Network Peripherals NP-MCA-3

@0069.ADF Network Peripherals FDDI Adapter

0826_01 Install Guide for F3019, F3059, F3069, and F3079 FDDI Adapters

NP_0112-08 Diags, NW 4/3, ODI, NT v3.11 2/2/94, NDIS 3.0, DOS\OS2 ODI & NDIS 2.0.1
   Many thanks to Andreas Kohl for pulling these from the mists of time.

NPMCA.SYS NT 4.0 Driver ver. 3.15 (10/14/96) (compressed as \i386\NPMCA.SY_)

NP_mca-lm Enhanced NIF for use with IBM LAN Systems products
   Note from Andreas: The zip files contains my modification for use with IBM OS/2 networking, simply copy it's content to \IBMCOM\MACS or to a floppy (if you want to test, how LAPS is copying this files). (thanks to Andreas again for writing it!)

NP-MCA-3 Base Card
MCAPHY-3 DAS Side Card
ADF Sections


NP-MCA-3 105-0122-01

D1 Port Activity LED?
JP3 Top row, 25 pin header
JP4 Middle row, 25 pin header
JP5 20 pin header
JP6 Bottom row, 25 pin header
JP7 Pads for 6 pin header
U1-4 CXK58257AM-70L (on back)
U5 610-0166-01D
U9 NS S9452AG CMT Process
U21 NS DP83257VF Player +
U24 XILINX XC3042-70
U25 XILINX XC3042-70
U27 NS DP83261AVF MAC
U33 20 pin PLCC 01741.01D1D
U506 XILINX XC3042-100
U560 Symbios Logic 86C05A
Y1 12.500MHz osc
Y3 40.000 MHz xtal

DP83265A BSI-2TM Device (FDDI System Interface) My guess what U9 REALLY is...
DP83261AVF BMAC Device (FDDI Media Access Controller)

Rightmost pin on JP4 was removed (towards the slot bracket), this assures the 50 pin cable from the side card is attached in only one way.

MCAPHY-3 105-0123-01

D1 Port activity LED?
J1 Optical bypass
JP3 25-pin header
JP4 25-pin header
JP5 20-pin header
JP6 pads for 25-pin header
U21 NS DP83257VF Player +
U41 610-0166-01D Transceiver

JP4 25-pin header, rightmost pin missing
JP5 20-pin header, lower left pin missing

DP83257 (FDDI Physical Layer Controller)

The DAS side card's cables will only fit in the base card if the side card is to the right of the base card. It was easier to put the cables on before trying to put the adapters in the MCA slots because you can have both cards "flat". For us with NP-MCA-3 cards that were banged about some, check the (exposed!) pin header on the base card. Some of the pins may have been bent some, and trying to install the cable will be frustrating.


Gereon Wenzel:
   Looks like its time to start my work on a FDDI Howto/FAQ? No need someone else already did... Google is your friend!
http://www2.rad.com/networks/1995/fddi/fddi.htm
http://www.cicese.mx/~aarmenta/frames/redes/fddi/FDDIFAQ.html
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/cisintwk/ito_doc/fddi.htm

> Does anyone have a manual for this card?
   Not sure if this one matches your cards?
http://www.enterasys.com/support/manuals/hardware/0826_01.pdf

David Ress:
   IIRC, Win95 has built in support. NT 4.0 has built in support (and auto-detects it, unlike the SK-Net FDDI adapter). Uses Npmca.sys for the driver. I tried a while ago to find the diagnostic program for the adapter and failed.  Anyone? Editor - Andreas Kohl found them...

NP has since been bought out, and the new company has extremely limited support for NP hardware, mostly switch related. Nothing micro channel. Still, for FDDI networks, it is my preferred adapter.

Support for Multi Channel Architecture
   The BSI-2 device provides three Input Channels and two Output Channels, which are designed to operate independently and concurrently. They are separately configured by the user to manage the reception or transmission of a particular


ADF Sections @0069h Network Peripherals FDDI Adapter

Map 512 I/O Address Range 
   This selects the 512 I/O address space of the adapter
    <"5400h thru 55FFh">, 5C00 - 5DFF, 5E00 - 5FFF, 7400 - 75FF, 7600 - 77FF, 7C00 - 7DFF, 7E00 - 7FFF, D400 - D5FF, D600 - D7FF, DC00 - DDFF, DE00 - DFFF, F400 - F5FF, F600 - F7FF, FC00 - FDFF, FE00 - FFFF

Modes and Interrupt Level
   Warning! DATA STREAMING MODE should be selected ONLY if you are sure that this machine supports data streaming. This will result in better performance. SLOW MODE should be selected if this FDDI adapter is installed in an older Model 80 that has not had the IBM EC applied. (Ed. I think this refers to the non-busmaster capable planars)
    <"Normal Mode & Interrupt 3">, Normal/Int5, Normal/Int10, Normal/Int15, Data Streaming Mode & Interrupt 3, Data Streaming/Int5, Data Streaming/Int10, Data Streaming/Int15, Slow Mode & Interrupt 3, Slow/Int5, Slow/Int10, Slow/Int15

Arbitration Level
   Using arbitration levels, this adapter accesses memory directly without burdening the computer's main microprocessor. An arbitration level of 0 has the highest priority, and increasing levels have corresponding decreased priority.
   <"Level_1">, 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Map 8K Memory Address Range
   This selects the 8K memory space of the adapter
   <"0C0000h thru 0C1FFFh">, 0C2000 - 0C3FFF, 0C4000 - 0C5FFF, 0C6000 - 0C7FFF, 0C8000 - 0C9FFF, 0CA000 - 0CBFFF, 0CC000 - 0CDFFF, 0CE000 - 0CFFFF, 0D0000 - 0D1FFF, 0D2000 - 0D3FFF, 0D4000 - 0D5FFF, 0D6000 - 0D7FFF, 0D8000 - 0D9FFF, 0DA000 - 0DBFFF, 0DC000 - 0DDFFF, 0DE000 - 0DFFFF, 0E0000 - 0E1FFF, 0E2000 - 0E3FFF, 0E4000 - 0E5FFF, 0E6000 - 0E7FFF, 0E8000 - 0E9FFF, 0EA000 - 0EBFFF, 0EC000 - 0EDFFF, 0EE000 - 0EFFFF

Content created and/or collected by:
Louis F. Ohland, Peter H. Wendt, David L. Beem, William R. Walsh, Tatsuo Sunagawa, Tomáš Slavotínek, Jim Shorney, Tim N. Clarke, Kevin Bowling, and many others.

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