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Symbios SCSI
DOS Driver Installation
This file describes the features and use of the Symbios Logic SDMS device drivers for the DOS/Windows operating system environment. It is divided into the following sections:
When you need to load drivers
Using the DOS Installation Utility
About Your ASPI8XX.SYS Driver
Features
Description
Installing Your ASPI8XX.SYS Driver
Command Line Options
Troubleshooting
Installing Your SYMDISK.SYS Driver
Command Line Options
Troubleshooting
Installing Your SYMCD.SYS Driver
Command Line Options
Troubleshooting
Installing Your WIN8XX.386 Driver
Command Line Options
Troubleshooting
Enabling 32-bit Disk and File Access
Important Additional Information For DOS Users
Assignment of Drive Letters
Using the SDMS DOS Utilities
In SDMS 4.0, the SCSI BIOS for the Symbios Logic family of PCI SCSI chips is capable of mapping SCSI hard disk drives behind any non-SCSI hard disk drives (IDE, ESDI, etc.) within the same system. A driverless solution will allow connection of up to 24 hard drives (SCSI and non-SCSI) under DOS 5.0 and above.
Full Virtual DMA Services (VDS), including features
such as scatter-gather, are also supported by the SCSI BIOS. Therefore,
to gain maximum performance, you should disable any double buffer
option provided by disk caching software (such as Microsoft's
SMARTDRV.EXE) for all drives handled through SDMS.
Connecting peripherals other than hard disk drives requires loading the appropriate driver. Some of the drivers work together, and some are capable of direct communication with a Symbios Logic PCI/SCSI controller.
is an ASPI (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface) manager which provides standard ASPI compatibility between your SCSI host adapter hardware and ASPI compatible applications.
is a device driver for SCSI disk drives, and works through the ASPI manager.
is a device driver for CD-ROM drives, and works through the ASPI
manager.
The following sections list these drivers, their features, and
their loading requirements.
The Symbios Logic SDMS DOS installation utility provides a quick and easy method for performing either an automatic or custom installation of the SCSI device drivers in a DOS/Windows environment. It works with any system using an SDMS supported Symbios Logic SCSI chip. The installation utility identifies the system, scans the SCSI bus, and properly installs the needed SCSI device drivers.
The SDMS Drivers diskette containing the DOS device drivers also holds the DOS installation utility. To use the utility, insert the disk into your floppy drive while in the DOS environment, and type:
INSTALL
Then follow the directions presented on the screen.
When performing a custom installation, an understanding of the
information presented in the following sections for manual installation
may prove useful.
ASPI8XX.SYS is an ASPI manager which provides an interface to popular ASPI applications. It is required when you want to use SYMDISK.SYS or SYMCD.SYS, or whenever you want to run an ASPI application.
ASPI8XX.SYS replaces an SDMS BIOS (if present), and fully supports
all devices supported by the BIOS. If an SDMS BIOS is not present,
only an ASPI interface is provided.
DEVICE=C:[path]ASPI8XX.SYS
This line must appear before any line loading other
ASPI drivers (like SYMCD.SYS, SYMDISK.SYS, or any other ASPI compliant
driver/application).
The ASPI8XX.SYS driver has several configurable features which are set via switches on the command line in your CONFIG.SYS file.
In the following descriptions, 'path' refers to the adapter number (boot order designation), and 'id' refers to the SCSI ID. The following conventions are also used:
[ ] items in brackets are optional
No spaces are allowed in specifying these command line options.
Spaces are required between different command line options.
This option prompts you at system boot-up time whether to load the ASPI8XX.SYS driver.
For example, to activate this option, the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /ASK
The width parameter defines the maximum data width negotiated with a device. This is used with host adapters capable of 16-bit data transfers. Valid settings are 8 or 16.
For example, if your first host adapter (boot order designation = 0) is a 16-bit adapter, and you wish to force 8-bit transfers to a device at SCSI ID 2, the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /WIDTH=8<0:2>
SCSI devices have the ability to disconnect from the bus during an I/O transfer. This option is used to allow a device to disconnect. If a particular host adapter has parity checking disabled, all devices attached to it must have disconnects disabled, since parity is required during the reselection phase. Valid options are ON (allow disconnects) or OFF (do not allow disconnects). The default for all devices is ON.
