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Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga News and Community Announcements => Amiga Hardware News => Topic started by: DJS on July 19, 2016, 12:17:51 AM

Title: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: DJS on July 19, 2016, 12:17:51 AM
The new version of pci.library for all Mediator models has been released today.

The pci.library ver. 11.0 includes new procedure for allocation of the PCI memory. New procedure allows faster computer start when the multi-device PCI cards are used (e.g. Spider USB controller). New pci.library gives the possibility to reallocate (free and allocate) PCI spaces from the driver for the specific PCI card. It is useful in case of PCI cards, which do not report their PCI spaces typically (e.g. some PCI processor bridges).

Pci.library 11.0 can be downloaded from the Mediator software page (http://elbox.com/downloads_mediator.html).

If you are interested in the new updated MediatorSDK, contact ELBOX Developer Department (http://elbox.com/about_cu.html).

Best regards,
ELBOX COMPUTER Team

Information on the current versions is available in the DOWNLOADS (http://elbox.com/downloads.html) | Mediator (http://elbox.com/downloads_mediator.html) section. The current list of supported PCI cards is available in the Mediator Driver Guide (http://elbox.com/mdg.html). Information about Mediator-related sources you will find in the COMMUNITY (http://elbox.com/community.html) section.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on July 19, 2016, 03:34:54 AM
@ DJS

thanks this is great news:hammer:

@ all

I want to put a scsi pci card in my Mediator and understand the Adaptec AHA-2940W/2940UW is the one to get for our Mediators?
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Acill on July 19, 2016, 06:33:01 AM
Quote from: klx300r;811294
@ DJS

thanks this is great news:hammer:

@ all

I want to put a scsi pci card in my Mediator and understand the Adaptec AHA-2940W/2940UW is the one to get for our Mediators?


Yup, search on ebay. I picked one up for $10 shipped. It works well, but keep in mind it cant be used to boot from.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: amiadudeorwat on July 19, 2016, 12:22:43 PM
Quote from: Acill;811298
Yup, search on ebay. I picked one up for $10 shipped. It works well, but keep in mind it cant be used to boot from.

And it's about as slow as onboard (motherboard) IDE.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Acill on July 19, 2016, 06:24:08 PM
Quote from: amiadudeorwat;811304
And it's about as slow as onboard (motherboard) IDE.


Not true, it's nearly as fast as my CSP0C is.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on July 19, 2016, 09:34:50 PM
Quote from: Acill;811316
Not true, it's nearly as fast as my CSP0C is.


great to know! does hdtoolbox pick it up automatically or is there another program that's needed to setup the scsi on the Mediator?
(I know in my A4000 with Cyberstorm I had to use a Phase 5 specific scsi setup program)
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: amiadudeorwat on July 19, 2016, 09:52:13 PM
Quote from: Acill;811316
Not true, it's nearly as fast as my CSP0C is.

Since this is contrary to what even the person who wrote the driver said, I'd like to see some benchmarks.  RSCP, Sysspeed or whatever.

From the thread:
http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?22229-Ultrawide-SCSI-on-A1200-Mediator-Adaptec-PCI
roy_bates
                                                                             hi darren,
 
 
is there a chance of an update to this driver i couldent get more than 3mbs from the 15000rpm drives i have.
 
 
also ive had 4 drives in a chain just to see if it works and it  does.(although ive had to set up the drives to start one at a time so  they wont overload the psu,lol)                                            
                                       
             

Daz

     

                                         
                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Originally Posted by roy_bates                                  
                 hi darren,
 
 
is there a chance of an update to this driver i couldent get more than 3mbs from the 15000rpm drives i have.
                     
     
 
I'm afraid the speed is a product of how fast I can transfer data  across the Mediator bus, I have streamlined the read and write as much  as I can,  so there is no major update due at the moment, but I will be  taking a look at the code in the near future. I might see something.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Acill on July 19, 2016, 11:17:08 PM
Quote from: amiadudeorwat;811323
Since this is contrary to what even the person who wrote the driver said, I'd like to see some benchmarks.  RSCP, Sysspeed or whatever.

From the thread:
http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?22229-Ultrawide-SCSI-on-A1200-Mediator-Adaptec-PCI
roy_bates
                                                                             hi darren,
 
 
is there a chance of an update to this driver i couldent get more than 3mbs from the 15000rpm drives i have.
 
 
also ive had 4 drives in a chain just to see if it works and it  does.(although ive had to set up the drives to start one at a time so  they wont overload the psu,lol)                                            
                                       
             

Daz

     

                                         
                     
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Originally Posted by roy_bates                                  
                 hi darren,
 
 
is there a chance of an update to this driver i couldent get more than 3mbs from the 15000rpm drives i have.
                     
