*********** ABOUT APS POWER TOOLS™ 2.8.2 ***********
APS Power Tools 2.8.2 (formerly "Alliance Power Tools") is a major update from version 2.7.4; it is a minor update from version 2.8.1. It includes several important new features about which you should become familiar before using it.
*********** NEW IN APS POWER TOOLS 2.8.2 ************
------------ Improved Macintosh Plus Support -------------
APS Power Tools v2.8.2 adds the ability to "retrograde" drives that have been installed previously with the SCSI Manager 4.3 compliant driver. The Macintosh Plus cannot boot from drives formatted with the SCSI Manager 4.3-compliant version of the driver. For more information about this, please see the section "Known Issues" later in this document.
*********** NEW IN APS POWER TOOLS 2.8.1 ************
---------------- PowerMacintosh Support ----------------
APS Power Tools v2.8.1 adds full support for Apple's new PowerMacintosh™ models 6100, 7100 and 8100. All owners of the PowerMacintosh should install the new driver from version 2.8.1 on all drives using version 2.8 and earlier. Also adds support for SCSI Manager 4.3.1.
------------- Syquest 3270 and 5200 Support ------------
Adds support for the new SyQuest 3270 (270MB, 3.5") and SyQuest SQ5200 (200MB, 5.25"). When formatting, partitioning, or installing the driver on these cartridges under earlier versions of APT , an "Illegal Request" error message was displayed, but the formatting process would continue successfully when the warnings were cleared from the screen. Version 2.8.1 no longer causes these error messages to be displayed.
--------- Additional Support for Micropolis Drives --------
Added support for the Micropolis model 4110 1.2 GB drive. When formatting, partitioning, or installing the driver on the 4110 under earlier versions of APT, an "Illegal Request" error message was displayed, but the formatting process would continue successfully when the warnings were cleared from the screen. Version 2.8.1 no longer causes these error messages to be displayed. Also enabled RCD bit on Micropolis 2200 series drives to improve partition map stability.
************ NEW IN APS POWER TOOLS 2.8 ************
--------------- SCSI Manager 4.3 Support ----------------
If your Macintosh takes advantage of SCSI Manager 4.3 (i.e., Quadra 840av, Quadra 660av), APT 2.8 adds the following new and improved features:
• Asynchronous SCSI I/O: Allows a device driver to maintain multiple outstanding requests.
• Phase-cognizant implementation: SCSI Manager 4.3 follows the phases driven by a target. This feature will help speed the addition of support for new devices.
• Disconnect/reconnect: Maximizes the use of the SCSI Bus by allowing a device to disconnect and release control of the bus while the device processes a command and then to reconnect when the device is finished. This allows requests to be processed in parallel on multiple devices.
• Parity Support: Parity is now completely supported. To take full advantage of this feature, make sure that each SCSI drive connected has its Bus Parity enabled (which is the default on most vendors' drives). APS ships its drives with Parity enabled.
• SCSI-2 support: All SCSI-2 mandatory messages and protocol actions are supported.
• SCSI Direct Memory Access (DMA): Onboard Direct Memory Access (DMA) can be used to allow the computer to perform other functions while data is transferred to or from the SCSI bus.
• Full support for multiple buses: SCSI Manager 4.3 includes support for multiple buses (16-bit and 32-bit buses included).
• Full support for multiple logical units: SCSI Manager 4.3 allows full access to LUNs 0-7 on each SCSI ID. Each LUN is treated as a separate entity and each LUN can maintain its own request queue.
The driver will take advantage of the SCSI Manager 4.3 extension (when Apple releases it) without any extra effort. (The driver continues to scan for the availability of 4.3 for 2 minutes after starting up.)
To determine whether the driver is using asynchronous support, do a "Get Info" on the drive and check the "Where" field. If it reads "NS-SCSI" it is using the old SCSI API; if it reads "NS-ACAM", it is using the new SCSI Manager 4.3 API (asynchronous).
If you have multiple SCSI drives connected to a Mac which supports SCSI Manager 4.3, APS recommends that all of them be formatted with APT 2.8 or later for optimum performance.
Data-Guard allows detection and recovery from communication losses with SCSI devices. Where other drivers freeze up when power is shut down APS Power Tools is able to recover and prevent the corruption of data.
APT includes a new selection in the "Utilities" menu called "Set Startup Delay". It can be used to configure your Mac to wait any period of time from 1 second to 31 seconds, allowing larger drives to become ready before attempting to boot. Note that the Macintosh executes the boot sequence after completing its internal diagnostics and memory checks, so this function may not be applicable to Mac's with large amounts of RAM.
When using this option, the value entered is stored in the Parameter RAM of your Macintosh. A value of "0" (or NO value) default to a 15-second delay. Values of 1 - 31 set a delay equal to that number in seconds.
