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Alienware Area-51 m5700 manual

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Table of contents for the manual

  • Page 1

    SATA Host Controller User Manual Revision 1.01 May 19, 2003 VIA TECHNOLOGIES, INC.[...]

  • Page 2

    Copyright Notice : Copyright © 2003 VIA Technologies Incorp orated. All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reprod uced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a re trieval system, or translated into any la nguage, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani cal, magnetic, optical, chemical, manu al or otherwise without the prior wr[...]

  • Page 3

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 i Revision History Revision History Document Release Date Revision Initials 1.0 5/15/03 Initial public release AT 1.01 5/19/03 Updated pictures i n the RAID software section AT[...]

  • Page 4

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 i Table of Contents Table of Contents Revision History............................................................................................................... .................................. i Table of Contents ............................................................[...]

  • Page 5

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 1 Introduction I NTRODUCTION This section gives a brief in troduction on the RA ID-related backg round knowledge and a br ief introduction on VIA SATA RAID Host Controller. For users wishing to install their VIA SATA RAID driv er and RAID software, proceed to Dri ver and RAID Soft[...]

  • Page 6

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 2 Introduction JBOD (Spanning) A spanning disk array is equal to th e sum of the all drives when the driv es used are having diff erent capacities. Spann ing sto res data onto a drive until it is full, th en proceeds to store files on to the next drive in th e array. When any disk[...]

  • Page 7

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 3 Installing The Hard Drives I NSTALLING T HE H ARD D RIVES The VT6420 SATA controller provides the fol lowing two configurati ons: 1. Two SATA + Two PATA Configuratio n: VT6420 supports two “Master” SATA hard disk dr ives and one “Master”, one “Slave ” PATA hard disk [...]

  • Page 8

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 4 BIOS Configuratio n Utility BIOS C ONFIGURATION U TILITY Enter BIOS Configuration Utility When the system powers on, the fo llowing information will appear on screen. Press the ‘Tab’ key to enter BIOS configuration utility. The main interface of BIOS configuration utility is[...]

  • Page 9

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 5 BIOS Configuratio n Utility Create Disk Array 1. Use the arrow keys to navigate t he main m enu. Use the up and down a rrow keys t o select the Create Array comm and and press <Enter> to call out the list o f creation steps.[...]

  • Page 10

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 6 BIOS Configuratio n Utility 2. Select Array Mode and press <Enter>, a list of array modes will appear. Highlight the target array mode that you want to create, and press <Enter> to confirm the sel ection. If RAID 1 or RAID 0/1 is selected, an option list will popup a[...]

  • Page 11

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 7 BIOS Configuratio n Utility 4. If user selects a RAID 0 array in step 2, the block si ze of the array can also be selected. Use the arrow key to highli ght Block Size and press <Enter>, then select a block size from the popup menu. The block size can be 4KB to 64KB. 5. Use[...]

  • Page 12

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 8 BIOS Configuratio n Utility Delete Disk Array A RAID can be deleted after it has been created . To delete a RAID, use the following steps: 1. Select Delete Array in the main menu and press <Enter>. The chann el column will be activated. 2. Select the member of an array tha[...]

  • Page 13

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 9 BIOS Configuratio n Utility Create and Delete Spare Hard Drive If a RAID 1 array is created and there are drives that do not be long to other arrays, the one that has a capacity which is equa l to or greater than the array capacity can be selected as a spare drive for t he RAID [...]

  • Page 14

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 10 BIOS Configuratio n Utility Select Boot Array User can select a disk array as boot de vice if user wants to b oot o perating system from an array. Boot di sk array cann ot be selected if the operatin g system does not b oot from the disk array . Highl ight t he Select Boot Arra[...]

  • Page 15

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 11 BIOS Configuratio n Utility View Serial Number of Hard Drive Highlight Serial Number View and press <Enter>. Use arrow key to select a dri ve, the selected drive’s serial number can be viewed in the last colum n. The serial num ber is assigned by the disk drive m anufac[...]

