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                                  BOOTROM.TXT
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This file presents general information about the Symbios SCSI BIOS and
Configuration utility Version 4.10.00. The new features include:

   Cylinder Head Sector (CHS) Mapping Option    
   Verify utility
        
It is divided into the following sections:

SCSI BIOS
   Boot Initialization with SCSI BIOS Boot Specification
   CD-ROM Boot Initialization
   Starting the SCSI BIOS Configuration Utility
   Main Menu
      Change Adapter Status
      Adapter Boot Order
      Additional Adapter Configuration
   Utilities Menu
      Adapter Setup Menu
      Device Selections Menu
   Quitting the SCSI Configuration Utility


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * SCSI BIOS *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

A SCSI BIOS is the bootable ROM code that manages SCSI hardware resources. It 
is specific to a family of Symbios SCSI controllers or processors. A Symbios
SCSI BIOS integrates with a standard system BIOS, extending the standard disk
service routine provided through INT13h.

During the boot time initialization, the SCSI BIOS determines if there are 
other hard disks, such as an IDE, already installed via the system BIOS. If 
there are, the SCSI BIOS maps any SCSI drives it finds behind the drive(s) 
already installed. Otherwise, the SCSI BIOS installs drives starting with the 
system boot drive. In this case, the system boots from a drive controlled by  
the SCSI BIOS. For 4.05 versions and higher, Symbios supports the BIOS Boot 
Specification (BBS).

The next section, "Boot Initialization with BIOS Boot Specification (BBS)," 
discusses selecting boot and drive order.


*  *  *  *  Boot Initialization with BIOS Boot Specification (BBS) *  *  *

The SDMS SCSI BIOS provides support for the BIOS Boot Specification (BBS), 
which allows you to choose which device to boot from by selecting the priority.

To use this feature, the system BIOS must also be compatible with the BBS. If 
your system supports the BBS, then you will use the system BIOS setup menu to
select the boot and drive order. In the system BIOS setup, the Boot Connection
Devices menu appears with a list of available boot options. Use that menu to
select the device and rearrange the order. Then exit to continue the boot
process.


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * CD-ROM Boot Initialization *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

The SDMS SCSI BIOS supports boot initialization from a CD-ROM drive. There are
five types of emulation: 

     o No emulation disk
     o Floppy 1.2 MB emulation disk
     o Floppy 1.44 MB emulation disk
     o Floppy 2.88 MB emulation disk
     o Hard disk emulation 


The drive letter for the CD-ROM is assigned based on the type of emulation. 
For example, if a 1.44 MB emulation CD was loaded, then the CD-ROM drive would
become the designated A: drive, and the existing Floppy would become drive B:.


*  *  *  *  * Starting the SCSI BIOS Configuration Utility *  *  *  *  *  *

If you have SCSI BIOS version 4.0, and it includes the Symbios SCSI BIOS 
Configuration utility, you can change the default configuration of your SCSI 
host adapters. You may decide to alter these default values if there is a 
conflict between device settings or if you need to optimize system performance. 

You can see the version number of your SCSI BIOS in a banner displayed on 
your computer monitor during boot. If the utility is available, the following 
message also appears on your monitor (for about five seconds) that looks like 
this:

     Press Ctrl-C to start Symbios Configuration Utility...

This message remains on your screen for about five seconds, giving you time 
to start the utility. If you decide to press "Ctrl-C", the message changes 
to:

     Please wait, invoking Symbios Configuration Utility...    

After a brief pause, your computer monitor displays the Main Menu of the
Symbios SCSI BIOS Configuration utility.

To make changes with this menu driven utility, one or more Symbios SCSI host 
adapters must have NVRAM (non-volatile random access memory) to store the
changes. 

IMPORTANT: This utility is a powerful tool. If, while using it, you somehow 
           disable all of your controllers, pressing Ctrl-A (or Ctrl-E on 
           version 4.04 or later) after memory initialization during reboot
           allows you to re-enable and reconfigure.

Note: Not all devices detected by the Configuration utility can be controlled 
      by the BIOS. Devices such as tape drives and scanners require that a
      device driver specific to that peripheral be loaded.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * Main Menu *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

When you start the Symbios SCSI BIOS Configuration Utility, the Main Menu 
appears. This menu displays a list of up to four Symbios PCI to SCSI host
adapters in your system and information about each of them.

