Changeset 14 in xtideuniversalbios


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Timestamp:
Jun 23, 2010, 8:30:37 AM (14 years ago)
Author:
Tomi Tilli
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aitotat
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  • wiki/Manual.wiki

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    4747
    4848CTRL can be held down to skip XTIDE Universal BIOS initialization. Only drive detection will be skipped when late initialization is used.
     49
    4950----
    5051
    … …  
    5556Some menu items appear only when needed to make configuring easier.
    5657
    57 
    58 == Menuitem: Exit to DOS ==
    59 
    60 This menu item exits to DOS but allows user to save any unsaved changes.
    61 
    62 
    63 == Menuitem: Load BIOS from file ==
    64 
    65 Loads any file with .BIN extension to be flashed.
    66 
    67 
    68 == Menuitem: Load BIOS from EEPROM ==
    69 
    70 This menu item appears only when supported version of XTIDE Universal BIOS is detected. It loads the BIOS from EEPROM to be reconfigured.
    71 
    72 
    73 == Menuitem: Load old settings from EEPROM ==
    74 
    75 This menu item appears only when supported version of XTIDE Universal BIOS is detected and same or another supported version is loaded to be configured. It loads the old settings so that the new version does not need to be reconfigured when updating XTIDE Universal BIOS to new version.
    76 
    77 
    78 == Menuitem: Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS ==
    79 
    80 All XTIDE Universal BIOS settings can be found and configured from this sub menu.
    81 
    82 
    83 ==== Menuitem: Back to previous menu ===
    84 
    85 Resumes back to main menu.
    86 
    87 
    88 === Menuitems: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary and Quinary IDE Controllers ===
    89 
    90 IDE Controller menu items appear based on selected number of IDE controllers.
    91 
    92 
    93 ==== Menuitem: Back to previous menu ====
    94 
    95 Resumes back to XTIDE Universal BIOS configuration menu.
    96 
    97 
    98 ==== Menuitems: Master and Slave drives ====
    99 
    100 Drive specific settings for master and slave drives:
    101 
    102 ====== Menuitem: Block mode transfers ======
    103 
    104 Block mode will speed up transfers since multiple sectors can be transferred before waiting next data request. Normally block mode should always be kept enabled but there is at least one drive with buggy block mode implementation.
    105 
    106 
    107 ===== Menuitem: User specified CHS =====
    108 
    109 Specify (P-)CHS parameters manually instead of autodetecting them. This can be used to limit drive size for old operating systems that do not support large hard disks.
    110 
    111 Limiting cylinders will work for all drives but drives may not accept all values for heads and sectors per track.
    112 
    113 
    114 ===== Menuitems: Cylinders, heads and Sectors per track =====
    115 
    116 Number of user specified P-CHS cylinders, heads and sectors per track. These menu items appear only when user specified CHS is enabled.
    117 
    118 
    119 ==== Menuitem: Bus type ====
    120 
    121 Select bus type:
    122   * 8-bit dual port (XTIDE)
    123    8-bit ISA controllers with two data ports. This is what the XTIDE card uses.
    124   * 8-bit single port
    125    8-bit ISA controllers with one data port.
    126   * 16-bit
    127    16-bit I/O for ISA (16-bit), VLB and PCI controllers.
    128   * 32-bit generic
    129    Generic 32-bit I/O for VLB and PCI controllers.
    130 
    131 
    132 ==== Menuitem: Base (cmd block) address ====
    133 
    134 IDE controller command block address is the usual address mentioned for IDE controllers.
    135 
    136 By default the primary IDE controller uses port 1F0h and secondary controller uses port 170h. XTIDE uses port 300h by default.
    137 
    138 
    139 ==== Menuitem: Control block address ====
    140 
    141 IDE controller control block address is normally command block address + 200h.
    142 
    143 For XTIDE the control block registers are mapped right after command block registers so use command block address + 8h for XTIDE.
