SuperTrak Articles

Getting F1/F2 on Boot up

2010-05-10T11:00:51.0000000

When receiving the F1/F2 prompt after card's BIOS loaded during boot up.

Solution:

The usually apply to most Dell systems. The requirement is to get the Dell single page BIOS to redetect the IDE devices.

If you have a problem with IDE Devices detecting in the Dell Single Page BIOS, try the reset procedure listed below:

Boot to system setup. Turn on Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock,

Press ALT+E then ALT+F then ALT+B

IDE devices should redetect on reboot

Additional Information:

This procedure makes the BIOS quit checking for a bootable device on the IDE connectors.

Quick Reference Guide for Optimal Performance with SuperTrak EX 4650/8650/8654/8658/16650

2009-02-19T06:16:00.0000000

Overview:

This document contains best practices that will insure that maximum performance is obtained from the SuperTrak EX 4650/8650/8654/8658/16650.

Pre-Requisites:

SR3 firmware (version 1.08.0000.00) with respective SR3 drivers and SR3 WebPAM/CLI versions.

Steps for Optimal Performance:

These quick steps will help to insure that optimal performance is obtained out of the card.

Only use equipment that has been verified in the latest HCL (Hardware Compatibility List). This list can be downloaded from the Promise website.
Make sure cache is enabled on each Hard Drive
Make sure write back cache is enabled at the logical drive level.
For larger block size transfers, adjust the default LD stripe size from 64k to 256k or larger.
In order to maximize the design bandwidth, it’s strongly recommended to use a PCI-e x8 slot. Some motherboards (older ones especially) have PCI-e x8 or x16 physical slots, but the system bios only runs on PCI-e x4 electrically. It’s important to make sure the system board supports PCI-e x8 completely. Refer back to step 1.
If a redundant data RAID level is selected (not RAID 0) it’s important to fully initialize the LD before performance testing.

System IP address listed under "Show Storage Network" tab cannot be added in WebPAM PRO.

2008-10-31T03:29:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

SuperTrak EX SAS/SATA controller is not installed into the host computer system, but the WebPAM PRO Agent & SLP software modules are installed.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

The WebPAM PRO server utility in another system can discover the agent system IP, but cannot add the IP address into WebPAM PRO server utility.

Solution/Workaround:

None.

Additional Comments:

This is not a bug, but an application usage error.

WebPAM PRO software has two major modules; Utility Server and Agent. The Utility Server can reside on any system in the same network. The Agent most be installed in the same host machine where the SuperTrak EX SAS/SATA controller is located. The Agent module works between Utility Server and the host controller.

If user just installs the Agent module in a host system but there is not a SuperTrak EX SAS/SATA controller installed, the Agent has no controller information to share.

The Agent has one piece of a program called SLP which is used for “Show Storage Network”. The Agent broadcasts to all Utility Servers in the same network and will inform them the Agent's IP address.

If the host system doesn’t have a SuperTrak EX SAS/SATA controller installed, the Utility Server cannot add the IP to WebPAM PRO Software.

What is the “Yield” status in Media Patrol Background Activity?

2008-10-31T03:16:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Media Patrol was started in Background Activity.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

When the host computer sends I/O to the disk array which has Media Patrol BGA running, the Media Patrol status will change to "Yield"

Solution/Workaround:

None. This is normal.

Additional Comments:

Yielding means that the Media Patrol BGA is waiting for I/O to finish. It is the policy of Media Patrol not to run (State set to YIELD) while I/Os are active on the controller. After host I/O is finished and idle for a period if time, Media Patrol BGA will continue.

Fail to Ghost an OS image from on-board SATA drive to RAID logical drive.

2008-10-31T03:07:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Ghosting an OS image from on-board SATA drive to RAID logical drive.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

The controller will hang near the end of the Ghosting process.

Solution/Workaround:

None.

Additional Comments:

The Promise SuperTrak EX SAS/SATA RAID controllers do not support Ghosting an OS image to RAID logical drives.

Many log files "profilexxx" and "zprofilexxx" are left in the root directory after uninstalling WebPAM PRO.

