------------
OnSpec OnIDE
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This document is divided into the following sections and topics:
1. Instructions for DOS users
1.1 Installing OnIDE
1.2 ETOOLS application
1.3 Driver command line options
1.4 Booting from parallel port hard disk.
1.5 Accessing internal hard drive when booted from parallel port.
1.6 Uninstalling OnIDE
2. Instructions for Windows 3.10/3.11 users
2.1 Installing OnIDE
2.2 SwissKnife16 application
2.3 Driver command line options
2.4 Uninstalling OnIDE
3. Instructions for Windows 95/98 users
3.1 Installing OnIDE
3.2 SwissKnife application
3.3 Un-partitioned hard drives
3.4 Device Attach/Detach
3.5 Backup utility
3.6 Driver command line options
3.7 Printing documents from a parallel port based drive to the printer also
connected to the same parallel port
3.8 Avoiding IRQ conflicts
3.9 Booting from parallel port hard disk.
3.10 Accessing internal hard drive when booted from parallel port.
3.11 Uninstalling OnIDE
4. Instructions for Windows NT 3.51/4.0 users
4.1 Installing OnIDE
4.2 SwissKnife application
4.3 Un-partitioned hard drives
4.4 Driver command line options
4.5 Uninstalling OnIDE
5. Instructions for OS/2 users
5.1 Installing OnIDE on a system currently running OS/2
5.2 Driver command line options
5.3 Uninstalling OnIDE
1. Instructions for DOS users
=============================
1.1. Installing OnIDE
---------------------
There are two ways you can install the OnIDE driver:
1.1.1 If you want the driver to be loaded during system boot up,
type A:(or B:)\INSTALL
1.1.2 You can also load the driver from the command prompt by typing IDEDRIVE
from A:(or B:).
Note: 1. In this case, you need to run IDEDRIVE whenever your system
is restarted.
2. This option cannot be used in Windows 95/98 DOS sessions.
3. If you get an error message saying that there are not enough
drive letters available, add the following line in CONFIG.SYS,
LASTDRIVE=Z
4. You can assign a fixed drive letter for all the systems for your
parallel port drive. For example type IDEDRIVE /L:G where you would
like to assign drive letter G to the parallel port drive.
1.2 ETOOLS application
----------------------
The ETOOLS application has the following features:
1. Option to scan the parallel ports for the existence of an IDE hard disk
drive and also report the type of Super IO card installed in the system.
2. Disk utilities to display the existing partitions, create new partitions and
format them. The ETOOLS partitioning scheme is based on the DOS FDISK for
the maximum compatibility across all operating systems. These partitions
will be recognized by DOS/Windows 3.X, Windows 95/98, Windows NT and OS/2.
3. Option to set driver command line options.
These are the following command line arguments available for ETOOLS
application.
/U : Forces the port to be Uni-directional
/E : Disables fast EPP
/Q : Disables ECP mode
/V : Disables edge mode data transfer
/I : Uses interrupts during data transfer
/MONO : Display will be in monochrome
/SF=nn [nn=1..30] : Introduces a delay factor
/SD=nn [nn=1..16] : Spins down after nn seconds
/SCAN : Scan for devices at the starting
/HELP or /? : Will Display the available command line options
1.3 Driver command line options
-------------------------------
Use the command line options ONLY if the driver is unable to detect the
hardware or if the driver exhibits a data reliability problem. The options
can be set using the "Device" - "Driver Settings" menu option of ETOOLS.EXE.
The command line options are:
1. Slow down Enhanced parallel port access.
2. Spin down time in minutes by [1-16] - This option makes the drive to
spin down, after the given time.
3. Force Port to behave as a Standard Parallel Port - This option will
force the driver to detect the parallel port as a uni-directional port
which is the slowest mode of operation.
4. Reduce Port access speed by [1-30] - This option slows down the port
access by a slow factor number and is applicable for all parallel port
types.
5. Turn off Burst Mode - This option slows down port access for
Uni-directional and Bi-directional parallel ports.
The Driver settings menu will be enabled only if
- the driver line entry is present in CONFIG.SYS and
- the file INSFILES.INF is present in the directory where the ETOOLS.EXE
is present.
1.4 Booting from parallel port hard disk
----------------------------------------
To boot from Parallel Port hard disk do the following:
1. Insert the OnIDE Release diskette in A:
2. Set Boot sequence in CMOS to A, C
3. When the boot manager menu comes up, press CTL+Z to boot from the
parallel port hard disk.
Make sure that the parallel port hard disk contains bootable
partition. A bootable hard disk will boot if connected internally, inside
the PC.
