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* FastTrak Diskette Version 1.22 ReadMe *
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Contents on the disk
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README TXT This readme file
DISK1 Microsoft WindowsNT miniport driver file
OEMSETUP INF Microsoft WindowsNT miniport driver file
TXTSETUP OEM Microsoft WindowsNT miniport driver file
FASTTRAK SYS Microsoft WindowsNT miniport driver file
WIN95-98 <DIR> Directory that contains Microsoft Windows95-98 driver
files as follows:
FASTTRAK INF Microsoft Windows95-98 miniport driver file
FASTTRAK MPD Microsoft Windows95-98 miniport driver file
FTTKVSD VXD Microsoft Windows95-98 miniport driver file
UTIL <DIR> Directory that contains setup files for FastCheck and
UltraTune utility as follows:
SETUP EXE Setup utility to install FastCheck and UltraTune
LAYOUT BIN Setup file
SETUP BMP Setup file
DATA1 CAB Setup file
_SYS1 CAB Setup file
_USER1 CAB Setup file
LANG DAT Setup file
OS DAT Setup file
_SETUP DLL Setup file
_ISDEL EXE Setup file
_INST32I EX_ Setup file
SETUP INI Setup file
SETUP INS Setup file
SETUP LID Setup file
DATA TAG Setup file
INSTALL TXT Text file
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Software Version
================
Microsoft WindowsNT miniport driver 1.12 (Build 1)
Microsoft Windows95-98 miniport driver 1.12 (Build 2)
FastCheck utility for Promise FastTrak 1.11 (Build 11)
UltraTune utility for Promise FastTrak 1.11 (Build 8)
==================================================
Changes and modifications not stated in our manual
==================================================
The SETUP.EXE in the root directory has been removed. To install
UltraTune and FastCheck, please use the SETUP.EXE in \Util
directory.
==================
FastTrak Utilities
==================
There are two utilities for the FastTrak PCI RAID
controller - UltraTune and FastCheck.
The UltraTune utility allows you to optimally
configure the FastTrak for your system and applications.
The FastCheck utility is used to monitor or perform maintenance
on a FastTrak Mirrored (RAID 1) or Striped/Mirrored (RAID 0/1)
array. Visual and audible messages are available to warn of
possible problems with the disk array or controller. This utility
runs under Windows 95-98, Windows NT 3.51, and Windows NT 4.0.
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Installation
------------
From the Start Button, choose the Run button. In the Run dialog
box, type in "A:\UTIL\SETUP.EXE" and click "OK". Under Windows NT
3.51, from Program Manager go to the "File" menu and then choose
"Run". In the Run dialog box, type in "A:\UTIL\SETUP.EXE" and click
"OK". (NOTE: UltraTune will not run under Windows NT 3.5x).
Follow the directions from the setup program.
You may choose a complete install, which will install both utilities,
or a custom install in which you can choose which of the utilities
you wish to install. If you will be installing the FastCheck utility
Promise recommends to load the utility during startup. This ensures
you that it will be ready to post alerts on errors. During
installation, click "Yes" when prompted to run the utility on every
startup. The utility will appear minimized as a taskbar tray
icon and does not take desktop space. If no is answered it will
not run during startup. You may manually run the utility through
the Start button.
To install the FastTrak device driver for all operating systems,
please refer to the FastTrak manual.
========================
FastCheck Utility README
========================
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Installation
------------
Refer to the INSTALL section above for instructions on installing
the FastCheck utility.
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Getting Around in the FastCheck Utility
---------------------------------------
Task Bar Icon
On the Windows 95-98/NT taskbar, the FastCheck icon appears as a stack
of disks. To launch the utility double-click on the task bar icon.
Windows NT 3.51 does not have a task bar; FastCheck will appear
as a minimized icon on the desktop.
Array Tab View
From the Array view, status is shown for drives in the array. On
the left window pane, drive models are shown. On the right pane,
array type, mapping, and size are displayed. This is followed by
array status. The status will be either working, error, or
degraded. If an error is found, the array needs to be synchronized.
If degraded, a disk has failed or is not responding and most likely
needs to be physically replaced followed by a data rebuild.
Controller Tab View
This view displays configuration and system resource data for the
controller. The left pane shows the actual connector Channel and
Master/Slave ID of attached IDE drives. The right pane lists the
PCI Slot#, IRQ, and Bus Master address.
Options Tab View
The FastCheck Utility uses pop-up text for instruction on options.
Hover the mouse cursor for description.
