ftp.tcs3.com/ftp.tcs3.com.tar/ftp.tcs3.com/DRIVERS/Network/3COM/3C59x/3c59xx.exe/README.TXT

Text File | 1995-08-11 | 19KB | 449 lines

                            3Com Corporation
              ETHERDISK DISKETTE FOR THE ETHERLINK III AND FAST ETHERLINK
                      PCI AND EISA BUS MASTER ADAPTERS

This EtherDisk diskette supports 3Com's family of bus mastering PCI and EISA
network adapters with a common driver set. Products included in this family
are the EtherLink III PCI and EISA TPO and Combo adapters and the Fast
EtherLink 10/100BASE-T adapters. Key product features include:

-  Parallel Tasking architecture for highest performance
-  Bus mastering for low CPU utilization and optimal overall system
   performance
-  Guaranteed compatibility with PCI compliant systems, or your money back
   (fully operational in both bus master and slave PCI slots)
-  Ease of installation with AutoLink, Autoselect media type for EtherLink
   III PCI and Autoselect link speed for Fast EtherLink
-  Broad driver support, including NetWare, NDIS 2.01, NDIS 3.0, and others
-  SNMP manageability
-  Lifetime warranty
-  Full duplex enabled for switched 10 Mbps environments

This diskette includes new drivers that were not available on the
previous diskette.  The new drivers include the Windows '95 driver, the O/S2
NDIS 2.01 driver, the O/S2 Netware ODI driver, and the Packet Driver.


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND RELEASE NOTES

This file contains the release notes and answers to some frequently asked
questions about the PCI and EISA environments to help you get the most out
of your 3Com Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI and EISA adapters. This
information is updated regularly on 3Com's CompuServe forum (Ask3Com) and on
the 3Com BBS (bulletin board service).


FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Do I have to configure my 3Com PCI adapter for my computer?
A: PCI is a self-configuring bus architecture. Most of the time you will
not need to do anything except install the board in your system; PCI then
takes over from there and does the rest. However, on some PCI computers
(mostly with PCI-ISA/EISA combination buses in the same machine), you may
be required to manually configure the computer's BIOS after installing your
PCI adapter. If you need to configure your system manually, refer to the
owner's guide for your system. In addition, at the end of this document we
have provided some hints on how you might go about doing this. For example,
we have seen during our testing that the AST Premmia GX P90 seems to require
you to run the EISA configuration utility once you install the board to make
sure that the I/O base address of the device does not conflict with other
devices in the system.

Q: Which PCI slot is best for my 3Com PCI adapter?
A: 3Com PCI adapters are designed to work in any PCI slot in the system,
including "slave-only" slots. 3Com's PCI adapters will reach their full
performance potential in those slots that support bus mastering data
transfers. Refer to your owner's manual for information on which slots
support bus mastering data transfers.

Q: Which PCI slot(s) are "bus mastering" in my PCI machine?
A: Generally, if you have three PCI slots in a system, one slot will be
designated as a "slave-only" slot (i.e., it does not support bus-mastering
data transfers). We have found slots are not always marked clearly to
distinguish between slave-only and bus mastering slots. It is best to refer
to your owner's manual or contact your system manufacturer for this
information.   Also, it is best to contact your system manufacturer and make
sure that you have the latest version of your system's BIOS. At the end of
this document we have included some phone numbers for leading PCI system
manufacturers.

Q: Which interrupt should I use with my 3Com PCI adapter?
A: Unless your system is a PCI-ISA/EISA combination computer that requires
manual configuration, you should not have to worry about setting interrupts.
However, if your computer is not self-configuring, you will need to set
your PCI adapter's interrupts manually. To do this, you may need to set a
jumper on your motherboard and/or set the interrupt in the system's BIOS.
In either case, you will need to assign the PCI interrupt (INTA) to any
available interrupt not being used by an ISA or EISA add-in board already
in your system. Keep in mind that the interrupt configuration on your
computer's motherboard and in your BIOS must match each other. Since PCI
supports shared interrupts, multiple 3Com PCI adapters can use the same PCI
interrupt in the system (except as noted below).

Q. Does my PCI adapter support shared interrupts?
A. The drivers for the Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI adapter support
shared interrupts. However, because there is no industry-standard way to
support shared interrupts, other adapters may support them differently, or
not at all. If you have another PCI adapter that does not support shared
interrupts (for example, a SCSI host adapter), either contact the
manufacturer for a shared interrupt driver or try running the system setup
program to assign it a different interrupt.

