Tekram Technology DC-390 Series, User Manual, Page: 3 / 71

DC-390 Series User’s Manual
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Award BIOS with built-in NCR SCSI BIOS & DC-390 Controllers
– Possible Compatibility Problem:
Why and when the problem occurs
The built-in SCSI BIOS feature incorporated into some mainboards with Award BIOS is
meant to control NCR/Symbios Logic-based SCSI adapters that have no BIOS of their own.
Since the DC-390 controllers use Symbios SCSI chips, some mainboards with built-in NCR
or Symbios Logic SCSI BIOS may detect these cards and load their own BIOS to control
them. This happens because Award BIOS checks only the Vendor ID (NCR/Symbios) and
Class Code (SCSI device) to determine if a suitable adapter exists to enable the built-in SCSI
BIOS. This situation can arise with mainboards equipped with either of the following:
•
Earlier versions of Award BIOS with NCR SCSI BIOS support
•
NCR (Symbios) V3.0 SCSI BIOS built-in (supports only 53C810/20 chips)
How to verify if you have this problem
This problem can be verified by observing which BIOS banner is displayed upon bootup. If
an NCR or Symbios Logic BIOS banner is displayed, the problem exists. If only the Tekram
BIOS banner is displayed, there should be no problem. If the NCR or Symbios Logic banner
is observed, take out the DC-390 and make sure that the banner goes away. This will verify
that the built-in SCSI BIOS is being loaded to control the Tekram card. If this is the case, try
the following solutions:
Solutions
1. See if there is a way to set the built-in or “on-board” SCSI BIOS to “Disabled” instead
of “Enabled” or “Auto” in the mainboard’s BIOS Setup. This is the easiest solution if
such an option is available. If not, see if a BIOS upgrade for the mainboard is available
with this option.
2. Remove the built-in SCSI BIOS from the mainboard’s Award BIOS using PROG.ZIP –
available at http://www.tekram.com or ftp://ftp.tekram.com . This file contains the
following files:
PROG.BAT Batch file used to remove built-in NCR SCSI BIOS or
restore original mainboard BIOS. This is written by
Tekram.
AWDFLASH.EXE Utility to retrieve or program mainboard BIOS.
CBROM.EXE
Utility to remove built-in NCR SCSI BIOS from mainboard
BIOS’s binary file.