(C)Copyright 1989-1999 SysKonnect,
a business unit of Schneider & Koch & Co. Datensysteme GmbH.
All rights reserved
SKFPNW.HTM created 23-Feb-1999
Readme File for the FDDI PCI Adapter Driver SKFPNW.LAN v4.21
Used on Novell's NetWare 5.0 servers.
Corresponding to the 32-Bit ODI HSM ASM Driver Specification Version v3.31
as specified in document version 1.12 from January 14, 1998.
This file contains
This README explains how to install the SKFPNW.LAN driver on a
NetWare 5 server.
Starting with version 4.00 the driver supports Synchronous FDDI.
In this mode each station can reserve part of the total bandwidth.
This is especially useful for video and multimedia applications.
- SKFPNW.LDI
- SKFPNW.LAN
The driver is included on the NetWare 5.0 Installation CD. If a
SysKonnect FDDI PCI adapter is detected on your machine then the driver
is automatically installed during the Netware installation. If an adapter
is added subsequently to the server, then a driver will also be installed
automatically. To configure the adapter follow the instructions as
directed by the installation program.
Ensure that MAXIMUM PHYSICAL RECEIVE PACKET SIZE
is set to 4496 or higher.
If you have not already done so, add the following
line to STARTUP.NCF:
SET MAXIMUM PHYSICAL RECEIVE PACKET SIZE = 4496
Once the adapter has been configured, the adapter parameters or
bindings can be changed in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file using the NWCONFIG
tool.
UPDATING THE DRIVER
To update to the latest driver version load NWCONFIG.NLM and:
- Select Driver Options | Configure network drivers |
Select an additional driver
- Press <Ins> to install an unlisted driver
- Enter the path to the driver file.
- Select one of the listed items
- Copy Driver and installation file to your server
- Exit the NetWare Configuration programm now by pressing <Alt+F10>
and do not reconfigure the adapter.
STANDARD PARAMETERS
- SLOT = [Slot Number]
Description: "Define the slot in which the network adapter is
installed."
Help : "This parameter is required for SysKonnect FDDI PCI
adapters. If you do not enter a slot number, the
driver scans automatically for SysKonnect FDDI PCI
network adapters and prompts the slot number in
which the network card is found at the server
console."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW SLOT=5
BIND IPX to SKFPNW NET=0815
- PciFix
Description: "Activate several fixes for known PCI problems."
Help : "Currently there are no fixes implemented with
this parameter."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW PCIFIX=0
BIND IPX to SKFPNW NET=0815
- QUIET
Description: "Enable/Disable console messages."
Help : "Per default error messages are disabled on
clients and enabled on servers."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW QUIET=AUTO ;Default
LOAD SKFPNW QUIET=ON ;Disable Messages
LOAD SKFPNW QUIET=OFF ;Enable Messages
- FRAME = [FDDI_802.2|FDDI_SNAP]
Description: "Set the frame type on the network."
Help : "The default frame type for NetWare IPX is
FDDI_802.2. If you want to use TCP/IP or
AppleTalk, load the FDDI_SNAP frame additionally.
The NetWare Server and the Workstations must use
the same media frame and frame type. Otherwise
they cannot communicate with each other.
FDDI_802.2 uses type code E0.
FDDI_SNAP uses type code 8137."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW FRAME=FDDI_SNAP
BIND IPX to SKFPNW NET=0815
- NODE
Description: "Overwrite the network card address."
Help : "With this parameter you can overwrite the default
node address. In a network, every network card
must have its own unique node address. A node
address is a value of 6 hex words. The first hex
word must be even (otherwise it would be a
multicast address)."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW ... NODE=00005A123456
BIND IPX to SKFPNW NET=0815
- NAME
Description: "Specify a logical name for the driver."
Help : "With this parameter you can assign a logical name
to the network driver."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW ... NAME=NWCardOne
BIND IPX to NWCardOne NET=0815
- NO_MULTICAST
Description: "Convert multicast addresses to the broadcast
address."
Help : "If the keyword NO_MULTICAST is used, all multicast
addresses will be converted to the broadcast
To set this parameter in the install programm, set
YES in the NO_MULTICAST field."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW ... NO_MULTICAST
BIND IPX to SKFPNW NET=0815
SMT PARAMETERS
- PMFPASSWD
Description: "Password for PMF Requests."
Help : "This keyword defines the password which all remote
PMF (Parameter Management Frame) requests must
provide to change FDDI attributes for the
adapter. The value for PMFPASSWD is 8 ASCII
characters long and is not case sensitive since
lower case letters will be converted to upper
case. Password protection can be disabled by
setting this keyword to all zeros (default) or by
not specifying a PMFPASSWD."
