Allied Telesis AT-24xx User manual

PN 613-000280 Rev B 1 Allied Telesyn, Inc.
ATNICm5x Device Driver for the
AT-24xx and AT-27xx Series Ethernet Network
Adapter Cards
Software Release Notes
Please read this document before you begin to use the software.
Supported Platforms
The ATNICm5x device driver is supported on the AT-24xx and AT-27xx series Ethernet network adapter
cards.
Product Documentation
For hardware installation instructions, refer to the following guides:
Ethernet Network Adapters Installation Guide (PN 613-50669-00)
This document is available on the Allied Telesyn web site at www.alliedtelesyn.com.
Driver Version 4.53
Bug Fix
You can now disable the LLA function.
Driver Version 4.52
Bug Fixes
Corrected receive statistics (Jabber, Collision, Miss Frames, Memory Error) issue where good receives
were still being tracked by checking the receive descriptor status. Changed to use built-in MIB for the
case of the Am79C976-based NICs.
Corrected issue with Am79C976-based NICs which caused an inaccurate count of missed packets
(OID_GEN_RCV_NO_BUFFER).
Corrected bug with receive packet indication for number of free receive buffers.
Corrected the issue where some switches put out invalid signals at power up, causing the Altima PHY
to set the RX_ER line. Communication would resume after the condition was cleared.
Driver Version 4.50
Enhancements
Added support for the Enhanced Backoff Algorithm affecting half-duplex operation.
Driver Version 4.49
Bug Fixes
Corrected support for legacy NICs using the PCI-II chip.

AT-NICm5x Device Driver for AT-24xx and AT-27xx Series Ethernet Network Adapters Software Release Notes
PN 613-000280 Rev B 2 Allied Telesyn, Inc.
Driver Version 4.48
Bug Fixes
Corrected WHQL issue where receive statistics were not correctly updated.
Driver Version 4.47
Bug Fixes
In some cases, intermittent network connectivity was reported when using driver version 4.45. This
issue was caused when receive packets were indicated with NDIS_STATUS_SUCCESS. Receive
packets are now indicated with NDIS_STATUS_RESOURCES.
Driver Version 4.45
Bug Fixes
Corrected interrupt handling issues which caused higher than expected CPU utilization under heavy
load.
Transmit packet data was not being padded with zeros when the payload was less than the 60 bytes.
Corrected for security reasons.
Corrected the demand-transmit routine, which was disabling the NIC interrupt every time it was called
after sending a batch of packets. Now, if the NIC’s interrupt is enabled when this function is called, it is
not disabled.
Corrected issue with transmit statistics where transmit errors such as Loss of Carrier and Late
Collisions were not being tracked properly.
Corrected the driver statistics to correctly support 64-bit OIDs.
Corrected spin lock issues relating to LBFO (load balancing and failover) functionality, which were
causing random lock-ups on multi-processor systems.
Changed receive packet indication from NDIS_STATUS_RESOURCES to
NDIS_STATUS_SUCCESS.
Corrected Receive Lookahead setting.
Corrected failure to communicate after resuming from hibernation.
Corrected speed indication issue with multi-PHY hardware versions.
Enhancements
Implemented Scatter/Gather DMA support.
Implemented the NDIS packet buffer ring for transmit packets.
Interrupt sharing is now enabled.
Implemented transmit interrupt masking to improve CPU utilization.
Enabled burst-mode DMA support to increase performance.
Changed the PHY setup for the Am79C976-based NICs to use the port manager to automatically
configure the external PHY.
Implemented the NDIS “Check for Hang” routine, which monitors the chip to ensure that it is running.
Moved the link check function call to the check-for-hang routine to eliminate the need for a separate
timer, and to avoid waiting for the driver-supplied spin lock, thus affecting performance.

AT-NICm5x Device Driver for AT-24xx and AT-27xx Series Ethernet Network Adapters Software Release Notes
PN 613-000280 Rev B 3 Allied Telesyn, Inc.
Driver Version 4.44
Enhancement
Updated to pass Microsoft’s WHQL 10.1 certification.
Contacting Allied Telesyn
This section provides Allied Telesyn contact information for technical support as well as sales and
corporate information.
Online Support
You can request technical support online by accessing the Allied Telesyn Knowledge Base:
http://kb.alliedtelesyn.com. You can use the Knowledge Base to submit questions to our technical
support staff and review answers to previously asked questions.
Email and Telephone Support
For Technical Support via email or telephone, refer to the Support & Services section of the Allied Telesyn
web site: www.alliedtelesyn.com.
Returning Products
Products for return or repair must first be assigned a return materials authorization (RMA) number. A
product sent to Allied Telesyn without an RMA number will be returned to the sender at the sender’s
expense.
To obtain an RMA number, contact Allied Telesyn Technical Support through our web site:
www.alliedtelesyn.com.
Sales or Corporate Information
You can contact Allied Telesyn for sales or corporate information through our web site:
www.alliedtelesyn.com. To find the contact information for your country, select Contact Us -> Worldwide
Contacts.
Management Software Updates
New releases of management software for our managed products are available from either of the following
Internet sites:
Allied Telesyn web site: www.alliedtelesyn.com
Allied Telesyn FTP server: ftp://ftp.alliedtelesyn.com
If you prefer to download new software from the Allied Telesyn FTP server from your workstation’s
command prompt, you will need FTP client software and you must log in to the server. Enter “anonymous”
for the user name and your email address for the password.
Copyright ©2006 Allied Telesyn, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from Allied Telesyn, Inc.
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herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Allied Telesyn, Inc. reserves the right to make changes
in specifications and other information contained in this document without prior written notice. The information provided herein is
subject to change without notice. In no event shall Allied Telesyn, Inc. be liable for any incidental, special, indirect, or
consequential damages whatsoever, including but not limited to lost profits, arising out of or related to this manual or the
information contained herein, even if Allied Telesyn, Inc. has been advised of, known, or should have known, the possibility of
such damages.