Specialix AT cards in FT//ex 1000

It has been seen that when using the AT Specialix SI/XIO card (product code XB54693) in the FT//ex 1000 that a clash can occur with the Adaptec AIC-7870 on-board PCI SCSI adapter.

The PCI BIOS is supposed to eliminate clashes with other devices automatically if it knows about such devices. The PCI BIOS gets information about other cards from various locations including the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) settings. For AT cards not automatically recognised by the ECU, such as the Specialix AT SI/XIO, the vendor supplied configuration file (CFG file) is added to the configuration when running the ECU.

Once this Specialix CFG file is added to the ECU in this way the PCI BIOS should move the Adaptec AIC-7870 if there is a clash. However, this mechanism does not function correctly. The default memory address for the AIC-7870 is D0000 and the Specialix card is supplied set to this address also. The clash may not result in a panic, a system has been seen where the PCI BIOS moved the 7870 to D1000, which is not outside the 32k range used by the Specialix.

We recommend using a memory address of D8000 for the AT card when it is required below 1Mb. The switch and jumper settings for D8000 are:

	SW1 = 0	SW2 = D	LK1 = 8

Note that such an address below 1Mb should have the BIOS shadowing option disabled in the BIOS Utility
(<cntrl><alt><escape> during boot).

If a second Specialix AT card is required the only option is to define a “hole” in the memory at 15-16Mb by setting this area as reserved for an add-in card in ROM BIOS setup as follows:

1. Enter the BIOS Utility with <cntrl><alt><escape> during boot.
   
   
2. Select “Advanced System Configuration”
   
   
3. Select “Memory at 15MB-16MB Reserved For” and set it to “Add-on Card”

The card can then be set to an address within this 15-16Mb range by setting SW1 to F. An address of 15Mb would be set as follows:

SW1 = F SW2 = 0 LK1 = 0

Apricot recommend using the EISA SI/XIO card in the FT//ex as it can be set at an address well above any RAM installed, thus eliminating clashes with the 7870 and having to lose 1Mb of RAM at 15Mb. The EISA card should also provide improved serial performance. The EISA card can be used with Modular Terminal Adapters (MTAs) to create an XIO system, or Terminal Adapters (TA’s) to create an SI system. Indeed, the same is true for the AT and MCA cards. We also recommend the use of the Specialix RIO system.

Refer to IPB 3186 for a description of the XIO system and installation notes in FT//ex and FT//ex 1000.

Refer to IPB 3187 for a description of the RIO system and installation notes in FT//ex and FT//ex 1000.

Note that the problem referred to in IPB 3173 does not occur with the FT//ex 1000. This problem was one that occurred with early FT//ex BIOS where the AT SI/XIO card’s CFG file, when added with the ECU, would corrupt the CMOS memory leaving the machine non-bootable.

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