Intel Ultra ATA Companion
Intel(R) Ultra ATA Companion Help Index

Intel(R) Ultra ATA Companion Help

1. Overview

2. Displaying Controller and/or Device Information

3. How to Change a Device's Maximum ATA Transfer Mode

4. The File/View Report Feature

5. Support Information

1. Overview

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The Intel Ultra ATA Companion is a Win32 application which works in tandem with the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver to provide detailed, useful information about the storage subsystem.  The Companion queries the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver via its IOCTL interface to obtain detailed Ultra ATA Controller and device information, which is displayed on the screen and can be dumped to a log file.  The Companion can also be used to set a particular ATA or ATAPI device's transfer mode limit (described in detail below).

This application is installed via the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver Setup program.  For information on running the setup program, please see the README.TXT file.

2.  Displaying Controller and/or Device Information

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When started, the Intel Ultra ATA Companion's left window (the "Devices" window) contains entries for the Intel Ultra ATA controller and all connected ATA/ATAPI devices.  Selecting a particular controller or device in the Devices windows causes the application to display the corresponding configuration parameters in the Companion's right window (the "Parameters" window).  Parameters shown with an oscilloscope icon are read-only; parameters shown with a wrench icon are read-write.  The various parameters are described below:

Controller Parameters:

Name	Description

IDE Controller	Controller product name

Driver Build	Device driver product name

Driver Version	Device driver version

VxD Build (1)	VSD device driver product name

VxD Version (1)	VSD device driver version

IDE Controller Tri-State	Reports if controller is tri-stated

PIO Mode Support	PIO modes supported by controller

DMA SW Mode Support	Single-word DMA modes supported by controller

DMA MW Mode Support	Multi-word DMA modes supported by controller

UDMA Mode Support	Ultra DMA modes supported by controller

Timeout Value (2)	Reports command timeout value

Flush Enable (2)	Reports if run-time disk cache write flush is enabled

Device Parameters:

Name	Description

Model	Device model name

Firmware	Device firmware revision

Serial #	Device serial number

Device Type	Reports type of device (ATA -fixed, ATAPI - removable, etc.)

PIO Mode Support	PIO modes supported by device

DMA SW Mode Support	Single-word DMA modes supported by device

DMA MW Mode Support	Multi-word DMA modes supported by device

UDMA Mode Support 	Ultra DMA modes supported by device

LBA (3)	Logical Block Address information

CHS (3)	Cylinder Head Sector information

CHS sectors (3)	Number of CHS sectors

Disk Size (3)	Total size of disk

Default Transfer Mode	Device's power-up default transfer mode

Current Transfer Mode	Device's current, configured transfer mode

Transfer Mode Limit	Used to limit Current Transfer Mode, applies to any device connected to that cable position

Cable Type (Host)	Reports if system BIOS recognizes the device is	connected via a 40- or 80-conductor ATA cable

Notes:	(1) Only displayed on Microsoft Windows* 98

(2) Only displayed on Microsoft Windows NT4.0

(3) Only displayed for ATA fixed disk drive devices

3. How to Change a Device's Maximum ATA Transfer Mode

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NOTE:  The Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver automatically configures devices for their optimal transfer modes; changing the default "No Limit" setting may cause adverse system effects.

At system boot, the Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver configures each ATA/ATAPI device to transfer data at particular transfer modes.  These transfer modes are defined by ATA standards, and are either Programmed I/O (PIO) or Direct Memory Access (DMA or UltraDMA) type transfers.  The Intel Ultra ATA Storage Driver usually configures devices for their fastest capable transfer modes; however, there may be times when a different (perhaps slower) transfer mode is appropriate for a particular device or system configuration.  To change a particular device's maximum configurable transfer mode, the device's Transfer Mode Limit parameter can be set to a value other than "No Limit."

To change the value of this parameter, first select the target device in the Devices window.  Next, double-click the parameter name "Transfer Mode Limit" in the Parameters window - this causes the "Edit Parameter" dialog box to appear.  Next, choose a value in the "Parameter Data" pulldown and select "OK" to change the value.  This change will cause the Transfer Mode Limit parameter wrench icon to flash, indicating that its value has been changed.  The parameter value change does not take effect, however, until the "File/Commit Changes Now" is selected, or the application is shut down (at which point, the application will prompt the user to "Commit Changes Now").  Whenever a device's transfer mode limit is changed, the change will not take effect until the system is restarted.

4. The File/View Report Feature

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Select "File/View Report" to view a text report of the storage subsystem. The text report contains a variety of detailed info pertaining to the storage subsystem, including:  operating system information; system registry information; platform information; driver information; controller information including a hex dump of PCI configuration register values; channel information; and device information including a hex dump of each device's IdentifyDrive/IdentifyPacketDevice data.

 5. Support Information

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For further information and the latest troubleshooting information, contact your system provider, or visit http://support.intel.com.

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DISCLAIMER

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Intel Corporation makes no claims of usability, efficacy or warranty.  The INTEL SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT (Final, Single User) completely defines the licensed use of this software.  Intel disclaims all warranties and liabilities for the use of this document and the information contained herein, and assumes no responsibility for any errors which may appear in this document, nor does Intel make a commitment to update the information contained herein. Intel reserves the right to make changes to this document at any time, without notice.

* Third-party brands and names are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright (c) Intel Corporation, 1999