: The Unit parameter of the PCx mountlist shall correspond to the drive Unit number (Unit = Unit number + 4). for PRIMARY MASTER use PC4 from FastATA:mountlists drawer for PRIMARY SLAVE use PC5 for SECONDARY MASTER use PC6 for SECONDARY SLAVE use PC7 THE FastATAPrefs PROGRAM The FastATAPrefs may be used to manually adjust operation modes in any non-standard or old drives and to configure the FastATA.driver. Start this program always after changing your hardware configuration. To store it, change exit by SAVE. It will save the FastATA.Prefs configuration file in the ENVARC: drawer. This file is used by the FastATA.driver. Note: Pressing the RESTORE button in the FastATAPrefs recalls the fastest settings and auto-booting after any unwanted changes made with the FastATAPrefs software. Note: You could start FastATAPrefs by pressing left mouse button at computer's start. Note: From FastATA.driver ver.1.5 on, in order to reach the full speed on FastATA controller in A1200/A4000 with 68040 it is necessary to start FastATAPrefs once and exit it with the SAVE option. There are two pieces of information concerning the SPLIT/NOSPLIT status in the FastATAPrefs screen: disk status - SPLIT/NOSPLIT, driver status - SPLIT/NOSPLIT. The first informs how the HDD was prepared/installed (for factory new HDDs the message is SPLIT.) The second informs you how the driver works. The FastATA software always detects how disk was prepared/installed (and shows it in the first gadget) and shows the software set driver (for each disk) to the proprietary mode. If you would like to change disk setting (SPLIT/NOSPLIT), which requires installing the disk from the beginning, you need to start the FastATA.driver first, then to start FastATAPrefs. Then you have the possibility to change manually the driver mode (SPLIT/NOSPLIT). When you choose the desired mode (SPLIT/NOSPLIT), leave the programme by saving and start HDToolBOX and read the disk configuration. Then you should install/partition the disk. If your choice was SPLIT, you should install/partition each logical unit (4 GB in size) separately. ALLEGRO CDFS * AllegroCDFS is the fastest Amiga CD File System and the first Amiga file system to support UDF (the Video DVD format). * It provides access to: ISO 9660 level 1, 2, 3, Joliet (Windows 95/98 long name) level 1, 2, 3, RockRidge (with Amiga Extensions), CDDA, UDF (Video DVD). * Supports Amiga protection bits. * Supports Multisession. * Supports SCSI and ATAPI devices (CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD). * Supports direct audio grabbing from standard audio CDs. READTEST (works also without FastATA controller) ReadTest is used for testing reading from any drives. It is used to check whether a given disk may work in a specific configuration in a specific PIO mode. Syntax: ReadTest scsi.device n where n is the unit number from 0 to 3. Note: Any read error means that using this mode is strictly forbidden! You have to check the configuration, possibly shorten the signal ribbons, check whether any of the SIMMs does not interfere with the transmission (controller software switches SIMMs into the burst mode), etc. Any attempt to write to partitions when the test reports read errors may cause writing bad checksums in the disk. Afterwards, you will have reports of bad checksums when a given sector is read again without any transmission errors. DRIVESPEED (works also without FastATA controller) DriveSpeed is used for checking speed of any drives. Syntax: DriveSpeed scsi.device n where n is the unit number from 0 to 3. Note: For checking the maximum CD-ROM speed, use CD-ROM disk larger than 675 MB. With smaller disks, only the central (slower) sectors speed is read out. ATAPIFORMAT (works also without FastATA controller) ATAPIFormat is a low-level formatting program for any removable ATAPI media. Syntax: ATAPIFormat scsi.device n where n is the unit number from 0 to 3 FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS FAQ 1. How long should HDD ribbons be? The ATA/ATAPI-4 specification recommends using as short cables as possible, never longer than 18 inches (46 cm). These cables should be even shorter for the unspecified PIO-5 mode. One also has to take care when installing HD removable drive bay racks (for relocating hard disks from one machine to another). These racks may introduce noise signals at fast transfers, which are similar to those occurring with very long ribbons. FAQ 2. I have a problem with disappearing data on my 6.5 GB HDD... ABOUT USING HDDs > 4 GB The scsi.device implemented in the A1200's ROM does not work properly with standard Amiga file systems for >4 GB hard disks. Attempts to write to partitions above 4 GB may result in damaging data located in lower partitions. New file systems, based on TD64 commands (TrackDisk.device 64) are an effort to cope with this situation. However, this solution does not provide full compatibility with the current software available for Amiga computers. Major malfunctions are observed in the operation of software directly modifying disk sectors: the FORMAT system command, REORG, DPU, DiskSalve, QuarterbackTools and other programes. (Using any of these in any partition above 4 GB may lead to damaging data in lower partitions.) ELBOX FastATA controller solves all the problems related to the use of hard disks > 4 GB. The controller employs a method of managing large disks, which is different from TD64 commands. Disks > 4 GB are automatically split into logical units of 4 GB size and a unit of a size, which is part