3. Operational Overview
13
Does the ZT 8952 support full 16-bit transfers?
Yes. When used in an STD 32 backplane with a 16-bit CPU board such as the ZT 8901,
ZT 8952 performs 16-bit transfers during the data transfer phase of a disk read or write.
16-bit transfers allow backplane transfers of up to 4 Mbytes/second. Only 8-bit transfers
are performed within older STD-80 series backplanes, or with 8-bit processors.
Can I use ZT 8952 with a CPU such as ZT 8910, which has a built in IDE
controller?
Yes. You can use ZT 8952 for hard disk service if it is possible to disable the IDE
controller on board the CPU (as with ZT 8910). Most of these CPUs need IRQ14
asserted by the off-board IDE controller. IRQ14 must then be routed to the appropriate
address so that the CPU card can service the interrupt. This is not supported by STD
DOS. Contact Ziatech for configuring the ZT 8952 in this manner.
What types of IDE drives can the ZT 8952 interface to?
The ZT 8952 has two connector locations for interfacing. The first, J1, is a 0.1 inch
center, right angle header that is used to cable to 3½ inch drives via a standard 0.050
inch ribbon cable. This is the type of cable found inside the typical PC-AT clone. The
second connector location, J2, allows for either a female, right angle, 2 mm connector
for direct drive mounting or a header style 2 mm cable used to cable to a remote drive
via a 1 mm ribbon cable 2½ inch drives use the 2 mm connector. The connector used
depends upon the connector type used by the drive.
Ziatech BIOS versions greater than 4.0 support a configurable drive parameter option
(called USER). This option allows the BIOS to immediately support new drives by
entering the exact number of cylinders, heads, and sectors.
Do I need to low-level format the IDE drive?
No, this is not recommended. The IDE concept isolates the user from the drive
interface. Manufacturers may occasionally take advantage of this to squeeze higher
capacity out of the drive. This is often done by varying the rotational speed of the drive
for different tracks; more data can be packed in outer tracks by slowing the disk down
for outside tracks. If a low-level format is issued the drive will typically zero the data and
return a completed status rather than actually put down new format data. Most
manufacturers do not recommend that their drive be low-level formatted.
How does the IDE drive differ from what I have in my PC-AT at home?
From a software standpoint the IDE drive behaves in identical fashion. The same tools
used to set up a "normal" AT hard disk are used for the ZT 8952-IDE combination.
FDISK is used to partition the drive. DOS FORMAT is used to format and enter the
system information into the hard disk. Do not confuse the DOS FORMAT utility with the
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