Tomcat i7230A S5160 

                                                                  Chapter 3: BIOS Setup 

ECP uses the DMA protocol to achieve data transfer rates of up to 2.5 Mb/s and provides 

symmetric bidirectional communication. On the other hand, EPP uses existing parallel port 

signals to provide asymmetric bidirectional communication. 

Generally, because of its FIFOs and the DMA channel it uses, ECP is good for large data 

transfers (useful for scanners and printers). On the other hand, EPP is better with links that 

switch directions frequently (like parallel port drives). 

SPP / EPP / ECP 

Base I/O Address / Interrupt 

This determines the base address and interrupt of the parallel port. 

378 / IRQ7 / Disabled / 278 / IRQ5 / 3BC / IRQ7 

DMA Channel 

This BIOS feature determines which DMA channel the parallel port should use when it is in 

ECP mode. 

The ECP mode uses the DMA protocol to achieve data transfer rates of up to 2.5 Mbits/s and 

provides symmetric bidirectional communications. For all this, it requires the use of a DMA 

channel. 

By default, the parallel port uses DMA Channel 3 when it is in ECP mode. This works fine in 

most situations. 

This feature is provided just in case one of your add on cards requires the use of DMA 

Channel 3. In such a case, you can use this BIOS feature to force the parallel port to use the 

alternate DMA Channel 1. 

Please note that there is no performance advantage in choosing DMA Channel 3 over DMA 

Channel 1 or vice versa. As long as either Channel 3 or Channel 1 is available for your parallel 

port to use, the parallel port will be able to function properly in ECP mode. 

DMA 1 / DMA 3 

Floppy Disk Controller 

This defines how the floppy disk controller is detected and configured. 

Enabled / Disabled 

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