Promise Technology 150TX2 user manual Appendix a Frequently Asked Questions, Pre-Installation

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Appendix A: 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 FastTrak S150 TX2plus array?

A:You can use any Serial ATA or any IDE/EIDE hard drive(s) to create arrays on the FastTrak S150 TX2plus. You should use matching drives for multiple- drive arrays to maximize capacity usage as well as performance. Ultra ATA/133 drives are recommended for highest performance.

Q: Will ACPI work with HDDs on the FastTrak S150 TX2plus?

A:Yes.

Q: Can I use ATAPI devices on the FastTrak S150 TX2plus controller?

A:No. The FastTrak S150 TX2plus controller does not support ATAPI devices.

Q: Will the FastTrak S150 TX2plus work with 66MHz PCI bus speed?

A:Yes, the FastTrak S150 TX2plus is designed to accommodate the newer PCI bus speed and is backward compatible with 33MHz speeds.

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

A:The FastTrak S150 TX2plus is fully PnP. This means all the resources that it uses are given to it by the PnP BIOS on the motherboard. The FastTrak S150 TX2plus 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:

Changing the IRQ assignments to the PCI slots in the motherboard BIOS during boot up.

Reset the configuration data in your CMOS. This is usually an option in the PnP section of your CMOS.

Otherwise, switch the FastTrak S150 TX2plus card to a different PCI slot.

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Contents Fasttrak S150 TX2PLUS Important Data Protection Information CopyrightTrademarks Contents Page FastTrak S150 TX2plus IntroductionPromise Array Management Utility PAM Features Benefits Key Features and BenefitsCompatibility Unpacking Your FastTrak Card InstallationInsert the FastTrak card into an open PCI slot Installing the FastTrak CardInstalling the Hard Drives FastTrak S150 TX2plus card Creating Your Disk Array Creating a Performance Array Creating a Security Array with New Drives Page Creating a Security Array with an Existing Data Drive Seagate S380023AS Installation Creating a Security Array with Quick Initialization Installation Page Viewing FastTrak S150 TX2plus Bios Screen Using FastBuild Configuration UtilityUsing the Main Menu Navigating the FastBuild Setup MenuPerformance Creating Arrays AutomaticallyOptimize Array for Security and Performance SecurityUsing a Hot Spare Drive Creating Multiple Arrays Viewing Drive AssignmentsManually Creating an Array Selecting Stripe Block Selecting Array TypeGigabyte Boundary Creating a Striped Array Assigning Drives to ArrayCreating a Mirrored Array Using New Drives Adding Fault Tolerance to an Existing Drive Drive Model Capacity MB Page How FastTrak S150 TX2plus Saves Array Information Creating a Hot Spare Drive for Mirrored ArraysHow FastTrak S150 TX2plus Orders Arrays Deleting an Array Array Stripe 160048 Rebuilding a Mirrored Array 80024 Page Procedure Number Installing Software DriversWindows XP Installation Confirming Windows XP Driver Installation Existing Windows XP InstallationNew Windows 2000 Installation Confirming Windows 2000 Driver Installation Existing Windows 2000 InstallationNew Windows ME Installation Confirming Windows ME Driver Installation Existing Windows ME InstallationNew Windows NT4.0 Installation Removing Driver from Windows NT4.0 Existing Windows NT4.0 InstallationNew Windows 98 Installation Confirming Windows 98 Driver Installation Existing Windows 98 InstallationPage Reserve Sector About Adapter BiosFastBuild Auto Menu Setup About FastTrak S150 TX2plusDisk Array Member RAID Level Performance Fault Capacity No. Tolerance DrivesDisk Array Terms Disk Array DescriptionStriping RAID About RAID LevelsData Mirror Disk Drives Mirroring RAIDDisk Array Concepts Striping / Mirroring RAID 0+1 Freeing additional IRQ resources Motherboard IssuesConfiguring PCI IRQ resources Intermittent data problemsUsing an Onboard IDE Card with FastTrak S150 TX2plus System Cmos IssuesSystem Cmos displays C or D drive failure during Startup Drive-Related ErrorsCritical Array Status Error Reported during Boot Drive cannot be formed into an arrayUnable to Partition or Format Array Cannot Rebuild Mirrored RAID 1 Array Promise Windows driver does not appear in Device Manager Operating System-Related IssuesTroubleshooting & Tips Optimize Array for Performance Performance TipsChange Setting of PCI Bus Utilization Page Pre-Installation Appendix a Frequently Asked QuestionsRAID 0+1 Stripe + Mirror RAID 0 StripeRAID 1 Mirror Drive Issues Page Post-Installation Installation IssuesPage European Tech Support Technical Support ServicesUSA Tech Support Center China Office Pacific Rim Sales OfficeDisclaimer of other warranties Limited WarrantyYour Responsibilities Returning Product for Repair