Altec i-Drive User manual

i-Drive
internal PC Card Drive
with SCSI-2 interface
Thank you for deciding to buy an altec product. In order to ensure correct functioning
and to avoid problems when installing this high-quality German-made product,
please read the entire manual and carefully observe the following points:
Observe the general guidelines when handling components or modules which can
be damaged by electrostatic charge or discharge (this applies to the products
described in this manual).
If you should encounter any problems during the installation or use of this product,
please contact our service department and ask for advice. If you do not do this, your
guarantee rights may be impaired.
Support hotline, Monday to Friday, 11 am to 3 pm German time (CET): Phone
[phone]or eMail s pport@altec-comp tersysteme.com
All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced, duplicated, transcribed,
distributed or translated into another language without express written permission
from altec ComputerSysteme GmbH.
The right is reserved to change specifications without prior notice. All trademarks
mentioned are the property of the respective owners.
© altec ComputerSysteme GmbH. HB_i_Drive_e21.qxd4 Version 07/2002.

User Manual i-Drive 2.1 2
altec ComputerSysteme GmbH disclaims all liability for errors in this manual. iability
for direct or consequential damages which arise in connection with the use of this
documentation is specifically excluded insofar as this does not contradict the law.
Table of contents
1. Introduction 3
1.1 Product description 3
1.2 Features 3
1.3 Scope of delivery 3
2. Hardware installation 4
2.1 Assembly 4
2.2 Power supply 4
2.3 SCSI connection 4
2.4 SCSI termination 5
2.5 Terminator power 6
2.6 Configuring the SCSI address 6
3. Host Software 7
3.1 Operating system-dependent information 7
3.2 IBM compatible PCs under DOS, OS/2,Windows 95/98 7
3.3 Apple Macintosh computers 8
4. Using the i-Drive 9
4.1 Inserting a PC Card 9
4.2 Removing a PC Card 9
. Technical specifications i-Drive 10
6. Supported storage media 11

User Manual i-Drive 2.1
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1. Introduction
1.1 Product description
The altec i-Drive is a drive for PC Card storage media and supports all standard PC Card
ATA or RAM media and PC Card hard disks. The front of the i-drive has slots for two
Type II PC Cards or one Type III PC Card.
The standard C I interface of the i-Drive makes it easy to connect to desktop PCs,
Macintosh computers and workstations. It allows rapid data transfer or data exchange
using exchangeable PC Card storage media.
The i-Drive is manufactured for commercial and industrial applications. It has all per-
formance features required by PCs, digital cameras, High Performance Embedded ys-
tems and portable computers and is designed for cost-saving and user-friendly
support of PC Card storage media.
The i-Drive is available as an internal version. It is manufactured as a 3.5" standard
chassis for installation in 3.5" or 5.25" drive bays.
1.2 Features
◆tate-of-the-art PC Card technology for computers with a C I interface
◆Operating system independent – supports M -DO ,Windows 95/98, NT, 2000,
ME and XP, O /2, UNIX and Apple Macintosh O 7.1 to 9.x (O X not tested)
◆2 slots for PC Card Type I and II storage media or 1 slot for PC Card Type III
◆High-speed data transfer – up to 10 MB/s (synchronous) or 5 MB/s
(asynchronous)
◆imple, quick, compatible: easy installation, C I-2 interface, PC Card standard
◆Configurable with jumpers and C I ID switch
◆The two PC Card slots are assigned to 2 separate logical C I units (LUNs)
◆Automatic recognition of the storage medium (PC Card ATA, RAM and linear
flash PC Cards) and memory capacity, even with unformatted PC Cards
1.3 Scope of delivery
◆PC Card Drive in 3.5" chassis with C I-2 interface (50 pin, 8-bit)
◆Power supply cable adapter 5.25" to 3.5"
◆Mounting screws
◆Instruction manual

