User's Guide

Point Enablers and Card Services

Computers that support PC Cards have one or more PC Card slots, known as A, B, C... or 1, 2, 3.... The slots are controlled by integrated circuit chips such as the TI1130, TI1131, and TI1250 (Cardbus) controller chip sets, and many more.

In order for communications programs to use a PC Card, interface software of some sort is needed. At present, several interfaces are available and each has its advantages and disadvantages. The two most important interfaces are those provided by Point Connectivity Enablers and Card Services; both are available under DOS, but OS/2 requires you to use Card Services.

If you decide to use Card Services, you must install and enable it before running LANAID.

A third type of interface is Socket Services.

Relationship Between the Interfaces

The following diagram shows how the interfaces relate to each other:

Point Connectivity Enablers

These are small programs that provide an interface directly to the PC Card controller; therefore, they must be written to support a particular type of controller.

In the DOS environment only, you have the option of using these point connectivity enablers instead of Card and Socket Services.

One point enabler is supplied for this PC Card:

POINTTR.EXE: For computers with Intel 32365SL PCMCIA controller chip sets or any controller that is designed to be compatible. These include the IBM ThinkPad, Toshiba 4500 and later, and many other makes.

Notes:

When using the point connectivity enabler, it is vitally important that you make certain that the system resources used by the PC Card are different from and do not conflict with the system resources and any other PC Cards installed in your computer.
Windows NT currently uses a point enabler called PCMCIA.SYS, which currently ships with Windows NT.

Advantage

Enablers consume no memory -- they remove themselves after configuring the PC Card.

Disadvantages

You must specify the slot; the point enabler will enable only that slot. Therefore, the PC Card must always be in a specific slot.
In some computers, the slot may not be switched off when the computer is in suspend mode, so the PC Card will continue to consume power.
When configuring two or more PC Cards, you must allocate memory and interrupt resources manually under DOS.

Socket Services

This is a BIOS-type interface that provides a way to gain access to the PC Card sockets (slots) of a computer. It identifies how many sockets your computer has and detects the insertion or removal of a PC Card while the computer is switched on. It has an interface to Card Services. Socket Services is part of the PCMCIA Specification.

The Socket Services device driver is usually provided by the manufacturer of the computer, because the driver must understand the computer's BIOS and PCMCIA controller.

Card Services

This is a software management interface that allows system resources (such as memory, interrupts, slots, and I/O ports) to be allocated automatically when Socket Services has detected that a PC Card has been inserted.

Client drivers call Card Services to allocate and de-allocate system resources. When Socket Services detects an insertion or removal of a PC Card, it sends notification to Card Services. Card Services then notifies its registered client drivers, such as IBMTOKCS.OS2, that they should allocate or de-allocate resources.

If the installation program detects Card and Socket Services in your computer, it will default to Autoset mode. Autoset mode allows your LAN driver to negotiate with Card Services for memory space and interrupts. This helps to prevent conflicts with other PC Cards that are installed in your computer; however, you will not know exactly what memory addresses and interrupts have been given to you. It will default to Autoset mode if the driver supports it.

Card Services requires Socket Services. The Card Services interface will usually be provided with the operating system.

Advantages

Ability to insert and remove PC Cards without computer reconfiguration and without damaging the electrical contacts.
Automatic allocation of system resources.
When used with your Token-Ring software in Autoset mode, automatic configuration of your PC Card occurs.

Disadvantage

Stay-resident program that uses system memory. The amount varies according to the type of PC Card support and the drivers used.

Card Services Enabler

If you want to use a Token-Ring device driver that does not have built-in Card Services support on a system that uses Card Services, CS20TOK.EXE is supplied. This program is a Card Services Enabler that uses Card and Socket Services to configure the IBM Turbo 16/4 Token-Ring PC Card 2. As with other enablers, you must specify the resources desired for the PC Card, and they must agree with the settings of the Token-Ring device driver for the system to work correctly.

