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PCbridge Installation Guide
Vance Morrison
What you need to install PCbridge:
The PCbridge distribution comes in two parts, the binary-documentation
archive, as well as the source code archive. If you are using PCbridge
in a 'standard' configuration (for example, with 2 WD8003E ethernet
cards), then you will only need the binary-documentation archive. If
you wish to modify the code, or use non-standard configurations
(a three interface bridge for example), you will also need to recompile
the code. See compile.doc for details on how to do this.
In addition to the software you will also need
1) An IBM XT or AT compatatable. PCbridge uses very little memory
itself (about 80K) so a machine with 256K of memory is sufficient.
Additional memory simply will not be used.
2) The proper number and type of interface cards. As stated
in the readme.doc WD8003E cards are NOT recommended unless
you have no file serving traffic crossing the bridge.
WD8003EBT or WD80013EBT are the recommended cards. Standard
COM boards can be used for the serial line if a remote bridge
is being configured.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you are buying new hardware:
Because of the 16 bit data path, it is STRONGLY recommended that
if you are buying new hardware for you PCbridge that you get a
AT clone and use 3c507 or WD8013EBT cards. This PC need not have
much memory (256K suffices), and does not need a monitor. PCbridge
also does not used the keyboard in any way, but some BIOS boot
roms REQUIRE the keyboard to be connected for the machine to
boot. I have found that many of these BIOS roms will NOT check
for a keyboard if the DIP switches inside the PC are set for
no-monitor (or sometimes monitor = EGA). Machines with this
type of boot rom are convenient because you need not buy the
keyboard and bridge is more compact without it.
Such stripped down ATs cost about $400-$500 at the time of this
writing. WD8013EBT cards cost $250, and 3c507 about $250-$300
so a VERY nice bridge could be put together for under $1000.
With 386 machines coming down in price, people have asked if
it is worth buying one of these for a high end bridge. Although
the cache and higher clock rate may help, I suspect that a
fast 286 machine will provide much better cost/performance.
In short, a 386 machine is overkill.
If you are buying COM boards for a remote bridge, buy the
ones with the 16550AF chip on them. These boards have a built
in FIFO buffer on them that will reduce interrupts by a factor
of 10, and thus leave more time for the CPU to filter/forward
packets.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing the standard WD ethernet-ethernet bridge:
The PCbridge distribution comes with a two interface ethernet bridge
for the WD8013EBT, WD8003EBT and WD8003E, cards. The file for each
of these versions is simply the name (truncated because of DOS), with
a .EXE extension. To use it simply
1) Rename the proper file to 'BRIDGE.EXE'.
2) Set the I/O address of the first to WD80XX card to 280H (the
default) and the second to 2A0H. PCbridge does not use interrupts
so you can leave the IRQ line on the default of 3. Also jumper
each card for the type of ethernet you will use (thick or thin)
3) Install these cards in the PC that will become the bridge. This
PC needs 256K of memory.
3) Create a bootable Floppy and put BRIDGE.EXE on it. Create
and AUTOEXEC.BAT file that executes BRIDGE.EXE.
4) Hook up the cables and turn on the PC.
That's it. PCbridge does the rest. If the bridge does not work, see
trouble.doc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing the standard 3Com ethernet-ethernet bridge:
The PCbridge distribution comes with a two interface ethernet bridge
for the 3c507 cards. This file is named 3c73c7.exe. To use it simply
1) Rename it to 'BRIDGE.EXE'.
2) Use the 3c507.exe file that came with the 3c507 cards to set
the first card to
I/O address to 280H,
Shared memory address to D0000H
Shared memory length to 64K
Interupt to some unused IRQ (say 3)
ROM disabled (length = 0)
0-wait state to enable if you PC can handle it
(most fast clones can, you may want to disable
it at first if you are not sure)
and the second card to
I/O address to 2A0H,
Shared memory address to C0000H
Shared memory length to 64K
Interupt to some unused IRQ (say 3, (it can be the same))
ROM disabled (length = 0)
0-wait state to enable if you PC can handle it
(most fast clones can, you may want to disable
it at first if you are not sure)
Note because of the way the 3c507.exe program works, you can
only have one 3c507 card in the PC when you are configuring it.
Thus you have to configure one card, replace it with the other,
configure that one, and only then place both cards back in the
PC.
3) Install these cards in the PC that will become the bridge. This
PC needs 256K of memory.
3) Create a bootable Floppy and put BRIDGE.EXE on it. Create
and AUTOEXEC.BAT file that executes BRIDGE.EXE.
4) Hook up the cables and turn on the PC.
That's it. PCbridge does the rest. If the bridge does not work, see
trouble.doc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing the Starlan cards with the standard distribution:
The standard WD8003E program can be used for a starlan-starlan or
starlan-ethernet bridge (if WD8003E cards are used for the ethernet
side). Simply treat a starlan card like an ethernet card in the
instructions above. Note, however, that it is really recommended that
a WD8003EBT is used for the Ethernet side (if a starlan-ethernet
bridge is desired). This configuration, however is not supported by the
standard distribution, PCbridge will have to be recompile. See
compile.doc for details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Installing the standard ethernet-serial-ethernet bridge:
PCbridge also comes with a file called REMOTE.EXE which is designed
to do remote bridging. The expected configuration is to have
two PCs with an ethernet and a COM port on each one. The PCs are
then connected via a serial line. The PCs will then bridge packets
between the far ethernets. The standard distribution is designed
to work with the WD8003E card. Although the other cards (WD8013EBT
and WD8003EBT) will work too, the extra buffer space of these cards
is not used. Thus it is recommended that you configure and recompile
a special version if you use these cards in the remote bridge.
1) Rename the proper file to 'BRIDGE.EXE'.
2) Set the I/O address of both to WD8003E cards to 280H (the default).
You can leave the IRQ line on the default of 3 (but make sure it
is NOT 4, since that is what the COM1 board uses).
3) Set each of the serial boards to be COM1. (I/O = 3F8H, IRQ=4)
4) Install one serial board and one WD8003E board in each PC.
5) Create two bootable Floppies and put BRIDGE.EXE on each. Create
on each floppy an AUTOEXEC.BAT file that executes the command
BRIDGE <baud rate>
where <baud rate> is the baud rate of the serial line (9600, 19200 etc).
If no baud rate is given, 19200 is the default.
6) Hook up the cables and turn on both PCs.
That's it. PCbridge does the rest. Note that since EVERY broadcast
and multicast packet on BOTH networks has to be forwarded through the
serial line, the remote bridge will only work well for networks that
have little broadcast traffic (certainly less than 1 broadcast/sec).
Normally PCbridge assumes that it may always send a character down the
serial line (no flow control). If you are using a compressing modem,
this assumption is no longer correct. PCbridge can be configured to
understand hardware flow control (that is only send characters when
the RS232 signal CTS is asserted). To enable this feature, however
the sofware must be recompiled. See compile.doc for details on how
to do this.