User Manual i-Drive 2.1 4
2. Hardware installation
Please note the following when installing the i-Drive:
2.1 Assembly
➜Attention: Switch off the power supply to the computer efore removing the
computer’s case.
The i-Drive can e installed in any unused 3.5" or 5.25" drive ay. The threaded holes
at the side correspond to those of a 3.5" standard floppy drive and are positioned
such that the front panel of the i-Drive is flush with the front of the computer’s
case. The threaded holes at the ottom of the i-Drive are used to attach the drive to
a standard 5.25” drive mounting kit. The i-Drive can e installed in the computer at
any angle.
2.2 Power supply
The i-Drive has a standard power connector for 3.5" floppy drives. Attach an unused
power connector from the computer’s power supply to the power connector on the
i-Drive. If necessary, use the supplied power supply ca le adapter 5.25" to 3.5".
2.3 SCSI connection
The i-Drive is connected SCSI us with a standard SCSI 50-pin 2-row ri on ca le con-
nector (pins on a 0.1" grid).
➜Attention: If the connector on the ri on ca le does not have a polarizing key,
make sure that the red mark or arrow on the edge of the ri on ca le connects
to pin 1 of the SCSI connector !
Rear view
of the i-Drive

User Manual i-Drive 2.1
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2.4 SCSI termination
➜Attention: The SCSI devices which are located at the two ends of the SCSI bus
must be terminated. ll other devices must not be terminated.
Examples:
To enable SCSI termination for the i-Drive, insert jumper 6 on jumper block S1.
In addition, one of the SCSI devices must provide the power supply for the termina-
tion, the so-called terminator power. The terminator power is normally supplied by
the SCSI controller. If the SCSI controller or the other SCSI devices do not supply termi-
nator power, enable terminator power for the i-Drive by inserting jumper 5 on jumper
block S1 (see 2.5).
Jumper 6 on jumper block S1 enables or disables SCSI bus termination on the i-Drive
as follows:
Jumper block S1
Jumper 6
Termination on* 1
Termination off 0
1 = Jumper inserted 0 = Jumper removed * = Factory setting
Controller i-Drive Harddisk
terminated not terminated terminated
Harddisk Controller i-Drive
terminated not terminated terminated

User Manual i-Drive 2.1 6
2.5 Terminator power
Jumper 5 on jumper block S1 is used to enable or disable the terminator power for
the i-Drive. his is normally unnecessary because terminator power is normally sup-
plied by the SCSI controller.
Jumper block S1
Jumper 5
erminator power on 1
Terminator power off* 0
1 = Jumper inserted 0 = Jumper removed * = Factory setting
2.6 Configuring the SCSI address
Each of the maximum of 8 devices connected to the 8-Bit SCSI Bus must have a
unique SCSI address, also called SCSI ID. he SCSI address of the i-Drive is configured
with Jumpers 1 to 3 on jumper block S1 as shown in the table:
S1 S1 S1
SCSI-ID Jumper 1 Jumper 2 Jumper 3
ID 0 0 0 0
ID 1 1 0 0
ID 2 0 1 0
ID 3 1 1 0
ID 4 0 0 1
ID 5* 1 0 1
ID 6 0 1 1
ID 7 1 1 1
1 = Jumper inserted 0 = Jumper removed * = Factory setting
o avoid conflicts with other SCSI devices, make sure that each device has its own
unique SCSI ID.
➜Note: the SCSI controller itself is also a SCSI device and usually has the SCSI
ID 7. he internal hard disk usually has the SCSI ID 0.

