Seagate Medalist 8421 User manual

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Medalist 8421 (ST38421A)
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Medalist 6421 (ST36421A)
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Medalist 4311 (ST34311A)
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Medalist 2112 (ST32112A)
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Installation Guide
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© 1999 Seagate Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
Publication Number: SG35126-001, Rev. A, February 1999
Seagate, Seagate Technology, the Seagate logo, Medalist and
the Medalist logo are registered trademarks of Seagate Technol-
ogy, Inc. DiscWizard, SeaFAX, SeaFONE, SeaTDD and Sea-
BOARD are either trademarks or registered trademarks of
Seagate Technology, Inc. or one of its subsidiaries. All other
trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A -1
Contents
The easiest way to install your drive.................................... 1
What you need........................................................................ 2
Before you begin .................................................................... 2
Handling precautions............................................................. 3
Master/slave jumpers............................................................. 4
Attaching cables and mounting the drive............................ 6
Configuring your computer................................................... 9
Addressing drive-capacity limitations ............................... 11
Preparing your drive for use ............................................... 13
Installation using Disk Manager........................................ 14
Windows 95 or Windows 98 installation ........................... 15
Standard DOS installation................................................ 16
Additional installation options............................................ 18
Non-ATA compatible slave jumper.................................... 18
Cable select jumper.......................................................... 18
Advanced Disk Manager options........................................ 19
Troubleshooting ................................................................... 22
Seagate Technology support services............................... 28
Storing and shipping your drive......................................... 35
iii

0 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. Aiv

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 1
The easiest way to install your drive
DiscWizardis Seagate’s exclusive Win-
dows program, provided on a diskette, that
makes it easy to install your Medalistdrive.
DiscWizard helps you configure your new
drive and your computer. It analyzes your
system, lets you select various installation
options and creates customized step-by-
step instructions. It also allows older computers to access the full
capacity of large-capacity drives.
You can run DiscWizard to install your new hard drive if:
•You already have an existing, bootable hard drive in your com-
puter with at least 3 Mbytes of available disc space,
and
•You are running Windows 95
or Windows 98.
If you can run DiscWizard, follow the instructions on the
DiscWizard diskette to install your drive. If you need additional
information, refer to this installation guide.
If you cannot run DiscWizard, follow the instructions in this
installation guide to install and configure your new drive.

2 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
What you need
•Straight-edge and Phillips screwdrivers
•Four 6-32 UNC drive mounting screws
•A standard 40-pin ATA interface cable,
or
an 80-conductor cable if your system runs Ultra DMA mode 3
or 4 (max length: 18 inches)
•An unused drive power cable for your new drive
Before you begin
•Make sure your computer is turned off before you open the
case.
•Read the handling precautions at the right and inspect the
drive to make sure that it is not damaged.
•Save your foam-lined Seagatedisc drive box. This box has
been approved by Seagate for shipping a Seagate disc drive.
Using any other container or packing material voids your drive
warranty.

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 3
Handling precautions
Disc drives are extremely fragile. Do not drop or jar
your drive.
Keep the drive in its antistatic bag until you are
ready to install it.
Protect your drive from static discharge by making
sure you are well grounded before touching the
drive. We recommend wearing a grounded wrist
strap throughout the installation process. Do not
touch the connectors or any part of the printed cir-
cuit board.
Always handle the drive by its edges or frame.
Do not apply pressure or attach labels to the circuit
board or the top of the drive.

4 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
Master/slave jumpers
If you already have one hard drive in your computer and you are
installing a second drive, you must configure one drive as a mas-
ter and the other as a slave.
Note. If you need to change the jumpers on your existing hard
drive, see the Disk Manager online manual, look on the
drive label, or contact the drive manufacturer.
To configure the drive as a master or one drive only:
•The drive is configured at the factory for a master or single-
drive operation with a jumper set on pins 7 and 8.
Note. The master drive usually defaults to being the “boot” drive
(drive C), from which the computer loads system soft-
ware when it first starts up.
To configure the drive as a slave:
•Remove the jumper to configure the drive as a slave.

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 5
Figure 1. Master and slave jumper settings
Master or single drive
Drive is slave
135
2468
7
Master/slave
jumper block
pin 1
4-pin power
connector
40-pin ATA
interface
connector

6 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
Attaching cables and mounting the drive
1. If you are attaching an ATA (IDE) interface cable to a single
drive, attach one end of the cable to the interface connector
on your motherboard. Most computers provide two IDE con-
nectors, primary and secondary, usually labeled as
IDE or
HDD on your motherboard. See your computer manual for
connector locations.
Note. If you are running Ultra DMA mode 3 or 4, you must use a
special 40-pin 80-conductor cable or these modes will not
be enabled. For information on how to obtain this cable,
contact your dealer.
Figure 2. Attaching the cables
2. Thread the interface cable through the drive bay and attach
the connector at the end of the interface cable to your new
drive (the maximum ATA cable length is 18 inches (457 mm)
long).
Computer
Motherboard
Pin 1