Q: What interrupt should I avoid using with my 3Com PCI adapter?
A: You should avoid using any interrupts used by ISA/EISA boards that do
not properly support shared interrupts (level-triggered). If you do not
know, or are unsure whether your adapter supports shared interrupts, then it
is best to avoid using them. In addition, you should try to avoid using the
same interrupt as your local hard drive (normally IRQ 14 for IDE drives and
IRQ 11 for most SCSI host adapters), since not all hard drives support shared
interrupts at this time. For Novell NetWare servers, you should also avoid
using IRQ 7 or 15.   These IRQs only support non-shared devices and may
cause problems if they are shared between two devices.

Q: Is my 3Com PCI adapter a 3.3 V or 5 V adapter?
A: The 3Com adapter currently being shipped is a 5 V adapter. It will not
fit in a 3.3 V slot.

Q: My AutoLink does not work with my 3Install Account on a NetWare 4.X
server. Why?
A: If you do not have a memory manager installed, you will need
at least 576 K of conventional memory to connect to a NetWare 4.X server
3Install volume with AutoLink. Some of the possible errors returned during
AutoLink that may indicate you are running low on memory are as follows:
"Login-4.084-100: Access has been denied."
"Login-4.084-903: The command Line Syntax is Invalid. For help type Login /?"
"Login-4.084-971: The workstation does not have enough memory to load the
 unicode table file"
"Login-4.084-240: This utility was unable to open script file xxxx. Error
 executing the program update; No such file or directory."

Q: When I run my AutoLink and connect to a 3Install volume, not all the
files from the 3Install volume are copied to my system. Why?
A: When AutoLink connects to a 3Install volume on a NetWare server, upon
completion, it will indicate that your system has been updated from the
3Install server volume. What is not stated here is that when files on the
EtherDisk diskette are more current than the files on the server volume, the
EtherDisk files will be used to update your system, instead of the files
from the 3Install volume.

Q: My 3Com PCI adapter driver will not load when EMM386.EXE is loaded. Why?
A: Microsoft's EMM386.EXE versions 4.48 and earlier may conflict with some
PCI systemsÆ ROM BIOS. If you are using EMM386 version 4.48 or earlier,
make sure you run your EtherDisk diskette Installer that allows you to
replace your current EMM386 with an updated version.

Q: The adapter works fine in DOS, but I can't execute programs loaded over
the net when Windows is running. What's wrong?
A: If the EMM386.EXE memory manager is not loaded by your CONFIG.SYS file,
Windows loads an equivalent driver when Windows is started. The problem is
that the EMM386 Windows emulator that ships with Windows 3.1 and Windows for
Workgroups 3.11 is not compatible with PCI computers. To solve this problem,
put the statement

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS

immediately following the line

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

in your CONFIG.SYS file. Make sure you are running version 4.49 or newer. If
you are not sure which version of EMM386 you have, run EMM386UP.BAT on the
EtherDisk diskette. This program will update EMM386 if the update is needed.

Q: If my hub port is set up for full duplex operation, should I still use
my 3Com PCI adapter in half duplex mode?
A: No. If a port on the hub is configured full duplex, then the port on the
workstation MUST be configured to match. (Note: Full Duplex operation is
only supported when running in 10BASE-T/10BASE2 modes).

Q: My ACERPOWER system indicates that I have a ROM installed, but one is not
present. Why?
A: The BIOS ACERPOWER (BIOS version V2.0 486/DX2 66 MHz) PCI system
incorrectly indicates (via the PCI information) that there is a ROM on the
adapter on the PCI adapter. Contact ACER to get an updated BIOS to correct
this problem.

Q: Are my Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI ODI drivers "Novell Certified"?
A: Yes. 3Com's Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI ODI drivers are Novell
tested and approved.


RELEASE NOTES

DOCUMENTATION ERRATA: PCI

- On page 3-7 (Fast EtherLink PCI User Guide) and on page 3-8 (EtherLink III
Bus Master User Guide), in the "Multiple Adapters in a Client" section,
change:

If you are using an ODI driver with multiple adapters already installed, and
you have not updated the NET.CFG file, the message below appears:

NetWare DOS ODI client Multiple EtherLink III Adapters found.
Use NET.CFG to specify I/O Port

to:

If you are running an ODI driver with multiple adapters already installed,
specify which adapter you want the driver to recognize by adding the I/O
base address to the NET.CFG file using the PCISLOT=<address> parameter.
The 3C59X EtherDisk diskette contains a sample NET.CFG file in the
/NETWARE/CLIENT directory.