2008-10-31T02:54:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Install WebPAM PRO and then uninstall WebPAM PRO.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

After installing WebPAM PRO, many wpp log files left in the root directory (profilexxx, zprofilexxx ...)

Solution/Workaround:

None.

Additional Comments:

This is the bug from the installation program “Installanywhere”. The WebPAM PRO installation uses the Installanywhere program.

Technically speaking it would be possible to simply delete these files during uninstall. However, an engineer from “Installanywhere” did not recommend this approach. Another product installed with IA may be using these files as a backup, and deleting the files would prevent the various profile files from being reverted back to their original state.

Further information can be found in this link: http://support.macrovision.com

When using the “Express Configuration” feature, RAID 1E and RAID 6 are not available.

2008-10-31T02:34:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Using WebPAM PRO to create disk array and logical drives with the "Express Configuration" feature.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

When using the "Express Configuration" feature, there is no option to choose RAID 1E and/or RAID 6.

Solution/Workaround:

None. This is normal and by design for specific conditions. See comments below.

Additional Comments:

For Express Configuration to offer RAID 1E: Redundancy and Performance options are selected, and Capacity is not selected and there are only 3 unconfigured physical drives. Under this specific condition, RAID 1E will be an available logical drive option.

For Express Configuration to offer RAID 6: All physical drives must be SATA drives. Also Redundancy is selected, Performance is not selected and more than 8 unconfigured physical drives and less than 16 unconfigured physical drives are available. Under this specific condition, RAID 6 will be an available logical drive option.

Why must all drives be SATA for RAID 6?: SAS hard drives are often more reliable than SATA hard drives. There is a faint chance that two SAS hard drives will fail at the same time. With SAS hard drives being more expensive than SATA drives, using two SAS hard drives for parity is not the best use of SAS hard drive technology. So if all hard drives are SAS, then RAID 5 is the preferred configuration and RAID 6 will not be available.

Controller BIOS does not show hard disk drive vendor name of SATA drive models.

2008-10-24T05:39:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Checking the physical disks properties in the controller BIOS

Failure Mode/Symptom:

For example: If user has a Seagate SATA disk model ST375064ONS connected to SAS/SATA controller, the BIOS shows ATA ST375064ONS instead of the customer expected Seagate ST375064ONS.

Solution/Workaround:

None. This is normal.

Additional Comments:

SATA drives shown with "ATA" in front is following the SAT standard. The BIOS displays whatever SCSI inquiry data is received from the drive.

The displayed information is expected behavior; it's not a bug.

After installing WebPAM PRO in SUSE 10.3 system, JAVA is not started automatically.

2008-10-06T06:10:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Install SUSE with regular installation, without installing other java related applications
Install SUSE with java related applications like JAVA development kits

Failure Mode/Symptom:

Unable to login to WebPAM PRO and Java won't automatically start

Solution/Workaround:

All related Java issues will be resolved after a reboot the system.

Additional Comments:

Final fix will be in SuperTrak firmware Service Release 3.

Failure to remotely install Windows 2008 on system board having Intel 5100 chipset.

2008-10-06T05:52:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Remotely install Windows 2008 via network connection
System board has Intel 5100 memory controller hub chipset

Failure Mode/Symptom:

When doing a network install of Windows 2008, after the initial reboot, Windows fails to boot up into Setup page for continuation. Instead, Windows 2008 hangs at the Microsoft logo screen.

In the same environment, Windows 2008 can be installed locally from the onboard drive and boot up without problem.

Solution/Workaround:

Disable the “Read Completion Coalescing” feature of Intel 5100 Memory Controller Hub Chipset.

To disable:

Go into the system BIOS menu -> Chipset -> North Bridge Configuration -> Read Completion Coalescing -> Disable.

Additional Comments:

The root cause of DMA errors is caused by the "Read Completion Coalescing" feature of Intel 5100 Memory Controller Hub Chipset.

According to Intel 5100 Memory Controller Hub Chipset Specification Update (http://www.intel.com/assets/pdf/specupdate/318385.pdf) Page 18, users must disable this feature when using Windows Server 2008.

