IBM ThinkPad 380 or 380D User's Guide

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Appendix B. Advanced Information for PC Cards for OS/2 Warp

This appendix describes advanced information related to using PC Cards.

Auto Configurator for PC Card Director

Note:
When installing an operating system, install the PCMCIA device driver that is on the PCMCIA Installation Diskette to use the Auto Configurator.

To install the PCMCIA device driver:
"Installing Software".

The ThinkPad 380 or 380D computer provides the Auto Configurator, a program for some PC Cards, so that you do not have to install the device driver supplied with the card to use it.

The resource and configuration information for the PC Cards are written in the script files. Once the information is written, you can use the Auto Configurator Utility to edit these script files.

When Auto Configurator is installed, the following line is added to the CONFIG.SYS file according to your operating system:

   BASEDEV=AUTODRV2.SYS

Starting the Auto Configurator Utility

This section describes the Auto Configurator Utility for OS/2.

To start Auto Configurator Utility for OS/2, select the Auto Configurator Utility icon from the PC Card Director window.

Registering a PC Card in Auto Configurator

Select a card from the Available Cards list in the Auto Configurator Utility main panel.

Select the card for which you want to assign the resources first. For example, when you want to assign COM3 to a modem card, and not COM2, select the setting for COM3 first.
Click on the Add>> button.
Click on the Save button.
The names in the left list box (Available Cards) are the cards that can be registered. The names in the right list box (Selected Cards) are the cards that are already registered in Auto Configurator. When a PC Card is installed, Auto Configurator starts from the top of the list to assign the resources to the card.

Deleting a Registered Card

Select the PC Card you want to delete from Selected Cards in the Auto Configurator Utility main panel.
Click on the Delete button.
Click on the Save button.

Changing the Registered Order for PC Cards

To change the order of the registered PC Cards, do the following:

Click on the Order... button in the Auto Configurator Utility main panel:
Refer to the following to change the order of the PC Cards in the list:
- Moving a card toward the bottom:
  1. Select the PC Card you want to move.
  2. Click on the Down button.
    Every time you click on the Down button, the PC Card is moved toward the bottom of the list.
- Moving a card toward the top:
  1. Select the PC Card you want to move.
  2. Click on the Up button.
    Every time you click on the Up button, the PC Card is moved toward the top of the list.
Click on the OK button to save the changes.
The changes are saved. To cancel the changes, click on the Cancel button.

Changing the Resource Information for the PC Card

Select the PC Card you want to change from the left list box in the Auto Configurator Utility main panel.
Click on the Edit... button.
The following screen is displayed:
Note:
The current resource information is set as the default and appears in the input field of each item. The number that can be set is displayed in the pull-down list box.
You can change the following registered information for the PC Card:
The items that can be changed differ among PC Cards:
- Card ID
- I/O port address
- IRQ level
- COM number of the serial port
- Memory window address
- Memory window size
- Card offset address
Click on the OK button, and save the changes.
To cancel the changes, click on the Cancel button.

For PC Card Director to work correctly, the PC Card device drivers (which make up the structured file of PC Card Director) must be registered in the CONFIG.SYS file. These drivers are automatically registered in the CONFIG.SYS file when you install PC Card Director following the instructions in "Installing Software". The following shows each driver registered in the CONFIG.SYS file and the standard rules.

Registered Drivers and Standard Rules

The following is a sample of the CONFIG.SYS file for OS/2:

         :
BASEDEV=PCMCIA.SYS			(Card Services)
BASEDEV=IBM2SS01.SYS			(Socket Services)
BASEDEV=IBM2SS14.SYS			(Socket Services)
BASEDEV=AUTODRV2.SYS			(Auto Configurator)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\VPCMCIA.SYS	(Virtual Card Services)
         :
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\xxxxxxx.SYS
         :	(^Storage card device driver)
REM PC_Card_Client_Device_Driver
         :
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\$ICPMOS2.SYS
          	(^Power Management Support driver)

Rule 1: Card Services and Socket Services must be listed before any other PCMCIA drivers.
Rule 2: The PCMCIA Power Management Support driver must be listed after all drivers, at the end of the CONFIG.SYS file.
Rule 3: When using storage cards, the device drivers must be installed according to the card type:

Using only an ATA card:

         :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM	(ATA card device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS
         :	(^Storage API device driver)
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD	(Storage Card Device Manager)

Using an ATA card and an SRAM card:

         :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM	(ATA card device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS
          	(^Storage API device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2SRAM.SYS
         :	(^SRAM card device driver)
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD	(Storage Card Device Manager)

Using an ATA card and a Flash card:

         :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM	(ATA card device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\FLSH2MTD.SYS
          	(^Flash Card Memory Technology driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS
          	(^Storage API device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2FLSH.SYS
         :	(^Flash card device driver)
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD	(Storage Card Device Manager)

