Installation guide

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AHA-1520B Installation Guide Part Number: 511162-00, Rev. A Page 6 of 16 Print Spec Number: 495339-00 Current Date: 5/30/96 Last Modified: May 30, 1996 3:43 pm File Location: n:\mario\1520b_ig.nec\1520b_ig.frm ECN Date: 6/11/95
Helpful Hints
Using Your Host Adapter
■ You may need to install the manufacturer’s propri-
etary device drivers if you use SCSI devices other than
hard disk drives and CD-ROM drives. (See your
device’s documentation.)
■ For all SCSI devices connected to the host adapter,
make sure to use high-quality SCSI cables to ensure
reliable data transfer.
■ When one or more Fast SCSI devices are connected to
the host adapter, the combined length of all cables
(internal and external) must not exceed 3 meters
(9.8 feet) to ensure reliable operation. If no Fast SCSI
devices are connected, the combined length of all
cables must not exceed 6 meters (19.7 feet). See your
device’s documentation to determine if it is a Fast
SCSI device.
■ Your host adapter can support the SCSI Configured
AutoMatically (SCAM) protocol, which assigns SCSI
IDs dynamically and resolves SCSI ID conflicts auto-
matically at bootup. To enable or disable SCAM sup-
port, see Advanced Host Adapter Settings on page 10. If
your system includes SCSI disk drives or other
devices that support SCAM, when SCAM is enabled
you do not need to manually assign SCSI IDs to these
devices. Most SCSI devices currently in use, however,
do not support SCAM and must have their SCSI IDs
set manually.
Hard Disk Drives
■ Every hard disk must be physically low-level format-
ted, partitioned, and logically formatted before it can
be used to store data. SCSI hard disks are physically
formatted at the factory and do not need to be physi-
cally formatted again.
If you connected a new hard disk drive to your host
adapter, you must partition and logically format the
drive. For DOS and Windows (3.x and 95) use the
DOS Fdisk and Format commands (see your com-
puter and DOS documentation). For other operating
systems, see your operating system documentation.
■ If you are booting from a SCSI hard disk drive, make
sure the Hard Disk (or Drives) setting in your
computer’s CMOS setup program is set to None or
No Drives Installed, as is required for SCSI hard disk
drives. (See your computer documentation.)
■ If both SCSI and non-SCSI (e.g., IDE) disk drives are
installed, then the non-SCSI disk drive is always the
boot device.
Multiple Host Adapters
■ Multiple SCSI host adapters can be installed in your
computer; you are limited only by the available sys-
tem resources (e.g., I/O port and BIOS addresses).
■ Each host adapter you install forms a separate SCSI
bus with a different set of SCSI devices. SCSI IDs can
be reused as long as the ID is assigned to a device on
a different host adapter (e.g., each host adapter can
have a device with SCSI ID 0).
■ If you have two or more SCSI host adapters, enable
the BIOS only on the boot host adapter; disable the
BIOS on the remaining host adapters.