For example, to disable disconnects on the device attached to the first host adapter (boot order designation = 0) at SCSI ID 2, the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /DISCONNECT=OFF<0:2>
This option sets the maximum synchronous transfer rate (in mega transfers per second) to negotiate with a particular device. The allowable values are 0, 5, 10, and 20, providing the host adapter is capable of the specified speed. To turn off synchronous transfers for a particular device, you should specify 0. The default value is the fastest rate supported by your host adapter.
For example, to turn off synchronous transfers to the device attached to the first host adapter (boot order designation = 0) at SCSI ID 3, the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /SYNCH_RATE=0<0:3>
This option tells your host adapter to disable the SCSI bus data integrity checking feature known as parity. Some SCSI devices do not generate parity. Valid options are ON (check parity) or OFF (do not check parity). The default for all devices is ON.
Warning:
When disabling parity checking, it is necessary to disable disconnects for that adapter since you cannot disable parity checking for reselection. If a device does not generate parity, and it disconnects, the I/O will never complete.
For example, to turn off parity checking on the first host adapter (boot order designation = 0), the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /PARITY=OFF<0>
This option allows you to exclude support for an adapter that does not currently have BIOS support. You may not exclude an adapter that is supported (included) by the BIOS when you boot your system. This option has three required parameters:
These parameters identify the specific adapter you want to exclude. To obtain these parameters, boot your system using the /VERBOSE command line option (explained later in this section). The parameters for the adapter or path you wish to exclude will display on your monitor.
For example, if you found the adapter you wish to exclude to have PCI Device ID 3, PCI Bus Number 0, and PCI Device/Function Number 68, then the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /EXCLUDE<3:0:68>
This option lets you alter the SCSI ID for a host adapter. On an 8-bit adapter, the SCSI IDs are 0-7. On a 16-bit adapter, the SCSI IDs are 0-15 (it is suggested that IDs 8-15 are not used for your adapter). This option will not allow you to select a SCSI ID already in use.
Note: You are not allowed to change the SCSI ID of any adapter currently supported by the BIOS.
For example, to change the SCSI ID of your second host adapter (path=1) to ID=6 (providing that adapter is not controlled by the BIOS), the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /HOST_ID=6<1>
This option allows you to disable support for the SCSI Plug and Play protocol called SCAM (SCSI Configured AutoMatically). SCAM support is ON by default. You may change the SCAM setting only if the path (adapter) specified is not controlled by the BIOS.
For example, to turn off SCAM support on the second host adapter (boot order designation = 1), the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /SCAM=OFF<1>
The ASPI8XX.SYS driver uses a time-out mechanism to detect certain errors. When the driver issues a command to a SCSI device, a timer is started. If the timer expires before the command completes, the driver assumes something has gone wrong, and takes steps to recover. The default for this option is 10 seconds, if the device is BIOS controlled. If the device is not BIOS controlled, the default is 0 seconds. Also, non-volatile memory settings can alter these defaults. The maximum setting is 0, which is no time-out. The range of allowable values is 0-65535 seconds.
For example, you might have a particularly slow device (with SCSI ID 3) on the first host adapter (boot order designation = 0). If you wish to extend the time-out for this device to 60 seconds, the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /TIMEOUT=60<0:3>
This Option causes more detailed information to appear on your monitor, after the ASPI8XX.SYS driver is initialized, during a system boot. This is useful if you have multiple adapters in your system and need to know the PCI Device ID, the PCI Bus number, and the PCI Device/Function number for each adapter. For example, this information is required to use the /EXCLUDE option already described in this section.
For example, to see more detailed adapter information displayed when you boot, the line in your CONFIG.SYS file that loads ASPI8XX.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS /VERBOSE
SYMDISK.SYS is needed when connecting drives with non-512-byte
sectors, and when connecting removable drives if the user wants
to change the media. It is also required to obtain drive letters
for devices (adapters) that are not supported by a BIOS. SYMDISK.SYS
communicates through ASPI8XX.SYS. To use the SYMDISK.SYS driver
you must load ASPI8XX.SYS also.
The ASPI8XX.SYS driver is also required. List the drivers in this sequence:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS
The SYMDISK.SYS device driver has several embedded functions which are accessed via switches on the command line. These options are described below, and use the following conventions:
No spaces are allowed in specifying these command line options.
Spaces are required between different command line options.
This option prompts the user at system boot-up whether to load SYMDISK.SYS or not. To use this option, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMDISK.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /ASK
Note:
It is strongly suggested that you use this option when using removable media with more than one partition.
SYMDISK.SYS allows the use of removable media, such as cartridge hard drives, each of which might have a different number of partitions. If media with more than one partition are used, set this option to the maximum number of partitions on any one media. To use this option, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMDISK.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /UNITS=path:id:lun:num_units
[,path:id:lun:num_units]*
For example, if there is a removable media drive at the first host adapter set to SCSI ID 2, and you need to reserve three partitions, the command line should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /UNITS=0:2:0:3
When SYMDISK.SYS initializes, it will default to either:
Note:
The full path, id, lun, and num_units values are required for this option.
Also, there is a limit of 24 devices.
This option allows a user to exclude a 'path:id:lun' combination from being scanned or controlled by SYMDISK.SYS. The path parameter is mandatory with all ids and luns for that path excluded by default if just the path is specified. To use this option, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMDISK.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /EXCLUDE=path[:id[:lun]]
[,path[:id[:lun]]]*
As an example, for path 0, id 2, and lun 0 the command line should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /EXCLUDE=0:2:0
Note:
There is a limit of 24 'path:id:lun' combinations
allowed.
SYMDISK.SYS will default to the largest sector size found during boot, handling all different sector sizes found. In the case of removable media, SYMDISK.SYS will assume a 512 byte sector size when no media is present. This option overcomes this limitation. To use this option, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMDISK.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /SSIZE=512|1024|2048|4096
For example, if a removable media drive is used that has a sector size of 2048 bytes, the command line should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /SSIZE=2048
Note:
If SYMDISK.SYS comes across a sector size larger
than the one specified in this option, or if it finds a sector
larger than the default, it will refuse to read/write to that
media. It will report an invalid media error to DOS.
This is a power management feature that can automatically spin down a disk when the disk is not accessed for a specified amount of time. The default spindown time is 15 minutes. You can specify a new spindown time in hours and minutes (hh:mm) with a minimum time of 1 minute. To use this option, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMDISK.SYS should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /SPINDOWN=hh:mm<path[:id[:lun]]>
[,hh:mm<path[:id[:lun]]>]
For example, if you wish to spindown a device on path 0, id 2, and lun 0, after one hour and five minutes of inactivity, the command line should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /SPINDOWN=1:5<0:2:0>
Or, if you wish to spindown all devices after the default time-out of 15 minutes, the command line should look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS /SPINDOWN=<>
Remember, the <> are required when you specify
a path:id:lun in this option.
Note:
If the SCSI BIOS is seen during boot, a banner similar to the following appears:
Symbios Logic SDMS ™ v4.0 PCI SCSI BIOS, PCI Rev. 2.0, 2.1
Copyright 1995 Symbios Logic
PCI-4.02.00
YES Go to b.
NO Power down all units in the system.
Remove all SCSI cables.
Boot system.
Is the SCSI BIOS seen during boot?
YES
Power down all units in the system.?
Reconnect and check all cable and power connections.
Boot system.
Go to a.
NO
Power down all units in the system.
Reseat the host bus adapter.
Check CMOS setup.
Boot system.
Go to a.
Note: When the computer boots, SDMS scans the SCSI bus. Devices found on the SCSI bus are identified as in the following lines:
HA ID LUN VENDOR PRODUCT REV
0 2 0 SEAGATE ST31230N 0060
0 7 0 Symbios SYM53C815 0003
YES
Go to c.
