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<article id="index"> <!-- please do not change the id -->

 <artheader>
  <title>IDE Tool Manual</title>
  <copyright>
   <year>2000</year>
   <holder>Dan Mueth</holder>
  </copyright>

  <!-- translators: uncomment this:

  <copyright>
   <year>2000</year>
   <holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder>
  </copyright>

   -->

  <!-- do not put authorname in the header except in copyright - use
  section "authors" below -->

    <legalnotice id="legalnotice">
      <para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
	under the terms of the <ulink type="help"
	url="gnome-help:fdl"><citetitle>GNU Free Documentation
	    License</citetitle></ulink>, Version 1.1 or any later version 
	published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, 
	no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license
	can be found <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:fdl">here</ulink>.
      </para>
      <para>Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and
	services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any
	GNOME documentation, and those trademarks are made aware to the members
	of the GNOME Documentation Project, the names have been printed in caps
	or initial caps.
      </para>
    </legalnotice>

  <!-- this is version of manual, not application --> <releaseinfo>
  This is version 1.0 of IDE Tool manual.
  </releaseinfo>

 </artheader>

 <!-- ============= Document Body ============================= -->

 <!-- ============= Introduction ============================== -->
 <sect1 id="intro">
  <title>Introduction</title>

  <para>
   <application>IDE Tool</application> is a tool for viewing and
   tuning the properties and settings of IDE drives, such as IDE hard
   drives and CDROMs.  The hard drive properties which
   <application>IDE Tool</application> shows include the model,
   geometry, and cache.  It allows you to control drive configuration
   such as whether it uses DMA and IRQ unmask.
  </para>


<!--
  <para>
   To run <application>IDE Tool</application>, select
   <guimenuitem></guimenuitem> from the
   <guisubmenu>SUBMENU</guisubmenu> submenu of the <guimenu>Main
   Menu</guimenu>, or type <command>MYGNOMEAPP</command> on the
   command line. 
  </para>
-->

  <para>
   <application>IDE Tool</application> is included in the
   <filename>gnome-utils</filename> package, which is part of the
   GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version
   &version; of <application>IDE Tool</application>.
  </para>

 </sect1>


 <!-- ================ Viewing Information ======================= -->
 <!-- This section should describe basic usage of the application. -->

 <sect1 id="viewing">
  <title>Viewing IDE Device Information</title>
  <para>
   <application>IDE Tool</application> displays one interface
   <interface>tab</interface> for each IDE device on your system, as
   seen in <xref linkend="mainwindow-fig">.

    <!-- ==== Figure ==== -->
    <figure id="mainwindow-fig">
     <title>IDE Tool Main Window</title>
     <screenshot>
      <screeninfo>IDE Tool Main Window</screeninfo>
      <graphic fileref="figures/idetool" format="png"
       srccredit="muet">
      </graphic>
     </screenshot>
    </figure>
    <!-- ==== End of Figure ==== -->
   </para>

   <para>
    To view the settings for a particular IDE device, select the
    corresponding <interface>tab</interface>. 
   </para>

   <note>
    <title>IDE Device Names</title>
    <para>
     IDE devices are generally identified as
     <guilabel>hda</guilabel>(master on the primary IDE controller),
     <guilabel>hdb</guilabel>(slave on the primary IDE 
     controller), <guilabel>hdc</guilabel>(master on the second IDE
     controller), and <guilabel>hdd</guilabel>(slave on the second IDE
     controller). (There may be more, following the same naming
     convention, on computers with more than two IDE controllers,
     although this is uncommon.)
    </para>
   </note>

   <para>
    For each device, the following information is displayed:
    <itemizedlist>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Model</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This is the device model.  It typically reveals the
       manufacturer and model number of the device. Devices other than
       hard drives are typically labelled as such (eg. <quote>TOSHIBA
       DVD-ROM SD-M1212</quote> or <quote>HP CD-Writer+ 7100</quote>).
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Firmware</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This is the version number of the firmware on the device.  Most
       people will not need to know which firmware version they are
       running. 
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Serial No.</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This is the serial number of the device.  This may be useful
       for warranty purposes or for technical support.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Geometry</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       (Only for hard drives.) This displays the number of cylinders,
       heads, and sectors on the device.      
      </para>
     </listitem>

<!-- NOTE: idetool states a different geometry from hdparm and the -->
<!-- kernel at boot time. -->    

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Cache</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This is the amount of cache on the device.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Status</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This shows the power mode status, which can be
       <guilabel>unknown</guilabel>, <guilabel>Active/Idle</guilabel>,
       <guilabel>standby</guilabel>, or <guilabel>sleeping</guilabel>.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>DMA Mode</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This shows whether DMA is <guilabel>Enabled</guilabel> or
       <guilabel>Disabled</guilabel>.    
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>IO Mode</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This shows whether your I/O mode is set to
       <guilabel>16-bit</guilabel> or <guilabel>32-bit</guilabel>.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>IRQ Unmask</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This shows whether the drive is allowed to unmask other
       interrupts.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>Multisector</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This shows whether the drive is allowed to send data from
       multiple sectors per interrupt.
      </para>
     </listitem>

