Chapter 4: Understanding SCSI
●
18
Using SCSI Devices
If you connect SCSI devices (such as scanners, tape drives, zip drives, etc.) to your Adaptec
SCSI Card, you must install the device manufacturer’s proprietary software drivers. See your
device’s documentation for details.
Combining SCSI and Non-SCSI Devices
You can install an Adaptec SCSI Card in a system that already has a non-SCSI card, such as an
ATA, SATA, or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) controller. However, you cannot cross-connect the
disk drives and other devices: SCSI devices must be connected to an Adaptec SCSI card, ATA
devices must be connected to the ATA controller, and so on.
When you install an Adaptec SCSI Card and SCSI disk drives in a system that boots from a
non-SCSI disk drive, the system will continue to boot from the non-SCSI disk drive unless you
change the system’s CMOS configuration. You do not need to change the configuration if you
just want to use the SCSI drives for additional file storage space.
If your system’s motherboard BIOS supports the BIOS Boot Specification (BBS) feature, you
can select a different boot device without much difficulty. (To determine if the motherboard
BIOS supports BBS, refer to the system documentation or contact your motherboard
manufacturer.)
After you install the SCSI card and SCSI devices to use different kinds of disk drives in the
same system, see the following table for recommendations.
Installing Multiple SCSI Cards
You can install multiple SCSI cards in your system; you are limited only by the available system
resources (for example, IRQ settings, I/O port addresses, BIOS addresses, and so forth).
Each SCSI card you install forms a separate SCSI bus with a different set of SCSI devices. SCSI
IDs can be reused as long as the ID is assigned to a device on a different SCSI card (for example,
each SCSI card can have a device with SCSI ID 2).
If you have two or more SCSI cards and your system boots from a SCSI disk drive, leave the
SCSI card BIOS enabled on the SCSI card to which the boot disk drive is connected. Use
SCSI
Select
to disable the SCSI card BIOS on the other SCSI cards.
Does computer BIOS
support BBS?
Want computer to boot
from SCSI drive?
Then do this:
NO
NO
No action required. SCSI drives and non-SCSI
drives can be used together.
NO
YES
Run CMOS Setup program. Change primary
disk drive setting to None or No Drives
Installed (see system documentation). You
will not be able to use the non-SCSI drive(s) at
all when you boot from the SCSI drive.
YES
NO
No action required. SCSI drives and non-SCSI
drives can be used together.
YES
YES
Run CMOS Setup program and select SCSI
drive as boot device. SCSI drives and non-
SCSI drives can be used together.