To select an adapter, use only the arrow keys and enter key. Then you can view
and/or change the current settings for that adapter, and the SCSI devices
attached to it. 

You can select an adapter only if Current Status is "On". Changes are possible
only if NVRAM on your adapter is present. Selections that are not permissible
will be grayed out.      

The Main Menu looks like this:
    
    Main Menu

                 Port      Irq  --------Status--------- NvRAM
                 Num      Level Current      Next-Boot  Found
    SYM53C895    FC00       9      On            On       Yes
    SYM53C875    F800       9      On            Off      Yes
    SYM53C875    F400       9      On            Off      Yes
    Change Adapter Status
    Adapter Boot Order
    Additional Adapter Configuration 
    Display Mode = Verbose 
    Mono/Color
    Language
    Help 
    Quit

Below the list of host adapters on the Main Menu display, you see eight
options. They are described in detail below. If these settings are altered,
the system reboots upon exit from the configuration utility via the Quit
option.


*   *   * Change Adapter Status *   *   *

The change adapter status allows you to activate or deactivate a host adapter 
and all SCSI devices attached to it. When this option is used to make 
a change, the change takes place after a reboot that is automatic upon exit 
from the utility. The Change Status on Next Boot menu looks like this: 

    Main Menu

    Change Status on Next Boot:
               Port    Irq  ---------Status-------- NvRAM
               Num    Level Current      Next-Boot  Found
    SYM53C895  FC00     9      On           On        Yes
    SYM53C875  F800     9      On           Off       Yes
    SYM53C875  F400     9      On           Off       Yes

To change an adapter's status, select it and press Enter. Then press the
Escape (Esc) key to exit from this menu.


*   *   * Adapter Boot Order *   *   *

The adapter boot order allows you to set the order in which host adapters 
will boot when you have more than one Symbios host adapter in your 
system. When this option is selected, the Boot Order menu appears: 

    Main Menu 

     BootSeq            Bus   DevFunc  BootSeq           Bus  DevFunc
       0     SYM53C860   00     A0         1   SYM53C895  00     98
       2     SYM53C875   00     90


To change an adapter's boot order, select it and press Enter. You are then 
prompted to enter the new boot sequence number. To remove an adapter's boot 
order, press Enter again rather than entering a new sequence number. While 
the maximum capacity is 32 adapters, only 0 through 3 can be assigned a boot 
order. If an invalid number is entered, an error message appears. When 
the adapters are ordered as desired, press the Escape (Esc) key to exit from
this menu and reboot.        


*   *   * Additional Adapter Configuration *   *   *

The additional adapter configuration allows you to configure an adapter that 
is not assigned a boot order. When this option is selected, the Adapter 
Configuration menu appears:

     Main Menu

       BootSeq            Bus   DevFunc  BootSeq           Bus  DevFunc 
          1    SYM53C860   00      A0       0    SYM53C895  00     98   
               SYM53C875

Highlight the adapter to be configured and press Enter. The message "Resetting
Adapter, Please wait" appears, and then the system scans for devices. Finally,
the Utilities Menu appears and lists the available options, which are described
below.


*   *   * Display Mode *   *   *

Display mode determines how much information about your host adapters and 
SCSI devices appear on your computer monitor during boot. For more 
complete information, choose the verbose setting. For a faster boot, choose 
the terse setting.


*   *   * Mono/Color *   *   * 

Mono/Color allows you to choose between a monochrome or color display for the
SCSI configuration utility. You might need to choose the mono setting to get a
more readable screen on a monochrome monitor.


*   *   * Language *   *   * 

If enabled, the Language option allows you to select from five languages for
the configuration utility: English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.


*   *   * Help *   *   * 

The Help option allows you to bring up a help screen with information about
the Main Menu.


*   *   * Quit *   *   * 

The Quit option allows you to exit from the SCSI BIOS Configuration utility when 
on the Main Menu.


*   *   * Esc *   *   * 

Pressing the Esc key allows exit from all the screens except the Main Menu.