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 7
Note. If you are using the 80-conductor cable, attach the blue
connector (with the longest section of the cable) to the
motherboard, attach the black connector to the master or
single drive, and attach the grey connector to the slave.
Caution. To avoid possible damage to your system,
make sure to align pin 1 on the motherboard with pin 1
on your drive. Pin 1 on the interface cable is usually
indicated by a stripe along the edge of the cable.
Figure 3. Mounting screws
3. You can mount the drive in any orientation. Usually it is
mounted with the circuit board down.
4. Slide the drive carefully into the drive bay. Secure the drive
with four 6-32 UNC mounting screws in either the side-
mounting holes or the bottom-mounting holes. Insert the
screws no more than 0.22 inch (5.58 mm) into the bottom-
mounting holes and no more than 0.20 inch (5.0 mm) into the
side-mounting holes.
!

8 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
Figure 4. Cable connectors
Caution. To avoid possible damage to the drive,
do not
overtighten the screws or use metric screws.
Note. If you are mounting the drive in a 5.25-inch drive bay, you
need a mounting adapter or frame kit. Contact your com-
puter dealer. Some computers also require drive mount-
ing rails, which can usually be obtained from your dealer.
5. Attach a power cable to the drive. If your computer does not have
an unused power connector, you can purchase a Y-shaped
power cable from your computer dealer.
6. Check all cable connections and then replace your computer
cover. Continue to “Configuring Your Computer.”
!
Pin 1
Interface
connector
Power
connector

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 9
Configuring your computer
Before you format or partition your new drive, you must configure
your computer’s BIOS.
To configure your computer’s BIOS:
1. Turn your computer on. As your computer starts up, watch the
screen for a message that describes how to run the system
setup program (also called BIOS or CMOS setup). This is
usually done by pressing a special key, such as DELETE, ESC
OR F1, during startup. See your computer manual for details.
Press the appropriate key to run the system setup program.
2. Select the BIOS hard drive settings menu. To set the drive
parameters, choose Primary Master or Slave,
or Secondary
Master or Slave.
3. Select automatic drive detection if available. This option allows
your computer to configure itself automatically for your new
drive. If your BIOS does not provide automatic drive detec-
tion, select “User-defined” drive settings and enter the CHS
values from the table on page 10. These CHS values support
capacities up to 8.4 Gbytes.
4. Verify that LBA mode is enabled. Many BIOS use the logical
block addressing (LBA) mode to access drives with capacities
greater than 528 Mbytes. Most BIOS automatically set this
mode during the auto-detection process.
5. Enable UDMA mode if it is available. To run in Ultra DMA
mode 3 or 4, the system requires a special 40-pin 80-conduc-
tor cable to ensure signal integrity. These modes will not be
enabled unless the 80-conductor cable is present.
6. Save the settings and exit the System Setup program (your
computer will automatically reboot).

10 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
Note. Set the
write precomp or landing zone parameters
to zero.
Recommendation
We recommend you use Disk Manager to evaluate your BIOS
and determine whether your system needs additional BIOS sup-
port. If your BIOS needs support for drives with capacities
greater than 8.4 Gbytes, instructions will be provided. For more
information, see “Installation using Disk Manager” on page 14.
BIOS Settings
Drive Model Cylinders Heads Sectors
ST32112A
CHS addressing
Addressable sectors 4,192
4,225,536 16
—63
—
ST34311A
CHS addressing
Addressable sectors 8,944
8,452,080 15
—63
—
ST36421A
CHS addressing
Addressable sectors 13,330
12,596,850 15
—63
—
ST38421A
CHS addressing
Addressable sectors 16,368
16,498,944 16
—63
—

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 11
Addressing drive-capacity limitations
Some DOS-based computers and operating systems are not
designed to accommodate large-capacity hard disc drives. The
most common system limitations are listed below.
528-Mbyte limit
The BIOS in some older computers cannot support drives with
capacities greater than 528 Mbytes. Seagate provides free Disk
Manager software with your drive to overcome this limitation.
Alternatively, you can purchase a hard drive controller or a BIOS
upgrade that supports drives with capacities greater than 528
Mbytes.
The 32-bit disk access feature in Windows 3.1 does not work
with drives that have capacities greater than 528 Mbytes. If you
want to use 32-bit disk access with Windows 3.1, see the file
SEG32BIT.TXT, located on your DiscWizard diskette, for further
information.
8.4-Gbtye limit
If your drive’s capacity is greater than 8.4 Gbytes, the capacity
may exceed the limits of your system BIOS and operating sys-
tem. DOS and Windows operating systems and most system
BIOS limit the drive partitions to 8.4 Gbytes per physical drive.
Because of this limitation, a 32-bit file allocation table (FAT32) is
needed to support drive capacities greater than 8.4 Gbytes.
To achieve your drive’s full capacity, you need a Windows operat-
ing system that supports FAT32
and device support for drive
capacities greater than 8.4 Gbytes, from one of the following:

