This section summarizes the hardware requirements for storage peripherals. For related acoustical requirements for storage devices, see the “Basic PC 98” chapter in Part 2 of this guide.
1. Storage device and controller support bus master capabilities
Required
Bus master capabilities must meet the related specification for the particular controller. For example, the programming register set for PCI IDE bus master DMA is defined in SFF 8038i.
Correctly implemented bus master support ensures improved performance and Windows-compatible device driver support.
Note: This requirement does not apply to legacy FDCs and will not become a requirement for legacy FDCs.
2. Removable media includes media status notification support
Required
The following list shows the required specifications for implementing media status notification, depending in device type.
| Device type | Media status notification implementation |
| CD-ROM and DVD-ROM |
Required. Comply with all provisions in the Media Event Status Notification subsection of SFF 8090 (Mt. Fuji specification), available at ftp://fission.dt.wdc.com/pub/standards/SFF/specs/. |
| Other types of IDE/ATAPI removable storage devices | Required. Comply with Media Status Notification Support, Version 1.03 or higher, available at http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/specs/. |
| ATAPI floppy drives | Required. Comply with media status notification as defined in SFF 8070. |
| Other ATAPI devices, including tape drives | Recommended. Comply with SFF 8090 (Mt. Fuji specification) if implemented. |
| Other types of SCSI removable devices | Not required. Comply with SFF 8090 (Mt. Fuji specification) if implemented. |
3. Option ROMs support Int 13h Extensions
Required
The Int 13h Extensions ensure correct support for high-capacity drives, consistent drive-letter mapping between real mode and protected mode, and other capabilities for both Windows and Windows NT. Support for the fixed-disk access subset of Int 13h Extensions must be provided in the system BIOS and in any option ROMs for storage devices that include BIOS support. The Int 13h Extensions are defined in the “Layered Block Device Drivers” section of the Windows 98 DDK and in the Windows NT 5.0 DDK.
4. Device meets PC 98 general device requirements
Required
These include the PC 98 requirements for a Plug and Play device ID, automated software-only settings for device configuration, device drivers and Windows-based installation, and icons for external connectors. For more information, see the “Basic PC 98” chapter in Part 2 of this guide.
5. Device meets PC 98 requirements for ports or buses
Required
The device must meet all requirements for the port or bus to which it is attached. For example, a drive that uses the parallel port must meet all the requirements defined for legacy parallel peripherals (including requirements for ECP mode), as defined in the “I/O Ports and Devices” chapter in Part 4 of this guide. If the device uses a PCI, IDE, or SCSI connection, the device must meet the related requirements defined in Part 3 of this guide.
6. Device Bay storage device meets PC 98 requirements
Required
All Device Bay peripherals must meet the requirements defined in Device Bay Interface Specification, Version 1.0. Any storage device designed as a Device Bay peripheral must also interface with either the USB or IEEE 1394 bus, or both, and must support the Universal Serial Bus Device Class Definition for Mass Storage Devices, Version 1.0 or higher, if it interfaces with USB.
7. IDE/ATAPI devices supported on IEEE 1394
Recommended
For PC 98 systems, IDE/ATPI device support on IEEE 1394 is recommended. An interface device or dongle that allows all IDE/ATAPI devices to be connected to IEEE 1394 can be included with the system. If IDE/ATAPI support is included, the operating system must be able to boot from this device.
This recommended support is defined in relation to the emerging Device Bay standard. For more information about PC 98 recommendations and requirements for Device Bay, see the “Basic PC 98” chapter in Part 2 of this guide.
8. IDE/ATAPI devices and controllers support Ultra DMA/33
Required
Ultra DMA/33 (also known as Ultra-ATA) is required to avoid the bottleneck created by the current 16.6 Mb/s limit on disk transfer. Ultra DMA/33 also provides error checking for improved robustness over previous IDE implementations. This is a requirement for all IDE/ATAPI controllers and devices.
PCI chip sets must implement DMA as defined in SFF 8020i and must implement Ultra DMA/33 as defined in the specification submitted by Quantum Corporation for inclusion in the ATA-4 specification.
9. USB-based mass storage device meets PC 98 requirements for USB
Required
If a USB-based mass-storage device (including tape and CD-ROM) is implemented in a PC 98 system, it must meet the requirements defined in the “USB” chapter in Part 3 of this guide. It must also meet the requirements defined in Universal Serial Bus Device Class Definition for Mass Storage Devices, Version 1.0 or higher.
10. System BIOS or option ROM supports El Torito No Emulation mode
Required
For PC systems that include CD-ROM or DVD-ROM devices, the system BIOS or option ROM must support the No Emulation mode defined in the specification El Torito—Bootable CD-ROM Format Specification, Version 1.0, published by IBM and Phoenix.