     
 
I'm afraid the speed is a product of how fast I can transfer data  across the Mediator bus, I have streamlined the read and write as much  as I can,  so there is no major update due at the moment, but I will be  taking a look at the code in the near future. I might see something.


HD Tool Box picks it up and you can select the wide check box to show the entire bus as well. The last driver released is quite improved if you read the readme and docks from it on Aminet. Also remember if you put a slow device on the chain the card will drop down to the slowest speed of the slowest device. That is how SCSI works.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: wawrzon on July 19, 2016, 11:48:48 PM
@acill

so what speed do you really get out of it? because i find it hard to believe, it reaches almost 40mb/s..
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: cmsj on July 19, 2016, 11:55:40 PM
Isn't the Zorro3 bus speed about 14MB/s max? I wouldn't be expecting any PCI card to be able to go faster than that, and I've not seen any PCI card get anywhere close to that in my system.
You'd potentially get that kind of speed with a GREX, but not a Mediator, I think.

Happy to be proven wrong though :D
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: amiadudeorwat on July 20, 2016, 02:20:49 AM
Here's another fellow with a performance report:
http://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?viewmode=thread&order=0&topic_id=41211&forum=25&post_id=&refresh=Go

On Amigaworld Drewlio77 said:

Upon my parts arrival, I hooked everything up in about 15 minutes.  Then  I ran some tests. The results? meh... At best I got about 2.8 MB/s,  half of the speed of my Elbox Fast ATA MK-IV.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Acill on July 20, 2016, 03:05:21 AM
When I have time to put it in and test I will. Maybe I am wrong in this, but I remember it being faster than described. This also isnt the thread for this.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Minuous on July 31, 2016, 02:58:12 AM
I would not want to run any software from Elbox, they are infamous for including malware (eg. destruction of RDBs).
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Acill on July 31, 2016, 03:38:35 AM
Quote from: Minuous;811891
I would not want to run any software from Elbox, they are infamous for including malware (eg. destruction of RDBs).


That was a single drive for USB and is no longer the case. I wouldnt give my mediator up for anything. Its solid.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: paul1981 on July 31, 2016, 11:04:20 AM
Quote from: Minuous;811891
I would not want to run any software from Elbox, they are infamous for including malware (eg. destruction of RDBs).


Couldn't be happier with my FastATA, had it at least 10 years, and my RDB has never been trashed. The Elbox driver is rock-solid, never an issue!
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Cosmos Amiga on July 31, 2016, 01:03:54 PM
Quote from: paul1981;811902
Couldn't be happier with my FastATA, had it at least 10 years, and my RDB has never been trashed. The Elbox driver is rock-solid, never an issue!

And still not romable as far I know...
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 01, 2016, 08:58:33 PM
ok found and isntalled Adaptec scsi card and drive in my 1200T but now my Spider II USB stopped working and Hd Toolbox not seeing new scsi drive?

tired running Mediator setup again with no luck & the scsi card seems to be working as there's a LED on and the SCSI drive is spinning
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Acill on August 01, 2016, 09:27:24 PM
Quote from: klx300r;811964
ok found and isntalled Adaptec scsi card and drive in my 1200T but now my Spider II USB stopped working and Hd Toolbox not seeing new scsi drive?

tired running Mediator setup again with no luck & the scsi card seems to be working as there's a LED on and the SCSI drive is spinning


Select the right device and its a wide device check the box for wide?
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 02, 2016, 03:26:02 AM
Quote from: Acill;811968
Select the right device and its a wide device check the box for wide?

ok problem solved with Mediator not finding my Spider 2.0 as it got loose when installing the scsi controller, quick reset and now it's workign fine again :-)

problem I'm having with HDToolBox is it's just not seeing the aic78xx.device??/..it's installed in Devs but for some reason it's not picking it up?? is there somewhere else it's supposed to be???

also was trying to find my scsi.device and I can't find it at all....no liquor tonight so double strange:hammer:

UPDATE:

it's a corrupt device file from aminet. tried downloading twice and still same issue...can someone with a good file send it to me please
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Heiroglyph on August 06, 2016, 07:21:01 PM
One interesting thing is that with the previous library a Matrox G450 PCI would show up, but only the Hint PCI bridge that it uses.

Thinking that this new library might be able to see through the bridge, I tried it and it causes the machine to reboot before it gets to Workbench.

Removing the card or going back to the old library allows me to get to Workbench.