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * Utilities Menu *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

When you select a host adapter on the Main menu, the Utilities menu appears:

    SYM53C895
      Utilities

                 Adapter Setup
                 Device Selections
                 Help
                 Exit this menu

Choose Adapter Setup to view and change the selected adapter settings. Choose
Device Selections to view and change settings for the devices attached to the
selected adapter.

You are returned to this menu after making changes to the configuration of 
any host adapter or connected SCSI device. Before you exit this menu, you are
prompted to save or cancel any changes.


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * Adapter Setup Menu *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

When you select Adapter Setup, the Adapter Setup menu appears: 

     SYM53C895
       Adapter Setup


         SCAM Support               Off
         Parity                     Enabled
         Host SCSI ID                7
         Scan Order                 Low to High <0..Max>
         Removable Media Support    None             
         CHS Mapping                SCSI Plug & Play Mapping
         Help
         Restore Default Setup
         Exit this menu

The settings in this menu are global settings that affect the selected host 
adapter and all SCSI devices attached to it. One of these choices can be 
selected by highlighting it and pressing Enter. 


*   *   * SCAM Support *   *   *

The Symbios BIOS version 4.0 and above supports the SCSI Plug and Play 
protocol called SCAM (SCSI Configured AutoMatically). SCAM support by default 
is off in versions 4.09 and later. You may choose to turn this on. Note that
if this BIOS is flashed onto a board with existing settings, then these settings
will not be changed to reflect the new BIOS defaults.

*   *   * Parity *   *   *

The Symbios PCI to SCSI host adapters always generate parity, but some older 
SCSI devices do not. Therefore, you are offered the option of disabling 
parity checking.

Note:  When disabling parity checking, it is also necessary to disable 
       disconnects for all devices, as parity checking for the reselection 
       phase is not disabled. If a device does not generate parity, and it 
       disconnects, the I/O never completes because the reselection never 
       completes.


*   *   * Host SCSI ID *   *   *

In general, it is suggested that you not change your host adapter ID from
the default value of 7, as this gives it the highest priority on the SCSI
bus. 


*   *   * Scan Order *   *   *

This option allows you to tell the SCSI BIOS and your device drivers to scan 
the SCSI bus from low to high (0 to max) SCSI ID, or from high to low (max 
to 0) SCSI ID. If you have more than one device on the SCSI bus, changing 
the scan order changes the order in which drive letters are assigned by the 
system. Drive order may be reassigned differently in systems supporting the
BIOS Boot Specification (BBS).

See the section "Boot Initialization for BIOS Boot Specification (BBS)" for
more information.

Note: This scan order option may conflict with operating systems that
      automatically assign a drive order.


*   *   * Removable Media Support *   *   *

This option defines the removable media support for a specific drive. 
When this option is selected, a window appears with three choices: 

     o  None
     o  Boot Drive Only 
     o  With Media Installed

     None indicates there is no removable media support whether the drive 
     is selected in BBS as being first, or first in scan order in non-BBS.

     Boot Drive Only provides removable media support for a removable hard
     drive if it is first in the scan order.

     With Media Installed provides removable media support wherever the drive(s) 
     actually resides. 


*   *    * CHS Mapping *   *   *

This option defines the cylinder head sector (CHS) values that will be mapped
onto a disk without pre-existing partitioning information. SCSI Plug and Play
Mapping is the default value.

To support interchange with non-compatible systems, there is an another option
that can be selected by choosing CHS Mapping and then cursoring to "Alternate
CHS Mapping". 

Note: Neither of these options will have any affect after the disk has been
      partitioned with the FDISK command.

To remove partitioning, two options are available:

     o  Reformat the disk using the Format Device option. See the section "Device
        Selections Menu" below.
        
     o  Use the FDISK /MBR command at the C:\ prompt, where MBR represents master 
        boot record.  

Important: Reformatting the disk or using FDISK /MBR erases all partitioning and 
           data that exists. Be careful when using either the Format utility or
           the FDISK /MBR command that you target the correct disk.

Note: After clearing the partition data, it is necessary to reboot and clear
      memory or the old partitioning data will be reused, thus nullifying the
      previous operation.


