Changeset 508 in xtideuniversalbios for wiki/Manual_v2_0_0.wiki


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Timestamp:
Mar 2, 2013, 3:39:15 PM (11 years ago)
Author:
aitotat@…
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aitotat@gmail.com
Message:

Updated manual for v2.0.0 beta 3.

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  • wiki/Manual_v2_0_0.wiki

    r494 r508  
    1 #summary Instructions for XTIDE Universal BIOS v2.0.0
     1#summary Instructions for XTIDE Universal BIOS v2.0.0 beta 3
    22#labels Featured,Phase-Deploy
    33*Table of Contents*
     
    3535  * Hard disk autodetection
    3636  * Autodetected capacity, both CHS and LBA, can be overridden to make drive appear smaller than it actually is
    37   * Hotkeys and optional Boot menu (included in official 15k builds) for selecting any floppy drive or hard disk to boot from, including hard disks that are not handled by XTIDE Universal BIOS
     37  * Hotkeys and optional Boot menu (included in official 12k builds) for selecting any floppy drive or hard disk to boot from, including hard disks that are not handled by XTIDE Universal BIOS
    3838  * Compact Flash and Microdrive support
    3939  * Support for most 8-, 16-, and 32-bit IDE controllers
     
    5050[http://code.google.com/p/xtideuniversalbios/wiki/BuildInstructions See build instructions for module descriptions].
    5151
    52 ||File||Description||MODULE_8BIT_IDE||MODULE_JRIDE||MODULE_ADVANCED_ATA||MODULE_BOOT_MENU||MODULE_IRQ||MODULE_SERIAL||MODULE_SERIAL_FLOPPY||ELIMINATE_CGA_SNOW||RELOCATE_INT13H_STACK||USE_186||USE_AT||
    53 ||ide_xt.bin||8088/8086 compatible 8 kiB XT build||√||√||-||-||-||√||√||√||-||-||-||
    54 ||ide_xtp.bin||8 kiB XT+ build requiring 80188/80186 or better||√||√||-||-||-||√||√||√||-||√||-||
    55 ||ide_at.bin||8 kiB AT build requiring 286 or better||-||-||√||-||√||√||√||-||√||√||√||
    56 ||ide_xtl.bin||8088/8086 compatible 15 kiB XT build||√||√||-||√||-||√||√||√||-||-||-||
    57 ||ide_xtpl.bin||15 kiB XT+ build requiring 80188/80186 or better||√||√||-||√||-||√||√||√||-||√||-||
    58 ||ide_atl.bin||15 kiB AT build requiring 286 or better||-||-||√||√||√||√||√||-||√||√||√||
     52||File||Description||MODULE_8BIT_IDE_ADVANCED||MODULE_ADVANCED_ATA||MODULE_BOOT_MENU||MODULE_IRQ||ELIMINATE_CGA_SNOW||RELOCATE_INT13H_STACK||USE_186||USE_286||USE_AT||
     53||ide_xt.bin||8088/8086 compatible 8 kiB XT build||√||-||-||-||√||-||-||-||-||
     54||ide_xtp.bin||8 kiB XT+ build requiring 80188/80186 or better||√||-||-||-||√||-||√||-||-||
     55||ide_at.bin||8 kiB AT build requiring 286 or better||-||√||-||√||-||√||√||√||√||
     56||ide_xtl.bin||8088/8086 compatible 12 kiB XT build||√||-||√||-||√||-||-||-||-||
     57||ide_xtpl.bin||12 kiB XT+ build requiring 80188/80186 or better||√||-||√||-||√||-||√||-||-||
     58||ide_atl.bin||12 kiB AT build requiring 286 or better||√||√||√||√||-||√||√||√||√||
    5959
    6060All official builds include the following modules and features:
    61 MODULE_STRINGS_COMPRESSED, MODULE_HOTKEYS, MODULE_EBIOS, MODULE_FEATURE_SETS and RESERVE_DIAGNOSTIC_CYLINDER
     61MODULE_STRINGS_COMPRESSED, MODULE_HOTKEYS, MODULE_EBIOS, MODULE_SERIAL, MODULE_SERIAL_FLOPPY, MODULE_FEATURE_SETS and RESERVE_DIAGNOSTIC_CYLINDER
    6262
    6363----
     
