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AMD 10Base-T
Frequently Asked Questions
This document lists Frequently Asked Questions and Answers that relates to the installation and operational aspects of AMD's PCnet™family of drivers. The document is organized on the basis of the different operating system environments that the PCnet™family of drivers support.
This is the first release of this document and it includes Frequently Asked Questions and Answers that are applicable to PCnet™drivers release version 3.2 and earlier.
The purpose of this document is to enable OEM/LT and other customers, as well as AMD's network specialists to quickly resolve frequently encountered issues. If this document does not answer address certain questions, it is recommended that those questions are forwarded to the appropriate AMD support channel.
There are plans to make future revisions of this document available on the AMD Ethernet Software Support web page (URL not determined yet).
Q1. I have an AMD AM1500T/AM2100 based card. What is the latest version of drivers that I can use?
A1: Use the v3.1 or later versions of the PCnet™ driver. These drivers are backward compatible to AM1500T/2100 cards.
Q2. What is the format of the net.cfg file for the PCnet™ DOS ODI drivers?
A2: The chart below lists the configuration options used by the DOS ODI driver. The options available for the PCnet™ driver (PCNTNW) and IPX protocol stack are shown in a sample NET.CFG file. Protocol stacks
other than IPX may have additional options not listed here. Refer to that protocol stack's documentation for more information.
The PCnet™ driver (PCNTNW) has the following NET.CFG options available for ISA buses:
DMA INT PORT NODE ADDRESS FRAME PROTOCOL (IPX) FASTISA BUSTIMER (5,6,7....13) FDUP (OFF, UTP,AUI) CDCOFF
FASTISA (increases the performance of PCnet™-ISA, PCnet™-ISA+, and PCnet™-ISA II in ISA machines by reducing the memory read and write cycle time from 450 ns to 350 ns. Older machines with slower memory may not support this mode).
BUSTIMER is for PCnet™-ISA, PCnet™-ISA+, or PCnet™-ISA II on a PCI/ISA system only. Deault is 6, the value 13 will get the best performance to PCnet™ ISA devices. Some system require a lower value to avoid system problem with floppy controller or another busmaster device.
FDUP is only apply to PCnet™-ISA II, PCnet™-PCI II and PCnet™-Fast device.
CDCOFF is for older PCI system. If you saw CRC, drop connection on the client system. Try to apply this keyword to see if the problem go away.
All keywords may be used with the Pcnet Family.For the PCnet™-ISA+, PCnet™-ISA II, PCnet™-32, PCnet™-PCI, PCnet™-PCI II and PCnet™-Fast devices, the DMA, INT, and PORT are not required by the driver. In some cases, using these keywords would be a violation of the bus specification. Keywords listed in
the Software Keywords section of the PCnet™ Family Software Driver Manual may also be used in the NET.CFG.
LINK DRIVER PCNTNW
;Change the DMA channel (DMA) to 7.
DMA 7
;Change the port (Base I/O address) to 340 hex.
PORT 340
;Change the interrupt (IRQ) TO 5.
INT 5
;Fast mode for ISA
FASTISA
Note: Comment lines are proceeded by a semi-colon (_;_) before each option line to indicate the option change.
(When Loading VLM.EXE)
LINK DRIVER PCNTNW
;Change the port (Base I/O address) to 300 hex.
PORT 300
;Change the DMA channel (DMA) to 5.
DMA 5
;Change the interrupt (IRQ) TO 5.
INT 5
FRAME Ethernet_802.2
PROTOCOL IPX E0 ETHERNET_802.2
NetWare DOS Requester
FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F
Note: Comment lines are proceeded by a semi-colon (_;_) before each option line to indicate the option change.
For PCnet™-ISA Adapter Cards
LINK DRIVER PCNTNW
;Specify bus type for PCnet™-ISA adapter card.
;No PORT keyword required if BUSTYPE is used
BUSTYPE ISA
;Change the DMA channel (DMA) to 5.
DMA 5
;Change the interrupt (IRQ) TO 5.
INT 5
;Fast Mode for ISA bus, may be used with PCnet™-ISA+
FASTISA
;To change FRAME type to Ethernet_II
FRAME Ethernet_II
PROTOCOL IPX 8137 ETHERNET_II
NetWare DOS Requester
FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F
LINK DRIVER PCNTNW
;Specify bus type for PCnet™-PCI adapter.
;Use PNP for PCnet™-ISA+ and PCnet™-ISA II, VESA
; forPCnet™-32 in VL
BUSTYPE PCI
;To change FRAME type to Ethernet_II
FRAME Ethernet_II
PROTOCOL IPX 8137 ETHERNET_II
NetWare DOS Requester
FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F
Note: Comment lines are proceeded by a semi-colon (_;_) before each option line to indicate the option change.
