About This Chapter...

Installing an Ethernet card and the appropriate drivers on DOS and Windows 3.1x has often been seen as a nightmare task by User Assistants, and rightfully so. After all, the DOS/Windows operating system was never really designed to handle more than 640 K of memory, much less a connection to the Internet!


The instructions in this chapter, however, should make your experience with older PCs running DOS and Windows as painless as possible. First, we will cover the physical installation of the Ethernet device into PC desktops and notebooks. We will then discuss the various drivers and software settings required to make your card recognized. Finally, this chapter will explain the various local area networking protocols and TCP/IP implementations used under DOS and Windows.

Table of Contents:

Section I: The Ethernet Device

1. Finding the Ethernet Address
2. Understanding Ethernet Cards for PC Desktops
3. Installing Ethernet Cards for PC Desktops
4. Installing PCMCIA Ethernet Cards for PC Notebooks
5. Installing Parallel Port Adapters for PC Notebooks

Section II: Device Drivers

1. Installing the Device Drivers
2. Resolving Card and Driver Problems

Section III: IPX/SPX

1. The IPX/SPX Driver
2. Verifying IPX/SPX Connectivity
3. The GOMENU Application
4. Omitting IPX/SPX

Section IV: TCP/IP

1. ODIPKT and the DOS TCP/IP Stack
2. WINPKT, TCPMAN, and WINSOCK.DLL
3. Verifying TCP/IP Connectivity

Section V: Miscellaneous Troubleshooting

1. A Standard Checklist for PC Networking
2. Common Hardware Problems and Suggestions
3. Common Software Problems and Suggestions

Section I: The Ethernet Device

The hardware installation required for PCs is relatively simple. While PC desktops have multiple forms of expansion slots -- ISA, PCI, EISA, and so on -- the physical installation of Ethernet devices basically proceeds the same way in all cases. And installing a PCMCIA device for a notebook is as easy as inserting the card in the slot.


WARNING: The adapter boards will be installed in computers which operate with voltages that can be lethal. Before you remove the computer covers, observe the following steps to protect yourself and prevent damage to the system's components:


1. Turn off the computer and unplug the unit from its power source.
2. Disconnect all cables that are connected to the main system unit.
3. Remove any loose jewelry from your hands and wrists.
4. Use only nonconductive tools.
5. Put on your wrist ground strap (required!)

On 3Com cards, it is quite painless to find the device's hardware Ethernet address. For their PCI, ISA, and EISA cards, there is a white sticker on the top of the card itself -- this sticker has the Ethernet address written on it. The Ethernet address can also be found on the underside of their PCMCIA cards. Be careful when reading off the address, however -- it is easy to mistake the zero, the number eight, and the letter "B"!


For unsupported Ethernet cards, it is more difficult to find their hardware address. Look for a configuration or setup program on the diskette that came with their card; this will often contain the Ethernet address as well. In many cases, the card's packet driver will return an Ethernet address when it recognizes the card; if the address returned (usually called the "node address") is less than 12 digits, try adding zeroes to the beginning of the address until there are 12 digits. Also get rid of the "L" that is often appended to the end.


Another option is to install the proper card drivers, as explained in Section II, and then run GETMYADR, a program on our FAS Computer Services Installer diskette. First, run the LSL driver, the card's ODI driver, and the packet driver -- often, this will be LSL.COM, NE2000.COM, and ODIPKT.COM -- and then run GETMYADR.

There are four main types of PC Ethernet cards, however they all are installed basically the same way! The only difference is the bus type (essentially the connector circuitry) on the card--ISA, EISA, MCA, or PCI.


ISA, by far the most popular type, is designed for 8-bit or 16-bit buses; most 386, 486, and Pentium machines have ISA slots. PCI cards, available mostly for Pentium machines, use an industry standard 32-bit local bus for incredibly high throughput, and also support hardware "Plug and Play" for easy configuration.


Older machines, such as some 386 desktops and the notorious IBM PS/2, in some cases have EISA and MCA slots instead of ISA. These Ethernet cards use a proprietary 32-bit bus and offer higher throughput at a higher price. You probably won't run into any of these machines this fall.


ISA expansion slots will take only ISA cards. EISA slots can take either an EISA card or an ISA one. MCA and PCI slots are only compatible with their respective card types, although most computers with PCI buses also have ISA slots.


