National Semiconductor Corporation AT/LANTIC Configuration Software Description - AUTOSET v1.14 The following document describes the general operation and features of the configuration software developed for use with AT/LANTIC adapter cards.The description is split into several sections which describe in turn the features of each section of the software. Software Initialization When first initiated the code checks the current directory to see if there is a file 'message.msg' which contains any translation text.If found the text is loaded if the translated messages are of the correct length, otherwise the code exits with an error stating which message was at fault.This is followed by another search to detect any adapters already installed which then displays a list of the boards detected on the right hand portion of the display.The code also detects which interrupts are already allocated by the system and which are free to be used with an adapter card.Following this a search is carried out to detect any 'National Semiconductor' boot PROM's that are installed. Warning messages are displayed in each of the following circumstances, an interrupt is allocated to more than one of the boards detected, an interrupt is allocated to a board and is taken by the system, a high interrupt is required by a board however that board is in an eight bit slot. 'Configure New Adapter Automatically' This option detects a free address and interrupt and enables a reserved mode board to these.If no board appears then an error message is displayed and the menu exited.If a board is enabled correctly then the user is prompted to enter the architecture mode required, I/O Port mode is default.A search for a cable connection follows this, if TPI or Thin ethernet cabling is correctly installed then the correct cable type is selected otherwise a menu prompting the user to enter the cable type required is displayed.IBM's version of Autoset (Config) detects a free memory space into which a PROM will be enabled.Finally a menu displaying the options selected is displayed to the user.On exiting this menu the menu of detected boards should be updated. 'Configure New Adapter Manually' This option allows the user to define the configuration they require a reserved mode board to appear with.The items that appear in this menu are discussed in the section 'Configurable Parameters'.When this menu is selected the auto- selected parameters for I/O Port address, interrupt and in IBM's case PROM address are provided for the user as initial selections.An error shall be displayed if a board fails to be enabled correctly.If the board enables correctly then the boards detected menu is updated after this menu is exited. 'Change/Display Adapter Configuration' This option allows the user to change the configuration of a board that is already installed.The user is first prompted to enter the base address of the board to be altered.A check is then carried out to see if there is a board at this address if not an error message is displayed and the option exited,if the board detected is non configurable then again an error message is displayed and the option exited.The present configuration of the board is displayed on the left with an arrow pointing to the new user selected configuration.The items that can be selected in this menu are discussed in the following section.If the user alters a boards configuration then the boards detected menu is updated. Configurable Parameters In general these options are selected by highlighting the item required using the arrow keys and scrolling through its available options using the key. (a) Base Address - Only addresses that are free are allowed to be selected by the user, i.e addresses not used by any of the boards detected and that contain no other adapter or peripheral. (b) Interrupt - Only interrupts not used by any of the detected boards or by the system are allowed to be selected.Also if the board in question is in an eight bit slot then only 'low' interrupts are selectable.Interrupt 2/9 is a special case please refer to the end of this guide when using this interrupt. (c) Novell Configuration Option - This is only applicable in I/O port mode and allows the standard selection of options available for an Novell NE2000 board.Any of the options that include an invalid I/O port address or interrupt are not selectable. (d) Boot Prom - This option allows a boot PROM to be disabled or enabled; if it is to be enabled then the size of PROM and its address are requested. (e) Advanced Configuration - This option should only be selected by an experienced user of the AT/LANTIC chip and only then after they have read the AT/LANTIC data sheet section on the configuration registers. (f) Save Configuration - this option shall place the new configuration into the board and also save it so that the next time the board is powered up it shall contain this new configuration.Details of the configuration saved are held in the file 'config.txt' in the current directory. (g) Temporarily Change Configuration - This option places the new configuration in to the board however the next time the board is powered up the old configuration shall be reinstated. 