WHITE PAPER February 1998 Prepared By Portable Software Marketing Compaq Computer Corporation CONTENTS Platform PC Card Support .......................... 3 Supported PC Card Features ......................... 3 CardBus Support .................. 3 Enhanced Power Management 4 Extended Feature Set............ 5 Supported PC Card Types ............................. 6 CardWare ® 5.0 Availability ..................... 6 Additional PC Card Support Resources ......... 7 PCMCIA Association ............. 7 Compaq PC Card Solutions Program .............................. 7 World Wide Web Resources ... 8 Frequently Asked Questions ....................... 9 List of Tables ............... 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Compaq Portable PC Card Support for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Compaq delivers the highest quality portable computer solutions for Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. The purpose of this White Paper is to describe unique features Compaq provides with respect to PC Card functionality. To enable CardBus PC Card functionality for Windows NT 4.0 on portable platforms, Compaq provides CardWare® 5.0 licensed from Award Software International. PC Card support is an area of hardware functionality where only a limited feature set is inherently supported by the operating system. CardWare® 5.0 is an award winning application that greatly expands the level of PC Card functionality under Windows NT 4.0. This White Paper will highlight supported Compaq platforms and key features, as well as other initiatives that contribute to a comprehensive PC Card solution for Compaq portable customers using Windows NT 4.0. This is the second edition of the document. This edition includes minor updates to include the Armada 4200 as well as the Armada 7800 platform. This document is intended for external audiences with a need for information about the Compaq implementation of PC Card support under Windows NT 4.0. WHITE PAPER (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 NOTICE The information in this publication is subject to change without notice. THE COMPETITIVE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PUBLICATION IS BASED ON DATA AVAILABLE FROM PUBLIC SOURCES AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION. COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY INACCURACIES, ERRORS, OR OMISSIONS IN INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THIRD PARTY SOURCES, SUCH AS PUBLICATIONS OF OTHER COMPANIES, THE PRESS, OR COMPETITIVE DATA ORGANIZATIONS. THIS PUBLICATION IS MADE AVAILABLE ON AN "AS IS" BASIS AND COMPAQ SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL ASSOCIATED WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. IN NO EVENT WILL COMPAQ BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE MATERIAL CONTAINED IN THIS PUBLICATION, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. COMPAQ RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS OR CHANGES TO THIS PUBLICATION AND THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES HEREIN DESCRIBED AT ANY TIME, WITHOUT NOTICE OR OBLIGATION. This publication does not constitute an endorsement of the product or products that were tested. The configuration or configurations tested or described may or may not be the only available solution. This test is not a determination of product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal, state or local requirements. Compaq does not warrant products other than its own and then, only as strictly stated in Compaq product warranties. ARMADA, Compaq, LTE, Deskpro, Presario, ProLiant, and ProSignia are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. LTE 5000, MultiBay, and Netelligent are trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Microsoft, Windows NT are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. ©1998 Compaq Computer Corporation. Compaq Portable PC Card Support for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Second Edition (February 1998) First Edition (October 1997) 0298/B WHITE PAPER (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 PLATFORM P C C A R D SUPPORT Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 is pre-installed on select models within the Armada 1500, Armada 7300, Armada 7700 and Armada 7800 families. The operating system is supported on all models within the Armada 1500, Armada 4100, Armada 4200, Armada 7300, Armada 7700, Armada 7800 and LTE 5000 families. Table 1 summarizes which versions of CardWare® 5.0 are supported on each portable family. Note that PC Card features inherently supported by Windows NT 4.0 are supported across all product families (see the section titled Supported PC Card Features for more information). Using a PC Card under Windows NT 4.0 without CardWare® 5.0 requires basic software drivers for the PC Card peripheral called direct enablers1 and that the PC Card be inserted into the slot prior to turning on the notebook. Using a direct enabler offers support for a specific PC Card and only for a limited set of features and functionality when compared with PC Cards operating under CardWare® 5.0. Hot PC Card insertion, auto-configuration and CardBus are examples of features not supported through the use of a direct enabler, but are supported by CardWare. See the section titled Supported PC Card Features & Card Types for more information about PC Card features supported under CardWare® 5.0 versus those offered by the native operating system. NOTE: Direct enablers are basic software drivers provided by a PC Card vendor. These drivers allow the peripheral to be used under native Windows NT 4.0. Contact your PC Card vendor directly for information about the level of Windows NT 4.0 support