Promise Technology FAST TRAK100TM user manual Frequently Asked Questions, Pre-Installation

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FastTrak100 User Manual

Frequently Asked Questions

This section lists frequently asked questions involving pre-installation, drive issues, installation, and post-installation.

Pre-Installation

(Speed, Device Types, Capacity, Cabling)

Q: What kind of hard drives can I use for a FastTrak100 array?

A:You can use any IDE/EIDE hard drive(s) to create arrays on the FastTrak100. You should use matching drives for multiple-drive arrays to maximize capacity usage as well as performance. Ultra ATA/100 drives are recommended for highest performance.

Q: Can I use ATAPI devices on the FastTrak100 controller?

A:No. There is no driver layer on the FastTrak100 controller which will support ATAPI packet messages.

Q: Will the FastTrak/100 work with a 37Mhz or 41Mhz PCI bus speed?

A:The current PCI 2.1 specification is for a 33Mhz PCI bus speed. The FastTrak100 is designed around the specification. In most cases, a higher PCI bus speed will result in a variety of different errors. While some people have been able to get these higher speeds to work, since it is out of specification we cannot support it.

Q: How can I change the resources that the FastTrak uses?

A:The FastTrak100 is fully PnP. This means all the resources that it uses are given to it by the PnP BIOS on the motherboard. The FastTrak100 does support IRQ sharing, but this will not work unless ALL the concerned devices support the feature. If your motherboard allows you to control the assignment of these resources, you may be able to remedy the problem by “playing around” with them. You can also try resetting the configuration data in your CMOS. This is usually an option in the PnP section of your CMOS. Otherwise, the only way you might be able to affect these assignments is to switch the PCI slot that the card is in.

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Contents Page Trademarks Table of Contents Troubleshooting & Tips Introduction What is the FastTrak100 RAID Card?Page Features Benefits Keys Features and BenefitsCompatibility Page Unpacking Your FastTrak100 Getting StartedInstalling The Card Jumper Settings Installing The Hard DrivesPage Processor ID MHz Bios version Cache Server Tag Checking Cmos SettingsCreating Your Disk Array Page Creating a Security Array With New Drives Creating an Array for PerformanceCreating a Security Array With An Existing Data Drive Page Page Viewing FastTrak100 Bios Screen Using FastBuild Configuration UtilityUsing the Main Menu Navigating the FastBuild Setup MenuOptimize Array For Auto Setup Options MenuDefining Typical Application Usage Using a Hot Spare DriveCreating Multiple Disk Arrays Mode Viewing Drive AssignmentsManually Creating an Array Array No RAID Mode Total Drv CapacityMB StatusSelecting Stripe Block Selecting Array TypeAssigning Drives to Array Adding Fault Tolerance to an Existing Drive Creating a Mirrored Array Using New DrivesChannelID Creating a Hot Spare Drive for Mirrored Arrays Making a FastTrak100 Disk Array BootableHow FastTrak100 Saves Array Information How FastTrak100 Orders ArraysDeleting An Array Press Ctrl-Y to Delete, others to Abort Total Drv CapacityMB Rebuilding a Mirrored ArrayQuantum CR8.4A Halting FastTrak Bios On Bootup Errors Viewing Controller SettingsViewing FastTrak System Resources Page Installing Driver During New Windows 2000 Installation Installing DriversWindows Confirming Windows 2000 Installation Installing Driver in Existing Windows 2000 SystemMicrosoft Millennium Installing Drivers During Millennium InstallationConfirming Driver Installation in Millennium Installing Drivers with Existing Millennium SystemWindows 95/98 Installing Drivers During Windows 95/98 InstallationPage Installing Drivers with Existing Windows 95/98 DOS/Windows Confirming Driver Installation in Windows 98/95Windows NT4.0 Installing Drivers During Windows NT 4.0 InstallationRemoving the Driver from Windows NT Installing Driver with Existing Windows NTInstalling FastCheck Using The FastCheck Monitoring UtilityClosing FastCheck Running FastCheckViewing Array Information Using FastCheck Array WindowViewing Arrayed Drive Information Using Array Pull-down Menu Page Synchronizing An Array Page Rebuilding An Array Using Rebuild WizardPage Page Viewing Controller Card Information Using Controller WindowViewing IDE Channel Information Viewing Drive Information Using Options Window Selecting Notification Options Scheduling Array Synchronization User may then decide what to do about the errors detectedSetting Rebuild Options Ignore FastTrak100 will log the event error and continueSetting Disk Parameters Option Setting PCI Bus Utilization OptionSetting Screen Preferences Changing Password Creating PasswordDisabling Password FastBuild Auto Menu Setup About Adapter BiosUnderstanding Disk Array Concepts About FastTrak100 Disk Array AdapterDisk Array Terms Striping RAID About RAID LevelsMirroring RAID Using a Spare DriveAbout Dual Data Redundancy Striping/Mirror RAID 0+1Spanning Jbod Motherboard Issues Troubleshooting & TipsConfiguring PCI IRQ resources System locks up during bootup or when Windows startsDrive-Related Errors System Cmos IssuesSystem Cmos displays C or D drive failure during Startup Possible Master/Slave problemsUnable to partition or format array ECC Error Reported on Rebuild ECC Error Reported on Synchronize Different drive lettering under Windows NT Operating System-Related ErrorsPromise Windows driver does not appear Device Manager Page Performance Tips Re-Configure PCI Latency SettingOptimize Array for Performance Change Setting of PCI Bus Utilization Page Pre-Installation Frequently Asked QuestionsWhat kind of hard drives can I use for a FastTrak100 array? Can I use Atapi devices on the FastTrak100 controller?RAID 1 mirror RAID 0 stripeJbod spanning Do the HDDs on the FastTrak100 have to be the same size? Drive IssuesHow do I partition/format my FastTrak100 RAID array? Installation IssuesWhy does my system reboot after the Qemm driver loads from Post-InstallationWhy can’t I see the drives on the FastTrak100 under FDISK? Page Appendix a Contacting Promise SupportUSA Tech Support Center Pacific Rim Sales Office Appendix a European Tech SupportChina Office Appendix B Limited WarrantyAppendix B Appendix C Returning Product For RepairYour Responsibilities Index Index C6101F100000000-1