Abit Hot Rod 100 Pro User manual

Copyright and Warranty Notice
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
represent a commitment on part of the vendor, who assumes no liability or
responsibility for any errors that may appear in this manual.
No warranty or representation, either expressed or implied, is made with respect to
the quality, accuracy or fitness for any particular part of this document. In no event
shall the manufacturer be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or
consequential damages arising from any defect or error in this manual or product.
Product names appearing in this manual are for identification purpose only and
trademarks and product names or brand names appearing in this document are
property of their respective owners.
This document contains materials protected under International Copyright Laws. All
rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted or
transcribed without the expressed written permission of the manufacturer and
authors of this manual.
If you do not properly set the controller card settings causing the controller card to
malfunction or fail, we cannot guarantee any responsibility.
All brand names and trademarks shown in this manual are the property of their respective owners.

MN-197-2A0-31 Rev. 1.00
Hot Rod 100 Pro User’s Manual
Index
CHAPTER 1. THE INTRODUCTION OF HOT ROD 100 PRO
FEATURES ............................................................ 1-1
1-1. FEATURES OF THIS IDE RAID CONTROLLER CARD ............... 1-1
1-2. SPECIFICATIONS ...................................................................... 1-2
1-3. LAYOUT DIAGRAM.................................................................. 1-4
1-4. INTRODUCTION OF ULTRA ATA/100....................................... 1-5
1-5. REQUIREMENTS FOR ATTAINING ULTRA ATA/100 ................. 1-6
CHAPTER 2. HARDWARE INSTALLATION.......................... 2-1
2-1. INSTALLING THE HOT ROD 100 PRO ....................................... 2-1
2-2. CONNECTING HARD DRIVES.................................................... 2-2
CHAPTER 3. BIOS SETTING UTILITY ................................... 3-1
3-1. SET MOTHERBOARD CMOS SETUP......................................... 3-1
3-2. ENTER THE BIOS SETTING MENU ........................................... 3-1
3-3. CREATE RAID ........................................................................ 3-2
3-4. DELETE RAID......................................................................... 3-3
3-5. DUPLICATE MIRROR DISK ....................................................... 3-4
3-6. CREATE SPARE DISK ............................................................... 3-5
3-7. REMOVE SPARE DISK .............................................................. 3-5
3-8. SET DRIVE MODE .................................................................... 3-5
3-9. SELECT BOOT DISK ................................................................. 3-6
CHAPTER 4. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION ........................... 4-1
4-1. DOS INSTALLATION................................................................ 4-1
4-2. WINDOWS 9X INSTALLATION .................................................. 4-1
4-3. WINDOWS NT 4.0 INSTALLATION ........................................... 4-5
4-4. WINDOWS 2000 INSTALLATION .............................................. 4-9
APPENDIX A. THE INTRODUCTION OF RAID ........................A-1
APPENDIX B. BIOS FLASHING USER INSTRUCTIONS .........B-1
APPENDIX C. HOT ROD UTILITY INSTRUCTIONS.................C-1

Hot Rod 100 Pro
APPENDIX D. TROUBLE SHOOTING
(NEED ASSISTANCE?)
...D-1
APPENDIX E. HOW TO GET TECHNICAL SUPPORT ............. E-1

Introduction of Hot Rod 100 Pro Features 1-1
User’s Manual
Chapter 1. The Introduction of Hot Rod 100 Pro
Features
1-1. Features of This IDE RAID Controller Card
This IDE RAID controller card provides two IDE hard drive connectors that support the
latest Ultra ATA/100 (Also known as Ultra DMA/100) hard drives with the data transfer rate
of 100MB/sec. It is also backward compatible with Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, Enhanced
IDE, and Fast ATA-2. Each IDE connector supports a master/slave combination of any IDE
device, including IDE, EIDE and Ultra-ATA standards.
The Hot Rod 100 Pro includes EZRAID for boosting disk performance and data protection.
The EZRAID function supports Striping (RAID 0), Mirroring (RAID 1), or
Striping/Mirroring (RAID 0+1) operation. For Striping operation, the identical drives can
read and write data in parallel to increase performance. The Mirroring operation increases
read performance through load balancing and elevator sorting while creating a complete
backup of your files. Striping with Mirroring operation offers both high read/write
performance and fault tolerance. The EZRAID function of the Hot Rod 100 Pro offers quick
and easy installation and configuration.

