December 20, 1997
Supplement to DOC-CDDI/FDDIUG (Document Number 78-1267-01)
This release note describes the features, modifications, and caveats of the EISA PC Adapter Server Driver Version 1.04 for NetWare Versions 4.10 and 3.12. Refer to the Workgroup CDDI/FDDI EISA PC Adapter User Guide for detailed information about the EISA PC adapter.
This release note discusses the following issues:
The Workgroup Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI) and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) PC adapters connect workstation and servers to CDDI or FDDI networks. Refer to the chapter "Product Overview" of the Workgroup CDDI/FDDI EISA PC Adapter User Guide for further explanation of product features and functions.
To use this EISA PC adapter driver Version 1.04, you must have the following:
- A single attachment or dual attachment adapter installed in a bus-mastering EISA slot.
- EISA configuration utility (supplied with the PC).
To use this EISA PC adapter driver Version 1.04, you must meet the following memory requirement:
You must have 8 kilobytes (KB) of shared memory placed anywhere from 0xA0000 to 0xEE000. Shared memory is configured by the EISA configuration utility.
The following new features have been added to the EISA PC adapter driver Version 1.04:
- The adapter driver has been modified to use 32 receive buffers as the default. Earlier versions of the adapter driver used 16 receive buffers as the default.
- The burst parameter may be used to specify the burst size, in bytes. The burst parameter may be added to the initial load line of autoexec.ncf file. Following is an example:
load crs320T slot=1 name=fddi frame=FDDI_802.2 burst=nn
- The nn variable equals the maximum burst size desired.
- The burst parameter defaults to 32 bytes and you may need to change the burst size but you should not change this parameter until you consult a custom support engineer. Incorrect burst parameter setting could cause poor server performance.
Note At this time the EISA PC adapter server driver does not pass the current Novell certification test suite; therefore, it is not a Novell certified driver.
The following issues have been resolved in the EISA PC adapter driver Version 1.04:
- Software node address change is now supported when the software is loaded.
- Automatic software code is recovered after a receiver hung error.
- Automatic software code is recovered after a network processor (NP) dead error.
- Downstream and upstream neighbor MAC addresses are displayed in canonical form on the NetWare Generic Statistics screen.
The following section describes possible unexpected behavior when using the EISA PC adapter driver Version 1.04:
- NetWare 4.10--For maximum performance, the default maximum physical receive packet size 4202, may be changed to 4500 (the maximum FDDI physical receive packet size).
- To change the maximum receive packet size, perform the following steps:
- Edit the STARTUP.NCF file.
- Add the following line:
SET MAXIMUM PHYSICAL RECEIVE PACKET SIZE = 4500
.
