SCSISelect Utility: Dell� PowerEdge� 2300
SCSISelect Utility: PowerEdge 2300
Introduction | SCSISelect Default
Settings | Starting
the SCSISelect Utility | Exiting
SCSISelect
The BIOS for the on-board Adaptec AIC-7890 and AIC-7860 SCSI
controllers includes the menu-driven SCSISelect
configuration utility, which allows you to change SCSI controller
settings without opening the computer. SCSISelect also
contains SCSI disk utilities that let you low-level format or
verify the disk media of your SCSI hard-disk drives.
Default settings for the on-board AIC-7890 and AIC-7860 SCSI
controllers and the optional Adaptec AIC-2940U2W SCSI controller
card are shown in the following table. These default settings are
appropriate for most PCI systems. Run SCSISelect
only if you need to change any of the default settings.
 |
NOTES: The SCSISelect
Utility must be run for both the AIC-7890 and AIC-7860
SCSI controllers if you need to change the configuration
settings.
The term host adapter
is used to refer to the on-board AIC-7890 SCSI and
AIC-7860 SCSI controllers or the optional AIC-2940U2W
SCSI controller card. |
Default SCSI Controller Settings
The basic host adapter settings are the SCSISelect
settings most likely to require modification.
Host Adapter SCSI ID —
This option sets the host adapter's SCSI ID. The default setting
is SCSI ID 7, which allows the host adapter to support narrow
SCSI devices in addition to wide SCSI devices. Dell recommends
that you leave the host adapter set to SCSI ID 7.
SCSI Parity Checking —
This option determines whether the host adapter verifies the
accuracy of data transfer on the SCSI bus. The default setting is
Enabled. You should disable SCSI Parity Checking if any SCSI
device connected to the host adapter does not support SCSI
parity; otherwise, leave it enabled. Most SCSI devices support
SCSI parity. If you are unsure as to whether a device supports
SCSI parity, consult the documentation for the device.
Host Adapter SCSI
Termination — This option sets termination on the host
adapter. The default setting for the Adaptec 7860 host adapter is
Enabled; the default setting for the AIC-7890 host adapter is
Automatic. Dell recommends that you use the default setting.
The boot device settings allow you to specify the device from
which to boot your computer.
Boot Target ID — This option specifies the SCSI ID of the
device from which you wish to boot your system. SCSI IDs are set
for the hard-disk drive according to the drive's location on the
backplane board. The default setting for Boot Target ID is SCSI
ID 0.
Boot LUN Number — If your
boot device has multiple logical unit numbers (LUNs) and Multiple
LUN Support is enabled, this option allows you to specify a
particular LUN from which to boot on your boot device. The
default setting is LUN 0.
The SCSI device/configuration settings allow you to configure
certain parameters for each device on the SCSI bus. To configure
a specific device, you must know the SCSI ID assigned to
that device.
Initiate Sync Negotiation
— This option determines whether the host adapter initiates
synchronous data transfer negotiation (sync negotiation)
between itself and the device. The default setting is Yes.
Synchronous data transfer
negotiation is a SCSI feature that allows the host adapter and
its attached SCSI devices to transfer data in synchronous mode.
Synchronous data transfer is faster than asynchronous data
transfer.
The host adapter always responds to sync negotiation if the
SCSI device initiates it. If neither the host adapter nor the
SCSI device initiate sync negotiation, data is transferred
asynchronously.
Normally, you should leave Initiate Sync Negotiation set to
Yes (enabled), because most SCSI devices support sync negotiation
and because it allows for faster data transfer.
|
NOTE: Some older SCSI-1 devices do
not support sync negotiation. This may cause your
computer to operate erratically or hang if Initiate Sync
Negotiation is set to Yes. Set Initiate Sync Negotiation
to No for these devices. |
Maximum Sync Transfer Rate
— This option sets the maximum synchronous data transfer
rate that the host adapter supports. The host adapter supports
rates up to a maximum of 80 MB/sec. The default setting is 80
MB/sec (the maximum).
