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Device Drivers for Windows NT 4.0Installing the SDMS™ Windows NT Drivers: This document provides installation instructions and includes these topics:
Windows NT 4.0 is an operating system designed to run on processors using current technology. It provides a graphical user interface environment incorporating many high-level features, which are described in the Microsoft Windows NT documentation. An I/O manager handles I/O requests in Windows NT. To address a SCSI peripheral, the I/O manager goes through the appropriate drivers. Windows NT provides class drivers for hard disk, floptical, CD-ROM, printer, and scanner peripherals. Other class drivers, provided by peripheral manufacturers, may be added to support new devices. Tape device support is built into the operating system itself and does not require a class driver. Microsoft provides the port driver and LSI Logic provides the miniport drivers, which are called SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS, and SYM_U3.SYS. These drivers complete the path to an LSI Logic SCSI controller or processor with an optional SDMS SCSI BIOS. The following sections describe these drivers and their installation. SDMS drivers contain the same filename for different Windows operating systems. The driver files are packaged either in separate subdirectories based on the Windows operating system or on different flex disks. To determine the driver file for Windows NT 4.0, note that the filename ends with .SYS. For example, SYMC8XX.SYS. To determine the operating system version, go into Windows Explorer, display the driver file, right click on the filename, click on Properties, and click on the Version tab. Finally, click on the Internal Name in the lower section. For Windows NT 4.0, the filename appears as filename (NT 4.0). For example, SYMC8XX.SYS (NT 4.0). Note: Current Windows NT 4.0 drivers can be downloaded from the LSI Logic web
site at http://www.lsilogic.com. After
you are connected to this web site,
place your cursor on the Get Drivers option in the menu bar. Click
on the Drivers selection. Choose the Windows NT operating system
for SCSI and click on the Go button. Follow the instructions on subsequent screens to download the
drivers. The SDMS device drivers for Windows NT 4.0 support these features:
All LSI Logic devices and host adapters have undergone a name change. They have transitioned from a SYM prefix to an LSI prefix. No name changes have occurred for the SDMS Windows NT 4.0 drivers. The SYMC8XX.SYS driver is named "Symbios PCI (53C8XX)" for driver installation. This driver supports the following devices and their associated LSI Logic host adapters:
The SYM_HI.SYS driver is named "Symbios PCI High Performance Driver" for driver installation. This driver supports the following devices and their associated LSI Logic host adapters:
The SYM_U3.SYS driver is named "Symbios Ultra3 PCI SCSI Driver" for driver installation. It supports the following device and its associated LSI Logic host adapters: LSI53C1010 (LSI8955U, LSI21040, LSI22903, LSI22915). Preparing an SDMS Driver Diskette The SDMS Software Device Drivers and Utilities CD-ROM contains the miniport drivers in this directory: {CD-ROM Drive Letter}:\DRIVERS\8XX-1010\WINNT\XXXXX\I386\WINNT\MINIPORT where XXXXX represents the specific Windows NT 4.0 subdirectory. For example, the 8XXNT subdirectory contains the SYMC8XX.SYS driver. Copy all the files starting from the I386 subdirectory through the MINIPORT subdirectory to the root directory of a clean diskette. Use this SDMS driver diskette during installation. or Use the self-extracting image files for Windows NT 4.0 drivers. For the SYMC8XX.SYS driver, locate the executable file at:
For the SYM_HI.SYS driver, locate the executable file at:
For the SYM_U3.SYS driver, locate the executable file at:
or Perform the Guided Installation Using this CD-ROM. SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS, and SYM_U3.SYS meet the Microsoft specification for miniport drivers. These miniport drivers allow connection of SCSI devices including disk drives, CD-ROMs, and tape drives for PCI-based machines. To support a new SCSI device, the Windows NT architecture requires that a class driver for that type device be present (usually supplied by Microsoft, or possibly by the peripheral manufacturer). No changes to SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS or SYM_U3.SYS are required. These drivers are only supported under Windows NT 4.0. They do not run under earlier versions of Windows NT. A Windows application passes SCSI commands directly to the SCSI devices by using the SCSI pass-through facility (refer to the Microsoft Windows NT documentation for details). This facility allows applications to directly control and access SCSI devices by filling in a data structure and calling in to the port driver. The