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Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x for NetWare
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Welcome to Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x
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The following information is available in this README file:
o Supported Hardware
o Changes From Prior Release
o Installation Instructions
o Known Issues
o Additional Notes
o Command Line Options
o Diskette Contents
o Contacting Adaptec
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Supported Hardware
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The following Adaptec SCSI Host Adapters are supported:
Adaptec Host Adapter Description
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AHA-2910 PCI-to-Fast SCSI (non-bootable)
AHA-2930 PCI-to-Fast SCSI
AHA-2940 PCI-to-Fast SCSI
AHA-2940W PCI-to-Fast and Wide Single-ended SCSI
AHA-2940AU PCI-to-Ultra Single-ended SCSI
AHA-2940U PCI-to-Ultra Single-ended SCSI
AHA-2940U Dual DualChannel PCI-to-Ultra Internal Single-ended
SCSI with 50-pin external connector
AHA-2940UW PCI-to-Ultra Wide Single-ended SCSI
AHA-2940UW Dual DualChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide Single-ended
SCSI with Wide external connector
AHA-2944W PCI-to-Fast and Wide Differential SCSI
AHA-2944UW PCI-to-Ultra Wide Differential SCSI
AHA-3940 MultiChannel PCI-to-Fast SCSI
AHA-3940W MultiChannel PCI-to-Fast and Wide SCSI
AHA-3940U MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra SCSI
AHA-3940UW MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide SCSI
AHA-3940UWD MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide SCSI with dual
external connectors
AHA-3944W MultiChannel PCI-to-Fast and Wide Differential SCSI
AHA-3944UWD MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide Differential SCSI
with dual external connectors
AHA-3940AU MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra SCSI
AHA-3940AUW MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide SCSI
AHA-3940AUWD MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide SCSI with dual
external connectors
AHA-3944AUWD MultiChannel PCI-to-Ultra Wide Differential SCSI
with dual external connectors
AHA-4944W Quad Channel PCI-to-Fast and Wide Differential SCSI
AHA-4944UW Quad Channel PCI-to-Ultra Wide Differential SCSI
AIC-7850 Single-chip PCI-to-Fast SCSI
AIC-7855 Single-chip PCI-to-Fast SCSI
AIC-7856 Single-chip PCI-to-Fast SCSI
AIC-7860 Single-chip PCI-to-Ultra SCSI
AIC-7870 Single-chip PCI-to-Fast and Wide SCSI
AIC-7880 Single-chip PCI-to-Ultra Wide SCSI
AIC-7895 Single-chip PCI-to-MultiChannel Ultra Wide SCSI
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Changes From Prior Release
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Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x features numerous enhancements including:
o Support for new PCI IC's and Adaptec host adapters
o Support for Netware v4.11
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Installation Instructions
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This section explains how to install the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set
v2.1x Driver (aic7870.dsk) for Novell NetWare - NetWare v3.1x, v4.0, and
v4.1x.
If you are performing a first time NetWare installation, see Installing the
Driver When Installing NetWare. If NetWare is already installed in your
system, see Installing the Driver When NetWare is Already Installed, below.
Installing the Driver When Installing NetWare
---------------------------------------------
To install the aic7870.dsk at the same time you install NetWare, follow the
instructions below for the version of NetWare you are installing.
NetWare v3.1x
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Follow these instructions only if you are installing NetWare v3.1x for the
first time:
1 Follow the procedures in your NetWare documentation for installing a
new server.
2 When you see the NetWare colon prompt (:), use the load command to
install the driver from the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.0
diskette for NetWare.
The correct syntax to load the 7800 Family driver is
:load [pathname]aic7870 [options]
The command line options are not case sensitive. Placing commas
between command line options is optional. See Command Line Options
below for possible values.
(NOTE: The aspitran.dsk file must reside in the same path as
aic7870.dsk, because NetWare attempts to load the file automatically.)
(NOTE: To load the driver automatically at server bootup, copy the
driver to the server's startup directory and modify the startup.ncf
file. See Installing the Driver When NetWare is Already Installed and
Loading the Driver at Server Bootup, below)
3 Load the NetWare install program from the NetWare colon prompt
(:load install). Follow the instructions in the NetWare
documentation to complete the installation (e.g., creating disk
partitions, system volumes, etc.) of your server.
NetWare v4.0 or v4.1x
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Follow these instructions only if you are installing NetWare 4.0 or v4.1x
for the first time:
1 Begin installation of NetWare v4.0 or v4.1x on your server as
instructed in your NetWare documentation.