    144 
    145 
    146 ==== Menuitem: Enable interrupt ====
    147 
    148 IDE controller can use interrupts to signal when it is ready to transfer data. This makes possible to do other tasks while waiting drive to be ready. That is not useful in MS-DOS but using interrupts frees the bus for any DMA transfers.
    149 
    150 Polling mode is used when interrupts are disabled. Polling usually gives a little better access times since interrupt handling requires extra processing. There can be some compatibility issues with some old drives when polling is used with block mode transfers.
    151 
    152 
    153 ==== Menuitem: IRQ ====
    154 
    155 IRQ channel to use. All controllers managed by XTIDE Universal BIOS can use the same IRQ when MS-DOS is used. Other operating systems are likely to require different interrupts for each controller. This menu item appears only when interrupts are enabled.
    156 
    157 
    158 === Menuitem: Boot menu settings ===
    159 
    160 Opens sub menu for configuring boot menu. This menu item appears only when Boot loader type is set to Menu.
    161 
    162 
    163 ==== Menuitem: Back to previous menu ====
    164 
    165 Resumes back to XTIDE Universal BIOS configuration menu.
    166 
    167 
    168 ==== Menuitem: Default boot drive ====
    169 
    170 Default drive will be set selected by default when Boot Menu is displayed.
    171 
    172 
    173 ==== Menuitem: Display drive info ====
    174 
    175 Boot Menu can display some details about the drives in system. Reading this data is slow on XTs so you might want to hide drive information.
    176 
    177 
    178 ==== Menuitem: Display ROM boot ====
    179 
    180 Some old systems have Basic or DOS in ROM. Since most systems don't have either, ROM Boot setting is disabled by default. Enable it if you have use for it.
    181 
    182 
    183 ==== Menuitem: Maximum height ====
    184 
    185 Boot Menu maximum height in characters.
    186 
    187 
    188 ==== Menuitem: Min floppy drive count ====
    189 
    190 Detecting correct number of floppy drives might fail when using floppy controller with it's own BIOS. Minimum number of floppy drives can be specified to force non-detected drives to appear on boot menu.
    191 
    192 
    193 ==== Menuitem: Selection timeout ====
    194 
    195 Boot Menu selection timeout in seconds. When time goes to zero, currently selected drive will be booted automatically. Timeout can be disabled by setting this to 0.
    196 
    197 
    198 ==== Menuitem: Swap boot drive numbers ====
    199 
    200 Some old operating systems (DOS) can only boot from Floppy Drive A (00h) or first Hard Disk (80h, usually drive C). Drive Translation can be used to modify drive numbers so that selected drive will be mapped to 00h or 80h so that it can be booted.
    201 
    202 
    203 === Menuitem: Boot loader type ===
    204 
    205 Select boot loader type:
    206 
    207 ==== Boot menu ====
    208 Boot menu where user can select drive to boot from.
    209 
    210 ==== Simple boot loader ====
    211 Typical A, C, INT 18h boot order.
    212 
    213 ==== System boot loader ====
    214 Uses main BIOS boot loader or boot loader provided by some other BIOS. System boot loader works only when late initialization is disabled since late initialization is done on a boot loader.
    215 
    216 
    217 === Menuitem: Late initialization ===
    218 
    219 Normally expansion card BIOSes are initialized before POST completes. Some (older) systems initialize expansion card BIOSes before they have initialized themselves. This might cause problems since XTIDE Universal BIOS requires some main BIOS functions for drive detection.
    220 
    221 This problem can be fixed by using late initialization to detect drives on boot loader. Late initialization requires that XTIDE Universal BIOS is the last BIOS that installs INT 19h handler. Make sure that XTIDE ROM is configured to highest address if you have other storage device controllers present.
    222 
    223 
    224 === Menuitem: Maximize disk size ===
    225 
    226 Old BIOSes reserve diagnostic cylinder (landing zone cylinder for MFM drives) that is not used. Later BIOSes do not reserve it to allow more data to be stored.
    227 
    228 Do not maximize disk size if you need to move the drive between XTIDE Universal BIOS controlled systems and systems with cylinder reserving BIOSes.