SYMC8XX.SYS and SYM_HI.SYS drivers support Ultra SCSI protocol, providing twice the raw data transfer rate of Fast SCSI for disk drives and LSI Logic host adapters that support Ultra SCSI. These drivers also support Ultra2 SCSI protocol, providing quadruple the raw data transfer rate of Fast SCSI. The SYM_U3.SYS driver supports Ultra160 SCSI protocol providing 80 Mbytes/s of data transfer and up to 160 Mbytes/s data transfer for double transition. Caution: Ultra SCSI requires more stringent SCSI bus cabling setups than Fast SCSI. Ultra2 and Ultra160 require Low Voltage Differential (LVD) termination. Note: The LSI Logic bundled driver in Windows NT 4.0 is named SYMC810.SYS. When Windows NT selects the bundled driver during setup, Symbios C810 PCI SCSI Host Adapter appears, which is the driver information. Although this implies that the driver only supports the LSI53C810, it actually supports the LSI53C810, LSI53C810A, LSI53C815, LSI53C825, LSI53C825A, LSI53C860, LSI53C875, and LSI53C876. This bundled driver does not see or support the LSI53C885, LSI53C895, LSI53C896, LSI53C895A, and LSI53C1010 and any newer host adapters that LSI Logic currently produces. Keep in mind that Windows NT 4.0 setup only displays the driver information, not every controller found by that driver. Installing the SYMC8XX.SYS/SYM_HI.SYS/SYM_U3.SYS Drivers This procedure installs the SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS, or SYM_U3.SYS driver onto a Windows NT 4.0 system. Use this procedure when installing Windows NT 4.0 onto an unused SCSI drive. Windows NT automatically adds the driver to the registry and copies the driver to the appropriate directory.Choose the appropriate method to install these drivers onto a Windows NT 4.0 system.
Different steps are required depending on the method used. For Compaq/DEC systems based on the Alpha processor, CD-ROM installation is the only method available. The CD-ROM Installation and Boot Disk Installation procedures are listed below. Select the appropriate installation for your system. CD-ROM Installation The driver that is bundled with Windows NT 4.0 is SYMC810.SYS. This driver supports controllers that are listed in the section above. In that case, proceed to step 2.
Note: If this screen is not displayed as the first user input, then the F6 key press was not seen by the setup program. Reboot the system and try again. The system prompts for the manufacturer-supplied hardware support disk.
SDMS driver needs to be installed, they can be installed one after the other using steps 4 through 6. Installation order is not important.
Boot Diskette Installation The driver that is bundled with Windows NT 4.0 is SYMC810.SYS. This driver supports controllers that are listed in the description section above. If the bundled driver will support the LSI Logic chip which is being used, please skip to step 3.
The Windows NT Workstation Setup window reappears.
This procedure installs the SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS or SYM_U3.SYS driver onto an existing Windows NT system.
and select OK.
The System Settings Change message displays:
Note: If more than one SDMS driver needs to be installed, they can be installed one after the other without rebooting for each one. Installation order is not important.
Performance Tuning for Windows NT 4.0 Windows NT 4.0 has registry entries that can be used to increase the performance of SCSI I/O for certain configurations. The tunable parameters are large transfer block size support and a guaranteed number of concurrent I/Os for a particular SCSI bus. The SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS, and SYM_U3.SYS drivers can support up to a 1 Mbyte transfer size in Windows NT 4.0. In Windows NT 4.0 the default transfer size is 64 Kbytes. To enable a larger transfer size, an entry must be added to the registry by using the file SYM_256K.REG. This file will set a 256 Kbytes maximum, but it can be edited to set other desired maximum transfer sizes. Important: Be sure to read the information in the SYM_256K.REG data file before editing it. Choose one of two methods to add this registry setting:
Both methods insert an entry into the registry to enable 256 Kbytes block size support. Editing the SYM_256K.REG file can set any maximum block size between 64 Kbytes and 1 Mbyte (-8 Kbytes). The formula to calculate the proper value for MaximumSGList is: MaximumSGList = (Maximum Block Size)/4K +1 For 256 Kbytes: 256 Kbytes/4 Kbytes = 64, add 1 for 65 (decimal) or 0x41(hexadecimal). The maximum value allowed for MaximumSGList is 255 or 0xFF. This denotes an absolute maximum transfer size of 1040384, which is 8 Kbytes less than 1 Mbyte (1040384/4K = 0xFE, add 1 for 0xFF or 255). The system must be rebooted for the new registry setting to be effective. To reset the maximum block size to the default of 64 Kbytes, follow the instructions above, and use