HP Package Revision: PCAA4012
Date : 22nd of December, 1998
3C905B Fast EtherLink XL Bus Master Network Interface Card
Release Notes and Frequently Asked Questions for Vectra PCs
Installation tips in Hewlett Packard Brio, Vectra VL and VE PCs
---------------------------------------------------------------
Driver installation:
- Help.exe program on Disk3 contains software installation instructions.
Win95, Win98 installation:
- Make sure Bios setup PnP OS field is set to Yes for Win95 SR2.x, Win98
For Win95 RTM and Win95 SR1, set Bios setup PnP OS field to No.
- During NIC installation, Win9x may prompt for Win95 master disks.
When using HP preloaded Win9x, they're located on C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS
NT installation:
- Make sure Bios setup PnP OS field is set to No
- During NIC installation, NT4 may prompt for NT4 master disks.
When using HP preloaded NT4, they're located on C:\I386
- After any network installation (NIC, protocols, clients, etc...), always re-apply latest NT Service Pack.
Some errors may be encountered before Service Pack re-application, they should be ignored.
Please notice that on some PCs, some drivers must be re-installed after Service Pack application.
When using HP preloaded NT4, latest supported Service Pack is located on C:\I386\SPx
(x stands for Service Pack revision)
Network Remote Boot:
- Before using Network Remote Boot, make sure Network Remote Boot is enabled in Bios setup.
Frequently Asked Questions and Release Notes
--------------------------------------------
This file contains the release notes and answers to some frequently asked
questions about the PCI environment to help you obtain maximum performance
from your 3Com Fast EtherLink XL NICs.
Release Notes
-------------
Potential problem when sharing interrupts under Windows 95
----------------------------------------------------------
If you install two or more PCI NICs (one of them being
EtherLink XL) in your Windows 95 system using the same interrupt,
your system may exhibit strange behavior. 3Com has found that
sharing the interrupt can cause a blue screen errors or continuous
system reboots, that are caused by disabling or enabling your NIC
by using the Device Manager or the 3Com NIC Diagnostics program.
This problem has been found on multiple different systems and with
other manufacturer's PCI network cards. The solution is to stop
sharing the interrupt between the NICs and assign a different PCI
interrupt number to each of the NICs.
Stopping the driver in a Windows NT System
-------------------------------------------
3Com has found that if you stop the driver while there are no
protocols installed in your system it will crash with a blue
screen error. When this error occurs the system is dead and must
be rebooted. Microsoft has admitted that there is a problem in
Windows NT and it will be fixed in Service Pack 2.0 and later
versions. To avoid this problem simply keep at least one protocol
loaded and Windows NT will not let you stop the driver.
Echo Exchange Test Does Not Support Crossover Cable
---------------------------------------------------
Because the Echo Exchange test verifies the NIC's ability to
transmit and receive data while on the network, both the echo
server and the echo client must be connected to a network. An
EtherLink XL NIC uses link beats to determine whether it is
connected to a network when the 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, or
100BASE-T4 Media Type is selected. A constant link beat is
needed for the Echo Exchange test when the 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX,
or 100BASE-T4 Media Type is selected. Before starting the Echo
Exchange test, connect the echo server and the echo client
together through a hub or a switch that generates a constant link
beat. Using crossover cable to connect the echo server and the
echo client directly does not work.
Windows 95 Installation Notes
-----------------------------
This information applies to the Windows 95 operating system.
When installing an EtherLink XL or Fast EtherLink XL NIC under
Windows 95, the operating system automatically detects the presence
of the NIC and asks for the diskette containing the driver
software for the NIC (the EtherDisk 1 diskette). At this point,
you can choose to cancel the installation of driver software
and install it later. Even though the driver installation has been
canceled, the fact that the NIC is installed is recorded in the
System Registry.
Later, when you install the driver software using the Network
applet in the Control Panel, the operating system assumes that you
are installing another instance of a NIC, not installing
software for the already recorded instance. This results in two
instances of a NIC being recorded in the System Registry.
The Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC will not operate correctly
under these circumstances.
To fix this problem, open the System applet in the Control Panel.
In the Device Manager dialog box, under Network NICs, the two
instances of the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC are shown.
Remove the one that is marked disabled, and restart your computer.
The remaining entry for the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC
in the same dialog box should show that the NIC is operating
correctly.
Special Installation Notes for Windows 95 OSR2
----------------------------------------------
If the Windows 95 OSR2 PC is pre-installed with an Etherlink XL or
Fast Etherlink XL NIC, a previous version of the 3C90X driver and
installation files may be installed. If this is the case, the machine
may lockup, exhibit Windows Protection Error, or experience software
installation problems when the second NIC is installed. To
avoid these problems, perform the following:
1) Before installing the second NIC, right click on Network
Neighborhood and select Properties with the left button.
2) Highlight the 3Com Fast EtherLink XL/ EtherLink XL NIC.
3) Click the Remove button.
4) Select OK to save changes but don't reboot the PC.
5) Click on the Start button and click on Find. Click on Find
Files or Folders.
6) Left click on the Advanced tab and have Win95 search for all
files containing the text "VEN_10b78" and "DEV_9050". Delete
all of these files. These are the previous versions of the
installation files.
7) Power off the PC and install the second NIC.
8) After installing the second NIC, power the PC back on
and let Windows 95 detect both NICs.
9) When Windows 95 prompts for the driver, insert the 3C905B
EtherDisk. This will install the driver sets for both NICs.
10) Configure the desired protocols and services according to the
type of network the machine is attached to.
Windows NT and 3Com Windows diagnostics program.
------------------------------------------------
Due to security features in the Windows NT operating system the 3Com
Windows Diagnostics will only function for users with Administrator
privileges. The user that only has User privileges should use the Dos
diagnostics if required.
