Mylex FlashPoint PCI Ultra SCSI Host Adapter
RAIDPlus Software Release
Version 1.00
June 30, 1997
Overview
========
This README file is divided into the following sections:
I. RAIDPlus Introduction
II. RAIDPlus Feature Set
III. Release Content
IV. Installing Win95 on a Bootable RAID
V. Installing Windows NT on a Bootable RAID
VI. Adding RAIDPlus to an Existing Installation
VII. RAIDPlus Beta Limitation
I. RAIDPlus Introduction
========================
Mylex RAIDPlus is an enhancement package for the FlashPoint family of
SCSI host adapters allowing for RAID levels 0, 1, and 0+1 through
RAIDPlus-enhanced BIOS, device drivers, and utilities. This release
supports DOS, Windows 95, and Windows NT.
RAIDPlus requires the new RAIDPlus-enhanced BIOS to be resident on the
primary FlashPoint controller. The following adapters with the new
128KB Flash ROMs are capable of supporting RAIDPlus.
FlashPoint LT (BT-930) - PCI Ultra SCSI (20MB/s)
FlashPoint DL (BT-932) - PCI Dual Ultra SCSI (20MB/s)
FlashPoint LW (BT-950) - PCI Ultra Wide SCSI (40MB/s)
FlashPoint DW (BT-952) - PCI Dual Ultra Wide SCSI (40MB/s)
Future release of the RAIDPlus BIOS will allow existing 32KB Flash ROMs
to be upgradable for RAIDPlus capability.
II. RAIDPlus Feature Set
========================
- RAID 0 (Striping)
- RAID 1 (Mirroring)
- RAID 0+1 (Striping and Mirroring)
- Hot Spare with Auto Rebuild
- Supports Windows 95 and NT
- 2 RAIDs per System
- 8 disks per RAID
- 8 hot spare drives per System
- Duplexing across 2 host adapters
- RAIDPlus BIOS to support bootability
- BIOS-embedded AutoSCSI with RAIDPlus configuration
- Wizard-based configuration under Windows
- Windows-based status monitoring console
- Visual and sound failure alert notification
- Password-protected configuration
- Stripe size configurable from 16K to 128K
III. Release Content
====================
The RAIDPlus Software package contains the following 3-diskette set:
RAIDPlus Manager Disk #1
RAIDPlus Manager Disk #2
- Windows (95/NT) RAIDPlus installation
- RAIDPlus Manager
- RAIDPlus Configuration Wizard
RAIDPlus Drivers
- RAIDPlus DOS device driver installation
- RAIDPlus device drivers for Win95 and NT
IV. Installing Win95 on a Bootable RAID
=======================================
Installing Win95 on a bootable RAID requires only a few more
steps than installing on a single SCSI drive. (Only Step 1 is
additional.)
Step 1
------
First, you need to create a RAID to create a logical
hard disk. Press Ctrl-B during BIOS initialization time to
enter AutoSCSI to create the RAID.
Step 2
------
Create a partition and format the new RAID. This
can be done by booting the DOS install disk and
allowing the installation program to do so automatically.
If you only have the DOS upgrade package, boot the first
diskette and exit at the first screen by pressing F3.
Use fdisk to create the partition, reboot, follow the
same boot procedure, and run "format c: /s" to format
the drive.
Step 3
------
Install DOS.
Step 4
------
Install the RAIDPlus DOS drivers. This step is
necessary to access the CD-ROM for Win95 installation.
Insert the RAIDPlus Drivers diskette and run "a:install".
Step 5
------
Install Win95.
Step 6
------
Register the RAIDPlus driver with Win95. After
rebooting,
1. Double-click on the System icon in the Control
Panel, and select the Device Manager.
2. Double-click on the "PCI SCSI Bus Controller"
listed under "Other devices"
3. Click on the "Change Driver..." button
4. Select "Other devices"
5. Click on the "Have Disk..." button
6. Insert the RAIDPlus Driver diskette
7. Specify A:\win95 and install the driver from disk
8. After the driver is installed, reboot the system
Note:
-----
For Windows 95, a message of "Unknown Device"
will appear during the boot process (after device
driver is loaded). Please select "Do not install
driver" at this point and click OK to continue.