12 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
•Third-party device driver, such as Disk Manager (Disk Man-
ager is provided on the DiscWizard diskette included with your
drive), or
•An intelligent ATA host adapter,
or
•A system BIOS upgrade
BIOS upgrades
If you need to upgrade your BIOS, contact the appropriate BIOS
manufacturer listed below:
American Megatrends (AMI): 1-800-828-9264
www.megatrends.com
Award Software International, Inc . : 1-800-800-2467
www.award.com
Phoenix Technologies Ltd.: 1-800-767-5465
(Upgrades from Microfirmware)
www.ptltd.com

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 13
Preparing your drive for use
One-drive system
For a quick installation we recommend you use Disk Manager to
automatically partition and format your drive.
Disk Manager also ensures that your computer can access the
full capacity of your hard drive. See “Installation using Disk Man-
ager” on page 14.
If you
do not want to use Disk Manager, you can use the stan-
dard DOS commands to partition and format your drive. See
“Standard DOS installation” on page 16.
Two-drive system
Use DiscWizard for a complete customized set of step-by-step
instructions to install an additional drive. See “The easiest way to
install your drive” on page 1.
To add a slave drive without using DiscWizard:
Use the FDISK.EXE command. See “Standard DOS installation”
on page 16.
To add a slave drive using Windows 95 or Windows 98:
1. Click START.
2. Choose RUN.
3. Type FDISK. See “Standard DOS installation.”

14 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
Installation using Disk Manager
1. Boot your computer from your DiscWizard diskette. Booting
from a diskette ensures that the Disk Manager installation
does not conflict with other software. The Disk Manager soft-
ware is stored on this diskette and automatically starts.
Or at the A: prompt, type DM and press ENTER.
2. Follow the onscreen instructions until you see the
Select an
Installation Option
menu.
3. Select either
(E)asy Disk Installation or (A)dvanced Disk
Installation.
Disk Manager lists all the hard drives that it detects. You
should see your new Seagate drive and your existing hard
drive, if any.
If any hard drive is not recognized, exit Disk Manager and
turn off your computer. Check all cables, jumpers and BIOS
settings. Then start at step 1 to run Disk Manager again.
4. If Disk Manager recognizes all your drives, select the drive
you want to install and press ENTER. Disk Manager partitions
and formats the drive.
Important. If Disk Manager determines that your BIOS needs
support for drive capacities greater than 8.4 Gbytes,
instructions on booting from your A: drive will be pro-
vided. Disk Manager installs a
Dynamic Drive Over-
lay (DDO)
on your hard drive. If this driver has been
installed, you should see a blue Disk Manager ban-
ner each time you boot your computer. See the Disk
Manager online manual for details.

Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A 15
5. Follow the instructions in the post-installation screens and
continue with your Windows 95 or Windows 98 installation.
Windows 95 or Windows 98 Installation
1. Boot your computer from the Windows 95 or Windows 98 star-
tup diskette with the CD-ROM loaded (Note the drive letter for
your CD-ROM device).
2. At the A: prompt, type
x: setup, where
x is the letter of your
CD-ROM drive.
3. Continue with the Windows setup instructions.
You’re Done!

16 Medalist 8421, 6421, 4311 and 2112, Rev. A
Standard DOS installation
Caution. Partitioning or formatting a drive erases all
data on it. Seagate assumes no liability if you erase
your data.
Drive partitioning
Partitioning a hard drive divides it into sections (partitions) that
function as separate logical drives (labeled C,D,E, etc.). To parti-
tion your new drive:
1. Insert a bootable DOS diskette into your diskette drive and
restart your computer. (Seagate recommends using DOS Ver-
sion 5.0 or greater.)
2. Insert a DOS program diskette that has the FDISK.EXE and
FORMAT.COM programs into your diskette drive. At the A:
prompt, type FDISK and press ENTER.
3. If you have two hard drives installed, the FDISK menu displays
five options. Option five allows you to select the drive you
want to partition. Make sure that your new drive is selected.
4. Select “Create DOS partition or logical DOS drive” by pressing
1,
then press ENTER.
5. Select “Create primary DOS partition” by pressing 1 again.
Then press ENTER.Create your first drive partition. If you are
creating a partition that will be used to boot your computer
(drive C), make sure the partition is marked
active.
6. Create an extended partition and additional logical drives, as
necessary, until all the space on your new hard drive has
been partitioned.
7. When partitioning is complete, FDISK reboots your computer.
!