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * Device Selections Menu *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

When you select the Device Selections option, the corresponding menu appears:

     SYM53C895
     Device Selections 0-7

                      Sync   Data   Disc   Time      Scan      Queue
                      Rate   Width          Out   Bus   LUNS   Tags

     0-Dev0 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled
     1-Dev1 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled
     2-Dev2 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled
     3-Dev3 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled
     4-Dev4 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled
     5-Dev5 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled
     6-Dev6 N/A       80     16      On     10    Yes    Yes    Enabled 
     SYM53C895
     Device Selections 8-15
     Help
     Exit this menu

The settings in this menu affect individual SCSI devices attached to the 
selected host adapter. Changes made from this menu do not cause the system 
to reboot upon exit from the SCSI configuration utility. To change a value, 
select the required device by using the arrow keys and press Enter. A new menu
appears providing the options and utilities available. For example, you could
cursor to Sync Rate to change the Sync Rate value of the chosen device.  


*   *   * Device Name *   *   *

     Inside device
          Sync Rate
          Width
          Disconnect
          Read/Write I/O Timeout (secs)
          Scan for Device at Boot Time
          Scan for SCSI LUNs
          Queue Tags
          Format
          Verify
          Help
          Restore Default Setup             
          Exit this menu

Please review the descriptions of each option below before changing any values.

*   *   * Sync Rate (mega Bytes/sec) *   *   *

The value set with this option defines the maximum data transfer rate the 
host adapter attempts to negotiate. The host adapter and a SCSI device 
must agree to a rate they can both handle.


*   *   * Width (bits) *   *   *

The value set with this option defines the maximum SCSI data width the host 
adapter attempts to negotiate. The host adapter and a SCSI device must 
agree to a width they can both handle. Only host adapters that can do 
16-bit data transfers have this option enabled. 


*   *   * Disconnect *   *   *

SCSI devices have the ability to disconnect from the initiator during an I/O
transfer. This disconnect frees the SCSI Bus to allow other I/O processes.
This option tells the host adapter whether or not to allow a device to 
disconnect. Some devices run faster with disconnects enabled (mostly newer
devices), while some run faster with disconnects disabled (mostly older 
devices).


*   *   * Read Write I/O Timeout (secs) *   *   *

This option sets the amount of time the host adapter waits for a read, write,
or seek command to complete before trying the I/O transfer again. Since this
provides a safeguard allowing the system to recover if an I/O operation fails, 
it is recommended that you always set the time-out to a value greater than zero.
A zero value allows unlimited time for an operation to complete and could result
in a hang if the operation couldn't complete.


*   *   * Scan for Device at Boot Time *   *   *

When there is a device you do not want to be available to the system, set 
this option to "No" for that device. Also, on a bus with only a few devices 
attached, you can speed up boot time by changing this setting to "No" for 
all unused SCSI IDs.


*   *   * Scan for SCSI Logical Units (LUNs) *   *   * 

You can set this option to "No" if you have problems with a device that 
responds to all LUNs whether they are occupied or not. For example, if a SCSI 
device with multiple LUNs exists on your system but you do not want all of 
those LUNs to be available to the system, then set this option to "No." This 
will limit the scan to LUN 0 only.


*   *   * Queue Tags *   *   *

This option allows you to enable or disable the issuing of queue tags during 
I/O requests when your device driver can do this.


*   *   * Format *   *   * 

If enabled, this option allows you to low-level format a magnetic disk drive.
Low-level formatting will completely and irreversibly erase all data on the
drive.


*   *   * Verify *   *   * 

This option allows you to read all the sectors on a disk looking for errors.
When selected, this option displays the following message: 

      "Verify all sectors on the device
       Press ESC to abort
       Else press any key to continue"


*   *   * Help *   *   * 

This option brings up a help screen with information about the current menu.


*   *   * Restore Default Setup *   *   * 

This option resets all device selections back to their optimal settings. Select 
this option to restore all manufacturing defaults for the specified adapter. 
Note that all user customized options will be lost upon saving after restoring 
default setup. 


*   *   * Exit this menu *   *   *

This option allows you to leave the current menu screen and return to the
previous screen.


*  *  *  *  *  *  *  * To Exit the SCSI Configuration Utility *  *  *  *  *

Since some changes only take effect after your system reboots, it is 
important that you exit this configuration utility properly. Return to the
Main menu and exit via the Quit option. If you reboot the system without
properly exiting the utility, some changes may not take effect.
 