This file contains detailed technical information regarding known

anomalies. Use this file to help solve specific installation

issues.
 

CONTENTS:

Driver Versions on this Distribution

Minimum Driver Revisions Required for DEGPA-SA

Installation Troubleshooting

Notes on Configuring PCI Adapters

Driver Release Notes

****************************************

* Driver Versions on This Distribution *

****************************************

Note: Earlier DEGPA drivers and utilities prior to the revisions listed

do not support the DEGPA-SA adapters. For operation on DEGPA-SA

adapters, the following list of  revisions are a minimum. For minimum revisions

for other DEGPA adapters, see the information in the appropriate

section.
 
 

DIGITAL UNIX
	degpa.tar	V1.0.4	07/21/98		542,720 Bytes
Novell
	Ewrk1k.lan	V1.8	07/29/98		310,434 Bytes
	Ewrk1k.ldi		07/29/98		9,454 Bytes
OpenVMS
	ALPDEGPA03_071.A				666 Blocks
Windows NT
	Alpha
	Ewrk1k.sys	V1.8.10	06/04/98	8:17p	397,824 Bytes
	Intel
	Ewrk1k.sys	V1.8.12	06/04/98	3:02p	367,616 Bytes

Note: The driver supports unlimited adapters. However, the operating system
or the system hardware (physical slot or configuration) may have limitations.
Contact the system or OS vendor for more information.
 

**************************************************

* Minimum  Driver  Revisions  Required for DEGPA-SA *

**************************************************
 
 

DIGITAL UNIX
	degpa.tar		V1.0.4
Novell
	Ewrk1k.lan		V1.8
	Ewrk1k.ldi
OpenVMS
	ALPDEGPA03_071.A
Windows NT
	ALPHA
	Ewrk1k.sys		V1.8.10
	INTEL
	Ewrk1k.sys		V1.8.12

********************************

* Installation Troubleshooting *

********************************

The following  is a list of frequently encountered installation problems and

their solutions:

 
* Network has poor performance.
 

•  Check the latency timer value on the network adapter slot. If settable, this number should be above 32.

• If the poor performance is due to transmit underrun or CRC errors, the problem may be due to the EtherWORKS

adapter not getting enough bandwidth to keep up with outgoing or incoming packets. Move the EtherWORKS adapter
to a higher priority slot. Contact your system vendor to determine the relative priority of slots in your system.

•   The EtherWORKS PCI hardware supports interrupt sharing. However, not all drivers support interrupt sharing.

  Choose a unique interrupt if possible.

• When using in a PCI system with an EISA bus, ensure that you run the EISA Configuration Utility (ECU) to enable

 the PCI slot, enable bus mastering, and set the IRQ to one of the supported values.


       o   When installing dual adapters, install one adapter at a time. If you install both adapters before the first one is up and
             running, you may get a network card not found error when attempting to install the driver.

• The adapter must be inserted into a bus mastering PCI slot. In some PCs, some PCI slots are not capable of bus

mastering. Check your system documentation.
• On certain revisions of Intel PCI chipsets, write back cache causes problems with PCI devices. Disable write back cache.

• The <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> key sequence does not do a hardware reset on the PCI bus. If you require a hardware

reset to any PCI device, ensure that you power cycle the PC, or press the reset button.

*************************************

* Notes on  Configuring PCI Adapters               *

*************************************

PCI adapters are designed to be autoconfigured through a system

PCI BIOS. Some systems include a system configuration utility

either built into the BIOS or run as a standalone utility. These

utilities may offer configuration options for PCI slots.

For those systems that include user-configurable options for PCI

slots, some of the options offered may include:

PCI Slot Enable/Disable

Use this option to enable or disable the PCI slot. For DIGITAL
PCI adapters, the PCI slot must be enabled.
 

Bus Master Enable/Disable

Use this option to enable or disable PCI bus mastering for the selected
PCI slot. DIGITAL PCI adapters must be installed in a bus mastering slot
with bus mastering enabled.

 
Interrupt Level (IRQ) Select

Use this option to select the interrupt level or IRQ value to use
for the selected PCI slot. DIGITAL PCI adapters must have
an interrupt selected.

 
Latency Timer Select

Use this option to select the Latency Timer setting for the
selected PCI slot. This value affects the amount of time that the
adapter may master the PCI bus per ownership. For most
configurations, the default Latency Timer value is appropriate.

The following rules may prove useful in resolving PCI configuration
process problems:
 
Install the DIGITAL PCI adapter in a bus-mastered PCI slot.
 
If the system offers user-configurable PCI options, configure the PCI
slot as follows:
 
      - Enable the PCI slot.
      - Enable bus mastering.
      - Select a non-shared interrupt level.
      - Use the default Latency Timer value.

If it is impossible to set a non-shared interrupt level, you may select a
shared interrupt for the DIGITAL UNIX, WinNT Alpha, and WinNT Intel systems.
Select an interrupt level that is shared with other adapters that also support
shared interrupts.

Note: Even though a DIGITAL PCI adapter's driver supports shared interrupts,
it does not mean that other adapters in the system support shared interrupts.
It is always safer to select unique interrupt levels for each device in the system.
 
All of the drivers require either 4K bytes of memory mapped, or I/O mapped
space for the adapter registers. The addresses for these mappings should be
automatically set by the PCI BIOS after enabling the PCI slot and
installing the DIGITAL PCI adapter.

 

************************

* Driver Release Notes             *

************************

* DIGITAL UNIX Driver
 
 

• This driver conforms to V4.0D of the Digital UNIX Specification.
• Tested platforms;


     AlphaServer   800
     AlphaServer 1200
     AlphaServer 4100
     AlphaServer 8400
 

• This driver conforms to V7.1-1H1 and  V7.1 of the OpenVMS specification(with the ALPBASE01TIMA kit installed).
• Tested platforms;


     AlphaServer   800
     AlphaServer 1200
     AlphaServer 4100
     AlphaServer 8400
 

* Windows NT Driver (Alpha and Intel)
 

• This driver conforms to V4.0 of the Windows NT specification
• Tested platforms;


     AlphaServer   800
     AlphaServer 1200
     AlphaServer 4100
     AlphaServer 8400
 

                                                                                        ***TRADEMARKS***

DEC, Digital, DECpc, DIGITAL UNIX ,OpenVMS, Alpha and the DIGITAL logo are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation.

Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.

Windows NT is trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.