ULi ALi M5281 User manual

M5281/M5283
Serial ATA and Parallel ATA Host Controller
RAID BIOS/Driver/Utility Manual
Rev. 0.96
December 03, 2003

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright © 2003 ULi Electronics Inc. All rights reserved.
All information in this document is considered ULi Electronics Inc. confidential. No part of this document may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of ULi Electronics Inc.
The information in this document is subject to change, as ULi Electronics Inc. may make changes to product in order to
improve reliability, design, or function. ULi Electronics Inc. reserves the right to modify this document at any time without
notice.
DISCLAIMER
The information in this document is believed to be correct at the time of publication. ULi Electronics Inc. assumes no
responsibility for any error that may appear in this document nor does it make a commitment to update the information
contained herein. ULi Electronics Inc. disclaims all warranties and liability, whether arising directly or indirectly, from the
use or misuse of this document and the information contained herein.
Contact ULi Electronics Inc. for the latest revision of this document.
TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ALi is a registered trademark of ALi Corporation and may only be used to identify ALi products.
Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation.
PCI is a trademark of the PCI Special Interest Group.
HTT is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp.
All other product names or trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

M5281/M5283 R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al l
Revision 0.96 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Page 3
Revision History
Revision Date Description
0.90 06/09/2003 Initial release.
0.92 06/23/2003
• Added “Getting Started” chapter.
• Added “ALi Windows Driver and RAID Utility Installations” chapter.
• Added “Reference Messages” chapter.
• Added “Troubleshooting” chapter.
0.93 07/07/2003
• Added driver installation for Windows NT.
• Modified driver installation for Windows ME/98.
• Modified BIOS menu.
• Added troubleshooting items 5 and 6.
0.94 08/20/2003
• Deleted RAID 0, 1 at the same parallel ATA channel limitation description.
0.95 10/15/2003
• Modified sections 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 according to new txtsetup.oem.
• Added hot plug support in sections 1.2 and Troubleshooting.
0.96 12/03/2003
• Removed Hot-Spare feature.
• Corrected the snapshot for RAID Utility for multiple controllers.
• Modified Troubleshooting Item 7.

R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al lM5281/M5283
Page 4 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Revision 0.96
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................5
1.1 WHAT IS ALI M5281/M5283 CHIP ................................................................................................................. 5
1.2 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN M5281 CHIP AND M5283 CHIP.................................................................. 5
2. GETTING STARTED............................................................................................................................6
2.1 CABLE ......................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 RAID CONFIGURATION ................................................................................................................................. 6
3. ALI RAID BIOS.....................................................................................................................................7
3.1 RAID BIOS SETUP MENU ............................................................................................................................ 8
3.1.1 Setup Menu of M5281................................................................................................................... 8
3.1.2 Setup Menu of M5283................................................................................................................... 8
3.2 MAIN MENU.................................................................................................................................................. 9
3.2.1 Create RAID 0 Striping for Performance....................................................................................... 9
3.2.2 Create RAID 1 Mirroring for Reliability ........................................................................................ 10
3.2.3 Create RAID 0+1 for Striping, Mirroring ...................................................................................... 10
3.2.4 Create JBOD for Integrated Capacity.......................................................................................... 10
3.2.5 Stripe Size................................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.6 Delete RAID Setting & Partition................................................................................................... 11
3.2.7 Delete All RAID Setting & Partition.............................................................................................. 11
3.2.8 Rebuild RAID Array..................................................................................................................... 11
3.2.9 Select Boot Drive......................................................................................................................... 12
3.3 DRIVE SELECT MENU.................................................................................................................................. 12
3.4 RAID ARRAY LIST...................................................................................................................................... 12
4. ALI WINDOWS DRIVER AND RAID UTILITY INSTALLATIONS.....................................................13
4.1 USE SETUP.EXE...................................................................................................................................... 13
4.1.1 When Windows XP/2000/ME/98/NT is installed already............................................................. 13
4.2 INSTALL DRIVER DURING WINDOWS XP INSTALLATION ................................................................................... 18
4.2.1 Preparation.................................................................................................................................. 18
4.2.2 Start installation........................................................................................................................... 18
4.3 INSTALL DRIVER DURING WINDOWS 2000 INSTALLATION................................................................................ 22
4.4 INSTALL DRIVER DURING WINDOWS NT 4.0 INSTALLATION ............................................................................. 23
5. ALI WINDOWS RAID UTILITY...........................................................................................................27
5.1 HOW TO CREATE M5281/M5283 RAID UNDER WINDOWS ............................................................................. 27
5.2 HOW TO DELETE M5281/M5283 RAID UNDER WINDOWS.............................................................................. 31
5.3 HOW TO SETUP AUTOMATIC E-MAIL NOTIFICATION WHEN ERROR OCCURS .......................................................... 32
6. TERMINOLOGY .................................................................................................................................33
7. REFERENCE MESSAGES.................................................................................................................34
7.1 BIOS REFERENCE MESSAGES..................................................................................................................... 34
7.2 RAID UTILITY REFERENCE MESSAGES......................................................................................................... 35
8. TROUBLESHOOTING........................................................................................................................36

