EXP Computer ThinLan 100 User Manual

EXP PCMCIA Ethernet Adapter

Installation Guide

Copyright 1997

Revision 1.0

EXP Computer, Inc.

EXP Memory Products.

May 4, 1997

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval or
transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanically, photocopying, or
recording.

Non-transferable Limited Warranty

EXP Computer Inc., and EXP Memory Products("EXP") WARRANTS THAT PCMCIA ETHERNET
CARD(“PRODUCTS”) MANUFACTURED OR DISTRIBUTED BY EXP TO BE FREE FROM
FAILURES DUE TO DEFECTS IN MATERIALS OR WORKMANSHIP FOR THREE YEARS
FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE OF THE PRODUCTS.

THIS WARRANTY IS VOID IF THE PRODUCT IS DAMAGED BY ABNORMAL OR IMPROPER
USE OR BY ACCIDENT, ABUSE OR IF ANY ATTEMPT TO REPAIR OR MODIFY THE
PRODUCT WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION FROM EXP. YOUR SALES RECEIPT OR INVOICE,
SHOWING THE DATE OF PURCHASE AND THE NAME OF THE AUTHORIZED RESELLER,
IS YOUR PROOF OF THE DATE OF PURCHASE. DURING THE WARRANTY PERIOD, EXP
WILL AT ITS OPTION, REPLACE OR REPAIR, AT NO CHARGE, THE PRODUCT WHICH IN
ITS OPINION IS DEFECTIVE.

BEFORE YOU RETURN THE FAILED PRODUCTS, CONTACT EXP. YOU MUST OBTAIN A
RETURN MERCHANDISE AUTHORIZATION (RMA) NUMBER BY CALLING THE TECHNICAL
SUPPORT DEPT. OF EXP COMPUTER INC. AT [phone]. THE RMA NUMBER SHOULD
BE DISPLAYED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE RETURNED PACKAGE AND ON THE
ACCOMPANYING PACKING LIST. EXP CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY
PACKAGE RETURNED WITHOUT THE RMA NUMBER. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
PACKAGING, PROVIDING PROOF OF THE DATE OF PURCHASE AND THE SHIPPING
COST OF THE FAILED PRODUCT TO EXP COMPUTER, INC. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR
MAILING THE WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARD. THE WARRANTY CLAIMS MAY NOT BE
HONORED IF THERE IS NO CORRESPONDING REGISTRATION CARD ON FILE AT EXP.

The information in this publication has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate as of
its publication date. EXP will not be held responsible for any inadvertent errors. All information is
subject to change without notice.

IN NO EVENT WILL EXP BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL
OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF SAVINGS; OR
ANY OTHER DAMAGES CAUSED BY PRODUCT OR FAILURE OF THE PRODUCT TO
PERFORM.

This limitation of liability applies even if EXP has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Some sates do not allow the exclusion or limitation in incidental or consequential damages, so the
above exclusion or limitation may not apply to you.

FCC COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits
are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference
in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate
radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the
instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications.
However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or
television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off
and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the Distance between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which

the receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

CAUTION

Trademarks

SystemSoft is a registered trademark of SystemSoft Corporation.
CardSoft is a trademark of SystemSoft Corporation.
Phoenix is a registered trademark of Phoenix Technologies, Ltd.
Databook is a registered trademark of Databook Inc.
Cardtalk is a trademark of Databook Inc.
PCMCIA is a trademark of Personal computer Memory Card International

Association.
MS-DOS, Windows, Windows 95, Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft

Corporation.

CHANGE OR MODIFICATIONS NOT EXPRESSLY APPROVED BY
PARTY RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLIANCE COULD VOID THE USER’S
AUTHORITY TO OPERATE THE EQUIPMENT.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are of their respective companies.

Introduction

System Requirements

Congratulations on your purchase of the Ethernet PC Card(PCMCIA) adapter. This
adapter is designed to give you years of trouble-free and reliable service. The
adapter complies with the PCMCIA Release 2.0 specification and IEEE 802.3
standards. This PC Card adapter is warrantied for three years.