NO
Power down all units in the system.
Make sure the hard drives have different ID numbers (boot drive should have lowest ID).
Make sure both ends of the SCSI bus are terminated.
Check all cable and power connections.
Check CMOS setup.
Boot system.
Go to a.
SYMCD.SYS is needed whenever a CD-ROM device is connected on the
SCSI bus. You must load it in conjunction with Microsoft's CD-ROM
Extension 2.21 or above (MSCDEX.EXE). SYMCD.SYS communicates through
ASPI8XX.SYS, so you must load ASPI8XX.SYS to use SYMCD.SYS.
DEVICE=C:[PATH]ASPI8XX.SYS
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMDISK.SYS
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMCD.SYS /D:NAME
Note:
The /D: is not a drive letter designation; it indicates the name you wish assigned to your CD-ROM. You must include the NAME, which can use any combination of up to 8 characters.
LASTDRIVE=x
with x specifying a drive letter in the range C through Z. The letter assigned to LASTDRIVE represents the last valid drive MS-DOS is able to recognize and also represents the maximum number of drives available. For example, LASTDRIVE=K allows access to eleven (11) logical drives. For further details about LASTDRIVE, consult your MS-DOS manual.
[PATH]MSCDEX /D:NAME
For example, if:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMCD.SYS /D:MY_CD
is in CONFIG.SYS, then:
[PATH]MSCDEX /D:MY_CD
should exist in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The /D switches must match.
DRIVE E = DRIVER MY_CD UNIT 0
This informs you that the CD-ROM drive is recognized and ready
for use.
The SYMCD.SYS device driver has several embedded functions available, which are accessed via switches on the command line. An explanation of these options follows:
No spaces are allowed in specifying these command line options.
Spaces are required between different command line options.
This option prompts the user at initialization time whether to load SYMCD.SYS or not. For example, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMCD.SYS would look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMCD.SYS /D:MY_CD /ASK
This option is used to change the default for multiple LUNs per Target ID on the SCSI bus. The current default is to scan all LUNs. CD-ROM changers that use multiple LUNs work by default.
To turn off scanning all LUNs on a SCSI bus, choose /UPTOLUN=0.
This saves some time during boot.
This Option is used to support the Trantor Music Box CD audio application. Using this option prevents the track numbers from being converted to BCD (Binary Coded Decimal). If this option is used with CD audio applications such as Adaptec's cdplayer, Corel's cd-audio, or Future Domain's cdaudio, track numbers >16 are not reported correctly because these applications require binary track numbers.For example, the line in CONFIG.SYS that loads SYMCD.SYS would look like this:
DEVICE=C:[PATH]SYMCD.SYS /NOBCD
WIN8XX.386 is both a Windows FastDisk driver and an ASPI Manager
for Windows which provides an interface to popular ASPI applications.
It is required when you want to use 32-bit Disk Access in Windows.
Even though WIN8XX.386 controls all SCSI drives on your Symbios
Logic host adapter, Windows allows 32-bit Disk Access on the first
two drives only.
32BitDiskAccess=off
This entry may or may not already exist in your SYSTEM.INI file, depending on the hardware present when you installed Windows. Check to make sure that it appears only once in your SYSTEM.INI file.
;device=*wdctrl
Profile settings are the Windows equivalent of DOS command line options. They are entered into a particular section of your SYSTEM.INI file which resides in your Windows directory. Edit SYSTEM.INI and add a section anywhere (except in the middle of another section like [386Enh]) called [Win8xx].
For example, the section might look like this:
In the following descriptions, 'ha_num' refers to the adapter number (boot order designation). Please note that this version of the driver only supports one adapter, so the host adapter number is always zero. In the following descriptions 'id' refers to the SCSI device ID.
These conventions are also used:
No spaces are allowed in specifying any of these options.
Spaces are required between different options.