    6666== Important if you are upgrading from any previous XTIDE Universal BIOS version ==
    6767
    68 The new v2.0.0 beta 2 version, like most other BIOSes, adheres to the Phoenix Enhanced Disk Drive Specification. The older v1.x.x versions and v2.0.0 beta 1 do NOT - they may generate different L-CHS parameters for many drives. If you move a drive handled by a v1.x.x or v2.0.0 beta 1 BIOS to another system or upgrade to v2.x.x you risk data corruption if different L-CHS parameters are used.
    69 
    70 IMPORTANT! This means that, after upgrading to XTIDE Universal BIOS v2.0.0 beta 2, you need to re-create and format any partitions on drives handled by this BIOS.
     68The v2.0.0 beta 2 and later versions, like most other BIOSes, adheres to the Phoenix Enhanced Disk Drive Specification. The older v1.x.x versions and v2.0.0 beta 1 do NOT - they may generate different L-CHS parameters for many drives. If you move a drive handled by a v1.x.x or v2.0.0 beta 1 BIOS to another system or upgrade to v2.x.x you risk data corruption if different L-CHS parameters are used.
     69
     70IMPORTANT! This means that, after upgrading to XTIDE Universal BIOS v2.0.0 beta 2 or later, you need to re-create and format any partitions on drives handled by this BIOS.
    7171
    7272
    7373== Hardware supporting XTIDE Universal BIOS ROM ==
    7474
    75 The most convenient way to use XTIDE Universal BIOS is to use an [http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showwiki.php?title=XTIDE+Rev2 XTIDE card] or [http://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/Lo-tech_XT-CF_Board Lo-tech XT-CF] that hopefully will be available soon. They can be used on any PC with a free 8-bit ISA slot. You might not want to connect any drives to them in 16- or 32-bit systems since 8-bit transfers will be very slow. Using the XTIDE card allows EEPROM flashing so it is really easy to update XTIDE Universal BIOS.
     75The most convenient way to use XTIDE Universal BIOS is to use an [http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showwiki.php?title=XTIDE+Rev2 XTIDE card] or [http://www.lo-tech.co.uk/ Lo-tech XT-CF]. They can be used on any PC with a free 8-bit ISA slot. You might not want to connect any drives to them in 16- or 32-bit systems since 8-bit transfers will be very slow. Using the XTIDE card allows EEPROM flashing so it is really easy to update XTIDE Universal BIOS.
    7676
    7777Another option is to use any card with a free ROM socket for 8 kiB or larger ROMs. Official XTIDE builds are meant for 8 kiB and 16 kiB ROMs but you can burn it on a larger ROM if you append enough zeroes to the end (only append zeroes so checksum does not change). Many network cards have unused ROM sockets and there are also a few multi I/O cards and IDE controllers with ROM sockets. These cards remains fully usable even if you place a ROM with XTIDE Universal BIOS on them.
     
    137137  * Boot settings
    138138   Opens submenu for boot related settings such as should boot menu be enabled etc.
     139  * `*`Auto Configure
     140   Tries to automatically detect controllers and sets settings accordingly.
    139141  * Full operating mode [default=No for XT builds, not available for AT builds]
    140142   "Full operating mode" reserves a bit of Conventional memory for XTIDE Universal BIOS variables. Disabling this will reduce the maximum number of supported IDE controllers to 2 and place the variables in a memory area reserved for IBM ROM Basic (30:0h). You should always enable this option unless:
     
    170172   Opens submenu for Master/Slave Drive specific settings for this IDE Controller.
    171173  * Device Type [default=XTIDE for XT builds, 16-bit for AT builds]
    172    Type of device. 16-bit will support all standard IDE controllers, including VLB controllers. 32-bit will use 32-bit transfers on unidentified VLB/PCI controllers but those controllers usually require native support for full speed. Other devices include XTIDE rev1 (and rev2 slow mode), XTIDE mod with swapped A0 and A3 address lines (XTIDE rev2 fast mode), JR-IDE/ISA (requires MODULE_JRIDE), Lo-tech XT-CF and [SerialDrives support for virtual devices through serial port]. Note that a serial port controller must be the last configured IDE controller. XTIDECFG will automatically move any serial ports to the end of the list if needed. This is done so that serial floppy disks, if any are present, will be last on the list of drives detected.
     174    Following devices are supported:
     175    * 16-bit ISA/VLB/PCI IDE [default for AT builds]
     176      32-bit mode will be automatically enabled when supported VLB/PCI controller is detected.
     177    * 32-bit VLB/PCI IDE
     178      For those 32-bit controllers that do not require software support (PIO mode is set with jumpers). Can be used with all 32-bit controllers but PIO mode is 0 just like on 16-bit controllers.
     179    * 16-bit ISA IDE in 8-bit mode
     180      Allows to use 16-bit IDE controllers on XT systems. This will require drive that supports 8-bit transfers (CF card and Microdrives all support 8-bit mode).
     181    * XTIDE rev 1 [default for XT builds]
     182    * XTIDE rev 2 or modded rev 1
     183      XTIDE with A0 and A3 address lines swapped.
     184    * XT-CF v2/v3/Lite in PIO mode
     185    * XT-CF v2 in DMA mode
     186    * XT-CF v2 in memory mode
     187    * JR-IDE/ISA
     188    * Serial port virtual device
     189      Note that a serial port controller must be the last configured IDE controller. XTIDECFG will automatically move any serial ports to the end of the list if needed. This is done so that serial floppy disks, if any are present, will be last on the list of drives detected.
    173190  * Base (cmd block) address [default=300h for XT builds, 1F0h (Primary IDE) and 170h (Secondary IDE) for AT builds]
    174191   Command block (base port) address where the IDE Controller is located. JR-IDE/ISA does not use this setting.
     
    258275
    259276
     277== Smartdrive can slow down transfer rates ==
     278When smartdrive or other cache program is used, data is read from drive to RAM area used by the cache program. Then it is copied to the program RAM area. If same data is required again it is found from the cache. Reading from cache is a lot faster than reading from drive, especially when the drive is old.
     279
     280Modern drives are a lot faster and they have very large internal caches and data prefetch abilities. Modern drives are so fast on old computers that the extra CPU usage required by caching programs slow down more than reading directly from drive, at least with slow CPUs and small caches.
     281
     282Don't assume that disk caching makes things faster. Always test it first.
     283
     284
    260285== Importance of Shadow RAM ==
    261286Always enable Shadow RAM and ROM area caching if your systems supports them! They might speed up much more than you think. This is especially true on Pentium systems.
     
    299324= Other known problems =
    300325  * Flash utility hung the PC when saving settings on one occasion (maybe because the FDD entry point was via the BIOS just over-written?)
    301   * Lo-tech XT-CF support won't work with final product. Support will be updated when XT-CF is ready.
    302326  * Detecting non-available drives takes a lot longer on XT systems than on AT systems. Both have same timeout values so it is unclear what causes it.
    303327
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