offered. SUPPORTED PLATFORMS Supported Platforms LTE 5000 Family Armada 4100 Family Armada 4200 Family Armada 1500 Family Armada 7300 Family Armada 7700 Family Armada 7800 Family Windows NT 4.0 Native PC Card Support ü ü ü ü ü ü ü CardWare® 5.0 for Windows NT 4.0 (v2.0x) û û û ü ü ü û CardWare® 5.0 for Windows NT 4.0 (v2.1x) ü ü ü ü ü ü ü Table 1 - PC Card support by Compaq portable computer family SUPPORTED P C C A R D FEATURES CardWare® 5.0 greatly expands the set of PC Card features over those inherently offered by Windows NT 4.0. Table 3 summarizes major features by specific versions of CardWare® 5.0 and compares this expanded feature set with the limited set offered by Windows NT 4.0. The following is a discussion of key areas where CardWare® 5.0 provides additional value and makes PC Card technology, namely CardBus and enhanced power management, more usable for Compaq portable customers. CardBus Support One of the key hardware technology advancements introduced with the Armada 1500, Armada 4200, Armada 7300, Armada 7700 and Armada 7800 families is CardBus support, which paves the way for higher performance PC Card devices. CardBus is based on the widely accepted PCMCIA Association industry standard for 32-bit PC Cards. These devices are able to take advantage of Due to the way direct enablers are designed, they can compromise system integrity and render other PC Cards unusable. Compaq recommends caution when using direct enablers. 1 WHITE PAPER (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 internal bus speeds that can be as much as four to six times faster than with 16-bit PC Cards in certain configurations. CardBus devices continue to use the same, well known, PC Card form factor and support many of the features that make PC Cards ideally suited to the portable platform such as hot swapping support. CardBus is not inherently supported by Windows NT 4.0, but is supported on Compaq portable platforms through CardWare® 5.0. CARDBUS FEATURES & BENEFITS Feature Uses PC Card form factor Benefit Provides the benefits of higher performance in the convenient form factor users have come to expect from the PC Card standard. Portable platforms with PC Card slots that are CardBus enabled also allow backward compatibility for 16-bit PC Cards. Extends battery life in most configurations. Provides up to 132MB per second peak transfer rates to support high performance peripherals such as 100Mbps Ethernet network interface cards and up to 40Mbps Ultra SCSI PC Card interfaces. Reduces processor overhead improving overall system performance. 3.3 volt power consumption 33MHz PCI Bus Bus mastering capability Table 2 - CardBus features & benefits summary Enhanced Power Management Standby and hibernation states are important power saving features portable users rely on to conserve battery power. Under Windows NT 4.0 PC Card devices are not able to respond to power management events such as entering standby mode. As such, power management functionality can lead to unexpected results when PC Cards are in use under native Windows NT 4.0. The way a particular PC Card behaves in response to power management events depends to a large extent on the direct enabler provided by the PC Card vendor. Contact your PC Card vendor directly for more information should you have a need to use a particular device without the benefit of CardWare® 5.0. Another key feature CardWare® 5.0 delivers is full support for the Advanced Power Management (APM) specification, version 1.2. PC Cards used in conjunction with CardWare® 5.0 operate more reliably when responding to power management events. The only notable exceptions to the power management support with PC Cards are local area networking (LAN) and SCSI interfaces. These types of devices typically do not support standby or hibernation modes with or without CardWare® 5.0. This limitation is not the result of any shortcoming in CardWare® 5.0, but rather lack of a widely accepted standard for developing power management-aware software drivers. The PCMCIA is an industry association responsible for developing PC Card standards. The Association recently ratified an addendum to the PC Card standard that defined a workable solution for to more reliable PC Card operation in response to power management events. This addendum, known as Proposition 187 ­ The NT Bindings Proposal is new and many PC Card vendors have yet to release updated software drivers that incorporate this latest addition to the PCMCIA specification. Customers who require the highest levels of reliability and performance on Compaq portable platforms should insist on PC Card vendors whose products have been designed to meet the PCMCIA specification. For more information on selecting PC Card solutions recommended by Compaq, refer to the section titled Compaq PC Card Solutions Program. NOTE: Standby and hibernation are not fully supported when connected to a local area network or using a PC Card SCSI interface. Compaq recommends removing these types of devices from the PC card slots before entering either of these states. WHITE PAPER (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Extended Feature Set Beyond CardBus support and enhanced power management, CardWare® 5.0 adds a number of features not included in basic PC Card support provided by Windows NT 4.0. This extended feature set greatly improves the overall usability of PC Card devices on Compaq portable products. Table 3 summarizes all major PC Card features supported on Compaq portable platforms using Windows NT 4.0. The table compares those features provided with CardWare® 5.0 and compares with the basic PC Card feature set provided by Windows NT 4.0 NOTE: The Supported Features table uses "l" symbol to denote features that are support ...