1-2 Chapter 1
Hot Rod 100 Pro
1-2. Specifications
1. Chipset
!HPT370 Ultra DMA 100 IDE controller
2. BUS
!PCI
3. Specification
!Ultra DMA 100MB/sec data transfer rate
!RAID 0 (stripping mode for boosting performance)
!RAID 1 (mirroring mode for data security)
!RAID 0 + 1 (stripping and mirroring)
!Two independent ATA channels
!256 Byte FIFO per ATA channels
!Compliant with Plug & Play
!Up to 4 IDE devices supported
4. Drive Modes Support
!Ultra 5/4/3/2/1/0
!PIO 4/3/2/1/0
!DMA 2/1/0
5. BIOS Support
!Friendly UI for RAID functions settings
!Auto detects and supports Ultra Mode(ATA/EIDE) transfers
!Recognizes drives up to 128 GB
6. Operating System Supports
!Microsoft DOS 5.X and above
!Microsoft Windows 95/98
!Microsoft Windows 2000
!Microsoft Windows NT4.0
!ABIT Gentus 2.0 or later version (Linux)

Introduction of Hot Rod 100 Pro Features 1-3
User’s Manual
Table 1-1: Hot Rod 100 Pro specifications
Bus: PCI
Drive Transfer Rate: 100MB/sec burst w/Ultra ATA/100 devices
Number of Supporting Drives: 4
Drive Modes: Ultra DMA mode 5/4/3/2/1/0
DMA mode 2/1/0
PIO mode 4/3/2/1/0
Devices: ATAPI Hard Drives
Operating Systems: Microsoft DOS 5.X and above
Microsoft Windows 95/98
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows NT4.0
ABIT Gentus 2.0 (Linux)
BIOS: 1MB Flash ROM
Auto ID/Configure
Max. Storage: 128GB
Supports ACPI function
Hardware: Bus mastering
Triple data channels (all DMA 33/66/100)
Utilities: ABIT Vivid Installation

1-4 Chapter 1
Hot Rod 100 Pro
1-3. Layout Diagram
Figure 2-1: Hot Rod 100 Pro controller card component locations

Introduction of Hot Rod 100 Pro Features 1-5
User’s Manual
Figure 2-3: Photo of an
Ultra ATA/66 Cable
1-4. Introduction of Ultra ATA/100
Ultra ATA/100 enhances existing Ultra ATA/66 technology by increasing both performance
and data integrity. This new high-speed interface enhances the Ultra ATA/66 and Ultra/33
burst data transfer rate to 100 Mbytes/sec. The result is maximum disc performance using
the current PCI local bus environment. Figure 2-2 shows you the difference between the
Ultra ATA/33 and Ultra ATA/66 Cable.
Figure 2-2: The difference between Ultra ATA/33 and Ultra ATA/66 Conductor Cables
In order to achieve the Ultra ATA100 transfer speed you must have a system which supports
Ultra ATA/100 and equipped with, an Ultra ATA HDD, and Ultra ATA/66 cable. The correct
drivers must be loaded and an Ultra ATA/66 specific data cable must be used.
The Ultra ATA/66 cables use a Cable Select method rather than a Master / Slave scheme.
The drive must be jumped to enable Cable Select. The Boot drive (C:) is attached to the
connector on the end of the cable and the second drive is
attached to the middle connector. If an Ultra ATA/66
specific cable is not used, the drive will default to Ultra
ATA/33 mode.
Figure 2-3 shows you a photo of an Ultra ATA/66
Conductor Cable. An Ultra ATA/66 cable is a 40-pin, 80-
conductor cable with a black connector on one end, a blue
connector on the other end and a gray connector in the
middle. The additional 40 wires are ground lines that
reduce the crosstalk caused by the electro-magnetic fields
that build up during high-speed data transfers. In addition,
line 34 on the cable should be notched or cut (this may be
difficult to see).

1-6 Chapter 1
Hot Rod 100 Pro
Ultra ATA/100 is backwards compatible with all Ultra ATA/33/66 systems, but it will be
limited in its transfer mode to Ultra ATA/33/66 (Ultra DMA Mode 2 - 33 Mbytes/sec or
Ultra DMA Mode 2 - 66 Mbytes/sec) or PIO Mode 4 (16.6 Mbytes/sec). The Ultra ATA/100
hard drives are 100 percent backward compatible with both Ultra ATA/33/66, DMA and
with existing ATA (IDE) hard drives, CD-ROM drives, and host systems. The Ultra
ATA/100 protocol and commands are designed to be compatible with existing ATA (IDE)
devices and systems. Although a new 40-pin, 80-conductor cable is required for Ultra
ATA/100, the chip set pin connector remains the same at 40. Hard drives that support Ultra
ATA/100 also support Ultra ATA/33/66 and legacy ATA (IDE) specifications.
1-5. Requirements for Attaining Ultra ATA/100
There are four requirements for attaining Ultra ATA/100:
1. The drive must support Ultra ATA/100.
2. The motherboard and system BIOS (or an add-in controller) must support Ultra ATA/100.
3. The operating system must support Direct Memory Access (DMA); Microsoft Windows
2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, and Windows 95B (OSR2) support DMA.
4. The cable must be 80-conductor; the length should not exceed 18 inches.
If all the above requirements are met, you can enjoy the Ultra ATA/100 features of your
computer system.
Note
For obtaining the performance of Hot Rod 100 Pro, please use the Ultra ATA/66 cable
that comes with the package.