'Adapter Initialization and diagnostics' When initiated this option checks to see if a configurable board is present if it is then the configuration paramaters are read from it, if a non configurable board is present then a warning message is displayed and the previously selected configuration parameters are used.If no board is present an error message is displayed and the routine exited.If the board is set in shared memory mode then the user is prompted to select a buffer RAM address from a list of addresses known to be free for use.The option then initialises the board for correct operation.The buffer memory is written to and read from with a data comparison carried out to check its operation.The selected cable type is checked to see if it is connected correctly and the interrupt is then checked to be operational.If a boot PROM was detected, then a check is carried out to make sure its valid.If these tests are completed successfully then the following network tests can be carried out otherwise they are not accessable. 'Advanced Network Diagnostics' This option allows the user to perform further diagnostic checks on the functionality of the adapter.The following options become available on selection of this item. 'Set Up As A Master Station' This option requires the use of two stations one called a slave and one a master.A packet is 'bounced' between the two stations.If any corruption occurs or a packet is 'lost' then an error message is displayed.The user is first prompted to enter the length of the test.This number relates to how many times a packet should be bounced between the two stations.The default is 0x400, if 0 is entered then the test goes on indefinetly.The test should complete with the 'Network Test Passed' message. 'Set Up As A Slave Station' This option should be run on a board already known to be fully operational.The slave station should always enter the test before the master station. 'Show packets on the network' This option shall show any packet that is on the network. Error / Warning Messages This section deals with any of the messages that may be displayed during the operation of the software.Where possible resolving actions have also been described. General Messages - " Out of Memory Error " - This message should never be displayed under any circumstances.If this message does ever appear the only resolving action is a change to the code itself. " NON CONFIGURABLE " - This message may appear in the 'Installed Adapters' menu.Either an AT/LANTIC with its access to configuration registers disabled or an original NE2000/WD8013 has been detected at the address given. " No adapter at this address " - The user has selected an address to perform some operation on an adapter however no adapter of any kind was detected at that address. " ERROR - multiple boot ROM's detected " " This error has been automatically corrected " "Please re-power the PC to enable the corrections" - More than one installed adapter has enabled a boot ROM. Only one boot ROM should ever been installed in a PC.To correct this the adapter at the lowest address has a boot ROM enabled, all other adapters are set to have no boot ROM enabled.These changes are saved to the adapters, however they are not truely active until the PC is re-powered. Configuration Messages - " This address contains a non-configurable AT/LANTIC or other hardware. " " If this address contains a non-configurable AT/LANTIC - " " Select the correct configuration of the adapter using the " " 'Configure New Adapter Manually' menu, ignore the I/O port address " " as it will be selected later.Once these are correct exit the menu, no " " temporary or save of the configuration is required in that menu. " - This deals with the situation in which the user has selected an address at which hardware has been detected but is found not to be a configurable AT/LANTIC adapter.The software allows the use of original NE2000/WD8013 adapters aswell as AT/LANTIC adapters that have had their access to configuration registers disabled.To use these adapters the user must set the configuration used in the 'Configure New Adapter Manually' menu.Following this the user should be able to correctly initialise the adapter. (The following four warning messages may appear at the bottom of the 'Installed Adapters' menu.) " IRQ X is installed twice " - Two detected adapters cards have selected the same interrupt.The user must change one of the adapter card interrupt settings. " IRQ X assigned in system " - This warning is provided although there is a valid situation where this can happen.An adapter card is configured with an interrupt that is also expected for use by the PC.This is valid in the case where an adapters driver software has already been installed and has taken the system interrupt in question. " IRQ X at I/O addr. 0xXXX " " adapter is in an 8 bit slot " - The adapter is configured to use an upper interrupt (i.e.>7) however this interrupt is not available as the adapter is in an 8 bit slot.The user should select an interrupt in the lower range. " Boot PROM changes occur " " only occur after cold boot of PC " - This message appears after a change to the boot ROM configuration is saved.It highlights the fact that boot ROM changes are not immediate and need a 'cold boot' (i.e. hard reset or switch off/on PC ) before the changes become active. " Error - No New Adapter " - The user has attempted to enable a 'New' ( disabled ) adapter card however no card has been enabled.Either there was no adapter in the disabled state or that adapter is faulty. " Error - An adapter has already been enabled " - This error appears if the user tries to enable multiple New ( disabled ) adapters during the same execution of the code.An adapter can only be enabled once and should not be placed in and out of the 'disabled' state multiple times. " No I/O port available for configuration " - This error appears if all AT/LANTIC adapter I/O port addresses appear to be taken.It is unlikely that all the ports would be taken however it is possible on some PC's that the search method used by