----------- Updating Drives From Earlier Versions ----------
If you have a drive formatted with any earlier version 2.X of APS Power Tools (formerly "Alliance Power Tools"), simply launch APT 2.8.2, select the drive to be updated, and click the button "Install".
If you want to update a drive formatted by APT 1.X, you must backup all of your files first, then reformat the drive using "Auto Setup" in version 2.8.2.
If you want to install the driver on a drive formatted by a third-party formatting software, please backup your software from the drive, and completely reformat the drive, using "Auto Setup".
If you use Power Tools Assistant on your Macintosh, replace the installed version with version 1.5.7 on this diskette. The previous version is incompatible with APT 2.8.2.
If you need to install an older driver for some reason, you will need to change the name of the driver partition from "Apple_Driver43" to "Apple_Driver". Most older formatters will not recognize the "Apple_Driver43" partition and will not allow you to install a driver. To change the name, launch APT 2.8.X and activate the "Special" Menu by holding down Command Key and pressing the letter "S". You will be asked if you want to activate the "Special" menu. Click "Yes". Next, click the SCSI ID number of target drive. From the "Special" menu, select "Modify Partition Map". The program will ask for the partition entry to edit. The driver partition is usually at partition entry 2, so enter "2" and make sure that "pmParType" reads "Apple_Driver43". If so, remove the "43" from the end (so that the entry reads "Apple_Driver") and the older driver using the previous formatter utility.
--------------------- Known Issues ---------------------
ATTENTION MACINTOSH PLUS OWNERS: As shipped, the driver installed on your APS drive will not permit the drive to be booted on a Mac Plus. The driver is too large to load into the Plus's memory. APT 2.8.2 can "retrograde" your hard drive by installing the APT driver version 5.3 and reconfiguring the driver partition, all without reformatting the drive.
APT 2.8.2 automatically senses the environment in which it is running. If it finds that it is running on a Mac Plus, it wll install version 5.3 of the NS-SCSI driver, which is fully compatible with the Mac Plus and other Mac models; version 5.3, however, does NOT support SCSI Manager 4.3. If your APS Hard Drive needs to be used on both the Plus and other Mac models, it is recommended that version 5.3 be installed.
If APT 2.8.2 finds itself running on a Macintosh other than the Plus, it will assume that the SCSI Manager 4.3 compliant driver is to be installed on the target drive.
There are three ways the retrograde can be accomplished:
* IF THE DRIVE IS CONNECTED TO A MACINTOSH PLUS *
If the drive is connected to your Mac Plus, do NOT turn on the drive. Boot your Plus from another hard drive or from a bootable APT disk. [For information on creating a bootable APT diskette, dial the APS InfoFax system. From your Fax machine, dial 816-920-4150, and request document #70009 ("Creating Bootable APT Disks"). Press your fax machine's "Send" button to begin the receipt of this document.] Launch APT 2.8.2, turn on the target drive, and click the button "ID Search" when the main window appears. Select the SCSI ID of the target drive and click the "Install" button. You will be asked to select an icon to be used for the drive when it appears on your Mac's Desktop. Once you have selected the icon, click the "OK" button. The Retrograde is complete.
* IF THE DRIVE IS ATTACHED TO A MACINTOSH SE OR LATER *
If the drive is connected to a Macintosh other than the Mac Plus, and you want to retrograde it for compatibility with the Mac Plus, do NOT turn on the drive. Boot your Mac from another hard drive or from a bootable APT disk. [For information on creating a bootable APT diskette, dial the APS InfoFax system. From your Fax machine, dial 816-920-4150, and request document #70009 ("Creating Bootable APT Disks"). Press your fax machine's "Send" button to begin the receipt of this document.] Launch APT 2.8.2, turn on the target drive, and click the button "ID Search" when the main window appears. Select the SCSI ID of the target drive and click the "Install" button. You will be asked to select an icon to be used for the drive when it appears on your Mac's Desktop. Once you have selected the icon, HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY and click the "OK" button. Your Macintosh will beep, indicating it is installing version 5.3 of the driver and retrograding the driver partition. The Retrograde is complete.
* REFORMATTING THE DRIVE *
IMPORTANT! THIS PROCEDURE WILL CAUSE ALL DATA ON YOUR DRIVE TO BE ERASED. PROCEED ONLY AFTER YOU HAVE MADE A BACKUP!
Since APT 2.8.2 automatically senses the environment in which it is running. It will automatically install the Mac Plus Compatible driver if the drive is formatted while being connected to a Plus. If the drive is connected to a Macintosh other than the Mac Plus, and you want to format it for compatibility with the Plus, HOLD DOWN THE SHIFT KEY and click the button "Auto Setup".
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This concludes the summary of new key features included in APT 2.8.2. As always, if you have questions, please feel free to contact APS Technical Support at 800-334-7550.