Hardware Installation 2-1
User’s Manual
Chapter 2. Hardware Installation
This IDE RAID controller card is as easy to install as any other computer peripheral. It uses
the Plug & Play design concept. First, plug this controller card into any PCI slot on your
motherboard. Second, connect the Ultra ATA/100 devices to its IDE connectors using the
included Ultra ATA/66 cables.
2-1. Installing the Hot Rod 100 Pro
Installing this controller card into your computer is a simple process. You just have to insert
the card into any available PCI slot on the motherboard (see figure below).
➠Open your computer case.
➠Remove the inside slot cover of an available PCI slot on the motherboard.
➠Insert this controller card into the open slot.
➠Fasten the controller card bracket to the case.
➠Attach the two-threaded IDE HDD LED connector of the computer case to HDD-LED
connector on this controller card. (Note: Watch out the pin orientation.)
➠Connect the Ultra ATA/100 HDD to the IDE connectors on this controller card.
Figure 2-1: The installation of the Hot Rod 100 Pro controller card

2-2 Chapter 2
Hot Rod 100 Pro
Figure 2-2. How to connect an ATA/66
Cable to this IDE RAID controller
2-2. Connecting Hard Drives
This IDE RAID controller card provides two IDE hard drive connectors that support Ultra
ATA/100 (Also known as Ultra DMA/100) specification.
How to install the Ultra ATA/66 Cable Assembly:
"Connect the BLUE connector of the first
Ultra ATA/66 cable to the IDE1 connector
on this IDE RAID controller card. (Note that
the colored cable edge indicates Pin # 1.)
"Connect the BLACK connector of this
Ultra ATA/66 cable to the Master Drive.
"Connect the GRAY connector of this
Ultra ATA/66 cable to the Slave Drive (if
you are using more than two hard drives).
"For the second Ultra ATA/66 cable
connection, please follow the previous procedure.
"Each connector on the Ultra ATA/66 cable assembly has a small polarization tab centrally
located on the body of the plastic. This fits into the matching slot on the mating plugs on
this IDE RAID controller card and the drives, thus assuring positive mating (pin #1 to pin
#1). Please refer to figure 2-2.
"When two hard drives are attached,
configure each drive as a Master
(with no Slave attached) and each
hard drive on a separate channel.
Check the hard drive setup for
details on Master and Slave
settings as shown in table 2-1. For
better performance, use all available connectors before chaining a slave drive.
"For optimal performance, install all identical drives of the same model and capacity. The
drives’ matched performance allows the array to the function better as a single drive.
"For maximum IDE fault tolerance, each mirrored pair should be installed on separate IDE
connectors.
Table 2-1: Hot Rod 100 Pro Hard Drive Setup
Total Drives IDE 1 IDE 2
1 Master ---
2 Master Master
3 Master and Slave Master
4 Master and Slave Master and Slave

Hardware Installation 2-3
User’s Manual
Connecting hard drives with onboard ATAPI CD-ROM:
Please DO NOT attach ATAPI devices to
this IDE RAID controller card. Hot Rod 100
Pro is for hard drives only.
ATAPI IDE CD-ROM drives or other
devices can be installed on motherboard or
add-on IDE controllers. No configuration is
necessary on the motherboard BIOS setup.
Connecting hard drives with onboard IDE controller:
This IDE RAID controller card can coexist
with onboard or add-on IDE controller(s)
and hard drives installed.
If the motherboard’s CMOS has a “boot to
SCSI” option, it is possible to boot from this
IDE RAID controller card and still
recognize the onboard non-bootable drives.
If the motherboard’s CMOS does not allow
booting to SCSI, the boot drive must be
attached on the onboard IDE controller.
Bootable Secondary
ATAPI CD-ROM
Secondary Bootable

2-4 Chapter 2
Hot Rod 100 Pro
Connecting hard drives with SCSI controller:
This IDE RAID controller card is bootable
with a SCSI controller in the system. The
adapter with the lower BIOS address will be
bootable. If it is necessary to change the
boot sequence, swap the Hot Rod 100 Pro
slot position with that of SCSI card’s PCI
slot.
BootableSecondary

