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NetWare Driver Software: Broadcom NetXtreme™ Gigabit Ethernet Adapter User's Guide

This chapter provides the following information:

Netware Core Driver Software


Netware Core Driver Software

This section contains the following information:

Driver Installation

Pre-Installation Requirements

Installing Novell NetWare Server 5.x/6.0 Driver Software

Verifying or Modifying Adapter Parameters

Removing Drivers from Autoexec.ncf


Driver Installation

This section describes how to perform the following tasks:

A commonly used method to install a driver on a NetWare server running 5.x/6.0 and higher is through NWCONFIG.


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Pre-Installation Requirements

A network device driver must be installed before the Gigabit Ethernet Adapter can be used with your Novell NetWare system.

Before you can successfully install the adapter driver for Novell NetWare, the adapter card must be physically installed in the server and, typically, NetWare OS software must already be running on the server. Make sure that your server meets the hardware and operating system software requirements described in "Installing the Hardware."

To enable the Gigabit Ethernet Adapter to function correctly, you need to install the latest Novell NetWare support pack files. The NetWare support pack or patch file(s) needed for the operating system running on your server are indicated below:

Table 1. NetWare Support Files
NetWare OS Support Pack or Patch Files to be Installed
NetWare 5.1 Latest NetWare 5.1 Support Pack

The latest support pack can be found at: http://support.novell.com/misc/patlst.htm

NetWare 6.0 Latest NetWare 6.0
NetWare 4.2 Support Pack 8.0 or later

NOTE – PCI-X Systems: For systems with PCI-X you must install driver version v2.10 and above. For new installs of Netware with the latest drivers, you must create a "c:\nwupdate" directory and copy the latest B57.LAN and B57.LDI files into this directory before installing the operating system.

NOTE – NetWare 5.x/6.0: If you are installing NetWare 5.x/6.0 for the first time on a system, the process to install the adapter driver will occur during the OS installation procedure. Install the NetWare 5 support pack after you have successfully installed the operating system on the server.

To obtain the latest support pack files, go to the Novell support website and click on the Minimum Patch List option in the navigation bar. Scroll down the page and, using Table 1 above as a guide, select and download the latest support pack or patch file(s) for the operating system running on your server.


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Installing Novell NetWare Server 5.x/6.0 Driver Software

Please ensure that the server has the latest support pack available installed. The latest support packs can be found at: http://support.novell.com/misc/patlst.htm. You may want to create an archive disk by copying all the files from the CDROM\Netware\Driver directory onto a floppy disk. If you choose to use the CDROM directly, ensure that the CDROM.NLM is loaded and that you are aware of the NetWare Volume name for the CD ROM that you just installed.

  1. From the NetWare Server console, type LOAD NWCONFIG (or just NWCONFIG) and press Enter.
  2. From the Configuration Options screen, select Driver options and press Enter.
  3. Select the Configure network drivers option and press Enter.
  4. Choose the Load an additional driver option and press Enter.
  5. Insert the CD and select the Install an unlisted driver option, by pressing Insert.
  6. If you are using the archive disk that you created, insert the disk into drive A: and press Enter. If you have the CD ROM mounted as a NetWare volume, press F3 and enter <Volume Name>: Netware\Driver as the source path. Where <Volume Name> is the name of the NetWare Volume for the CD ROM and Netware\Driver is the directory of the specific files on the CD ROM needed for this installation.
  7. The name of the driver displays.
  8. Press Enter to select the highlighted driver.
  9. A copy the driver prompt appears.
  10. Select Yes and press Enter.
  11. Select Yes and press Enter to copy the .LDI file. This is the installation script for the driver.
  12. Follow the instructions for the installation.
  13. Select Save parameters and load driver to continue.
  14. Choose Exit to return to the server console prompt.

NOTE - If you are performing an initial installation of NetWare 5.x/6.0 and have more than two adapters installed, the install program will allow you to allocate the actual number of packet receive buffers needed by the adapter. During installation, the RxBuffers value should be set to 32, the minimum number of buffers the driver requires for each adapter. While this setting affects adapter performance, it allows installation of the operating system and up to eight adapters during initial install. Once installation is complete, you need to increase the number of buffers allocated to the driver, as described in Verifying or Modifying Adapter Parameters.

  1. After NetWare 5.x/6.0 has been successfully installed, set the minimum packet receive buffers parameter in the startup.ncf file to 1500 for each adapter in the system. Set the maximum packet receive buffers to three times the minimum packet receive buffers. Typically 4 MB of RAM is required per 1000 receive buffers. For more information, see Verifying or Modifying Adapter Parameters.

  2. In the autoexec.ncf file, delete the packet receive buffers parameter (RxBuffers=32) in the load statement for this adapter. Deleting the receive buffers phrase from the load statement resets the receive buffers parameter to the default value of 200 for this adapter.

