Win2000.txt
Readme File for AT2970m5.SYS v3.05
Allied Telesyn AT-2970 Series PCI Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter
NDIS5 Miniport Driver for Windows 2000
This file contains
(1) OVERVIEW
(2) REQUIRED FILES
(3) WINPREP INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
(4) STANDARD DRIVER INSTALLATION
(5) UPDATING THE DRIVER
(6) DRIVER OPTIONS
===========================================================================
(1) OVERVIEW
============
AT2970m5.SYS is the NDIS5 32-bit Miniport driver for the Allied Telesyn
AT-2970 Series PCI Gigabit Ethernet Adapter.
This README file explains how to install the Miniport driver on a machine
running Windows 2000.
**************************************************************************
NOTE:
The AT2970m5 NDIS5 Miniport driver cannot be used with Windows NT 4.0 or
below. This driver supports only Windows 2000.
**************************************************************************
(2) REQUIRED FILES
==================
To install the driver, the following files are required:
AT2970m5.SYS NDIS 5.0 Miniport driver
NETAT29.INF installation file
(3) INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=============================
Read the installation instructions in the adapter manual carefully.
Follow these instructions to install the adapter in your computer.
It is highly recommended to use the WINPREP utility to prepare Windows 2000 to install the
software driver for the AT-2970. This utility copies over the driver and INF files so that
the Windows Plug-and-Play mechanism recognizes the new hardware. Otherwise, standard driver
installation (See section 4) is possible, with the driver and support files residing in the
\drivers\at2970\w2000 directory of the CD.
If you use the WINPREP utility, the Found New Hardware wizard will automatically detect the
adapter and install the driver. All that remains is setting up communication protocols. If
adapter is installed before WINPREP utility is run, you must remove the ‘Ethernet Device’ from
the ‘Other Devices’ section of device manager. Then run ‘Scan for hardware changes’, the
Found New Hardware wizard will then detect and install the proper driver.
1. Run E:\drivers\at2970\winprep.exe Click next, then done.
2. Right click 'My Computer', choose 'Manage'. In 'Device Manager' under 'Other Devices',
ensure that there are no 'Ethernet Adapters'. If there is click remove then ok.
3. Make sure 'Device Manager' is highlighted, then click the 'Action' menu, and choose 'Scan for
hardware changes'. Windows will then detect the 'AT-2970' and install the proper drivers.
(4) STANDARD DRIVER INSTALLATION
================================
1. When the "Found New Hardware" wizard appears, indicating an Ethernet Controller was found,
ensure the distribution CD or CardAssistant diskette is available.
2. When prompted to choose between searching for a new driver or displaying a list of known
drivers, choose the default - "Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended)",
and click Next.
3. The next window prompts for the location of the driver. Click the checkbox browse for
location, click next and point to the \drivers\at2970\w2000 directory of the CD or the
\w2000 directory of the diskette. You should see that the "netat29.inf" is found in the
w2000 directory. Click Next to continue, otherwise, go back and make sure the path to the
driver was correct.
4. Since the driver was not certified at the time of release, you will see the following
window - "Digital Signature Not Found". Choose yes to continue and install the driver.
Otherwise, installation will be cancelled. You should see the driver - AT2970m5.sys - and
installation script - NETAT29.INF - are copied over to the system, and adapter model
appears in the next window. Click "Finish" to complete installation of the driver and
you are ready to set up protocols.
(5) UPDATING THE DRIVER
=======================
On the desktop right click on "My computer" and select "Manage". In
"Device Manager" find the adapter you wish to update and double
click. Then click on "Driver and choose "Update Driver ...".
Follow the instructions given by Windows 2000 to locate the driver.
If the driver which is found to be the latest is not the one you
want to install select the checkbox "Install one of the other drivers"
and continue. Select the driver to install in the next listbox and
continue.
Please note that the latest version of the AT2970m5 driver is
available for download on the Allied Telesyn web site at:
http://www.alliedtelesyn.com
(6) DRIVER OPTIONS
==================
The AT2970m5.SYS driver allows you to modify several options
in order to optimize the operation of your Allied Telesyn AT-2970 Series
Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter.
The driver options can be set as follows:
1. In "Network and Dial-up Connections" right click on the adapter
you want to configure and select "Properties". Then click on
"Configure" and "Advanced".
2. In the "Property" box, select the option that you want to change
and enter the desired value in the "Value" box.