the software is invalid.In this case the user should exit the code and re-execute it with the command 'autoset no_search' (for IBM this becomes 'config no_search').If this method has to be used reference should be made to the section 'No Search'. " No memory address available " - The software is not able to identify any 16K area of system RAM ( between 0xC000 and 0xE000 ) that is free.It is unlikely that all the system RAM is being used, however if a memory manager is installed on the PC then this may be the case.If a memory manager is installed then the user would have to refer to its documentation on how to free an area of RAM for peripherals such as this adapter card.If there is no memory manager problem then it is possible that the search method used is invalid on the PC in question.In this case the user should refer to the 'No Search' section. " No interrupt available for configuration " - There is no free interrupt that can be assigned to a new adapter.The only solution to this is to free an interrupt used for another possibly redundant purpose. " No interrupt is available for an 8 bit slot " - The user has enabled a 'New' adapter in an 8 bit slot.However none of the lower interrupts are available for configuration.The user has either to re-install the adapter in a 16 bit slot, or to free one of the lower interrupts. " All IRQ's have been assigned, exit and remove a card " - The software has detected two adapters using the same interrupt and can find no available interrupt to resolve the situation.The user is prompted to remove one of the cards to free an interrupt or resolve the interrupt conflict.The user must free an interrupt before trying to install another adapter. " Error saving configuration " - The adapter has failed to complete the save to eeprom sequence correctly.This may not be fatal for the user however it is a serious hardware error. " Configuration text file not saved, Disk drive not ready " - The code has attempted to write the config.txt file to a diskette, however the drive contains no diskette. " Configuration text file not saved, Disk is write protected " - The code has attempted to write the config.txt file to a protected diskette.Backup the executable code on a non protected diskette and execute the code from there. Diagnostic Messages - " The hardware has not been initialised yet " " You need to execute the initialization first. " - This message can appear in the 'Advanced Network Diagnostics' section.The user has either failed to select the 'Board Initialization and Diagnostics' option or this option has failed one of its tests.If the later is the case then the user should refer to the error message displayed next to the failing test. " Cannot intialise an adapter with a disabled Interrupt " - The user should select a valid interrupt for this adapter. " No NIC " " DMA Failure " - These messages may be returned by the 'Network Interface Controller' test in the 'Board Initialization and Dignostics' section.Both messages highlight a fault in the NIC core of the AT/LANTIC , a fatal hardware error. " Incorrect PROM ID byte " - Another message that can be returned by the same test.This highlights a flaw in the EEPROM and only occurs in I/O Mode, this would be a fatal flaw if the user wished to select I/O mode. " (xfer to memory) " " (xfer from memory ) " " Failed after X bytes with X " - These messages may be returned by the 'Buffer Memory' test.The first two messages highlight errors in the transferal of data, the third in the data transferred.This is a fatal adapter error. " Cable Disconnected " " Cable Unterminated " - Both errors highlight possibly faulty cabling if they are not simply disconnected or unterminated.These error messages may be returned by the 'Cable Connection' test. " No Interrupt " - This message may be returned by the 'Interrupt Assignment' test, it highlights the fact that the interrupt is not active.The user should select an alternative interrupt, however this is a hardware error that should not occur. " Boot ROM Failed " - This message may be returned by the 'Boot ROM Check'.A boot ROM has been detected but has failed to pass the checksum test.This may not be a fatal error but requires the user to replace the ROM on the adapter card. The following errors may appear during the advanced diagnostics test. " No Slave Response " " No Master Response " - This indicates that one station has failed to receive a packet from its opposing station.There are two causes for this, either the cabling system is faulty or the adapter of the station in question is faulty. " Reception Failed " - Indicates some kind of corruption of the packet received. " Transmission Failed " - Indicates some kind of corruption of the transmission sequence. " Packet Mismatch Error " - The data in the packet received is incorrect.A fatal hardware error. " Test Aborted " - The user has exited the test (by pressing a key). No Search The search method used to detect free I/O port addresses or free system RAM may be invalid on some PC's.The user can disable these searches but typing the command 'no_search' following the code's executable name.Some care must be taken by the user if this method has to be selected as they themselves must detect which addresses are free and which are not.The 'Configure New Adapter Automatically' option is no longer made available if the 'no_search' option is used. Interrupt 2/9 Interrupt 2/9 is the only interrupt that the software cannot correctly identify as taken or not.Thus this interrupt is always made available and it is left to the users discretion as to whether this interrupt is truely available or not.