M5281/M5283 R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al l
Revision 0.96 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Page 5
1. Introduction
1.1 What is ALi M5281/M5283 chip
ALi M5281/M5283 is a high integration IDE controller chip that supports both Parallel-ATA and Serial-ATA interfaces. It
supports PATA UDMA mode transfer up to mode 6 and SATA 1.0 drives.
M5281/M5283 also provides a cost-effective solution of RAID functions for performance and reliability.
1.2 What is the difference between M5281 chip and M5283 chip
M5283 and M5281 both support SATA for 2 ports. M5283 supports one PATA channel for 2 devices whereas M5281
supports two PATA channels for 4 devices. The SATA controller inside M5281 and M5283 chips is named M5281. The
PATA controller is named M5228.
The following is the comparison table between M5283 and M5281:
Companion Chip M5281 M5283
Disk Interface Serial ATA/ATA 133
Number of IDE channels 4 (2 parallel, 2 serial) 3 (1 parallel, 2 serial)
Maximum number of drives 6 4
Supported RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1, JBOD 0, 1, JBOD
Supported OS • Windows 98/ME/NT4/2000/XP SP1
• Linux
RAID Management Tool RAID Configuration and Management
RAID BIOS Support bootable array
Additional Features • Automatic e-mail notification when error occurs
• Hot plug

R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al lM5281/M5283
Page 6 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Revision 0.96
2. Getting Started
Before using M5281/M5283 adapter card, read the following instructions carefully:
2.1 Cable
Use 80-conductor cable with parallel drives.
2.2 RAID Configuration
• For best performance, use two identical drives for RAID 0.
• There is no guarantee that it will work for transferring existing RAID 0/JBOD drives from other adapter to ALi
M5281/M5283. It is recommended to use new drives to create RAID 0/JBOD with M5281/M5283.
• There is no guarantee that it will work for transferring existing RAID 1 drives from other adapter to ALi
M5281/M5283. If existing drive with valid data is to be used, backup all content of this drive before creating RAID 1
and do ‘Create RAID 1 Mirroring for Reliability’ at BIOS setup with other new drive. It is recommended to use new
drive to create RAID 1 with M5281/M5283.
• There is no guarantee that it will work for transferring existing RAID 0+1 drives from other adapter to ALi
M5281/M5283. If existing drive with valid data is to be used, backup all content of this drive before creating RAID
0+1 and do ‘Create RAID 0+1 for Striping, Mirroring’ at BIOS setup with other new drives. It is recommended to use
new drives to create RAID 0+1 with M5281/M5283.
•

M5281/M5283 R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al l
Revision 0.96 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Page 7
3. ALi RAID BIOS
After the system BIOS detects ALi RAID BIOS, the RAID BIOS version and drive information shows up on the screen.
The following is an example of BIOS version and drives information when using M5281:
ALi RAID BIOS V1.00 (M5281)
(c) ALi Corporation 2003, All Rights Reserved.
Identifying IDE drive .o.o.x.x.o.o
Channel 0 Master: Maxtor 4A160J0
Channel 0 Slave : Maxtor 6L040J2
Channel 1 Master: None
Channel 1 Slave : None
Channel 2 Master: WDC WD360GD-00F
Channel 3 Master: Maxtor 6Y200M0
Press Ctrl-A to enter ALi RAID BIOS setup utility
The following is an example of BIOS version and drives information when using M5283:
ALi RAID BIOS V1.00 (M5283)
(c) ALi Corporation 2003, All Rights Reserved.
Identifying IDE drive .x.x.o.o
Channel 1 Master: None
Channel 1 Slave : None
Channel 2 Master: WDC WD360GD-00F
Channel 3 Master: Maxtor 6Y200M0
Press Ctrl-A to enter ALi RAID BIOS setup utility
When RAID BIOS is waiting after identifying drives, press ‘Ctrl’ and ‘A’ simultaneously to enter the setup menu.