3. Press OK when finished.
4. Windows 2000 will reload the driver now with the changed settings.
*The parameters supported by the driver are described below*
Preferred Port
--------------
Default value: "A"
Valid range: "A" or "B"
NOTE: This parameter is only available for the dual link adapters.
Use this parameter to set the preferred port that the RLMT (Redundant
Link Management Technology) will use for all network traffic, if more than
one port has an active link to the network.
RLMT Mode
---------
Default value: "CLS"
Valid range: "CLS"
"CLP"
"CLPSS"
NOTE: This parameter is only available for the dual link adapters.
Use this parameter to set the operational mode for the RLMT (Redundant
Link Management) built into the driver:
- "CLS" (Check Link State): RLMT uses the link state reported by the
adapter hardware for each individual port to determine whether a port can
be used for all network traffic or not.
- "CLP" (Check Local Port): In this mode, RLMT monitors the network path
between the two ports of an adapter by regularly exchanging packets between
them. This mode requires a network configuration in which the two ports
"see" each other (i.e. there must not be any router between the ports).
- "CLPSS" (Check Local Ports and Segmentation Status): This mode does the
same as the CLP mode, and additionally checks network segmentation by
sending BPDU hello packets. Thus, this mode is only to be used if you have
Gigabit Ethernet switches installed in your network that have been
configured to use the Spanning Tree protocol.
NOTE: RLMT modes "CLP" and "CLPSS" are designed to operate in
configurations where a network path between the ports on one adapter
exists. Moreover, they are not designed to work where adapters are
connected back-to-back.
Network Address
---------------
Default value: burned-in adapter address
Valid range: 0y-00-00-00-00-01 to FE-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF (hexadecimal), where
at least the "locally administered" bit 2h (i.e. bit #1) in
the 'y' nibble must be set and the "multicast" bit 1h (i.e.
bit #0) must not be set
CAUTION: Each individual network MAC address can only be used once in a
network. Assigning the same address to more than one adapter in the same
network is not allowed and can cause serious network problems.
To use a network MAC address other than the one burned into the adapter
card, enter the network address in the following hexadecimal format:
XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX (e.g. 02-00-5A-98-12-34).
If you leave the Network Address blank (or specify a different number of
digits), the network address burned into the adapter card will be used.
MaxFrameSize
------------
Default value: 1514 (decimal)
Valid range: 14..9014 (decimal)
This parameter specifies the maximum frame size in bytes that the driver
will support. The performance of your network usually increases when
a large packet size is used. Do not use values larger than 1514 if you
are not sure if your network supports jumbo frames.
Hardware Checksumming
---------------------
Default value: "On"
Valid values: "On" | "Off"
This parameter allows the hardware checksum offload for TCP/IP to be disabled.
There should be no need to disable checksum offload.
Interrupt Moderation
--------------------
Default value: "On"
Valid values: "On" | "Off"
Interrupt Moderation means that if more than the specified rate of interrupts
occur they will be congested to reach the specified rate. This will lead to
lower CPU utilization but it may also increase the latency.
Max IRQ per Sec
---------------
Default value: 5000 (decimal)
Valid range: 2500..30000 (decimal)
This parameter specifies the interrupt rate for Interrupt Moderation. If
Interrupt Moderation is set to Off it will be ignored.
Log Status Messages
-------------------
Default value: "Status Messages"
Valid values: "All Messages"
"Status Messages"
"Warnings"
"Errors"
"None"
This parameter specifies which messages should be logged in the Event Log.
- "All Messages": this option should only be used for test purposes.
- "Status Messages": in this mode the driver will generate an event log entry
every time the link status changes.
- "Warnings": in this modus you will only get warning or error messages.
- "Errors": in this modus you will get only error messages.
- "None": all driver messages will be suppressed. It is not recommended to use
this value.
Number of Receive Buffers
-------------------------
Default value: 50 (decimal)
Valid range: 3..500 (decimal)
This parameters specifies the number of receive buffers allocated by the
driver. If the system does not have enough resources the driver will fail to
load. Increasing this value may improve performance.
Number of Transmit Buffers
-------------------------
Default value: 50 (decimal)
Valid range: 4..200 (decimal)
This parameters specifies the number of transmit buffers allocated by the
driver. If the system does not have enough resources the driver will fail to
load. Increasing this value may improve performance.
ADVANCED DRIVER OPTIONS
The AT2970m5.SYS driver supports various advanced options, which
should only be set in one or more of the following cases:
- Troubleshooting a specific problem.
- Fine-tuning network performance.