Users can only 32 physical drives to Disk Array from controller BIOS.

2008-10-06T05:25:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658

Conditions:

Attach Promise VTrak J310s/J610s or other manufacturer's JBOD chassis to increase the number of physical drive more than 32.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

Users can only select 32 physical drives to create Disk Array from controller BIOS.

Solution/Workaround:

Users need to install and configure Disk Array and Logical Drive via WebPAM PRO or CLI utility.

Additional Comments:

This issue is due to limitations of memory usage in the controller BIOS.

Failure to install WebPAM PRO on Fedora 8 and SUSE 10.3

2008-10-06T05:16:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

Installing WebPAM PRO on Fedora 8 or SUSE 10.3

Failure Mode/Symptom:

While installing WebPAM PRO on Fedora 8 or SUSE 10.3 by using normal installation, users will encounter following error:

java error:"java: xcb_xlib.c:52: xcb_xlib_unlock: Assertion `c->xlib.lock' failed."

Symptom also happens when doing silent uninstallation of WebPAM PRO.

Solution/Workaround:

Please remember to execute following command before normal installation and silent uninstallation

export LIBXCB_ALLOW_SLOPPY_LOCK=1

Additional Comments:

This is JAVA incompatible issue with the installer program.

WebPAM PRO fails to run if using system host name to log in.

2008-10-06T04:56:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658
SuperTrak EX16650

Conditions:

The first time log-in to WebPAM PRO by using the system's host name for the URL.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

Entering the system name for the URL, but WebPAM PRO does not run. The default web page will not work if the system name is not resolved in DNS to it's own IP address.

Solution/Workaround:

In order to use WebPAM PRO you have to change the URL to http://127.0.0.1:8443 to start WebPAM PRO, and then add the subsystem (again 127.0.0.1) before you can see enclosures, arrays or disks.

SuperTrak EX8654/EX8658 receives "Access Firmware Timeout" error during BIOS post

2008-10-06T04:21:00.0000000

Products Affected:

SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658

Conditions:

In the host system the SuperTrak EX8654/EX8658 is connected to a single or cascaded multiple Promise VTrak J310s/J610s JBODs.
The VTrak JBOD is currently on-line and powered on.
Turn off the host system while leaving the VTrak JBOD under power.
Disconnect the VTrak JBODs from the host and then exchange the existing the SuperTrak EX8654/EX8658 with a replacement.
Reconnect the VTrak JBODs to the newly installed SuperTrak EX8654/EX8658 while the JBOD is still powered on.
Turn on the host system.

Failure Mode/Symptom:

With the above conditions and sequence of events, "Access Firmware Timeout" error will be displayed during BIOS post time. The system will halt and not be able to boot.

Solution/Work Around:

Users must power off the VTRak JBODs when replacing the SuperTrak EX8654/EX8658.

Additional Comments:

For the VTrak JBOD with replaceable controllers, the controller cannot be hotswapped without power cycling the VTrak JBOD. The SuperTrak EX8654/EX8658 does not support controller hotswap failover.

Does the SuperTrak SAS/SATA family of controllers support command queuing? NCQ & TCQ?

2008-07-10T05:38:00.0000000

Question: Does the SuperTrak SAS/SATA family of controllers support command queuing? NCQ & TCQ?

Answer: Yes. The SuperTrak SAS/SATA family of controllers support both NCQ and TCQ command queuing. NCQ is used with SATA Hard Drives and TCQ is with SAS Hard Drives.

SuperTrak SAS/SATA family of controllers:

SuperTrak EX4650
SuperTrak EX8650
SuperTrak EX8654
SuperTrak EX8658

All cards listed above will support NCQ and TCQ command queuing on direct attached hard drives.

Drives in external enclosures behind SAS expanders will work differently depending on the controller's Firmware/BIOS versions. Information below shows external support for SAS expanders related to Firmware/BIOS versions.

First Release - Firmware/BIOS version 1.02
- Does not support SAS expanders

Service Release 1 - Firmware/BIOS version 1.04
- Supports SAS expander on Promise JBOD only. SAS TCQ is supported. SATA NCQ is disabled.

