Controller cards, the CUSL2, and Me(as in Myself, not the sh

[INFERNO2000 0]

I've been planning on getting a UDMA 33 controller card for my CD and DVD Roms, and free up a UDMA Controller on my mobo, a CUSL2.

 

Couple quick and probably easy questions:

 

Can I set up my BIOS in such a way as to recognize, and be able to boot off of the UDMA33 controller card controlled CD Roms?

 

Or am I limited to onboard controllers and SCSI alone(I saw nothing that would make me think IDE off hand)?

 

Also, if it can be booted off of(otherwise I won't get it), can you recommend any good controller cards? I don't need RAID or anything fancy(yet)...I just want to reapportion my resources(use the 100 controllers for 66 and 100, not 33 or PLO 4)

[FrogMaster 0]

If there is a bios option allowing booting from 'scsi' or 'other', the mobo bios should let the bios of the other device boot and take the lead.

I would be happy to have an answer to this question because I am also considering adding such an additional controller in my box to throw more disks in (Asus CUV4X mobo). I would consider an Ultra 66 controller thu.

Just a thought.

[ByronT 0]

I booted off one of my Plextor CDs connected to my Adaptec 2930CU to install Win2K with my CUSL2. (Although I had to disconnect the other two CD drives = Adaptec Bug = bootable CDs only work if the CD is a lone CD drive on the SCSI chain.)

 

HTH.

 

------------------

J. Byron Todd

Computer Consultant

byron@toddcomp.com

Todd Computer Solutions

[INFERNO2000 0]

I know how to boot off of SCSI, even though I don't have anything SCSI....

 

It's IDE drives I'm concerned about...

I'm not getting anything overly fancy, like a UDMA 66/100 RAID card...I just want a 33 to throw some CDs and maybe a ZIP on?

 

 

But I see nothing in the BIOS to make me think IDE will work..unless it falls under the SCSI category(which, with Intel's UltraATA drivers, who knows?)..

[ByronT 0]

Then let me restate what I intended for you to understand:

 

External IDE controllers look like SCSI devices to the motherboard.

 

Therefore, if I add my Promise Ultra100 and connect a CDROM drive with a bootable CD in it, and ensure that the Ultra100 is enumerated before any other SCSI-like device, AND tell the BIOS to boot of SCSI or other first, then the system will boot off the bootable CD.

 

Tested and used in my previous system and motherboard, a Tyan Tomahawk BX (S1856 model) computer system.

 

Did that help?

 

Now, concerning the Intel ATA drivers - they show the Ultra ATA devices as SCSI because of how Microsoft *identifies* SCSI devices. But that's primarily OS related, not hardware related.

[FrogMaster 0]

It is the same for example with the Abit Bp6.

HiPoint ide 66 is reported as scsi by the bios and by the os even if it is managed as an ide device. One of my machines boots off scsi in the bios and lets the ata 66 bios/chip combo go first.

I'm almost sure now that an add-on controller would behave the same way (after disabling the on-board real or fake scsi controller probably, if any on-board).

[INFERNO2000 0]

I see.

 

 

Any recomendations then on a controller card?