User Manual i-Drive 2.1
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Please check the following once again before closing the computer’s case:
1. Correct mounting of the i-Drive
2. ower supply connection for the i-Drive (3.5" drive power supply connector)
3. Correct connection of the i-Drive to the SCSI bus
4. Correct SCSI termination (depending on configuration)
5. Terminator power (depending on configuration)
6. Correct configuration of the SCSI address (depending on configuration)
3. Host software
3.1 Operating system-dependent information
The i-Drive is a SCSI drive for exchangeable C Card storage media. Exchangeable SCSI
media are normally supported by the SCSI device driver of your computer’s SCSI
controller. However, in some cases you may encounter compatibility problems with
exchangeable media depending on the type of controller and the operating system.
The following section contains information for commonly-used operating systems.
3.2 IBM compatible PCs nder DOS, OS/2, Windows 95/98
a) Operating system support
Many SCSI controllers with their own on-board BIOS firmware install exchangeable
storage media as non-exchangeable hard disks if storage media is already inserted in
the drive when the controller BIOS is initialized. Some BIOS implementations have
specific support for exchangeable storage media.We recommend you to:
Remove the PC Card from the i-Drive before booting the PC!
Note: with some BIOS implementations, this results in a very long boot time. We also
recommend you to:
Disable the write cache!
In order to ensure reliable exchangeability of the storage media, you should use an
exchangeable media device driver which is appropriate for your SCSI controller. Gener-
ally speaking, exchangeable media device drivers are supplied with the SCSI controller
or can be obtained from the manufacturer or supplier.

User Manual i-Drive 2.1 8
b) Data exchange between different computer systems
Generally speaking, data exchange with P ard storage media functions without any
problems between different computer systems. Most exchangeable media device
drivers treat S SI exchangeable media as exchangeable hard disks, i.e. the media
must be partitioned. This is done with suitable partitioning or formatting programs.
One of the exceptions is OS/2 Warp, which treats S SI exchangeable media as high
capacity diskettes without partitioning. Accordingly, you cannot exchange P ard
media between DOS and OS/2 systems.
Reliable data exchange between different computer systems is only guaranteed with
ATA Flash P ards (e.g. SanDisk) and ATA hard disks, since these media satisfy the
requirements of modern S SI exchangeable media device drivers. These types of
storage media are always partitioned.
3.3 Apple Macintosh computers
When configuring the S SI ID, do not use ID 0 and 7 because they are usually used
by the internal hard disk and/or the S SI interface adapter, respectively. altec has
tested the i-Drive with different models of Macintosh computer under MacOS versions
7.1 and 7.5
The Macintosh operating system automatically looks for devices on the S SI bus when
the system boots, and automatically recognizes the altec i-Drive as a S SI device.
However, for reliable exchange of data, you should use an appropriate Apple-compati-
ble driver. This also allows data to be exchanged with DOS computers.

User Manual i-Drive 2.1
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4. Using the i-Drive
4.1 Inserting a PC Card
After installing the altec i-Drive and starting the computer, you should see two remo-
vable drives which correspond to the two PC Card slots in the drive. You can use two
Type or Type PC Cards simultaneously. Alternatively, you can use a single Type PC
Card in the lower slot.
A small marker (arrow or triangle) on the label of the PC Card shows which end to
insert in the drive (the label with the arrow or triangle is attached to the top side of
the card). The i-Drive re ognizes the storage media type and the memory apa ity
automati ally.
Analogously to diskette drives, you must only insert or remove PC Cards when the red
LED on the front panel of the drive is not lit.The LED lights up after inserting a PC Card
until initialization is finished and also when data on the PC Card is being accessed.
4.2 Removing a PC Card
Press the respective eject button to remove the PC Card from the slot. Press the left
eject button for the top slot and/or the right eject button for the bottom slot. Make
sure that the red LED on the front panel of the drive is not lit when you remove the
PC Card.

User Manual i-Drive 2.1 10
5. Technical Specifications i-Drive
Memory card slots 2 x Type I or II, or 1 x Type III PC Card, incl. SRAM Cards
Interface SCSI-2 (Fast SCSI) 8-bit single-ended standard SCSI 50 pin,
2.54 mm pin spacing
Supported OS e.g. Windows 95/98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, MS-DOS, OS/2, Unix,
Linux, MacOS
Dimensions LxWxH: 149 mm x 101.6 mm x 25.4 mm standard 3.5"
drive dimensions
Environmental Specs Temperature 0°C to +70°C (operating)
–20°C to +70°C (non-operating)
Humidity 0 to 90% (non-condensing)
DC input voltage 5Volt ±5%
Power consumption 150 mA (w/o memory)