    229 
    230 
    231 === Menuitem: Full operating mode ===
    232 
    233 Full mode supports up to 5 IDE controllers (10 drives). Full mode reserves a bit of RAM from top of base memory. This makes possible to use ROM Basic and software that requires top of interrupt vectors where XTIDE Universal BIOS parameters would be stored in lite mode.
    234 
    235 Lite mode supports only one IDE controller (2 drives) and stores parameters to top of interrupt vectors (30:0h) so no base RAM needs to be reserved. Lite mode cannot be used if some software requires top of interrupt vectors. Usually this is not a problem since only IBM ROM Basic uses them.
    236 
    237 Tandy 1000 models with 640 kiB or less memory need to use lite mode since top of base RAM gets dynamically reserved by video hardware. This happens only with Tandy integrated video controller, not with expansion graphics cards. It is possible to use full mode if reserving RAM for video memory + what is required for XTIDE Universal BIOS. This would mean 129 kiB but most software should work with 65 kiB reserved.
    238 
    239 
    240 === Menuitem: kiB to steal from RAM ===
    241 
    242 Parameters for detected hard disks must be stored somewhere. In full mode they are stored to top of base RAM. At the moment 1 kiB is always enough but you might want to steal more if you want to use full mode with Tandy 1000. This menu item appears only when full operating mode is enabled.
    243 
    244 
    245 === Menuitem: Number of IDE controllers ===
    246 
    247 Number of IDE controllers handled by XTIDE Universal BIOS. This menu item appears only when full operating mode is enabled.
    248 
    249 
    250 == Menuitem: Flash EEPROM ==
    251 
    252 Settings for EEPROM flashing.
    253 
    254 
    255 === Menuitem: Back to previous menu ===
    256 
    257 Resumes to main menu.
    258 
    259 
    260 === Menuitem: Start flashing ===
    261 
    262 Writes BIOS to EEPROM.
    263 
    264 
    265 === Menuitem: SDP command ===
    266 
    267 Software Data Protection command:
    268 
    269 ==== None ====
    270 Do not use Software Data Protection. Meant for EEPROMs that do not support SDP.
    271 
    272 ==== Enable ====
    273 Write protects the EEPROM after flashing. Software Data Protection should always be enabled if EEPROM supports it.
    274 
    275 ==== Disable ====
    276 Disables Software Data Protection after flashing.
    277 
    278 
    279 === Menuitem: EEPROM address ===
    280 
    281 Address (segment) where EEPROM is located.
    282 
    283 
    284 === Menuitem: Page size ===
    285 
    286 Larger page size will improve write performance but not all EEPROMs support large pages or page writing at all. Byte writing mode will be used when page size is set to 1. Byte writing mode is supported by every EEPROM. Large pages cannot be used with slow CPUs.
    287 
    288 
    289 === Menuitem: Generate checksum byte ===
    290 
    291 PC BIOSes require checksum byte to the end of expansion card BIOS ROMs. Checksum generation can be disabled so any type of binaries can be flashed.
     58== Menuitems on main menu ==
     59  * Exit to DOS
     60   This menu item exits to DOS but allows user to save any unsaved changes.
     61  * Load BIOS from file
     62   Loads any file with .BIN extension to be flashed.
     63  * Load BIOS from EEPROM
     64   This menu item appears only when supported version of XTIDE Universal BIOS is detected. It loads the BIOS from EEPROM to be reconfigured.
     65  * Load old settings from EEPROM
     66   This menu item appears only when supported version of XTIDE Universal BIOS is detected and same or another supported version is loaded to be configured. It loads the old settings so that the new version does not need to be reconfigured when updating XTIDE Universal BIOS to new version.
