Promise Technology 66 Pro - Manual (Page 137)

SuperTrak66™ User's Manual Appendix C
C-1
Frequently Asked Questions
This section lists frequently asked questions involving pre-installation, drive issues,
installation, and post-installation.
Pre-Installation (Speed, Device Types, Capacity, Cabling)
Q: What kind of hard drives can I use for a SuperTrak66 array?
A: You can use any Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33, or EIDE hard drive(s) to create
arrays on the SuperTrak66. You should use matching drives for multiple-drive
arrays to maximize capacity usage as well as performance. Ultra ATA/66
drives are recommended for highest performance.
Q: Can I run the SuperTrak66 controller at greater than 33Mhz PCI bus
speed?
A: The current PCI 2.1 specification is for 33Mhz PCI bus speed. The
SuperTrak66 controller is designed around this specification. In most cases, a
higher PCI bus speed will result in a variety of different errors. Some users have
been able to get higher speeds to work. However, since such usage is out of
specification, we do not support it. Any damage resulting from such
implementation will void the warranty.
Q: Can I use ATAPI devices on the SuperTrak66 controller?
A: No. There is no driver layer on the SuperTrak66 controller which will support
ATAPI packet messages.
Q: Can I substitute any other type of Ultra ATA/66 or IDE cables for
SuperTrak66 cables if I need to use a longer data cable?
A: No! The SuperTrak66 data cables are custom-tailored to Ultra ATA/66 data
transfer requirements with special shielding and a maximum IDE specification
length of 18 inches.
Q: Does the SuperTrak66 controller work with my system’s APM?
A: No. APM is based on IDE or SCSI drives. Since SuperTrak66 uses the I
2
O
platform-independent interface, the system does not see drives attached to the
SuperTrak66 as either IDE or SCSI drives. Thus, it will not issue APM
commands. Promise may or may not opt to implement some form of flexible
power management for the SuperTrak66 controller in a future release.