Configuring MDGNDIS5.SYS under Windows 98/2000/XP/ME

This page provides information about:

• Configuring Parameters from the Control Panel

• Details of Parameters

• Disabling Promiscuous Mode

Configuring Parameters

• To configure parameters under Windows 98:

1. From the Control Panel, select Network.

2. Select your adapter from the list of network components.

3. Click Properties.

4. Click on Advanced tab.

5. Highlight the property you wish to configure.

• To configure parameters under Windows 2000, XP or ME:

1. From the Control Panel, select Network and Dial-up Connections.

2. Select Local Area Connection <n> where <n> is the number of adapter to configure.

3. From the Local Area Connection <n> Status window, click on Properties and in the Local Area Connection <n> Properties window, click on Configure. Click on the Advanced tab.

Parameters

• LAA

The LAA is a 12 digit hexadecimal number in the range 400000000000 to 7FFFFFFFFFFF.

Every adapter requires a six-byte node address to identify itself on the network. This node address is either the unique burned-in address (BIA) encoded on the adapter, or is a locally administered node address (LAA) that you have provided. If you do not provide an LAA, the adapter's BIA is used as the node address.

The only restrictions on the value chosen for the LAA are that the first digit of the LAA must be between four and seven inclusive and all LAAs must be unique within a LAN segment.

Normally you do not need to specify an LAA unless you are using communications software which requires one.

• Ring Speed

Use this parameter to set the ring speed as follows:

• Default (set at adapter) The ring speed will be determined by the configuration information stored on the adapter. The adapter may have been configured to 100 MBit/s, 16 MBit/s, 4 MBit/s or automatic ring speed detect. You can change the configuration information stored on the adapter by using the Madge Assist Utility. This is the default value.

• 4 MBit/s The adapter will be forced to operate at 4 MBit/s irrespective of the configuration information stored on the adapter.

• 16 MBit/s The adapter will be forced to operate at 16 MBit/s irrespective of the configuration information stored on the adapter.

• 100 MBit/s The adapter will be forced to operate at 100MBit/s irrespective of the configuration information stored on the adapter. This option only applies to adapters which support High Speed Token Ring.

• Maximum Frame Size

On a 16Mbps or 100Mbps token-ring network, the driver supports frame sizes up to 17839 bytes are supported. On a 4Mbps network frame sizes up to 4486 bytes are supported. Many protocols and applications do not actually use frames this large and setting the maximum frame size to a value greater than is required wastes memory in the computer. The default value of 4216 is optimal in most environments.

If the maximum frame size you choose is greater than the media supports, the driver will automatically truncate it and write an error into the event log that contains, as one of the data words, the actual maximum frame size used.

• Promiscuous Mode

You can use all of the Madge adapters supported by this release except Presto PCI and Presto PCI Plus in 'StatisticsGathering' or 'Promiscuous' mode whereby all frames on the ring, not just those directed at the adapter, are passed up to the protocols. This options is disabled by default. Only enable this option if it is required by an application.

• Transfer Type

On some adapters there are several different ways of transferring data between the computer and the adapter. This option allows you to override the default transfer type (normally DMA) and use 16-bit PIO instead. (Note, for some adapters 16-bit PIO is the default transfer type.)

• Wake-On-LAN

Wake-On-LAN is a feature that allows a network adapter to wake-up a PC that has been put into auxiliary power mode when the adapter receives a MAGIC PACKET(tm). For this feature to work you must have a PC that supports Wake-On-LAN, an adapter that supports Wake-On-LAN and the adapter must have its Wake-On-LAN connector attached to the PC.

If you set this parameter to Enabled, the adapter will be  put into Wake-On-LAN mode when you shutdown Windows. If a MAGIC PACKET(tm) is then sent to the adapter it will wake-up the PC. If you set this parameter to Disabled, the adapter will be closed down in the normal way when you shutdown Windows and will not respond to MAGIC PACKET(tm)s. For more information about Wake-On-LAN, see Remote PC Wake-Up.

If you set this parameter to Enabled/PME, then in addition to asserting the wake-up signal in the Wake-On-LAN cable the adapter will also assert the PCI Bus PME signal.

• Respond to TEST/XID

Some token-ring infrastructure products use Test and XID frames to identify other devices on the ring. Handling of such frames is optional in this driver, but is enabled by default. If you do not have any hardware which requires such frames to be responded to, you can disable this feature, which would slightly reduce the driver CPU utilisation.

• Mac Open Mode

Use this parameter to set the MAC open mode as follows:

• DTR or Classic The adapter will open in 'full duplex' mode if it is connected to a port that supports 'full duplex' operation. The adapter will open in 'classic' mode if it is connected to anything else.

• DTR only The adapter will only open in 'full duplex' mode. If the adapter is connected to a port which does not support this mode the adapter will not open

• Classic only The adapter will only open in 'classic' mode.

• Tx Pipeline Slots

This parameter sets the number of transmit slots used by the adapter. Under normal circumstances, the default value will give optimal performance with minimum use of system resources, but if you need more transmit buffering you can increase this value.  

• Rx Pipeline Slots

This parameter sets the number of receive slots used by the adapter. Under normal circumstances, the default value will give optimal performance with minimum use of system resources, but if you need more receive buffering you can increase this value.  

• Ring Status Mask

This parameter is a bitmask which determines the ring status events that are indicated to the protocols by the driver. If you are using the standard Microsoft protocols, do not change this parameter from its default value of 0x1D60. The events controlled by this mask and the bits required to enable them are:

• Token Ring Event Mask

To vary the amount information provided about the adapter by the driver in the event log, adjust this mask. Changing this parameter will not affect the network functionality of the driver in any way. The events that can be reported to the event log and the bits required to enable it are:

By default this is set to 0x001c whereby the event log will contain information on the open mode and if the adapter is closed or dies. All other fatal errors will be reported in the event log regardless of the value of this parameter.

Permanently Disabling Promiscuous Mode

See Also:

• Adapters Supported under Windows 2000

• Adapters Supported under Windows 98

• Remote PC Wake-Up (Wake-On-LAN)

• Limiting Frame Reception (Disabling Promiscuous Mode)

• The MDGNDIS5.SYS Driver