Invisible Software

Plug-and-Play NE-2000 Compatible ISA Ethernet Card

 

This document describes how to use a plug-and-play NE-2000 compatible ISA Ethernet board with Invisible LAN. These instructions apply only for DOS and Windows 3.X.

Furthermore, these instructions apply only if the Ethernet board is configured to operate in plug-and-play mode, and only when installed in a computer with a plug-and-play BIOS.

"Plug-and-play" is a system that lets the computer automatically assign I/O port addresses and interrupt levels to various boards. This relieves the user of the need to manually assign I/O port addresses and interrupt levels, and avoids conflicts.

Since the Ethernet board is NE-2000 compatible, you can use the NE-2000 driver for Invisible LAN. The only problem is the board's I/O address. Plug-and-play boards often have unusual I/O addresses. Therefore, you must manually configure Invisible LAN with the correct I/O address. We have a program called PNP2000 which tells you the I/O address.

Instructions

To use a plug-and-play NE-2000 compatible ISA Ethernet card with Invisible LAN, proceed as follows:

  1. Click here to download PNP2000.ZIP. After downloading, unzip the file.
     
  2. Install the plug-and-play NE-2000 compatible ISA Ethernet card in your computer. If necessary, run the Ethernet card's setup program.
     
  3. At the DOS prompt, run the program PNP2000. You should see a display similar to the following:

    The NE-2000 compatible plug-and-play ISA Ethernet card is installed.
        I/O port address: 280
        IRQ level: 11
        Card active: Yes
     
  4. Write down the I/O port address and IRQ level.
     
  5. Make sure that the card is active (as shown in the "card active" line above). If it isn't, consult your computer's instruction manual, or the Ethernet card's instruction manual, for information on how to activate the card. Invisible LAN won't work if the card is not active.
     
  6. At the DOS prompt, run SETUP30, which is the setup program for Invisible LAN. Then load your configuration file.
     
  7. Go to Advanced Configuration, General Network Parameters. If you have the adapter independent version of Invisible LAN, set the network hardware type to "NE2000". If you have the adapter dependent version of Invisible LAN, set the network hardware type to "ETHERNET_2000".
     
  8. Go to Advanced Configuration, TransBIOS Parameters. Set the hardware I/O port to the I/O port address you wrote down. Set the hardware IRQ level to the IRQ level you wrote down.
     
  9. Return to the main menu of SETUP30. Save your configuration file, and then exit from the program.
     
  10. Type NET30 to start the network. If you have entered the I/O port address and IRQ level correctly, the network should start normally.

Notes

The plug-and-play Ethernet card's I/O port address and IRQ level are assigned by your computer's plug-and-play BIOS.

If you add or remove any boards in your computer, the Ethernet card's I/O port address or IRQ level may change. Therefore, if you add or remove any boards, you may have to re-run PNP2000 and change the information entered in SETUP30.

Many Ethernet cards described as "plug-and-play" actually have two modes of operation: a plug-and-play mode and a manual configuration mode. You select the mode using jumpers or a setup program. PNP2000 is required only if the card is set to plug-and-play mode. If the card is set to manual configuration mode, just use Invisible LAN normally.

The NETDIAG program may display the board's I/O address incorrectly. This is because NETDIAG assumes that NE-2000 boards can only have I/O addresses in the range 200 through 3E0. It is possible that a plug-and-play NE-2000 compatible board might have an I/O address outside that range, in which case NETDIAG does not display it correctly.

These instructions are only for use with DOS and Windows 3.X. If you are running Windows 95, you don't have to do anything special to use Invisible LAN. Simply install the Windows 95 driver that came with your Ethernet board, or use the NE-2000 driver that is included with Windows 95..

 

Notices: Copyright 1997 by Invisible Software, Inc. Invisible Software and InvisibleLAN are trademarks of Invisible Software, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

This document was prepared on 12/01/97, and was believed to be accurate as of that date. Procedures, specifications, and compatibility may change without notice, and therefore this document may be out-of-date and/or inapplicable to current product versions. Invisible Software provides this document "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances shall this document be construed as creating or expanding any warranty of product performance.

 

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