BIOS Setting Utility 3-1
User’s Manual
Chapter 3. BIOS Setting Utility
In this chapter we will discuss the BIOS setting procedure of this IDE RAID controller card
before starting the software installation.
3-1. Set Motherboard CMOS Setup
No changes are necessary in the motherboard CMOS setup for resources or drive types. As
this IDE RAID controller card is a PCI Plug and Play device, the motherboard’s PCI PnP
BIOS automatically assigns the Interrupt and Port address. For this IDE RAID controller
card to be the bootable IDE controller, confirm in the motherboard’s Standard CMOS Setup
that the drive types (for hard disk drives) are set for “Not Installed” or “None”. Or use the
“Boot to SCSI” option, if this setting is available in the motherboard’s BIOS. No changes
are needed for CD-ROM drives that are attached to the motherboard IDE controller.
3-2. Enter the BIOS Setting Menu
After you have installed this IDE RAID controller card and attached the hard disks, reboot
your system. Press <CTRL> and <H> key while booting up the system to enter the BIOS
setting menu. The main menu of BIOS Setting Utility appears as shown below:

3-2 Chapter 3
Hot Rod 100 Pro
For selecting the options in the menu, you may:
#Press F1 to view array status.
#Press ↑↓ (up, down arrow) to choose the option you want to confirm or to modify.
#Press Enter to confirm the selection.
#Press Esc to return to the top menu.
3-3. Create RAID
This item allows you to create a RAID array with the hard disks attached to this IDE RAID
controller card.
After you have selected the function you want in the main menu, press the <Enter> key to
enter the sub menu as shown below:
Warning
All the data stored in the hard disks will be lost after created RAID!

BIOS Setting Utility 3-3
User’s Manual
Array Mode:
This item allows you to select the appropriate RAID mode for the desired array. There are
four modes to choose.
✏
Striping (RAID 0):
This item is recommended for high performance usage. Requires at least 2 disks.
✏
Mirror (RAID 1):
This item is recommended for data security usage. Requires at least 2 disks.
✏
Striping and Mirror (RAID 0+1):
This item is recommended for data security and high performance usage. Allows
Mirroring with a Strip Array. Requires 4 disks only.
✏
Span (JBOD):
This item is recommended for high capacity without redundancy or performance
features usage. Requires at least 2 disks.
Select Disk Drives:
This item allows you to select the disk drives to be used with the RAID array.
Block Size:
This item allows you to select the block size of the RAID array. There are five options: 4K,
8K, 16K, 32K, and 64K.
Start Creation Process:
After you have made your selection, choose this item and press <Enter> to start creation.
3-4. Delete RAID
This item allows you to remove a RAID Array on this IDE RAID controller card.
Note: After you have made and confirmed this selection, all the data stored in the hard disk
will be lost. (The entire partition configuration will be deleted too.)

3-4 Chapter 3
Hot Rod 100 Pro
3-5. Duplicate Mirror Disk
This item allows you to select the disk you wish to duplicate in preparation for a “Mirror
Disk Array”.
After you had selected the function you want in the main menu, press the <Enter> key to
enter the sub menu as shown below:
✏
Select Source Disk:
This item is to select the source disk. The size of the source disk must be smaller
or equal to the one of the target disk.
✏
Select Target Disk:
This item is to select the target disk. The size of target disk must be greater or equal
to the one of the source disk.
✏
Start Duplicating Process:
After you had selected this item, the BIOS setting will take up to 30 minutes to run
the duplication. Please wait or you may press <Esc> to cancel.

BIOS Setting Utility 3-5
User’s Manual
3-6. Create Spare Disk
This item allows you to select the disk to be used as a spare for a Mirror Disk Array.
3-7. Remove Spare Disk
This item allows you to remove the spare disk from a Mirror Disk Array.
3-8. Set Drive Mode
This item allows you to select the drive transfer mode for the hard disk(s) attached to this
IDE RAID controller card.
Use the up/down arrow to select the menu option to “Set Drive Mode” and press <Enter>. In
the Channel Status, select the channel you would like to set and press the <Enter> key. There
will be an asterisk mark in the parentheses indicating that the channel selection has been
done. Choose the mode from the pop-up menu. You can choose from PIO 0 ~ 4, MW DMA
0 ~ 2, and UDMA 0 ~ 5.

3-6 Chapter 3
Hot Rod 100 Pro
3-9. Select Boot Disk
This item allows you to select the boot disk among the hard disk(s) attached to this IDE
RAID controller card.
Use the up/down arrow to select the menu option to “Select Boot Disk” and press <Enter>.
In the Channel Status, select the channel you would like to set as the bootable disk and press
the <Enter> key. There will be an asterisk mark in the parentheses indicating that the
channel selection has been done. Note: Your PC or server must be configured to use the
Hot Rod 100 Pro as the bootable controller. The system will then use the bootable
array as the (fixed) boot C: drive.