VL-IDE-2 driver diskette (Rev. 1.0) README.TXT File Date : Nov 28,94 +=======================+ | Release Information | +=======================+ VL-IDE-2 driver diskette (Rev. 1.0) contains the device drivers for the VL-IDE-2 VL IDE Disk Controller. VG4.EXE (Version 2.3) is the installation utility VG4.SYS (Version 2.3) is the driver for DOS VG4.386 (Version 2.30) is the driver for Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Windows Workgroups 3.11 +================================================+ | DOS Driver for VL-IDE-2 VL-Bus IDE Controller | +================================================+ Your VL-IDE-2 controller needs the device drivers to take the advantage of the high performance 32-bit VL-Bus. You can use the installation program "VG4.EXE" to install the DOS driver and Windows driver automatically (refer to the manual for details). If you want to install the drivers by yourself, please follow the procedures below: 1. Complete the installation steps which are described in the VL-IDE-2 manual and boot to the DOS prompt. 2. Copy the driver VG4.SYS to your system in the appropriate path. 3. Add the following statement to your CONFIG.SYS file: device=[drive:][\path\]VG4.SYS [/F] [/W] [/P] [/D0:n|/M0:m] [/D1:n|/M1:m] where [drive:] and [\path\] point to the directory that contains the VG4.SYS file. The parameters F, W and P define the operating mode, and D0, D1, M0, M1, n, and m define the speed settings of the attached hard drives. F : VL-IDE-2 controller works in the Fast mode(Default operation is in Turbo mode). W : VL-IDE-2 controller works in the 16-bit data access mode. Certain motherboard CPUs have a 16-bit external data bus and cannot operate in the default 32-bit data access mode. P : VL-IDE-2 controller works in the Power-Saving-Detection mode. This parameter is used when the IDE drive is not fully compatible with the power saving functions. D0 : drive 0 PIO speed setting D1 : drive 1 PIO speed setting n : drive speed from 0 to 8, or A 0 to 8 : PIO speed level(speed 8 is the so-called MODE 3 timing A : IORDY indicator M0 : drive 0 DMA speed setting M1 : drive 1 DMA speed setting m : drive speed from 0 to 8 0 to 8 : DMA speed level In the Fast(F) mode, the VL-IDE-2 controller supports 32-bit VL-Bus I/O access. In the Turbo(T) mode, VL-IDE-2 not only supports 32-bit VL-Bus I/O access but also read/write multiple commands. Since read/write multiple commands allow the host to access disk data in multiple-sector blocks, the Turbo mode will usually be faster. Note that not all IDE drives support the read/write multiple commands. Usually, set your VL-IDE-2 to run in the Turbo mode. When your system is brought up, the driver VG4.SYS will automatically issue an Identify Drive command to check if the attached IDE drive(s) support the read/write multiple commands. In case your drive(s) does not support the read/write multiple commands, VL-IDE-2 controller will automatically be forced to run in the Fast mode. Please also note: While some IDE drives may respond to the Identify Drive command and confirm its capability to support the read/write multiple commands, they may not support the read/write multiple commands properly. In such cases, you will need to specify the operating mode as "F" explicitly to ensure reliable operation of such IDE drives. Example: The DOS driver VG4.SYS resides in the root directory of the drive C:. If you want VL-IDE-2 controller to run in the TURBO mode; drive 0 at speed 3 and drive 1 at speed 5. Please add the following statement to the file CONFIG.SYS. device = c:\VG4.SYS /D0:3 /D1:5 If VL-IDE-2 controller has to run in the Fast mode, the statement must be changed to: device = c:\VG4.SYS /f /D0:3 /D1:5 If the DOS driver is installed manually, you might have the following three types of prompt messages when you boot up the system. (a) HDD 0 setting: FAST Mode, Speed 5 by DEVICE DRIVER AUTOMATICALLY HDD 1 setting: Turbo Mode, DMA Speed 5 by DEVICE DRIVER AUTOMATICALLY Where the operating mode and the speed parameter may vary with the hard drive(s) attached. This message will be shown when the device driver is installed without any user specified parameter and the drive(s) attached can be found in the internal speed table of the DOS driver. (b) HDD 0 setting: FAST Mode, Speed 2 by HARDWARE JUMPER SETTING HDD 1 setting: Turbo Mode, Speed 2 by HARDWARE JUMPER SETTING Where the operating mode and speed parameter may vary with the hard drive(s) attached. This message will be shown when the HDD(s) can't be found in the internal speed table. It might appear when the drive(s) are brand new models for the device driver, or the device driver is copied from other PC's hard drive. The Installation Utility stands for the VG4.EXE. (c) HDD 0 setting: FAST Mode, Speed 5 by USER DEFINED SETTING HDD 1 setting: Turbo Mode, Speed 5 by USER DEFINED SETTING Where the operating mode and speed parameter may vary with the hard drive(s) attached. This message will be shown when user defined parameter is entered with the DOS device driver. The Installation Utility stands for the VG4.EXE. [Note] 1. VG4.SYS support secondary IDE connector. You can connect up to four IDE Hard disk Drives on your VL-IDE-2 controller. 