DOCUMENTATION ERRATA: EISA

NOTE: These changes and corrections apply to both the Fast EtherLink EISA
User Guide and the EtherLink III EISA Bus Master User Guide unless specified
otherwise.

- Page 4-1, in Figure 4-1, change:

Find the port address(es)

to:

Find the adapters slot numbers

- Page 4-2 (Fast EtherLink EISA User Guide), delete the last paragraph and
the INSTALL instruction at the bottom of the page.

- Page 4-3, change the section heading:

Finding the Adapter's Port Address

to:

Finding the Adapter's Port Address for Multiple Adapters in a NetWare Server

Replace the text under this heading with the following:

NOTE: You must use the adapters' port addresses when installing multiple
adapters in a server.  You must know the adapter's slot number when
installing one or more adapters in a client.

If you are installing more than one adapter in your NetWare server, you must
know the adapters'port addresses. To find the appropriate port address,
follow these steps:

1. In the main menu on the EtherDisk diskette, select
Configuration/Diagnostics/Troubleshooting, and press [Enter].
2. In the next screen, select Configuration and Diagnostic Program, and
press [Enter].  If multiple adapters have been installed, the screen that
appears will list them.
3. Select the adapter whose port address you want.
4. Select View in the menu bar, and press [Enter].
5. The screen that appears contains the desired I/O port address. Make a
note of the address.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each adapter.
7. Exit the program.

Move this entire section to page 4-9, immediately before the section
"Multiple (EISA) Adapters in a Server."

- Page 4-7 (Fast EtherLink EISA User Guide) and page 4-8 (EtherLink III EISA
Bus Master User Guide), in the section "Multiple (EISA) Adapters in a Client,"
change:

adapter port address

to:

slot number

Finding the Adapter's Slot Number for Multiple Adapters

When working in a NetWare environment with multiple adapters in a computer,
you must know each adapter's slot number. To find the adapterÆs slot number
after inserting the adapters, follow these steps:

1. Access the Configuration and Diagnostic Program on the 3C59X EtherDisk
diskette.
2. Select Configuration/Diagnostics/Troubleshooting, and press [Enter].
3. Select Configuration and Diagnostic Program and press [Enter].
4. The next screen lists the installed adapters. Write down their slot
numbers.
5. Exit the program.

If you are using an ODI driver with multiple adapters already installed and
you have not updated the NET.CFG file, specify which adapter you want the
driver to recognize by adding the slot number to the NET.CFG file using the
SLOT=XXXX parameter, where XXXX is the slot number parameter.

- Page 4-7 (Fast EtherLink EISA User Guide) and page 4-8 (EtherLink III EISA
Bus Master User Guide), change the text of the section "Multiple (EISA)
Adapters in a Client" to the following text and instructions.

NOTE: Only use multiple adapters if you plan to run multiple protocols. For
information on running multiple protocols, refer to the documentation
accompanying your operating system.  Before proceeding, make sure you have
discovered the adaptersÆ slot numbers.

If you are running NetWare and you have installed multiple EtherLink EISA
adapters in an EISA-compliant computer, follow these steps:

1. Make sure your computer is turned off. Install the first adapter.
2. Connect the network cable to the adapter.
3. Insert the EISA configuration utility diskette and turn on the computer.
4. Run the EISA configuration program.
5. When the program has finished, save the configuration, remove the diskette,
exit the program, and restart the computer.
6. Insert the EtherDisk diskette and run the AutoLink program.
Refer to the sections "Requirements for AutoLink Installation" and "AutoLink
Installation of Client Drivers" for instructions, on pages 4-4 and 4-5.
7. When the AutoLink installation is complete, remove the diskette, reboot
the computer, and connect it to the server.
8. Turn off the computer, install the second adapter, and connect the network
cable to the adapter.
9. Insert the EISA configuration utility diskette and turn on the computer.
10. Run the EISA configuration program.
11. When the program has finished, save the configuration, remove the
diskette, and exit the program.
12. Access the C:\NWCLIENT subdirectory.
13. Edit the NET.CFG file, which is in the NWCLIENT, subdirectory as shown
below:

a. In the LINK DRIVER 3C59X section of the NET.CFG file, add the following:
    Slot 3
    FRAME ETHERNET_802.2
b. Repeat step 13a for the second adapter:
    Slot 5
    FRAME ETHERNET_II

    The slot numbers shown above are examples; yours may be different.
    NOTE: Each frame type must be different, as shown in the example
        above.

