1 Windows NT 3.51 v1.04 Windows* NT 3.51 installation notes for Intel's EtherExpress(TM) PRO/10 PCI LAN adapters ================================================================ LOCATION OF DRIVER: \NT\E10P.SY_ General Instructions -------------------- 1 The adapter should be tested with SETUP.EXE prior to setting it up in Windows NT. SETUP.EXE is a DOS program and will not run under Windows NT, even in a DOS session. You must boot with DOS to run SETUP.EXE. You will also be able to view your adapter's configuration with SETUP. 2 In NT, select the Control Panel, then the Network icon, and then "Add Adapter". 3 A list of available LAN adapters appears. Select "Requires disk from manufacturer". 4 Insert the PRO/10 PCI Configuration and Drivers disk in drive A and press Enter. 5 A dialog box displays "A:\". Change the path to "A:\NT", which is the path where the driver (E10P.SY_) and setup file (OEMSETUP.INF) are located. 6 A dialog box displays and asks you to select the EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapter. Click on it and then click OK. 7 NT then performs the binding process. If any additional network software options were installed, NT may prompt you for specific information for these packages. 8 Restart NT when prompted for the changes to take effect. WARNING: If you're installing multiple EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapters in your system, they must be physically installed into your PC before adding the driver in Windows NT network setup. Advanced Configuration Parameters --------------------------------- These options are configured under the ADVANCED options button. The defaults work correctly for most configurations. Please use caution when changing these parameters. FIFO parameter: Recommended setting: FIFO=12 (default) This parameter defines the FIFO threshold for requesting bus access. For systems with high bus latency, this setting should be increased. For systems with low latency, this setting can be reduced. For best performance, set the parameter as low as possible (without causing DMA over/underruns or CRC errors). ON parameter: Recommended setting: ON=272 (default) This parameter limits the number of clock cycles the EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapter holds the bus for data transfers. For best performance, set this parameter high enough for the Transmit FIFO to be filled, or the Receive FIFO emptied, in a single bus access. OFF parameter: Recommended setting: OFF=2 (default) This parameter is the minimum number of clock cycles the EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapter card remains off the bus between data transfers. For best performance, set this parameter to a minimum, allowing the adapter access as needed. MAP REGISTERS parameter: Recommended Setting: MapRegisters = 0 CAUTION: Make a repair disk using RDISK.EXE (in NT's WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 directory) before changing the MapRegisters parameter. See your NT documentation for information on using RDISK.EXE. Map registers are system resources used in physical to virtual address conversion with bus mastering cards. The MapRegisters parameter specifies how many registers should be allocated to the driver. CAUTION: Increasing the number of MapRegisters will cause underruns and can cause erratic behavior (such as problems accessing a floppy drive) in some computers. Also, if you allocate more map registers than the OS has available, the OS will fail to load (an NT 'blue screen' will result). Two factors affect the amount of map registers you can allocate: 1. Multiple busmastering devices (for example, SCSI cards, floppy drives, or the EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapter) installed in your computer. The more devices you have, the greater chance of producing underruns or erratic behavior if you increase the MapRegisters parameter. 2. An NT 3.50 restriction in the Microsoft Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) that causes a shortage of map registers when the computer is configured with extra physical memory. If you get an updated HAL.DLL from Microsoft and put it into NT's SYSTEM32 directory, the MapRegister parameter can be increased for improved performance and support of additional network adapters. Improving performance: As a rule, more map registers mean better performance. However, map registers are system resources. If too many are allocated, the driver will fail to load or your computer may behave erratically. Increasing the MapRegisters parameter will also cause underruns on the network. To increase the amount of map registers: 1. Increase the MapRegisters parameter to 6. 2. Reboot your computer to NT. 3. Insert a diskette into an available floppy drive and try to access the drive with File Manager. 4. If you're unsuccessful, reduce the parameter by 1 and repeat steps 2 and 3. If you are successful, increase the parameter by 1 and repeat steps 2 and 3. However, use caution when increasing this parameter. You can damage your NT configuration and be forced to use your repair disk. NODE ADDRESS parameter: The Node Address parameter contains the physical Ethernet node address burned into each EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapter's on- board ROM. When configuring multiple EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI LAN adapters in a PCI bus, this value is used to assign individual cards to drivers and protocol stacks. The EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI setup program displays the node addresses where EtherExpress PRO/10 PCI adapters were detected. Select the node address for the adapter you want the driver attached to. If you're installing multiple adapters, each adapter must be configured separately, one at a time. * Third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners