I found the answer. If interested, scroll to the end...
Hello all.
I've been searching for this for the longest time, and even the 3Com's
PDF mentions nothing about the following...
Here is a list of advanced options, in the properties of my NIC
(3C905C-TX) [albeit they're the same for all 3C905 family].
Options with a (!) are really the ones I want info on.
As for the Wake-on-Lan functions (RWU), I want to know how to make
them work and how they differ from one another (WOL cable is already
connected on mobo).
Advanced options:
=============
802.1p Support (!)
DoubleNego (!)
Down Poll Rate (!)
Enh Lan Power Mgmt
Flow Control
InitDelayCount (!)
LnkChk (!)
Media Type
PHYCompat (!)
RWU ARP (!)
RWU Magic Pkt (!)
RWU Ping (!)
Rx Checksum Offload (!)
Software Cable Detect (!)
Stdby RWU Magic Pkt (!)
Stdby RWU Pattern (!)
Tx Checksum Offload (!)
I already tried the "?" icon on the upper-right corner of the
properties windows, but it just says to consult the manufacturer's
documentation. Useless.
Any info or link to a useful document/site would be greatly
appreciated!
Please reply within thread, but if you insist on emailing, then change
all 5's to 6's in my email.
Thanks!
x13
ANSWER:
Solution ID:
3KB1397
3C905C - What are the definitions under the Advaced tab Properties
Fact:
3C905C-TX
Fact: 3C905CX-TX-M
Fact: 3C905CX-TX-NM
Problem: What are the definitions of the properties under the
Microsoft Windows Advanced Tab
Problem: Unable to find Advanced Tab Definitions
Fix:
Note: This document describes properties under the advanced tab for a
3C90x
Network adapter. The user should not change these values unless there
is a
network issue
802.1p Support
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings
isable (default) or Enable
When enabled, the device driver will examine the packet payload
immediately
after the destination and source address in order to determine if VLAN
tags
are incorporated into the frame, and process accordingly. Enable if
802.1p
is implemented on the PC system.
Caution: increases the CPU utilization because of the extra
processing required,
therefore is disabled by default
DoubleNego
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable or Enable (default)
Invokes delay for auto-negotiation. Allows auto-negotiation to
complete
when link partner incorporates a PHY device that results in a failure
of the
first attempt at auto-negotiation. Seen on the Cisco 6509 10/100
chassis card.
TORNADO ASIC only
Down Poll Rate
--------------------
Windows version: NT, 2000, XP
Settings: 8 (default), 64
(Note - earlier EtherCD releases supported the values 8, 16)
Windows version: 98SE, ME
Settings: 0 (default), 1
Setting to adjust the rate that the ASIC polls the PCI bus for
transmit data.
The higher value is the interval between polls, therefore setting the
higher
value slows polling down. This may be required in some systems where
other
PCI bus devices needs more PCI bandwidth in order to operate properly
Enh LAN Power Mgmt
---------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Off (default) or On
Implementation of advanced power management on laptop or mobile
platforms.
Setting this parameter to the On setting causes the device driver to
suspend
transmit polling, whereby the device driver polls for pending transmit
data.
Instead, the driver waits until the NDIS stack layer indicates to the
driver
that there is transmit data pending. In that case, transmit polling
is resumed,
so that the data may be transmitted on the network
This feature is differentiated from Software Cable Detect in that this
function
occurs with the network cable attached, whereby Software Cable Detect
occurs
when the network cable is detached
When transmit polling is suspended, this allows the laptop system to
enter a
lower power management state that is based on the cessation of PCI bus
activity
Flow Control
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable or Enable (default)
Standard IEEE flow control. Enabled by default.
InitDelayCount
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: 0 - 60 (default = 0)
A configurable delay in seconds to help compensate for packet
forwarding delays
that can occur on switch ports because of switch activities such as
execution of
the spanning tree protocol
If the switch causes any delay in forwarding packets, then traffic
sent from the PC,
such as DHCP, or IPX auto-frame detection packets, may not be
forwarded to the
network. If this occurs, the PC may not receive an IP address from a
DHCP request,
or the IPX frame type may not be correctly determined
There are mechanisms on most switches to help compensate for packet
forwarding
delays caused by spanning tree or other operations. It is recommended
that
the user first attempt to implement these methods, as there may be
additional
advantages in their use, such as overall reduced network traffic (for
example,
using Portfast on a Cisco switch can reduce the overall amount of
spanning tree
protocol traffic on the network)
LnkChk
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable (default) or Enable
Link check is a method of forcing the various link states in cases
where
auto-negotiation may be failing. The Link Check algorithm will first
attempt to
use auto-negotiation to negotiate the speed and duplex of the network
connection.