     67  * Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS
     68   All XTIDE Universal BIOS settings can be found and configured from this sub menu.
     69  * Flash EEPROM
     70   Settings for EEPROM flashing.
     71
     72== Menuitems on Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS submenu ==
     73  * Back to previous menu
     74   Resumes back to main menu.
     75  * Primary IDE Controller
     76  * Secondary IDE Controller
     77  * Tertiary IDE Controller
     78  * Quaternary IDE Controller
     79  * Quinary IDE Controller
     80   IDE Controller menu items appear based on selected number of IDE controllers.
     81  * Boot menu settings
     82   Opens sub menu for configuring boot menu. This menu item appears only when Boot loader type is set to Menu.
     83  * Late initialization
     84   Normally expansion card BIOSes are initialized before POST completes. Some (older) systems initialize expansion card BIOSes before they have initialized themselves. This might cause problems since XTIDE Universal BIOS requires some main BIOS functions for drive detection. This problem can be fixed by using late initialization to detect drives on boot loader. Late initialization requires that XTIDE Universal BIOS is the last BIOS that installs INT 19h handler. Make sure that XTIDE ROM is configured to highest address if you have other storage device controllers present.
     85  * Maximize disk size
     86   Old BIOSes reserve diagnostic cylinder (landing zone cylinder for MFM drives) that is not used. Later BIOSes do not reserve it to allow more data to be stored. Do not maximize disk size if you need to move the drive between XTIDE Universal BIOS controlled systems and systems with cylinder reserving BIOSes.
     87  * Full operating mode
     88   Full mode supports up to 5 IDE controllers (10 drives). Full mode reserves a bit of RAM from top of base memory. This makes possible to use ROM Basic and software that requires top of interrupt vectors where XTIDE Universal BIOS parameters would be stored in lite mode. Lite mode supports only one IDE controller (2 drives) and stores parameters to top of interrupt vectors (30:0h) so no base RAM needs to be reserved. Lite mode cannot be used if some software requires top of interrupt vectors. Usually this is not a problem since only IBM ROM Basic uses them. Tandy 1000 models with 640 kiB or less memory need to use lite mode since top of base RAM gets dynamically reserved by video hardware. This happens only with Tandy integrated video controller, not with expansion graphics cards. It is possible to use full mode if reserving RAM for video memory + what is required for XTIDE Universal BIOS. This would mean 129 kiB but most software should work with 65 kiB reserved.
     89  * kiB to steal from RAM
     90   Parameters for detected hard disks must be stored somewhere. In full mode they are stored to top of base RAM. At the moment 1 kiB is always enough but you might want to steal more if you want to use full mode with Tandy 1000. This menu item appears only when full operating mode is enabled.
     91  * Number of IDE controllers
     92   Number of IDE controllers handled by XTIDE Universal BIOS. This menu item appears only when full operating mode is enabled.
     93
     94== Menuitems on IDE Controller submenus ==
     95  * Back to previous menu
     96   Resumes back to Configure XTIDE Universal BIOS submenu.
     97  * Master drive
     98  * Slave drive
     99   Drive specific settings for master and slave drives.
     100  * Bus type
     101    * 8-bit dual port (XTIDE)
     102     8-bit ISA controllers with two data ports. This is what the XTIDE card uses.
     103    * 8-bit single port
     104     8-bit ISA controllers with one data port.
     105    * 16-bit
     106     16-bit I/O for ISA (16-bit), VLB and PCI controllers.
     107    * 32-bit generic
     108     Generic 32-bit I/O for VLB and PCI controllers.
     109  * Base (cmd block) address
     110   IDE controller command block address is the usual address mentioned for IDE controllers. By default the primary IDE controller uses port 1F0h and secondary controller uses port 170h. XTIDE uses port 300h by default.
     111  * Control block address
     112   IDE controller control block address is normally command block address + 200h. For XTIDE the control block registers are mapped right after command block registers so use command block address + 8h for XTIDE.
     113  * Enable interrupt
     114   IDE controller can use interrupts to signal when it is ready to transfer data. This makes possible to do other tasks while waiting drive to be ready. That is not useful in MS-DOS but using interrupts frees the bus for any DMA transfers. Polling mode is used when interrupts are disabled. Polling usually gives a little better access times since interrupt handling requires extra processing. There can be some compatibility issues with some old drives when polling is used with block mode transfers.