  3. NOTE - The server needs to be restarted for the new configuration.

Example: The default maximum number of receive buffers for the system is 500; the default minimum is 128. Edit the startup.ncf file to have the following entries. The actual numbers will be a function of the number of ports in the system. The following is an example for a system with 8 ports installed:

    set maximum packet receive buffers = 36000
    set minimum packet receive buffers = 12000

 

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Verifying or Modifying Adapter Parameters

When an adapter configuration is saved, the NetWare install program adds load and bind statements to the autoexec.ncf file. By accessing this file, you can verify the parameters configured for each adapter, modify them, or enter additional parameters.

NOTE – The Novell monitor program and the config command are also useful for verifying driver configuration. For information on how to use these programs, see the Utilities Reference in your Novell NetWare online documentation.

The parameters that can be defined in the load statements are described below:

Configuration Parameters for B57.LAN driver:

TxDescriptors=
This is to initialize Descriptor resources on the adapter for transmits.
Min = 100
Max = 512
Default = 120

RxBuffers=
This is to pre-allocate receive ECBs & Receive adapter resources. This setting may be affected by the Netware server maximum/minimum packet receive buffer settings.
Min = 32
Max = 1000
Default = 200

Speed=
This keyword is to force the line speed of the adapter.
When this keyword is used, the switch to which the adapter cable is connected to must be forced. If not, the adapter and switch may run at different duplex modes. It is important to have the switch and adapter set properly. The best way to ensure good connectivity is to not set the speed keyword and
allow for automatic link setup (auto-negotiation).
Choices are:
AUTO, 10FD,10HD, 100FD, 100HD,
Default is Auto. Note that 1000 Mbps Speed is auto-detected at this time, and cannot be forced.

Link=
This keyword is set to "AUTO" to allow the adapter to auto-negotiate with a switch
using the Speed keyword as an advertised speed upper limit.
It is best to allow for auto-negotiation of the card and switch by not setting
this keyword or the Speed keyword.
Choices are:
AUTO, FORCE
Default is AUTO

When set to FORCE, auto-negotiation is disabled and the link speed is forced to a specific value.

RxTicks=
This is to enable the use of batching receives within a specific time period.
Min = 0, disabled
Max = 5000000, 5 seconds
Units are in micro seconds
Default value is 300

TxTicks=
This is to enable the use of a transmit "tick" threshold interrupt within a specific time period.
Min = 0, disabled
Max = 5000000, 5 seconds
Units are in micro seconds
Default is 200

TxPacketsPer=
This is to enable the use of allowing an interrupt to occur after a specific amount of packets are transmitted.
Min = 0, disabled
Max = 100
Default is 20

RxPacketsPer=
This is to enable the use of allowing an interrupt to occur after a specific amount of packets are received.
Min = 0, disabled
Max = 100
Default is 75

CheckSum=
This is to enable or disable the transmit & receive checksum off loading feature.
The checksum off loading support is only for TCP/IP packets, for that reason it is defaulted to OFF.
Choices are:
OFF, ON, TX, RX
Default value is OFF

TxFlow=
This keyword allows enabling/disabling of TxFlow control.
Choices are:
ON, OFF
Default value is OFF.

RxFlow=
This keyword allows enabling/disabling of RxFlow control.
Choices are:
ON, OFF
Default value is OFF.

PDriver=
Allows for the driver to operate in persistent driver mode.
Only use if adapter is placed in a Hot Plug PCI slot and only if required to swap with an exact same board.
Choices are:
OFF, ON
Default value is OFF.

NODE=
This is a Novell Netware keyword.
This keyword will allow an input Ethernet node address to replace the adapter factory programmed Ethernet node address until a subsequent reboot.
Choices are:
NODE=nnnnnnnnnnnn

FRAME=
This is a Novell Netware keyword.
String specifying the frame type.
Choices are:
ETHERNET_II
ETHERNET_802.3
ETHERNET_802.2
ETHERNET_SNAP
Default value is ETHERNET_802.2

SLOT=
This is a Novell Netware keyword.
System-wide unique Hardware Instance Number (HIN) that may be the physical
slot number on a slot based bus such as PCI.
SLOT=n

Jumbo=
Keyword to enable Jumbo frame support. When enabled, jumbo packets of up to 9000 bytes are supported.
Choices are:
Jumbo=1536-9100
Default is no jumbo packets

NOTE - Jumbo frames are only supported on Netware 6.0 and above. Plus the first frame loaded must be ETHERNET_II.


NOTE - Jumbo frame support must have the following text in the Startup.ncf file:
"Set maximum physical receive packet size = 18000".

