3Com Fast EtherLink 3C515-TX User manual

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Fast EtherLink
®
ISA
10/100BASE-TX
Network Interface Card
User Guide
A member of the 3Com
®
Fast EtherLink family
of network interface cards
Part No. 09-0923-001
Published May 1999

3Com Corporation
■
5400 Bayfront Plaza
■
Santa Clara, California
■
95052-8145
Copyright © 1999, 3Com Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be
reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation,
transformation, or adaptation) without written permission from 3Com Corporation.
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from time to time without obligation on the part of 3Com Corporation to provide notification of such
revision or change.
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If there is any software on removable media described in this documentation, it is furnished under a
license agreement included with the product as a separate document, in the hard copy documentation,
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locate a copy, please contact 3Com and a copy will be provided to you.
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGEND
If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the software described
herein are provided to you subject to the following:
All technical data and computer software are commercial in nature and developed solely at private
expense. Software is delivered as “Commercial Computer Software” as defined in DFARS 252.227-7014
(June 1995) or as a “commercial item” as defined in FAR 2.101(a) and as such is provided with only such
rights as are provided in 3Com’s standard commercial license for the Software. Technical data is provided
with limited rights only as provided in DFAR 252.227-7015 (Nov 1995) or FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987),
whichever is applicable. You agree not to remove or deface any portion of any legend provided on any
licensed program or documentation contained in, or delivered to you in conjunction with, this User Guide.
Unless otherwise indicated, 3Com registered trademarks are registered in the United States and may or
may not be registered in other countries.
3Com, the 3Com logo, EtherDisk, EtherLink, Parallel Tasking, and TokenLink are registered trademarks
of 3Com Corporation. Dynamic Access is a trademarks of 3Com Corporation. 3ComFacts is a service
mark of 3Com Corporation.
Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they
are associated.
Guide written by Jean Anderson. Edited by Michael Brösius. Illustrated by Mary Inden. Produced by
Mary Estrella.

C
ONTENTS
A BOUT T HIS G UIDE
How to Use This Guide 1
Conventions 2
1 I NTRODUCTION
Features 1-1
10/100 Auto Negotiation (NWay) 1-2
Remote NIC Management 1-2
System Requirements 1-2
3C515-TX NIC Operation Tips 1-3
Compaq 386/20e PC 1-3
Compaq DeskPro 433/L PC 1-3
IBM 486 SLC and IBM 386 SLC PCs 1-3
Network Driver Installation Options 1-4
2 I NSTALLING THE NIC
Getting Started 2-1
Installing the NIC 2-2
Connecting to the Network 2-5
3 I NSTALLING THE N OVELL N ET W ARE D RIVER
Before You Begin 3-1
Installing the Novell NetWare Client Driver 3-2
DOS and Windows 3.x 3-2
OS/2 3-3
Windows for Workgroups 3-5
NetWare Shell Support for Windows for
Workgroups 3-7
Windows 95 3-7
Confirming Installation 3-9

Windows NT 4.0 3-10
Windows NT 3.51 3-11
4 I NSTALLING THE NDIS N ETWORK D RIVER
Before You Begin 4-2
Installing the NDIS 2.01 Driver 4-2
Windows 3.x 4-2
Windows for Workgroups 4-3
Windows 95 4-4
IBM LAN Server 4.0 for DOS and OS/2 4-5
LAN Services v4.0 for DOS 4-5
OS/2 LAN Server 4-6
DEC PATHWORKS, Banyan VINES Client,
Microsoft LAN Manager, or Artisoft LANtastic 4-7
Updating the NDIS 2.01 Driver 4-8
DOS or Windows 3.x Update 4-8
Windows 95 Update 4-8
Installing the NDIS 3.x Driver 4-9
Windows for Workgroups 4-9
Windows 95 4-10
Confirming Installation 4-11
Windows NT 4.0 4-12
Windows NT 3.51 4-13
5 T ROUBLESHOOTING
Troubleshooting with the NIC LEDs 5-1
Troubleshooting with the Diagnostic Tests 5-2
Running the Diagnostic Tests 5-3
Running the Group 1 Tests 5-3
Running the Group 3 Test 5-4
Testing 10BASE-T NIC Operation 5-4
Testing 100BASE-TX NIC Operation 5-6
Starting the Group 3 Test 5-6
Getting Help If a Test Fails 5-6
Changing the Test Setup 5-8
6 C HANGING C ONFIGURATION S ETTINGS
Changing the Settings 6-2

