HP Package Revision: PCAA4012
           Date    : 22nd of December, 1998


        3C905B Fast EtherLink XL Bus Master Network Interface Card
       Release Notes and Frequently Asked Questions for Vectra PCs


Installation tips in Hewlett Packard Brio, Vectra VL and VE PCs
---------------------------------------------------------------

Driver installation:
- Help.exe program on Disk3 contains software installation instructions.

Win95, Win98 installation:
- Make sure Bios setup PnP OS field is set to Yes for Win95 SR2.x, Win98
  For Win95 RTM and Win95 SR1, set Bios setup PnP OS field to No.
- During NIC installation, Win9x may prompt for Win95 master disks.
  When using HP preloaded Win9x, they're located on C:\WINDOWS\OPTIONS\CABS

NT installation:
- Make sure Bios setup PnP OS field is set to No
- During NIC installation, NT4 may prompt for NT4 master disks.
  When using HP preloaded NT4, they're located on C:\I386
- After any network installation (NIC, protocols, clients, etc...), always re-apply latest NT Service Pack.
  Some errors may be encountered before Service Pack re-application, they should be ignored.
  Please notice that on some PCs, some drivers must be re-installed after Service Pack application.
  When using HP preloaded NT4, latest supported Service Pack is located on C:\I386\SPx 
    (x stands for Service Pack revision)

Network Remote Boot:
- Before using Network Remote Boot, make sure Network Remote Boot is enabled in Bios setup.

Frequently Asked Questions and Release Notes
--------------------------------------------
This file contains the release notes and answers to some frequently asked
questions about the PCI environment to help you obtain maximum performance 
from your 3Com Fast EtherLink XL NICs.
                              

    Release Notes
    -------------
        Potential problem when sharing interrupts under Windows 95
        ----------------------------------------------------------
        If you install two or more PCI NICs (one of them being 
        EtherLink XL) in your Windows 95 system using the same interrupt, 
        your system may exhibit strange behavior.  3Com has found that 
        sharing the interrupt can cause a blue screen errors or continuous 
        system reboots, that are caused by disabling or enabling your NIC 
        by using the Device Manager or the 3Com NIC Diagnostics program.  
        This problem has been found on multiple different systems and with 
        other manufacturer's PCI network cards.  The solution is to stop 
        sharing the interrupt between the NICs and assign a different PCI 
        interrupt number to each of the NICs.

        Stopping the driver in a Windows NT  System
        -------------------------------------------
        3Com has found that if you stop the driver while there are no 
        protocols installed in your system it will crash with a blue 
        screen error.  When this error occurs the system is dead and must 
        be rebooted.  Microsoft has admitted that there is a problem in 
        Windows NT and it will be fixed in Service Pack 2.0 and later
	versions.  To avoid this problem simply keep at least one protocol
	loaded and Windows NT will not let you stop the driver.

        
        Echo Exchange Test Does Not Support Crossover Cable
        ---------------------------------------------------
        Because the Echo Exchange test verifies the NIC's ability to
        transmit and receive data while on the network, both the echo 
        server and the echo client must be connected to a network.  An 
        EtherLink XL NIC uses link beats to determine whether it is
        connected to a network when the 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, or
        100BASE-T4 Media Type is selected.  A constant link beat is
        needed for the Echo Exchange test when the 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX,
        or 100BASE-T4 Media Type is selected.  Before starting the Echo 
        Exchange test, connect the echo server and the echo client 
        together through a hub or a switch that generates a constant link
        beat.  Using crossover cable to connect the echo server and the 
        echo client directly does not work.
        
        
    Windows 95 Installation Notes
    -----------------------------
    This information applies to the Windows 95 operating system.

    When installing an EtherLink XL or Fast EtherLink XL NIC under 
    Windows 95, the operating system automatically detects the presence 
    of the NIC and asks for the diskette containing the driver 
    software for the NIC (the EtherDisk 1 diskette).  At this point,  
    you can choose to cancel the installation of driver software  
    and install it later.  Even though the driver installation has been  
    canceled, the fact that the NIC is installed is recorded in the  
    System Registry.

    Later, when you install the driver software using the Network 
    applet in the Control Panel, the operating system assumes that you
    are installing another instance of a NIC, not installing 
    software for the already recorded instance.  This results in two 
    instances of a NIC being recorded in the System Registry.  
    The Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC will not operate correctly 
    under these circumstances.