It is possible to get unsupported cards working on the Harvard network; however, it is often much harder to do so than with the high-quality 3Com Ethernet cards. Unsupported cards must at the very least support Novell's Open Data-Link Interface (ODI). We are only offering minimal installation and troubleshooting assistance to users with unsupported cards. If you run into major problems with an unsupported card, go ahead and page the Advanced Support Team for guidance and assistance.

As a reminder, turn off the computer and unplug the unit from its power source before proceeding. Remove the computer's cover. If the computer is a tower, lay it on its side with the motherboard chips facing up. Choose an expansion slot. Remove the expansion slot's backplate by taking out the screw with a screwdriver. Keep the screw in a safe place nearby and give the backplate to the user to keep.
1. Get ready to insert the adapter into the expansion slot. You should first line up the gold contacts on the bottom edge of the Ethernet card with the grooves in the expansion slot connector. Make sure they line up exactly and that the card is an exact fit, otherwise you may have chosen the wrong type of slot. Many new computers come with two types of slots, mixing ISA and PCI slots, for example.
2. Once the card is lined up, insert it into the slot by pressing firmly straight down on the card using both hands for balance. Expect a lot of resistance at first. You may want to try pushing down on one end of the card and getting it in first and then pushing in the other end. Keep in mind that EISA slots are deeper than ISA slots and require firmer pressure to seat them correctly.
3. Make sure the card is firmly seated. The gold contacts on the bottom edge of the Ethernet card should be just barely visible, and should be of the same length all along the length of the connector. For EISA cards, the gold contacts should not show at all.
4. Now secure the card into the slot with the screw that originally held the backplate.
5. Connect the Ethernet card to the wall datajack via 10Base-T cable.
6. Replace the computer's cover and reconnect all devices and cables. Also, make sure you put any screws you removed back in the right place!
7. Turn the computer on and boot to a DOS prompt.

PCMCIA cards are marvels of miniaturization; they are close to a credit card in size yet rival the speed and reliability of full desktop Ethernet cards. Most new notebooks come with one Type III PCMCIA slot, which can also hold two Type II PCMCIA cards. The 3Com Etherlink III PCMCIA card is Type II; the Xircom CreditCard Ethernet device is Type I.


There are three types of PCMCIA slots: Type I, Type II, and Type III. The different type numbers have two meanings of importance. On one hand, each type represents a different size PCMCIA device, with Type I cards being the thinnest and Type III cards being the thickest. A Type III card is the size of two Type II cards stacked on top of each other -- which is why most notebooks now sold hold one Type III or two Type II cards. Type I was the original PCMCIA specification; Type II and Type III have been added over the years to provide support for peripherals like hard disks that couldn't fit into a Type I form.

1. As a reminder, turn off the computer and unplug the unit from its power source before proceeding.
2. Grasp the CreditCard Ethernet Adapter by the edges. Hold the card so that the 68-pin connector is facing toward the adapter slot of the computer.
3. Insert the adapter into the adapter slot in the computer and slide it in until firmly seated. You should feel a bit of resistance after sliding it in 3/4 of the way--keep pushing until you hear a muffled click.
4. Plug in the proprietary PCMCIA Ethernet adapter cable into the card and the other end of the cable into the wall datajack. Use the 10Base-T (RJ45) coupler provided with the card if you need to attach the adapter cable to a longer, standard Ethernet cable in order to reach the wall datajack.
5. Turn on the computer.

1. As a reminder, turn off the computer and unplug the unit from its power source before proceeding.
2. Connect the Parallel adapter to the parallel port on the machine. If a printer cable is attached to the parallel port, you will have to detach it.
3. If there is a pass-through parallel port on the Ethernet adapter, you can attach the printer cable to the adapter. This will allow the user to print even while connected to the network. Users of the supported Xircom Pocket Ethernet III Adapter can purchase a port multiplexor from Xircom that allows them to do this. If there is no pass-through port or printer, skip this step.
4. Plug in 10Base-T Ethernet cable into both the adapter and the datajack.
5. Turn on the computer.

   
   

Section II: Device Drivers

It doesn't do much good to have an Ethernet device inside a computer if the computer doesn't recognize that it's there! PCs being what they are, you may have to reconfigure the Ethernet device's Interrupt Request (IRQ) or port assignment for it to work; the device has programs on their diskettes that will do this for you. In addition, some elements of the users' CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files may need to be updated and changed.