2 When a screen appears that asks you to select a disk driver, press
F10.
3 When "Choose the Server Drivers - Summary" appears, press Enter.
4 Move highlight to "Disk and CD-ROM Drivers" and press Enter.
5 Deselect all "AIC7870" drivers that are picked up by Netware.
6 Highlight "Select additional drivers" and press Enter.
7 When a screen appears that asks you to select a disk driver, press
Ins.
8 Insert the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x diskette for NetWare
into your floppy drive.
9 Press F3 and specify the path to the aic7870.dsk driver for NetWare
(e.g., a:\netware\v4_xx on the diskette).
10 Select AIC7870.DSK and press ENTER.
11 Select Continue the Installation to complete the installation.
(NOTE: To load the driver automatically at server bootup, make sure
the startup.ncf file includes the load command line for you host
adapter. See Installing the Driver When NetWare is Already Installed
and Loading the Driver at Server Bootup, below.)
Installing the Driver When NetWare is Already Installed
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To update or install the aic7870.dsk driver when NetWare is already
installed, follow the instructions in this section. The procedures are
similar for all versions of NetWare. Procedures that are specific to a
NetWare version are noted when necessary.
1 Make a backup copy of the old driver (if it exists) before installing
the new driver.
2 Copy the aic7870.dsk driver from the 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x
diskette for NetWare into the server's startup directory (e.g.,
c:\nwserver, c:\server.40, c:\server.312) on your hard disk. This
overwrites any existing version of the driver in the directory.
(NOTE: For NetWare v3.1x, the aic7870.dsk file is located in the
\netware\v3_1x directory on the diskette; for NetWare v4.0 and v4.1x,
the file is in \netware\v4_xx.)
3 If necessary, modify the load command line in the startup.ncf so that
the proper path to the driver and all appropriate command line
options are specified. See Loading the Driver at Server Bootup and
Command Line Options sections, below.)
The correct syntax to load the 7800 Family driver is
load [pathname]aic7870 [options]
Command line options are not case sensitive. Placing commas between
command line options is optional. See Command Line Options , below,
for possible values.
Loading the Driver at Server Bootup
-----------------------------------
To automatically load the aic7870.dsk at server bootup, the startup.ncf
file (usually located in your server's startup directory) must contain a
load command line that specifies the location of the driver and any
appropriate command line options (see Command Line Options, below).
For additional information on the startup.ncf file, refer to your NetWare
documentation.
(NOTE: To load the driver from you hard disk, the aic7870.dsk driver and
aspitran.dsk module must be copied from the Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set
v2.1x diskette for NetWare to a directory on your hard disk [usually the
server's startup directory (e.g., c:\nwserver)]).
The correct syntax to load the aic7870.dsk driver is
load [pathname]aic7870 [options]
For example, the command line to load the driver from the c:\nwserver
directory, with the verbose= option on is
load c:\nwserver\aic7870 verbose=y
Command line options are not case sensitive. Placing commas between command
line options is optional. See Command Line Options, below, for possible
values.
To modify the startup.ncf file, follow these steps:
(NOTE: You can also use your DOS text editor to modify the startup.ncf
file.)
1 Type load install at the NetWare prompt and press ENTER.
2 Select the appropriate menu choice that allows you to edit the
startup.ncf file.
3 Make the necessary changes. When you are done, press ESC.
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Known Issues
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o There is a known problem which occurs during the installation of Netware
4.0X, that involves the DDI file used during the initialization of the
host adapter device driver. The DDI file does not contain all the
possible slot number options available on all PCI systems, as there are
too many combinations. As a result, during the installation procedure,
NetWare will report that it is unable to load the driver in the given
amount of time. This is because the DDI file does not contain any
slot options, which causes NetWare not to load the driver. Note, however,
that this is not an error. The user simply needs to go to the console
screen and manually enter in the correct slot number and installation
will continue.
o A second known problem exists that will hang the server after loading the
host adapter device driver. This problem involves targets that do not
support scanning of multiple luns, with the command line option
lun_enable. The user simply needs to set the command line option
multlun_targets to only scan targets that support multiple luns. This
problem is known to occur with Quantum Empire 540S drives.
o Novell recommends not using IRQ 15 for host adapters. If your system
bios allows the assignment of IRQs, change your adapters IRQ to a value
other than 15.
