Copyright © Harris Corporation 1997
1
Harris Semiconductor
Wireless LAN Evaluation Kit SW Installation and Usage
Authors: Mike Paljug and Eric Turner (Squires Engineering)
Introduction
This Application Note describes
the driver and application soft-
ware necessary to demonstrate
the 802.11 network capabilities
of the PC Card WLAN Evaluation Kit cards. These cards are
based on the Harris PRISM Chip Set and the AMD
Am79C930 Media Access Controller. Ad hoc network con-
nectivity is provided via alpha 802.11 firmware and an alpha
NDIS3 driver. In addition, Windows 95 application software
is provided for evaluating the performance of the physical
layer in terms of Packet Error Rate (PER).
At this time, the
alpha firmware and driver are only able to support
1 Mbit/second operation. Updates will be provided (as
they become available) via the Harris Semiconductor
World Wide Web page at http://www.harris.com.
Wireless LAN Connectivity
Installation
Before installing the adapter it is strongly recommended that
you update the BIOS for your PC. The new BIOS should ease
the task of resource management for Windows95 and maxi-
mize your chances of having a clean installation. First, deter-
mine the PC’s current BIOS revision. The BIOS revision
number is usually displayed during system start-up or in the
CMOS Setup. Consult your PC documentation for more infor-
mation on determining the BIOS revision. Once the current
BIOS revision number is known, scan the PC Manufacturer’s
Website or call the PC Manufacturer in order to determine the
most recent BIOS revision for your PC model. If the Manufac-
turer has a newer revision, download/order it and follow the
Manufacturer’s instructions for loading it onto your system.
Initial installation of the hardware and software is described
in Chapter 2 of the “PC Card Wireless LAN User Guide [1].”
During initial installation, Windows95 will attempt to automat-
ically assign the hardware resources required by the adapter
(i.e., IRQ, I/O, etc.). Windows95’s Resource Manager usu-
ally assigns resources appropriately. However, the task is
complicated by the absence of a Plug ‘n Play BIOS, lack of a
PCI bus, and/or the presence of legacy hardware. Error
messages encountered during installation should be taken
seriously. Consult Microsoft Windows95 Resource Kit, call
Microsoft Technical Support, or visit the Microsoft Website at
http://www.microsoft.com.
If there are no error or warning messages during installation,
you may verify that the card is operating properly by viewing
the adapter setup in System Manager. Open Control Panel
and then double-click the System icon. This opens up the
System Manager. Select the Device Manager index tab. One
of the listed items should be Network adapters. If
Windows95 thinks there’s a problem with the adapter, the
adapter will be listed under Network adapters and there will
be a yellow exclamation visible next to it. Whether there is a
yellow exclamation visible or not, you may view Windows95’s
resource allocation for the adapter by double clicking its list-
ing. (If the adapter listing isn’t visible, double-click the Net-
work adapters listing to toggle between expanding and
collapsing the Network adapters list.)
If you choose to
change the settings for the assigned resources then you
do so at your own risk. Harris does not assume any lia-
bility for hardware or software malfunction.
If a problem exists as evidenced by the yellow exclamation
or by an inability to connect or sporadic behavior in
Windows95 (machine locks-up during normal operation,
screen displays errant behavior, etc.) then you might be
experiencing a problem with Windows95 resource manage-
ment. The minimal testing that has been performed sug-
gests that certain platforms are at less risk than others for
these types of problems.
Since the software and firmware
are in alpha form, Harris Semiconductor is unable to
support resource management problems at this time.
However, the solution to the majority of problems that have
been experienced to date involve changing the Input/Output
Range setting. Usually changing this setting to 0200-020F is
successful. To do this open Control Panel and double click
the System icon. Select the Device Manager tab and then
double click the ‘Network adapters’ listing. Now double click
the ‘AMD...’ adapter listing. Select the ‘Resources’ tab and
highlight Input/Output Range setting. Uncheck the box titled
“Use automatic settings” and then select “Change Setting...”
Another rare problem involves the configuration accepted by
Windows95’s Resource Manager. Two configurations are
possible, but in this alpha release both do not work equally
well. Configuration 0000 is preferred. To view which configu-
ration has been selected by resource management, open
Control Panel and select the System icon. Select the Device
Manager tab and then select ‘Network Adapters’. Select the
‘AMD...’ adapter listing and select the ‘Resources’ tab. The
configuration is shown in this window. You may select it by
TM
PRISM™ and the PRISM™ logo are trademarks of Harris Corporation.
Windows™ and Microsoft™ are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
No. AN9666 January 1997
Harris Wireless Products
(254 páginas)
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