QL Series - Frequently Asked Questions

QL Series
Frequently Asked Questions

Q01: I migrated my server from 3.12 to 4.1x and now QLvision does not work properly. (This assumes that the QL boards are physically installed in this server.)

A01: Re-run the QL install from the CUBIX/QLX00 directory on the 4.1 server which will setup the QL binderies. QLVision runs under binderies not NDS. Migrating does not always setup the binderies as they were. You still need to use SYSCON.EXE to create the QLvision group and add members to the group. You cannot use NETADMIN.

Q02: How do I add a local hard drive to my QL?

A02: You may add an IDE drive to a QL4001, QL3222, or QL4222. It may be a 2 1/2" or 3 1/2" IDE. The QL4001 has a 40 pin IDE header and the QL3222 and QL4222 have 44 pin IDE header's. (You can purchase a 44pin to 40 pin cable from Cubix to connect the 3 1/2" drives.) Make sure the drive is formatted and bootable BEFORE connecting it to the QL. The QL should be booting from an image file first. After you connect the hard drive and reset the port, the QL will auto detect it. You should also connect the external video/keyboard/mouse adapter so you can watch the boot process. You can update the QL files onto the hard drive with a batch file located in the CUBIX/QLX000/HDDRV directory on the network server. The file is called QLX_UPDT.BAT.

Q03: My QL board runs Windows 3.11 just fine. Will it also work with Windows 95?

A03: Windows 95 is not supported with QL boards but it can be installed if you have a local hard drive attached to the QL. There is no .INF file to setup the hardware configuration. Windows 95 will select "IPX compatible" as the workstation driver. This configuration is using the Microsoft Client for Netware Networks, not the Novell 32 bit client. The QL only supports a 16 bit driver. You will not be able to load STPIPX.COM (for CMS support) nor QLNODE.EXE (which needs IPXODI.COM loaded).

Q04: I changed my file server name. QLvision still sees the old file server name. How to I fix this?

A04: Re-run the QL install from the CUBIX/QLX000 directory. Enter the new server name. Complete the install. Copy the QLX000.LAN file from the CUBIX/QLX000/DEVICE/NWxxx directory to the system directory (where the QL boards are physically installed). Then reboot the server or just unload and re-load the QL LAN driver on the server. Now QLvision will see the new server name. (QLvision reads this information from the QLX000.LAN driver. This information gets written to the driver during the QL install. The LAN driver date will not change though.)

Q05: In QLvision the node shows active but when I try to connect to it I get a warning message "QLvision has timed out waiting for a response from an IPX packet". Why can't I view the port?

A05:There are a few reasons for this message to appear.

1. In order for you to connect to the processor, the TSR we provide called QLRCV.COM must be loaded on the QL processors. You would have copied this file from the CUBIX\QLX000\LOGIN directory to the main LOGIN directory of your server. The QL processors load QLRCV.COM from the QLUSER.BAT file or your custom QLUSRXXX.BAT file. If QLRCV.COM is not loaded then you will not be able to connect to the QL port.

2. In QLvision when you select the first option of the menu, QL supervisor functions , you should see the QL3000 or QL4000 LAN with a network address and the designated server name. The network address you see in QLvision is the number you entered during the QL install. This network address must match the network address you bind the QL3000 or QL4000 LAN to in your AUTOEXEC.NCF file on the server. If they do not match, you will not be able to connect to the QL port.

3. It is possible the QL processor is not booting at all or is having a problem reading the image file. Connect a monitor to a port with the provided external monitor/keyboard/mouse adapter and cable to view the port to help you trouble shoot further.

Q06: I can see the processor is booted and at the login prompt but how do I get it load my modem software?

A06: When the QL ports boot they first read their image file (QL3_DOS.LOD, QL32_DOS.LOD OR QL4_DOS.LOD). Then they read the QLUSER.BAT file which takes them to the login prompt. You should copy QLUSER.BAT to QLUSR00x.BAT where 00x is the node number of your processor. You should create a separate QLUSR00x .BAT file for each node. The node numbers are set by a dip switch on the board and these nodes are displayed in QLvision (node functions). Here is an example of a QLUSR00x.BAT file loading ReachOut modem software:

   prompt $p$g
   path f:\login\reachout
   qlrcv
   login  tempuser
   cd   reachout
   call ghm
   cd ..
   login

When you create the "tempuser" in NetWare, make sure it does not require a password and has rights to SYS: , SYS:LOGIN and SYS:LOGIN/REACHOUT. I would select RWEMCF rights for these directories. Also create a login script that maps F: to the LOGIN directory. MAP S1=SYS:PUBLIC and MAP S2=SYS: (path to DOS files on the network drive). SET COMSPEC=S2:COMMAND.COM and the last line should be "DRIVE F:". If the QL is loading VLM's you may need to have a copy of QLUSR00x.BAT in the root of F:. Of course you need to have ReachOut setup on the network drive and configured for the modem on the QL. When you reset the QL port with QLvision it will read your new batch file and load ReachOut.

