The previous principle (all or nothing) only applies to LVD.
For all the transfer protocols below LVD, you can/will
run each device at its max-rated transfer rate - as long as the
adapter/controller supports that protocol. In other words, As
long as your adapter supports the UW (UltraWide) protocol, you
can run an UW CDROM (like the Plextor I have) at 40MB/s, and a
SCSI-2 (also called fast SCSI) at 10MB/s. Each will operate at
their max speed. I had this wrong at one time, thinking that all
SCSI protocols defaulted to the lowest common denominator. I think
it was Darkheart who showed me the light on that.
If all this SCSI
protocol is confusing, don't feel bad. You're not alone. But sooner
than you think, it will start making sense to you. Really, you
only need to learn about your particular config. You don't have
to know everything about SCSI.
Just to confuse
you a little more, here's one more protocol nuance: you can run
both U2W (LVD, 80MB/s max) & Ultra160 (also LVD, 160MB/s max)
each at their own max-rated speeds - as long as the adapter is
U160-rated. In other words, if you have an U160-rated controller,
and two hard drives - one U2W, and one U160 - the U160 drive will
run at U160-rated speeds (160MB/s max), and the U2W drive will
run at 80MB/s (U2W speed).
So it should be
getting clear that LVD is the dividing line. At or above it, individual
devices won't affect/degrade other devices. While, the same goes
for devices below the LVD protocol. The is assuming, naturally,
that the SCSI adapter supports the max-rated speed/protocol of
the fastest device you want to use. Naturally, you cannot run
LVD devices at LVD speeds if your SCSI adapter does not support
the LVD protocol.
Generally, you
will have less problems with newer technology. Of course, brand
new technology always seems to have its share of growing pains
.. but I've found that the older devices tend to have more probs
than new ones - in general, with all else being equal.
Whenever you see
the word WIDE, that's talking about 16-bit bus. On the other hand,
anything that is not WIDE is NARROW. By definition, NARROW means
8-bit wide bus. To get your data x-fer rate, you multiply bus
bit width times frequency (MHz). In other words, 16-bit wide bus
(WIDE) times 40MHz (U2W runs at 40MHz) = 80MB/s. Somebody let
me know if I screwed up the math. But I'm pretty sure that's right.
A few years ago,
installing a SCSI system in your PC could've been a configuration
nightmare, but no more. Since most SCSI cards now have a bios,
they install surprisingly easy. For the Tekram DC390-U2W adapter,
when you install, let Windows install the generic Symbios driver,
then update that driver with the current one from Tekram.
Many SCSI enthusiasts
like to point out SCSI's advantages over the IDE/ATA interface/devices
.. such as, longer warrantees (typically 5 yrs vs 1-3 for IDE),
ability to use more devices (up to 15) with less IRQs. There are
other advantages, & some get technical, but all that doesn't
mean a hill of beans if you can't notice any improvement in performance.
That's where SCSI really shines - in actual use.
EvilHorace
has the Tekram DC-390U3W card and reports that you you'll
get a STOP ERROR when trying to install Windows, and that this
is solved by hitting the F6 key when prompted, then installing
the Tekram drivers you you should have ready & waiting on
a floppy (previously downloaded from Tekram site). He says this
procedure is described on page 62 of the manual. Thx Evil.
Regarding setting
up a Quantum Atlas 10K II on a Tekram DC390-U3W adapter, I read
a post where Puppet5 said this:
You may have trouble
recognizing the Quantum's. After your first boot, and before you
start to load more drivers as Windows asks, go to the Device Manager.
Under SCSI, you'll see 2 entries for you card. Each entry is one
channel. If have a yellow ! next to one of them, and you've
already loaded the drivers for both channels, and your system
is running in DOS compatibility mode (check the Performance tab)
click on the offending channel and click the Settings tab.
There you will see a blank, white box. In that box type: DisableDomainValidation=1,
and reboot. The controller should now recognize your Quantum's
as U160 and you system will return to 32bit operation. You may
also need to update SCSI card's BIOS, too.
ASPI stands
for Advanced SCSI Programming Interface.