NetWare 286/386 Server Environment Packs & NetWare 2.2/3.11

Novell have recently begun shipments of new releases of NetWare 286 and 386 in the form of NetWare 2.2 and NetWare 3.11. At the time of their release, there were two driver related problems that prevented the smooth integration of Apricot equipment with these new releases. The problems (documented in Novell Newsletter 9, issued on April 15th 1991) were that 1) the current release of NetWare 286 On-Board Ethernet Server LAN Drivers would NOT link under NetWare 2.2, and 2) the current release of NetWare 386 v3.1 Adaptec SCSI disk driver would prevent the auto-startup of a NetWare 3.11 server.

We are pleased to announce that both of these problems have now been overcome.

NetWare 2.2

Release 3 of the NetWare 286 Server Environment Pack has now been released, and should be shipping shortly. This new release includes new On-Board Ethernet server LAN drivers that will link correctly for NetWare 2.2. The pack also includes UPS support for the VX FT server in the form of a VAP.

Updates for existing NetWare 286 Server Environment Packs are available from the Technical Support Group on request. Please send your original NetWare 286 Server Environment Pack disks to the Network Support Group, at Apricot Computers Limited, 3500 Parkside, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham, B37 7YS. Please include a covering letter with the disks.

NetWare 3.11

Adaptec have just issued an updated set of NetWare SCSI Drivers in the form of Release 3.1 of the ASW-1440 NetWare 286/386 SCSI driver support diskette. This diskette includes a new release of NetWare 3.1x drivers that are compatible with NetWare 3.11.

These drivers are shipped in the form of

ASPITRAN.DSK version 1.0, and
AHA1640.DSK version 2.1

Also with this new release of driver, the need to implicitly load ASPITRAN.DSK prior to AHA1640.DSK in the server STARTUP.NCF file for NetWare 3.11 has now been eliminated. AHA1640.DSK will now auto-load ASPITRAN.DSK if it is not already in memory, and it will then proceed to auto-start the server as expected. The implicit loading of ASPITRAN.DSK is still required for NetWare 3.10 however.

It is not clear yet how quickly this disk will be included in the release version of the NetWare 386 Server Environment Pack, but updates will be available from the Technical Support Group on request. Please send your original Adaptec SCSI Drivers Disk (ASW- 1440) to The Network Support Group, at Apricot Computers Limited, 3500 Parkside, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham, B37 7YS. Please include a covering note with the disk.

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