o On NetWare 4.11, without media in the CD-ROM drive, and using built in
driver support for CD-ROMs, the message "No CD-ROM Devices Registered
with NetWare." is reported, if "cd device list" is issued.
o There is a known problem with some hard drives that are less than or
equal to 1 GB. If these drives were previously formatted using the
Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.0 driver for Netware, and are now
being upgraded to the 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x driver, the user
may have problems in finding the device during initialization. If
this occurs, use the following command line option in your startup.ncf
file:
ext_tran=n
o On some system configurations and during a first time installation or
when upgrading to the 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x driver, the user
may see a window with the following warning message:
"One or more partitions on drive 0 are inconsistent with the driver
geometries (xxx heads, xx sectors, and xxx cylinders) that netware
is using. You may continue and edit the partition anyway, although
this inconsistency could create problems later on."
This message is shown when the "Installation Options" window appears,
and the user highlights and selects "Disk Options", followed by "Modify
Disk Partitions and Hot Fix". The user should simply continue to the
"Disk Partitions Options" window to edit the partition, and installation
will complete successfully.
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Additional Notes
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o The Netware driver has been submitted for Novell Certification.
o All of Adaptec's NetWare 386 drivers have full support for standard
SCSI disk drives, "NetWare Ready" drives, and removable media disk
drives (including optical drives).
o The driver also contains a built-in ASPI manager. This allows for other
NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs) to gain access to the host adapter.
Given the flexibility of ASPI, several companies are currently providing
server-based tape backup solutions through ASPI. SBackup is a server
based tape backup solution which is shipped by Novell with NetWare.
SBackup supports the ASPI interface. There are other ASPI modules already
developed or under development. A programming specification is available
from Adaptec if you are interested in writing your own NetWare 386 ASPI
module.
o If your file server does a lot of IO operations and you want to try
optimizing its performance, you can adjust the "max_tags=?" command
line switch. This switch controls the maximum number of tagged
commands outstanding at a given device. Refer to your disk-drive's
documentation to determine if tagged-queuing is supported, and the
maximum number of outstanding commands supported. Its default value
is 16.
The following are examples of how to change this feature:
:load aic7870 max_tags=2
:load aic7870 tag_disable=ffff
The first example shows how to use the max_tags command line option.
The max_tags parameter can be set between 1 and 128. Larger values
give the drives more opportunity for optimization, but take up more
memory in the server.
For several reasons, you may want to use a lower value of max_tags.
For some drives, maximum performance is achieved with
a max_tags less than the maximum supported by the drive.
Also, some drives may not support the driver's maximum count of 128,
or may suffer starvation problems with large counts, leading to
drive deactivation.
The second example turns off tagged-queuing for all devices. This may
be necessary for starvation-prone drives.
o The Adaptec 7800 Family Manager Set v2.1x NetWare driver no longer
supports the slot=0 command line option. If no slot is mentioned on the
command line, the driver is loaded for all host adapters present in the
system.
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Command Line Options
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(NOTE: Possible values for command line options can be enabled with ON, Y,
or 1 without distinction, or can be disabled with OFF, N, or 0.)
The following table shows driver command line options:
OPTION DEFINITION POSSIBLE DEFAULT
VALUES VALUES
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auto_bus_fairness= Enable/disable auto SCSI OFF, ON ON
bus fairness algorithm
auto_disable_tagq= Enable/disable auto OFF, ON ON
disable tag queuing
algorithm
auto_flush_diskreq= Enable/disable auto disk OFF, ON ON
flush algorithm
bus_release= Passed to HIM --- ---
cdrom= Indicate if CDROM OFF (ASPI), OFF
devices are controlled by ON (Driver)
driver or ASPI
dev_enable= Bitmask which enables Hexadecimal FFFF (Scan
scanning on selected 0-FFFF all targets)
targets
edge_or_level= Determines edge or level --- ---
triggered interrupt
ext_tran= Determine translation Y Standard, unless
method for a new drive (Extended), set to extended
in the system; extended N (Standard) by SCSI-Select
or standard
fixed_disk= Indicate if fixed disks OFF (ASPI), ON
are controlled by driver ON (Driver)
or ASPI
flush_diskreq= Send occasionally Hexadecimal 0 (Disabled for
ordered tags to targets 0-FFFF all targets)
instr= Enable/disable recording OFF (Disable), OFF
of I/O statistics and ON (Enable)
errors
io_combine= Maximum number of IO's 1 - 32 16
that will be combined into
one using scatter/gather
lun_enable= LUN scan enable mask Hexadecimal 1 (Scan LUN
on all targets 0 - FF 0 only)
max_tags= Maximum number of 1 - 128 16
tagged I/O's which will
be active per device
multlun_targets= Bitmask that enables Hexadecimal FFFF (LUNs
LUNS on selected 0 - FFFF on all targets)
targets
prompt= Prompt all available Y, N N
slots to load the driver
on.
