EIDE2300plus Installation Tips

For Drives >528MB using LBA Drive translation
---------------------------------------------
1) Please backup existing data before installing the controller.
2) Enable LBA translation on EIDE2300plus  - Set JP1 to 2-3 position
        Note: The card is shipped with JP1 set to 1-2.
3) Install the EIDE2300plus
4) In CMOS, set manufacturer drive parameters; do not enable CMOS drive
   translation.
5) Boot to DOS floppy; Run FDISK
         Delete former partitions
         Recreate partitions
6) Reboot to floppy; Format with DOS Format command

Disk Manager and other software to support >528 capacity should be removed
from the drive since the partitions and disk drivers will conflict with the
EIDE2300plus disk drivers.  Follow the above steps and remove the drivers.


Cannot completely remove Disk Manager from boot partition
---------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes FDISK cannot delete Disk Manager information from the boot 
partition.  Try running "DMCONFIG /R" from the Ontrack Disk Manager
diskette.  

Another alternative is to run "FDISK /MBR" (Master Boot Record).  
Note that this should not be destructive to the partitions.  


For Sound Blaster Compatible DMA Ch1 conflict
---------------------------------------------
Set the EIDE2300plus ECP DMA ch to 3 instead of default 1:
    Set JP10 col 1&2 to 2-3 position


Problems booting when using "T" urbo selection
----------------------------------------------
There is a built in driver in our Controller external BIOS.  It is enabled
by default but may cause problems booting.  Disable the BIOS Driver if
causing booting problems since our CONFIG.SYS driver EIDE2300.sys will load
and program the speed for the VL-IDE drives.
To disable BIOS driver - Set JP4 col 1&2 to 1-2 position.


Using EIDE2300plus Instalation Utility
--------------------------------------
Before running, you must do a clean boot without a CONFIG.SYS OR AUTOEXEC.BAT
loading; for DOS6 or above, press <F5> to do a clean boot or boot from a
bootable floppy.  
NOTE: This configuration utility tests the speeds of IDE drives on the 
VL-IDE connector ONLY.  There are no performance settings for the ISA-IDE 
connector.


Manually setting EIDE2300.sys speed parameters
-----------------------------------------------
Only ONE speed setting mode(PIO or DMA) can be enabled per device.
On the Device line uses EITHER /D (PIO) or /M  (DMA)- NOT both.
You may however set one IDE device with PIO and the other with DMA like
/D0:_ /M1:_.

What are PIO/IOCHDRY and DMA modes?
-----------------------------------
PIO, or Programmed Input/Output, transfers data in fixed time lengths called
cycle times.  The shorter the cycle time, the higher the transfer rates.
Our PIO speed of 8 is approximately 180ns cycle time which gives an
"ideal" transfer rate of 11MB/s when there is no overhead.

IOCHRDY (PIO), or I/O Channel Ready, is a using PIO with a handshaking 
method to throttle data transfer with drives IOCHRDY signal for optimal 
performance.  This the /D_:A (automatic) setting.

DMA, or Multi-word Direct Memory Access, transfers data with a REQ/ACK 
handshaking method. DMA speed 8 is approximately 150ns cycle time which 
gives an "ideal" transfer rate of 13MB/s when there is no overhead.  

Both PIO and DMA transfers are between the controller and the drive.  There 
are no mainboard DMA channels used during DMA transfer modes since this 
transfer is NOT through the VLB bus but through the IDE cable.


What is 32-bit Block Mode(Multiple Sectored Rd/Wr)?
---------------------------------------------------
32-bit Block Mode is used to decrease system overhead during data transfers
through the VESA Bus.  Several transfers 2 sectors at a time can be 
transferred on one interrupt.  
                                                   
Windows Mouse is erratic
------------------------
Due to the single threaded DOS operations, Windows may have problems dealing
with extended BLOCKs from our controller and maintaining mouse operation.
Disable these Block mode transfers by adding this line in the System.ini
[386 enh] section:
     DisksAccessMode=FAST

Windows modem downloads
-----------------------
Due to the single threaded DOS operations, Windows may have problems dealing
with extended BLOCKs from our controller and maintaining mouse operation.
Disable these Block mode transfers by adding this line in the System.ini
[386 enh] section:
     DisksAccessMode=FAST

These are other Windows settings to improve high speed modem transfers:
In the System.ini [386] section, experiment with these settings:

        COMxProtocol=XOFF       ;Enable Xon/Xoff Flow control
        COMxBuffer=1024         ;128 default

Using non-EIDE drives
---------------------
There is no problem using non EIDE drives on the same connector as on 
the VL-IDE connector.  Drives that are not considered by drive 
manufacturers as Enhanced IDE or Fast ATA can still be installed on the 
VL-IDE OR the ISA-IDE connector.  Promise has designed drivers which 
independently assign speed settings for each drive.   
             

Setting up IDE drive on ISA connector
-------------------------------------
If only one drive is installed on the Second connector, it should be jumpered
as Master(Single) drive - This is important.