There will be an entry in the "Device Manager" shown
as "Other Devices" with a yellow question mark.
Please ignore this entry.
Step 7
------
Install the RAIDPlus Manager. Insert RAIDPlus Manager
disk #1 and run "a:setup". This installs the RAIDPlus
Manager which allows you to manage and monitor the newly
installed RAID.
V. Installing Windows NT on a Bootable RAID
===========================================
Step 1
------
First, you need to create a RAID to create a logical
hard disk. Press Ctrl-B during BIOS initialization time
to enter AutoSCSI to create the RAID.
Step 2
------
Install Windows NT from the Installation disks.
Select Custom Setup option on NT 3.51 or Skip Detection
on NT 4.0, and install the RAIDPlus driver from the
RAIDPlus Drivers diskette.
Step 3
------
After Windows NT installation is complete, install
the RAIDPlus Windows NT driver and RAIDPlus
Manager. Insert RAIDPlus Manager disk #1 and run
"a:setup". This installs the RAIDPlus Manager which
allows you to manage and monitor the newly installed
RAID.
Note:
-----
For Windows NT 4.0, there will be an entry(ies)
in "SCSI Adapters (devices section)" under Buslogic
Flashpoint PCI SCSI host adapters that shows disk
drives reporting back with Device Type of SCSI Scanner.
Please ignore this entry.
VI. Adding RAIDPlus to an Existing Installation
===============================================
Install the controller and hard disks, and follow the directions
below.
Step 1
------
Install the RAIDPlus Win95/NT driver and RAIDPlus
Manager. Insert RAIDPlus Manager disk #1 and run
"a:setup". This installs the RAIDPlus Manager which
allows you to manage and monitor the newly installed
RAID.
Step 2
------
Register the RAIDPlus Win95/NT driver. This step is
necessary if you did not already have a FlashPoint SCSI
Host Adapter driver installed (i.e. you were using IDE and
are now adding a FlashPoint with RAIDPlus.)
For Win95:
1. Double-click on the System icon in the Control
Panel, and select the Device Manager.
2. Double-click on the "PCI SCSI Bus Controller"
listed under "Other devices".
3. Click on the "Change Driver..." button.
4. Select "Other devices".
5. Click on the "Have Disk..." button.
6. Insert the RAIDPlus Driver diskette.
7. Specify A:\win95 and install the driver from disk.
8. After the driver is installed, reboot the system.
9. See note below.
For Windows NT:
1. Double-click on the SCSI Adapters icon in the
Control Panel, and select Drivers.
2. Click on the "Add" button and "Have Disk...".
3. Insert the RAIDPlus Driver diskette.
4. Specify A:\ and install the driver from disk.
5. After the driver is installed, reboot the system.
6. See note below.
Step 3
------
Use the Configuration Wizard to create a RAID with
RAIDPlus Manager. The Configuration Wizard kicks in
automatically when you invoke the RAIDPlus Manager if
there is no RAID configured. You will need to reboot the
system after creating the RAID.
Step 4
------
Create a partition and format the new RAID as you
would a single hard disk. You can use "fdisk" to partition
the RAID, and run "format" to format it.
Note:
-----
Physical drives that are in the RAID set (other than
the drive with the RAID ID) will be reported as a
"processor device".
For Windows NT 4.0, there will be an entry(ies)
in "SCSI Adapters (devices section)" under Buslogic
Flashpoint PCI SCSI host adapters that shows disk
drives reporting back with Device Type of SCSI Scanner.
Please ignore this entry.
For Windows 95, a message of "Unknown Device" will
appear during the boot process (after device driver
is loaded). Please select "Do not install driver"
at this point and click OK to continue. There will be
an entry in the "Device Manager" shown as "Other Devices"
with a yellow question mark. Please ignore this entry.