P3=
This keyword is used when running perform3.exe tests and may increase performance on networks running with many ipx clients.
Set P3=1, when running the perform3 test back to back to a single client.
Set P3=2, when running the perform3 test with many clients.
Default: P3=0.

Spuriousfix=
When this keyword is set to 1(spurious fix is on), the spurious interrupts count that is sometimes displayed on the Netware console monitor, may be reduced. By setting this keyword to 0 (spurious fix is OFF), performance of the driver may be enhanced.
The Default is spurious fix = 1 (spurious fix is on).
Choices are:
Spuriousfix=0
Spuriousfix=1 (default).

Poll=
To disable interrupt driven mode in the driver set Poll=1 and the driver will not use interrupts, but will be polled by the Netware OS. This is a common feature supported in NW. The poll mode may increase driver performance in some environments.
Choices are:
Poll=1 (ON)
Poll=0 (OFF) (default).

WireSpeed=
This feature provides adapter link & data integrity even when attached to a questionable cable and/or switch.
For example; an adapter trying to run 1000 speed on a cat3 cable ordinarily would not link. With the WireSpeed=1, the link will occur at 100Mbs.
Choices are:
WireSpeed=1 (ON) (Default)
WireSpeed=0 (OFF).

Model=
This keyword is to allow the addition of a sub-system ID of a specific NIC so that the driver loads only on the first NIC found with a matching sub-system ID.
e.g., MODEl= 0x14e4
Default = 0

MagicP=
When the MagicP=1 the driver will enable the adapter to wake up the system when a magic packet is received after the system is shutdown. MagicP=0 is the default setting with the adapter having no wake up ability.
Choices are:
MagicP=0 (default)
MagicP=1

Fiber=
The driver has support for the 1000FD fiber adapter. The fiber autonegotiates link with a fiber switch even though it only supports 1000FD. In some cases the user may want to force the adapter to 1000FD.
Choices are:
Fiber=AUTO (default)
Fiber=FORCE

NOTE – If you modify any adapter parameters, you must reboot the system before the changes take effect. If you make changes and do not reboot, you may experience configuration problems.

A valid autoexec.ncf file is shown below. One set of load and bind commands (in bold) is added for each frame type the adapter is configured to support.

Set Time Zone = PST8PDT
set Daylight Savings Time Offset = 1
set Start Of Daylight Savings Time = (APRIL SUNDAY FIRST 2:00:00 AM)
set End Of Daylight Savings Time = (OCTOBER SUNDAY LAST 2:00:00 AM)
set Default Time Server Type = SINGLE
set Bindery Context = O=LAN

# WARNING!!
file server name NOVELLSERVER51
# WARNING!!
# If you change the name of this server, you must update
# all the licenses that are assigned to this server. Using
# NWAdmin, double-click on a license object and click on
# the Certificate Assignments button. If the old name of
# this server appears, you must delete it and then add the
# new server name. Do this for all license objects.

ServerID 1C8EE2C
LOAD ODINEB.NLM
LOAD TCPIP
LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_802.2 NAME=B57_1_E82
BIND IPX B57_1_E82 NET=FAFD3D25
LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_802.3 NAME=B57_1_E83
BIND IPX B57_1_E83 NET=5A2D8D6D
LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_SNAP NAME=B57_1_ESP
BIND IPX B57_1_ESP NET=477A35BD
LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_II NAME=B57_1_EII
BIND IPX B57_1_EII NET=C3C8F2E4
BIND IP B57_1_EII ADDR=172.16.1.1 MASK=ff.ff.ff.0

mount all

SEARCH ADD SYS:\JAVA\BIN
SEARCH ADD SYS:\JAVA\NWGFX

NOTE – If you modify any adapter parameters, you must reboot the system before the changes will take effect. If you make changes and do not reboot, you may experience configuration problems.


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Removing Drivers from Autoexec.ncf

To remove the drivers from the Autoexec.ncf, locate the Load and Bind command lines associated with the Broadcom driver and remark them out by inserting the # symbol at the beginning of each command line, or by deleting the statement.

Example:

# LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_802.2 NAME=B57_1_E82
# BIND IPX B57_1_E82 NET=FAFD3D25
# LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_802.3 NAME=B57_1_E83
# BIND IPX B57_1_E83 NET=5A2D8D6D
# LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_SNAP NAME=B57_1_ESP
# BIND IPX B57_1_ESP NET=477A35BD
# LOAD B57 SLOT=2 FRAME=Ethernet_II NAME=B57_1_EII
# BIND IPX B57_1_EII NET=C3C8F2E4
# BIND IP B57_1_EII ADDR=172.16.1.1 MASK=ff.ff.ff.0


NOTE – If you modify the Autoexec.ncf, you must reboot the system before the changes take effect.



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