A S PECIFICATIONS
NIC Specifications A-1
Cabling Requirements A-2
RJ-45 Connector Pin Assignments A-2
B T ECHNICAL S UPPORT
Online Technical Services B-1
World Wide Web Site B-1
3Com FTP Site B-1
3Com Bulletin Board Service B-2
Access by Analog Modem B-2
Access by Digital Modem B-2
3Com Facts Automated Fax Service B-3
Support from Your Network Supplier B-3
Support from 3Com B-3
Returning Products for Repair B-5
I NDEX
3C OM C ORPORATION L IMITED W ARRANTY
FCC C LASS A V ERIFICATION S TATEMENT
FCC C LASS B S TATEMENT
FCC D ECLARATION OF C ONFORMITY
3C OM E ND U SER S OFTWARE L ICENSE A GREEMENT
P RODUCT R EGISTRATION

F
IGURES
2-1 3C515-TX NIC 2-2
2-2 Removing the Cover 2-3
2-3 Removing the Screw and Backplate 2-4
2-4 Inserting the NIC 2-4
2-5 Connecting the Network Cable to the RJ-45 Connector 2-6
5-1 3C515-TX NIC and LEDs 5-1
6-1 Select an Adapter Screen 6-3
6-2 Changing Adapter Configuration Screen 6-4
A-1 RJ-45 Connector Pin Assignments A-2

T
ABLES
1 Notice Icons 2
2 Text Conventions 2
5-1 LED Descriptions 5-2
5-2 NIC and Diagnostic Program Names 5-5
6-1 Option Settings 6-2

A
BOUT
T
HIS
G
UIDE
This guide describes how to install, configure,
and troubleshoot the 3Com
®
Fast EtherLink
®
ISA
10/100BASE-TX network interface card (called the
3C515-TX adapter in this guide).
How to Use This Guide
This table shows where to find specific information in
this guide.
If you are looking for... Turn to...
Features and system requirements Chapter 1
Installation and cabling Chapter 2
Procedures for installing the NetWare network driver Chapter 3
Procedures for installing the NDIS network driver Chapter 4
Troubleshooting Chapter 5
Procedures for changing configuration settings Chapter 6
Specifications, connector pin assignments, cable troubleshooting,
and cable requirements Appendix A
Technical support Appendix B

2 A BOUT T HIS G UIDE
Conventions
Table 1 and Table 2 list conventions that are used
throughout this guide.
Table 1 Notice Icons
Icon Notice Type Alerts you to...
Information note Important features or instructions
Caution Risk of personal safety, system damage, or loss
of data
Warning Risk of severe personal injury
Table 2 Text Conventions
Convention Description
Screen displays This typeface represents information as it appears on the
screen.
The words “enter”
and “type” When you see the word “enter” in this guide, you must type something, and then press the Return or Enter key.
Do not press the Return or Enter key when an
instruction simply says “type.”
Menu commands and
buttons
Menu commands or button names appear in italics.
Example:
From the
Help menu, select Contents .
Words in italicized
type Italics emphasize a point or denote new terms at the place where they are defined in the text.
Words in bold-face
type Bold text denotes key features.