  • Page 16

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 12 BIOS Configuratio n Utility Duplicate Critical RAID 1 Array When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if the RAID 1 arra y has any incon sistencies between user data and b ackup data. If BIOS detects any inconsistencies, th e status of the disk array will be marked as critic[...]

  • Page 17

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 13 BIOS Configuratio n Utility Rebuild Broken RAID 1 Array When booting up the system, BIOS will detect if any member disk drives of RAID has failed or is absent. If BIOS detects any disk drive failures or missing disk d rives, the status of the array will b e marked as broken. If[...]

  • Page 18

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 14 BIOS Configuratio n Utility 1. Power off and Check the Failed Drive: This item turns off t he computer and replaces the failed hard dr ive with a good one. If your co m puter does not support APM, you must turn off your co mputer manu ally. After repl acing the hard drive, boo [...]

  • Page 19

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 15 Driver and RAID Software Installation D RIVER AND RAID S OFTWARE I NSTALLATION Microsoft Windows Driver Installation 1. After Windows has finished booting up, th e system will au tomatically find the newly installed adapter and prompt the Found New Hardware Wizard window. Click[...]

  • Page 20

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 16 Driver and RAID Software Installation 3. Confirm t he follow-up dialogue windows to fi nish the installa tion. 4. When in stallation is completed, click Finish to restart the system.[...]

  • Page 21

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 17 Driver and RAID Software Installation Verify Installation After the driver installation is completed and the system has restarted: 1. Right-clic k on My Computer and select Properties from t he popup menu. 2. From the popup window, cl ick on Hardware and then click on Device Ma[...]

  • Page 22

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 18 RAID Software RAID S OFTWARE Installation The RAID software is installed simultaneously with d river installation.[...]

  • Page 23

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 19 RAID Software Getting Start After installing the GUI software, it will be automatically started every time Windows is initiated. An icon will appear in the system t ray of the tool bar to indicat e that GUI software is currently running. Double click on the system tray icon to [...]

  • Page 24

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 20 RAID Software The main interface is divide d into two windo ws and the toolbar above contain the m ain functions. Click on t hese toolbar button s to execute t heir specifi c funct ions. T he left windowpane displa ys the co ntroller a nd dis k drives a nd the ri ght wi ndowpan[...]

  • Page 25

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 21 RAID Software View Online Help Click on to launch the Help Topics. It is recomme nded that y ou read through the help article s before using RAID utility.[...]

  • Page 26

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 22 RAID Software View Controller and Device Status Click on or button to determine the viewing type of left window pane. T here are tw o viewi ng types : By cont rollers and by device. Click on t he object in the left windowpane t o display the status of t he object in the right w[...]

  • Page 27

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 23 RAID Software Create Disk Array 1. Depending on users’ pre ferences, there are three butt ons used t o create a dis k array: RAID 1, Span, and RAID 0. Click on the RAID but ton you want to create, t he Select Array Creating Method will be displayed. Auto : The utility will ar[...]

  • Page 28

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 24 RAID Software 2. Click on Auto to la unch the creati ng array wi ndow. If Custom is selected, the available disks window lists the available disk drives that can be used t o create the array. Select a disk drive and click on the right arrow button to add th e specified disk dri[...]

  • Page 29

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 25 RAID Software 3. A warning message will pop up after clicking on Create button. Cli ck Yes to finish the creati on of disk array, or No to cancel. 4. A message box will popup to prompt the user that disk array has been created successfully and ask the user whether to restar t t[...]

  • Page 30

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 26 RAID Software Delete Disk Array 1. Select the disk array that you w ant to delete from the left w indowpane, click on Remove Arr ay , a warning m essage will pop up. 2. Clic k Yes to delete the specified disk array o r click No to cancel.[...]

  • Page 31

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 27 RAID Software 3. A message box will popup to prompt the user that disk array ha s been removed successfully and ask the user whether to restar t the computer. Click Yes to restart the com puter or click No to skip restarting. The new setting will tak e effect only after restart[...]