of that amount, if needed. For example, an 18.3 GB disk will be divided into 4 disks of 4 GB each and a 2.3 GB disk. This method guarantees 100% compatibility of logical disks created with all the software available for Amiga computers. Any file system (OFS, FFS, AFS, SFS, PFS-2, PFS-3 etc.) may be used, the disk may be partitioned with the standard HDToolBox, and partitions may be formatted with the FORMAT system command. Note: During partitioning disks > 4 GB, the controller must be activated. Run the FastATA.driver before running HDToolBox (for partitioning HDD > 4GB). If the disk to be installed is the only disk connected to the Amiga, the FastATA.driver must be run from the FastATA floppy disk supplied with the controller. Below, please find the step-by-step instruction for installing > 4 GB hard disk in the Amiga with the ELBOX FastATA controller. NEW HDD INSTALLATION If you would like to SPLIT HDD > 4GB into 4GB units (recommended): 1. Start FastATA.driver and next FastATAPrefs. 2. Set HDD driver to SPLIT and exit FastATAPrefs by SAVE or USE. 3. Run the HDToolBox. 4. The status line will have several logical disks with the status: UNKNOWN, Address = 0, Lun = 0, 1, ... 5. Mark the first of the logical disks and open the Change Drive Type options. 6. Select the Define New option. 7. Enter RAM: in the File Name field: before the file name (so as not to save to the Install floppy disk or HDD). 8. Select Read Configuration, then OK, then OK. 9. Start partitioning the first hard disk. (Please remember that FFS does not work properly with partitions larger than 2 GB; therefore, if you want some partitions to be present in the FFS, these should be smaller than 2 GB.) 10. After dividing the disk into partitions, select the Save Changes to Drive option. 11. Mark the next logical disk and proceed as in steps 5 to 10. Repeat the procedure for all the logical disks. Note: Make sure that every partition is named differently. 12. EXIT the HDToolBox and reset the computer. 13. All the partitions will appear in the screen. Now make quick format for each partition. You can freely use a hard disk, which was prepared in this way, and writing to partitions above the 4 GB size will not result in losing data in lower partitions. You could use any file systems: OFS, FFS, AFS, SFS, PFS-2, PFS-3 on any HDD partition. If you would like to use NSD, DirectSCSI or TD64 command instead of splitting HDD > 4 GB: 1. Start FastATA.driver 2. Start FastATAPrefs 3. Set HDD driver to NO SPLIT and exit FastATAPrefs by SAVE or USE. 4. Run HDToolBOX. 5. Mark installing disk in status line and open the Change Drive Type options. 6. Select the Define New option. 7. Enter RAM: in the File Name field: before the file name (so as not to save to the Install floppy disk or HDD). 8. Select Read Configuration, then OK, then OK. 9. Start partitioning the hard disk. 10. After dividing the disk into partitions, select the Save Changes to Drive option. 11. EXIT the HDToolBox and reset the computer. 12. All the partitions will appear in the screen. Now make quick format for each partition. If you will choose NO SPLIT installation, use only the filesystems supporting NSD or TD64 or DirectSCSI. Note: Changing the operation mode of the FastATA.driver (SPLIT/NO SPLIT) for the given disk (without its new installation) into mode which is incompatible with its installation (and partitioning), may result in losing data (when attempting using software, which accesses directly disk sectors: Format, ReOrg, DiskSalv, ...). FAQ 3. After removing HDD from the motherboard IDE port computer needs more time to start... Full speed of FastATA controller start you will reach when on both controller ports you will attach any devices. FAQ 4. I have a problem with multitasking when copying large volumes of data between my HDDs... We recommend using UNIX-like process scheduler - Executive (from Aminet) for full multitasking during EIDE devices operation. FAQ 5. I have Buddha ZORRO II IDE controller. Could I use it simultaneous with FastATA controller? Yes. All types of IDE splitters (all ZORRO II IDE controllers and 4-way buffered interfaces) could be use simultaneous with FastATA controller. IDE splitters work as A1200/A4000 motherboard IDE port only in the slowest PIO mode - PIO-0 (transfer < 3 MB/s). So only the oldest devices are practical to be connected. You should attach all new, fast EIDE/ATAPI devices to FastATA controller . If you have many fast HDD, CD-ROM, DVD, ZIP, LS-120 drives please remember that you could use together as many FastATA controllers in your computer as many ZORRO III/ZIV slots you have. FAQ 6. I would like to buy a new IBM 25 GB Ultra-ATA/66 HDD. What will be the actual transfer from this disk? Will this disk be much slower than in a PC with Ultra-ATA/66 controller? The actual transfer will be approximately the same. The transfer is given in the parameter reported by the manufacturer as "substained data rate". For this very disk, the parameter is from 8.7 MB/s to 15.5 MB/s depending on the place of the disk, from which data are read. The FastATA controller is capable of accepting data from HDD at the speed of up to 16.6 MB/s. Benchmarking software (e.g. Sysinfo, DriveSpeed) show the speed at which data read from the disk by FastATA controller are located by the turbo card in its FAST memory. This speed may be limited by the design of a specific turbo card. SUPPORT If you have any questions about ELBOX FastATA (PowerFlyer) controller, please contact our technical support: support@elbox.com.