If the host adapter is set to not negotiate for synchronous
data transfer, the maximum synchronous transfer rate is the
maximum rate that the host adapter accepts from the device during
negotiation. (This is standard SCSI protocol.)
Enable Disconnection —
This option (sometimes called disconnect/reconnect)
determines whether the host adapter allows the SCSI device to
disconnect from the SCSI bus. Enabling disconnection allows the
host adapter to perform other operations on the SCSI bus while
the SCSI device is temporarily disconnected. The default setting
is Yes.
Leave Enable Disconnection set to Yes if 2 or more SCSI
devices are connected to the host adapter. This optimizes SCSI
bus performance. If only one SCSI device is connected to the host
adapter, set Enable Disconnection to No to achieve slightly
better performance.
Initiate Wide Negotiation
— This option determines whether the host adapter attempts
16-bit data transfer instead of 8-bit data transfer. The default
setting is Yes.
|
NOTE: Some 8-bit SCSI devices may
have trouble handling wide negotiation, which may result
in erratic behavior or a hang condition. For these
devices, set Initiate Wide Negotiation to No. |
When this option is set to Yes, the host adapter attempts
16-bit transfer. When this option is set to No, 8-bit data
transfer is used unless the SCSI device itself requests wide
negotiation. The effective transfer rate is doubled when 16-bit
data transfer is used because the data path for wide SCSI is
twice the size of normal 8-bit SCSI.
Send Start Unit Command
— This option determines whether the start unit
command is sent to the SCSI device during the boot routine. The
default setting is Yes.
Setting this option to Yes reduces the load on your computer's
power supply by allowing the host adapter to start SCSI devices
one at a time when you boot your system. When this option is set
to No, the devices are allowed to start at the same time. Most
devices require you to set a jumper before they can respond to
this command.
|
NOTE: For many devices, if Send
Start Unit Command is set to Yes, the boot routine time
will vary depending on how long it takes each drive to
start. |
BIOS Multiple LUN Support
— This option provides support for peripherals that contain
multiple SCSI devices, such as autoloading tape drives and CD-ROM
changers.
Include in BIOS Scan —
This option enables you to set whether the system BIOS scans this
device during system startup. The default setting is Yes.
Advanced Host
Adapter Settings
The advanced host adapter settings should not be changed
unless absolutely necessary. These values are set by Dell, and
changing them may cause conflicts with the SCSI devices.
Host Adapter BIOS — This
option enables or disables the host adapter BIOS. The default
setting is Enabled.
|
NOTE: Several SCSISelect
options are not valid unless the host adapter BIOS is set
to Enabled. |
If you are booting from a SCSI hard-disk drive connected to
the host adapter, the BIOS must be set to Enabled. Disable the
host adapter BIOS if the peripherals on the SCSI bus (for
example, CD-ROM drives) are all controlled by device drivers and
do not need the BIOS.
Support
Removable Disks Under BIOS as Fixed Disks — This option
controls which removable-media drives are supported by the host
adapter BIOS. The default setting is Boot Only. The following
choices are available.
 |
CAUTION: If a removable-media
SCSI device is controlled by the host adapter BIOS, do
not remove the media while the drive is on or you may
lose data. If you want to be able to remove media while
the drive is on, install your removable-media device
driver and set this option to Disabled. |
- Boot Only — Only the removable-media drive
designated as the boot device is treated as a hard-disk
drive.
- All Disks — All removable-media drives supported by
the BIOS are treated as hard-disk drives.
- Disabled — No removable-media drives are treated as
hard-disk drives. In this situation, software drivers are
needed because the drives are not controlled by the BIOS.
Plug and Play SCAM
Support — This option provides automatic configuration
of SCSI devices in operating systems that support Plug and Play
capability. Dell recommends that you leave this option set to
Disabled.
Reset SCSI Bus
at IC Initialization — This option enables the SCSI bus
to be reset when the controller is initialized. The default
setting is Enabled..
