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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: Gaeokerena on March 30, 2005, 07:29:24 PM
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I have just got a fastlane z3 and I can only get 3.5mb/s from it. I have a 4000d, with Buster11, a Ultra SCSI 4.3gig drive
Can someone please tell me how to increase its speed. Apparently its capable of 7-10mb/s
Thanks
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@ Gaeokerena
Don't know the details of the Z3, but it sounds as tho
it has configured as a Zorro 2 card ( Max 3.5 MB/sec).
Maybe you can check this with your early startup menu
or use show config to see how it has configured.
Wol.
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Check if it's running asynchron (slower) or synchron mode.
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Sorry, I dont know what I'm looking for:
In the early startup it only gives ID etc
and the show config is just as useful!
How can I tell if a zorro 3 card is configured as z2
Regards
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The FastLane can't configure itself as a Zorro2 card, it is a Zorro3-only card. 3.5MB/Sec sounds exactly like what you should get using asynchronous mode.
Check the settings for your drive with the 'UnitControl' utility on the FastLane Z3 Install disk (http://amiga.resource.cx/install/FastlaneZ3.dms).
/Patrik
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You have a FastlaneZ3 with working scsi??? This is the first time I ever heard of it, congrats man. I have three and none of them wants to work besides as a memorycard.
Anyway, it should load 10MB/s in syncmode. You should have a little prog named "Z3Dmacontrol", If I remember it right, to "tell" the Fastlane that you have a Buster11.
FastlaneZ3 Drivers (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?dir=scsi#fastlane)
:-)
EDIT: Darn, Patrik beat me to it. :-D
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Right, now I'm going out of my mind!!!!
Thanks for all the advice guys, but....
1. using the 'unit control' almost doubles the speed, but this does not survive a reset!!!!
2. setting the z3DMA Control to BUSTER 11 makes it slower by around 2mb/s
:-( :-( :-( :-( :-(
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> 1. using the 'unit control' almost doubles the speed, but this does not survive a reset!!!!
Yes, that`s right, you have to set the transfer to syncronus mode after every reset, but you don`t have to do it manually. There is a way to add a line to the startupsequence that involves unitcontrol to set the various units to syncronus/asyncronus mode. It must be described somewhere in the readmes.
The Cyberstorm SCSI-Kit has a jumper that makes it look into the RDB and see if it has been set to syncronus mode (must be set with P5 tools) and switch automatically. The Fastlane doesn`t have this feature.
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> 1. using the 'unit control' almost doubles the speed, but this does not survive a reset!!!!
Yes, that`s right, you have to set the transfer to syncronus mode after every reset, but you don`t have to do it manually. There is a way to add a line to the startupsequence that involves unitcontrol to set the various units to syncronus/asyncronus mode. It must be described somewhere in the readmes.
The Cyberstorm SCSI-Kit has a jumper that makes it look into the RDB and see if it has been set to syncronus mode (must be set with P5 tools) and switch automatically. The Fastlane doesn`t have this feature.
An ooold thread.. time to revive it. :)
I cannot find out how to use the unitcontrol from command line to enable Synchronous mode.. I am able to set it to Asynchron, but it seems to me that the other way around is not possible?!? Which dont seem logical at all..
Here is the output from the tool in commandline:
Os3.1:Expansion/FastLaneInstallDisk> unitcontrol ?
Device/K,Unit/N,Period/N,Offset/N,Asynchron/S,Reselection/S,NoReselection/S,SCSIDirectPolling/S,Stop/S,Start/S,Eject/S,FWC/S,NoFWC/S,Removable/S,NoRemovable/S,Verbose/S:
Every other option can be switched on or off but not the synch mode. What am i missing?!?
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There are actually two command line utilities for the Fastlane the first one is z3dmacontrol, this sets the dma mode for the version of buster you're using such as:
C:z3dmacontrol buster11
Then unitcontrol something like this should work:
C:unitcontrol Unit 1 Period 10 Offset 8
Replace Unit 1 with the SCSI unit number of your device.
After you run z3dmacontrol buster11 (or 9) run the gui version of UnitControl and play around with the settings first. Period 10 specifies the transfer speed I believe. Offset 8, I don't remember what this does. But you can make changes when using the gui mode and do a benchmark to see if it improved. Also there is a utility on the Fastlane disk called CheckMask to make sure you selected the correct mask in HDToolbox.
