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Release notes for the AAR-1220SA, AAR-1225SA SATA HostRAID dated: 
February 10, 2010
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This release notes contains the following:

1. Description of the release
2. Supported hardware
3. Supported Operating Systems
4. Major functional changes
5. Prerequisites of using the Software
6. Tested Configuration
7. Known Issues
8. Windows Registry Parameters
	
	

1. Description of the Release:
---------------------------------

Date of release: February 10, 2010

This is the official software release containing the list of software components 
listed in the section 3 of the release note.

2. Supported Hardware:
--------------------------

The software release supports the following hardware listed below:

a. Adaptec AAR-1220SA SATA HostRAID controller
b. Adaptec AAR-1225SA eSATA HostRAID controller


3. Supported Operating Systems:
------------------------------------

Windows Driver 32-bit and 64-bit (AMD & EM-64T) 	- 1.6-0 Build 12089
            	
- Windows 7, All versions
- Windows Server 2008R2, Standard, Enterprise, and x64 Edition


3.1 BIOS and DOS Tools:
----------------------------

1. Expansion ROM BIOS 					- 6.0-0 Build 2330
2. Adaptec Flash Utility (AFU.EXE)           		- 6.0-0 Build 2330

 
4. Major Functional Changes:
--------------------------------
	
1. Added support for Windows Server 2008


5. Prerequisites of Using the Software:
-------------------------------------------

- The BIOS and driver should be used with the following software versions:

Adaptec Storage Manager (ASM) and HRCONF       		- 5.10.0 Build 17173



6. Tested Configuration:
---------------------------

The software was tested with the Hardware Supported list on the motherboard with the IBM PC/AT 
compatible PCI-X/PCIExpress platforms. These are the various components used during the testing:

- IBM x86 PC/AT compatible platform with Intel Xeon 
- Tested with direct attached SATA-I and SATA-II drives 
- Adaptec Storage Enclosure 335SAS enclosures with SATA drives


7. Known Issues/Limitations:
--------------------------------

1.  1225SA does not support bootable devices.

2.  After an successful installation of Windows Server 2008 onto a bootable volume connected 
    with the HostRAID controller, the Windows Device Manager will show a device named 
    “Adaptec HostRAID SCSI Processor Device” under Other Devices with a question mark. That 
    happens because the installation routine does not copy the pseudo driver for the management 
    application (adpmgt.inf) during a fresh install of Windows Server 2008. Please double-click 
    on the “Adaptec HostRAID SCSI Processor Device” in Device Manager and manually install the 
    missing driver. 
    Please note that this only happens if the Adaptec HostRAID controller is the boot controller.

3.  Before rebooting the system,, make sure to initiate and fully complete the clear operation 
    in the BIOS ACU on the RAID array which resides on the SIL 3726 Port Multiplier.

4.  The SR1500 and SR2500 platforms do not complete the resource assignment to the PCI 
    configuration space of the 1220SA. Hence, the 1220SA BIOS cannot be loaded successfully during 
    POST.  

5.  1225SA is not detected in SuperMicro X7DBE/X6DA8-G2 system, when the HBA is inserted in a 
    'non-PCIe x4' slot.

6.  Issues have been seen with drive ordering during the installation of Windows Server 2008 when 
    more than one bootable controller is installed in the system. Microsoft recommends having only 
    one bootable controller active/installed during the installation of the operating system. 
    Controllers that have the BIOS or INT13 Support disabled are not causing an issue.

7.  Drive Letter may disappear after Medium Error on a Simple Volume
    On a simple volume with Medium error, the error is reported to the Windows OS. All the error 
    handling is done by the operating system. The expected behavior is intermittent and sometimes 
    drive letter disappear. 

8.  OS causes invalid data in file copy from Medium Error locations in specific conditions    
    When read medium error occur in simple volume or RAID-0 or a good member of a degraded 
    RAID-1/RAID-10, file copy in Windows Explorer will fail the first few times but will pass 
    on the later attempts; however, the file gets copied has invalid data in the section where the 
    medium error was. This happens because of the Windows OS caching invalid data.

9.  An array cannot be created with one eSATA drive attached directly to the 1225SA, and one or 
    more drives from a Port Multiplier enclosure connected to the other port of 1225SA.