Note
----
1. If you have used SwissKnife program or ETOOLS program to partition the hard
disk (without creating a primary partition), you need to do the following to
make it a Bootable Hard disk. Please note that all the data in the hard
disk will be destroyed.
1.1 Run Swissknife program or ETOOLS program to create a primary partition.
1.2 Insert OnSpec's DOS Install disk and type IDEDRIVE. This will install the
drive letter for the parallel port hard disk.
1.3 Transfer system files into the partitioned hard disk, by typing SYS x:
(where x is the drive letter of the parallelport hard disk drive)
1.4 Now your hard disk is bootable.
2. If you have used SwissKnife program or ETOOLS program to create a primary
partition, you need to do the following to make it a Bootable Hard disk.
2.1 Transfer your system files into the parallel port hard disk, by typing
SYS x: (where x is the drive letter of the parallel port hard disk
drive)
2.2 Now your hard disk is bootable.
3. In case if you have already installed OnIDE on your internal hard disk,
and you want to create parallel port boot manager diskette, do the
following:
3.1 Insert the diskette on which you want to put boot manager in drive A:
3.2 If your software is installed in C:\ONIDE, then change to that install
directory.
3.3 Now run BOOTDISK. This will create the boot manager diskette which you
can use to boot from parallel port hard disk.
1.5 Accessing internal hard drive when booted from parallel port disk
---------------------------------------------------------------------
After booting from the parallel port, if you want to access the internal
drives then do the following.
1. Insert the OnIDE Release diskette in drive A:
2. Now run the file MYDRIVE.BAT from drive A:. It will install the
drive letters for internal hard disk.
1.6 Uninstalling OnIDE
----------------------
To uninstall OnIDE, run INSTALL.EXE from the directory where you have
installed the software and choose Uninstall option.
2. Instructions for Windows 3.10/3.11 users
===========================================
2.1 Installing OnIDE
--------------------
1. Load Windows 3.10/3.11 and in Program Manager menu choose "File".
2. Click on "Run" from the popup menu. Insert the Windows installation
disk and type A:\(or)B:\SETUP.
3. After the installation is over, reboot your system for the changes to
take effect.
2.2 SwissKnife16 application
----------------------------
The SwissKnife16 application has the features to:
1. Display the existing partitions.
2. Create new partitions and format them. The SwissKnife16 partitioning scheme
is based on the DOS FDISK for the maximum compatibility across all
operating systems. These partitions will be recognized by DOS/Windows 3.X,
Windows 95/98, Windows NT and OS/2. Since ease of use and connectivity are
the main features of a parallel port based drive, DOS FAT (File Allocation
Table) format is used to put down the partitions. SwissKnife16 will also
recognize several other formats such as OnTrack, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
(NTFS), OS/2's High Performance File System (HPFS) etc,.
3. View system details such as internal hard disk information, partition
size, free space and Windows version.
4. Option to set driver command line options.
2.3 Driver command line options
-------------------------------
Use the command line options ONLY if the driver is unable to detect the
hardware or if the driver exhibits a data reliability problem. The options
can be set using the "Driver Settings" tab of SwissKnife16 application.
The command line options are:
1. Slow down Enhanced parallel port access
2. Spin down time in minutes by [1-16] - This option makes the drive to
spin down, after the given time.
3. Turn off Burst Mode - This option slows down port access for
Uni-directional and Bi-directional parallel ports.
4. Force Port to behave as a Standard Parallel Port - This option will force
the driver to detect the parallel port as a uni-directional port which is
the slowest mode of operation.
5. Reduce Port access speed by [1-30] - This option slows down the port access
by a slow factor number and is applicable for all parallel port types.
The Driver settings menu will be enabled only if
- the driver line entry is present in CONFIG.SYS and
- the file INSFILES.INF is present in the directory where the SwissKnife16
executable is present.
2.4 Uninstalling OnIDE
----------------------
To uninstall OnIDE, click on the "Uninstall OnIDE" icon in the group where you
have installed the software and follow the instructions.
3. Instructions for Windows 95/98 users
====================================
3.1 Installing OnIDE
--------------------
Bring up Windows 95/98 and select Start-Run menu. Windows 95/98 will prompt for the
name of the application to run. Insert the Windows 95/98/NT installation disk and
type A:(or B:)\SETUP and press ENTER. The software will be installed and
if your device is powered up and connected, you will be able to use it.
3.2 SwissKnife application
--------------------------
The SwissKnife application has the following features:
1. Option to scan the parallel ports for the existence of an IDE hard disk
drive and report the throughput that can be obtained from the port and also
the type of Super IO card installed in the system.
