Abit Hot Rod 100 Pro User manual

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The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not
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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.