3Com (R) Corporation 3Com EtherLink Server CD for the 3C980C EtherLink Server NIC Technical Notes and Frequently Asked Questions The EtherLink Server NIC Features: - Parallel Tasking (R) architecture for highest performance - Bus mastering for low CPU utilization and optimal overall system performance - Ease of installation and Auto Select Media Type and Link Speed - Driver support for NetWare 4.x & 5.0, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft Windows 2000, and SCO Unix - Lifetime warranty - Full duplex enabled for switched 10/100 Mbps environments - DynamicAccess server features (load balancing, failover, VLANs) - Hot plug NIC installation Frequently Asked Questions and Technical Notes ---------------------------------------------- This file contains technical notes and answers to some frequently asked questions to help you obtain maximum performance from your 3Com EtherLink Server NICs. This information is updated regularly on 3Com BBS (bulletin board service), and 3Com's World Wide Web site (http://www.3Com.com). Technical Notes =============== This technical note documents additions to the EtherLink Server Network Interface Cards User Guide. Online versions of the user guide in PDF and HTML formats are located in the root directory of the 3Com EtherLink Server CD. Last minute corrections (if any) to the user guide located in the printed Release Notes found in the product package. These technical notes document other known issues with server hardware and with the Windows NT, Windows 2000, NetWare, and SCO Unix network operating systems. If you need a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing PDF format user guide, obtain it from the Adobe Systems Incorporated web site: http://www.adobe.com/ Software Compatibility ====================== The 3C980C-TX server NIC version 2.0 software is fully compatible with 3C980B-TX server NIC hardware. Upgrading from the Previous Driver Release ========================================== It is strongly recommended that you install the 3C980C-TX server NIC and version 2.0 software on a server where no earlier-version EtherLink Server NICs and drivers are installed. Installing the software on an existing 3C980-TX configuration will invalidate the resilient server links and VLAN tagging that was defined in version 1.03. Performance Considerations ========================== Load Balancing performs better with a Switch -------------------------------------------- When using load balancing, performance may be impacted if all the NICs in a load balancing group are connected to a single hub (or the equivalent). The best performance is realized when all the NICs are connected to a switch. A separate PCI bus for each NIC may increase Load Balancing performance ------------------------------------------------- Because of bus contention, increased performance may be realized when each NIC is placed on a separate PCI bus. Hardware Considerations ======================= Auto-Negotiation using older 3C980 NIC -------------------------------------- 3Com recommends that both ends of the server network connection be forced to full duplex mode when using a 3C980 NIC with ASIC revision 00. The ASIC revision can be viewed using the diagnostic utility. Poorer performance than expected is the symptom of this older 3C980 NIC and it appears most often after failback has occurred with network connections set for Auto-Negotiation. Auto-Negotiation using Alteon AceSwitch 100 ------------------------------------------- This switch selects a half-duplex setting instead of the better performing full-duplex when performing NWay Auto-Negotiation. Spurious Hardware Interrupts on the Compaq Proliant 5000 -------------------------------------------------------- When running a server on the Compaq Proliant 5000 lot of Spurious interrupts warning messages may appear. 3Com has found that these warnings have no effect on normal operation and should be ignored. 3Com has noticed that these warnings also happen with NICs from other manufacturing companies. Tyan 16 Dual Pro with Matrox Video Card, PVR, and Windows NT 4.0 --------------------------------------------- NIC not detected by 3Com DOS Diagnostic Program Neither the 3Com DOS diagnostic program nor Windows NT 4.0 server/workstation recognizes the NIC in the following configuration: * Tyan motherboard 16 with 200 MHz dual Pentium processors and 5 PCI slots * Award BIOS 4.5 * Windows NT 4.0 * Matrox Video 2 Mb RAM (PCI) * Digital Perception video recorder (PCI) used for video editing Action: Move the 3C980C-TX Server NIC to slot 2, the Digital Perception video card to slot 3, and the Matrox video card to slot 4. Micron Millennia M55HI ---------------------- Unable to run DOS diagnostic program When attempting to run the DOS diagnostic program for the 3C980C-TX Server NIC on a Micron Millennia M55HI with Stealth 3D video, the following error appears: "!!! Error!!! Incorrect configuration is set by the BIOS. Get an updated BIOS from the PC manufacturer or try to install the adapter in another slot." The user cannot proceed any further with diagnostics. The error appears when the NIC is installed in slots 1, 2, and 3, but not 4. Action: Install the NIC in slot 4. If slot 4 is not available, disable the plug and play option in the Advanced area of the BIOS. This eliminates the error in all four slots. Cisco Catalyst 5000 ------------------- CRC and alignment errors when connecting to a Cisco Catalyst 5000 Alignment, CRC, and runt errors may occur when the 3C980C-TX Server NIC is connected to the Cisco Catalyst 5000 switch. Action: Do one of the following: * Force the port speed of the switch to AUTO and set the NIC for NWay auto-negotiation (IEEE 802.3u). * Force the ports on the