I''m running Promise SuperTrak EX controllers and need help compiling drivers for Linux. Is there any documentation I can reference?

2007-06-04T11:25:00.0000000

Attached you will find a useful technical document that covers the following:

Compiling and Installing Drivers for Promise Controllers

Creating a Driver Install Disk for other Distributions

RH4.0 AS/ES/WS Update 4 In-kernel Driver install Procedure

Creating File-Systems and Mounting

Benchmarking in Linux

Attached you will also find a kernel "SuperTrak_EX Linux Distribution Kernel Versions.pdf" to help understand what kernel builds have in kernel driver support and which kernels we offer pre compiled drivers or simply driver source.

Even though we offer in kernel driver source it is recommended to update the driver either using the precompiled driver or compile your own from source.

It is also recommended to use matching code sets (driver, Firmware, Bios etcetera from the same Service Release)

How do I install the RedHat 4.0 AS/ES/WS 4 in-kernel driver for the SuperTrakEX series?

2007-03-12T16:49:00.0000000

RH4.0 AS/ES/WS Update 4 In-kernel Driver Install Procedure

This article covers installing the driver as a non-boot and boot device, and it applies to kernel versions 2.6.9-42.EL and later.

1. Using the Promise SuperTrak as a Non Boot Device

Step 1

Log in as root to the respective kernel (UP, SMP, etc)

Note: The below references to <2.6.9-42.ELsmp> is just an example. Your kernel maybe UP, Hugemem, SMP, etc. In Step 5, "Updating the kernel ramdisk", you may choose to update the ramdisk without having to boot into each respective kernel.

Step 2

Change directory to find the Promise module - stex.ko
# cd /lib/modules/2.6.9-42.ELsmp /kernel/drivers/scsi/

Step 3

In the /lib/modules/2.6.9-42.ELsmp/kernel/drivers/scsi/ folder execute these commands:
# modprobe sd_mod
# insmod stex.ko

Step 4

Using a text editor add this line to /etc/modprobe.conf:
alias scsi_hostadapter stex

For example:
vi /etc/modprobe.conf
alias eth0 e1000
alias eth1 e1000
alias scsi_hostadapter1 ata_piix
alias usb-controller ehci-hcd
alias usb-controller1 uhci-hcd
alias scsi_hostadapter2 qla4xxx
alias scsi_hostadapter stex
.
.
.
"/etc/modprobe.conf" 7L, 188C

Step 5

Update the kernel ramdisk with this command:
# /sbin/mkinitrd -v -f /boot/init-2.6.9-42.ELsmp.img 2.6.9-42.ELsmp

Step 6

Reboot the system back in to the same kernel; the driver should load automatically.

2. Using the Promise SuperTrak as a Boot Device

Step 1

Visit the Promise website and download the RH4.0 AS/ES/WS Update 4 driver install disk
http://www.promise.com/support/download/download_eng.asp

Step 2

Open the driver install disk and follow the read-me instructions to create a Linux Driver Disk - linux dd

i. On a DOS-based PC, run "rawrite.exe" and follow the prompt to extract the image file to the floppy.

ii. On UNIX/LINUX-based PC, run this command to copy the driver image to the floppy:
# dd if=<imagefilename> of=<floppydevicename> bs=10k

Note: The <imagefilename> is the disk image file name that you want to copy. <floppydevicename> is the floppy device name on the Linux system, typically /dev/fd0.

Step 3

Once the driver install disk has been created you can proceed with the installation of Red Hat 4.0 AS/ES/WS.
Boot from a CD or DVD and at the boot prompt execute the command: linux dd
Insert the floppy when prompted for the Promise driver install disk.

Step 4

Continue with the installation normally.

This document is available for download in Word and PDF format: RH4.0 AS_ES_WS Update 4 In-kernel Driver Install Procedure

What type of error handling does Vtrak and SuperTrak offer?

2007-03-12T16:32:00.0000000

KB 10014

What type of error handling does Vtrak and SuperTrak offer?