In addition, DOS and Windows 3.1 require that a link support layer and card ODI driver be installed for the card to work. While these are installed automatically by our Installer disk, it's important for you to know how these work as well!

FAS Computer Services provides an automated Installer diskette for users and UAs that works with all of our supported Ethernet devices. Running INSTALL on this diskette will install three critical software components: the device drivers, the IPX/SPX protocol drivers, and the TCP/IP stacks. The software is placed into the C:\NETWORK directory by default.


To run the Installer:

1. Insert the FAS Computer Services PC Installer disk into drive A:.
2. Type A: and hit [ENTER].
3. Type INSTALL and hit [ENTER].
4. Follow the instructions on the screen. Choose the appropriate drivers to use from the list of choices based on the model of Ethernet card you just installed.
5. Quit out of the installer.

The Installer creates a batch file named STARTNET.BAT that runs all these drivers and logs the user into the network. STARTNET loads the following drivers into the system's memory:

• LSL (the link support layer)
• The card's ODI driver (such as 3C5X9.COM)
• The IPX/SPX stack (usually IPXODI.COM)
• The TCP/IP stack (ODIPKT.COM and WINPKT.COM)

STARTNET also loads NETX.EXE, the Netware login shell that allows users to access the FAS Computer Services Main Menu - better known to UAs as the "blue screen," for want of a better term.


The first two of these -- LSL and the card packet driver -- are the device drivers for the Ethernet card. They tell the computer that a network card is installed and activated. For this reason, they must always be the first two network drivers loaded by the system.


LSL stands for Link Support Layer. Without going into too much detail, LSL is the driver that prepares several critical low-level aspects of the computer for network connectivity.


The card ODI driver, loaded second, actually initializes the Ethernet card, runs a quick test on it, and prepares it to accept and transmit network traffic. This file will always end in .COM, and will usually have the name of the card manufacturer or model in it. Examples include 3C5X9.COM for ISA 3Com cards, 3C59X.COM for the 3Com PCI, 3C589.COM for the 3Com PCMCIA, PE3ODI.COM for the Xircom Pocket Ethernet Adapter, and so forth. "Generic" Novell compatible Ethernet cards will usually use NE2000.COM, a standard initialization program.

If you've tried running LSL and the card ODI driver and the card isn't recognized, there are several things you should check.


One common source of frustration is trying to resolve IRQ conflicts. PCs handle peripherals by using Interrupt Requests (IRQs), which give each peripheral a "time slot" for attention by the CPU. Conflicts occur when two peripherals attempt to use the same IRQ at the same time, disabling one or both of them. Problem is, most PCs are unable to tell a peripheral to change its IRQ, which often makes it seem like a card isn't working! To resolve this IRQ conflict, it is necessary to tell the card to use a different IRQ assignment.


For 3Com cards, this is an easy thing to do. 3Com cards include the 3C5X9CFG.EXE program (3C589CFG or 3C59XCFG for PCMCIA and PCI cards, respectively) on their accompanying diskette, which can test an Ethernet card and resolve IRQ conflicts. Simply reboot the machine, switch to the 3Com floppy disk, type "3C5X9CFG configure" and press the ENTER key. After a brief pause, the program should report that the 3COM adapter has been configured successfully. If it reports an error, try reseating the Ethernet card. You can also run 3C5X9CFG without the configure switch and try fixing things manually if you want. 10 through 15 are good IRQs to try with an Ethernet card.


PCMCIA cards, PCI cards, and ISA cards in "Plug and Play" mode shouldn't have these problems; they are designed to negotiate their IRQs with the system. The 3C5X9CFG program still works on them for testing, and is very useful for diagnostic purposes.


In some rare cases, you may wish to disable Plug and Play support for an Ethernet card if the computer has difficulty recognizing the card automatically. (This tends to be a problem with late 1994-early 1995 model computers, which were among the first systems to have PnP support; as a result, they sometimes have old BIOS versions that don't fully support the PnP release specs. It also tends to be a problem on many Packard Bell computers - draw your own conclusions.) In any case, you can disable PnP support by running 3C5X9CFG PNPDISABLE from the 3Com diskette, or by running 3C5X9CFG.EXE with no arguments and manually changing it in the configuration menu.