Synchronous=ON or OFF (Default = ON)
This option allows you to turn off SCSI synchronous
transfers. By default they are on, which is faster. However, if
you are having problems with your system you might want to try
turning synchronous off.
Wide=ON or OFF (Default = ON)
This option allows you to turn off SCSI wide transfers.
By default they are on, which is faster if you have a wide disk
drive. However, if you are having problems with your system you
might want to try turning wide off.
Disconnect=ON or OFF (Default = ON)
This option allows you to turn off SCSI disconnects.
By default they are on, which is sometimes faster. However, if
you are having problems with your system you might want to try
turning disconnects off.
SCAM=ON or OFF (Default = ON)
This option allows you to turn off SCAM (SCSI Configured
Auto-Matically). By default SCAM is on. If you have a SCAM capable
SCSI peripheral, SCAM automatically assigns SCSI device ID's to
avoid conflicts. If if you are having problems with your system
you might want to try turning SCAM off.
ParityChecking=ON or OFF (Default = ON)
This option allows you to turn off SCSI parity checking.
By default it is on. Parity is a mandatory part of SCSI-2, however
some old peripherals may not support parity. If you are having
problems with your system you might want to try turning parity
checking off. Typically this is necessary only if you add a new
peripheral that doesn't support parity. CD-ROM drives sometimes
do not support parity.
Verbose=ON or OFF (Default = OFF)
This option allows you to turn on verbose mode for
the driver. This displays a message with the version of the driver
each time the driver is loaded. This is a good way to make sure
the driver is loaded. Typically you want to set this ON once,
then turn it off until you need it again so the message is not
displayed each time the driver loads.
Fastdisk=ON or OFF (Default = ON)
This option allows you to turn off the FASTDISK portion
of this driver. The FASTDISK portion allows 32-Bit Disk Access
on a SCSI drive at C: or D:. Since Windows only allows 32-Bit
Disk Access on one kind of drive at a time, you may want to disable
it for your SCSI drive so you can use it on an IDE drive you have
in your system. This allows the ASPI portion of the driver to
continue to function, while the FASTDISK (32-Bit Disk Access)
portion is disabled.
Timeout=n (Default = 0, which disables time-outs)
Option Syntax:
(n = time-out value in seconds for device, n=(0..65535), 0=infinite)
WIN8XX.386 uses a time-out mechanism to detect certain errors. When WIN8XX.386 issues a command to a SCSI device, a timer is started. If the timer expires before the command completes, WIN8XX.386 assumes that something has gone wrong with the device, and takes steps to recover. The default value for this is zero, which means time-outs are disabled by default. It is recommended that you use time-out values of at least 10 minutes (600 seconds) for SCSI tape devices, since they have many commands which take much longer to complete. The SYMDISK.SYS and SYMCD.SYS drivers use time-outs of their own (typically 10 to 30 seconds). A time-out value of up to 65535 seconds (over 18.2 hours) is possible.
For example, if you have a particularly slow device on your host adapter (ha_num=0) at id=3, and you wish to extend the time-out on this device to 60 seconds, the line in SYSTEM.INI should look like this:
As another example, suppose you have a tape drive on your host adapter (ha_num=0) at id=3, and you wish to set the time-out on this device to 600 seconds. Suppose you also have a scanner on your host adapter (ha_num=0) at id=2, and you wish to set the time-out on this device to 30 minutes (1800 seconds). The line in SYSTEM.INI should look like this:
The Microsoft Windows 32-bit disk driver (WDCTRL) cannot be loaded.
There is unrecognizable disk software installed on this computer.
32-bit File Access was unable to run. This may be because you started the network before starting Windows, because Windows could not find the IFSHLP.SYS driver, or your hard disk(s) may be incompatible with 32-bit File Access.
Win8xx VxD Initialization Error:
FastDisk registration failed for drive 80h (C:) (or 81h (D:)). Please check the settings in your SYSTEM.INI file.
Only Windows for Workgroups 3.11 offers both 32-bit Disk and File access. To enable these features, make sure your system is backed up, then do the following:
This version of the driver has the following restrictions:
The MS-DOS operating system assigns drive letters to primary partitions first. After the primary partitions have been assigned drive letters the logical partitions are assigned drive letters. Do not assume that the drive letter designations will follow consecutively from device to device within a PC system.
