World Magazine 2024
For customers with systems containing Intel 430FX/VX/HX/TX and 440FX/LX/EX/BX/GX chipsets we recommend reading the following document located on Intel’s web site, which discusses bus-mastering issues in depth. This document discusses common system configuration issues related to the use of the Windows* 95/98 INF Update Utility for Intel® chipsets and the Intel Bus Master IDE driver for Windows 95. Note: The issues discussed in this guide are only relevant to systems using the Intel® chipsets and Windows 95 or the first release of Windows 98.
If you are using Windows 98 Update or OEM, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows NT or Windows 2000 with systems containing Intel 430FX/VX/HX/TX, 440FX/LX/EX/BX/GX or I810; I810E; I810E2; I815; I815E; I815EM; I815EP; I815P; I820; I820E; I840 and I850 chipsets we recommend that you review the relevant Intel documents located here.
- Ultra ATA/33, Ultra ATA/66, or Ultra ATA/100 capable system BIOS. This is only a requirement when the Ultra ATA logic (chipset) is embedded directly on the motherboard. If an add-on Ultra ATA capable host adapter is being used, then this information will be supplied directly from the card.
- Ultra ATA/33, Ultra ATA/66, or Ultra ATA/100 device drivers. You will also need to have the necessary Ultra ATA/33, Ultra ATA/66, or Ultra ATA/100 device drivers installed for your particular operating system. Starting with Windows 98, Microsoft began including bus-mastering drivers for most of the popular Ultra ATA/33 chipsets, however, those drivers will not support Ultra ATA/66 or Ultra ATA/100. Please check with your system or motherboard manufacturer for the required device driver support for proper Ultra ATA operation (most manufacturers post their latest drivers on their web site). Manufacturers of Ultra ATA host adapters will typically include all the necessary software drivers with their PCI cards. Windows NT 4.0 natively supports bus mastering starting with Service Pack 3 and greater, however additional drivers may be necessary for the support of Ultra ATA/66 and Ultra ATA/100. Once again, the best practice is to always check directly with the system manufacturer for the latest available drivers.
- An Ultra ATA compatible hard drive or CD-ROM.
The Ultra ATA protocol provides backward compatibility with previous ATA standards. Because of this feature, newer Ultra ATA drives can still be used in older systems that only support legacy ATA modes (i.e. PIO mode transfers). To take advantage of the higher-speed Ultra ATA protocol, users with legacy based equipment (Ultra-ATA 33) will need to use Ultra ATA66 or 100 PCI adapter card. We have these add-on cards available from Promise and Adaptec.