Using an ATA card, an SRAM card, and a Flash card:

         :
BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD /!DM	(ATA card device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\FLSH2MTD.SYS
          	(^Flash Card Memory Technology driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCMSSDIF.SYS
          	(^Storage API device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2SRAM.SYS
          	(^SRAM card device driver)
DEVICE=C:\THINKPAD\PCM2FLSH.SYS
         :	(^Flash card device driver)
BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD	(Storage Card Device Manager)

Rule 5: The Storage Card Device Manager (OS2PCARD.DMD) must be added after the Power Management Support driver ($ICPMOS2.SYS) in the CONFIG.SYS file. If you don't have the Power Management Support driver, the Storage Card Device Manager must be added at the end of the CONFIG.SYS file.

Strage Card Device Driver

ATA cards, SRAM cards, and Flash cards are PCMCIA storage cards. The following section describes the device drivers for these storage cards, available in PC Card Director.

PCMCIA Storage Card Device Driver

Note:
Install PCM2ATA.ADD for all storage cards, even when you are using SRAM or Flash cards.

PCM2ATA.ADD supports ATA cards, PCM2SRAM.SYS supports SRAM cards, and PCM2FLSH.SYS supports Flash cards.

Any PC Card installed in the slot is recognized by its device driver, so regardless of its type, you can access the card by the drive name assigned to the slot. When using the PCMCIA ATA Card Mount Utility, install the PCMCIA Storage API device driver (PCMSSDIF.SYS) for OS/2.

Before Using PCMCIA Storage Cards

Format new PCMCIA storage cards before use. For Flash cards, run the Flash Format Utility (FFORMAT.EXE/FFORMAT2.EXE); then format the Flash card. For ATA cards and SRAM cards, there is no need to run any programs before formatting the card. Format using the FORMAT.COM program, by displaying the File Manager (for Windows), or by choosing the drive icon (for OS/2).

Using PCMCIA ATA Cards with Multiple Partitions

The device driver assigns a drive letter only to the active (bootable) partition of the ATA card if it holds multiple partitions. For other primary partitions or logical drives in an extended partition, use the PCMCIA ATA Card Mount Utility to assign the drive letter to it.

Parameters for the PCMCIA ATA Card Device Driver

The following are the parameters in the OS/2 PCMCIA ATA card device driver and their explanations:

BASEDEV=PCM2ATA.ADD [/S:n] [/P:hhhh] [/EXIRQ:n]
    [/NOBEEP] [/B] [/STBTIME:n] [/MDRV:n] [/!DM]

/S:n: Specifies the number of PC Card slots. /S:1 shows that there is only one PC Card slot. When this parameter is not set, the number of PC Card slots is set to 2.
/P:hhhh: Specifies the lower limit for the I/O address of the ATA card. The device driver assigns the next usable I/O address from this lower limit to the card. When this parameter is not set, the device driver looks for a usable address and assigns it to the card.
/EXIRQ:n: Specifies the IRQ level that is not assigned to the card. You can set more than one IRQ level.
/NOBEEP: Specifies not to beep when a storage card is installed. When this parameter is not set, you will hear a beep every time a storage card is installed into the PC Card slot.
/B: Specifies that OS/2 has started from an ATA card. When this parameter is set, there will be no redundancy in assigning the logical drive to the slot where OS/2 was booted. It depends on the ATA card whether you can start OS/2 from it.
/STBTIME:n: Specifies the time (from 1 to 21 minutes) until entering standby mode. When the ATA card is not accessed for the time specified by this parameter, the ATA card enters standby mode (only when your ATA card supports standby mode). When this parameter is not specified, standby mode for the ATA card is disabled.
/MDRV:n: Specifies the number of extra drives that can be used in addition to the number of PC Card slots available for the PCMCIA storage devices. When this parameter is not specified, no extra drive is given to the device driver. The extra drives can be activated by the PCMCIA ATA Card Mount Utility.
/!DM: Specifies not to use OS2DASD.DMD as the device manager. When this parameter is set, OS2PCARD.DMD is used instead.

PCMCIA Storage Card Device Manager

OS2PCARD.DMD is the device manager for the PCMCIA storage card. Specify the /!DM parameter in the PCM2ATA.ADD line, so OS2PCARD.DMD is used instead of OS2DASD.DMD. If you do not specify /!DM, PCM2ATA.ADD uses the OS/2 standard Storage Card Device Manager (OS2DASD.DMD); however, under some conditions the format is not correct when you use OS2DASD.DMD.

The following is a line from the CONFIG.SYS file that describes the Storage Card Device Manager:

   BASEDEV=OS2PCARD.DMD

OS/2 PCMCIA Storage API Device Driver

This device driver provides a communication function between PC Card Director or the mount utility and the OS/2 PCMCIA ATA card device driver. As a result, a utility in the upper layer can get the drive letter or partition information for the PCMCIA storage card.

