Date:         Fri, 03 Sep 1999 23:15:36 +0200
From:         Darek Dulian
To:           "Amiga-News.de" petra.struck@online-club.de
Subject:      FastATA'99 & AllegroCDFS new sofware for PowerFlyer Controller

ELBOX Computer is proud to present FastATA'99 ver.4.x.
FastATA'99 4.x is the fourth generation ATA/ATAPI control
software for ELBOX FastATA/PowerFlyer/Winner HighSpeed
Controllers for Amiga 1200.

With this software the newest PowerFlyer/FastATA/Winner
High Speed Controllers with new EIDE/UltraATA HHDs
may reach over 10 MB/sec. (Sysinfo, DriveSpeed) and with
new CD-ROM drives may exceed 7 MB/sec.

>From FastATA'99 ver.4.0 on, controller users could choose between
spliting HDD > 4 GB into 4 GB logical units or using DirectSCSI
and TD64 commands.

If you would like to receive e-mail updates of the software written
for the PowerFlyer FastATA-2/EIDE Controller, please send a message
to:       support@elbox.com
subject:  subscribe FastATA'99
body:     [your name], [your ATA3.driver version],
          [the serial number of your controller]

If you have a controller version without AllegroCDFS,
you may want to purchase it from:
sales@powerc.demon.co.uk
or
sales@elbox.com
or your local distributors.

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Read more:

THE  FAST ATA-2/EIDE CONTROLLER

In recent times, the extremely dynamic progress in the mass production
technology of data storage media has resulted in a huge increase
of their capacity and speed. It is especially apparent in the devices
which make use of the FAST ATA-2/EIDE standard of communication with
computers.
Enhanced IDE is at present the most common controller standard for
hard drives, CD-ROM drives, CD-RW drives, DVD drives, etc.

The Amiga 1200 has a built-in hard disk controller in the IDE standard.
However, only the PIO 0 mode of operation has been implemented in the
Amiga 1200, which is the slowest of all PIO modes with a maximum
transfer rate of about 3 MB/s.

The FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller idea has been based upon the
assumption to fully use the currently produced devices in
the FAST ATA-2/EIDE standard with their increased speed and capacity.
The aim of this solution is to adapt the existing Amiga computer
systems to the new, many times more effective devices, while retaining
full compatibility with the existing software and hardware installed
in the system.

The FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller has been designed to fit inside the
Amiga 1200 in its standard casing or in any Tower-type casing.
The controller works with two EIDE ports, which can accommodate up
to four devices. Apart from the PIO 0 standard, necessary for
booting up the Amiga computer from a hard disk and for accepting
the oldest types of devices, the card also provides for fast
PIO 3 and PIO 4 modes.



THE  FAST ATA-2/EIDE CONTROLLER FEATURES

The  FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller with its many features represents
the highest technology controller in its category. The following
list describes some of these features:

Fast transfer rate of up to 16.6 MB/s

The  FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller with its maximum transfer rate
of 16.6 MB/s in the PIO 4 mode offers a huge capacity reserve for
fast mass storage devices, especially for fast hard drives.
Therefore, applications may run much faster if they can count on
fast access to large data files.

Support of ATAPI standard devices

The  FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller implements the ATAPI standard as
well, for use with devices like CD-ROM drives, DVD drives, etc.
This enables the connection of ATAPI-standard devices to the Amiga
with no need for the installation of additional software.

Two buffered and terminated EIDE ports

The controller operates with two EIDE ports, which enable
installation of up to four IDE/EIDE/ATAPI devices. Both controller
ports are fully buffered and terminated in accordance with the
recommendations set forth in the ATA-3 specification.

Fully compatible with hard drives of over 4 GB capacity

Limitations on the size of hard disks have been overcome in the
FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller. The  FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller may be
used with hard drives of over 4 GB capacity with no need to change
the FastFileSystem used so far for file management.

Automatically configured devices

The Controller automatically recognises any devices attached to it,
negotiates the highest possible data transfer rates, switches the
devices into its appropriate mode and performs data transfers at
their maximum transfer rates.

Automatic recognition of the processor type

The  FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller automatically detects processor type
used and optimises and modifies some software routines
in order to achieve the highest possible data transfer rate between
the controller and the computer memory.

32-bit access

The computer recognises the controller as a 32-bit device configured
in the address space of the previous IDE controller, which has been
disconnected. Full 32-bit operation of the controller combined with
very efficient software guarantees a significant increase in the
speed of your computer.

Other features of the  FAST ATA-2/EIDE Controller:

* 2 devices in different modes of operation (PIO 3 or PIO 4)
  may be connected simultaneously to each of the ports without speed
  reduction.
* New mass storage data verification procedure free of ROM-based errors.
* The software installation is performed automatically by the
  installation programme script found in the enclosed floppy disk.