There are two models of the Ethernet adapter PCMCIA card available:

1. Dual-Port Ethernet adapter

This model includes a MAM (Media Access Module) with an RJ-45
port that allows cable connection to a twisted-pair Ethernet networks
and a BNC port that allows connection to coaxial cable Ethernet
network. The MAM also has the TX/RX and Link LED installed.

2. Twisted-Pair port only Ethernet adapter

This model has a port connection with an RJ-45 port that allows cable
connection to a twisted-pair Ethernet network.

LED indicator (Optional)
There are two LEDs (Light-Emitting-Diodes) on the end of the card which indicate
the statuse of the transmission and connection.

TX/RX LED glows a steady green when the power is applied to the card,
and blinks for the card activity.

Link LED glows a steady green when a good link is established with a
network.

1. Notebook or desktop computer with a PCMCIA 2.1 Type II slot.

2. PC Card (PCMCIA/JEIDA) Card service and Socket device driver compliant

preferred (If the drivers are not present, the Point Enabler for Intel 82365SL
Personal Computer Interface Controller PCIC or compatible, Databook TCIC
will be installed. (MS-DOS system)

3. One of the following Operating Systems: DOS Version 5.0 or higher,

Windows 3.x, or Windows 95, Window NT Version 3.1, 3.5x, 4.0.

4. Network Operating System specific files. (depending on your Network type)

Text Conventions

The following text convention is used to help you distinguish elements of

the text used throughout this manual.

Text element Use

Bold

italic Option
< > Letters, symbols and key name on the

Command names, switches and any
other text must be enter as it appears.

keyboard.

Packing List

Check the package of the Ethernet PCMCIA LAN card, to make sure it contains the
following items:

• one Ethernet PCMCIA adapter

• one LAN to PCMCIA adapter/cable (depending on the model)

• This installation guide

• one 3.5” diskette containing the install program and drivers

If you are missing any of the items listed above, please contact your dealer.

Installation Overview

DOS Installation

Before your computer system can recognize your PCMCIA Ethernet adapter, it is
necessary to run some software to enable it. This section gives a brief overview of
the installation process and explains the various type of enabler software that you
can use. There are three Operating System device drivers come with the package:
DOS, Windows 95, and Windows NT. A brief description of how to install each of
the device drivers is introduced in this section.

DOS

For DOS (Version 5.0 or later) There are three different types of enable
software which can be used to set up your PC Card Ethernet adapter: Direct
enable, Card Service client driver, and Super-client driver. (More detail can be
found in the Installation Section) The user need to decide which one to use. The
PCMCIA Ethernet adapter comes with an installation program that allow you
to automate the installation task. We recommend using the install.exe program
for a trouble free installation.
The install.exe program allow user to do an auto-configuration , where the
program chooses the most suitable option, or to do a custom configuration,
where user can individually select each option setting.

Windows 95

This PC Card Ethernet adapter is a Plug-n-Play device. This means that the
operating system will automatically detect the presence of the card. The user
does not need to manually add the card to the computer. The “New Hardware
Found” dialog box should appear on the screen the very first time the PC Card
Ethernet adapter is inserted into the notebook, it will prompt for the device
driver’s file location, in most cases will be the floppy disk. (A: or B) Check the
readme file on the device driver diskettes (included with the card) for the
directory name.

Window NT

There are two installation procedures for the PCMCIA Ethernet card in
Windows NT. First, during the text setup procedure, the Windows NT set up
program will have an option for the user to specify a LAN adapter and system
will ask for the device driver diskette, using the Network icon in Control Panel.
Choose “Add Adapter” Option to install the PCMCIA Ethernet card.

1. Deciding which Enabler software to use

• Almost every PC Card device requires the use of some type of enabler

software to which makes it possible for your computer to communicate
with the card. There are three different types of enabler software which can
be used to set up your PC Card Ethernet adapter: Direct enabler, Card
Service client driver, and Super-client driver.

• A direct enabler software communicates directly with you computer’s

PCMCIA host bus controller. The direct enabler needs to be run each time
you insert the PCMCIA card into the computer’s PCMCIA slot. It is not
permanently resident in memory, so using the direct enabler can conserve
precious memory resources.