Half/Full duplex status are not updated automaticaly. Run Netowrk Diagnostics to get fields updated.
Though duplex status is not correctly reported, NIC negociates correctly duplex mode.
When forcing Network speed from forced 10Mb/s to forced 100Mb/s, LAN cable must be connected and
reconnected to get change taken in consideration.
Client 32 installations in Windows 98
-------------------------------------
3Com does not recommend using the ODI LAN driver for Client 32
installations under Windows 98. The Windows NDIS driver should be
used instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
--------------------------
General FAQ's
-------------
Q: How do I remove the software that comes with my Fast EtherLink
XL/EtherLink XL NIC from my system if I have a compatibility problem.
A: You may remove the 3Com NIC Diagnostics Program from your system at
any time by running the uninstaller in the Add/Remove Programs
Control Panel. This will remove the diagnostics program and the
3Com tray Icon. If you remove all the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink
XL NICs from the control panel the uninstall program will be run
automatically.
Q: Do I have to configure my 3Com PCI NIC for my computer?
A: PCI is a self-configuring bus architecture.
You will only need to install the board in your system
Q: Which PCI slot is best for my 3COM NIC.
A: 3Com PCI NICs are designed to work in any PCI slot.
Q: Is your Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC compliant with PCI
Spec 2.1?
A: Yes. 3Com's Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NICs comply with PCI
Spec 2.1. For further details, please see the product data sheet.
Q: Which PCI slot(s) are "bus mastering" in my PCI machine?
A: All Vectra PCI slots support Bus Master.
Q: Which interrupt should I use with my 3Com PCI NIC?
A: PCI IRQ settings are automatic. Since PCI supports shared interrupts,
multiple 3Com PCI NICs can use the same PCI interrupt (except as noted below).
Q. Does my PCI NIC support shared interrupts?
A. The drivers for the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL Bus Master
NICs support shared interrupts. However, because there is no
industry-standard way to support shared interrupts, other NICs
may support them differently, or not at all. If you have another
PCI NIC that does not support shared interrupts (for example,
a SCSI host NIC), either contact the manufacturer for a shared
interrupt driver or try running the system setup program to assign
it a different interrupt. We have found that OS/2 version 1.3 does
not support shared interrupts, but it is only a problem if you are
using the OS/2 NDIS 2.01 driver in LAN Manager version 2.2. 3Com
has also found some problems with sharing interrupts under
Windows 95, more details are available in the release note section
earlier in this document. If this is a problem, try using the DOS
configuration utility to give each NIC a different IRQ, and change
the BIOS on your system to match.
Q: What interrupt should I avoid using with my 3Com PCI NIC?
A: You should avoid using any interrupts used by ISA boards that
do not properly support shared interrupts (level-triggered). If
you do not know or are unsure whether your NIC supports shared
interrupts, then avoid using them. In addition, try to avoid
using the same interrupt as that of your local hard drive
(normally IRQ 14 for IDE drives and IRQ 11 for most SCSI host
NICs), 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 nonshared devices and
may cause problems if they are shared between two devices.
Q: My 3Com PCI NIC 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 systems' ROM BIOS. In that case you should update
your version of DOS to version 6.22 or higher to fix the problem.
NOTE: if you have a version of DOS higher than 6.22, you will not
need to update EMM386.EXE.
Q: The NIC 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 following statement
in your CONFIG.SYS file:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS
immediately following the line
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
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 1 diskette. This program will update EMM386 if the
update is needed. Unless you are running a version of DOS
earlier than version 6.0. In that case you will have to update
your version of DOS to version 6.22 or higher to fix the problem.
Q: After installing Novell Client 32 for Windows 95, I get an error
"Your driver could not be disabled." when I try to run the 3Com
Windows diagnostics, why?
A: If the PC is configured with Novell Client 32 using the 32-bit ODI
driver, the 3Com Windows Diagnostics utility doesn't support driver
suspension. In order to run the diagnostics, either boot the
machine in MS-DOS mode and execute 3C90XCFG.EXE from EtherDisk #1
or reconfigure Novell Client 32 to use an NDIS driver. For exact
directions, please refer to your Client 32 instructions. If you do
experience the above message when you attempt to run the 3Com
Windows diagnostics, verify that the hardware device is enabled
before rebooting the machine. Perform these steps:
1) Right click on My Computer at the desktop. Left click on
Properties.
2) Double click on Network adapters to expand its entries.
3) Double click on the 3Com Fast Etherlink XL/ Etherlink XL NIC.
4) Look at the Device Usage box and make sure the Current
Configuration is checked. If you have only one hardware
profile, it will appear as "Original Configuration (Current).
If you have multiple hardware profiles, check the box where the
NIC should be enabled.
5) Click OK once and then again OK to save settings.
Q: How do I update my 3C90X drivers in Windows 95 OSR2?
A: You can perform an update on your existing 3C90X driver set by
performing the following:
1) Right click on 'My Computer.'
2) Left click on 'Properties.'
3) When the System Properties screen appears, click on the 'Device
Manager' tab.
4) Double click on the 'Network Adapter' icon and double click on
the 3Com Fast Etherlink/ Etherlink XL NIC icon.
5) Click on the 'Drivers' tab and then click the 'Update Driver...'
button.
6) When the Update Driver Wizard appears, do not select the option
which lets Windows 95 search for the driver. Instead, select
'No. Select Driver from list' option. Click the 'Next>' button.
7) The description for the NIC should now appear. Click on the
'Have Disk....' button and path to the location of the Etherdisk
and click OK.
8) Windows 95 will then start copying the files and updating the
registry.
3Com, EtherLink, and EtherDisk are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.
Vectra VL and VE are registered trademarks of HP Corporation.
(%VER READMEHP.TXT - Release Notes v4.01-HP)
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.