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There are actually two command line utilities for the Fastlane the first one is z3dmacontrol, this sets the dma mode for the version of buster you're using such as:
C:z3dmacontrol buster11
Then unitcontrol something like this should work:
C:unitcontrol Unit 1 Period 10 Offset 8
Replace Unit 1 with the SCSI unit number of your device.
After you run z3dmacontrol buster11 (or 9) run the gui version of UnitControl and play around with the settings first. Period 10 specifies the transfer speed I believe. Offset 8, I don't remember what this does. But you can make changes when using the gui mode and do a benchmark to see if it improved. Also there is a utility on the Fastlane disk called CheckMask to make sure you selected the correct mask in HDToolbox.
Great!
"C:unitcontrol Unit 1 Period 10 Offset 8" worked like a charm. Synchronous mode is set.
"C:z3dmacontrol buster11" however takes the transferrate down.. this wont work for some lower revisions of the fastlane i believe.
I get around 6,5 mb/s.
I have run the checkmask, but did not allow it to make any changes to the maxtransfer value yet.. im running pfs3 and i was worried it would screw things up.. current value is FFFE00, and it suggests FFFFFF.
Thanks! :)
edit: changing the maxtransfer value didnt make any difference performance wise..
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Great!
"C:unitcontrol Unit 1 Period 10 Offset 8" worked like a charm. Synchronous mode is set.
"C:z3dmacontrol buster11" however takes the transferrate down.. this wont work for some lower revisions of the fastlane i believe.
I get around 6,5 mb/s.
I have run the checkmask, but did not allow it to make any changes to the maxtransfer value yet.. im running pfs3 and i was worried it would screw things up.. current value is FFFE00, and it suggests FFFFFF.
Thanks! :)
edit: changing the maxtransfer value didnt make any difference performance wise..
Some drives are slow and have bad firmwares, but i dont think its the trouble.
poor termination can cause slow speeds.
what are you checking speed with? dont use sys(MIS)info. try diskspeed 4.2
your maxtransfer should be to run wide open on scsi. not sure about pfs, but i have used sfs with great results.
what rom is on your fastlane? 8.5 is the latest.
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Some drives are slow and have bad firmwares, but i dont think its the trouble.
poor termination can cause slow speeds.
what are you checking speed with? dont use sys(MIS)info. try diskspeed 4.2
your maxtransfer should be to run wide open on scsi. not sure about pfs, but i have used sfs with great results.
what rom is on your fastlane? 8.5 is the latest.
Im using an ACARD ARS-2000FU -> CF. This is the only device in the chain and has active termination.
Im currently testing with SysSpeed 2.6. Tested diskspeed 4.2 now and it seems to max out at;
3,4 mb/s create file
5,6 mb/s write to file
6,2 mb/s read from file
Im running z3scsi.device version 5.998.
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I would suggest testing with RSCP, you may find that you are getting higher transfer rates with z3dmacontrol but I bet your CPU usage is really high.
With z3dmacontrol and the proper mask setting, NOT maxtransfer, you should see only about 10% CPU usage running RSCP.
Secondly though you may have an active terminator on the Acard, check to see if the resistor packs around the internal 50 pin connector are installed. If they are, try removing them and installing an external active terminator.
If they are not, definitely install an external terminator.
What system is this in A4000 or A3000?
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You have a FastlaneZ3 with working scsi??? This is the first time I ever heard of it, congrats man. I have three and none of them wants to work besides as a memorycard.
Anyway, it should load 10MB/s in syncmode. You should have a little prog named "Z3Dmacontrol", If I remember it right, to "tell" the Fastlane that you have a Buster11.
FastlaneZ3 Drivers (http://amiga.resource.cx/exp/search.pl?dir=scsi#fastlane)
:-)
EDIT: Darn, Patrik beat me to it. :-D
perhaps you need newer Z3 ROM, I can send you one for free.
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I would suggest testing with RSCP, you may find that you are getting higher transfer rates with z3dmacontrol but I bet your CPU usage is really high.
With z3dmacontrol and the proper mask setting, NOT maxtransfer, you should see only about 10% CPU usage running RSCP.
Secondly though you may have an active terminator on the Acard, check to see if the resistor packs around the internal 50 pin connector are installed. If they are, try removing them and installing an external active terminator.
If they are not, definitely install an external terminator.
What system is this in A4000 or A3000?
Thanks for the tips. I will test with RSCP later today.