• A Card Service client driver software communicates with your card

through Card Service and Socket Service. The Card Service and Socket
Service is a system software designed to help interface computer hardware
and application software with PCMCIA cards. You may already have Card
Service and Socket Service built-in to your computer’s operating system
(Windows 95 or Windows NT) or your computer manufacturer may have
provided add-on software that supplies Card Service and Socket Service.
See Appendix A for some popular example of the driver names.

Card Service and Socket Service can manage your notebook hardware
resources such as memory, I/O and Interrupt so that these resources can be
allocated to various PCMCIA devices on as-needed basis. Based on this
concept, you can “hot-swap” your PCMCIA adapter without having to run
your PCMCIA enabler software each time you insert the adapter.

• A Super-Client driver is usually included with the Card service and Socket

Service software. The driver can recognize and enable several different
type of cards. Once the super-client driver is configured with information
about the adapter, it can handle allocation and hot-swapping for it and
other PCMCIA cards without the need for each card.

The disadvantage of the Card Service and Socket Service is that it remains
in memory and can use up a large amount of memory space.

In general, unless you intend to use several different PCMCIA cards and need
to have “hot-swapping” capability, we recommend that you use the direct
enabler.

Ethernet card resources options

The Ethernet card requires system resources such as I/O (Input/Output)
range, IRQ (Interrupt Request) and Memory. Depending on which device
driver is used to enable the card, the user will have to choose the resources
for the card. There are two types of device driver.

• Client driver CSDRIVER.EXE This driver requires a set of PC Card

Card service and Socket service compliant device drivers. There are
two options available: I/O Base address and Interrupt Request. All
others are handled by Card service and Socket services.

The default settings are:

I/O Base address = 300
IRQ = 11

Option Available setting Default
I/O Base address (IO) 300, 320,340,360 I/O 300

Interrupt (IRQ) 3,4,5,9,10,11,12,15 IRQ 11

2. Installing Network Operating System software

Before Continuing with the installation of your adapter, you will need to install
your network operating system workstation software so that the install program
can properly setup your adapter card configuration.

NOTE

Before running this program, it is necessary to install your network
operating software. The program will make some modification to some
of the network operating system files, and it is necessary for these file to
be present in order for the install program to complete it’s operation.

Once you have done this, you can run the install.exe program found on your
installation disk. (The detailed process is in “Using the INSTALL Program”
section) This install program guides you through the installation process and
helps install the network drivers needed to run the adapter on you network
operating system.

Table 1 Client Driver Options Setting

• Direct Enabler directen.exe. This device driver does not require any

Card Service and Socket Service driver. This driver provides support
for Intel 82365SL Personal Computer Interface Controller PCIC or
compatible, Databook TCIC and other PCMCIA socket controller.
There are four options available: I/O Base address, Interrupt, Memory,
and Socket. The default settings are:

I/O Base address = 300
IRQ = 11
Memory = D8
Socket = Auto.

Option Available setting Default
I/O Base address (IO) 300, 320,340,360 I/O 300

Interrupt (IRQ) 3,4,5,9,10,11,12,15 IRQ 11
Memory (MEM) C0, C8, D0, D8 I/O 300
Socket (SKT) 0 to 7 0 or 1 Auto

Table 2 Direct Enabler Option Setting

3. Card Service and Socket Service consideration

If you are using Card Service and Socket Services, it is necessary to use the
Card Service client driver, csdriver.exe. This program is on your installation
diskette. You can install the client driver by typing csdriver at the DOS prompt
or including it as a line on your CONGFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
When installing the client driver, it is important to note that the driver should
be loaded after Card Service and Socket Services are loaded.

4. Direct enabler consideration

The direct enabler, directen.exe communicates directly with the PCMCIA
socket controller on your notebook system. Most popular controllers (such as
the Intel 82365SL and compatibles, DataBook TCIC Sharp PHIC, IBM
ThinkPad, and Toshiba 3300) are supported. You can run the client driver by
typing directen at the DOS prompt, or by including it as a line on your
CONGFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT file.