For unsupported Ethernet cards, you will probably have to experiment with whatever setup programs are offered on the accompanying diskette. Contact the Advanced Support Team for more help with this.


In many cases, the card may be set up fine, but settings in the system's configuration files are causing the problems. For solutions to common difficulties of this type, see Section V.3: Resolving Software Problems below.

Section III: IPX/SPX

LSL and the card driver manage to initialize the card and prepare for network traffic. The card is then ready for IPX/SPX, the protocol used on the FAS Network for local traffic with the Novell servers.

Section III.1: The IPX/SPX Driver

A familiar sight to PC users is the infamous "Blue Screen" menu. Users can access DOS applications and utilities (WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, virus protection software, etc.), and Novell course libraries and shared volumes from this menu. All this is gained by simply logging in to FAS Computer Service's main Novell server.


In order to communicate with any of the FAS Novell servers, a computer needs to use the IPX/SPX protocol. IPX/SPX is a protocol designed by Novell which allows systems to communicate with servers running its software over a network. There are two specific drivers in STARTNET.BAT that enable IPX/SPX and connect to Novell servers: IPXODI.COM and NETX.EXE.


IPXODI.COM is the actual driver that loads into memory and gives a computer the capability of speaking to a Novell server. NETX.EXE is the "shell," which provides the interface between the server and the user's computer -- an interface whose way is paved by IPXODI.

Reboot (just to be safe), either ending up at DOS or exiting Windows to get to a DOS prompt. Type "CD \NETWORK" and press ENTER at the DOS prompt. Next, type "STARTNET" and press ENTER again. Verify that all the Ethernet drivers load properly with no obvious error messages or grating beeps from the PC speaker. With IPX/SPX enabled, you should also get a login prompt after STARTNET finishes. Log in with your fas username and password.


If the Blue Menu appears, IPX/SPX support is working fine. If it doesn't, you should first verify that you have checked the Ethernet device for hardware problems, that the card drivers and IPX/SPX protocol are working fine, and made sure that the login volume isn't mapped to a drive other than F: on the system. Be sure to look through Sections I, II, and V for help on this.

Along with network laser printing and access to DOS software, IPX/SPX allows Windows 3.x users to copy frequently-used network software and courseware from our servers to their home computer! This installs a suite of applications, including Netscape, EWAN, and the like.


To install this for a user, connect to the FAS Network, being sure to enable card drivers and IPX/SPX. (TCP/IP is also necessary at a later point to actually allow these network applications to run.) Then run Windows, and from the Program Manager, click File... and then Run... and type GOMENU.

IPXODI and NETX are rather large drivers; they fill up lots of precious space in a PC's first 640K of RAM. To optimize system performance, as you know, it is always best to maximize the so-called "conventional memory" available in this 640K area.


If a user doesn't require Novell support, they can often save memory for them by not installing it, or by making it optional. One thing to keep in mind: GOMENU requires an IPX/SPX connection in order to copy the General Software files from our Novell servers! If you are going to remove IPX/SPX support from a student's setup, be sure that you manage to hack the system in order to run GOMENU first.


This is not an official FAS Computer Services policy; under normal circumstances, we must leave IPX/SPX support enabled. On some systems, however, power management software and card drivers take up so much conventional memory that the user will have problems if we don't take out IPX/SPX. If there's no other way to get the computer operating in a stable way without removing IPX/SPX support, do it - but make sure the user knows that they won't be able to run GOMENU or access other Novell services on our network without it. Also, be sure to show users what they need to do to "switch back" to full IPX/SPX support if they later decide to do so.


To disable IPX/SPX support, REM out IPXODI.COM and NETX.EXE from the STARTNET.BAT file. Perhaps the best thing to do is to copy STARTNET.BAT to a file like WINNET.BAT, and then remove the IPX/SPX drivers from this second file and have it run WIN.COM. Place CALL WINNET.BAT at the end of their AUTOEXEC.BAT file, so that the card driver and TCP/IP protocol will load and then load Windows on startup. You should also then remove LSL, the card driver, and TCP/IP drivers from STARTNET.BAT; this way, users can exit Windows, run STARTNET and reenter Windows to get IPX/SPX support on an as-needed basis. This way, users can have the option of loading card drivers, IPX/SPX and TCP/IP, or to have just TCP/IP support.


