[comp.dcom.lans] trouble with WD8003e board

umcarls9@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Charles Carlson) (02/15/91)

 
I'm having a problem with a WD8003e board.  The ram base address seems
to be conflicting with something else.   How do you change the ram base
address in this board?  The manual says through the network software,
I've tried that, and the conflict still exists.  If I run the 
diagnose software, it says the board is at D0000.  I have an ElitePlus/16
board which is also at D0000 and works fine in the same machine.  
The back of the manual says the board is at C4000 which is already in use
in that machine.  How do I tell for sure where the ram base is, and how
do I change it?  

Thanks,
Charles

pwb@newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Paul W. Brooks) (02/15/91)

In article <1991Feb14.233331.28653@ccu.umanitoba.ca>, umcarls9@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Charles Carlson) writes:
> 
>  
> I'm having a problem with a WD8003e board.  The ram base address seems
> to be conflicting with something else.   How do you change the ram base
> address in this board?  The manual says through the network software,
> I've tried that, and the conflict still exists.  If I run the 
> diagnose software, it says the board is at D0000.  I have an ElitePlus/16
> board which is also at D0000 and works fine in the same machine.  
> The back of the manual says the board is at C4000 which is already in use
> in that machine.  How do I tell for sure where the ram base is, and how
> do I change it?  
> 

On the WD8003E board, the software sets the RAM base address in the
driver, e.g in the driver for FTP's PC/TCP, it is in the wd8003.sys file.
There are no jumpers on the board.

I also ran into RAM problems until someone here told me that 16bit VGA
cards have a tendency to trash Network cards for some reason. If you have
a 16bit VGA, try throttling it back to 8bits - it worked for me. Also be
aware of what memory your display card is using - VGA can use up to address 
D0000 or so, so specify address D8000 or so in your configuration. 

No matter what RAM address I tried, I still got RAM errors from the
hardware diagnostics until I set my VGA card to 8 bits. It works now 8-).
regards,

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Brooks        |   Internet: pwb@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au
School of Physics  |
Uni. of N.S.W.     |   If you have trouble sleeping, try lying on the end of

sblair@upurbmw.dell.com (Steve Blair) (02/15/91)

You might want to run the WDSETUP.EXE that comes on the floppy
with it to "insure" that the addr in RAM is what you believe
it to be. This is doable on the 8bit cards, but alas ;< the
16 bit cards have the hard coded jumpers...

-- 
Steve Blair	DELL	UNIX	DIVISION sblair@upurbmw.dell.com
================================================================

hamish@waikato.ac.nz (02/18/91)

In article <15167@uudell.dell.com>, sblair@upurbmw.dell.com (Steve Blair) writes:
> You might want to run the WDSETUP.EXE that comes on the floppy
> with it to "insure" that the addr in RAM is what you believe
> it to be. This is doable on the 8bit cards, but alas ;< the
> 16 bit cards have the hard coded jumpers...
> 
> -- 
> Steve Blair	DELL	UNIX	DIVISION sblair@upurbmw.dell.com
> ================================================================

Bzzt!

 Sorry, but the address of the shared RAM segment is set at run time, by
software not hardware selectable. The only settable configurations by hardware,
or equivalent in newer cards. The Interrupt (5 is good 3 is default), the I/O
base address (280 is old default not sure about newer cards 240?), and if the
card has a ROM socket, then you can set the size and memory address of the ROM.
RAM doesn't have a setting you notice.

The RAM is configured by the driver, be it IPX,Packet driver or other. Using
the packet driver you can set the RAM address anywhere you like just by
changing a parameter on the command line. Shared RAM size is set autpmatically
by the packet driver, and configured into IPX (as is address) when the IPX is
generated (On Novell).

-- 
==============================================================================
|  Hamish Marson   <hamish@waikato.ac.nz>                                    |
|  Computer Support Person,  Computer Science Department                     | 
|  University of Waikato                                                     |
|Disclaimer:  Anything said in this message is the personal opinion of the   |
|             finger hitting the keyboard & doesn't represent my employers   |
|             opinion in any way. (ie we probably don't agree)               |
==============================================================================

mjhammel@Kepler.dell.com (Michael J. Hammel) (02/19/91)

In article <1991Feb18.111704.2961@waikato.ac.nz>, hamish@waikato.ac.nz writes:
> In article <15167@uudell.dell.com>, sblair@upurbmw.dell.com (Steve
Blair) writes:
> > You might want to run the WDSETUP.EXE that comes on the floppy
> > with it to "insure" that the addr in RAM is what you believe
> > it to be. This is doable on the 8bit cards, but alas ;< the
> > 16 bit cards have the hard coded jumpers...

>  Sorry, but the address of the shared RAM segment is set at run time, by
> software not hardware selectable. The only settable configurations by
hardware,
> or equivalent in newer cards. The Interrupt (5 is good 3 is default), the I/O
> base address (280 is old default not sure about newer cards 240?), and if the
> card has a ROM socket, then you can set the size and memory address of
the ROM.
> RAM doesn't have a setting you notice.

This is not true for every WD card.  Older WD8003E's (I believe) are as
you say.  WD8003EB's and WD8003EP's are software setable.  The WD8013
(16 bit card) is configurable only with jumpers, but has many more
options than those you list.  I think Steve was considering the ones we
deal with most here, the WD8003EB.

> 
> The RAM is configured by the driver, be it IPX,Packet driver or other. Using
> the packet driver you can set the RAM address anywhere you like just by
> changing a parameter on the command line. Shared RAM size is set
autpmatically
> by the packet driver, and configured into IPX (as is address) when the IPX is
> generated (On Novell).

Again, it depends on the specific card.  Some can be set by software, some not.


Michael J. Hammel        | mjhammel@{Kepler|socrates}.dell.com
Dell Computer Corp.      | {73377.3467|76424.3024}@compuserve.com
#include <disclaim/std>  | zzham@ttuvm1.bitnet | uunet!uudell!feynman!mjhammel
#define CUTESAYING "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way."

jeff@dwerger.UUCP (Jeffrey E. Finucane) (02/21/91)

In article <1991Feb14.233331.28653@ccu.umanitoba.ca> umcarls9@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Charles Carlson) writes:
> 
>I'm having a problem with a WD8003e board.  The ram base address seems
>to be conflicting with something else.   How do you change the ram base
>address in this board?  The manual says through the network software,
>I've tried that, and the conflict still exists.  If I run the 
>diagnose software, it says the board is at D0000.  I have an ElitePlus/16
>board which is also at D0000 and works fine in the same machine.  

  If this board is the WD8003ebt it is software configured, indeed.  I
had a similar problem installing this board under SCO ODT with a Paradise
VGA board.  By editing the config files by hand (rather than using the
< mkdev > script) I was able to install this board in the 15th Meg.

-- 

Jeffrey E. Finucane     Custom Tailored Systems    nshore!dwerger!jeff
Data Phone: (216) 935-2712  Telebit Trailblazer  Voice: (216) 935-0252