The DOS Card Services 2.00 interface enabler shipped on the CD-ROM is CS20TOK.EXE.

CS20TOK.EXE: DOS Card Services 2.00 interface enabler. It uses the Card Services interface to configure the socket and the PC Card. It is used when the Token-Ring device driver is not a Card Services client driver and a Card Services environment is desired. It works with DOS Card Services 2.00 and higher.

Card and Socket Services versus Point Enablers

There is much debate about this. In principle, Card and Socket Services is the better method of connection because it allows you to insert or remove PC Cards from any socket, even while the computer is switched on; and it automatically allocates resources like memory, I/O ports, interrupt levels, and slots.

Point Enablers, of which two are provided with the PC Card, are popular because they remove themselves from memory after having been loaded--as opposed to the 30-40 KB needed for Card and Socket Services.

For point enablers, you have to specify the slot in which a particular PC Card will be used and you have to specify memory locations, interrupt levels, and other parameters. This is not difficult unless you use several PC Cards at different times, in which case you need to make certain that what you specify does not conflict with any other PC Cards installed in your computer.

Autoset Mode

Card and Socket Services turns out to be most helpful when you have a number of PC Cards installed in your computer. If the installation program detects Card and Socket Services in your computer, it will default to Autoset mode. Autoset mode allows your LAN driver to negotiate with Card and Socket Services for memory space and interrupts every time you switch on your computer. This helps to prevent conflicts with other PC Cards that are installed in your computer; however, you will not know exactly what memory addresses and interrupts you are using.

Using a Memory Manager in DOS Environments

If your computer comes with a memory manager preinstalled, or if you would like to use one, you must configure your computer so that the memory manager does not use the same memory as your PC Card. If you have more than one PC Card, you must reserve the memory needed for all of them. One PC Card cannot use the same memory ranges as another.

To determine whether or not your computer has a memory manager, edit your CONFIG.SYS file and look for the memory manager driver name. For example, when using EMM386, look for:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE ......

When using a memory manager, considerations for your PC Card environment (Point Enabler or Card and Socket Services) are required. Listed here are explanations for handling these environments with a memory manager. It is not intended to be all-inclusive. To understand completely your memory manager and your configuration files, refer to your computer's operating system manual.

Memory Managers with Point Enablers

To prevent duplicate use of a memory location, the area used by your PC Card must be excluded from the memory manager. To do this, you must edit your CONFIG.SYS file. In certain environments, LANAID will add the exclude statement automatically.
If you are using enhanced mode, 8 KB of memory must be excluded. If you are using compatibility mode, 24 KB of memory must be excluded.

For the point enabler, the required exclusions are shown in the example below (using EMM386, this is done using the X= parameter):

For enhanced mode:

DEVICE=C:\POINTTR.EXE SA RS=4 MMIO=D000 IRQ=9 SRAM=D000,4 WS=0
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 1024 RAM X=D000-D1FF

For compatibility mode:

DEVICE=C:\POINTTR.EXE SA RS=4 MMIO=D000 IRQ=9 SRAM=D800,16 WS=0
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE 1024 RAM X=D000-D1FF X=D800-DBFF

Notice that the EMM386 line excludes the ranges that the POINTTR.EXE enabler uses.