Extended
BIOS Translation for DOS Drives > 1 GB — This option
determines whether extended BIOS translation is available for
SCSI hard-disk drives with capacities greater than 1 GB. The
default setting is Enabled.
|
CAUTION: Back up your hard-disk
drive before you change the translation scheme. All data
is erased when you change from one translation scheme to
another. |
The standard translation scheme for SCSI host adapters
provides a maximum accessible capacity of 1 GB. To support
hard-disk drives larger than 1 GB, the 78xx series host
adapters include an extended translation scheme that supports
hard-disk drives as large as 8 GB, with a maximum partition size
of 2 GB under MS-DOS�.
Extended BIOS translation is used only with MS-DOS 5.0 or
later. It is not necessary to enable this setting if you are
using another operating system such as Novell NetWare.
When you partition a hard-disk drive larger than 1 GB, use the
MS-DOS fdisk utility as you normally would. Because the
cylinder size increases to 8 MB under extended translation, the
partition size you choose must be a multiple of 8 MB. If you
request a size that is not a multiple of 8 MB, fdisk
rounds up to the nearest whole multiple of 8 MB.
Display
<Ctrl><a> Message During BIOS Initialization
— This option determines whether the Press
<CTRL><A> for SCSISelect (TM) Utility!
message appears on your screen during system start-up. The
default setting is Enabled. If this option is set to Disabled,
you can still run the SCSISelect utility by pressing
<Ctrl><a> after the host adapter BIOS banner appears.
Multiple LUN Support —
This option determines whether your system supports booting from
a SCSI device that has multiple LUNs. The default setting is
Disabled. Enable this option if your boot device has multiple
LUNs.
BIOS Support for
Bootable CD-ROM — This option determines whether the
host adapter BIOS provides support for booting from a CD-ROM
drive. The default setting is Enabled.
BIOS Support for
INT 13 Extensions — This option determines whether the
host adapter BIOS supports disks with more than 1024 cylinders.
The default setting is Enabled.
Support for Ultra SCSI
Speed — This option determines whether the host adapter
supports the fast transfer rates (20–40 MB/sec). The default
setting is Enabled.
You can start the SCSISelect utility by pressing
<Ctrl><a> when the following prompt appears briefly
during system start-up:
Press <CTRL><A> for SCSISelect (TM) Utility!
The first menu displays the Configure/View Host Adapter
Settings and SCSI Disk Utilities options.
Using SCSISelect
Menus
SCSISelect uses menus to list options you can select.
To select an option, use the up- and down-arrow keys to move the
cursor to the option; then press <Enter>.
In some cases, selecting an option displays another menu. You
can return to the previous menu at any time by pressing
<Esc>. To restore the original SCSISelect default
values, press <F6>.
Using the SCSI Disk
Utilities
To access the SCSI disk utilities, select the SCSI Disk
Utilities option from the menu that appears when you start SCSISelect.
When the option is selected, SCSISelect immediately scans
the SCSI bus (to determine the devices installed) and displays a
list of all SCSI IDs and the device assigned to each ID.
When you select a specific ID and device, a small menu
appears, displaying the Format Disk and Verify Disk Media
options.
Format Disk — This option runs a utility that allows you
to perform a low-level format on a hard-disk drive. Most SCSI
disk drives are formatted at the factory and do not need to be
formatted again. The Adaptec Format Disk utility is compatible
with most SCSI disk drives.
|
CAUTION: The Format Disk option
destroys all data on the hard-disk drive. |
Verify Disk Media — This option runs a utility that
allows you to scan the media of a hard-disk drive for defects. If
the utility finds bad blocks on the media, it prompts you to
reassign them; if you select Yes, those blocks are no longer
used. You can press <Esc> at any time to exit the utility.
To exit SCSISelect, press <Esc> until a message
prompts you to exit. (If you changed any 78xx series
host adapter settings, you are prompted to save the changes
before you exit.) At the prompt, select Yes to exit, and then
press any key to reboot the system. Any changes you made in SCSISelect
take effect after the system boots. (You can select No at the
prompt if you are not ready to exit SCSISelect.)
| 