Bad Block Tables and Their Handling

Introduction

The handling of bad blocks for various RAID implementations can often be confusing to end users. This article is intended to add clarity to what the Promise RAID core does to handle some of those cases which could be encountered in the field.

BBM - Bad Block Map

Feature Description

Bad Block Map is a function used to keep track of the grown defect entries for each physical drive. Each entry is the physical location of an LBA. However for SATA drives it is kept in the DDF (Promise metadata region not exposed to the host) of the physical drive. This is to keep track of the number of error sector entries along with the reconstructed data for ATA drives. This is done if auto reassignment of sector fails with that drive. The data for up to 512 remapped sectors for each physical drive can be stored in the DDF. For SCSI drives the request for the BBM list will return the drive’s G-List from the drive. The user can use the BBM command to view this list for each drive from the CLI. BBM command is not supported in CLU or GUI.

Problem Manifestation

When the drive encounters a medium error on a physical LBA, the firmware will regenerate the data and rewrite the error location. If write command fails, then follows a reassign operation for SCSI drives. However SATA drives do not have an equivalent of a G-List data structure, so that is virtualized by the RAID firmware. The drives will attempt to do an auto reassign on a write. Thus if a write command fails either with medium errors or with a time-out, an entry is made to the BBM.

Problem Causes

The entries are made in the BBM list when the drive returns a medium error for a write command. SATA drives use auto reassign for sectors of a write commands that fail the command if the re-map area on the drive is full. Thus once auto reassign on the drive fails the entry will be made to the BBM. This error recovery will not be visible to the user unless the BBM is full. When the list is full, the command is returned with medium error. In such a scenario, where in the error sectors cannot be reassigned in the BBM area, the drive is marked dead. For SAS drive, the write error is followed up with re-assign command which in turn updates drive’s G-list. If reassign command fails on SAS drives, the drive is marked dead.

Problem Resolution

No user action is necessary. Use of the BBM command will only show how many entries are made for each drive. Only once the BBM is full then physical drive replacement is recommended as any more errors found with the drive can bring the drive offline.

IBT - Inconsistent Block Table

Feature Description

Entries to this table are for data blocks found to be inconsistent when a Redundancy Check operation is executed. These entries are recorded in Inconsistent Block Table. The firmware will not use this table. The data from this table will be passed to the user upon request to determine what locations on the LUN are suspect. The data blocks in the table are logical LBAs. Using the CLI command CHECKTABLE, user can view this table. Deleting the logical drive or the array will delete this table.

Problem Manifestation

This error is extremely rare for it to occur “naturally”. However, in the case of an occurrence an unspecified amount of data up to the number of stripes affected will be in question. It is also possible that only the parity is affected and the data is okay.

Problem Causes

This happens when the parity or the mirror data does not match the data. This is initially true when the system is initializing but during normal operation it is not expected to happen as this is the result of an undetected data corruption on the physical drive. The user can force this condition to occur when a drive is marked offline and then write operations are completed to the critical drive. Afterwards that drive is then forced back online.

Problem Resolution

The user needs to check the data on the affected LUN. If there are no data errors detected then no user action is necessary as the default (Auto Fix enabled) redundancy check operation will fix the parity or mirror metadata. If data errors are detected then files will need to be restored. Following file restoration an additional redundancy check execution is recommended as well as a file system check at the host level.

RCT - Read Check Table

Feature Description

Invalid Data Blocks are described as the data in a sector which is physically good but the data may be invalid. Read Check Table is used to record these logical LBAs which have invalid data. A read to this LBA by the host will be returned as Medium Error. A write to that LBA will clear the entry. The data blocks in the table are logical LBAs. Using the CLI command CHECKTABLE, user can view this table. Deleting the logical drive or the array will delete this table.

Problem Manifestation
The user will see errors for read commands for non redundant logical drives. The host will see medium errors from read commands to a particular LBA location.

Problem Causes
The issue is caused by unrecoverable medium errors returned from a physical drive for read operations while the logical drive is not in a redundant state. Thus the RAID firmware is unable to re-generate and write the correct data to the drive. An example of this case is if the controller is rebuilding a RAID 5 and it encounters an error while reading from one of the online members to reconstruct data.