Many users only ask us to disable IPX/SPX because they find the Blue Screen menu annoying; point out to them that it is possible to log into the network without seeing that menu every time STARTNET is executed. You should always ask the user whether he or she wants to invoke this option. If the user will be primarily accessing the Internet from Windows, you should recommend the "no menu" option. If the user will not be using Windows as frequently or is not sure, you should recommend the "menu" option. With the "no menu" option, you need only type "menu " at the DOS prompt after running STARTNET to get to the Blue Menu. Here are the steps to invoking the "no menu" option:


1. Type "edit c:\network\startnet.bat".
2. Find the line in the file that reads: REM SET _NOMENU = TRUE
3. Remove the word "REM" that precedes the line.
4. Save the file and quit.

No changes are needed if the user wants to continue getting the menu displayed at every login.

From the Blue Screen menu, it is also possible to use telnet, FTP, gopher, etc. -- Internet applications that utilize TCP/IP, not IPX/SPX. All of these applications, however, require TCP/IP. The FAS Computer Services PC Installer disk provides a highly transparent TCP/IP stack that uses Bootp to obtain all TCP/IP configuration values dynamically.


The drivers loaded by the FAS Network TCP/IP implementation also include support for the Windows Sockets, or Winsock standard, which provides TCP/IP via Bootp under Windows 3.x. Both of these TCP/IP stacks will be explained in this section.

ODIPKT is the driver that enables TCP/IP support under DOS. When a DOS telnet or ftp program tries to access a host, its packets are routed through ODIPKT, which negotiates TCP/IP via the ODI specifications.


When loaded in STARTNET.BAT, ODIPKT retrieves an IP address from the Bootp table, allowing the computer to be fully configured for Internet applications.

In the computing world of 1996, unfortunately, TCP/IP support from DOS is about as useful as a spare tire for a Model T. In a world of Windows, FAS Computer Services has licensed software for its users that provide a second "layer" of TCP/IP capability for Windows 3.x: TCPMAN, WINPKT, and WINSOCK.DLL.


WINPKT is a small and ingenious little program that simply allows Windows applications to use ODIPKT (the DOS TCP/IP driver) by redirecting packets through it. ODIPKT does a fine job, but it can only talk to one application at a time - no problem in DOS, big problem in Windows, where it's common to have more than one application running at a time. WINPKT is essentially a multiplexer for ODIPKT, allowing multiple TCP/IP-apps to share the packet driver interface.


The other two files in our Windows TCP/IP setup -- TCPMAN and WINSOCK.DLL -- often provide a bit more consternation for UAs. While WINPKT redirects TCP/IP packets to Windows, you see, Windows has no native support for this protocol, or in many cases for networking in general! A TCP/IP stack can't do much good if an operating system doesn't know it's there.


This is where TCPMAN comes into play. TCPMAN, or Trumpet Winsock, provides the necessary interface for Windows applications to use TCP/IP. TCPMAN also takes care of Bootp for Windows applications. TCPMAN needs to be running on all Windows 3.x machines in the background whenever a network application is running. On Windows 3.1, it will load automatically, as long as the C:\NETWORK directory is in the user's PATH statement in their AUTOEXEC file.


WINSOCK.DLL is a Dynamic Link Library for TCPMAN and many, if not most, Internet applications for Windows 3.x. WINSOCK, like all DLL's, provides a library of shared code for applications to use -- in this case, it contains the code needed for programs like Netscape to connect to TCPMAN and the Internet.


One common problem to watch out for is that of users having multiple copies of WINSOCK.DLL on their system! The only version of WINSOCK.DLL that should be on there is the one placed in the C:\NETWORK directory by the FAS Computer Services installer! If the user has had a network connection at another school or used a SLIP/PPP connection, however, they probably have an older copy floating around.


To check for multiple WINSOCK.DLL files, open a DOS prompt, go to the root directory (C:\), and type DIR WINSOCK.DLL /A /S | MORE. The GOMENU application should also check for multiple WINSOCKs when installing our General Software suite.


This will list all the directories on the hard disk where a WINSOCK.DLL file is located. Go to each directory and rename these old files WINSOCK.OLD. Don't actually delete them, since a user might need them if and when they return to their previous networked environment.

One way to test whether ODIPKT is doing its job, assuming you are logged into a Novell server via IPX/SPX, is to choose the Internet Utilities option from the Blue Screen and try to telnet to one of FAS Computer Service's Unix hosts. As long as you get a "login:" prompt from the Science Center Machine, Bootp and TCP/IP are working!


