Category : Alternate Operating Systems - Quarterdeck DesqView, CP/M, etc
Archive   : QTEC9306.ZIP
Filename : MCA.TEC

ID:MC Microchannel Adapters, MCA.ADL, QEMM-386, QEMM 50/60, and QRAM
Quarterdeck Technical Note #223 Filename: MCA.TEC
by Quarterdeck Testing & Compatibility CompuServe: MCA.TEC
Last revised: 12/20/91 Category: QEMM

Subject: Notes on the MCA.ADL file that comes with QEMM-386, QEMM 50/60, and
QRAM, and how to modify it to recognize unrecognized Micro Channel
Adapters.


MCA.TEC

"UNRECOGNIZED MICROCHANNEL ADAPTER"

I GET THIS MESSAGE WHENEVER I BOOT MY MACHINE WHEN QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM)
IS LOADING: WHY?
The reason you get this message is that you have a Microchannel adapter
which is not in the file MCA.ADL.

WHAT IS THE MCA.ADL?
MCA.ADL is a file that comes with QEMM-386, QEMM 50/60 and QRAM. It
contains the configuration information about Microchannel cards so that QEMM-
386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) can read the configuration of the cards installed in
your computer. Many add-in boards such as network cards, memory cards, and
fax boards occupy memory between 640K and 1 megabyte. The entries in the
MCA.ADL file tell QEMM-386, QEMM 50/60 and QRAM what portions of the address
space those cards are using and keep QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) from mapping
HIGH RAM into the portions of the address space being occupied by these cards.

WHY IS MY CARD NOT IN THE MCA.ADL?
New cards are being made constantly but your MCA.ADL file was written
when your QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) was released. Here at Quarterdeck we
update our MCA.ADL whenever we receive the configuration file of a new
Microchannel adapter.

HOW CAN I GET A NEW COPY OF THE MCA.ADL?
A current copy is available on the Quarterdeck BBS (310-314-3227). You
may find one on a more current QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) purchaser's disk.
The file is the same for all Quarterdeck products.

IS THERE ANOTHER WAY TO GET THE ENTRY FOR MY CARD?
If you do not wish to download the latest MCA.ADL from the BBS then you
may contact Quarterdeck Technical Support and have the entry for your card
FAXed or mailed to you.

WHAT DO I DO WITH THE ENTRY FOR MY CARD?
The MCA.ADL is a plain text file. Any word processor that can save a
non-formatted file (Wordstar in non-document mode, Microsoft Word as
"unformatted", Wordperfect as "DOS Text", for example,) can be used to edit
the MCA.ADL. Although the entry can be inserted anywhere in the file good
form would be to enter it in numerical order. The Microchannel ID numbers are
hexadecimal numbers.

WHAT IF MY DEVICE IS NOT ON THE LATEST MCA.ADL?
Then you should send a copy of the file "@XXXX.ADF" (where "XXXX" is the
number of the unrecognized Microchannel adapter) by mail or FAX to Quarterdeck
Technical Support so that we can make an appropriate entry for the master
MCA.ADL (this is why it is changes so often) and have a copy of the proper
entry sent to you by return mail or FAX. The file @XXXX.ADF resides on the
reference disk that comes with the adapter card. It should also be on the
reference diskette of the computer.

WHAT IF I AM NOT HAVING A PROBLEM?
QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) use the Microchannel configuration only for
the purpose of making sure that they do not map High RAM (or the page frame
for QEMM-386 and QEMM 50/60) into portions of the address space occupied by
the adapter cards. There are many other factors involved in the Microchannel
configuration but they have no direct bearing upon Quarterdeck products. In
addition to using this Microchannel-specific method of detecting address
conflicts, QEMM-386, QEMM 50/60, and QRAM also use more conventional methods
to detect high address space usage, methods that are used both on Microchannel
and on non-Microchannel machines. When they detect such usage of memory, High
RAM will not be mapped into the address space being occupied by the adapter
card even if there is no entry for the card in the MCA.ADL.
If the card does not use any high address space (and many do not) then
the entry in the MCA.ADL is for informational purposes only and is not
necessary for QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) to configure itself to work on the
system. An unrecognized Microchannel Adapter message is still reported but it
can be safely ignored for these kind of adapters, so you may be able to work
without an entry for the unrecognized adapter.
When there is an unrecognized Microchannel adapter installed, QEMM-386
(QEMM 50/60, QRAM) will report an error and give you the option of not loading
itself. If you are having no problem, you can press any key to continue at
this point and QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM) will load. If you wish to suppress
this error message, you may put the NOPAUSEONERROR (NOPE, for short) parameter
on QEMM-386 (QEMM 50/60, QRAM). This is not advisable as QEMM-386 (QEMM
50/60, QRAM) will not report any error. A better temporary solution is to
make a temporary entry in the MCA.ADL for the target card. This entry will
look like:

XXXX Waiting for a correct MCA.ADL entry from Quarterdeck

where XXXX is the number of the unrecognized Microchannel adapter.

EXAMPLE
You are getting the message: "Unrecognized Microchannel Adapter @5600".
Your MCA.ADL looks like this in this area:

5500 COREtape Controller
5502 CORE CNT-MCF Tape Controller
5606 Cabletron Ethernet Board E3010
X X000XXXX /ARAM=C000-C3FF
X X001XXXX /ARAM=C400-C7FF
X X010XXXX /ARAM=C800-CBFF
X X011XXXX /ARAM=CC00-CFFF
X X100XXXX /ARAM=D000-D3FF
X X101XXXX /ARAM=D400-D7FF
X X110XXXX /ARAM=D800-DBFF
X X111XXXX /ARAM=DC00-DFFF

5600 is absent. The correct entry for 5600 is:

5600 Cabletron Ethernet Board E3020
X X000XXXX /ARAM=C000-C3FF
X X001XXXX /ARAM=C400-C7FF
X X010XXXX /ARAM=C800-CBFF
X X011XXXX /ARAM=CC00-CFFF
X X100XXXX /ARAM=D000-D3FF
X X101XXXX /ARAM=D400-D7FF
X X110XXXX /ARAM=D800-DBFF
X X111XXXX /ARAM=DC00-DFFF

This entry you must obtain from Quarterdeck Technical Support as mentioned
above. This entry should be inserted in the MCA.ADL file between the entries
for 5502 and 5606. The final result will look like:

5500 COREtape Controller
5502 CORE CNT-MCF Tape Controller
5600 Cabletron Ethernet Board E3020
X X000XXXX /ARAM=C000-C3FF
X X001XXXX /ARAM=C400-C7FF
X X010XXXX /ARAM=C800-CBFF
X X011XXXX /ARAM=CC00-CFFF
X X100XXXX /ARAM=D000-D3FF
X X101XXXX /ARAM=D400-D7FF
X X110XXXX /ARAM=D800-DBFF
X X111XXXX /ARAM=DC00-DFFF
5606 Cabletron Ethernet Board E3010
X X000XXXX /ARAM=C000-C3FF
X X001XXXX /ARAM=C400-C7FF
X X010XXXX /ARAM=C800-CBFF
X X011XXXX /ARAM=CC00-CFFF
X X100XXXX /ARAM=D000-D3FF
X X101XXXX /ARAM=D400-D7FF
X X110XXXX /ARAM=D800-DBFF
X X111XXXX /ARAM=DC00-DFFF

************************************************************************
*This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long as it*
*is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed for profit. *
* Copyright (C) 1991-2 by Quarterdeck Office Systems *
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