    To fix this problem, open the System applet in the Control Panel.  
    In the Device Manager dialog box, under Network NICs, the two
    instances of the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC are shown.  
    Remove the one that is marked disabled, and restart your computer.
    The remaining entry for the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC 
    in the same dialog box should show that the NIC is operating 
    correctly.


    Special Installation Notes for Windows 95 OSR2 
    ----------------------------------------------
    If the Windows 95 OSR2 PC is pre-installed with an Etherlink XL or
    Fast Etherlink XL NIC, a previous version of the 3C90X driver and 
    installation files may be installed.  If this is the case, the machine
    may lockup, exhibit Windows Protection Error, or experience software
    installation problems when the second NIC is installed.  To
    avoid these problems, perform the following:

	1) Before installing the second NIC, right click on Network
	   Neighborhood and select Properties with the left button.
        2) Highlight the 3Com Fast EtherLink XL/ EtherLink XL NIC.
        3) Click the Remove button.
        4) Select OK to save changes but don't reboot the PC.
        5) Click on the Start button and click on Find.  Click on Find 
	   Files or Folders.
	6) Left click on the Advanced tab and have Win95 search for all
	   files containing the text "VEN_10b78" and "DEV_9050".  Delete
	   all of these files.  These are the previous versions of the
	   installation files.
	7) Power off the PC and install the second NIC.
        8) After installing the second NIC, power the PC back on
           and let Windows 95 detect both NICs.
        9) When Windows 95 prompts for the driver, insert the 3C905B
	   EtherDisk.  This will install the driver sets for both NICs.
        10) Configure the desired protocols and services according to the
           type of network the machine is attached to.
  
    Windows NT and 3Com Windows diagnostics program.
    ------------------------------------------------

    Due to security features in the Windows NT operating system the 3Com
    Windows Diagnostics will only function for users with  Administrator
    privileges. The user that only has User privileges should use the Dos
    diagnostics if required.     

    Half/Full duplex status are not updated automaticaly. Run Netowrk Diagnostics to get fields updated.
    Though duplex status is not correctly reported, NIC negociates correctly duplex mode.

    When forcing Network speed from forced 10Mb/s to forced 100Mb/s, LAN cable must be connected and 
    reconnected to get change taken in consideration.

    Client 32 installations in Windows 98
    -------------------------------------

    3Com does not recommend using the ODI LAN driver for Client 32
    installations under Windows 98.  The Windows NDIS driver should be
    used instead. 

        
        
Frequently Asked Questions 
--------------------------

General FAQ's
-------------  
    Q:  How do I remove the software that comes with my Fast EtherLink 
        XL/EtherLink XL NIC from my system if I have a compatibility problem.
        
    A:  You may remove the 3Com NIC Diagnostics Program from your system at
        any time by running the uninstaller in the Add/Remove Programs
        Control Panel. This will remove the diagnostics program and the
        3Com tray Icon. If you remove all the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink
        XL NICs from the control panel the uninstall program will be run
        automatically.
 
    Q:  Do I have to configure my 3Com PCI NIC for my computer?
       
    A:  PCI is a self-configuring bus architecture.  
        You will only need to install the board in your system
    
    Q:  Which PCI slot is best for my 3COM NIC.
       
    A:  3Com PCI NICs are designed to work in any PCI slot.

    Q:  Is your Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NIC compliant with PCI 
        Spec 2.1?

    A:  Yes.  3Com's Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL NICs comply with PCI 
        Spec 2.1.  For further details, please see the product data sheet.

    Q:  Which PCI slot(s) are "bus mastering" in my PCI machine?

    A:  All Vectra PCI slots support Bus Master.
      
    Q:  Which interrupt should I use with my 3Com PCI NIC?
      
    A:  PCI IRQ settings are automatic. Since PCI supports shared interrupts, 
        multiple 3Com PCI NICs can use the same PCI interrupt (except as noted below).

    Q.  Does my PCI NIC support shared interrupts?
      
    A.  The drivers for the Fast EtherLink XL/EtherLink XL Bus Master
        NICs support shared interrupts.  However, because there is no 
        industry-standard way to support shared interrupts, other NICs
        may support them differently, or not at all.  If you have another 
        PCI NIC that does not support shared interrupts (for example, 
        a SCSI host NIC), either contact the manufacturer for a shared
        interrupt driver or try running the system setup program to assign
        it a different interrupt.  We have found that OS/2 version 1.3 does 
        not support shared interrupts, but it is only a problem if you are 
        using the OS/2 NDIS 2.01 driver in LAN Manager version 2.2.  3Com
        has also found some problems with sharing interrupts under 
        Windows 95, more details are available in the release note section
        earlier in this document.  If this is a problem, try using the DOS 
        configuration utility to give each NIC a different IRQ, and change 
        the BIOS on your system to match.