To check TCP/IP connectivity under Windows 3.x, simply double click on the Trumpet Winsock (TCPMAN) icon in the General Software group. Its window will open and display several lines of text. If everything is successful, you will see the computer's correct IP address and gateway; if not, TCPMAN will say "Performing Bootp..." and freeze. Even if the TCPMAN connectivity check works, be sure that you also try running Netscape and EWAN.

Section V: Miscellaneous Troubleshooting

This section contains both a checklist for common problems as well as a Question & Answer section. Unfortunately, not every problem can be included so only selected "common problems" and the corresponding solutions will be listed.

Much of the information in this Section is listed earlier in this Chapter, but is repeated here for your convenience.

If something doesn't work properly, here are some steps you should follow. Often a problem occurs because a simple thing is overlooked. Here is a standard checklist of things to try:
1. Check to see if the link light on the Ethernet device is on and/or if the receive/trasmit lights are flashing. NOTE: the link, receive, and transmit lights may not be on every PC Ethernet device. If you don't see any link light and are sure the cable is good, it may indicate a loose card or bad datajack or patch.
2. Check all 10BaseT connections, including card/cable and cable/wall. As part of this, make sure the cable is plugged into the data portion of the jack and not the voice portion. This step is especially important if there is no link light on the Ethernet device.
3. If the Ethernet device is a card, are you sure you seated it properly in its slot? Double-check if at all possible. If the Ethernet device is a transceiver or is SCSI, make sure the connection between the between the computer and the device is solid.
4. Swap the user's Ethernet cable with yours. This step is especially important if there is no link light on the Ethernet device. If this works, make sure the user's cable is not phone cabling (RJ-11), but 10Base-T unshielded twisted-pair Ethernet cabling ( RJ-45), before declaring the user's cable defective.
5. "Rat-Hair Check:" physically blow hard into the datajack (seriously) in order to clear any dust or debris that may have collected there. You may want to also blow into the RJ-45 connector (where the 10Base-T Ethernet cable connects) on the Ethernet devic e just in case.
6. Make sure the number of the jack that the user is plugging into is also the number that is specified on the user's task report. Get the Ethernet address of the user's Ethernet device and make sure your results match up with the Ethernet address that is on the task report.
7. If you get absolutely no link indication and have tried different cables, try plugging into the Voice part of the jack. There are a few rare occasions where the datajacks were installed with the jacks reversed. If this is indeed the case, make sure to let the user and Advanced Support know about it.

Before ever calling Advanced Support, you should complete all the steps in this checklist and be ready to report all the results from the steps.


The classic point where the connection will fail will be an error message "SHELL-332-21 A NETWORK SERVER COULD NOT BE FOUND" and a beep when NETX runs during STARTNET. If you encounter this, there are many possibilities. Follow this checklist to start eliminating some.

Often, a card will not be recognized or drivers won't load properly because of hardware interrupt (IRQ) or base I/O address conflicts. Symptoms include seeing a link light but getting the "Network server could not be found" error message.


The solution is to auto-configure the 3Com card -- see Section II.2 for information on how to do this. Note this technique will only work on 3Com Ethernet cards. For unsupported cards, you will need to actually edit the user's NET.CFG file or look for an equivalent configuration program on the disk that came with the user's Ethernet card.

Driver software or software that is automatically loaded upon boot-up may cause conflicts with the Ethernet drivers that are loaded upon executing the STARTNET command. Few of these programs cause direct conflicts; they simply take up too much conventional memory (the first 640K on a DOS or Windows 3.x based system) and crowd out the network drivers.


View the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files to see if this is the case. There are two solutions: selectively disabling drivers by REMming them out, or preferably, reconfiguring the user's files to place drivers in high memory - the area of system memory between 640K and 1024K. The simplest way in MS-DOS 6.x is to run the MEMMAKER command. You can also make these changes manually. In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, add an LH in front of driver lines to make them load into high memory; in the CONFIG.SYS file, try replacing DEVICE= with DEVICEHIGH= if there are any DEVICE= statements (except for any statements that load either HIMEM.SYS or EMM386.EXE. Neither of those can be loaded high, and thus they be loaded with plain DEVICE= statements). Both of these require that HIMEM.SYS be installed and running, but almost every computer you run into will have these files working already. If all else fails, disable unnecessary drivers, but make sure you ask the user if he or she knows what each driver is for before disabling them. Some of them the user may want to keep or needs. If the user doesn't know what a driver does, use your best judgment or call the Advanced Support Team for advice.


