Part I: Disclaimers

01.00. First off...

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 01.00. First off...

Part II: Introduction

02.01. EIDE and Fast-ATA

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.01. EIDE and Fast-ATA

02.02. IDE and ATA

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.02. IDE and ATA

02.03. ATA-2

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.03. ATA-2

02.04. ATA-3

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.04. ATA-3

02.05. ATA Packet Interface

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.05. ATA Packet Interface

02.06. Ultra-ATA

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.06. Ultra-ATA

02.07. ATA-4

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.07. ATA-4

02.08. The Enhanced BIOS

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.08. The Enhanced BIOS

02.09. The secondary port and beyond

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 02.09. The secondary port and beyond

Part III: General questions

03.01. What are the main features of EIDE and Fast-ATA?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 03.01. What are the main features of EIDE and Fast-ATA?

03.02. What are the main features of Ultra-ATA?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 03.02. What are the main features of Ultra-ATA?

03.03. Are those rumors about buggy interfaces true?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 03.03. Are those rumors about buggy interfaces true?

03.04. What is a megabyte?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 03.04. What is a megabyte?

Part IV: Before buying

04.01. What should I look for in an ATA-2 (Fast-ATA, EIDE) interface?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.01. What should I look for in an ATA-2 (Fast-ATA, EIDE) interface?

04.02. Is my BIOS Enhanced? How can I recognize this?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.02. Is my BIOS Enhanced? How can I recognize this?

04.03. Is my 50MHz VL bus system compatible with ATA-2 interfaces?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.03. Is my 50MHz VL bus system compatible with ATA-2 interfaces?

04.04. Are old IDE drives compatible with EIDE and U-ATA interfaces?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.04. Are old IDE drives compatible with EIDE and U-ATA interfaces?

04.05. Can I use EIDE and U-ATA drives with my old (E)IDE interface?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.05. Can I use EIDE and U-ATA drives with my old (E)IDE interface?

04.06. Will an ATAPI (EIDE) CD-ROM work with an IDE interface?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.06. Will an ATAPI (EIDE) CD-ROM work with an IDE interface?

04.07. Do I need a BIOS update to connect an ATAPI CD-ROM?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.07. Do I need a BIOS update to connect an ATAPI CD-ROM?

04.08. Can large drives be used with my old BIOS?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.08. Can large drives be used with my old BIOS?

04.09. I need an Enhanced BIOS to access >504MB. How do I get one?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.09. I need an Enhanced BIOS to access >504MB. How do I get one?

04.10. Can I use a large harddisk with OSs other than DOS/Windows?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.10. Can I use a large harddisk with OSs other than DOS/Windows?

04.11. I heard that Win95 provides support for large IDE disks.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.11. I heard that Win95 provides support for large IDE disks.

04.12. Can I use more than 2 or 4 hard drives?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.12. Can I use more than 2 or 4 hard drives?

04.13. Does support ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROMs?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.13. Does support ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROMs?

04.14. I need a PCI ATA-2 interface that uses only one slot.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.14. I need a PCI ATA-2 interface that uses only one slot.

04.15. Will adding an Ultra-ATA interface help my drives' performance?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 04.15. Will adding an Ultra-ATA interface help my drives' performance?

Part V: Installation

05.01. Which drive/device should be Slave?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 05.01. Which drive/device should be Slave?

05.02. Does it matter how I connect the devices to the cable?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 05.02. Does it matter how I connect the devices to the cable?

05.03. Does an old HD or CDROM slow down a new drive?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 05.03. Does an old HD or CDROM slow down a new drive?

05.04. I need a longer IDE cable; how long can I make it?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 05.04. I need a longer IDE cable; how long can I make it?

05.05. Can I safely move my harddisk between computers?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 05.05. Can I safely move my harddisk between computers?

Part VI: Configuration

06.01. Should I use my interface's device drivers?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.01. Should I use my interface's device drivers?

06.02. What should I use: Normal, LBA or Large?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.02. What should I use: Normal, LBA or Large?

06.03. Can I safely change the BIOS' xlation mode (None, LBA, Large)?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.03. Can I safely change the BIOS' xlation mode (None, LBA, Large)?

06.04. Should I enable EIDE busmastering in my BIOS?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.04. Should I enable EIDE busmastering in my BIOS?

06.05. FDISK sees only 504MB of my disk!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.05. FDISK sees only 504MB of my disk!

06.06. FDISK will partition only 2GB.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.06. FDISK will partition only 2GB.

06.07. I have no fancy EBIOS, but I have an 1GB partition and it works.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.07. I have no fancy EBIOS, but I have an 1GB partition and it works.

06.08. I have software to break the 504MB barrier. Should I use it?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.08. I have software to break the 504MB barrier. Should I use it?

06.09. Can I keep my Disk Manager/EZDrive partition with a new BIOS?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.09. Can I keep my Disk Manager/EZDrive partition with a new BIOS?

06.10. I need to remove Disk Manager/EZDrive.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.10. I need to remove Disk Manager/EZDrive.

06.11. I can enable write caching on my harddisk. Should I?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.11. I can enable write caching on my harddisk. Should I?

06.12. My drive letters have changed!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 06.12. My drive letters have changed!

Part VII: Performance

07.01. Why isn't my drive as fast as it's advertised to be?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 07.01. Why isn't my drive as fast as it's advertised to be?

