AdvanSys Universal NetWare Driver
---------------------------------
This file contains important information and last-minute changes
regarding the AdvanSCSI NetWare driver.
How to reach AdvanSys
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By mail: AdvanSys
1150 Ringwood Court
San Jose, CA 95131
Phone: 408-383-9400
FAX: 408-383-9612
Tech Support: 800-525-7440
BBS: 408-383-9540 (9600 baud, 8 bits, 1 stop, no parity)
Interactive FAX: 408-383-9753
Introduction
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ASC.DSK is the AdvanSys Universal NetWare driver. It is designed to work
with all AdvanSys host adapter cards (ISA, VL, EISA, and PCI) and all major
versions of NetWare (3.11, 3.12, 4.x). ASC.DSK is a combination of disk
driver and ASPI Manager.
The file should be loaded in the server's STARTUP.NCF file. For a
default installation, simply add this line:
LOAD ASC
Command-line options
--------------------
There are several command-line options that can be used with the ASC.DSK
driver. Most installations will not require any of these, but there
are circumstances where one or more may be necessary.
Command-line options are specified as part of the LOAD command. For
example:
LOAD ASC MAXQ=16 VERBOSE=Y
The various command-line options are described below.
PORT=n
This specifies that the ASC.DSK driver should only control
the AdvanSys host adapter located at I/O port 'n'. This is normally not
needed, as ASC.DSK will locate and initialize all installed host adapters.
This option can be specified as many times as needed.
ABOVE16=[Y | N]
See the note below on using the ASC.DSK driver on a server with greater
than 16 megabytes of memory.
IGNORE=n
This is the opposite of the PORT option. All host adapters
will be initialized except for the adapter at I/O port 'n'. This
option can be specified as many times as needed.
EXCLUDE=h/t[,h/t...]
By default, ASC.DSK will control all fixed, removable, CD-ROM, WORM,
and optical devices. If you will be using an ASPI module to control
any of these devices (such as Corel's RAID driver) you need to exclude
the drive(s) that will be under the modules control. Specify the host
('h') and target ID ('t') on the command-line with the EXCLUDE option.
A comma can be used to specify more than one device. No spaces should
be present between commas.
EXCLUDEALL
This is a short way of excluding all devices from ASC.DSK control.
CHECKWP=[Y | N]
ASC.DSK will check the write-protect flag on all devices and report
them as read-only to NetWare if set. Some devices improperly report
the write-protect flag, and are therefore set as read-only when they
are read-write. Set this option to 'N' to disable write-protect
checking.
LUN=[Y | N]
Logical unit (LUN) support is enabled by default. Set to 'N' to disable.
VERBOSE=[Y | N]
When set to 'Y', host adapter configuration information is displayed at
initialization.
MAXQ=n
A certain degree of optimization can be performed by adjusting this value.
This determines the maximum total number of requests that will be issued
to any one device. By default, this value is set at 32. Increasing or
decreasing this value can affect throughput in many ways. However, most
SCSI II devices will not accept more than 4 or 8 commands at one time
in any case.
ORDERED=[Y | N]
When using command (tagged) queuing, the ASC.DSK driver will use simple
tags for all requests. Some devices do not work well with simple tags,
and may cause timeout problems. Set this option to 'Y' to use ordered
tags instead.
IMPORTANT:
Using the ASC.DSK driver with the AdvanSys ISA adapter on a server
with greater than 16 megabytes present
------------------------------------------------------------------
If you will be using ASC.DSK driver with an AdvanSys ISA host adapter
on a file server with greater than 16 megabytes of memory, it is vitally
important to follow these instructions.
The server can report the total amount of memory by typing the MEMORY
command at the file server prompt. If the file server reports memory
less than what is actually installed, follow the instructions in B,
below. Otherwise, follow A.
In either case, whether ASC.DSK is loaded in the STARTUP.NCF or
AUTOEXEC.NCF, add the "ABOVE16=Y" option to it's command-line, i.e.:
LOAD ASC ABOVE16=Y
A. In your STARTUP.NCF file, include the following commands (if they
are not present):
SET AUTO REGISTER MEMORY ABOVE 16 MEGABYTES = ON
SET RESERVED BUFFERS BELOW 16 MEG = n
The number of buffers to reserve ("n") is equal to (4 x number of ISA
host adapters) + (4 x number of attached SCSI devices). So, if you had
5 SCSI devices on 2 ISA hosts, you would allocate ((4 x 2) + (4 x 5)) =
28. If you have already declared this statement for another driver or
NLM, add this value to the one already specified.
B. In your STARTUP.NCF file, include the following commands (if they
are not present):
SET AUTO REGISTER MEMORY ABOVE 16 MEGABYTES = OFF
SET RESERVED BUFFERS BELOW 16 MEG = n
(Follow the instructions in A for deciding the number of buffers to
allocate.)
In your AUTOEXEC.NCF file, add this command:
REGISTER MEMORY 1000000 n
Where "n" is equal to the amount of memory above 16 megabytes available
(in hexadecimal). For example, use the command that corresponds to the
amount of memory installed:
24MB REGISTER MEMORY 1000000 800000
32MB REGISTER MEMORY 1000000 1000000
64MB REGISTER MEMORY 1000000 3000000
Accessing DOS drives after loading ASC.DSK
------------------------------------------
ASC.DSK can, in some cases, cause problems accessing the server's
local DOS directory after being loaded. Symptoms include the system
hanging after exiting the server, or being unable to load local files,
like INSTALL.NLM or STARTUP.NCF.
As of this time, the only solution is to load the AdvanSys DOS ASPI
Manager in the server's CONFIG.SYS file before loading the server
software. As long as the ASPI Manager is the same version as the
ASC NetWare driver, there should be no problem exiting back to DOS.
IMPORTANT:
Migrating existing NetWare volumes from Adaptec to AdvanSys
-----------------------------------------------------------
If you are replacing an Adaptec with an AdvanSys controller card,
it is important to turn off extended translation. This will ensure
a smooth migration with no translation problems.
Use the AdvanSCSI Setup to turn off extended translation. When the
AdvanSys BIOS is scanning for devices, press Ctrl+A. In the "SCSI
Configuration" menu, disable extended translation. Be sure to save
changes before exiting the Setup.
Please consult the AdvanSys User's Guide for more complete details
regarding the AdvanSCSI Setup.
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Copyright (c) 1995 Advanced System Products, Inc. All rights reserved.
