Grey Cell Systems Technical Support for the 3400 Series

On line help for the 3400 series Fax/Modem Ethernet card

Trouble Shooting for the 3400 Series PC Card

This section makes some suggestions to help you to get the 3400 Series PC card to work if you have any problems. Please follow these steps carefully:

Check 1. Ensure the card is fully inserted into the PCMCIA socket.
Check 2. If you have not configured your PCMCIA adaptor correctly run the supplied INSTALL.EXE program from the drivers disk.
Check 3. Extended Memory Managers and PCMCIA.

PCMCIA software requires some system memory to identify PCMCIA cards when they are inserted. Card services will usually require a whole page of memory (usually D000 to DFFF) whereas direct enablers (not CARD2CS) require little or no EMM.

EMM Tip 1. If using CARD2 or GCS3000.COM or GCS3000.DOS without a MEM option the memory area will be from D800 to D8FF. If using a MEM option the area is xx00 to xxFF where xx is the memory area chosen.

If your PC uses an extended memory manager such as EMM386 or QEMM386, you need to prevent possible memory conflict between the extended memory manager and the PCMCIA controller by including the following command in your CONFIG.SYS file:

device=c:\dos\emm386.exe x=d800-d8FF
or
device=c:\qemm\qemm386.sys exclude=d800-d8FF

This reserves the memory area from D800 to D8FF for use by CARD2 or GCS3000 for the 3400 Series PC card.

The EMM exclusion step is done automatically by the installation program.

EMM Tip 2. CARD2CS uses the same memory area defined by card services. There is no need to exclude any further memory area from EMM.

EMM Tip 3. If you cannot exclude an extended memory area from EMM without one of your applications complaining and you are only using CARD2.EXE to enable the card directly then try loading CARD2 in the CONFIG.SYS before the EMM line. This way you will not need to exclude any memory area with the "X=" or "EXCLUDE=" parameter.

Check 4. Make sure the network driver you have loaded is NE2000 compatible or a GCS3000 driver. All the network drivers supplied with the 3400 Series PC card are either from the GCS3000 series or 100% NE2000 compatible.

Check 5. If the PC fails to boot up after the 3400 Series PC card is inserted, make sure the PC is running on AC Adaptor and not from the battery supply.

Check 6. If you use a card recognition and automatic configuration program that does not recognise the 3400 Series PC card, please remove the program and use CARD2 for configuration or read the PROBLEMS.TXT file in the \DIAGNOSE\ sub-directory on the supplied drivers disk to auto-configure the card.

Technical Support Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can not locate NOVELL server	8. Too many CONFIG/AUTOEXEC commands ?
2. Can not locate drive on NOVELL server	9. Which operating systems ?
3. ODI loading error	10. "Hot" removal
4. NDIS load error	11. Interrupt error
5. Error when Windows is run	12. Can not dial out
6. Card can not be found by CARD2	13. Win 95 Network fails
7. Using a 3400 series card and a Modem	14. Win 95 Modem can not communicate

Question 1: Can not locate NOVELL server

I can enable the 3400 Series PC card, then load ODI and IPX, but I cannot locate my Novell NetWare server.

Tip 1. Make sure the NET.CFG setting for INT matches the IRQ settings for the PCMCIA set up if using CARD2 or CARD2CS. Use supplied CARDCHEK.EXE to see which IRQ setting the card has been allocated if you did not specify them explicitly. The IRQ is not tested until you run NETX or VLM. If you complete the installation program, your NET.CFG file will automatically be updated.

Tip 2. Check that the Frame type used by the workstation is the same as that used by the server. The NET.CFG may have an additional line with:

Protocol IPX EO Frame Ethernet_802.2
or
Protocol IPX O Frame Ethernet_802.3

This will force the IPX protocol to use those frames type.

If you do not have these lines the IPX protocol will use the first frame type entry in the NET.CFG. To check which frame type your server is using, bring up the server MONITOR.NLM and view the "LAN Information" option.

Always ensure the server and workstation frame types are the same so they can communicate properly.

Question 2: Can not locate drive on NOVELL server

I can enable the card, then load ODI, IPX and VLM or NETX, but I cannot locate the drive to my Novell NetWare server.

Look into your CONFIG.SYS file for the "LASTDRIVE=" setting.
If using NETX, the network drive will be on the drive letter after the LASTDRIVE setting. For example, if LASTDRIVE=M your server will be on drive letter "N". Having LASTDRIVE set to 'Z' is not valid for NETX. You will not be able to access a network drive. If using VLM LASTDRIVE must be set to 'Z'. If LASTDRIVE is not specified DOS defaults to LASTDRIVE=E.

Run the Microsoft supplied program MSD.EXE and look at the drives option. This will tell you which drives are floppy, hard disks or remote drives. The first remote drive is your network server drive.

Question 3: ODI loading error

When I try to load the ODI driver I get one of the following error messages:

xxxx-DOS-54: The board did not respond to the initialisation command.
xxxx-DOS-54: RAM failure.
xxxx-DOS-54: The adapter did not initialise. ODI driver did not load.