Q3. When I am trying to configure a Windows 95 client to use Novell's Client 32, I get two options for PCnet™ Ethernet controller based cards. Which one should I pick and why?
A3: Yes, You will get options for CNE2100 and PCnet™ Family drivers. If you are using a PCI card, you can use either. If you are using an ISA NIC, we recommend that you use the PCnet™ family driver because it supports more setup resource options. The CNE2100 driver is provided by Novell.
Q4. I am trying to install Client 32 for Windows 95. If I select a PCnet™ family driver during installation, I have problem loading the driver. What should I do?
A4: The problem is caused by the INF file that is available on the NetWare 4.11 (Green River) CD. Go to Control Panel, Network Setup Window. Select the PCnet™ driver that is installed and double click on
it. You will see the driver properties. Click on the Advanced button, and set the Board keyword to 1. Save your settings, shutdown and restart the system. This should solve your problem.
Q5. In a DOS/ODI client, I am using VLM. I can attach to a server, but I cannot log in. Why can't I log in and what should I do to resolve this problem?
A5: The problem does not occur if you are using NetX.exe. The problem is caused by lack of adequate conventional memory if you are using VLM. Use the MEM command in DOS to verify available memory. We recommend that you free up additional conventional memory,reboot and try again.
Q6. I am using a PCnet™-Fast based card. Is there any way of enhancing the DOS ODI client performance?
A6: Make sure you are using the latest VLM from Novell (version 1.2B or above). In your net.cfg file, increase the PB buffers. The following is a sample net.cfg file:
Link support buffers 30 1514 Link Driver PCNTNW FRAME Ethernet_802.2 frame ethernet_802.3 frame ethernet_II frame ethernet_snap NetWare DOS Requester FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F PB BUFFERS = 10
; [Notes] ; increased Packet buffers from default=3 to 10 ; This way, it can improve the performance for PCnet™-Fast ; in a DOS ODI client
Q7. I am trying to use an PCnet™-ISA+ or ISA II base card. I want to use BootROM. My system is a PnP system, with PnP BIOS. The BootROM cannot boot that station. Why?
A7: This is because the AMD BootROM does not support ISA PnP. To solve your problem, please follow the steps below:
First, please make sure that the PCnet™-ISA+ or ISA II card is not in PnP mode. You can do this by using AMInstall. Also, note the interrupt value that the ISA+ or ISA II card is using. Then, change the BIOS PnP configuration to reserve that interrupt value for the ISA+ or ISA II card. If your system BIOS does not provide you that option, please contact your system vendor for a system BIOS update.
Q1. I am trying to use the PCnet™ v3.2 version of the 32 bit Server ODI driver on NetWare Server version 3.12 or 4.10. When I try to load the driver, I see a number of error messages. Do I need to go back to an older version of the driver? Can I use the v3.2 driver in some way to take advantage of the enhancements / bug fixes that are available in the new driver?
A1: The PCnet™ v3.2 version of the 32 bit Server ODI driver is HSM 3.3 compliant. Since the standard NetWare Server version 3.12 or 4.10 does not support HSM 3.3 specification, we recommend that you continue to use the older revision of the driver.
However, if you want to take advantage of the enhancements included in the v3.2 32 bit Server ODI driver, you will need to contact Novell to get patch updates for the 3.12 NetWare Server.
Please note that upgrading from NetWare 4.10 is much simpler than for NetWare 3.12. If you are upgrading to NetWare 4.10, you will need to upgrade the following four modules which are available in the v3.2 release
distribution media:
NBI.NLM, NWPA.NLM, MSM.NLM and Ethertsm.NLM.
Q2. I am using a NetWare Server version 4.11 (Green River), and I have installed more than one PCnet™ Ethernet controller based card on the system. I loaded INSTALL.NLM trying to install the v3.2 version of
the Server ODI driver for all the cards at the same time. The driver gets loaded for one card only. What should I do to get the driver to load for all the PCnet™ cards on the system?
A2: The PCNTNW.LAN can be installed to one PCnet™ device at one time. If you want to install a driver for two PCnet™ devices, you need to run the installation twice. You must also assign unique board numbers for each PCnet™ device.
Q2. I am using a NetWare 4.1x server. When I try to load PCNTNW.LAN, I see an error message indicating that a bus type is not supported. What should I do to resolve this problem?
A2: The problem is caused because of a BUSTYPE keyword conflict. When you see this error message, please verify the following:
On the NetWare Server console command prompt, type config. If you get a response indicating that the driver loaded, it is safe to ignore the error message.
Q3. How do you load more than one frame type?