-------------------------------------
Configuration and Maintenance Options
-------------------------------------
To run a maintenance operation, simply right click the icon of the
array and choose either synchronization or rebuild array functions.
Synchronization
This is a maintenance operation for Mirrored (RAID1) arrays. It
will compare data on drives for differences. If there are
differences it will automatically copy data from the first disk to
the second disk in the array. This needs to be performed
periodically to maintain data integrity. To synchronize, choose the
Array Tab View, right click the array, and choose "Synchronize"
from the context menu. You can also "Schedule the array
synchronization" under the Options Tab view.
Schedule the array synchronization
This option is configurable under the Options Tab View. An event
can be scheduled either monthly, weekly, daily, or once every
specified minutes. This way a synchronization can be performed on
an off-hour when the system is not in use.
Log File
In this Options Tab View, you may keep a record of alerts and
status reports of the FastTrak arrays. Click the "Use Log file"
check box to enable this feature followed by a logfile name. If
a filename is entered but the path is left blank, the default
directory will be the same as the FastCheck utility. Typically,
this directory would be "C:\Program Files\Promise\Fasttrak".
Because this file must be locked while the FastCheck utility is
running, you must exit the utility in order for the log file to
be read.
Use NT System Event Log
If this option is checked, events and errors will be written
to the Windows NT Event Log. You can view these events by
clicking on the Start button then going to PROGRAMS -
ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS (COMMON) - EVENT VIEWER. From the Event
Viewer menu bar choose "Log", and then check "Application".
In the "Source" column, all FastCheck events will show up
with the designation "FastCheck". Double-clicking on an event
will display additional information.
Rebuild
This user command will effectively copy/overwrite data from an
existing data drive in the array onto a blank drive. The operation
will be typically used when a failed drive has been replaced with
a new drive. To perform a Rebuild, choose the Array Tab View, right
click the array, and choose Rebuild from the context menu.
When a spare drive is installed, a rebuild will automatically be
performed from the working drive.
========================
UltraTune Utility README
========================
This utility runs under Windows 95-98 and
Windows NT 4.0. It does not run under
Windows NT 3.5x.
------------
Installation
------------
Refer to the INSTALL section above for instructions on installing
the UltraTune utility.
---------------------------
Using The UltraTune Utility
---------------------------
The UltraTune utility will appear as an icon labled
"FastTrak Tuning" in the Control Panel. Click on the
icon to start the tuning utility.
- CHOOSE APPLICATION TYPE
Here you can check either "Business/Games" or "Audio/
Video Editing" (NOTE: This option will be grayed-out
if you are using Windows NT). Choose the option which is
most like the applications you will be running. "Audio/
Video Editing" will work better with applications that
require high sustained data transfers rates. After choosing
a setting, click "OK". The system will need to be rebooted
so that the new setting can take effect.
- PCI BUS UTILIZATION
There are some cases where there may be some PCI bus
contention with other PCI devices. One known example of
this is "glitches" while playing .AV| files with some
brands of video capture cards. In such a case you can
decrease how long the FastTrak occupies the PCI bus while
transferring data by moving the PCI Bus Utilization slider
bar towards "Less". Click either "OK" or "Apply". The new
setting will take effect immediately - it is not necessary
to reboot the system.
===============
Version History
===============
-------------
Diskette 1.22
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Windows95-98 driver 1.12
- Fixed Japanese Win98 OS loading problem
- Fixed problem with Hot Plug box
WindowsNT driver 1.12
- Fixed problem with Hot Plug box
FastCheck Utility 1.11
- Fixed error logging problem
- Fixed problem handling files
-------------
Diskette 1.21
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- remove setup.exe in root directory
FastCheck Utility 1.11
- Use NT's event log to record monitoring event.
- Add "FastCheck start/close" event message
- Error message will not disappear when error/warning occurs
until user clicks on "Ok" button.
- Add user abort event into event log.
UltraTune Utility 1.11
- Support different registry tree entry format for hardware enumeration
in Win98.
Windows95-98/NT driver 1.11
- Add throttle for adjusting PCI bus utilization
- Add parameter input to read argument string for PCI bus utilization
- Return error code when formatting bad sectors in WinNT
- Fix disk activity and Rebuild/Synchronize simultaneously, sometimes
system hangs up or compare error happens
- Fix "When rebuild/Synchronize is running, pull off one drive's cable,
sometimes system hangs up"
- Fix timer pause problem
- Fix data errors using Fujitsu MP 3096AT drive
- Fix "If there are bad sectors, autorebuild will hang up"
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.