10. With 1225SA and Port Multiplier configuration it is recommended to rebuild degraded arrays in 
    the BIOS ACU.


8. Windows REGISTRY PARAMETERS:
----------------------------------------------

8.1 Driver Specific Registry Parameters

 
WARNING: Altering or adding these driver parameters incorrectly can render your system inoperable. 
Use them with caution.

Follow the instructions below to enter registry values that affect the configuration information for 
the ADP3132 driver. Note that all HostRAID adapters supported by the installed driver are affected 
by the values you enter here.

 
The key used for this HostRAID release is "ADP3132". To enter driver-specific parameters, follow these 
steps: 

1) Select Run from the Start button.

2) Type "regedt32" and press Enter.

3) Open the registry list to the following location: 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ADP3132

If the \Parameters\Device\ keys already exist, skip to step 6 to begin entering parameters. If the 
keys do not yet exist, follow steps 4 and 5 to create them.

4) Click on the ADP3132 key. Select "New -> Key" from the Edit menu, type "Parameters" in the 
"New Key #1" edit box, and press Enter. 

5) Click on the Parameters key. Select the "New -> Key" from the Edit menu, type "Device" in the 
"New Key #1" edit box, and press Enter. To specify a specific host adapter, append Device with the 
number of the host adapter. For example, type "Device0" for the first host adapter, "Device1" for 
the second, etc. If you omit the host adapter number, the configuration information will apply to 
all supported host adapters.

6) Go to the Parameters\Device key. Select "New -> String Value" from the Edit menu, type 
"DriverParameters" in the "New Value #1" box, and press Enter twice.
The Edit String text box appears. Enter valid parameters in the text box. Use a semicolon to separate 
multiple parameters. For example:

<Parameter1>=<Value1>;<Parameter2>=<Value2>;MaximumSGList=17;PK=1;

NOTE: Changes made with the Registry Editor do not take effect until you reboot your computer.

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Option: Performance/Compatibility Settings

Definition: This registry option tunes the setting for performance purpose. This registry option 
modifies the maximum number of I/Os and maximum number of scatter gather elements or number of 
physical breaks. The setting can be set as high or normal. When set to high it modifies the maximum 
I/Os to 255 and maximum 
scatter gather list to 33. In this mode, system hibernation may not work. Use the following parameter 
and value to modify the driver behavior.

To run driver in high performance:
Use the registry file HIGHPERF.REG.

To run driver in normal mode:
Use the registry file WHQL.REG.

Follow these steps to change the settings:

1) Select Run from the Start button.
2) Browse to the folder containing above mentioned version of the HostRAID driver, select file 
"HIGHPERF.REG" or "WHQL.REG" and click OK.

NOTE: The default value for this parameter is normal mode and it supports system hibernation.

                    
Possible Values: Normal Mode - High Performance Mode
Default Value: Normal Mode

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Option: ExposeEnclosure

Definition: This registry option changes the appearance of enclosure management devices to the 
operating system. One can directly edit the registry and apply the required changes to this option 
as explained in section 8.1.

There is another way to reflect expose enclosure change using the "ENCLOSURE.REG" file. Follow these 
steps to change the settings:

1) Select Run from the Start button.
2) Browse to the folder containing above mentioned version of the HostRAID driver, select file 
"ENCLOSURE.REG" and click OK.

Note: If you use the second option to expose enclosure, then use the 
"Performance/Compatibility Settings" option to bring driver to Normal Mode using "WHQL.REG" file.

Possible Values: 0-1 (0=do not expose enclosure, 1=expose enclosure)
Default Value: 0

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8.2 Windows Specific Registry Parameters

NOTE: This setting applies to Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

The only Windows-specific parameter that you can currently change is the TimeOutValue. This registry 
option increases the timeout for all disk class devices (in contrast to the driver-specific registry 
parameters that affect only your HostRAID adapter).

The default TimeOutValue is 10 seconds. Follow these steps to increase this value to 60 seconds:

1) Select Run from the Start button.
2) Browse to the folder containing above mentioned version of the HostRAID driver, select the file 
"TIMEOUT.REG" and click OK.

Note: Changes made with the Registry Editor do not take effect until you reboot your computer.


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
(c) 2008 Adaptec, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

This software contains the valuable trade secrets of Adaptec or its 
licensors. The software is protected under international copyright 
laws and treaties. This software may only be used in accordance with 
the terms of its accompanying license agreement.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval 
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, 
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior 
written consent of Adaptec, Inc., 
691 South Milpitas Blvd.,Milpitas, CA 95035



	 
