Troubleshooting MAC Driver Installation

ID: Q63239

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft LAN Manager, versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.1a, 2.2

SUMMARY

If an error message is received indicating that a driver failed to bind following initialization of the network adapter card, check the following in the PROTOCOL.INI file:

Is the driver name correct for the adapter card?

Does the section definition match the _NIF specified in the bindings line? (The example used below is the UB MAC driver).

Is the memory mapped correctly to match the adapter board's settings?

Is the I/O port mapped correctly to match the adapter board's settings?

Does the interrupt setting match what the board is jumpered to?

The following is a sample PROTOCOL.INI file. The numbers in the left margin refer to the questions listed above.


      [PROTOCOL MANAGER]
       DRIVERNAME = PROTMAN$

    [NETBEUI_XIF]
(1)    Drivername = netbeui$
(2)    BINDINGS = UBMAC_NIF

(2) [UBMAC_NIF]
       DriverName = UBMAC$
       AdapterType = NIUpc
(3)    MemoryWindow = 0xD8000
(4)    IO_Port = 0x368
(5)    IRQ_Level = 3

The following is a list of other possible problems:

Adapter card could be bad (if the network card does come with its own diagnostics program, please use it to detect any problem with the hardware).

Cable could be bad.

PS/2: For the NIUps, "IRQ_Level," "MemoryWindow," and "IO_Port" are not needed and will be ignored. If the PS/2 does not bind, boot off the PS/2 reference disk to configure the card correctly.

IRQ conflict: No two options (mouse, net card, etc.) should use the same interrupt (IRQ).

Hardware Interrupts Used by IBM PC/XT/AT

No two options (mouse, net card, etc.) should ever use the same interrupt (IRQ).


      IRQ Number    Potential Use
      ----------    -------------

       0            System board timer
       1            Keyboard
       2            AT Hard Disk*, bus mouse, some clock calendars,
                       UBNET (on PC), AppleTalk, Tops card.
                   Available for network card if needed
                   (not recommended).
       3            Serial port 2, bus mouse, Tangent, AppleTalk,
                       Tops cards
       4            Serial port 1, bus mouse, AppleTalk card
       5            Parallel port 2, XT hard disk, , bus mouse, UBNET
                       card
       6            Disk controller
       7            Parallel port 1
                       IBM AT ONLY
       8            Real time clock
       9            Software redirect to IRQ 2
      10            Should be available for network card unless already
                       another peripheral
      11            Same as IRQ 10
      12            Should be available unless the PC has a PS/2 mouse
                       port
      13            Coprocessor
      14            Hard disk controller.
      15            Should be available unless already taken by
                       another peripheral

The IBM AT uses IRQ2 to access interrupts 8-15, by activating a separate interrupt controller.

Memory conflict: It is very common to find situations where the memory addresses on a network card and an expanded memory manager overlap. This is primarily because of the differences in how network cards and memory boards address locations in the computer's memory.

The expanded memory manager (EMM386.EXE or other) is generally loaded through the CONFIG.SYS file and takes over an area of memory (64K minimum) between C000H:0000 and E000H:FFFF. This address range is also reserved for network cards, IBM XT hard disk controllers, and ROM memory expansion. Because network cards do not access the memory window until the network software is activated, memory conflicts may not appear in an application using expanded memory until the network is activated. To avoid the memory conflict, you can use the EXCLUDE parameter that will prevent EMM386 to set its frame in the memory range used by the network card.

For example, your network card uses the memory range from D000h:0000 to D800h:0000. Your CONFIG.SYS file should look like this:
```
   ...
   DEVICE = [drive][path]EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D000-D800
   ... 
```

Additional query words: 2.00 2.10 2.10a 2.20 conflict bind fail

Keywords :
Version : :2.0,2.1,2.1a,2.2
Platform :
Issue type :