Problem Resolution
This is corrected by rewriting/restoring the data to that location. This is normally handled by the operating system’s disk file system which will flag any files affected by the error. Typically a disk verify operation (chkdsk/fsck) is necessary to check all of the partition(s). But with this case, any files affected needs to be restored.

WCT - Write Check Table

Feature Description

Entries in this table are the LBAs which, a corresponding read-verify command failed after a write command to the physical drive and also failed the re-assign command (this could be caused if BBM is full). Write Check Table is used to record these LBA entries. Any read or write to these blocks will be returned with medium error. The data blocks in the table are logical LBAs. Using the CLI command CHECKTABLE, user can view this table. Deleting the logical drive or the array will delete this table. The rebuild operation will convert any WCT entry which falls on the rebuilding physical drive to RCT entry.

Problem Manifestation

This problem is detected by the user when both read and write operation fail to the same location with medium errors. This is considered to be a rare event. This error is happening when there are write error blocks in the WCT.

Problem Causes

In the case of SAS drives there are many medium errors and the G-List is full. For SATA drives the BBM is full.

Problem Resolution

It is recommended to replace (reconstruct the data) the physical drive which is giving the errors before other corrective actions are taken. Any files affected by this error will be flagged by the operating system and will need to be restored.

>>Problem with installing WebPAM 2.2.0.23 on Linux Fedora Core 5 >>When executing the proceure I get the following error: >>awk: error while loading shared libraries: libdl.so.2: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

2006-10-05T13:17:00.0000000

Product: Supertrak 16350

Platform: Linux Fedora Core 5

Firmware/Bios Version: n/a

Resolution for my previous logged problem:

This problem has been solved by binary editing the file and commenting out the lines containing LD_ASSUME_KERNEL=2.2.5.

A Description of the new Serial PCI Bus "PCI Express".

2006-03-30T16:44:00.0000000

Platform: all

Firmware/Bios Version: v2.9.0.3

The PCI Express [PCIe] bus defines the Electrical, topology and protocol for the physical layer of a point to point serial interface over copper wire < http://www.interfacebus.com/wire.html > or optical fiber. In addition to the Physical Layer, the PCI Express specification also covers the Transaction Layer and Data Link Layer. The Physical Layer resides with Layer 1, and the Data Link Layer resides with Layer 2 of the OSI protocol model < http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_OSI_Stack.html >.

PCI Express is the new serial bus addition to the PCI < http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_PCI.html > series of specifications. How ever the electrical and mechanical interface for PCI Express is not compatible with the PCI bus interface. This is a serial bus which uses two low-voltage differential LVDS < http://www.interfacebus.com/Design_Connector_RS644.html > pairs, at 2.5Gb/s in each direction [one transmit, and one receive pair]. A PCI Express link is comprised of these two unidirectional differential pairs each operating at 2.5Gbps to achieve a basic over all throughput of 5Gbps [before accounting for over-head]. PCI Express uses 8B/10B < http://www.interfacebus.com/Definitions.html > encoding [each 8 bit byte is translated into a 10 bit character in order to equalize the numbers of 1's and 0's sent, and the encoded signal contains an embedded clock].

PCI Express supports 1x [2.5Gbps], 2x, 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x, and 32x bus widths [transmit / receive pairs]; 2.5Gigabits/second per Lane per Direction. The 8B/10B changes the data transfer numbers to 250MBps per lane, raw data [B= Bytes, b=Bits]. The reduction in throughput is accounted for under the protocol section.

SX6000 does not post when more than 2 gigs of RAM is installed on the Mainboard

2004-05-27T11:03:00.0000000

Product: SUPER TRAK SX6000

Platform: All Platforms

Firmware/Bios Version: 1.20

Additional Description: Specific to certain Tyan and Intel boards

Solution: Firmware is to be updated for the SX6000 card. to build 42

Additional Information: This is a know issue. Please note that the firmware upgrade is beta only and not fully released at this time