An Example:
A PC system is configured with an IDE hard disk as the boot drive, a SCSI hard disk, and a CD-ROM drive. The IDE drive has three partitions:
one primary and two logical. The SCSI hard disk has two partitions: one primary and one logical. The SCSI hard disk is assigned ID one, and the CD-ROM is ID four. The distribution of the drive letters is:
A: 3 ½" floppy drive
B: 5 ¼" floppy drive
C: IDE primary partition
D: SCSI primary partition
E: IDE first logical partition
F: IDE second logical partition
G: SCSI logical partition
H: CD-ROM
This utility allows you to low-level format SCSI hard disk drives connected to Symbios Logic PCI to SCSI host adapters. It provides a friendly graphical user interface (GUI), and help is available for any decision screen by pressing F1 or selecting Help in the window.
Three files, located on your Symbios Logic SDMS drivers diskette, are required to run this utility. They are labeled ASPIFMT.EXE, ASPIINF.DAT, and ASPI8XX.SYS (you may use another ASPI manager). It is recommended that you place these files on a DOS bootable diskette, and run the executable file from this diskette rather than from a hard disk drive. This minimizes the possibility of interfering with your system.
Because a hard drive remains unusable after a low-level format until you execute the DOS FDISK and FORMAT command procedures, the CONFIG.SYS file on this bootable diskette must also contain the DOS files FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM. If you are formatting magneto optical or other removable media drives you also need the SYMDISK.SYS driver from your Symbios Logic SDMS drivers diskette in the CONFIG.SYS file.
The recommended minimum memory requirement for this utility is 2 MB. You need at least 500 KB of conventional DOS memory, and the remainder in extended memory.
When you run the format utility, it scans the SCSI bus for all hard disk and removable media drives. Then it generates a display showing the devices found. You may select devices from this display for the utility to format.
It can take from several minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the drive, to complete the format. If the format procedure is aborted for any reason, the drive remains unusable until an entire format cycle is completed.
Use extreme caution when selecting a drive for formatting. The
format process completely removes all information on a drive.
This utility provides a user friendly way to configure any of the DOS based drivers for your CONFIG.SYS and SYSTEM.INI. It assumes the drivers are already installed. The ASPI8XX.SYS driver must be present and loaded for this utility to run. For the Windows Configure option, the WIN8XX.386 driver must be present in the SYSTEM.INI file. Online help is available at each step for each screen you encounter. You may press F1 at any time for a list of all the help available.
Several files are required to run this utility. They are CONFIG.EXE, CONFIG.DAT, 8BITBUS.PCX, 16BITBUS.PCX, ADAPTERS.PCX, LUNVIEW.PCX, TILE.PCX, VIEWIT.PCX, and ASPI8XX.SYS. If ASPI8XX.SYS already exists on your system and is pointed to by the driver line in your CONFIG.SYS, you do not need it in the CONFIG.EXE directory. It is included here in case an install of the drivers has not yet taken place. If this is the case, add the line DEVICE=[path]ASPI8XX.SYS to the CONFIG.SYS (reboot for it to take effect). The path specified in the above line is your choice (C:\SYMBIOS is recommended) and ASPI8XX.SYS must be copied to that [path] location.
If you wish to configure the SYMDISK.SYS or SYMCD.SYS DOS drivers, they also reqiure installation prior to running the Configuration utility. To do a full installation of all the DOS drivers, run the SYM53C8XX install utility.
The recommended minimum memory requirement for this utility is
2 MB. You need at least 500 KB of conventional DOS memory, and
the remainder in extended memory.
This utility troubleshoots your system by systematically testing and checking various hardware and software components. No changes or side effects occur to your system as a result of running this utility. There is a help button on the first screen that explains in detail exactly what tests and checks are performed on your system. A majority of the information received by this utility is via ASPI commands. Therefore, this utility is most helpful if an ASPI manager is loaded at the time it is run. Although some limited information can be found without one, an error is reported if it does not find an ASPI manager. Note that any vendor's ASPI manager suffices.