A3: Use the board=1(valid values: 1 to 255) setting in the driver load command. For example, you can use the following format:
Load PCNTNW board=1 Frame=Ethernet_802.2
Load PCNTNW board=1 Frame=Ethernet_802.3
Load PCNTNW board=1 Frame=Ethernet_II
Load PCNTNW board=1 Frame=Ethernet_SNAP
Q1. I have an AMD PCnet™ Ethernet controller based ISA card on my NT system. My system is a PCI-ISA system. During heavy network traffic, I observe one or more of the following symptoms:
Clients drop connection
Observe a lot of CRCs and Runt packets
Network is unusually slow
How do I solve these problems?
A1: Go to Control Panel/Network and find the "Advanced" bottom. Increase the BUSTIMER value to 9. Then, shutdown and restart NT. If your problem still exists, you may further increase the BUSTIMER keyword value to a maximum of 13. Increasing this value too high may cause floppy controller (or other controllers that access the same bus) problems. This configuration also apply to some EISA/PCI systems.
Q2. Why can't I see the AMD PCnet™ Ethernet controller based card on the secondary PCI bus?
A2: If you are using version 3.0 (or below) of our PCnet™ Family driver, upgrade to version 3.1 or greater. We have also seen a similar problem if you are using Intel's ORION chipset. In that case, you'll need to modify register 53 in the PCI host bridge and change bit 3 to 0. Usually, this means a BIOS change to allow you to reset that bit.
Q3. I am using the AMD PCnet™ NDIS 3 driver that is provided with Windows NT version 3.51. The driver version is v2.45. I am unable to ping other stations in the network. How can I resolve this problem?
A3: Upgrade to driver version 3.1 or greater.
Q4. Does the PCNet v 3.2 NDIS 3 driver support Windows NT version 3.51 and 4.0?
A4: Yes it supports both versions.
Q5. I am trying to upgrade the PCnet™ NDIS 3 driver for Windows NT. In the Control Panel, Network Setup window, when I click the Upgrade button, nothing happens. How can I upgrade my driver?
A5: The "Upgrade" feature in the Network Setup is not supported by AMD drivers. To upgrade the driver, you'll need to manually remove the driver from Network Setup, reboot your machine and then add the new driver from the AMD distribution media.
Q6. Can I use BootROM to boot up a Windows NT workstation?
A6: You cannot use a BootROM to boot up a Windows NT workstation. PCnet™ BootROM does not support this feature.
Q1. I installed PCNFS Pro version 2.0 under the Windows 95 environment. After installation, when I rebooted the system, the system hung. How can I resolve this problem?
A1: You will need to upgrade your driver to the PCnet™ Family Driver v3.2. This was a know problem with our PCnet™ Family Drivers v3.1 and below with PCNFS PRO version 2.0.
Q2. I am trying to perform a remote installation from the server. Windows 95 detects the PCnet™ device based NIC as a AM1500T/2100 card. Can I use the AM1500T driver? Why doesn't the AMD PCnet™ family
driver show up in my options?
A2: The Windows 95 Remote Installation Program does not give the AMD PCnet™ family driver option by default. We have reported this problem to Microsoft. You may be able to connect to a remote server using
AM2100/AM1500T drivers with an ISA card. However, these are old driver and may cause some problems. We recommend that you manually choose the "Advanced Micro Devices PCnet™ Family" driver option. These
drivers are regularly updated and maintained by AMD.
Q3. I want to use the AMD PCnet™ NDIS 3 driver and run a shared copy of Windows 95 from a server. But, I cannot boot Windows 95 on my PCI system. Why?
A3: In order to run a shared copy of Windows 95 on a PCI System, you need a real mode driver. According to the Windows 95 Resource Kit, the drivers in a PCI based system don't boot up until the second booting of
Windows 95. However, to run Windows 95 remotely, the drivers need to boot up on the first booting of Windows 95. That means, you can only use real mode drivers for system start-up in a PCI based remote system. Use the NDIS2 16 bit real mode driver that comes on the AMD Pcnet Family driver disk v3.2. Q4. Can I use BootROM to boot up a Windows 95 workstation?
A3: You can use a BootROM to boot up a Windows 95 workstation by using the LANWORKS solution. Refer to LANWORKS at www.LANWORKS.com or call (905) 238-5528. They support Windows 95 remote booting.
Q1. I am trying to install an AMD PCI controller based adapter card using the net config program. If I let the net config program to do an auto-detect, the driver does not load on reboot. Is this a driver defect and is there a workaround to solve this problem?
A1: In the netconfig program, please ignore the detected card and choose "Configure Hardware Not Listed Above" option. Then choose "AMD PCnet™ PCI" adapter from the given list. Click continue and in the configuration options, choose PCI Bus#0, Device#0 and Function#0. Click Okay. Configure your protocols. Exit netconfig. Relink/Rebuild your UNIX environment and then reboot.
Q2. I want to do a remote installation of SCO workstation from the server. I cannot find a driver to support the AMD PCnet™ device based card. Why?
