Promise FastTrak SX4000 Lite User manual

FastTrakSX4000
QuickStartGuide
Version 2.0

FastTrak SX4000
2
Copyright
© 2002, Promise Technology, Inc.
Copyright by Promise Technology, Inc. (Promise Technology). No part of this
manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the expressed,
written permission of Promise Technology.
Trademarks
Promise, and the Promise logo are registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. All other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Important data protection information
You should back up all data before installing any drive controller or storage
peripheral. Promise Technology is not responsible for any loss of data resulting
from the use, disuse or misuse of this or any other Promise Technology product.
Notice
Although Promise Technology has attempted to ensure the accuracy of the
content of this manual, it is possible that this document may contain technical
inaccuracies, typographical, or other errors. Promise Technology assumes no
liability for any error in this publication, and for damages, whether direct, indirect,
incidental, consequential or otherwise, that may result from such error, including,
but not limited to loss of data or profits.
Promise Technology provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any
kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to implied warranties of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
The published information in the manual is subject to change without notice.
Promise Technology reserves the right to make changes in the product design,
layout, and driver revisions without notification to its users.
Contents
Step 1: Unpack your FastTrak...............................................................................................3
Step 2: FastTrak Card Installation........................................................................................4
Step 3: Connect the Hard Drives..........................................................................................5
Step 4: Create an Array..........................................................................................................6
Step 5:Driver Installation.......................................................................................................8

Quick Start Guide
3
Step 1: Unpack your FastTrak
Open the FastTrak box and carefully remove the FastTrak card and
accessories from the box. The FastTrak SX4000 package should
contain the following items:
•FastTrak SX4000 Controller Card
•FastTrak SX4000 Quick Start Guide
•FastTrak SX4000 OS drivers diskette (1)
•CD containing Utilities and Documentation (1)
•Internal 18 inch (46 cm) Ultra ATA,80-wire/40-pin hard drive
cables (4)
•Y-cable power splitters (2)
If any of the items are missing or appear damaged, please contact your
dealer or distributor immediately.
Attention
The FastTrak SX4000 controller card, like many other parts of
your PC,is sensitive to static electricity. Be sure that you are
properly grounded (Promise recommends that you wear an
anti-static strap, or place a free hand on a grounded object),
and that your PC is unplugged before installing any of the
FastTrak SX4000 components.

FastTrak SX4000
4
Step 2: FastTrak Card Installation
Figure 1. FastTrak SX4000 controller card
1. Install a DIMM memory chip into the slot at DIMM1. The minimum
memory requirement is 64 MB. You may use up to 256 MB ECC or non-
ECC, unbuffered 168-pin PC100 or higher SDRAM.
2. Install the controller card into an available PCI slot on the system
motherboard and secure it to the PC’s chassis.

Quick Start Guide
5
Step 3: Connect the Hard Drives
1. Set your hard drives to Master, Cable-Select or Single (depending on
drive specification).
2. Install your hard drives into the PC chassis.
3. Attach the black end of Ultra ATA cable to the ATA connector of each
drive.
4. Attach a power cable to the power connector of each drive.
5. Connect the blue end of the Ultra ATAcable to any available ATA
channel on the FastTrak SX4000. Note
Device support for drives is provided by the FastTrak SX4000
system. No changes are necessary in the motherboard
CMOS/BIOS Setup for resources or drive types regarding
hard drive configuration.

Step 4: Create an Array
Appendix A of the FastTrak SX4000 User’s Manual contains an explanation
of RAID Levels. If you are new to RAID, you may wish to read about it
before creating your first array.
1. Boot your computer and watch for the Promise FastTrak SX4000 BIOS
to appear (below).
Figure 2. FastTrak BIOS Screen.
2. Press Ctrl-F to open the Configuration Utility. The Main Menu appears
(below).
Figure 3. Array Utility Opening Screen.
3. Use the FastBuild utility to create at least one array on the drive(s)
attached to the FastTrak SX4000 card.
Select View/Define Array... [ 2 ]. The Define Array screen appears
(below).

Quick Start Guide
7
Figure 4. Define Array Menu.
4. Press the arrow keys to highlight an Array Number then press Enter to
select it. The Array Definition menu appears (below).
Figure 5. Array Definition Menu.
5. Press the arrow keys to highlight RAID Level and drives for the array.
Press the Spacebar to switch among available options.
Promise recommends keeping the default values for StripeBlock and
Gigabyte Boundary unless you have specific reasons for changing them. The
FastTrak SX4000 User’s Manual contains an explanation of these features.
6. Press Ctrl-Y to save your selection. The Define Array Menu (Figure 5)
reappears.
7. Press Esc to exit or Enter to select another array to build.
8. Restart your computer to make the array available.
9. Partition and format the array as you would an individual hard drive.
The array is now ready for use.

FastTrak SX4000
8
Step 5: Driver Installation
This section details the FastTrak SX4000 driver installation when used with
various operating systems. The software includes the driver necessary to
identify FastTrak SX4000 to the operating system.
Installing Driver During New Windows XP Installation
1. Start the installation: Boot from the CD-ROM. Press F6 after the
message “Press F6 if you need to install third party SCSI or RAID driver”
appears.
2. When the Windows XP Setup window is generated, press S to specify
an Additional Device(s)
3. Insert the Promise Technology driver diskette into drive A: and press
Enter.
4. Choose WinXP Promise FastTrak SX4000™Series Controller from the
list that appears on screen, and then press the Enter.
5. Press S to use the driver on the floppy disk and then press Enter to
continue with installation.
6. The Windows XP Setup screen will appear again saying “Setup will load
support for the following mass storage devices:”The list will include
WinXP Promise FastTrak SX4000™Series Controller.
NOTE: If you need to specify any additional devices to be installed, do
so at this time. Once all devices are specified, continue to the next step.
7. From the Windows XP Setup screen, press the Enter. Setup will now
load all device files and then continue the Windows XP installation.

Quick Start Guide
9
Installing Driver in Existing Windows XP System
Warning
If you plan to move the boot drive containing the existing Windows XP
operating system to the FastTrak SX4000 card, you MUST load the
FastTrak SX4000 driver to the boot drive while it is still attached to
your existing hard drive controller.
Do not attach the boot drive to the FastTrak SX4000 controller card
before completing this step.
After installing the FastTrak SX4000 card and rebooting your system,
Windows XP setup will show a Found New Hardware dialog box. Under
Windows XP, Mass Storage Controller will be displayed.
1. Insert the FastTrak SX4000 driver diskette into the A: drive.
2. Choose Install the software automatically and press the Enter.
3. Choose WinXP Promise FastTrak SX4000™Series Controller from the
list that appears on screen then press Enter.
4. If you are using a driver that has not been digitally signed by Microsoft,
you will be asked if you want to continue the installation. Click on
Continue anyway.
5. When the New Hardware Wizard has finished installing the Promise
software, click on Finish.
Confirming Windows XP Installation
1. From Windows XP, open the Control Panel from My Computer.
2. Click on Performance and maintenance.
3. Click on the System icon.
4. Choose the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager tab.
5. Click the + in front of SCSI controllers. WinXP Promise FastTrak
SX4000™Series Controller should appear.
Other Operating Systems
For information on installing FastTrak drivers on earlier versions of Windows
and other operating systems, see the User’s Manual on the CD that was
included with your FastTrak SX4000.