HP A7173A PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Host Bus Adapter Support Guide, August 2007

NOTE: The bus width parameter cannot be set offline on rp24xx and rp54xx systems.
The SCSI parameters for A7173A adapters installed in HP Integrity systems can be confirmed
or changed offline using the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), see “Using the EFI Utility on
HP Integrity Systems” (page 32).
The SCSI parameters for an A7173A adapter installed in any supported HP-UX system can be
confirmed or changed online using the mptconfig command, see “Using mptconfig for Online
Configuration” (page 40).
To restore the default SCSI parameter settings, see “Setting SCSI Parameters to Default Values”
(page 44).
About SCSI IDs
The firmware suggested default for the A7173A adapter SCSI ID is 7.
You must assign a separate SCSI ID (0 through 15 for a 16-bit SCSI bus) to the A7173A adapter
and to each SCSI device on the bus. The priority of a device on a SCSI bus is determined by the
SCSI ID of the device. The order of SCSI ID priorities (from highest to lowest) is 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,
0, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8. A device with SCSI ID 7 has the highest priority, and one with
SCSI ID 8 has the lowest.
HP recommends the A7173A adapter be assigned a higher priority than the other SCSI devices
on the bus. SCSI ID 7 is the preset SCSI ID for the A7173A adapter, giving it the highest priority
on the SCSI bus. Set each of the other SCSI devices on the bus to one of the remaining SCSI IDs.
In a multi-initiator HA (High Availability) configuration, multiple SCSI adapters are connected
to the same SCSI bus. In a multi-initiator configuration, the SCSI adapter that carries the most
traffic must be assigned a SCSI ID of 7 (highest priority). The SCSI ID of each of the remaining
SCSI adapters on the bus should be set to the next highest priority remaining SCSI IDs (for
example, 6, 5, 4, and so on) with the highest traffic adapters getting the highest priority SCSI IDs.
Setting SCSI IDs Offline
For HP 9000 systems, the Boot Console Handler (BCH) menus are used to set SCSI IDs offline.
See “Using the BCH Menus on HP 9000 Systems” (page 28), for details.
For HP Integrity® systems, EFI is used to set SCSI IDs offline. See “Using the EFI Utility on HP
Integrity Systems” (page 32), for details.
Setting SCSI IDs Online
The mptconfig command is used to display and set SCSI IDs online for all supported systems.
See “Setting and Confirming SCSI Parameters Online” (page 39), for details.
NOTE: Peripheral device SCSI IDs are typically determined automatically by the storage
enclosure, or they may be set manually by a switch on the storage enclosure. See the
documentation for each peripheral device to determine how to set its SCSI ID.
IMPORTANT: You must not have duplicate SCSI IDs on a SCSI bus; the system may hang or
crash if you have duplicate SCSI IDs on the same bus.
About the Maximum Data Transfer Rate
The firmware suggested default for the A7173A adapter data transfer rate is “MAX” or
“NOLIMIT”, which allows a maximum data transfer rate of 320 MB/s. The A7173A can
communicate with all LVD or SE devices that have data transfer rates up to 320 MB/s, including
the following data transfer rates (synchronous communication over a Wide bus):
24 Configuring the A7173A Adapter