The following is a line from the CONFIG.SYS file that describes the Storage API device driver:

DEVICE =[drive:][directory]PCMSSDIF.SYS

Flash Card Memory Technology Driver

This device driver is used to read and write to a Flash card. It is used by OS/2 Flash card driver (PCM2FLSH.SYS).

The following is a line from the CONFIG.SYS file that describes the Flash Card Memory Technology driver, according to the operating system:

For OS/2:

DEVICE =[drive:] [directory] FLSH2MTD.SYS
 	(^Memory Technology driver)
DEVICE =[drive:] [directory] PCM2FLSH.SYS
 	(^Storage card device driver)

Checking the Allocated Resources for the PC Card

If the resources for the PC Cards are not correctly allocated, you will see error messages. You can check which resources for the PC Card were not correctly allocated by using PC Card Director. To check the resources that could not be allocated, click on the Status button in the PC Card Director program.

The following are some reasons why the resources could not be correctly allocated, and corresponding actions you should take to solve the problem.

The resource was already reserved by another device.

To change the resource settings for the PC Card or other devices, you can do one of the following:

Refer to the system manual or utility program and check which device is using the resources that you want to use for the PC Card. Then change the settings for the device by using, for example, the setup programs. For more information, refer to the manuals supplied with your computer.
If your PC Card is enabled by a PC Card enabler, you can change the resources assigned to the PC Card by changing the parameters in the PC Card enabler, or you can change the settings in the configuration file of the PC Card. For more information, refer to the manuals supplied with your PC Card.
If you are using Auto Configurator to enable your PC Card, you can change the resources assigned to the PC Card by using the Auto Configurator. Make sure the resource is not used by other devices and can be used by the PC Card and its application program. For more information, see "Starting the Auto Configurator Utility".
If you are using modem cards, some modem cards use serial port COM1 or COM2 and do not have the setup information for COM3 and COM4. These modem cards cannot be enabled when other devices are using COM1 and COM2. (For example, as a default, COM1 is used by the infrared device and COM2 is used by the modem.) Error messages are displayed to tell you that the I/O port address 3F8 or 2F8, or IRQ level 3 or 4, were not allocated.
If this is the case, for OS/2, use the ThinkPad Setup Utility in the ThinkPad Features program to disable the devices using COM1 or COM2; then restart the system.

Avoiding PC Card Resource Conflicts

PC Card Director checks the resources for most devices used by the system to avoid resource conflicts, but it does not recognize all option devices used. Especially when you are using the expansion unit, there is a possibility that the I/O port address or IRQ level may conflict with the PC Card.

Check the status of the PC Card by using PC Card Director. When the PC Card is set to "Ready," the resources used for that PC Card are displayed. Refer to the manuals supplied with the system or option adapters to check that the resources for the devices in the system or for the option adapters are not conflicting with the resources for the IRQ level, I/O port address, or memory window of the PC Card. If you are using OS/2 Warp Version 3 or later, you can check the assigned system resources using RMVIEW.EXE.

If there is a conflict:

If you are using OS/2 Warp Version 3 or later, use RESERVE.SYS to register those resources in OS/2.
To set RESERVE.SYS, refer to the manuals or online help for OS/2 Warp, or refer to the READ.ME file of PC Card Director.
If you are using Auto Configurator, change the enabling order or resource information using the Auto Configurator Utility.
See "Starting the Auto Configurator Utility".
Change the parameter for the PC Card enabler. Refer to the manuals supplied with the PC Card.
If you are using network cards, change the resource information for the PC Card stated in the PROTOCOL.INI or NET.CFG file.
To change the configuration file for the network cards, refer to the manuals or READ.ME files of the PC Cards or network drivers.

Virtual Card Services

Note:
DOS Object includes DOS program, Windows program, DOS full-screen, DOS window, WIN-OS/2 full-screen, and WIN-OS/2 window.

When you use a DOS object in the OS/2 environment, OS/2 Virtual Card Services provides a Card Services interface so that you can use the DOS PC Card device driver for the DOS object.

To use Virtual Card Services in a DOS object, do the following:

Move the mouse pointer to the DOS object icon; then click on the right mouse button.
Select Settings or Property.
Select Session.
Select DOS (WIN-OS/2) Settings.
Select All DOS (DOS and WIN-OS/2) Settings.
Set PCMCIA_CARD_SERVICES as On.
Set PCMCIA_RELEASE_LEVEL as 2.1.
Set MEM_EXCLUDE_REGIONS as C8000-CFFFF.
Specify the PC Card device driver name to the DOS_DEVICE.

Even when a PC Card is enabled in a DOS object, the device driver or the application program may not work, or their performance may not be what you expect.

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