Example :
LOAD SKFPNW ... PMFPASSWD=12345678
BIND IPX to SKFPNW NET=0815
- USERDATA
Description: "SMT User Data."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
User Data attribute, registered as fddiSMT 17 in
the SMT Standard.
The User Data must be an ASCII string for
compliance with the FDDI SMT standard."
- LERCUTOFFA
Description: "SMT LER Cutoff attribute Port A."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
LER Cutoff attribute, registered as fddiPORT 58 in
the SMT standard. This attribute identifies the
excessive Link Error Rate that removes Port A/B
(or Port S).
This keyword is specified as an absolute value of
the base 10 logarithm of the LER Cufoff value.
The valid range reaches from 1E-4 to 1E-15. If a
value is specified which lies outside the limits,
the upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value
is specified, the default value for
LERCUTOFFA/LERCUTOFFB (1E-7) will be used."
- LERCUTOFFB
Description: "SMT LER Cutoff attribute Port B."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
LER Cutoff attributes, registered as fddiPORT 58
in the SMT standard.
This attributes identifies the excessive Link
Error Rate that removes Port A/B (or Port S).
This keyword is specified as an absolute value of
the base 10 logarithm of the LER Cufoff value.
The valid range reaches from 1E-4 to 1E-15. If a
value is specified which lies outside the limits,
the upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value
is specified, the default value for
LERCUTOFFA/LERCUTOFFB (1E-7) will be used."
- LERALARMA
Description: "SMT LER Alarm attribute Port A."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
LER Alarm attribute, registered as fddiPORT 59 in
the SMT Standard.
This attribute identifies the excessive Link Error
Rate that shows an alarm at Port A/B (or Port S).
This keyword is specified as an absolute value of
the base 10 logarithm of the LER Alarm value.
The valid range reaches from 1E-4 to 1E-15.
If a value is specified which lies outside
the limits, the upper/lower limit will be taken.
If no value is specified, the default value for
LERALARMA/LERALARMB (1E-8) will be used."
- LERALARMB
Description: "SMT LER Alarm attribute Port B."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
LER Alarm attribute, registered as fddiPORT 59 in
the SMT standard.
This attribute identifies the excessive Link Error
Rate that signals an alarm at Port A/B
(or Port S).
This keyword is specified as an absolute value of
the base 10 logarithm of the LER Alarm value.
The valid range reaches from 1E-4 to 1E-15. If a
value is specified which lies outside the limits,
the upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value
is specified, the default value for
LERALARMA/LERALARMB (1E-8) will be used."
- TMIN
Description: "SMT T-Min attribute."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
2's complement T-Min attribute, registered as
fddiMAC 55 in the SMT standard.
The value for TMIN is specified in milliseconds.
The valid range reaches from 5 ms to 165 ms. If a
value is specified which lies outside the limits,
the upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value
is specified, the default value for TMIN (5 ms)
will be used."
- TMAX
Description: "SMT T-Max attribute."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
2's complement T-Max attribute, registered as
fddiMAC 53 in the SMT standard.
The value for TMAX is specified in milliseconds.
The valid range reaches from 5 ms to 165 ms. If a
value is specified which lies outside the limits,
the upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value
is specified, the default value for TMAX (165 ms)
will be used."
- TREQ
Description: "SMT T-Req attribute."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
2's complement T-Req attribute, registered as
fddiMAC 51 in the SMT standard.
The value for TREQ is specified in milliseconds.
The valid range reaches from 5 ms to 165 ms. If a
value is specified which lies outside the limits,
the upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value
is specified, the default value for TREQ (165 ms)
will be used."
- TVX
Description: "SMT TVX attribute."
Help : "This keyword provides local write access to the
TVX attribute, registered as fddiMAC 54 in the SMT
standard.
This attribute provides local control of the
recovery time from transient ring errors.
The value for TVX is specified in microseconds.
The valid range reaches from 2500 us
(microseconds) to 10000 us. If a value is
specified which lies outside the limits, the
upper/lower limit will be taken. If no value is
specified, the default value for TVX (2700 us)
will be used."
SBA PARAMETERS
- SbaCommand
Description: "START or STOP the SBA application."
Help : "This keyword is an SBA local action to start or
stop the SBA application. The default value is
'STOP'.
NOTE: There should be only one active SBA
application per ring."
- SbaAvailable
Description: "Set the bandwidth available for the
SBA application."