  • Page 32

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 28 RAID Software Add and Remove Spare Disk Drive Add Spare Disk Drive A spare disk drive can be a dded when a RAID 1 array is created. The capacity of the sp are dis k drive must be greater than or equal to the capacity of the RAID 1 array. If there is no spare disk drive in a RAI[...]

  • Page 33

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 29 RAID Software 4. A message box will popup to prom pt the us er that a spare disk drive has been succes sfully a dded to the specific R AID 1 array , and ask whether the user would like to restart the computer. Click Yes to restart the com puter or click No to skip restarting. T[...]

  • Page 34

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 30 RAID Software Remove Spare Disk Drive Spare disk drives can be removed from a specified RAID 1 and changed into norm al hard disk drives. 1. Select the RAID 1 a rray that y ou want to remove f rom the spare disk d rives in th e left windo wpane, an d click on , a warning messag[...]

  • Page 35

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 31 RAID Software Check All Disks You can check whet her the di sk drives are working no rmally at any time by cli cking on . After the disk check is completed, a dialog window will pop up to show the stat us of each disk. See picture below. The hard disk dri ve must be com patible[...]

  • Page 36

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 32 RAID Software View Event Log The RAID software records important events into a log file, su ch as disk array creation, dis k array removal, disk failure, synchronization…etc. 1. Clic k on to display the even t log. There are three types of log items: Information , Warning , a[...]

  • Page 37

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 33 RAID Software 2. To view the de tails of a log item, you can double click on th e log item, select the log item and press <Enter>, or select th e log item and click on Operation->View Detail in the m enu bar. The following d ialog will appear. Click on or to browse the[...]

  • Page 38

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 34 RAID Software Verify Mirror Disk The data on the mi rror disk must be the sam e with its corresponding source disk to provide fault tole rance for RAID 1. 1. Select a RAID 1 array. Right-click the selected RAID, then a shortcut m enu will be shown. Click on Verify Mirror to ver[...]

  • Page 39

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 35 RAID Software 2. After executing the “v erify mirror” command, a dialog box will show th e verifying process. This action can paused or cancel ed at any tim e. It may take a long tim e to verify the source and m irror disk if the capacity of the RAID is large. 3. When mirro[...]

  • Page 40

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 36 RAID Software Synchronize Mirror Disk RAID 1 arrays must be synchron ized when the data on th e mirro r disk is not identical with its corresp onding source disk. Sometimes t he data on the m i rror disk m ay be newe r than the dat a on the source disk. For exam ple, the source[...]

  • Page 41

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 37 RAID Software 2. After synchronization has star ted, a dialog box will show the process. This action can be paused or canceled at any time. 3. An informing message will appear when the synchro nization is finished.[...]

  • Page 42

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 38 RAID Software Disk Error Detection The RAID software will pop up an error messa ge if a disk drive fails or m issing.[...]

  • Page 43

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 39 RAID Software Duplicate Critical RAID 1 Array When booting up the system, the RAID utility will detect if th ere are any inconsistencies between the sour ce and mirror disk dr ives of the RAID 1 array. If the software detects that a RAID 1 ar ray has any inconsistencies, the st[...]

  • Page 44

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 40 RAID Software Rebuild Broken RAID 1 Array After booting up the system, the RAID utility will detect if any me mber disk drives of the RAID 1 array has failed or is absent . If the RAID utility detects any disk dr ive failures or missing disk drives, th e status of the array wil[...]

  • Page 45

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 41 RAID Software 3. Select a disk drive from Available Disks and click on to replace the broken drive and then click Next .[...]

  • Page 46

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 42 RAID Software 4. A warning message will appear. If you want to rebuild the RAID using the disk driver that you selected in the previous step , click Next . Warning: All the data on the selected d isk drive will be lost. 5. Reboot the system 6. This RAID is marked as a criti cal[...]

  • Page 47

    VT6420 User Manual – SATA Controller Revision 1 .01 , May 19, 2003 43 RAID Software Icon View All icon t ypes and their cor respondi ng meani ngs are li sted belo w. The re al status of an array or a di sk dri ve is descri bed on “Array status” or “Device status” in the right windowpane. Normal Disk Array Disk Array with Warning status Br[...]