1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the 3C515-TX NIC features, system
requirements, and network driver installation options.
The 3Com®Fast EtherLink®ISA 10/100BASE-TX network
interface card (called the 3C515-TX NIC in this guide)
connects your PC to either a 10BASE-T or a 100BASE-TX
network port.
The 3C515-TX NIC uses a single RJ-45 connector,
unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable, and a 16-bit ISA
slot in your PC.
Please read the README.TEXT file on the supplied
EtherDisk diskette for the latest information about this
product
Features The 3C515-TX NIC has the following features:
■Parallel Tasking®architecture for high throughput and
low processor utilization
■10 or 100 Mbps auto negotiation (NWay)
■Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT support,
which automatically senses the presence of the
3C515-TX NIC and installs the correct network driver
from the 3Com EtherDisk®diskette
■Intelligent Auto Install installation software, which
automatically installs all NovellNetWareDOS ODI client
software into your operating system
■Status LEDs
■Single shielded RJ-45 connector for both 10 Mbps and
100 Mbps speeds

1-2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
■Use of Category 3, 4, or 5 UTP cabling for 10BASE-T
Ethernet networks and Category 5 for 100BASE-TX
Fast Ethernet networks
■Boot ROM (3C515-TRIROM)
10/100 Auto Negotiation (NWay)
The 3C515-TX NIC automatically runs at the speed
that the connected hub supports, using NWay, an
IEEE 802.3 standard. The 3C515-TX NIC also works
with any other non-NWay 10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX
IEEE-compliant products.
Remote NIC Management
3Com’s Transcend®PC Link SmartAgent®driver agents,
which need only 6 KB of memory, allow network
management of the 3C515-TX NIC and the PC in which
it is installed. You can get the driver agents from 3Com’s
Transcend PC Link SmartAgent software or from 3Com’s
bulletin board service (BBS). See Appendix B for
information on the BBS.
For more information on Transcend WorkGroup Manager
software, contact your authorized 3Com representative.
System Requirements
The 3C515-TX NIC can be installed in any PC that meets
the following requirements:
■80386, 80486, or Pentium PC
■Available 16-bit ISA slot
■640 K of memory (minimum)
Make sure you are running the latest BIOS for your PC.

3C515-TX NIC Operation Tips 1-3
3C515-TX NIC Operation Tips
3Com testing has discovered bus mastering problems on
some PCs. Refer to the README.TXT file for information
on how to disable bus mastering.
The 3C515-TX NIC was designed for maximum
performance and compatibility in ISA-only machines. For
PCI/ISA hybrid or EISA PCs, use the 3Com 3C905-TX
Fast EtherLink XL PCI NIC or the 3Com 3C597-TX
Fast EtherLink EISA NIC.
Compaq 386/20e PC
3Com has observed during testing that the 3C515-TX
NIC is not detected by the Compaq 386/20e PC.
Compaq DeskPro 433/L PC
The Plug and Play (PnP) range check cannot detect an I/O
conflict with the on-board video set to the 0x3C0 I/O
base address. This NIC works with other I/O base
address settings.
IBM 486 SLC and IBM 386 SLC PCs
The 3C515-TX NIC does not run in bus master mode on
these PCs. To disable bus mastering on your PC, refer
to the README.TXT file.

1-4 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Network Driver Installation Options
You must install the network driver provided on the
EtherDisk diskette that allows the 3C515-TX NIC to work
with the following network operating systems, including:
■Novell NetWare (16-bit client only)
■NDIS network operating systems including:
■Windows 95
■Windows NT
■Microsoft Windows for Workgroups
■OS/2
■Banyan VINES
■Microsoft LAN Manager
■IBM LAN Server
■Artisoft LANtastic/AI
■DEC PATHWORKS
The first installation step is to install the 3C515-TX NIC in
your PC. Go to Chapter 2 for instructions.

2INSTALLING THE NIC
This chapter describes how to install the 3C515-TX NIC in
your PC and connect it to the network.
Getting Started
CAUTION: The NIC is packed in an antistatic container
to protect it during shipment. Before you remove the NIC
from the container, touch the metal chassis of your PC to
reduce static electricity on your person. You can maintain
grounding by wearing a wrist strap attached to the
chassis.
Make sure you have these items:
■3Com Fast EtherLink ISA 10/100BASE-TX NIC
■3Com Fast EtherLink ISA 10/100BASE-TX NIC
User Guide
■3C515-TX EtherDisk diskette, or EtherCD
Inform your network supplier and package delivery
carrier of any missing or damaged items. If you need
to return the NIC to 3Com, you must pack it in the
original (or equivalent) packing material, or the warranty
will be voided.