2. If you would like to connect 3 (or 4) IDE hard disks, make sure the DOS driver VG4.sys in installed. Than you can use the VG4FDISK.EXE enclosed in the "Drivers and Installation Utilities" diskette to partition you 3rd and 4th IDE drives drives before formatting them. +=======================================================================+ | VL-IDE-2 driver for Microsoft Windows version 3.1 & Workgroups 3.11 | +=======================================================================+ The file VG4.386 is the Microsoft Windows 3.1 disk driver for VL-IDE-2 disk controller. While Microsoft Windows version 3.1 supports 32-bit disk access, the disk data transfer between host and the IDE adapter is still limited by the 16-bit ISA bus. If you want to speed up your hard drives under Windows through the 32-bit VL-Bus, you need this driver. In addition, the driver also allows your host to access the disk data through the faster "read/write multiple" commands. If you choose to install the Windows driver manually, you should complete the installation steps from (1) to (8) which are described in the VL-IDE-2 manual, then follow the steps below: 1. Copy the driver VG4.386 to your system in the appropriate path. It is recommended that the driver VG4.386 be copied to the Windows SYSTEM directory. 2. Check if the following lines exist in the [386Enh] section of your SYSTEM.ini file. [386Enh] 32BitDiskAccess=ON device=*int13 If the statements do not exist, add them into the [386Enh] section. If the statements exist, but 32BitDiskAccess is set to "OFF", change it to "ON". 3. Delete the "device=*wdctrl" device setting. Delete the command line "device=*wdctrl" from the [386Enh] section of your SYSTEM.INI file, if it exists. 4. Install the virtual device "VG4.386". Add the following command lines in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file: device=[drive:][\path\]VG4.386 DisksAccessMode=[Fast|Turbo] [/W] [/D0:n|/M0:m] [/D1:n|/M1:m] The [drive:] and [\path\] point to the directory that contains VG4.386 file. Note that the setting must specify the full path of the device driver VG4.386. The setting of disk_access_mode specifies the disk access mode as follows: Fast : VL-IDE-2 controller works in the Fast mode Turbo : VL-IDE-2 controller works in the Turbo mode(default mode) W : VL-IDE-2 controller works in the 16-bit data access mode. Certain motherboard CPUs have a 16-bit external data bus and cannot operate in the default 32-bit data access mode. D0 : drive 0 PIO speed setting D1 : drive 1 PIO speed setting n : drive speed from 0 to 8, or A 0 to 8 : PIO speed level(speed 8 is the so-called MODE 3 timing A : IORDY indicator M0 : drive 0 DMA speed setting M1 : drive 1 DMA speed setting m : drive speed from 0 to 8 0 to 8 : DMA speed level Note : If no parameter is specified, the VL-IDE-2 controller will be set to run under the default Turbo and 32 bit data access mode. In the Fast(F) mode, the VL-IDE-2 controller supports 32-bit VL-Bus I/O access. In the Turbo(T) mode, VL-IDE-2 not only supports 32-bit VL-Bus I/O access but also read/write multiple commands. Since read/write multiple commands allow the host to access disk data in multiple-sector blocks, the Turbo mode will usually be faster. Note that not all IDE drives support the read/write multiple commands. Usually, set your VL-IDE-2 to run in the Turbo mode. When your system is brought up, the driver VG4.386 will automatically issue an Identify Drive command to check if the attached IDE drive(s) support the read/write multiple commands. In case your drive(s) does not support the read/write multiple commands, VL-IDE-2 controll will automatically be forced to run in the Fast mode. Please also note: While some IDE drives may respond to the Identify Drive command and confirm its capability to support the read/write multiple commands, they may not support the read/write multiple commands properly. In such cases, you will need to specify the operating mode as "Fast" explicitly to ensure reliable operation of such IDE drives. +=============================+ | Trademark Acknowledgments | +=============================+ VESA is a registered trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association. VL-Bus is a trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association. MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 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