Memory Managers with Card and Socket Services

To prevent duplicate use of a memory location, the area used by your PC Card must be excluded from the memory manager. To do this, you must edit your CONFIG.SYS file. In certain environments, the installation program will add the exclude statement automatically.
If you are in enhanced mode, 8 KB of the MMIO range must be excluded.
If you are in compatibility mode, 8 KB of the MMIO range (MMIO base address default of D000) and 16 KB of the Shared RAM (SRAM) range (SRAM base address default of D800) must be excluded.
In addition, Card Services needs at least 4 KB excluded for its use. Remember, if you are using more than one PC Card, the memory locations for the other PC Cards must also be excluded.
Card Services and memory managers typically do not talk to each other. You must tell them what areas can be used. For example, with IBM Card Services the /MA option is used to tell Card Services what memory range it can use for PC Cards. It also uses some of this area for itself. That same /MA range must be excluded from the memory manager line. This will prohibit the memory manager from also using that same space.
For IBM CS, the /MA is used to specify the range of memory the PC Cards and Card Services use. The parameter is added to the Resource Map Utility line in your CONFIG.SYS. For example:
- Using IBM Card Services:
  On a computer using memory range C0000-CFFFF
```
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=C000-CFFF
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\DOS\DICRMU02.SYS /MA=C000-CFFF
```
  The Resource Map Utility driver name may be slightly different for the various computers. Consult your operating manual.
- Using Phoenix Card Services with the /ADDR option:
  For some versions of Phoenix Card Services, the /ADDR parameter is used to specify the 4-KB memory range used by Card Services. The memory range chosen for the PC Cards must not conflict with this range. The /ADDR parameter is placed on the Phoenix device driver line in the CONFIG.SYS file. Consult your operation manual as to the version you have and whether the /ADDR option is needed.
  Note: The /ADDR needs only the starting address of the Card Services memory area.
  
  On a computer using memory range D0000-DFFFF
```
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=D000-DFFF
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\PCMPLUS\PCMCS.EXE /WAIT=12 /ADDR=D0 /IRQ=9
```
General Rules:
IBM Card Services
1. The memory area used by PC Cards must fall within the range specified by /MA.
2. The memory area used by Card Services itself (4 KB) must be included in the /MA range.
3. All of the /MA range must be excluded from your memory manager line.
Phoenix Card Services
1. The memory used by Card Services starting at the /ADDR address and the memory used by the PC Card should be excluded from the memory manager line.
2. If the /ADDR line is not used, the driver will use the first available address on a 4-KB boundary for Card Services. The memory manager line must exclude this area and the PC Card memory area.

Expanded Memory Specification

Expanded memory specification (EMS) requires 64 KB (one page frame) of contiguous memory. This may cause you to move your PC Card memory range. With EMM386 you set the page frame base address using the FRAME= option on the memory manager line in the CONFIG.SYS. If the FRAME= option is not used, EMM386 will find the first 64-KB block of contiguous memory. For example:

Using a point enabler with the PC Card at D0000-DBFFF, the C0000-CFFFF range is free for the EMS page. A sample enhanced mode memory manager line in your CONFIG.SYS is:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM 1024 X=D000-D1FF FRAME=C000

Note: The Token-Ring PC Card uses D0000-D1FFF for 8-KB MMIO. The FRAME= parameter sets the base address of the EMS page frame (the page frame uses C0000-CFFFF). So, no PC Cards should be set to use memory in the range C0000-CFFFF.

Using a point enabler with the PC Card at D0000-DBFFF, the C0000-CFFFF range is free for the EMS page. A sample compatibility mode memory manager line in your CONFIG.SYS is:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM 1024 X=D000-D1FF
    X=D800-DBFF FRAME=C000

Note: The Token-Ring PC Card uses D0000-D1FFF for 8-KB MMIO and D8000-DBFFF for 16-KB SRAM. The FRAME= parameter sets the base address of the EMS page frame (the page frame uses C0000-CFFFF). So, no PC Cards should be set to use memory in the range C0000-CFFFF.

Using IBM Card Services, you can set the /MA option such that a 64-KB block is free for the EMS page frame. A sample memory manager line in your CONFIG.SYS is:

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM 1024 X=D000-DBFF FRAME=C000
  .
  .
DEVICE=C:\DICRMU01.SYS /MA=D000-DBFF

Note: Because of the /MA option, IBM CS will use memory in the range D0000-DBFFF only. The FRAME= parameter sets the base address of the EMS page frame (the page frame uses C0000-CFFFF). So, no PC Cards should be set to use memory in the range C0000-CFFFF.

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