2-2 CHAPTER 2: INSTALLING THE NIC
Installing the NIC
To install the 3C515-TX NIC, follow these instructions:
WARNING: The NIC is installed in a PC that operates
with voltages that can be lethal. Before you remove the
cover of your PC, you must observe the following steps to
protect yourself and prevent damage to the system’s
components.
1 Turn off the PC and unplug the unit from its
power source.
2 Remove any jewelry from your hands and wrists.
3 Make sure to use only insulated or nonconducting
tools.
4 Remove the 3C515-TX NIC from its container.
5 Check the 3C515-TX NIC, shown in Figure 2-1, for
any visible signs of damage.
Figure 2-1 3C515-TX NIC
RJ-45 port
LEDs
100
TX
TX
L
N
K
10
ACT

Installing the NIC 2-3
6 After you have unpacked the NIC, complete the
Product Registration Card and return it to 3Com.
Or call 1-800-NET-3Com for immediate registration.
Figure 2-2 Removing the Cover
7 Remove the PC’s cover, as shown in Figure 2-2, and
choose an empty ISA expansion slot.
If you do not know how to identify an ISA slot, ask your
system administrator.
CAUTION: Check the clearance between the NIC and any
adjacent board. If there is contact, move one of the boards.
8 Unscrew the screw holding the expansion slot’s
backplate and remove it, as shown in Figure 2-3.

2-4 CHAPTER 2: INSTALLING THE NIC
Figure 2-3 Removing the Screw and Backplate
9 Insert the 3C515-TX NIC into the empty expansion
slot, as shown in Figure 2-4, and secure it with the
screw you removed earlier.
Figure 2-4 Inserting the NIC
Make sure the board is firmly seated in the slot.
Mounting
screw
Expansion
slots
Expansion
slot cover

Connecting to the Network 2-5
10 Replace the PC cover and reconnect all previously
connected cables.
These are general instructions that apply to most PCs.
Refer to the manual that accompanied your PC for
detailed instructions on installing boards in your PC.
11 Turn the power to the PC back on.
12 Proceed to the next section, “Connecting to the
Network.”
Connecting to the Network
This section describes how to connect the 3C515-TX NIC
to the network cable.
You must connect the NIC to the network before loading
the network driver.
Make sure that the connector on your cable is wired
appropriately for standard 10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX
NIC cards.
This NIC can use Category 3, 4, or 5 UTP cabling for
10BASE-T networks and Category 5 for 100BASE-TX
Fast Ethernet networks.
Refer to Figure A-1 for RJ-45 connector pin assignments.
1 Connect the network cable to the RJ-45 port on the
3C515-TX NIC, as shown in Figure 2-5.

2-6 CHAPTER 2: INSTALLING THE NIC
Figure 2-5 Connecting the Network Cable to the RJ-45 Connector
2 Connect the other end of the network cable to a
10BASE-T or a 100BASE-TX network port.
3 Check the LEDs, shown in Figure 2-5.
After installation, and before you install the network
driver, the LEDs indicate the following:
■10 LNK LED lights green to show 10 Mbps
link integrity.
■100 LNK lights green to show 100 Mbps link integrity.
■ACT LED is OFF until the network driver is installed
and then lights yellow to indicate port traffic for
either speed.
For information on what the LEDs indicate after the
network driver is loaded, see Table 5-1.
The next step is to load the network driver. See Chapter 3
for Novell NetWare driver information and Chapter 4 for
NDIS network driver information.
RJ-45 port
RJ-45
connector
100 LNK LED
10 LNK LED
ACT LED
100
TX
TX
L
N
K
10
ACT