read_after_write= Enable write with 0 (OFF), 1
verify for writes 1 (ON)
removable= Indicate if removable OFF (ASPI), ON
media is controlled ON (Driver)
by driver or ASPI
start_unit= Target id mask to send Hexadecimal 0 (No start
start unit SCSI command 0 - FFFF unit cmd. to
any target)
tag_disable= Target tag queuing Hexadecimal 0 (Enabled for
disable mask 0 - FFFF all targets)
verbose= Display host adapter Y, N N
settings
slot= Obtains a physical slot Dependent on If none
number for the host system specified,
adapter configuration driver loaded
for all
available slots
Bit Mask Options
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Use this example to aid in calculating bit mask options hex values. Each
SCSI device ID 0-7 (or 0-15 for wide host adapters) is enabled by a 1 in
its corresponding bit position. In this example, lun_enable=05 enables
scanning for LUNs 0 and 2 on all targets.
Bit Position
|-------------------------------------------------------|
SCSI ID | 15 14 13 12 | 11 10 09 08 | 07 06 05 04 | 03 02 01 00 |
|-------------------------------------------------------|
0, 2 | 0 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 0 | 0 0 0 0 | 0 1 0 1 |
|-------------------------------------------------------|
Converted | | | | |
binary to | | | | |
hex: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | = 05h
|-------------------------------------------------------|
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Diskette Contents
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The following files are included in this diskette:
In the \netware\v3_1x Directory
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o AIC7870.DSK - AIC-7870 Family of Host Adapters Driver For NetWare 386
v3.1x.
o ASPITRAN.DSK - ASPI Transport Layer Manager Driver for NetWare v3.1x.
o ASPICD.DSK - CD-ROM Driver for NetWare v3.1x.
In the \netware\v4_xx Directory
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o AIC7870.DSK - AIC-7870 Family of Host Adapters Driver For NetWare 386
v4.xx.
o AIC7870.DDI - Driver definition information file for NetWare v4.xx only.
o ASPITRAN.DSK - ASPI Transport Layer Manager Driver for NetWare v4.xx.
o ASPITRAN.DDI - Driver definition information file for NetWare v4.xx
only.
o ASPICD.DSK - CD-ROM Driver for NetWare v4.xx.
o ASPICD.DDI - Driver definition information file for NetWare v4.xx only.
o NWPALOAD.NLM - File required by the NetWare Bus Interface
o NWPA.NLM - File required by the NetWare Bus Interface
o NBI.NLM - File required by the NetWare Bus Interface
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Contacting Adaptec
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Electronic Support
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Technical information, including product literature, answers to commonly asked
questions, information on software upgrades and other topics is available
electronically through the following:
o Adaptec World Wide Web (WWW) site at http://www.adaptec.com.
o File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server at ftp.adaptec.com.
o CompuServe Adaptec Forum at GO ADAPTEC.
o Adaptec USA Bulletin Board Service (BBS) at 408-945-7727; supports up to
28,800 bps (bits per second), 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity. No
product literature is available on the Adaptec BBS.
o Interactive Fax System at 408-957-7150; available 23 hours a day, 7 days
a week. The fax system is out of service 1 hour each day.
Technical and Product Support
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o For technical support and information about many of Adaptec’s electronic
support services, call 800-959-SCSI (7274) or 408-945-2550, 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week.
o To use the Adaptec Interactive Support System, call 800-959-SCSI (7274)
or 408-945-2550, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The system prompts you
with questions regarding your problem and then provides step-by-step
troubleshooting instructions.
o To speak with a product support representative, call 408-934-SCSI (7274),
M-F, 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time. After hours, on weekends, and
on holidays, product support is also available for a fee at 800-416-8066.
Sales and Ordering Information
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o For sales information, call 800-442-SCSI (7274), M-F, 6:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m., Pacific Time, or 408-945-8600 and ask for Inside Sales,
M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time.
o To order Adaptec software and SCSI cables, call 800-442-SCSI (7274),
M-F, 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time.
o To request additional documentation for Adaptec products, call
800-934-2766 or 510-732-3829, M-F, 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Pacific Time.
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.