If auto-negotiation fails, then the device driver will attempt to make
a manual
connection at all the various speed and duplex combinations until one
succeeds
Caution: it is not recommended that this setting be enabled under
ordinary
circumstances. Using this setting may result in a speed and duplex
setting
different than the advanced tab or windows diagnostic selected speed
and duplex,
as it will override these settings in all cases. REVOLUTION ASIC only
Media Type
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: 10 Mb, Full Duplex
10 Mb, Half Duplex
100 Mb, Full Duplex
100 Mb, Half Duplex
AutoSelect
HardwareDefault (default)
Manual user selection for speed and duplex for the ethernet
connection.
Note: AutoSelect; 10 Mb, Full Duplex; 10 Mb, Half Duplex; 100 Mb,
Full Duplex;
100 Mb, Half Duplex are all settings that instruct the device driver
to have the
NIC perform auto-negotiation (AutoSelect), or to initialize at the
specified speed
and duplex, no matter how the physical adapter hardware is configured
HardwareDefault is a setting that will implement the current adapter
hardware
settings as configured in the NIC registers and EEPROM
PHYCompat
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable or Enable (default)
Setting to fix an interoperability problem with some third party
PHYs. Problems
occurred at 10mbps speed of operation only, but setting can be used at
10 or
100mbps
Symptoms of problem include an inability to establish a link at
10mbps, or
intermittent loss of connection. REVOLUTION ASIC only
RWU ARP
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable (default) or Enable
Support for remote wake up from shutdown using an ARP packet. When
set to Enable,
after a shutdown in windows, the system will wake up if an ARP packet
is received
by the network adapter
RWU Magic Pkt
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable or Enable (default)
Support for remote wake up from shutdown using magic packet. When set
to Enable,
after a shutdown in windows, the system will wake up if a magic packet
is received
by the network adapter
RWU Ping
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable (default) or Enable
Support for remote wake up from shutdown using a ping packet. When
set to Enable,
after a shutdown in windows, the system will wake up if a ping packet
is received
by the network adapter
Rx Checksum Offload
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Enable (default) or Disable
Offloading the computation of the IP header checksum to the ASIC
hardware
Software Cable Detect
---------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Off (default on desktop systems)
Intermediate (default on laptop systems with integrated LOM)
Enhanced
On portable systems running on battery power, if the network cable is
unplugged,
and Software Cable Detect is not OFF, then the PHY power will be
cycled on
and off in order to save battery power
The settings of Intermediate and Enhanced determine the length of time
in seconds
that PHY power is turned off. Intermediate is 15 seconds, and
Enhanced is 60
seconds. PHY power is always turned back on for intervals of six
seconds. PHY
power is turned back on so that the PHY can check to see if a network
cable has
been plugged back into the network adapter. REVOLUTION ASIC only
This feature also invokes a down stall mechanism whereby the ASIC
stops polling on
the PCI bus for transmit data. This is to allow PC systems that
monitor PCI bus
activity to enter a lower power management state
If this feature is turned on, the user will notice a long delay before
the link is
established with the switch/hub after the cable is plugged back in.
This is a
normal behavior since PHY power has been turned off and will be not
turned on until
the timer set by this feature expires
Stdby RWU Magic Pkt
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable or Enable (default)
Support for remote wake up from standby using a magic packet. When set
to Enable,
after entering standby in windows, the system will resume if a magic
packet is
received by the network adapter
Stdby RWU Pattern
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Disable or Enable (default)
Support for remote wake up from pattern using a magic packet. When set
to Enable,
after entering standby in windows, the system will resume if a
specific packet
pattern is received by the network adapter. The packet patterns that
will wake
the system up are determined by the operating system at the time the
system is
place into the standby mode. Supported on ACPI BIOS system platforms
only, and
must be used in conjunction with the Power Management settings of the
network
adapter properties
Tx Checksum Offload
--------------------
Windows version: All
Settings: Enable (default) or Disable
Offloading the computation of the IP header checksum to the ASIC
hardware
