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                                 Compliments of

                 The  P e r S t o r   S u p p o r t    B o a r d

                               FidoNet  1:102/523
                               AlterNet 7:401/523





                        ALL ABOUT BIOSES

PS180-8XT

     The  current ROM BIOS on the PS180-8XT hard disk  controller 
is  version XT9-1.05,  which supports IRQ and DMA  requests.   It 
has  four  hard disk cylinder and head configurations in each  of 
the  four available drive tables.   If two hard disks are  to  be 
installed  in the system,  both must be listed in the same  drive 
table.   If  they  are not in the same table,  a custom  BIOS  is 
necessary.   See  page  16 for further information on these  BIOS 
configuration tables.

     The  version  XT9-1.05 BIOS will allow you  to  install  two 
PS180-8XT controllers in the same system and use low-level format 
programs from other software packages.   The drive tables of this 
version  differ from those of the earlier XT9-1.03 BIOS  version.  
It  is a good idea to check the BIOS drive tables of the  version 
you have for correct jumpering instructions.

     For XT compatible systems having 286 accelerator cards,  386 
accelerator  cards,  NEC V-20 chips,  or NEC V-30 chips,  and the 
AT&T 6300 computers,  we advise that you use the AT9-1.03 version 
of  the  BIOS with the PS180-8XT  Controllers.   This  will  make 
operation more efficient and increase data transfer rate.

     The  AT&T  6300  computer has a resident  ROM  addressed  at 
C800:0  which  must  be disabled to operate  with  the  PS180-8XT 
Controller.   In addition, the AT&T motherboard has two sets of 8 
position dip switches; dip switch 0 and dip switch 1.  Position 3 
of  dip switch 1 (located to the back of the motherboard) must be 
in  the OFF position for this computer to operate correctly  with 
the PS180-8XT Controller.

     Expansion boxes used with IBM PC compatibles have their  own 
power  supply  and bus expansion slots,   and they use  interface 
cards  between the main computer and the expansion box.   Some of 
these  systems  can be used with the XT9-1.03  or  XT9-1.05  BIOS 
version  on the PS180-8XT card with satisfactory results.   Other 
such systems must have the XAT9-1.03 BIOS (available from Perstor 
Systems, Inc.) to perform data transfers and hard disk formats.  

PS180-8AT

     The  Perstor PS180-8AT controllers work in AT and compatible 
systems  having  up  to a 10 MHZ bus speed and up  to  a  20  MHZ 
processor speed.   With these 286 systems,  the C-MOS must be set 
in  the system setup configuration to show that no hard disks are 
attached prior to installing the PS180-8AT Controller.

     The  current  ROM  BIOS  on  the  PS180,  version  AT9-1.07, 
supports programmed I/O transfers.   This BIOS has four hard disk 
cylinder  and  head configurations in each of the four  available 
drive  tables.   If  two hard disks are to be  installed  in  the 
system, both must be listed in the same drive table.  If they are 
not in the same table, a custom BIOS is necessary.  

     The  AT9-1.07  BIOS will allow you to install two  PS180-8XT 
controllers in the same system and use low-level format  programs 
from  other software packages.   The drive tables of this version 
differ from those of the earlier AT9-1.03 BIOS version.   It is a 
good idea to check the BIOS drive tables of the version you  have 
for correct jumpering instructions.

     If  you have the AT9-1.03 BIOS,  the Award motherboard  BIOS 
requires  that either two drives be attached to the PS180-8AT  or 
that  drive  1  be jumpered radially for the  PS180-8AT  to  work 
properly.  Using  a PS180-8AT with a system having a  motherboard 
BIOS  by  AMI or DTK will result in clock problems upon  boot-up.  
The  hour will be correct,  but the minutes will always reset  to 
00.  You can eliminate these problems by using the AT9-1.07 BIOS


