***************************************************************************** NTCONFIG.TXT ***************************************************************************** This file presents general information about the LSI Logic NTCONFIG Utility, version 1.04.00. It is divided into the following sections: NTCONFIG General Information Installing the NTCONFIG utility x86 platforms Alpha platforms Starting the NTCONFIG utility Main Menu File Options Help Save/Exit Cancel Adapter Settings Menu Device Selections Menu To exit the NTCONFIG Utility * * * * * * * * * * * General Information * * * * * * * * * * If you have Windows NT version 4.0, and you have installed the latest LSI Logic Windows NT Flint driver (ver. 4.05.00 or later), you can change selected configuration parameters of your LSI Logic SCSI host adapters by using the NTCONFIG utility. You may decide to alter these values if there is a conflict between device settings or if you need to optimize system performance. The system must be rebooted for the changes to take effect. Note: During boot, the version number of Windows NT appears in a banner on the computer monitor. Since Windows NT and the LSI Logic Windows NT Flint driver do not need the adapter's BIOS to operate, only a limited number of the configuration parameters that can be changed by this utility will have any impact on the system once rebooted. These parameters are: o SCSI ID of the adapter o Wide data bits setting o Synchronous rate (MB/sec) * * * * * * * Installing the NTCONFIG utility (x86 platforms) * * * * * * * To install the NTCONFIG utility using the x86 platforms, follow these steps: 1. Insert the NTCONFIG utility setup diskette into drive A. 2. Click the Start button on the taskbar and choose Run. 3. Type A:\SETUP.EXE in the Open field. 4. Click the OK button and follow the on-screen instructions to install the NTCONFIG Utility. A shortcut icon is automatically placed on the desktop at the end of the installation process. * * * * * * Installing the NTCONFIG Utility (ALPHA platforms) * * * * * The executable program, NTCONFIG.EXE, can be copied to a directory of the users choice. It can then be executed from a command line or a shortcut can be created for it and placed on the desktop. * * * * * * * * * Starting the NTCONFIG utility * * * * * * * * To start the NTCONFIG utility, double click on the shortcut icon. After a brief pause, your computer monitor displays the Main Menu of the utility. To make changes with this menu driven utility, one or more LSI Logic SCSI host adapters installed in the system must have NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) to store the changes. Also, due to Windows NT constraints, each of the adapters must have at least one hard drive attached to it so that NTCONFIG can properly identify the adapter. IMPORTANT: The NTCONFIG Utility is a powerful tool. The system can be rendered inoperable if care is not taken when reconfiguring the parameters. * * * * * * * * * * * * Main Menu * * * * * * * * * * * When you start the LSI Logic NTCONFIG Utility, the main menu appears. This menu displays a summary list of all LSI Logic PCI to SCSI host adapters in your system and information about each of them. The main menu screen looks similar to this: +-------------------------------------------------------+ | NTCONFIG - NVRAM Configuration Utility | | File Options Help | | | | | | Devices Port Irq NvRAM | | Found Num Level Found | | | | SYM53C895 FC00 9 Yes | | SYM53C896 F800 9 Yes | | SYM53C896 F400 11 Yes | | | | | | | | Accept Cancel | | | +-------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * * * * * * * * Main Menu Bar * * * * * * * * * * * The menu bar offers three items: File, Options, and Help. Each item has a drop-down menu displaying more choices. To familiarize you with this menu bar, a brief description of the menu items are discussed. * * * File * * * The menu path that appears after clicking on File displays Save and Exit choices. o To save NVRAM data pertinent to the adapters via the NTCONFIG Utility, select the Save choice. o To exit the NTCONFIG Utility, select the Exit choice. Note: No automatic update to the adapter(s) is done. All changes are lost if not already saved by clicking on the Save menu choice above or clicking on the Accept button. * * * Options * * * To display utility or adapter configuration options,click on the Options menu selection. The user may change the language used for the interface by selecting a language from the list displayed when the Language option button is pressed. This list is dynamic and is based on the number/type of language DLLs found in the directory with the executable. Note: The NTCONFIG display defaults to the English language. If the display language is to be Czechoslovakian, Russian, Korean, or Japanese, you must install Windows NT into the corresponding language so that the display is readable. This is not applicable to other languages that use the Roman Alphabet. When the values of the adapters in the NVRAM Found column indicate YES, then changes are allowed. If the value is NO, the adapter can be selected and default values are displayed, but no changes are allowed. The two choices available at this time are Adapter Settings and Device Selections. o To change settings for adapters, select the Adapter Settings choice. o To change settings for SCSI devices, select the Device Selections choice. In each case, the selected choice displays a menu with adapters found. Click on the adapter whose related values are to be changed. Depending on the selection, either the Adapter Settings Menu or Device Selections Menu appears. See below for further information regarding these menus. * * * Help * * * To display information pertinent to a particular menu screen, click on the Help menu selection. * * * Main Menu Button Options * * * At the bottom of the main menu screen, two button options are available: Accept, and Cancel. Clicking on the Accept button simultaneously saves the configuration change(s) and exits from the Main Menu. Clicking on the Cancel button allows exit from a particular menu level, and discards any changes that may have been made. * * * * * * * * * * Adapter Settings Menu * * * * * * * * * * When you click on an adapter, the corresponding menu appears. Here is an example of the Adapter Settings menu: +-------------------------------------------------------+ | Adapter Settings | | Help | | | | | | SCAM Support On | | Parity Enabled | | Host SCSI ID 7 | | Scan Order Low to High <0..Max> | | | | Set Defaults Ok Cancel | | | +-------------------------------------------------------+ To change a setting, double click on it. For example, if you double click on SCAM Support, a window appears with two options: On and Off. Once you click on an option, this window closes and the new values appear on the Adapter Settings screen. To set default values, click on the Set Defaults button, and then click on the Ok button to accept the values. To set changed values, click on the Ok button. To abort any changes made on this screen, click on the Cancel button. When you click on the Ok or Cancel button, the system returns to the Main Menu. The settings in this menu are global settings that affect the selected host adapter and all SCSI devices attached to it. A brief description of each setting follows. * * * SCAM Support * * * This BIOS will issue or not issue SCSI Configured AutoMatically (SCAM) negotiations during initialization based on this parameter. Note: Windows NT does not support the use of SCAM, and this selection should be turned off. Turning SCAM on may have adverse effects on the system. * * * Parity * * * The LSI Logic PCI to SCSI host adapters always generate parity, but some older SCSI devices do not. Therefore, you are offered the option of disabling parity checking. Note: When disabling parity checking, it is also necessary to disable disconnects for all devices, as parity checking for the reselection phase is not disabled. If a device does not generate parity, and it disconnects, the I/O never completes because the reselection never completes. * * * Host SCSI ID * * * This option refers to the host adapter's SCSI ID, which is a unique number used to identify the device on the SCSI bus. Note: In general, it is suggested that you not change your host adapter ID from the default value of 7, as this gives it the highest priority on the SCSI bus. Please also note that if you have 8-bit SCSI devices, they cannot see host IDs greater than 7. * * * Scan Order * * * This option allows you to tell your device drivers to scan the SCSI bus from low to high (0 to max) SCSI ID, or from high to low (max to 0) SCSI ID. If you have more than one device on the SCSI bus, changing the scan order changes the order in which drive letters are assigned by the system. Note: This scan order option may conflict with operating systems that automatically assign a drive order. * * * * * * * * * * Device Selections Menu * * * * * * * * * When you select the Device Selections option, the corresponding menu appears. Here is an example of the Device Selections Menu: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Device Selections | | Help | | | | | | Sync Data Disc Time Scan Queue | | Rate Width Out Bus LUNS Tags | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+-+ | | | 0-Dev0 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled |-| | | | 1-Dev1 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled | | | | | 2-Dev2 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled | | | | | 3-Dev3 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled | | | | | 4-Dev4 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled | | | | | 5-Dev5 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled | | | | | 6-Dev6 N/A 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled | | | | | SYM53C895 80 16 On 10 Yes Yes Enabled |-| | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+-+ | | | | Ok Cancel | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The settings in this menu affect individual SCSI devices attached to the selected host adapter. Double clicking on one of the displayed devices will allow the user to change the listed options. Use the scroll bar on the right side of the Device Selections menu to scroll down the list of possible SCSI IDs/devices. * * * Sync Rate (mega bytes/sec) * * * This option defines the maximum data transfer rate the host adapter will attempt to negotiate. The host adapter and a SCSI device must agree to a rate they can both handle. The width column affects this value. * * * Width (bits) * * * This option defines the maximum SCSI data width the host adapter will attempt to negotiate. The host adapter and a SCSI device must agree to a width they can both handle. Only host adapters that can do 16-bit data transfers have this option enabled. * * * Disconnect * * * This option tells the host adapter whether or not to allow a device to disconnect. SCSI devices have the ability to disconnect from the initiator during an I/O transfer. This disconnect frees the SCSI Bus to allow other I/O processes. Some devices run faster with disconnects enabled (mostly newer devices), while some run faster with disconnects disabled (mostly older devices). * * * Read Write I/O Timeout (secs) * * * This option sets the amount of time the host adapter waits for a read, write, or seek command to complete before trying the I/O transfer again. Since this provides a safeguard allowing the system to recover if an I/O operation fails, it is recommended that you always set the time-out to a value greater than zero. * * * Scan for Device at Boot Time * * * This option can be set to "No" when the user does not want a specific device available to the system. Also, on a bus with only a few devices attached, you can speed up boot time by changing this setting to "No" for all unused SCSI IDs. * * * Scan for SCSI Logical Units (LUNs) * * * This option can be set to "No" if you have problems with a device that responds to all LUNs whether they are occupied or not. For example, if there is a SCSI device with multiple LUNs but you do not want all of those LUNs to be available to the system, then set this option to "No." This will limit the scan to LUN0 only. * * * Queue Tags * * * This option enables or disables the issuing of queue tags during I/O requests when your device driver can do this. * * * * * * * * To exit the NTCONFIG Utility * * * * * Since changes only take effect after your system reboots, it is important that you exit this configuration utility properly. Return to the Main Menu and exit either by clicking on the Accept button, or follow the menu path: File-->Save and then click on the Exit choice. If you reboot the system without properly exiting the utility, these changes may not take effect. * * * * * * * * * * * Troubleshooting * * * * * * * * * * The following is a potential problem and its suggested solution: If a user selected the Save option under the File menu item, and then proceeds to attempt more changes, they system becomes hung up. The solution is to exit from this utility after saving and then re-execute if more changes are necessary.