Help : "This keyword defines the maximum synchronous
bandwidth in percent available for the primary
path. The valid range reaches from 0 - 100
percent. The default value is 50 percent
(6.25 MBytes/s). If a value is specified which
lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit
will be taken. This value remains zero until the
SBA application is enabled and active."
ESS PARAMETERS
- SbaPayLoad
Description: "Bandwidth requested for static allocations."
Help : "This keyword defines the requested synchronous
bandwidth for manual static allocations.
The valid range reaches from 0 to 1562 bytes
per 125 microseconds. For example, if the
required bandwidth is 1 MBit/s (125,000 Bytes/s)
the value of the payload is 125,000 * 125E-6 =
15.625 round up to 16. If a value is specified
which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower
limit will be taken. The default value is zero -
no synchronous bandwidth is used. The user is
required to define the amount of bandwidth to be
able to send synchronous frames. If the keyword
SbaPayLoad is not specified, the keywords
SbaOverHead, MaxTNeg, MinSegmentSize, and
SbaCategory have no effect. The end station
supports either the static allocation model, where
the requested payload is specified by the keyword
SbaPayload, or the dynamic allocation model, where
the required synchronous bandwidth is allocated
directly by the multimedia application.
Therefore, if a multimedia application is used
which can dynamically allocate the bandwidth, the
keyword SbaPayLoad should not be specified."
- SbaOverHead
Description: "Overhead requested for static allocations."
Help : "This keyword defines the requested overhead for
static allocations. The valid range reaches from
50 to 5000 bytes. If a value is specified which
lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit
will be taken. The default value is 50 bytes.
This keyword only takes effect if the keyword
SbaPayLoad is specified."
- MaxTNeg
Description: "Maximum token rotation delay."
Help : "This keyword defines the maximum token rotation
delay acceptable to the application(s) using
synchronous bandwidth. The valid range reaches
from 5 ms to 165 ms. If a value is specified
which lies outside the limits, the upper/lower
limit will be taken. The default value is 25 ms.
This keyword only takes effect if the keyword
SbaPayLoad is specified."
- MinSegmentSize
Description: "Minimum synchronous segmentation size."
Help : "This keyword defines the minimum synchronous
segmentation size. This value corresponds to the
amount of bytes to be transmitted on a per token
opportunity. The valid range reaches from
1 to 4478 bytes. If a value is specified which
lies outside the limits, the upper/lower limit
will be taken. This keyword only takes effect
if the keyword SbaPayLoad is specified."
- SbaCategory
Description: "Session ID of SBA_Category."
Help : "This keyword defines the session ID of the
SBA_Category for the static allocation. The valid
ranges reaches from 0 to 65535. If a value is
specified which lies outside the limits, the
upper/lower limit will be taken. This parameter
only takes effect if the keyword SbaPayLoad is
specified."
- SynchTxMode
Description: "Synchronous transmission modes."
Help : "This keyword defines the synchronous transmission
mode. The default value is 'SPLIT', where only
packets identified as synchronous packets shall be
transmitted by the synchronous queue. The other
value is 'ALL', where all LLC packets received
from upper layers are transmitted via the
synchronous queue. This keyword only takes effect
if the end station support was able to get the
required synchronous bandwidth from the SBA."
v4.21
New features:
- The behaviour of the adapter LEDs was changed.
(Also see: FUNCTION OF THE ADAPTER LEDs.)
- New command line keyword "QUIET" was added.
(Also see: DRIVER PARAMETERS.)
Problems fixed:
- Fixes a bug which causes the driver to abend if it was
running in promiscuous mode (e.g. with ManageWise LanAlyzer)
and the Maximum Physical Receive Packet Size was set to less
then 4496. (#10272)
- Fixes a bug which causes the driver to hang in environments
with bad hardware. (#10284), (#10285)
- Fixes a bug where directed beacons were sent to a wrong
multicast adress. (#10373)
- Fixes a bug which causes the driver to disconnect from the
FDDI ring because of a Duplicate Mac Adress Detection
under wrong conditions. (#10375)
- Fixes a Bug with dual homing in multi adapters environments,
where the adapters influenced each other. (#10287)
Known limitations:
None.
v4.20 Rev. B
New features:
None.
Problems fixed:
None.
Known limitations:
None.
v4.20
New features:
- Driver is written to Novell's ODI Assembly Specification for
Hardware Specific Modules v3.31.
Problems fixed:
None.
Known limitations:
None.
v4.12 Rev. B
New features:
- Supports management queries.
Problems fixed:
- ESS may not run on a machine where SBA is configured, too.
- With old PLCs the Lem Counter increments when not appropriate.
Known limitations:
None.
v4.12
New features:
None.
