The AHA-1744 microcode is stored in an EEPROM. This allows the microcode to be changed with the Adaptec adl.exe program. The adl.exe program can also be used to determine the checksum of the currently installed microcode and low-level format SCSI fixed disks. Both the standard and enhanced mode microcode can reside in the EEPROM at the same time.
The AHA-1740A/1742A uses an EPROM for the microcode, which does not allow the microcode to be changed. However, the adl.exe program can still be used to low-level format fixed disk drives.
The AHA-1740A/1742A/1744, like all EISA I/O cards, do not have jumpers to change various configuration options. These options are changed via the EISA Configuration utility provided with every EISA system. The AHA-1740A/1742A/1744 does have a jumper that is used to determine whether or not the host adapter will supply terminator power to the SCSI bus. In addition, the AHA-1742A has a jumper that is used to enable or disable the on-board floppy controller.
The AHA-1740A/1742A/1744 can be used to install up to 7 SCSI devices. Up to 56 devices can be installed if bridge controllers are used; however, this is not usually done.
The AHA-1740A/1742A/1744 supports processor target mode, which allows the host adapter to be an initiator and a target. The use of processor target mode is fully documented in the AHA- 1740A/1742A/1744 Technical Reference Manual.
