                            3Com Corporation
                          EtherDisk Diskette for
    the Fast EtherLink and the EtherLink III (R) Bus Master Adapters
                   General Information / Release Notes
 
 The new Fast EtherLink 10/100BASE-T bus master adapter family allows you
 to Future-Proof new PCs and servers with the highest performance 10BASE-T
 and 100BASE-T network connection with a single adapter installation.  
 The Fast EtherLink adapters have the following features:

 Performance:
   Parallel Tasking architecture with Bus Mastering providing the highest
   throughput.
   Full Duplex TP is supported for 10Mbps

 Ease of Use
   Auto-sensing network speed for 10Mbps or 100Mbps operation and which
   network connection is being used in 10Mbps adapters.
   All PCI family members are compatible with both bus mastering and
   non bus mastering PCI slots.
   Plug and Play compatible


                             
 Release Notes and Frequently Asked Questions About PCI and
      3Com's Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI Adapters

Here are the release notes and answers to some frequently
asked questions about the PCI environment to help you get
the most out of your 3Com Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI
adapters.  This information will be updated regularly on
3Com's CompuServe forum (ASK3COM) and on the 3Com BBS.
                              
                 Frequently Asked Questions
                 --------------------------

Q: Do I have to configure my 3Com PCI adapter for my
computer?
A: PCI is a self-configuring bus architecture.  Most of the
time you will not need to do anything except install the
board in your system; PCI then takes over from there and
does the rest.  However, on some PCI computers (mostly with
PCI-ISA/EISA combination buses in the same machine) you may
be required to manually configure the computer's BIOS after
installing your PCI adapter.  If you need to manually
configure your system, refer to your system's owner's guide.
In addition, we have provided some hints on how you might go
about doing this at the end of this document.
For example, we have seen during our testing the AST Premmia
GX P90 seem to require you to run the EISA configuration
utility once you install the board to make sure that the I/O
Base address of the device does not conflict with other
devices in the system.

Q: Which PCI slot is best for my 3Com PCI Adapter?
A:  3Com PCI adapters are designed to work in any PCI slot
in the system including "slave-only" slots.  In those slots
that support busmastering data transfers, 3Com's PCI
adapters will be able to reach their full performance
potential.  Refer to your owner's manual for information on
which slots support busmastering data transfers.

Q: Which PCI slot(s) are "Busmastering" in my PCI machine?
A: Generally, if you have 3 PCI slots in a system, 1 of them
will be designated as a "slave-only" slot (i.e., does not
support bus-mastering data transfers).  In some systems, all
busmastering support may be disabled by default and will
need to be enabled via your system's configuration utilities
(either ROM based or some disk based utility).   In
addition, some systems have slots that physically only
support "slave-only" PCI devices.  We have found they are
not always marked clearly to distinguish between slave-only
and busmastering slots.  It is best to refer to your owner's
manual or contact your system manufacturer for this
information.   Also, it is also best to contact your system
manufacturer and make sure that you have the latest version
of the system's BIOS.  At the end of this document we have
included some phone numbers for leading PCI system
manufacturers.

Q: Which Interrupt should I use with my 3Com PCI adapter?
A: Unless your system is a PCI-ISA/EISA combination computer
that requires manual configuration, you should not have to
worry about setting interrupts.  However, if your computer
is not self-configuring, you will need to set your PCI
adapter's interrupts manually.  To do this, you may need to
set a jumper on your motherboard and/or set the interrupt in
the system's BIOS.  In either case, you will need to assign
the PCI interrupt (INTA) to any available interrupt not
being used by an ISA or EISA add-in board already in your
system.  Keep in mind the interrupt configuration on your
computer's motherboard and in your BIOS must match each
other.  Since PCI supports shared interrupts, multiple 3Com
PCI adapters can use the same PCI interrupt in the system
(except as noted below).

Q. Does my PCI adapter support shared interrupts?
A. The drivers for the Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI
adapter support shared interrupts. However, because there is
no industry-standard way to support shared interrupts, other
adapters may support them differently, or not at all.  If
you have another PCI adapter that does not support shared
interrupts (for example, a SCSI host adapter), either
contact its manufacturer for a shared interrupt driver or
try running the systems Setup program to assign it different
interrupt.

Q: What Interrupt should I avoid using with my 3Com PCI
adapter?
A:  You should avoid using any interrupts used by ISA/EISA
boards that do not properly support shared interrupts (Level-
triggered).  If you don not know, or are unsure, if your
adapter supports shared interrupts, then it is best to avoid
using them.  In addition, you should try to avoid using the
same interrupt as your local hard drive (normally IRQ 14 for
IDE drives and IRQ 11 for most SCSI Host adapters), as not
all hard drives support shared interrupts at this time.
For Novell Netware Servers v4.02, you should also avoid
using IRQ 7 or 15.   These IRS only support non-shared
devices and may cause problems if they are shared between
two devices.

Q: Is my 3Com PCI adapter a 3.3V or 5V adapter?
A:  The currently shipping 3Com adapter is a 5V adapter. It
will not fit in a 3.3V slot.

Q: My Autolink does not work with my 3Install Account on a
Netware 4.X Server. Why?
A: If  you don't have a memory manager installed, you will
need to have at least 576k of conventional memory to connect
to a Netware 4.X server 3Install volume with Autolink.  Some
of the possible errors returned during Autolink that may
indicate you are running low on memory are as follows:
"Login-4.084-100: Access has been denied."
"Login-4.084-903: The command Line Syntax is Invalid.  For
help type Login /?"
"Login-4.084-971: The workstation does not have enough
memory to load the unicode table file"
"Login-4.084-240: This utility was unable to open script
file xxxx. Error executing the program update; No such file
or directory."