     <listitem>
      <para>
       <guimenuitem>On Reset</guimenuitem> &mdash;
       This shows whether the drive preserves some settings
       (<guilabel>DMA Mode</guilabel>,
       <guilabel>Multisector</guilabel>, and <guilabel>IRQ
       Unmask</guilabel>) when the drive is soft-reset.
      </para>
     </listitem>

    </itemizedlist>
   </para>

 </sect1>


 <!-- ============ Configuring IDE Devices ================= -->
 <sect1 id="configuring">
  <title>Configuring IDE Devices</title>
   <para>
    Some IDE properties(DMA Mode, IRQ Unmask, and On Reset) can be
    configured using <application>IDE Tool</application>. To modify
    the setting of any of these properties, just double-clicking on
    the item. This will toggle the setting for the particular property.
   </para>

   <warning>
    <title>Warning: Only expert users should change the IDE
    settings</title>
    <para>
     Mis-configuration of IDE devices can cause serious malfunctions
     of the system. Make sure to learn the proper use of each setting
     and the common pitfalls in configuration.  The man pages for the
	<ulink url="man:hdparm"><command>hdparm</command></ulink> command can be
     very instructive for learning more about this.  You can view these man
     pages by clicking on the link above or by typing <command>man
     hdparm</command> at a shell prompt. 
    </para>
   </warning>

 </sect1>


 <!-- ============= Bugs ================================== -->
 <!-- This section should describe known bugs and limitations of
      the program if there are any - please be frank and list all
      problems you know of -->
 <sect1 id="bugs">
  <title>Known Bugs and Limitations</title>
  <para>
   Various properties cannot be configured using <application>IDE
   Tool</application>. Until these are incorporated, you must use
   the <command>hdparm</command> command to set other properties.
  </para>
  <para>
   <application>IDE Tool</application> does not update itself if
   settings are changed after <application>IDE Tool</application> is
   begun, for example by the drive being reset or a by the root user
   using the <command>hdparm</command> command.
  </para>
 </sect1>


<!-- ============= Authors ================================ -->

 <sect1 id="authors">
  <title>Authors</title>
  <para>
   <application>IDE Tool</application> was written by Alan Cox
   (<email>alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk</email>).  Please send all
   comments, suggestions, and bug 
   reports to the <ulink url="http://bugs.gnome.org" type="http">GNOME
   bug tracking database</ulink>. (Instructions for submitting bug
   reports can be found <ulink
   url="http://bugs.gnome.org/Reporting.html" type="http">
   on-line</ulink>.) If you are using
   GNOME 1.1 or later, you can also use <application>Bug Report
   Tool</application> (<command>bug-buddy</command>), available in the
   <guisubmenu>Utilities</guisubmenu> submenu of <guimenu>Main
   Menu</guimenu>, for submitting bug reports.
  </para>

  <para>
   This manual was written by Dan Mueth
   (<email>d-mueth@uchicago.edu</email>). Please send all comments and
      suggestions regarding this manual to the <ulink type="http"
      url="http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/">GNOME Documentation
      Project</ulink> by sending an email to
      <email>docs@gnome.org</email>. You can also add your comments
      online by using the <ulink type="http"
      url="http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/doctable/">GNOME Documentation
      Status Table</ulink>.
  </para>

  <!-- For translations: uncomment this:

  <para>
   Latin translation was done by ME
   (<email>MYNAME@MYADDRESS</email>). Please send all  comments  and
   suggestions regarding this translation to SOMEWHERE.
  </para>

  -->

 </sect1>


 <!-- ============= Application License ============================= -->

 <sect1 id="license">
  <title>License</title>
  <para>
   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
      modify it under the terms of the <ulink url="gnome-help:gpl"><citetitle>GNU General Public
   License</citetitle></ulink> as published by the Free Software Foundation;
   either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
   version.
  </para>
  <para>
   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
   <citetitle>GNU General Public License</citetitle> for more details.
  </para>
  <para>You also obtain a copy of the
   <citetitle>GNU General Public License</citetitle> from the Free
   Software Foundation by visiting <ulink type="http"
   url="http://www.fsf.org">their Web site</ulink> or by writing to
   <address>
    Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    <street>59 Temple Place</street> - Suite 330
    <city>Boston</city>, <state>MA</state> <postcode>02111-1307</postcode>
    <country>USA</country>
   </address>
  </para>
 </sect1>
</article>