07.02. Why is my new EIDE, U-ATA interface no faster than my old one?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 07.02. Why is my new EIDE, U-ATA interface no faster than my old one?

07.03. I benchmarked my drive and it's getting slower!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 07.03. I benchmarked my drive and it's getting slower!

07.04. A guy on the net has the same drive and he gets 33MB/s!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 07.04. A guy on the net has the same drive and he gets 33MB/s!

07.05. Busmastering drivers don't do much...

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 07.05. Busmastering drivers don't do much...

Part VIII: Troubleshooting

08.01. Why do I get NO ROM BASIC, SYSTEM HALTED?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.01. Why do I get NO ROM BASIC, SYSTEM HALTED?

08.02. I have problems with my Award 4.50G BIOS and large drives.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.02. I have problems with my Award 4.50G BIOS and large drives.

08.03. My 2GB+ drive is not recognized or crashes.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.03. My 2GB+ drive is not recognized or crashes.

08.04. My 4GB+ drive has problems in MSDOS 6.22 or below.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.04. My 4GB+ drive has problems in MSDOS 6.22 or below.

08.05. Help! I have OnTrack Disk Manager installed and now...

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.05. Help! I have OnTrack Disk Manager installed and now...

08.06. My mode 3-4-5-6 drive has data corruption problems.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.06. My mode 3-4-5-6 drive has data corruption problems.

08.07. Are there supposed to be bad sectors on the drive?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.07. Are there supposed to be bad sectors on the drive?

08.08. I keep getting CRC errors and serial overruns.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.08. I keep getting CRC errors and serial overruns.

08.09. Can my drive do 32-bit access?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.09. Can my drive do 32-bit access?

08.10. Help! Windows 3.x 32-bit disk access doesn't work anymore!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.10. Help! Windows 3.x 32-bit disk access doesn't work anymore!

08.11. Help! Windows for Workgroups' 32-bit file access fails!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.11. Help! Windows for Workgroups' 32-bit file access fails!

08.12. Help! Win95 indicates my drive uses compatibility mode!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.12. Help! Win95 indicates my drive uses compatibility mode!

08.13. My partitions become a mess in MS-DOS mode.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.13. My partitions become a mess in MS-DOS mode.

08.14. Win95 sees my partitions, but DOS doesn't.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.14. Win95 sees my partitions, but DOS doesn't.

08.15. Win95 keeps losing my second IDE channel!

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.15. Win95 keeps losing my second IDE channel!

08.16. The Win95 busmastering drivers won't work.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.16. The Win95 busmastering drivers won't work.

08.17. My ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROM driver won't recognize the CD-ROM.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 08.17. My ATAPI (IDE) CD-ROM driver won't recognize the CD-ROM.

Part IX: The user's net.resource guide

09.01. The user's net.resource guide: I/O card drivers

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 09.01. The user's net.resource guide: I/O card drivers

09.02. The user's net.resource guide: hardware manufacturers

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 09.02. The user's net.resource guide: hardware manufacturers

09.03. The user's net.resource guide: software and BIOS houses

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 09.03. The user's net.resource guide: software and BIOS houses

Part X: ATA: harddisks

10.01. How does ATA(-2) work?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.01. How does ATA(-2) work?

10.02. What are PIO modes?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.02. What are PIO modes?

10.03. What are DMA modes?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.03. What are DMA modes?

10.04. How are the ATA(-2,PI) I/O ports assigned?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.04. How are the ATA(-2,PI) I/O ports assigned?

10.05. What does an ATA-2 interface do?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.05. What does an ATA-2 interface do?

10.06. What is Block mode?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.06. What is Block mode?

10.07. What is LBA?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.07. What is LBA?

10.08. How does security work?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.08. How does security work?

10.09. What is S.M.A.R.T.?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.09. What is S.M.A.R.T.?

10.10. What is PRML?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.10. What is PRML?

10.11. What are MR heads?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 10.11. What are MR heads?

Part XI: ATAPI: CD-ROMs and tapes

11.01. How does ATAPI differ from, and coexist with, ATA(-2)?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 11.01. How does ATAPI differ from, and coexist with, ATA(-2)?

11.02. What's so special about the secondary port?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 11.02. What's so special about the secondary port?

Part XII: The EBIOS: translation

12.01. Why translation?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 12.01. Why translation?

12.02. How does translation work?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 12.02. How does translation work?

12.03. I'd like to know how translation works in detail.

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 12.03. I'd like to know how translation works in detail.

12.04. What is in the Enhanced Disk Parameter Table?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 12.04. What is in the Enhanced Disk Parameter Table?

12.05. How many types of translating/Enhanced BIOSes are there?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 12.05. How many types of translating/Enhanced BIOSes are there?

Part XIII: Software details

13.01. Details on OnTrack Disk Manager

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 13.01. Details on OnTrack Disk Manager

13.02. How does Windows' 32-bit disk access work?

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 13.02. How does Windows' 32-bit disk access work?

Part XIV: Hacker's resource guides

14.01. The hacker's documentation guide

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 14.01. The hacker's documentation guide

14.02. The hacker's net.resource guide

Enhanced IDE/Fast-ATA/ATA-2 FAQ: 14.02. The hacker's net.resource guide