Installing the Software in NetWare
NOTE: If you are installing NetWare 5.1 for the first time on a server, you install the NIC driver during the OS installation procedure. You then install the NetWare 5.1 support pack after you have successfully installed NetWare 5.1 on the server.
To get the latest support pack files, go to the Novell support website at http://support.novell.com.
Using the table above as a guide, select and download the latest support pack or patch file(s) for the operating system running on your server.
Installing the NIC Driver for NetWare
Use one of two procedures for installing the NIC software, depending on whether NetWare is already running on the server or if you are performing an initial installation of the NetWare 5.1 operating system:
■If NetWare is already running on the server, you can edit the AUTOEXEC.NCF and STARTUP.NCF files to load files and configure the NIC driver. For the procedure, see "Installing the Driver: NetWare Already Installed" on page 21.
■If you are installing the NIC software as part of an initial installation of NetWare 5.1, edit the STARTUP.NCF file and configure the NIC driver during the normal NetWare 5.1 installation process. This version of the operating system does not allow you to allocate the actual number of receive buffers required by the NIC until installation is complete. Install the driver software using the procedure described in "Installing the Driver: Initial Installation of NetWare 5.1" on page 24.
Installing the Driver: NetWare Already Installed
This section provides basic guidelines for installing the NIC driver on a server already running the NetWare operating system. This procedure works for NetWare 4.2 and 5.1.
1Insert the 3Com Gigabit EtherLink Server CD into the appropriate
2Copy the 3c986.LAN and the 3c986.LDI files into the \system directory. The NetWare NIC drivers are located in the NetWare directory on the CD.
3Edit the STARTUP.NCF file. Set the packet receive buffers parameters for the number of NICs installed in the system.
To ensure optimum performance, add at least 1024 additional packet receive buffers for each NIC installed in your system.
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