The driver's advanced options can be set as follows:
**************************************************************************
CAUTION:
Setting any advanced driver options can dramatically change the behaviour
of the driver. This can lead to serious system or network problems. So
care must be taken when any driver options are set by the user.
If the driver is ever misconfigured in such a way that it no longer
operates properly, then remove and re-install the driver. This causes the
default values for all options to be restored.
**************************************************************************
Step 1.
Start the Registry Editor tool REGEDIT.
Step 2.
All of the driver's options are stored in the system's registry
database. Open the path to the driver's options:
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet
\Control
\Class
\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
\XXXX
Where the XXXX must be replaced by the instance number of the
driver, i.e. 0000, 0001 etc.
Step 3.
You can now do the following:
- Modify an existing driver option by double-clicking it.
- Create a new driver option by clicking EDIT / NEW and then
selecting the type for the new option: "String", "Binary" or
"DWORD". The type required by each particular driver option is
listed in the "Type:" field in the description below.
- Delete an existing driver option by selecting it and then
clicking EDIT / DELETE. In this case, the driver will use its
built-in default for the deleted option.
Step 4.
After you have finished changing driver options, you must reload the driver.
Therefore you may choose "Disconnect" and "Connect" in the "Network and
Dial-up Connections" or reboot the machine.
The following is a list of advanced options supported by the AT2970m5
driver.
NOTE: If an advanced option is not present in the registry, you may create
it via EDIT / NEW. Note that in the absence of any option, the driver will
use its built-in default value for that option, as described by
"Default value:" below.
MaxMulticast
------------
Type: String
Default value: 128 (decimal)
Valid range: 0..10000 (decimal)
This option specifies the maximum number of multicast addresses that the
driver accepts.
AutoNegotiation_<n> <n> = port designator (A or B)
-------------------
Type: String
Default value: 2
Valid range: 0 = "Off"
1 = "On"
2 = "auto-sense"
NOTE: If this parameter is set to 0 ("Off") and 'DuplexCapabilities' is
set to 3 ("both half and full duplex") the driver will override the
setting and use 1 ("On") instead.
This parameter sets the auto-negotiation mode and can be set for each port
individually.
This is helpful if the port at the other end of the cable is limited in
its capabilities. Using the default setting, the
Allied Telesyn AT-2970 Series Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter should
automatically detect the capabilities of the peer port.
DuplexCapabilities_<n> <n> = port designator (A or B)
----------------------
Type: String
Default value: 3
Valid range: 1 = "half duplex"
2 = "full duplex"
3 = "both half and full duplex"
NOTE: This parameter is ignored if 'AutoNegotiation' is set to 2
("auto-sense").
This parameter can be used to limit the duplex capabilities that the port
reports during auto-negotiation. This parameter can be set for each port
individually.
This is helpful if the port at the other end of the cable cannot handle
all possible combinations. Using the default setting, the
Allied Telesyn AT-2970 Series Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter should
automatically detect the capabilities of the peer port.
FlowControl_<n> <n> = port designator (A or B)
---------------
Type: String
Default value: 3
Valid range: 0 = "no flow control"
1 = "asymmetrical flow control"
2 = "symmetrical flow control"
3 = "both asymmetrical and symmetrical flow control"
NOTE: This parameter is ignored if 'AutoNegotiation' is set to 0 ("Off").
This parameter can be used to set the flow control capabilities that the
port reports during auto-negotiation. This parameter can be set for each
port individually.
The meaning of the different modes is:
- Sym = Symmetric
Both link partners are allowed to send PAUSE frames.
- SymOrRem = SymmetricOrRemote
Both or only the remote link partner are allowed to send PAUSE frames.
- LocSend = LocalSend
Only the local link partner is allowed to send PAUSE frames.
- None
No link partner is allowed to send PAUSE frames
This is helpful if the port at the other end of the cable cannot handle
all possible combinations. Using the default setting, the
Allied Telesyn AT-2970 Series Gigabit Ethernet Server Adapter should
automatically detect the capabilities of the peer port.
Role_<n> <n> = port designator (A or B)
--------
Type: String
Default value: 0
Valid range: 0 = "Auto"
1 = "Master"
2 = "Slave"
NOTE: This parameter will be used only for SK-982X adapters and will also
be ignored if autonegotiation is disabled.
For two 1000Base-T ports to communicate, one must take the role as
master (providing timing information), while the other must be slave.
Usually, this is negotiated between the two ports during link
establishment. If this should ever fail, you can force a port to a
specific setting with this parameter.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.