VII. RAIDPlus Limitations & Known Problems
==========================================
RAIDPlus Limitations:
---------------------
1. Striping permitted only on one channel.
2. Hot spare must be on primary channel of RAID.
3. Windows 95 requires COMCTL32.DLL (7/11/95) and
DLG32.DLL (7/11/95) to be updated in order for
RAIDPlus to work correctly. Updated files can
be attained from Microsoft's WEB/FTP site. The
OSR2 and Memphis releases do not need the updates.
4. Maximum RAID Name is 8 characters long.
5. If a bootable RAID is installed, then the dual boot
feature will only support Windows 95 and NT (4.0 &
3.51). A different RAIDPlus directory will be
required for each of the Operating Systems.
6. AutoSCSI and RAIDPlus Configuration Wizard will use
only drives with no partitions if simple configuration
is selected. This is to prevent inadvertent erasure
of active partitions. Use manual configuration to
override this protection.
7. AutoSCSI and BIOS do not support integrity check or
mirroring. These operations can be performed by the
RAIDPlus Manager when the OS is running.
8. A RAID 0 set (striping) can not be upgraded to a RAID
0+1 set (striping + mirroring). The RAID 0 set must be
deleted and then recreated as RAID 0+1. The data on
drives will be lost.
9. The data on an existing drive with a partition table
can not be mirrored onto another drive. The data will
be lost when a mirror set is created. For example,
disk1 has data and is to be mirrored on disk2. When
the mirror set is created with disk1 & disk2, the data
on disk 1 is destroyed. Currently there is no warning
for this action in AutoSCSI or RAID Manager.
10. Under Windows 95, a reboot may be required after
formatting a RAID set. This will ensure that the
RAIDPlus driver is properly loaded and running at an
optimum level.
11. Low level formatting of certain disk drives such as
Quantum and IBM may not be supported from AutoSCSI
(accessed by pressing <ctrl-B> during boot). For
such cases, use the AUTO.EXE program in the
RAIDPlus Drivers diskette.
Known Problems in this Release:
-------------------------------
RAIDPlus Manager/Configuration Wizard:
1. While RAIDPlus wizard background processes are running
(rebuild, integrated check, or remirror), Scandisk and
Disk Defragmenter may appear to freeze system. This is
because these utilities attempt to lock out other disk
activities before starting. These utilities will
continue once the background processes have completed.
RAIDPlus Install:
1. Under Windows 95/NT 4.0, uninstall may not be able to
remove some folders but the directories and contents are
removed. These folders can be manually deleted. Also,
some files may not be removed until a subsequent reboot.
BIOS:
1. With certain motherboards, there may be a coexistence
problem between 32K and 64K FlashPoint cards. The
system may hang and not permit booting from floppy.
In such cases, remove either of the mixed cards.
Driver:
1. DOS BTMDISK.SYS driver will load only for physical
drives not used by RAIDPlus.
General:
1. A RAIDPlus capable host adapter must be the first scanned
card when there are mixed "non-RAIDPlus" cards present.
2. When adding or deleting a RAID, the partition table
will be cleared (all data on original drive will be lost).
3. If a drive used in a RAID set is removed without being
properly deleted from the RAID, the drive can no longer
be used. At this point, run AutoSCSI to detect the
inconsistency and remove the left over RAID data (COD,
configuration on disk). The disk will now be usable
again.
4. The status of the Windows NT 4.0 driver under Control
Panel, SCSI Adapters, Device will show "Buslogic
FlashPoint PCI SCSI Host Adapter" if driver is
installed during OS install. If the driver is
installed after the OS is installed (or reinstalled),
the status will be "Mylex FlashPoint PCI SCSI Host
Adapter". This is cosmetic and will have no
functional effect.
5. Under Windows NT 4.0, if the RAIDPlus Configuration
Wizard dialog does not automatically appear on the
desktop after installing the RAIDPlus Manager
and rebooting, remove the RAIDPlus Manager from
Window's Startup folder and restart the system.
You will need to manually start the RAIDPlus Manager
from the Desktop Icon for drive failure notification.
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.