switch and the attached NICs to the same settings (SPEED = 100 and DUPLEX= Full duplex). Once the speed setting is forced on an NWay device, NWay auto-negotiation is disabled. When an NWay device is connected to a link partner that does not support or is not set for NWay, it uses a feature called Parallel Detection to determine the appropriate media type (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX) but defaults to half-duplex transfer mode. When the NIC is in Nway mode and the switch is forced to 100 Mbps with full-duplex operation, the NIC will negotiate to 100 Mbps but fall back to half-duplex because of the limitation explained above. Consequently, network errors result from the mismatch in the transfer mode settings. Performance Hint for the EtherLink Server NICs on HP NetServers ------------------------------------------------------ During testing of HP NetServers and the EtherLink Server NIC, 3Com has observed that the performance can be maximized by customizing the NetServer's BIOS. Within the BIOS of the NetServer, access the Advanced Chipset Setup and set the DRAM Buffer Write to 0 and the Snoop Ahead to 1. NOTE: This was tested on an HP NetServer 466 LF and a 466 LC, but could apply to other models of the NetServer family. Compaq Prolinea 575 Computer Notification ----------------------------------------- 3Com has observed issues with a particular system BIOS revision for the Compaq Prolinea 575 computer. If the system BIOS version is dated 7/26/95, it should be updated to a later revision. The Compaq Prolinea 575 Configuration and Diagnostics utility should be used to verify the revision date of the system BIOS (system ROM). Consult the manual for the Compaq Prolinea for instructions on verifying and updating the system ROM version and on obtaining updated system ROM software, or contact Compaq for assistance. Using a SNI machine with the 82440LX chip set running Netware 4.1, causes the server to abend with a stack overflow error. ----------------------------------------------------- If the SNI machine, with the 440LX chip set, is running Netware with an Adaptec SCSI card and the 3C980C NIC installed and a stack overflow occurs, please contact Adaptec or SNI for an updated SCSI driver for the machine. DOS diagnostics incompatibility with 3C980C and Gateway E-3000 ----------------------------------------------- During testing 3Com encountered incompatibilities with our 3C980C NIC and the Gateway E-3000 series PC when loading our DOS diagnostics program. 3Com suggests using our Windows based diagnostics if you encounter this problem. The Windows diagnostics have been shown to work without error. Installation of multiple 3C980Cs -------------------------------- Since each 3C980C BootROM will take up 16K Upper Memory, if you are installing multiple NICs in a system, you should disable the BootROM option via DOS or Win Diagnostics. Window NT and Windows 2000 Issues ================================= Refer to the README.TXT file in the WINNT subdirectory. Novell NetWare Issues ===================== Refer to the README.TXT file in the NWSERVER subdirectory. Windows 95 & 98 support ======================= 3Com does not support the operation of the 3C980C-TX Server NIC with Microsoft Windows 95 nor 98. _____________________________________________________________________ Troubleshooting Installation Problems ===================================== 3Com has found that some PCI computers require additional configuration steps in order to install a PCI NIC. 3Com recommends these steps: 1. Determine whether 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/Web site ALR* (800) 257-1230 www.alr.com AST* (800) 727-1278 www.ast.com AT&T* (800) 531-2222 www.ncr.com Compaq* (800) 652-6672 www.compaq.com (800) 345-1518 NOTE: Compaq DeskPRO XL should have a BIOS dated Oct. 1994 or later for best performance. Dell* (800) 626-4308 www.dell.com/ (800) 624-9896 Digital (800) 354-9000 www.dec.com/ Equipment* Gateway* (800) 846-2070 www.gateway2000.com/ (800) 846-2301 Hewlett- (800) 322-HPPC www.hp.com Packard* (800) 752-0900 IBM* (800) IBM-3333 www.pcco.ibm.com/ Micron* (800) 438-3343 www.micron.com Packard (800) 733-4411 www.packardbell.com/ Bell* Unisys* (800) 328-0440 http://www.marketplace .unisys.com/aquanta/ Zenith* (800) 227-3360 www.zds.com ZEOS* (800) 554-7172 www.micronpc.com/support (800) 228-5390 /file_lib/zeosbbs /zeosbbs.html In addition, here are the phone numbers and on-line addresses of several popular OEM motherboard manufacturers: Company Phone On-line address Intel* (503) 264-7999 www.intel.com Micronics (510) 651-6837 www.isdnnow.com /micronics/support/ ASUS (408) 956-9084 http://asustek.asus .com.tw * 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 NIC, 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 the Setup program, 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 NIC 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. Performance on Some Early Pentium Pro Models -------------------------------------------- During testing, 3Com has observed that some early Pentium Pro models using Intel's (54x?) PCI chip sets do not fully support the full bandwidth throughput of the PCI bus. Symptoms can include an abnormal number of dropped packets or performance below what the wire can support. This problem can sometimes be fixed by getting a more recent BIOS from your system vendor. Contact your vendor to see if such an upgrade is available. General Support Questions -------------------------- The most accurate and up-to-date support information can be obtained from 3Com's World Wide Web site (http://www.3Com.com). 3Com, DynamicAccess, EtherLink, and EtherDisk are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. (%VER 2.0d)