Manual Number: 00431-220-5
Page A-4
SB586T Series Manual
Configuring an MFM Drive
If configuring an old MFM hard disk drive, you must know the drive parameters (number of heads,
number of cylinders, number of sectors, the starting write precompensation cylinder, and drive
capacity). Choose
Type
and choose the appropriate hard disk drive type (1 - 46). The old MFM
hard drive types are listed on page
A-5
. If the drive parameters of your MFM drive do not match
any drive type listed on page
A-5
, select
User
in the
Type
field and enter the drive parameters on
the screen that appears.
User-Defined Drive
If you are configuring a SCSI drive or an MFM, RLL, ARLL, or ESDI drive with drive parameters
that do not match drive types 1-46, you must select
User
in the
Type
field. You must then enter the
drive parameters on the screen that appears. The drive parameters include:
Parameter
Description
Type
The number for a drive with certain identification parameters.
Cylinders
The number of cylinders in the disk drive.
Heads
The number of heads.
Write Precompensation
The size of a sector gets progressively smaller as the track diameter
diminishes. Yet each sector must still hold 512 bytes. Write
precompensation circuitry on the hard disk compensates for the
physical difference in sector size by boosting the write current for
sectors on inner tracks. This parameter is the track number where
write precompensation begins.
Landing Zone
This number is the cylinder location where the heads will normally
park when the system is shut down.
Sectors
The number of sectors per track. MFM drives have 17 sectors per
track. RLL drives have 26 sectors per track. ESDI drives have 34
sectors per track. SCSI and IDE drives have more sectors per track.
Capacity
The formatted capacity of the drive is (Number of heads) x
(Number of cylinders) x (Number of sectors per track) x (512 bytes
per sector)
Configuring IDE Drives
If the hard disk drive to be configured is an IDE drive, select the appropriate drive (Pri Master, Pri
Slave, Sec Master, or Sec Slave). Choose the
Type
parameter and select Auto.
AMIBIOS automatically detects the IDE drive parameters and displays them. Click on the OK
button to accept these parameters.
Select
LBA/Large Mode
and choose
On
to enable support for IDE drives with capacities greater
than 528 MB.
Select
Block Mode
and choose
On
to support IDE drives that use Block Mode.
Select
32Bit Mode
and click on
On
to support IDE drives that permit 32-bit accesses.