DRIVE TABLE LISTINGS - AT9-1.03 AND XT9-1.03
_________________________________________________________________

DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                           (TABLE 1)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
306/4               OFF     OFF      OFF       OFF
640/4               ON      OFF      OFF       OFF
640/6               OFF     ON       OFF       OFF
1024/3              ON      ON       OFF       OFF

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                           (TABLE 1)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
306/4               OFF     OFF      OFF       OFF
640/4               ON      OFF      OFF       OFF
640/6               OFF     ON       OFF       OFF
1024/3              ON      ON       OFF       OFF
_________________________________________________________________

DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                           (TABLE 2)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
615/4               OFF     OFF      ON        OFF
1024/5              ON      OFF      ON        OFF
1024/8              OFF     ON       ON        OFF
1024/15             ON      ON       ON        OFF

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                           (TABLE 2)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
615/4               OFF     OFF      ON        OFF
1024/5              ON      OFF      ON        OFF
1024/8              OFF     ON       ON        OFF
1024/15             ON      ON       ON        OFF
_________________________________________________________________

DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 3)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
697/5               OFF     OFF      OFF       ON
872/6               ON      OFF      OFF       ON
925/5               OFF     ON       OFF       ON
918/15              ON      ON       OFF       ON

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 3)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
697/5               OFF     OFF      OFF       ON
872/6               ON      OFF      OFF       ON
925/5               OFF     ON       OFF       ON
918/15              ON      ON       OFF       ON
_________________________________________________________________ 

DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 4)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
615/4               OFF     OFF      ON        ON
733/5               ON      OFF      ON        ON
820/6               OFF     ON       ON        ON
1024/9              ON      ON       ON        ON

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 4)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
615/4               OFF     OFF      ON        ON
733/5               ON      OFF      ON        ON
820/6               OFF     ON       ON        ON
1024/9              ON      ON       ON        ON
_________________________________________________________________


DRIVE TABLE LISINGS - AT9-1.07 OR XT9-1.05 BIOS
_________________________________________________________________
 
DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 1)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
615/6               OFF     OFF      OFF       OFF
615/8               ON      OFF      OFF       OFF
733/5               OFF     ON       OFF       OFF
830/10              ON      ON       OFF       OFF

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 1)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
615/6               OFF     OFF      OFF       OFF
615/8               ON      OFF      OFF       OFF
733/5               OFF     ON       OFF       OFF
830/10              ON      ON       OFF       OFF
_________________________________________________________________

DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 2)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
612/4               OFF     OFF      ON        OFF
1024/5              ON      OFF      ON        OFF
1024/8              OFF     ON       ON        OFF
1024/15             ON      ON       ON        OFF

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 2)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
612/4               OFF     OFF      ON        OFF
1024/5              ON      OFF      ON        OFF
1024/8              OFF     ON       ON        OFF
1024/15             ON      ON       ON        OFF
_________________________________________________________________

DRIVE UNIT 0       PIN SETS                             (TABLE 3)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
615/4               OFF     OFF      OFF       ON
977/5               ON      OFF      OFF       ON
820/6               OFF     ON       OFF       ON
1024/9              ON      ON       OFF       ON

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 3)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
615/4               OFF     OFF      OFF       ON
977/5               ON      OFF      OFF       ON
820/6               OFF     ON       OFF       ON
1024/9              ON      ON       OFF       ON
_________________________________________________________________

DRIVE UNIT 0        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 4)
CYLS/HEADS          5-6     7-8     13-14     15-16
925/5               OFF     OFF      ON        ON
925/9               ON      OFF      ON        ON
981/5               OFF     ON       ON        ON
918/15              ON      ON       ON        ON

DRIVE UNIT 1        PIN SETS                            (TABLE 4)
CYLS/HEADS          1-2     3-4     13-14     15-16
925/5               OFF     OFF      ON        ON
925/9               ON      OFF      ON        ON
981/5               OFF     ON       ON        ON
918/15              ON      ON       ON        ON
_________________________________________________________________
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