Installing Multiple ELNK16 Adapters in a LAN Man Machine (78137)

SYMPTOMS

3Com ELNK16 adapters are not jumper-configurable. Instead, they contain an EEPROM that stores configuration information. You set up the interrupt, I/O base address, transceiver type, and so on by running the 3Com 3c507 Setup program. Because the card doesn't contain jumpers to set the I/O base, the ELNK16 uses I/O base 100 as a reference point during start-up and diagnostics. Once the driver is activated (at binding), it uses the configuration settings stored in the EEPROM.

When the computer starts up, both ELNK16 cards use I/O base 100 as a reference point. Because the ELNK16 is ROM configurable, there is no way for the driver to know which adapter is being bound. Thus, the following messages may appear upon rebooting (an OS/2 machine):

HPFS File system driver is installed MS OS/2 Lan Manager Protocol V1.1 3Com OS/2 Network Driver for the Etherlink16 (3C507) V1.1 3Com OS/2 Network Driver for the Etherlink16 (3C507) V1.1 Microsoft OS/2 NetBEUI 2.0 Installing NETWKSTA.SYS Ver2.0.292 (May 25, 1991)

PRO003: INTERRUPT CONFLICT in binding NETBEUI to ELNK16_NIF2 SYS1719: The file "C:\LANMAN\NETPROG\NETWKSTA.SYS" specified in the IFS command on line 46 of the CONFIG.SYS file does not contain a valid device driver or file system driver.

CAUSE

Normally, jumpers and the IOADDRESS= parameter in PROTOCOL.INI differentiate adapters from one another so the drivers know where to look for the board. In the case of the ELNK16 adapters, the IOBASE= parameter must be put under the DRIVERNAME=ELNK16$ (and ELNK16x$) in PROTOCOL.INI so the driver can find the appropriate address to bind. Leaving out this parameter generates the above interrupt conflict message, even though there may appear to be no conflict with the interrupt.

MORE INFORMATION

Listed below is a sample configuration, tested on a Compaq 386/33 with LAN Manager 2.0c and OS/2 1.3, running NETBEUI protocol:

Card Configurations

                  Card 1 Settings     Card 2 Settings
                  ---------------     ---------------

I/O base address:     300 Hex             320 Hex
Interrupt level:      10                  12
Transceiver type:     ON-Board            ON-Board
RAM base address:     C0000 Hex           D0000 Hex
RAM size:             64 KB               64 KB
ROM base address:     DA000 Hex           DE000 Hex
ROM size:             00 KB               00 KB
Zero wait state:      DISABLE             DISABLE
Data mode:            TURBO               TURBO

CONFIG.SYS, LANMAN Section

REM  ===== LANMAN 2.0 === DO NOT MODIFY BETWEEN THESE LINES ==== LANMAN
DEVICE=C:\LANMAN\DRIVERS\PROTMAN\PROTMAN.OS2 /i:C:\LANMAN
DEVICE=C:\LANMAN\DRIVERS\ETHERNET\ELNK16\ELNK16.OS2
DEVICE=C:\LANMAN\DRIVERS\ETHERNET\ELNK16\ELNK16.OS2
DEVICE=C:\LANMAN\DRIVERS\PROTOCOL\NETBEUI\NETBEUI.OS2
DEVICE=C:\LANMAN\NETPROG\RDRHELP.SYS
IFS=C:\LANMAN\NETPROG\NETWKSTA.SYS /i:C:\LANMAN
REM ===== LANMAN 2.0 === DO NOT MODIFY BETWEEN THESE LINES ==== LANMAN

PROTOCOL.INI

[PROTOCOL MANAGER]
        DRIVERNAME = PROTMAN$

[NETBEUI_XIF]
        DRIVERNAME = NETBEUI$
        BINDINGS = "ELNK16_NIF","ELNK16_NIF2"

[ELNK16_NIF]
; protocol.ini section for 3Com Etherlink16 and Etherlink16 TP Adapter card
        DRIVERNAME = ELNK16$
        IOBASE = 0x300

[ELNK16_NIF2]
        DRIVERNAME = ELNK16X$
        IOBASE = 0x320

LANMAN.INI

In [NETWORKS] section:
   net1 = netbeui$,0
   net2 = netbeui$,1

In [WORKSTATION] section:
   wrknets = net1,net2

In [SERVER] section:
   srvnets = net1,net2

Notes

Any ISA adapter that uses an EEPROM to store settings will operate in a similar manner.
NetBEUI is not a routable protocol. As a result, nodes attached to the two network segments connected to the server can communicate with the server, but cannot exchange information between themselves.