2. Attach/Detach option to dynamically attach/detach the devices on the
parallel port without restarting the system.
3. Disk utilities to display the existing partitions, create new partitions and
format them. The SwissKnife partitioning scheme is based on the DOS FDISK
for the maximum compatibility across all operating systems. These partitions
will be recognized by DOS/Windows 3.X, Windows 95/98, Windows NT and OS/2.
Since ease of use and connectivity are the main features of a parallel port
based drive, DOS FAT (File Allocation Table) format is used to put down
the partitions. SwissKnife will also recognize several other formats such
as OnTrack, Windows 95/98, Windows NT (NTFS), OS/2's High Performance File
System (HPFS) etc,.
Please note that the partitioning utility of Windows 95/98 or NT (FDISK) may
not recognize all the partitions created by SwissKnife. This is due to the
fact that Windows 95/98 and Windows NT treat IDE hard drives as SCSI drives
and fix the geometry at 64 Heads and 32 Sectors, where as IDE drives can
have heads only up to 16 and Sectors up to 63.
4. Option to set driver command line options.
3.3 Un-partitioned hard drives
------------------------------
Windows 95/98 will not give you a drive icon in My Computer if the drive is not
partitioned. This will happen if you have a hard disk drive kit and you
connect a brand new hard disk to this kit. Use SwissKnife application to
partition the drive, it will add the icon(s) dynamically to My Computer.
3.4 Device Attach/Detach
------------------------
If Windows 95/98 was started without the parallel port device connected, connect
the device to the port and click on the icon "Device Attach". This will add
the device to the system and drive icons for the external drive will appear
in "My Computer". To dynamically remove the device from the system, the icon
"Device Detach" can be used.
3.5 Backup utility
------------------
Setup creates a shortcut to Microsoft Backup Utility in the folder. This
utility helps you to backup your internal hard disk into the external drive.
If you do not have this utility installed in your system, install it from the
Windows 95/98 installation disk/CD-ROM as follows:
1. Insert your Windows 95/98 installation disk/CD-ROM in the drive.
2. Choose Start - Settings - Control Panel.
3. Double click on Add/Remove Programs.
4. Choose Windows Setup tab.
5. Double click on Disk Tools and choose Backup. Click on ok.
6. Choose Apply button and follow the instructions.
3.6 Driver command line options
-------------------------------
Use the command line options only if the driver is unable to detect the
hardware. The options can be entered by selecting Device-Driver Settings
menu option of SwissKnife application.
3.7 Printing documents from a parallel port based drive to the printer also
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
connected to the same port
--------------------------
Do the following only if you encounter problems in printing:
1. Open Control Panel.
2. Double Click on Printers Icon.
3. Double Click on the printer icon that is connected to the same printer
port as the SCSI device.
4. Go to the menu and select Pause Printing for this printer.
5. Print the document from the parallel port drive now.
6. When the printing is finished, it will be queued to the printer, which
is in pause state.
7. Go to the menu and select Resume Printing for this printer.
8. Your document will be printed now.
3.8 Avoiding IRQ conflicts
--------------------------
Windows 95/98 32-Bit driver is capable of detecting IRQs automatically. In
case if you face IRQ conflicts, the driver will be sluggish.
To find out the IRQ number, please do the following:
1. Make sure that the unit is connected to your parallel port and is
powered on.
2. Restart the computer and press funcion key F8 to bring up Windows 95/98
startup menu.
3. Select "Command prompt only" to boot MSDOS.
4. Run FINDIRQ.EXE utility from the directory where you have installed
the software.
5. FINDIRQ will display the IRQ number. Please note down this number.
6. Restart the computer to bring up Windows 95/98.
7. Enter the IRQ number as a command line option.
3.9 Booting from parallel port hard disk
----------------------------------------
To boot from Parallel Port hard disk do the following:
1. Insert the OnIDE Release diskette in A:
2. Set Boot sequence in CMOS to A, C
3. When the boot manager menu comes up, press CTL+Z to boot from the
parallel port hard disk.
Make sure that the parallel port hard disk contains bootable
partition.
In case if you have already installed OnIDE on your internal hard disk,
and you want to create parallport boot manager diskette, do the
following.
1. Insert the diskette on which you want to put boot manager in drive A:
2. If your software is installed in C:\ONIDE, then change to that install
directory.
3. Now run BOOTDISK. This will create the boot manager diskette which you
can use to boot from parallel port hard disk.
3.10. Accessing internal hard drive when booted from parallel port
------------------------------------------------------------------
1. While booting from parallel port hard disk having WIN95/98, the message
Starting Windows95/98 will appear. At this time press F8 key. Then
Choose the command prompt only option.
