TechNote

Number: 00109-03
Date: May 1994

Installing a Madge Smart 16/4 AT or ISA Client Ringnode into an IBM ValuePoint Computer

Some customers have experienced difficulty installing 16-bit token-ring adapters (produced by Madge and other vendors), that use the bus-master, shared-memory, or programmed I/O methods of data transfer. This document tells you how to install and configure a Madge Smart 16/4 AT or ISA Client Ringnode in an IBM ValuePoint computer. Read it in conjunction with your Ringnode Installation Guide.

The following IBM ValuePoint computer models are affected:

Other models may also be affected.

The above models are affected because of the difference in the timing value for the Input/Output Channel Ready (IOCHRDY) signal between the ISA and AT specifications. The Madge Ringnode is designed to meet the requirements of the ISA specification, while the IBM ValuePoint is designed to meet the requirements of the AT specification.

To compensate for this difference, Madge Networks provides a software option (ALTIO) for use with IBM ValuePoint computers.

H Note

IBM have issued a Corrective Service Disk (CSD) with an updated BIOS for 486DX2/66 VP II computers. If you use this CSD when you install a Ringnode in a 486DX2/66 VP II computer, you may not need to follow the procedure described in this TechNote. For more information about this CSD, contact your IBM supplier.

Note

Release 4.2(0) of the Madge Smart LAN Support Software provides improved support for computers that need to use alternate (OTHER) bus-timing. We recommend that you use release 4.2(0) or later of the Madge Smart LAN Support Software.

1 Using the software option ALTIO

ALTIO is a software option that alters the synchronization of the IOCHRDY signal between the Ringnode and the I/O requests from the host computer. To use ALTIO, you must set the Bus Timing option to ALTERNATE (other). To do this for the Smart 16/4 AT Ringnode and the Smart 16/4 ISA Client Ringnode, use the hardware switches. If you are using a Smart 16/4 AT Ringnode you must also set DMA disabled (PIO mode).

Table 1 tells you how to use the ALTIO option with the drivers released with Smart LAN Support Software release 4.2(0) or later. For example, to run a Smart 16/4 ISA Client Ringnode using SMART.EXE in a ValuePoint computer, do the following:

  1. Use a software driver from release 4.2(0).
  2. Enable the ALTIO option. (See Table 1).
  3. Set the hardware switch to ALTERNATE bus-timing.
Note

We recommend that you use release 4.2(0) or later of the Madge Smart LAN Support Software. If you want to use the ALTIO option with the following drivers you need to contact Madge Technical Support: 

The Madge Driver            The ALTIO option is         With a Smart 16/4 AT           With a Smart 16/4 ISA Client 
(Description in brackets)   found as an option in:      Ringnodeuse the following:     Ringnode use the following:
SMART.EXE                   The [CARD] section of       1 Driver from release 4.2(0)   1 Driver from release 4.2(0)
Plus additional             the SMART.CFG file, or      2 16-bit PIO mode              2 ALTIO software option
protocol drivers            as a command-line           3 ALTIO software option        3 ALTERNATE bus-timing
(*.SMT modules)             parameter specified after   4 ALTERNATE bus-timing
                            the protocol modules

MADGEODI.COM                The NET.CFG file under      1 Driver from release 4.2(0)   1 Driver from release 4.2(0)
(FASTMAC Plus NetWare       LINK DRIVER XXX             2 16-bit PIO mode              2 ALTIO software option
DOS ODI driver)                                         3 ALTIO software option        3 ALTERNATE bus-timing
                                                        4 ALTERNATE bus-timing

SMARTND.DOS                 The NIF section of the      1 Driver from release 4.2(0)   1 Driver from release 4.2(0)
(FASTMAC DOS NDIS 2         PROTOCOL.INI file           2 16-bit PIO mode              2 ALTIO software option
driver)                                                 3 ALTIO software option        3 ALTERNATE bus-timing
                                                        4 ALTERNATE bus-timing

DIAG.EXE                    The command-line            1 DIAG from release 4.2(0)    1 DIAG from release 4.2(0)
(Madge diagnostics                                      2 16-bit PIO mode             2 ALTIO software option
program, DIAG)                                          3 ALTIO software option       3 ALTERNATE bus-timing
                                                        4 ALTERNATE bus-timing

2 Using the Smart 16/4 AT or ISA Client Ringnode hardware switches

To configure and install your Smart 16/4 AT or ISA Client Ringnode in an IBM ValuePoint computer, do the following:

Note

In the steps below, a pair of numbers identifies each individual switch. The first number indicates the switch block, and the second number identifies the particular switch within the switch block. For example, switch 2/1 means block 2, switch 1.

  1. Configure the Ringnode to use alternate bus-timing by setting switch 2/6 to OFF.

  2. For the 16/4 AT Ringnode only, set DMA disabled (PIO mode) by setting switch 2/4 to OFF.

  3. Install the Ringnode into the lowest slot (the slot closest to the mother board) of the computer's riser card.

  4. To check that your Ringnode is working correctly, run the Ringnode diagnostics program.