See if disabling some of the drivers will allow the machine to connect to the network. Try disabling different combinations of drivers. This may take time, but there is a good chance it may fix things -- especially if the card's link light is lit and the card has been successfully auto-configured.


Card and socket services are special drivers in the CONFIG.SYS file that allow the computer to communicate with a card that is in a PCMCIA slot. Usually these drivers are identified by their last two letters: "ss" and "cs." For example, the IBM card and socket services drivers are "ibmss.sys" and "ibmcs.sys."


These should usually work without a problem. On some notebook computers, however, the built-in card and socket services may cause incompatibilities with our network software. When a PCMCIA Ethernet card isn't working, it is a good idea to remove card an d socket services if they have been loaded -- the computer will then attempt to communicate with the PCMCIA card directly. Disable the drivers by placing REM in front of the appropriate "DEVICE= " lines in the user's CONFIG.SYS file.


Sometimes, users run 3Com's Setup program instead of our Installer, causing the wrong drivers to be loaded. A sure sign of this is if you see the following lines in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

REM Netware startup
if not exist c:\nwclient\lsl.com goto noNetware
if not exist c:\nwclient\ipxodi.com goto noNetware
if not exist c:\nwclient\netx.exe goto noNetware
c:\nwclient\lsl.com
c:\nwclient\3c5x9.com
...

If you see such lines, edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and delete them.

There are several settings in the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS file that may need to be changed so that the computer will recognize the user's Ethernet device working.


One common source of frustration is the LASTDRIVE line in the CONFIG.SYS file. LASTDRIVE reserves drive letters (D:, E:, etc.) for the use of peripherals on a PC. FAS Network's Novell servers, however, need the F: drive for the SYS volume, from which users can login to the server, and the other letters for various other volumes. Users will often get an "Invalid Drive Specification" error in this case. If this happens, you should REM out the LASTDRIVE line in the CONFIG.SYS file and reboot. In most cases, logging in will now work fine.


Users who have many multiple drive letters already in use, however - because of extra or partitioned hard disks, Zip/Jaz/EZDrives, or disk compression software - will often find the F: logical drive is already in use on their system, and trying to log in will result in an "Invalid Drive Specification" error. Go ahead and search through each possible drive, one at a time, starting at F: and going down to Z:, until you find the one that the Novell server is mapped to: you'll know you've found it when you find yourself in the LOGIN directory! Then edit the user's STARTNET file so that the line that says F:LOGIN is changed to x:LOGIN, where x: is the appropriate drive letter.


Another common problem is a lack of environment space - that is, a section of memory reserved by the operating system for global system variables. Often, this problem will crop up in the form of a "System Halted" error. To be safe, make sure that the line SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\ /E:1024 /P is in the CONFIG.SYS file (assuming that the file COMMAND.COM resides in the C:\ directory. If it doesn't, change the line in CONFIG.SYS to match the actual location of the user's COMMAND.COM file. Common places (other than C:\) are C:\DOS and C:\WINDOWS.) If this doesn't work, increase the environment space (in the /E: switch) to 1536 or 2048.


If you are having problems with WINSOCK and TCPMAN, or sluggish Windows 3.x behavior with them installed, make sure there is enough conventional memory for the system to still work properly. A frequent symptom of this problem in TCPMAN the program will report that is it "Performing bootp" but will stay like that for a very long time, or will give an error about insufficient buffers. Check conventional memory by going to a DOS prompt from Windows with TCPMAN running and typing MEM /C | MORE. If the system has less than 450K of conventional memory free, you need to free up more memory by removing drivers from their system. Changing drivers to load into high memory, through the LOADHIGH and DEVICEHIGH options, is the best way to solve this problem.


Also, be sure to check that there is only one copy of WINSOCK.DLL on the system, as was mentioned in Section IV.3.

Notebook computers using card and socket services may crash with a "Page Fault" in TCPMAN error under Windows 3.x under rare occasions. The card and socket services software is often at fault; remove it and let the 3Com card self-initialize to resolve this problem.