The resistor packs is in place, so would asume it is terminated properly. (wishfull thinking because i dont want to solder on my FL. )
Im running an a4k, buster11.
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perhaps you need newer Z3 ROM, I can send you one for free.
That would have been great! :) You guys are awesome!
Send me a pm with paypal details for shipping atleast..
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The resistor packs shouldn't be soldered on so you should just be able to pull them out. Don't bother if you don't have an external active terminator to plug in though.
For another interesting test, if you have memory on the Fastlane, get changemempri
http://aminet.net/package/util/cli/ChangeMemPri
And set the Fastlane RAM to highest priority. You should see your transfer speeds top out somewhere around 9MB/s if everything else is working right. You wouldn't want to do this for general usage but it is odd. This also works for an A4091 if you have any Z3 RAM.
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Recieved the 8.5 rom from Orange today! Thanks mate!
The speed seems unaffected, but i will do some more tests this evening..
Thanks for the tips so far.. :)
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Ok.. did some tests with RSCP.
with:
c:z3dmacontrol BUSTER 11
c:unitcontrol Unit 0 Period 10 Offset 8 Noreselection
5,5 mb/s
90% Busy/Idle
+ Changemempri START 40000000 PRI 40
9,0 mb/s
93% Busy/Idle
If i read RSCP manual correct the higher idle the better. If i run without z3dmacontrol BUSTER 11 the Busy/Idle value is down to 1% or less..
Havent tested to much, but when setting z3 mem to highest pri it dont seem to slow the system down.
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Just curious - does anyone know where one can get the GAL / PAL upgrade chips which let the Fastlane support 16 meg SIMMs for a total of 256 megs?
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Just curious - does anyone know where one can get the GAL / PAL upgrade chips which let the Fastlane support 16 meg SIMMs for a total of 256 megs?
I think you had to send the card to Phase5 back in the days for this upgrade. I am also under the impression no one have the chips needed to do this nowadays.
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Just curious - does anyone know where one can get the GAL / PAL upgrade chips which let the Fastlane support 16 meg SIMMs for a total of 256 megs?
revision 2.4 boards support so called 256Mb,note i have several of these boards and i have not managed to get more than 192Mb,even with 256 installed.
to my knowledge phase5 never released the gal upgrades for 256MB, you had to send the card in for the mod.
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Ok.. did some tests with RSCP.
with:
c:z3dmacontrol BUSTER 11
c:unitcontrol Unit 0 Period 10 Offset 8 Noreselection
5,5 mb/s
90% Busy/Idle
+ Changemempri START 40000000 PRI 40
9,0 mb/s
93% Busy/Idle
If i read RSCP manual correct the higher idle the better. If i run without z3dmacontrol BUSTER 11 the Busy/Idle value is down to 1% or less..
Havent tested to much, but when setting z3 mem to highest pri it dont seem to slow the system down.
9MB/s seems good to go-nice job. I don't recall having to do any of the things you did when i used scsi on the fastlane,but maybe my memory has faded. I thought it worked right out of the box for fast speeds. Does your drive not handle reselection?
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2.4 boards came with the updates for 256MB and you had to send in the cards that didnt to be upgraded.
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9MB/s seems good to go-nice job. I don't recall having to do any of the things you did when i used scsi on the fastlane,but maybe my memory has faded. I thought it worked right out of the box for fast speeds. Does your drive not handle reselection?
Dont know if it handles reselection. Its a acard scsi -> ide -> cf.. i just fiddled with the settings and noticed i got a tiny bit higher transferrate.
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revision 2.4 boards support so called 256Mb,note i have several of these boards and i have not managed to get more than 192Mb,even with 256 installed.
to my knowledge phase5 never released the gal upgrades for 256MB, you had to send the card in for the mod.
I guess it would be a no-go if DCE was asked to release those..
Do they even answer requests regarding amiga stuff?
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The harddrive led on the a4000 is not active when accessing harddrives connected to the fastlane.
I guess this is normal. Is there someway to hack this?
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Some of my SCSI drives have an output for LED - I've inserted extra LEDs onto the front panel. And seems that Fastlane has a LED output.
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ahh... yes indeed it have. should have checked before posting. :)
thanks
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Dont know if it handles reselection. Its a acard scsi -> ide -> cf.. i just fiddled with the settings and noticed i got a tiny bit higher transferrate.
most stuff supports reselection so its ok to turn it on in your case.
If you can get anything out of the phase5/dce guys i would be amazed :D