A2: Although the SCO Hardware Compatibility book lists AMD PCnet™ family cards being compatible for remote installation, the necessary drivers to allow remote installation are not available.
Q1. I am using a AMD PCI controller based adapter card and when loading the AMD packet driver, I do not include the INT value. Why does the driver fail to load in this scenario?
A1: The INT value necessary for a Packet Driver is a software interrupt used to communicate with the driver, and is required even on a PCI bus. The driver will not load without a valid value for INT. The INT value is Ox60 by default and ranges from Ox60 to Ox66.
Example format for PCI bus: PCNTPK INT=0x60
The bus interrupts are identified by the keyword IRQ and are not required for PCI bus. However they are required for an ISA bus.
Example format for ISA bus: PCNTPK INT=0x60 IRQ=3 IOADDR=0x300 DMA=5
Q1. I have two PCnet™ ISA II or ISA + based cards installed in the same system. I want to use AMInstal to configure both the cards. But I cannot. Why?
A1: AMInstal can configure only one ISA-PnP (PCnet™-ISA+ or PCnet™-ISA II) device at one time. Remove card #1 and configure card #2 by using AMInstal. Then remove card #2 and add card #1and configure it using AMInstal.
Q2. I have a 32K BootROM and I assigned the BootROM address to CA000. When I reboot the system, it will not boot from the BootROM. Why?
A2: Depending on which card you are using there are only certain addresses which can be used for a 32K BootROM. The addresses which may be used also vary upon the size of the BootROM. For a 32K BootROM the CA000h address is not supported. The following tables give examples on which address may be used with certain cards.
For the PCNet -ISA Card (Am79c960) one of these following configurations must be followed for any size BootROM:
Port Interrupt DMA BootROM Addresses
300h 3 5 C8000h-CBFFFh 320h 4 6 CC000h-CFFFFh 340h 5 7 D0000h-D3FFFh 360h 9 3 D4000h-D7FFFh
For the PCNet-ISA+ Card (Am79c961) and the PCNet-ISA II (Am79c961A) the following addresses may be used in conjunction with the supported size BootROM:
Address Size Supported Location (HEX) ( K bytes) C0000 8,16,32,64 C2000 8 C4000 8,16 C6000 8 C8000 8,16,32 CA000 8 CC000 8,16 CE000 8 D0000 8,16,32,64 D2000 8 D4000 8,16 D6000 8 D8000 8,16,32 DA000 8 DC000 8,16 DE000 8
Note: We do not recommend using the C0000-C8000 range due to the fact that the video card is usually mapped to that range.
Q3. I ran AMInstal to configure my PCnet™ ISA II (or ISA+) based card to port 300, Interrupt 5 and DMA 5. When I loaded the PCnet™ driver, the driver said that it could not find the device. Subsequently, I rebooted the system and reran AMInstal. To my surprise, I see that the resources (Port, INT, DMA) I had previously assigned have changed. How can I retain my resource settings and solve the problem of not finding the device?
A3: Your machine is a PnP system. We suggest you to run AMInstal to set the ISA II
card to PnP mode. Let the system works out the resources configuration with ISA II card.
If you still want to manually configure ISA II card. You need to go to you system BIOS then go to PnP configuration option to set aside the interrupt value you are going to assign to ISA II card. If your system
BIOS does not have the PnP configuration option, you need to contact your system vendor to see if there is a newer version of BIOS available for your system. If you are running DOS/Windows, install Inte'sl "ICU" utility for DOS/Windows to add software PnP capability to your system. PCnet™-ISA II should be working fine with ICU under DOS/Windows.
Q1. I have a PCnet™ ISA+ (79C961) or ISA II (79C961A) based card. I am running AMInstall to configure the resources on the card. When I try to load a PCnet™ driver, I get a message saying that the system cannot find the device. What should I do?
A1: Most likely you are running into the configuration problem.
If you know your system is not a PnP system, please run MSD.exe available in DOS 6.2x to check the system resources. Make sure your resources setup for PCnet™-ISA II card do not conflict with any
other devices. Use AMInstal to configure PCnet™-ISA II to proper PORT, INT and DMA values.
If your machine is a PnP system, we suggest you to run AMInstal to set the ISA II card to PnP mode. Let the system work out the resources configuration with ISA II card.
If you still want to manually configure the ISA II card, you need to go to the system BIOS setup and go to the PnP configuration option to set aside the interrupt value you are going to assign to the ISA II card. If your system BIOS does not have the PnP configuration option, you need to contact your system vendor to see if there is a newer version BIOS available for your system. If you are running DOS/Windows you can install
Intel's "ICU" utility for DOS/Windows to add the PnP software capability to your system. The PCnet™-ISA II should work fine with ICU under DOS/Windows.