Not that there is a driver for it, but it was an interesting result that might happen with some other cards.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 06, 2016, 11:28:50 PM
Quote from: klx300r;811987

UPDATE:

it's a corrupt device file from aminet. tried downloading twice and still same issue...can someone with a good file send it to me please

anyone with a working aic78xx.device file please PM me so I can close up my A1200T and start working on my open A4000D
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Heiroglyph on August 07, 2016, 12:13:15 AM
Here are two I've had for quite some time. I'm not sure where they came from, but the seem to be different sizes.

One is a bare device file: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=10026753365811088300

One is an lha file: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=05005412418947535040

I don't have a card to test with, so I don't know if they work.

I've never used that hosting service before either, but it looks pretty safe, if temporary.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 07, 2016, 12:40:29 AM
@ Heiroglyph


thanks so much! will test out tonight opnce I'm back in my Amiga World:)

Update:
ok back home and good news the drive is now foudn by HDTools ! I was able to install and partition drive but after reboot I don't see new drives on WB? Typically the new drives show up on WB but then have to be formated.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 08, 2016, 04:18:22 PM
bumpity bump
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 10, 2016, 02:17:28 AM
where are the Mediator scsi users???

Thomas any ideas;)
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Rotzloeffel on August 10, 2016, 10:46:03 AM
Quote from: klx300r;812336
where are the Mediator scsi users???

Thomas any ideas;)

Use the Format-Tool ! you can find it in the SYSTEM Drawer AFAIK maybe its in tools or utilities....
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 10, 2016, 07:33:30 PM
Quote from: Rotzloeffel;812351
Use the Format-Tool ! you can find it in the SYSTEM Drawer AFAIK maybe its in tools or utilities....

:hammer: THANKS!!! lol so simple Format saw the scsi partitions and only had to quick format them now I've got my SCSI HD working in my 1200T
:knuddel::pint:
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: klx300r on August 10, 2016, 10:43:32 PM
Quote from: wawrzon;811330
@acill

so what speed do you really get out of it? because i find it hard to believe, it reaches almost 40mb/s..

Just got mine configured today and SysInfo is showing 2.2MB/s which is quicker than my IDE drive in my 1200T.  Transferring a bunch of large files now and it's quick enough for me so I'm happy
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Heiroglyph on August 10, 2016, 10:55:39 PM
If it's written correctly, I bet you could get 40MBps between two scsi drives on the same card.

Going back through the system will be incredibly show in comparison though.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Rotzloeffel on August 11, 2016, 01:52:54 PM
Quote from: klx300r;812373
:hammer: THANKS!!! lol so simple Format saw the scsi partitions and only had to quick format them now I've got my SCSI HD working in my 1200T
:knuddel::pint:

Your welcome ! :banana:
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: slaapliedje on August 11, 2016, 07:28:04 PM
Quote from: Heiroglyph;812187
One interesting thing is that with the previous library a Matrox G450 PCI would show up, but only the Hint PCI bridge that it uses.

Thinking that this new library might be able to see through the bridge, I tried it and it causes the machine to reboot before it gets to Workbench.

Removing the card or going back to the old library allows me to get to Workbench.

Not that there is a driver for it, but it was an interesting result that might happen with some other cards.

Would love to be able to use one of my Matrox cards in my Amiga.  Granted, I need to rebuild my Amiga setup still.  Gonna see if I can get to it today.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: slaapliedje on August 11, 2016, 07:31:01 PM
I had stuck my old 10k SCSI drive inside my A4000D, but decided it produced more heat than it was worth, and ended up putting in a FAST ATA MK-VI in it.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Heiroglyph on August 11, 2016, 07:52:45 PM
Quote from: slaapliedje;812428
Would love to be able to use one of my Matrox cards in my Amiga.  Granted, I need to rebuild my Amiga setup still.  Gonna see if I can get to it today.

I had some other minor problems, so I reinstalled the Mediator 2.5 update and now it's not causing the reboot.

The problem with that Matrox is that it has a non-transparent PCI to PCI bridge that has to be configured properly or else you can't see through it to the actual Matrox card. All you can see is the Hint Bridge device in PciInfo.

I thought it might be a well documented, common card to write a driver for but it seems to be more trouble than it's worth.
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: cmsj on August 12, 2016, 11:20:23 AM
Quote from: Heiroglyph;812194

One is a bare device file: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=10026753365811088300


This one is actually an HTML file, which seems to be an Aminet page for the device.

Quote from: Heiroglyph;812194

One is an lha file: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=05005412418947535040


This is identical to the archive on Aminet :)
Title: Re: Mediator pci.library 11.0
Post by: Heiroglyph on August 12, 2016, 02:53:02 PM
Well, that sucks.