3Com EtherLink
EtherLink PCI Network Interface Card User Guide
Installing the NetWare Server Driver 

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Installing the NetWare Server Driver

This section describes how to install the NetWare driver on a Novell server running NetWare 3.x, 4.x, or 5.x.

     
     
    The EtherLink PCI NICs do not support NetWare 3.xx or 4.xx servers that are not updated to the latest driver pack

The \NWSERVER\NW3.x directory contains the network driver file (3C90X.LAN) to be used for servers running NetWare 3.x.

The \NWSERVER directory contains the network driver file (3C90X.LAN) to be used for servers running NetWare 4.x or 5.x.

Additional files (NetWare Loadable Modules [NLMs]) that are required for servers running NetWare are on the EtherCD in the \NWSERVER directory, or they can be obtained from Novell.

Obtaining NetWare Loadable Modules

You can obtain current NLMs for the NetWare servers listed in the table below from the Novell World Wide Web site:

http://www.support.novell.com

     

    NetWare Server

    NLM Name

    NetWare 3.12

    ETHERTSM.NLM

     

    NBI31.NLM

     

    MSM31X.NLM

    NetWare 4.10, 4.11

    ETHERTSM.NLM

     

    NBI.NLM

     

    MSM.NLM

    NetWare 5.x

    ETHERTSM.NLM

     

    MSM.NLM

NetWare 3.12

To install the driver in a NetWare 3.12 server:

  1. Copy the MSM31X.NLM, ETHERTSM.NLM, and NBI31.NLM files from the EtherCD to the directory on your hard drive where other NLM files are located.
  2. Copy the LAN driver file (3C90X.LAN) from the EtherCD to the same directory.
  3. Add the following two lines to the AUTOEXEC.NCF file:
  4. load C:\NWSERVER\3C90X.LAN slot=<slot> NAME=<name> FRAME=<frametype>
    bind ipx to <name> net=<number>
  5. Save and exit the file, and then reboot the server.

NetWare 4.x

There are two ways to install the NetWare 4.x driver:

Importing the Server Driver

To import the server driver into a NetWare 4.x server:

  1. Install the NetWare server software.
  2. Insert the EtherCD in the CD-ROM when the NIC selection menu appears.
  3. Press [Insert].
  4. This key tells the server installation program that you want to add a driver externally.
  5. Press [F3].
  6. This key tells the server installation program that you want to change the path.
  7. At the prompt, enter the command:
  8. NWSERVER
    For example:
    a:\nwserver
    The installation program gathers the files and prompts you for a NIC selection.
  9. Press [Enter] to select the driver displayed and continue the installation.

Loading the Driver Manually

To update an existing server driver manually:

  1. Copy all of the files from the \NWSERVER subdirectory on the EtherCD to the server's hard drive.
  2. Boot the server and launch the Install program.
  3. Edit the AUTOEXEC.NCF file to add the following line (assuming the server start directory is C:\NWSERVER, where the LAN drivers and NLM files were copied):
  4. LOAD C:\NWSERVER\3C90X.LAN SLOT=<slotnumber>
    The <slotnumber> variable is the hexadecimal slot number of the PCI NIC. See Verifying the PCI Slot Number for instructions on obtaining this number.

NetWare 5.x

There are two ways to install the NetWare 5.x driver:

Importing the Server Driver

To import the server driver into a NetWare 5.x server:

  1. Install the NetWare server software.
  2. Press [ESC] when the new hardware screen appears.
  3. Insert the EtherCD in the CD-ROM when the NIC selection menu appears.
  4. Press [Insert].
  5. This key tells the server installation program that you want to add a driver externally.
  6. Press [F3].
  7. This key tells the server installation program that you want to change the path.
  8. At the prompt, enter the following command:
  9. NWSERVER
    For example:
    a:\nwserver
    The installation program gathers the files and prompts you for a NIC selection.
  10. Press [Enter] to select the driver displayed and continue the installation.

Loading the Driver Manually

To update an existing server driver manually:

  1. Copy all of the files from the \NWSERVER subdirectory on the EtherCD to the server's hard drive.
  2. Boot the server and launch the Install program.
  3. Add the following line to the AUTOEXEC.NCF file (assuming the server start directory is C:\NWSERVER, where the LAN drivers and NLM files were copied):
  4. LOAD C:\NWSERVER\3C90X.LAN SLOT=<slotnumber>
    The <slotnumber> variable is the hexadecimal slot number of the PCI NIC. This address can be obtained by issuing a load command, where the driver identifies the slot numbers. Pressing Esc prevents loading the driver. Because of the Novell scheme for identifying PCI slots, it is not possible for 3Com to pre-identify the slot number.

Installing Multiple NICs

To support more than one NIC in a NetWare server, change the AUTOEXEC.NCF file to the following format:

load C:\NWSERVER\3C90X.LAN slot=<slot1> NAME=<name1> FRAME=<frametype1>

bind ipx to <name1> net=<net1>

load C:\NWSERVER\3C90X.LAN slot=<slot2> NAME=<name2> FRAME=<frametype2>

bind ipx to <name2> net=<net2>

The values <slot1> and <slot2> are the numbers of the PCI slots in which the NICs are physically installed. To view the numbers of these PCI slots, use the 3Com Configuration and Diagnostic program for DOS. See Verifying the PCI Slot Number for instructions.

The values <name1> and <name2> are unique names assigned to each NIC by your system administrator. The values <name1> and <name 2> must be different.

The frame parameters <frametype1> and <frametype2> can be one of the following:

Make sure that the frametype for the server and the workstation is the same. For example, if the server uses Ethernet_802.2, the workstation must also use Ethernet_802.2.

The values <net1> and <net2> are unique numbers assigned by the system administrator to each NIC. Make sure that <net1> and <net2> are different numbers.

See the appropriate Novell NetWare manuals for further information.

Verifying the PCI Slot Number

To verify the PCI slot number in which a NIC is installed:

  1. Boot the NetWare server with the -na option.
  2. This prevents the AUTOEXEC.NCF file from loading. For example, enter:
    server -na
  3. Issue the load command for the NIC LAN driver without a slot parameter.
  4. For example, enter:
    load c:\nwserver\3c90x.lan
  5. NetWare lists the valid slot number(s) for the NIC, depending on how many NICs are installed. The values appearing in the list are the slot values that you should use.