Make sure the NET.CFG has a 'Link Driver GCS3000' or 'NE2000' or 'NE2ODI' section with the Port and Int settings. This may mean that the PC card has not been enabled at all. Check with the CARDCHEK.EXE program, see page 19 for more details.

Question 4: NDIS load error

When I try to load the NDIS driver from the CONFIG.SYS, or by using NET START, I get one of the following error messages:

\DEV\MS2000$ Error : Hardware does not respond.
or
MAC0024: adapter not found at specified address.
MAC0022: Driver initialisation failed.

This means that the NDIS driver could not find the 3400 Series PC card at the address specified by the "IOBASE=" line in the PROTCOL.INI file. It is possible that the PC card has not been enabled at all (check with the CARDCHEK.EXE program, see page 19 of the manual for more details) or that the "IOBASE" setting does not match the PCMCIA IO setting for the card.

If the settings match correctly you may be experiencing an interrupt conflict. Try changing the IRQ setting for the 3400 Series PC card.

Question 5: Error when Windows is run

NET START reports "The command completed successfully" but when I run Windows I get the following error message:

Your network adapter NE2CLONE is not working properly
followed by another message box which stating
Networking functionality will not be available

This means that the NDIS driver could not find the 3400 Series PC card at the address specified by the "IOBASE=" line in the PROTCOL.INI file. See the solution to Question 4.

Question 6: Card not found by CARD2

CARD2.EXE reports that the 3400 Series PC card could not be found, yet it is in the PCMCIA socket.

Check your EMM settings. Remember CARD2 needs to use D800 to D8FF. If you have specified another memory area with the /MEM option make sure this area is also excluded by the extended memory manager.

Read the PROBLEMS.TXT in the \DIAGNOSE\ sub-directory file on the drivers disk for the recommended memory areas of particular computers.

Question 7: Using the 3400 series card and Modem

I want to use the 3400 Series PC card with another card in the other socket. How can I do this?

The CARD2 program will only directly enable the 3400 Series PC card. To enable multiple cards you will need either a similar enabler for the other card which may be directed to the other socket (like the CARD2 /SKT option) or full PCMCIA card and socket services.

To configure the PCMCIA card and socket services follow the software vendor's instructions or read the supplied PROBLEMS.TXT file.

Question 8: Too many CONFIG/AUTOEXEC commands ?

My computer has lots of PCMCIA software in the CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT. Do I need it all?

If you are only using the 3400 Series PC card then you do not need all the PCMCIA software, just use CARD2 or GCS3000. This will save you about 60 KBytes of conventional memory. If you intend to do hot-swapping of PCMCIA cards, or you are using multiple cards, then the PCMCIA software is essential.

See the README.TXT file on the drivers disk to see what functions are performed by each of the PCMCIA files supplied on your PC.

Question 9: Which operating systems ?

Can I use the card with any network and any operating system? Can it work with UNIX , Windows 95 or Windows NT?

The card will work with any network operating system that uses NDIS, ODI or packet drivers. As the card is 100% NE2000 compatible it will be able to use any standard network drivers for an NE2000 card.

For details of UNIX, OS/2 and Windows NT support please read the Route Map guide (Routemap.hlp) and the PROBLEMS.TXT file on the supplied disk.

Question 10: "Hot" removal

Can I pull out the card while I am on the network and reconnect to a server when I re-insert the card?

If you pull out your network card when you are connected to your server you will not be able to reconnect without restarting the network log on sequence. This is because current networking operating systems were designed for fixed cards, not with the plug-and-play philosophy of PCMCIA in mind.

Windows 95 does, however, cope with an unexpected LAN card withdrawal safely.

Question 11: Interrupt error

Windows reports that it is unable to share interrupts or that the selected COM port has a conflict.

If using Windows for Workgroups 3.11 make sure you are using the 3400 Series network drivers and not the standard Microsoft NE2000 driver. Follow the Route Map for installation details (Routemap.hlp on drivers disk).

If you experience a COM port conflict, make sure your SYSTEM.INI contains the setting COMM.DRV=COMM.DRV. If the conflict still persists, change the COM port setting for the 3400 Series.

Question 12: Can not dial out

I am unable to dial out on my telephone line through my exchange.

Make sure you are using the correct pulse of tone switch for your particular exchange. Use ATDP for pulse dialling or ATDT for tone dialling. If you are dialling externally from within your company's telephone system, make sure the number you dial is prefixed with a '9,' or suitable external access code.

Question 13: Win 95 Network fails

Windows 95 Network Fails to load.

Look at Control Panels\System Properties and Device Manager. This should show the Grey cell card under Multifunction Adaptors, Modem and Network adaptors without any marks on the icons. If any do remove these and re-install. See manual section 5.2.

Question 14: Win 95 Modem can not communicate

Windows 95 Modem Cannot Communicate.

Check the installation as above. If this looks to be correct, choose the Modems icon in the Windows 95 Control Panel. Then select the Grey Cell card from the Diagnostics option and choose More Info... this will return data from the modem. If this fails contact your 3400 Series dealer or Grey Cell Systems technical support.

Updates

We are constantly improving and adding to the 3400 Series PC card range of products. Please complete and return your registration card to ensure receiving information on new developments and upgrades to the current systems.