Ref: 99990001
Title: 386Upgrade Compatability Issues with Old Disk Controllers
Date: 3/23/89

Copyright 3Com Corporation, 1991.  All rights reserved.

386Upgrade

386Upgrade is a way for 3Server3 and 3S/20x owners to upgrade their
server to run 3+Open.  The 386Upgrade is based upon the 386 processor
board for 3S/400 with additional circuits to adapt to the 3Server3 power
supply, com ports and disk/tape drives.  The 386Upgrade is NOT a 3S/400
upgrade.

Upgrading to 3+Open with 386Upgrade will not give equivalent
performance to a 3S/400.  The 3Server3/3S200 disk drive is not capable
of the same kind of performance as the 3S/400 disk drive.  The primary
difference in performance is the average seek time, the speed that the
disk drive recording heads position over the data tracks on the disk.
The 3Server3 disk takes 28ms on average vs 16ms on the 3S/400.  This
will make (guessing) a performance difference of 15-25% between the two.

Due to physical limitations present after fitting the 386 processor
board into the 3Server3/3S200 cabinet, the 4 AT slots are not usable.
There just is no room to plug in an expansion card of any kind into the
slot.

Also, for 3Server3/3S200s that are running on Token ring -- the
386Upgrade will not support Token ring.  The software driver for the
"TokenConnection for 3Server" option 3C1060 has not been ported or
tested for OS/2 3+Open environment.  We do not believe that this
is a very large installed
base, but we would like to know if this will be a large problem for our
customers.  (If you would like to feed back regarding this situation,
you may send a note to Diann Goldstone 44124,5 in the Ask3Com Forum.

The 386Upgrade will work with the 3Com network servers listed below.

386Upgrade available for:               386Upgrade not available for:
----------------------------------      -------------------------------

3Server3                    3C1006      3Server36   3C1000
3Server3 with tape drive    3C1007      3Server70   3C1001
3Server3 Complete           3C1008      3Server36 with 3Server3 Upgrade
3S/200                      3C1015      3Server70 with 3Server3 Upgrade
3S/201 with 106 MB tape     3C1016
3S/202 with 150 MB tape     3C1017

Note:  (1)  386Upgrade will only run 3+Open on the server.
       (2)  3+ and 3+Open servers can coexist in a common network.
       (3)  3+ workstations and OS/2 workstations have access to both
            types of servers.

The older 3Server36/70 products have a different cabinet that will not
accept the 386 processor board.  The 386Upgrade will physically not fit
on the 3Server36/70, and has not been designed to work with the
3Server36/70.


Disk Drive Controller Limitation

We found during the testing of the 386Upgrade product that it
would not work properly on some of the early 3Server3s shipped with a
specific version of disk drive controller.  These controllers are NOT in
any of the 3S/200s but may be included in 20-30% of the 3Server3s that
are installed in the field.  They were in 3Server3s shipped between
September 1986 to January 1987.  (We can not provide the serial number
range because the serial numbers don't correspond to revision levels).

If you have an order in Backlog now to upgrade a 3Server3,
find out what version of disk controller the 3Server3
has installed (as described below).
If the 3Server3 has the older controller, then rebook
the order to 3C1005A, via whatever channel you orignally used
to place the order.
3C1005A is the 386Upgrade plus a REPLACEMENT DISK
CONTROLLER.

There is no additional charge for the replacement controller, but no
good reason to replace one that is not in the older category.  Please
don't order the 3C1005A unless you really need it.  It won't work in other
configurations.

The problem with the disk controller surfaces under the higher power
requirement placed on the 3Server3 power supply by the 80386-based
system board in the 386Upgrade.  If this version of controller is on
the main disk drive (the boot drive), it will cause an "INIT FAIL" when
a bootup is attempted.  If it is on an expansion drive, the partitions
on that drive will not show up when a "DIR" command is given.  (You can
also detect a older controller by making a 3C connection, running
3Disk386, choosing "Option 3" at the prompt, then "Diagnostics HW" at
the next prompt, and finally "Check controller and cable" at the next
prompt.)


Identification of Disk Controller version

There is one white label on the controller located on the 8085 chip.
THE DISK CONTROLLER DOES NOT NEED REPLACEMENT IF MARKED:

                ACB 4000A                   ACB 4000A
                4000 S4007          or      4000 S4007
 look here -->   406500 C                    406500 D

If the same controller label has the following information, IT SHOULD BE
CHECKED FURTHER.

                 ACB 4000A       (any version of this information, where
                                    only these two lines appear and the
 look here -->    410040 D          letter "D" could be any letter A-F)


    or           ACB 4000A          or        ACB 4000A
                 4000 S4007                   4000 S4007
 look here -->    406500 A                     406500 B

Checking further will require looking for:

    (a)  a capacitor on the right side edge of the board, just above and
slightly to the left of "ASSY" in the board assembly number (e.g. "ASSY
40010G");

    (b)  a number on the ROM chip of "410041-B" or "410041-0B" (ROM
number "410041-00A" is not compatible); and,

    (c)  a  cut ground trace on the circuit side of the board in the
corner near the pin-connector.

If the controller possesses these 3 characteristics, it should be
compatible with the 386Upgrade.  If not, please order 3C1005A.

If a disk drive controller is found to be incompatible AFTER the
386Upgrade has been received, please
obtain a return material authorization (RMA) number by calling
1-800-876-3266, replace the incompatible controller board with the new one
sent to you by 3Com, and return the incompatible controller board (in an
antistatic bag inside a shipping container with the RMA number clearly
marked on the outside) to the following address:

3Com Corporation
RMA Dept.
2400 Condensa St.
Santa Clara, CA 95052

DO NOT SEND ANY MATERIALS TO 3COM WITHOUT AN RMA NUMBER!!!!

PLEASE CHECK THE DISK DRIVE CONTROLLER BEFORE YOU PLACE AN ORDER FOR A
3C1005A.  IF YOU ARE A SERVICE CENTER AND HAVE A SPARES KIT, YOU MAY FIND
A USABLE CONTROLLER IN YOUR SPARES KIT.

3Com has worked very
hard to provide an upgrade avenue for the installed base of 3Server3
and 3S/20x customers who
want to run 3+Open.  We are committed to protect our customers
investment.


Ordering Information

386Upgrade
3+Open migration product for 3Server3 and 3S/20x series servers.
Includes 386-based mother board with 2MB on-board RAM, 2MB memory
expansion board, and 3+Open software:  3+Open LAN Manager Advanced
System, 3+Open Start, 3+Open Backup, and 3+NetDOS.

386Upgrade w/o Disk Controller replacement
.br;3C1005

386Uprade with Disk Controller replacement
.br;3C1005A

Thank you for your cooperation and support.