SYMDFBLK.REG as the data file. Maximum Number of Concurrent I/Os (Guaranteed) Windows NT 4.0 only guarantees a maximum of 32 concurrent I/Os active on a particular SCSI bus. However, due to the method of memory allocation, the actual limit of concurrent I/Os can vary greatly between various drivers or versions of drivers. This can have a huge impact on performance benchmarking between different driver versions or adapter vendors. This means that one adapter may actually be able to have 70 or 80 I/Os outstanding, while another adapter could only have 32. This can affect systems with high performance storage subsystems, such as disk arrays. In order to have a guaranteed number of concurrent I/Os, an entry must be added to the registry, using the file SYM100IO.REG ( SYMC8XX.SYS, SYM_HI.SYS or SYM_U3.SYS). Be sure to read the information in the SYM100IO.REG data file before editing it. Choose one of two methods to add this registry setting:
This inserts an entry in the registry to guarantee a maximum of 100 concurrent I/Os per adapter. If a maximum other than 100 is desired, the SYM100IO.REG file can be edited. The system administrator should be aware that increasing the number of concurrent I/Os from the default of 32 will use increasing amounts of non-paged pool memory. High values for this setting can degrade system performance. The system must be rebooted for the new registry setting to be effective. To reset the guaranteed number of concurrent I/Os to the default of 32, follow the instructions above, and use SYMDEFIO.REG as the data file. Enabling and Disabling Auto Request Sense is found in the Troubleshooting section under the problem The SCSI device does not install or operate correctly. Note: This section applies only to Intel x86-platforms where the SDMS 4.XX PCI SCSI BIOS is used. The SDMS 4.XX PCI SCSI BIOS loads only one image into system memory at boot time regardless of how many host adapters are used in the system. All of the disk drives on all host adapters will be recognized through the INT13h function call. Because of this implementation, disk mirroring under Windows NT needs to be done. This must be done so that you can boot from the mirrored partition in case the primary partition fails. To create a Windows NT Fault Tolerant (FT) diskette, follow these instructions:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(x)partition(y)\<winnt_directory> Where: multi(0) and disk(0) should always remain same. x = the drive number of the mirrored partition in the INT13h chain minus 80h. The drive number of the mirrored partition can be found during system bootup of the SDMS 4.XX PCI SCSI BIOS when the primary partition does not exist. It should say either BOOT (=80h), 81h, 82h, and higher. Therefore the value of x would be 0 when BOOT, 1 when 81h, 2 when 82h, etc. y = the partition number on the drive (starts at 1 which equals single partition on the drive). For example, let's say there are two LSI Logic host adapters in the system. The first one, #0 which is the boot path, has two SCSI hard drives on ID 0 and ID 5. The second host adapter, #1, has two SCSI hard drives on ID 2 and ID 4. Assuming that the SCSI bus scan starts from ID 0 and goes up, the drive number of INT13h will look like this: Host Adapter #0, ID 0= BOOT
(which is 80h) Now Windows NT is installed on the boot drive, host adapter #0 ID 0, and a mirrored partition is established on host adapter #1 ID 2. If the primary partition fails, for example due to power failure, then the drive number of INT13h will change: Host Adapter #0, ID 5= BOOT
(which is 80h) Therefore, the following line should be used in the BOOT.INI on the NT Fault Tolerant boot diskette to boot from the mirrored partition, host adapter #1 ID 2. Note that rdisk(1) was calculated from x=81h - 80h. multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\<winnt_directory> Some potential problems and their suggested solutions are: Problem: During installation, no SCSI devices are found.
Problem: System crashes during installation with a message indicating inaccessible boot device.
Problem: A disk drive is recognized as seven different devices when only one is physically connected to the SCSI bus.
Problem: The SCSI device does not install or operate correctly.
Problem: Problems with certain SCSI devices when using an Ultra SCSI adapter.
Problem: Problems with Ultra SCSI devices using Ultra SCSI protocol.
Problem: At Ultra3 speed (160 Mbytes/s) system hangs (waits forever), has long boot time, or SCSI device is not available. Some older SCSI devices do not tolerate Domain Validation operations. At system boot time, Domain Validation is performed to test the data integrity of the SCSI bus between the host adapter and each target device. With some older SCSI devices, these operations can cause the device to stop responding to SCSI commands.
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