    Q:  What interrupt should I avoid using with my 3Com PCI NIC?
      
    A:  You should avoid using any interrupts used by ISA boards that
        do not properly support shared interrupts (level-triggered).  If 
        you do not know or are unsure whether your NIC supports shared
        interrupts, then avoid using them.  In addition, try to avoid 
        using the same interrupt as that of your local hard drive 
        (normally IRQ 14 for IDE drives and IRQ 11 for most SCSI host
        NICs), since not all hard drives support shared interrupts at 
        this time.  For Novell NetWare servers, you should also avoid
        using IRQ 7 or 15.  These IRQs only support nonshared devices and
        may cause problems if they are shared between two devices.

    Q:  My 3Com PCI NIC driver will not load when EMM386.EXE is loaded. 
        Why?  
         
    A:  Microsoft's EMM386.EXE versions 4.48 and earlier may conflict with
        some PCI systems' ROM BIOS.  In that case you should update 
        your version of DOS to version 6.22 or higher to fix the problem. 
        NOTE: if you have a version of DOS higher than 6.22, you will not 
        need to update EMM386.EXE.

    Q:  The NIC works fine in DOS, but I can't execute programs loaded 
        over the net when Windows is running. What's wrong?

    A:  If the EMM386.EXE memory manager is not loaded by your CONFIG.SYS 
        file, Windows loads an equivalent driver when Windows is started. 
        The problem is that the EMM386 Windows emulator that ships with 
        Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is not compatible with
        PCI computers. To solve this problem, put the following statement
        in your CONFIG.SYS file: 

        DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS

        immediately following the line

        DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

        Make sure you are running version 4.49 or newer.  If you are not
        sure which version of EMM386 you have, run EMM386UP.BAT on the
        EtherDisk 1 diskette. This program will update EMM386 if the  
        update is needed.  Unless you are running a version of DOS 
        earlier than version 6.0.  In that case you will have to update 
        your version of DOS to version 6.22 or higher to fix the problem.

    Q:  After installing Novell Client 32 for Windows 95, I get an error
        "Your driver could not be disabled." when I try to run the 3Com
        Windows diagnostics, why?

    A:  If the PC is configured with Novell Client 32 using the 32-bit ODI
        driver, the 3Com Windows Diagnostics utility doesn't support driver
        suspension.  In order to run the diagnostics, either boot the
        machine in MS-DOS mode and execute 3C90XCFG.EXE from EtherDisk #1
        or reconfigure Novell Client 32 to use an NDIS driver.  For exact
        directions, please refer to your Client 32 instructions.  If you do
        experience the above message when you attempt to run the 3Com
        Windows diagnostics, verify that the hardware device is enabled
        before rebooting the machine. Perform these steps:

        1) Right click on My Computer at the desktop.  Left click on
           Properties.
	2) Double click on Network adapters to expand its entries.  
	3) Double click on the 3Com Fast Etherlink XL/ Etherlink XL NIC.
	4) Look at the Device Usage box and make sure the Current
           Configuration is checked.  If you have only one hardware
           profile, it will appear as "Original Configuration (Current).
           If you have multiple hardware profiles, check the box where the
           NIC should be enabled.
	5) Click OK once and then again OK to save settings.

    Q:  How do I update my 3C90X drivers in Windows 95 OSR2?

    A:  You can perform an update on your existing 3C90X driver set by
        performing the following: 

        1) Right click on 'My Computer.'
	2) Left click on 'Properties.'
	3) When the System Properties screen appears, click on the 'Device
           Manager' tab.
	4) Double click on the 'Network Adapter' icon and double click on
           the 3Com Fast Etherlink/ Etherlink XL NIC icon.
	5) Click on the 'Drivers' tab and then click the 'Update Driver...'
           button.
	6) When the Update Driver Wizard appears, do not select the option
           which lets Windows 95 search for the driver.  Instead, select
           'No. Select Driver from list' option.  Click the 'Next>' button.
	7) The description for the NIC should now appear.  Click on the
           'Have Disk....' button and path to the location of the Etherdisk
           and click OK.
	8) Windows 95 will then start copying the files and updating the
           registry.


3Com, EtherLink, and EtherDisk are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.
Vectra VL and VE are registered trademarks of HP Corporation.

                  (%VER READMEHP.TXT - Release Notes v4.01-HP)