2. Insert the OnIDE Release diskette in drive A:
3. Run the file MYDRIVE.BAT from drive A:. It will install the
drive letters for internal hard disk.
4. Now type WIN to get into Windows95/98.
3.11 Uninstalling OnIDE
-----------------------
To uninstall OnIDE, click on the "Uninstall OnIDE" icon in the folder where
you have installed the software and follow the instructions.
4. Instructions for Windows NT 3.51/4.0 users
=============================================
4.1 Installing OnIDE
--------------------
4.1.1 Steps to install OnIDE on Windows NT 3.51
1. Load Windows NT 3.51 and in Program Manager menu choose "File".
2. Click on "Run" from the popup menu. Insert the Windows 95/98/NT installation
disk and and type A:\(or)B:\SETUP.
3. After the installation is over reboot your system for the changes to
take effect.
4.1.2 Steps to install OnIDE on Windows NT 4.0
1. Load Windows NT 4.0 and click on "Start".
2. Choose "Run" from the popup. Insert the Windows 95/98/NT installation disk
and and type A:\(or)B:\SETUP.
3. After the installation is over, reboot your system for the changes to
take effect.
4.2 SwissKnife application
--------------------------
The SwissKnife application has the following features:
1. Option to scan the parallel ports for the existence of an IDE hard disk
drive and report the throughput that can be obtained from the port and also
the type of Super IO card installed in the system.
2. Disk utilities to display the existing partitions, create new partitions and
format them. The SwissKnife partitioning scheme is based on the DOS FDISK
for the maximum compatibility across all operating systems. These partitions
will be recognized by DOS/Windows 3.X, Windows 95/98, Windows NT and OS/2.
Since ease of use and connectivity are the main features of a parallel port
based drive, DOS FAT (File Allocation Table) format is used to put down
the partitions. SwissKnife will also recognize several other formats
such as OnTrack, Windows 95/98, Windows NT (NTFS), OS/2's High Performance
File System (HPFS) etc,.
Please note that the partitioning utility of Windows 95/98 or NT (FDISK) may
not recognize all the partitions created by SwissKnife. This is due to the
fact that Windows 95/98 and Windows NT treat IDE hard drives as SCSI drives
and fix the geometry at 64 Heads and 32 Sectors, where as IDE drives
can have heads only up to 16 and Sectors up to 63.
3. Option to set driver command line options.
4.3 Un-partitioned hard drives
------------------------------
Windows NT will not give you a drive icon if the drive is not partitioned.
This will happen if you have a hard disk drive kit and you connect a brand
new hard disk to this kit. Use SwissKnife application to partition the drive
and restart the system for the changes to take effect.
4.4 Driver command line options
-------------------------------
Use the command line options only if the driver is unable to detect the
hardware. The options can be entered by selecting Device-Driver Settings
menu option of SwissKnife application.
4.5 Uninstalling OnIDE
----------------------
To uninstall OnIDE, click on the "Uninstall OnIDE" icon in the folder where
you have installed the software and follow the instructions.
5. Instructions for OS/2 users
==============================
5.1 Installing OnIDE on a system currently running OS/2
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Open OS/2 System folder
2. Open System Setup folder
3. Open Device Driver Install (in Warp 4 this is found in the Install/Remove
folder)
4. Change the source directory to A:\OS2 (or B:\OS2)
5. Select Install
6. Select OnSpec OnIDE Hard Disk ADD
7. Select OK
8. After it installs select Exit, and reboot your system
5.2 Driver command line options
-------------------------------
Use the command line options ONLY if the driver is unable to detect the
hardware or if the driver exhibits a data reliability problem. The options
can be set using the "Device" - "Driver Settings" menu option of DRVRSET.EXE
present in \OS2 directory.
The command line options are:
1. Slow down Enhanced parallel port access
2. Spin down time in minutes by [1-16] - This option makes the drive to
spin down, after the given time.
3. Turn off Burst Mode - This option slows down port access for
Uni-directional and Bi-directional parallel ports.
4. Force Port to behave as a Standard Parallel Port - This option will force
the driver to detect the parallel port as a uni-directional port which is
the slowest mode of operation.
5. Reduce Port access speed by [1-30] - This option slows down the port access
by a slow factor number and is applicable for all parallel port types.
The Driver settings menu will be enabled only if
- the driver line entry is present in CONFIG.SYS and
- the IDEDRVR1.DDP file is present in the directory where the DRVRSET.EXE
is present.
5.3 Uninstalling OnIDE
----------------------
To uninstall OnIDE, remove the following line from CONFIG.SYS file:
basedev=idedrvr1.add /v
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.