If drive contains no data, you may partition this drive with our EIFDISK.EXE
utility and then reboot, format the next available drive letter.


Setting VL-IDE as Secondary and ISA-IDE as Primary
--------------------------------------------------
Although there are jumper settings that can configure the VL-IDE connector
as Secondary and the ISA-IDE connector as Primary, the Promise Bios and
Drivers will NOT recognize this configuration.  
Do NOT set the controller with this configuration!

If for some reason it is necessary to use ISA-IDE controller as Primary,
disable the EIDE2300plus BIOS and do NOT load the included driver.  

It is possible to run the EIDE2300plus in an ISA slot just using the ISA-IDE
connector as Primary and the VL-IDE connector disabled.  This is at your
own risk since the ISA slot cannot seat a VLB card correctly.


Disable ISA-IDE "Secondary" Controller driver support
----------------------------------------------------
For External Bios v2.50 and v2.60:
A "/X2" switch has been added to driver 2.50 and 2.60.  The addition of the
/X2 switch prevents the PROMISE DOS device driver in the CONFIG.SYS from
initializing the third and fourth IDE drives.

If you DO NOT have drives on the "ISA-IDE" connector, add the /X2 to
troubleshoot driver lockup problems and get rid of the "WAITING..." message.

To add the switch, edit the CONFIG.SYS and place the switch on the device
driver line like such:

       DEVICE=C:\EIDE2300\EIDE2300.SYS /X2
                                                   
For External Bios v2.70:
By default, the EIDE2300.SYS driver will NOT load support for Secondary
controller the third and fourth IDE hard disks.  Add the "/S" to enable   
the Secondary controller support.

To add the switch, edit the CONFIG.SYS and place the switch on the device
driver line like such:

       DEVICE=C:\EIDE2300\EIDE2300.SYS /S
                                         
      
IDE CDROM and other IDE Devices
--------------------------------
Other devices such as IDE CDROM and TAPE MUST support IDE ATAPI 
interface. The drive manufacturer provides software drivers to 
attach these drives.  
        
Be sure to configure the proper master/slave drive settings.  On 
BOTH PRIMARY and SECONDARY connectors, there is one master and one
slave on EACH connector.
                      
On either PRIMARY or SECONDARY connector, the other IDE device relies 
on their supplied drivers.  The EIDE2300.SYS driver does not load support 
for IDE devices besides IDE hard disks.

When installed on the PRIMARY connector, set in the Mainboard Bios drive 
type to "not installed" for the other IDE device and when necessary, 
indicate the parameters IRQ14 PORT 1F0 for the driver installation.
NOTE: If you install the CDROM on the PRIMARY connector, Microsoft 
Windows 32-bit Disk Access will fail when accessing the CDROM drive.
This problem is exhibited on standard IDE controllers as well.


When installed on the SECONDARY connector, indicate IRQ15 and PORT 170 
for the driver installation if necessary.  Most CDROM software will
autodetect the CDROM when installed on the SECONDARY connector.


Windows does not intialize 
--------------------------
In DOS config.sys try changing DOS=HIGH,UMB to DOS=HIGH.
Try a standard Microsoft video driver.

QEMM Int13 ROM handler error
----------------------------
With QEMM 7.5+, there is a "Optimize /ST" option to add the proper exclusions.
Or on previous revisions of QEMM, you may manually add the "XSTI=13" 
parameter.


Floppy Tape drive will not restore
----------------------------------
Set the Promise DOS and Windows drivers to PIO transfer instead of the DMA
method.  Also be sure to set Buffers=25 if the tape software requires.
Sample:
In config.sys
                DEVICE=C:\EIDE2300\EIDE2300.SYS /D0:6 /D1:5
                BUFFERS=25

In System.ini [386 Enh], add this line:
                
                DisksAccessMode=/d0:6 /D1:5
                
DR DOS 6.0 and lower
--------------------
DR DOS partitioning is based on Microsoft DOS 3.3.  DR DOS 6.0 would be
incompatible with the creation of LBA translated partitions.  During
the setup, DR DOS complains of no accessible hard disks available.  
The updated Novell DOS 7 will not have this problem.

OS/2 Warp
---------
The current OS/2 2.1 EIDE2300.ADD driver will not work on the OS/2 3.0 
WARP release.  Continue using the IBM driver IBM1s506.ADD driver which
normally installs with OS/2 WARP.  A new PROMISE driver is in development.

OS/2 does not print; DOS does
-----------------------------
The default printer address of the EIDE2300plus is Port:278 IRQ:7.  While
DOS does not care what Port LPT1 uses, OS/2 requires a default or Port:378.
Set JP10 col. 1&2 to 2-3 for IRQ:7 Port:378.

NetWare with 4 IDE
------------------


LOAD EIDE31X.DSK PORT=1F0 INT=E
LOAD IDEDISK.DSK PORT=170 INT=F