R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al lM5281/M5283
Page 8 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Revision 0.96
3.1 RAID BIOS Setup Menu
3.1.1 Setup Menu of M5281
RAID BIOS Setup Utility (c) 2003 ALi Corporation www.ali.com.tw
Create RAID 0 Striping for Performance Select Boot Drive
Create RAID 1 Mirroring for Reliability
Create RAID 0+1 for Striping, Mirroring
Create JBOD for integrated Capacity SPACE : Select
Stripe Size 64K ↑↓ : Moving Cursor
Delete RAID Setting & Partition ENTER : Select & Finish
Delete All RAID Setting & Partition ESC : Exit
Rebuild RAID Array
Drive Model Mode Capacity RAID Array/Type
Channel 0 Master: Maxtor 4A160 J0 UDMA6 163928MB
Channel 0 Slave : Maxtor 6L040J2 UDMA6 40027MB
Channel 1 Master: None
Channel 1 Slave : None
Channel 2 Master: WDC WD360GD-00F SATA1 37019MB
Channel 3 Master: Maxtor 6Y200M0 SATA1 203928MB
Capacity RAID Type Stripe Size RAID Name
RAID Array A :
RAID Array B :
RAID Array C :
3.1.2 Setup Menu of M5283
RAID BIOS Setup Utility (c) 2003 ALi Corporation www.ali.com.tw
Create RAID 0 Striping for Performance Select Boot Drive
Create RAID 1 Mirroring for Reliability
Create JBOD for integrated Capacity
Stripe Size 64K SPACE : Select
Delete RAID Setting & Partition ↑↓ : Moving Cursor
Delete All RAID Setting & Partition ENTER : Select & Finish
Rebuild RAID Array ESC : Exit
Drive Model Mode Capacity RAID Array/Type
Channel 1 Master: None
Channel 1 Slave : None
Channel 2 Master: WDC WD360GD-00F SATA1 37019MB
Channel 3 Master: Maxtor 6Y200M0 SATA1 203928MB
Capacity RAID Type Stripe Size RAID Name
RAID Array A :
RAID Array B :
RAID Array C :

M5281/M5283 R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al l
Revision 0.96 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Page 9
There are three major areas in the RAID BIOS setup screen: Main Menu, Drive Select Menu and RAID Array List. The
following uses M5281 setup screen for illustration:
RAID BIOS Setup Utility (c) 2003 ALi Corporation www.ali.com.tw
Create RAID 0 Striping for Performance Select Boot Drive
Create RAID 1 Mirroring for Reliability
Create RAID 0+1 for Striping, Mirroring
Create JBOD for integrated Capacity SPACE : Select
Stripe Size 64K ↑↓ : Moving Cursor
Delete RAID Setting & Partition ENTER : Select & Finish
Delete All RAID Setting & Partition ESC : Exit
Rebuild RAID Array
Drive Model Mode Capacity RAID Array/Type
Channel 0 Master: Maxtor 4A160 J0 UDMA6 163928MB
Channel 0 Slave : Maxtor 6L040J2 UDMA6 40027MB
Channel 1 Master: None
Channel 1 Slave : None
B Channel 2 Master : WDC WD360GD-00F SATA1 37019MB
Channel 3 Master: Maxtor 6Y200M0 SATA1 203928MB
Capacity RAID Type Stripe Size RAID Name
RAID Array A :
RAID Array B :
RAID Array C :
3.2 Main Menu
In Main Menu, the user has several options to operate RAID:
3.2.1 Create RAID 0 Striping for Performance
1. Press ‘Enter’ key to activate this item. An ‘S’ flash cursor appears at the Drive Select Menu for the user to
choose the first drive for RAID 0.
2. Use ‘Space’ key to choose the desired drive for RAID 0. Then the flash cursor changes to an ‘s’ flash cursor for
the user to choose the second drive for RAID 0.
3. The prompt ‘Data on RAID Drives will be deleted (Y/N)’ appears after two drives are properly assigned.
4. Press ‘Y’, and then some necessary information will be written to the drives, which will destroy the original data
in the drives.
Warning: Make sure the data in drives is no longer in use before creating RAID 0.
5. Next, the Array Name input line appears for the user to key in a name for the newly created array. The
effective characters for an array name is ‘0’-‘9’, ‘A’-‘Z’, ‘a’-‘z’, space and underscore.
6. After the RAID array has been created successfully, its information shows up at RAID Array List.
Note: RAID 0 cannot be used for mixed parallel and serial ATA drives.
Drive
Select
Menu
Main Menu
RAID
Array
List