Q07: How do I add a device to the QL's CONFIG.SYS?

A07: The files that make up the QL3 or QL4_DOS.LOD image file are located in the CUBIX/QLX000/IMAGE/VLM directory. Format a diskette with DOS, making it bootable and copy HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE to it. Then copy all the QL files from the VLM directory to the diskette. On the diskette you may make your changes. Backup the current image file in the login directory since it will be overwritten. To create the new image file you need to run the Novell program DOSGEN.EXE. It is located in the system directory. The syntax for DOSGEN is:


        DOSGEN A: F:\LOGIN\QL32_DOS.LOD  (OR
        QL4_DOS.LOD)

DOSGEN will take all the files on the diskette and compile them into the QL32_ or 4_DOS.LOD file and place it in the login directory. Note: proper image file names are:



      for QL3002               QL3_DOS.LOD
      for QL3222               QL32_DOS.LOD
      for QL4001 AND QL4222    QL4_DOS.LOD

Q08: I have 4-QL3222's installed in a Novell 2-user Runtime server and I get the message "out of server connections" on the server console after QL3000.LAN loads. Why?

A08: There is no problem installing many QL's in a 2-user Runtime server. Each QL processor takes up a Novell connection when it boots just like your regular PC workstations. The key is you need to install the QL software on your primary server which is usually 50 users or more. Then you only need to copy the QL related LAN files to the Runtime's system directory. When you load QL3000.LAN and bind it on the Runtime server the QL's will attach to the primary server to retrieve their image file. The QL LAN files are storied in the CUBIX/QL3000/DEVICE/NWXXX directories. At this point, the QL's will take up a connection on the primary server.

Q09: In QLvision node functions, my processors have a status of TXHOLD and a monitor connected to a port shows a blank screen. What is wrong?

A09: This symptom usually indicates a hardware conflict or a dip switch set incorrectly. Select the diagnostics in QLvision. Look at the total TX packets and total RX packets. If the processor is installed correctly the total TX packets will be slightly more than the total RX packets. If the QL's have a problem the total TX packets will be few and the total RX packets will be 0. This scenario always indicates a hardware conflict. Unload the QL LAN driver and try a different interrupt or memory address. Your options are IRQ7, a (10), b (11) or f (15). Your memory options are c000, c4000,c8000, cc000, d000, d4000, d8000, or dc000. If you need to change the hex I/O address, power down the system and change switches 1 and 2 on dip switch 2. (Refer to the QL manual chapter 2 for settings). Another possibility for this problem is you are loading the QL LAN driver at an I/O address but the dip switches on the board are not set for that I/O address.

In the QLvision diagnostics (or from LAN information on the server-general statistics) you may see the TX packets =0 and the RX packets increment slowly. This scenario means you have forgotten to bind the QL LAN to a net address.

Q10: I am installing 3-ql4222 boards in my Novell server. Do I load the ql4000.lan driver 3 times?

A10: NO. All ql4222 boards installed in the same server will use the same hardware configuration. You only load the ql4000.lan once specifying the hex i/o port and interrupt. The i/o address is set by dip switch 2 on the board. But you must have a different node setting for each board. The node setting is set by dip switch 1 on the boards. Refer to the manual for these settings. If you will be mixing ql3222's and ql4222's in the same server then you will load 2 lan drivers.One will be ql3000.lan the other will be ql4000.lan. The hardware configuration must be different between the ql3222's and ql4222's.

Q11: My processor halts with a message "Invalid command.com"

A11: There are a few reasons this message may occur. It's possible the version of DOS that was used to create the image file differs from the version that the comspec is set to. To verify this, reboot the QL processor and connect to it through QL Vision. Type in "VER" to determine the version of DOS that was used to create the image file. Next type "SET" this will display your path and the comspec. Cubix default for the comspec is set to Y: search drive. The path should point to this drive. Change to that drive and verify that COMMAND.COM does exist and the version matches. The comspec may also be set through the QLUSER.BAT file and/or your login script.