Q: When I run my Autolink and connect to a 3Install volume,
not all the files from the 3Install volume are copied to my
system.  Why?
A: When Autolink connects to a 3Install volume on a Netware
server,  upon completion, it will indicate that your system
has been updated from the 3Install server volume.  What is
not stated here is that when files on the EtherDisk are more
current then the files on the server volume,  they will be
used to update your system, instead of the the files from
the 3Install volume.

Q: My 3Com PCI adapter 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 system's  ROM BIOSs.  If you are
using EMM386 version 4.48 or earlier, make sure you run your
EtherDisk Installer to allow you to replace your current
EMM386 with an updated version from Microsoft.

Q:  If my Hub port is set up for Full Duplex operation,
should I still use my 3Com PCI adapter in half duplex mode?
A: No.  If a port on the hub is configured full duplex, then
the port on the workstation MUST be configured to match.
(Note: Full Duplex operation is only supported when running
in 10Base-T/10Base-2 modes).

Q: My ACERPOWER system indicates that I have a ROM
installed, but one is not present.  Why?
A: The BIOS ACERPOWER (BIOS version V2.0 486/DX2 66 MHz )
PCI system incorrectly indicates (via the PCI information)
that there is a ROM on the adapter on the PCI adapter.
Contact ACER to get an updated BIOS to correct this problem.

Q: Are my Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI ODI drivers
"Novell Certified?"
A: Yes.  3Com's Fast EtherLink/EtherLink III PCI ODI drivers
(Netware 4.0x Server driver and MS-DOS ODI client) are
Novell tested and approved using Novell Netware 4.02 on
Intel x86.
                              
                    Documentation Errata
                    --------------------

On page 3-7 of the Fast EtherLink Parallel Tasking PCI
10/100BASE-T Network Adapter User Guide and on Page 3-8 of
the EtherLink III Parallel Tasking PCI Bus Master Network
Adapters User Guide, in the "Multiple PCI Adapters in a
Client" section, beginning with the seventh paragraph, the
text should read:

"If you are running an ODI driver with multiple adapters
already installed, specify which adapter you want the driver
to recognize by adding the I/O base address to the NET.CFG
file using the PCISLOT=X parameter. The 3C59X EtherDisk
diskette contains a sample NET.CFG file in the
/NETWARE/CLIENT directory."

The message quoted in the user guide does not appear.
                              
             3Com PCI Adapter Installation Hints
             -----------------------------------

Installing a PCI adapter in a PCI slot:
1.  Put the adapter in the computer.  Refer to your system
documentation on how to do this.
2.  Start the computer. In most cases, the PCI computer
will automatically configure the adapter. If this  does not
happen, you may need to configure the computer  to work with
the adapter. See the next section for more details on how to
do this.

If you have problems during installation:
3Com has found that some PCI computers require additional
configuration steps in order to install a PCI adapter.   The
steps we recommend are as follows:

1. Make sure you have the latest BIOS version for your
computer.
Contact your computer's manufacturer to make sure you are
using  the latest BIOS. Here are the phone numbers for some
PCI system manufacturers:

Company      Phone            Notes
-------      -----            -----
ALR*         (800) 257-1230   
Ambra*       (800) 465-2227   
AST*         (800) 727-1278   
AT&T*        (800) 543-9935   
             (800) 531-2222
Compaq*      (800) 652-6672   Compaq DeskPRO XL
             (800) 345-1518   should have a BIOS
                              dated Oct. 1994 or
                              later for best
                              performance.
Dell*        (800) 626-4308   
             (800) 624-9896
Digital      (800) 354-9000   
Equipment*
Gateway*     (800) 846-2070   
             (800) 846-2301
Hewlett      (800) 322-HPPC   
Packard*     (800) 752-0900
IBM*         (800) IBM-3333   
Micron*      (800) 438-3343   
Packard      (800) 733-4411   
Bell*
Unisys*      (800) 328-0440   
Zenith*      (800) 227-3360   
ZEOS*        (800) 554-7172   
             (800) 228-5390
* Third-party trademarks and copyrights are the property of
their respective owners.

2. Make sure the BIOS is set up correctly.
In some PCI computers, you may need to enable the PCI slot
using the BIOS Setup program. This is especially common in
PCI computers with Phoenix BIOSs.

 After installing the adapter, turn on the computer and
enter the Setup program during system initialization
(usually by pressing F1, F2, or Ctrl-Alt-S). The correct key
to press is usually shown on the screen.
 Once in Setup, find the entry for PCI slots  (it may be in
the main menu, or sometimes in advanced system
configuration) and set these  parameters to:

BIOS System         Value to be Set to
-----------         ------------------
Paramater
PCI Slot Number     Slot where the 3Com PCI
                    adapter is installed (1-3)
Master              ENABLED
Slave               ENABLED
Latency Timer       40
Interrupt           Choose any one of several
                    available interrupts that
                    Setup provides.
Edge or Level       Level 
Triggered Interrupt

Note: The exact wording of  each of the parameters will vary
from computer to computer. Save the changes, exit the Setup
program, and continue with the installation.

3Com Technical Support
----------------------
Please refer to your EtherLink III Parallel Tasking PCI Bus
Master Network Adapters User Guide or your Fast EtherLink
Parallel Tasking PCI 10/100BASE-T Network Adapter User Guide
for this information.  In addtion, this information is also
available in the \Info\Support.txt file on the EtherDisk.


 3Com, EtherLink, and EtherDisk are registered trademarks of 3Com
 Corporation.

  %VER EtherLink Bus Master Family Etherdisk 4.1 release notes V4.1