14. Reboot your computer.

NOTE: Your NetWare server will only read the first adapter it finds. Be sure
to list the adapters in the right order.

- Page 4-8, under the heading "Multiple Adapters in a Client," change:

PORT=XXXX (where XXXX is the adapter port address)

to:

SLOT=XXXX (where XXXX is the EISA slot number)

- Page 4-11 (Fast EtherLink EISA User Guide), in the "NDIS Drivers" section,
change:

the IOADDRESS in the PROTOCOL.INI file

to:

the SLOT in the PROTOCOL.INI file

- Page 5-3, in the section "Starting the Diagnostic Program," add the
following note:
NOTE: Before running the Configuration and Diagnostic Program, run the
INSTALL program as described in Chapter 3 in the section "Changing the
Settings."

- Page 5-7 (Fast EtherLink EISA User Guide), change:

Bus mastering is not supported in all EISA slots in all computers.

to:

Bus mastering is not supported in some EISA slots in all computers.

A Short Cut to Finding the Port Address

Once you know the slot number of an adapter, you can determine its port
address as follows:

Multiply the slot number by 1000 hex.
For example: 3 x 1000 hex = 3000 hex


3COM PCI ADAPTER INSTALLATION HINTS

Installing a PCI adapter in a PCI slot:
1. Put the adapter in the computer. Refer to your system documentation.

2. Start the computer. In most cases, the PCI computer will automatically
configure the adapter. If this does not happen, you may need to configure
the computer to work with the adapter. See the next section for more
details on how to do this.

If you have problems during installation:
3Com has found that some PCI computers require additional configuration
steps in order to install a PCI adapter.   The steps we recommend are as
follows:

1. Determine if you have the latest BIOS version for your computer.
Contact your computer's manufacturer to make sure you are using the latest
BIOS. Here are the phone numbers for some PCI system manufacturers:

Company          Phone                Notes

ALR*            [phone]
Ambra*           [phone]
AST*             [phone]
AT&T*           [phone]
              [phone]
Compaq*          [phone]     Compaq DeskPRO XL should have a BIOS dated
                 [phone]        Oct. 1994 or later for best performance.
Dell*            [phone]
                 [phone]
Digital          [phone]
Equipment*
Gateway*         [phone]
                 [phone]
Hewlett-     (800) 322-HPPC
Packard*         [phone]
IBM*             (800) IBM-3333
Micron*          [phone]
Packard          [phone]
Bell*
Unisys*          [phone]
Zenith*          [phone]
ZEOS*            [phone]
                 [phone]
* Third-party trademarks and copyrights are the property of
their respective owners.

2. Make sure the BIOS is set up correctly. In some PCI computers, you may
need to enable the PCI slot using the BIOS Setup program. This is especially
common in PCI computers with a Phoenix BIOS.

After installing the adapter, turn on the computer and enter the Setup
program during system initialization (usually by pressing F1, F2, or
Ctrl-Alt-S). The correct key to press is usually shown on the screen.
Once in Setup, find the entry for PCI slots (it may be in the main menu,
or sometimes in advanced system configuration) and set these parameters to:

BIOS System          Setting
Parameter

PCI Slot Number      Slot where the 3Com PCI adapter is installed (1-3)
Master               ENABLED
Slave                ENABLED
Latency Timer        40
Interrupt            Choose any one of several available interrupts that
                     Setup provides.
Edge or Level        Level Triggered Interrupt

NOTE: The exact wording of each of the parameters will vary from computer
to computer. Save the changes, exit the Setup program, and continue with the
installation.

3COM TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Please refer to your PCI or EISA user guide as appropriate for this
information. In addition, this information is also available in the
\INFO\SUPPORT.TXT file on the EtherDisk diskette.

3Com, EtherLink, and EtherDisk are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.

%VER EtherLink Bus Master Family EtherDisk release notes V5.0a