Problems fixed:
- Dual-homed DAS adapters sometimes require up to 50 seconds before
re-inserting the station into the FDDI ring.
- Disconnecting the wire under heavy traffic may cause the driver
to hang.
- TCBs with more than 16 fragments cause the driver to stop sending
data frames.
- Driver crashes if installed on a machine with no PCI bus.
Known limitations:
- ESS may not run on a machine where SBA is configured, too.
v4.11 Rev. A
New features:
None.
Problems fixed:
- Dual-homed DAS adapters sometimes require up to 50 seconds before
re-inserting the station into the FDDI ring.
Known limitations:
None.
v4.11
New features:
- Written to HSM Assembler Spec 3.3 Addendum 2.
Problems fixed:
None.
Known limitations:
None.
v4.10 Rev. A
New features:
- Client32 support.
Problems fixed:
- After a ring op change or a driver reset it may happen, that the
FORMAC and the ASIC becomes asynchronous.
Possible behaviours are:
o PCI bus violations, the machine may hang up.
o The FORMAC may send frames which will never be stripped
by any station after a ring operational change.
- Only supporting NetWare 3.12 and above (NBI31X does not load on
NetWare 3.11).
Known limitations:
None.
v4.10
New features:
- Written to HSM Assembler Specification 3.3.
Problems fixed:
None.
Known limitations:
None.
This section lists custom driver statistics for SKFPNW.LAN
(visible in MONITOR.NLM) and explains their meaning.
- FConnectionState (Port A)
Connection State of Port A.
Should be 0 on SAS adapters.
On DAS adapters it should be 8 (active) during normal operation.
- Total SMT Frames Received
Number of SMT frames received by this station. Typically not more
than one per second.
- Total SMT Frames Sent
Number of SMT frames sent by this station. Typically not more
than one per second.
- FDDI Ring_Op Changes
Increases every time a station inserts into or leaves the ring
(also when an adapter is resetting).
- ECF Requests Received
Number of ECho Request Frames received by this station.
Increases very seldom.
- ECF Replies Received
Number of ECho Reply Frames received by this station.
Increases very seldom.
- ECF Requests Transmitted
Number of ECho Request Frames sent by this station.
Increases very seldom.
- ECF Replies Transmitted
Number of ECho Request Frames sent by this station.
Increases very seldom.
- PMF Get Requests Received
Parameter Management Get Frames received by this station.
Should only increase when Management Software is running.
- PMF Set Requests Received
Parameter Management Set Frames received by this station.
Should only increase when Management Software is running.
- RDF Received
Number of Resource Deny Frames received by this station.
Increases when e.g. too much synchronous bandwidth is requested by
this station.
- RDF Transmitted
Number of Resource Deny Frames sent by this station.
Increases when e.g. too much synchronous bandwidth is requested
from another station and this station is the SBA.
- NEG Token Rotation Time (ms)
The TRT negotiated between all nodes (the lowest TReq of any node
in the ring).
- SBA Max Available (Mbits/s)
=0: SBA inactive
>0: SBA started (default 50, else value entered at keyword
SBAAVAILABLE).
- SBA Curr Available (Mbits/s)
Bandwidth that can still be requested by stations.
- ESS Payload (Mbits/s)
The bandwidth that this station got from the SBA.
- No RCB Available Count
Due to lack of RCBs the driver had to thrash a received packet.
As there is a wide base of ETHERNET installations using frame type
ETHERNET_802.3 (ETHERNET_RAW), and this frame type is switched into the
FDDI ring as frame type FDDI_RAW, we also offer a driver version supporting
the FDDI_RAW frame type. This driver will only run on NetWare servers.
It is not Novell certified. It is available from the SysKonnect website.
Please contact our technical support if you need this driver.
NOTE: Using the frame type FDDI_RAW is not recommended, since it is an
undefined frame type. Therefore it might cause problems with other
types of stations in the same ring, at least they will not support
FDDI_RAW. Also, Novell does not certify or support drivers using
frame type FDDI_RAW.
The functionality of the LEDs on the FDDI network adapter was changed
in driver version v4.21. With this new version, the yellow LED works as
a ring operational indicator. An active yellow LED indicates that the
ring is down. The green LED on the adapter now works as a link indicator
where an active GREEN LED indicates that the respective port has a
physical connection. With EISA adapters which have only one green LED,
the GREEN LED is turned on if any port is active.
With earlier version of the driver a ring up was indicated if the
yellow LED was off while the green LED(s) showed the connection status
of the adapter. During a ring down the green LED was off and the
yellow LED was on.
All implementations indicate that a driver is not loaded if all
LEDs are off.
*** End of information file ***