The following files are required to run this utility, SYMDIAG.EXE and Z_VER.DAT. Also, ASPI8XX.SYS is included with these files in the event it is not already installed in your CONFIG.SYS file. If ASPI8XX.SYS already exists on your system and is pointed to by the driver line in your CONFIG.SYS, you do not need it in the SYMDIAG.EXE directory. It is included here in case an install of the drivers has not yet taken place. If this is the case, the line DEVICE=[path]ASPI8XX.SYS must be added to the CONFIG.SYS (reboot for it to take effect). The path specified in the above line is your choice (C:\SYMBIOS is recommended) and ASPI8XX.SYS must be copied to that [path] location.
The recommended minimum memory requirement for this utility is
2 MB. You need at least 500 KB of conventional DOS memory, and
the remainder in extended memory.
This utility allows you to update the Symbios Logic PCI SCSI BIOS on a host adapter based on a SYM53C815, SYM53C825, or SYM53C875 controller. New versions of the PCI SCSI BIOS are released periodically. Your host adapter must have a flash EEPROM onboard to use this utility.
The utility is labeled FLASH8X5.EXE, and is located on your Symbios Logic SDMS drivers diskette. It is necessary that you place this utility on a DOS bootable diskette, and execute it from this diskette rather than from a hard disk drive. Power down any hard disk drives attached to the host adapter you are updating.
Using DOS 5.0 or higher, create a bootable diskette by formatting it with the /s option (e.g., format a: /s). Do not install any memory managers or SCSI drivers on the diskette. A minimum of 200K of conventional memory is needed to execute the flash utility. Add the DOS mouse driver to AUTOEXEC.BAT for mouse control of the utility.
Unzip FLASH4X.ZIP to the root directory of the SDMS drivers diskette (using PKUNZIP 2.04G) or extract the contents using WinZip. This puts the flash8x5.exe and a ROM BIOS image on the diskette.
Insert the diskette into drive A:. Boot the system to the DOS prompt A:\>. Type FLASH8X5 and press enter.
The first screen displayed indicates what files are necessary to upgrade and general instructions to upgrade. Press Enter to continue to the next window.
This window is the main menu for the Flash Utility and contains these seven choices:
We recommend you do a view (option 3) and a backup (option 2) prior to updating the EEPROM. The view identifies the SCSI controller, its Device ID, the Flash Chip and current BIOS version. The backup, backs up the old BIOS image to the diskette incase there are problems with the new image, you can get back to the original one.
Now you are ready to update the current SCSI BIOS (option 1). Choosing option 1 gives you a summary of boards installed to choose from. You must mark at least one by pressing the spacebar, even if there is only one to choose from. This takes you to a new window where the BIOS file name is provided. After marking the board and pressing Enter, a new window comes up asking for the file name of the BIOS to upgrade. At this time you can press F2 to view the available files on the diskette. The available files should be, the BIOS file just backed up, and 8XX_32.ROM. In the F2 case, highlight the file 8XX_32.ROM for the Symbios Logic and NCR Host Adapter controllers and press Enter. Or type the filename in manually at the a:\ prompt and press Enter.
Next, the utility displays the file name and notifies you when the file is successfully read. Press Enter to continue and the system prompts you whether or not to overwrite the BIOS that is currently flashed in. Select "Y" to upgrade. This causes the EEPROM to get erased and updated. The system then displays the card information and verifies that the new BIOS is installed. Press any key to get back to the main menu. Choose option 6 to Reboot. Remove the floppy if you want to boot off your hard drive.
To verify the new BIOS installation, watch carefully during boot
and look at the 3rd line of the SDMS banner (which
should read PCI-4.03.00) when displayed. Or rerun the flash utility
from the floppy and choose the view option to see the current
BIOS version.
(Previous versions of the host adapters use the format
NCR8150S, NCR8250S, ...)