R
RA AI ID D B BI IO OS S/ /D Dr ri iv ve er r/ /U Ut ti il li it ty y M Ma an nu ua al lM5281/M5283
Page 10 Document Number: M5281-83_RAID096 Revision 0.96
3.2.2 Create RAID 1 Mirroring for Reliability
1. Press ‘Enter’ key to activate this item. An ‘M’ flash cursor appears at the ‘Drive Select Menu’ for the user to
choose the first (source) drive for RAID 1.
2. Use ‘Space’ key to choose the desired drive for RAID 1. Then flash cursor changes to an ‘m’ flash cursor for
the user to choose the second (target) drive for RAID 1.
3. The prompt ‘Create RAID 1(Y/N)’ appears after two drives are properly assigned.
Warning: It is recommended to use new drives to create RAID 1. If existing drive is to be used, backup all
necessary data before creating RAID 1.
4. Press ‘Y’, and then some necessary information will be written to drives, which may destroy the original data in
the drives.
5. Next, the Array Name input line appears for the user to key in a name for the newly created array. The
effective characters for an array name is ‘0’-‘9’, ‘A’-‘Z’, ‘a’-‘z’, space and underscore.
6. Lastly a prompt message ‘Duplicate Data from M to m (Y/N)?’ asks whether to do drive copy. The source and
target drives are indicated by ‘M’ and ‘m’ in ‘Drive Select Menu’ respectively. Pressing ‘Y’ will duplicate the
data in source drive to the target drive. Make sure the source drive is the correct one. If you press ‘N’, then the
data is inconsistent in two drives.
Warning: Make sure the data in target drive is no longer in use before duplicating RAID 1 Array.
7. After the RAID array has been created successfully, its information shows up at RAID Array List.
8. The process status bar shows up during the duplication process.
Note: RAID 1 cannot be used for mixed parallel and serial ATA drives.
3.2.3 Create RAID 0+1 for Striping, Mirroring
This option is effective only for M5281 with all four Parallel ATA drives installed.
1. Press ‘Enter’ key to activate this item. Four Parallel ATA drives are automatically selected.
2. The prompt ‘Data on first 4 drives will be deleted (Y/N)’ appears.
3. Press ‘Y’, and then some necessary information will be written to drives, which may destroy the original data in
the drives.
Warning: Make sure the data in drives is no longer in use before creating RAID Array.
4. Next, the Array Name input line appears for the user to key in a name for the newly created array. The
effective characters for an array name is ‘0’-‘9’, ‘A’-‘Z’, ‘a’-‘z’, space and underscore.
5. After the RAID array has been created successfully, its information shows up at RAID Array List.
3.2.4 Create JBOD for Integrated Capacity
1. Press ‘Enter’ key to activate this item. A ‘J’ flash cursor appears at the ‘Drive Select Menu’ for the user to
choose the first drive for JBOD.
2. Use ‘Space’ key to choose the desired drive for JBOD array. Use ‘Enter’ key to finish JBOD drive selection.
The maximum number of drives for JBOD array is four and the minimum is two.
3. The prompt ‘Create JBOD (Y/N)’ appears.
4. Press ‘Y’ key and then some necessary information will be written to drives, which may destroy the original
data in the drives.
Warning: Make sure the data in drives is no longer in use before creating RAID Array.
5. Next the Array Name input line appears for the user to key in a name for the newly created array. The effective
characters for an array name is ‘0’-‘9’, ‘A’-‘Z’, ‘a’-‘z’, space and underscore.