     115  * IRQ
     116   IRQ channel to use. All controllers managed by XTIDE Universal BIOS can use the same IRQ when MS-DOS is used. Other operating systems are likely to require different interrupts for each controller. This menu item appears only when interrupts are enabled.
     117
     118== Menuitems on Master and Slave drive submenus ==
     119  * Block mode transfers
     120   Block mode will speed up transfers since multiple sectors can be transferred before waiting next data request. Normally block mode should always be kept enabled but there is at least one drive with buggy block mode implementation.
     121  * User specified CHS
     122   Specify (P-)CHS parameters manually instead of autodetecting them. This can be used to limit drive size for old operating systems that do not support large hard disks. Limiting cylinders will work for all drives but drives may not accept all values for heads and sectors per track.
     123  * Cylinders
     124  * Heads
     125  * Sectors per track
     126   Number of user specified P-CHS cylinders, heads and sectors per track. These menu items appear only when user specified CHS is enabled.
     127
     128== Menuitems on Boot menu settings submenu ==
     129  * Back to previous menu
     130   Resumes back to XTIDE Universal BIOS configuration menu.
     131  * Default boot drive
     132   Default drive will be set selected by default when Boot Menu is displayed.
     133  * Display drive info 
     134   Boot Menu can display some details about the drives in system. Reading this data is slow on XTs so you might want to hide drive information.
     135  * Display ROM boot
     136   Some old systems have Basic or DOS in ROM. Since most systems don't have either, ROM Boot setting is disabled by default. Enable it if you have use for it.
     137  * Maximum height
     138   Boot Menu maximum height in characters.
     139  * Min floppy drive count
     140   Detecting correct number of floppy drives might fail when using floppy controller with it's own BIOS. Minimum number of floppy drives can be specified to force non-detected drives to appear on boot menu.
     141  * Selection timeout
     142   Boot Menu selection timeout in seconds. When time goes to zero, currently selected drive will be booted automatically. Timeout can be disabled by setting this to 0.
     143  * Swap boot drive numbers
     144   Some old operating systems (DOS) can only boot from Floppy Drive A (00h) or first Hard Disk (80h, usually drive C). Drive Translation can be used to modify drive numbers so that selected drive will be mapped to 00h or 80h so that it can be booted.
     145  * Boot loader type
     146   * Boot menu
     147    Boot menu where user can select drive to boot from.
     148   * Simple boot loader
     149    Typical A, C, INT 18h boot order.
     150   * System boot loader
     151    Uses main BIOS boot loader or boot loader provided by some other BIOS. System boot loader works only when late initialization is disabled since late initialization is done on a boot loader.
     152
     153== Settings for Flash EEPROM submenu ==
     154  * Back to previous menu
     155   Resumes to main menu.
     156  * Start flashing
     157   Writes (configured) BIOS to EEPROM.
     158  * SDP command
     159   * None
     160    Do not use Software Data Protection. Meant for EEPROMs that do not support SDP.
     161   * Enable
     162    Write protects the EEPROM after flashing. Software Data Protection should always be enabled if EEPROM supports it.
     163   * Disable
     164    Disables Software Data Protection after flashing.
     165  * EEPROM address
     166   Address (segment) where EEPROM is located.
     167  * Page size
     168   Larger page size will improve write performance but not all EEPROMs support large pages or page writing at all. Byte writing mode will be used when page size is set to 1. Byte writing mode is supported by every EEPROM. Large pages cannot be used with slow CPUs.
     169  * Generate checksum byte
     170   PC BIOSes require checksum byte to the end of expansion card BIOS ROMs. Checksum generation can be disabled so any type of binaries can be flashed.
     171
    292172----
    293173
    … …  
    385265
    386266=== Known good microdrives ===
    387 *Hitachi 6GB (model HMS360606D5CF00)
     267  * Hitachi 6GB (model HMS360606D5CF00)
    388268
    389269=== Known microdrives with problems ===
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