   Copyright (c) 1991 - 2001 Digi International. All Rights Reserved.

                   EtherLite(R) 160 Release Notes

                            03/07/2001

Table of Contents
-----------------
Firmware Package Contents
Firmware Update Instructions for NT
Firmware Update Instructions for UNIX
Revision History


Firmware Package Contents (p/n 42000517 rev C)
----------------------------------------------
readme.txt    p/n 93001261 rev C
el160.prm     p/n 82000535 rev C


Firmware Update Instructions for NT
-----------------------------------
To update EtherLite firmware from a NT host, download the
utility package ELFIRMNT.EXE from our web or FTP site, and
refer to the included instructions.


Firmware Update Instructions for UNIX
-------------------------------------

The EtherLite Units use TFTP in conjunction with BOOTP to update their
firmware.  In order to update your units, you will need to enable the
TFTP Server on the same host that provides BOOTP service.

We recommend that you disable this service as soon as you are done
updating the firmware, as TFTP does no user authentication and allows
file transfers.  As a result, it can be a security risk.

The BOOTP service is typically launched at boot time by the system, and is
configured according to an entry in /etc/inetd.conf, even though current
versions of bootp server software no longer uses inetd.  The bootp server
line in that file may look much like this:


bootps  dgram  udp  wait  root  /etc/bootpd  bootpd


TFTP service is typically enabled by "inetd".  An entry in the
"/etc/inetd.conf" file specifies how to start the service.  Most
systems will already have an entry for TFTP, but it will be commented
out, which disables it for security reasons mentioned above.  It may
look similar or identical to this:


tftp  dgram  udp  wait  root  /usr/etc/in.tftpd  in.tftpd -s /tftpboot


There should also be entries in your "/etc/services" file, specifying
BOOTP server service on UDP port 67 and the TFTP service on UDP port
69.  The entries in your /etc/services file should appear as shown
below.  If your system differs from the example given below, refer to
the man pages on your system for "tftpd" and "inetd" for details on how
to enable TFTP service.


bootps          67/udp          # bootp server
bootpc          68/udp          # bootp client
tftp            69/udp          # tftp server


To get the EtherLite Unit to download the new firmware, you need to
specify the bootfile option in the BOOTP entry for the unit.  To do
so, edit the "/etc/bootptab" file.  Add the field ":bf=filename" to
the entry for the EtherLite Unit, where "filename" is the full path
to the new firmware.  Please note that most TFTP implementations
perform a "chroot" (change root directory) when started.  If your TFTP
server does this, you will need to place the firmware image in its
directory tree and specify the path relative to TFTP's root directory.

For example, most TFTP servers have a "root" directory of /tftpboot on the
host, which means that a file whose path to TFTP is /files/bootfile, is
actually /tftpboot/files/bootfile to the UNIX system.  Your bootptab entry
may look like:


el16_0:\
    sm=255.255.255.0:\
    gw=192.9.200.1:\
    ht=ethernet:\
    ha=00A0E7000004:\
    ip=192.9.200.2:\
    bf=/bootp/sts/el16.prm:


In this case, the full path to the file on the UNIX side would be:


    /tftpboot/bootp/sts/el16.prm


To actually update the EtherLite Unit, you simply power cycle it.  Each
time it boots, it downloads the bootfile specified by BOOTP.  If the
bootfile differs from the firmware it is currently running, it will
update its Flash EPROM with the new firmware.

Once you have updated your EtherLite Unit, it is not necessary to leave
the TFTP server enabled.  As mentioned earlier it can be a security
risk.  Unless you are sure that your configuration is secure, we
recommend that you disable TFTP service by commenting out its entry in
"/etc/inetd.conf".  It is ok to leave in the bootfile entry in the
"/etc/bootptab".


Revision History
----------------

This revision history applies to both the SCSI Term Server
and EtherLite product lines.

03/07/2001 - v7.9
    - EtherLite Products - The FAS socket timeout was changed
      from being fixed at 2 minutes, to being settable from
      the driver.  The default value is 2 minutes in order
      to inter-operate with drivers that do not support setting
      the timeout value.  At the time of this release, we only
      have AIX support for this feature.

11/16/2000 - v7.8
    - Release of the EL-160 and EL-162 virtual port firmware.

    - EtherLite Products - Up to 5 host-tab entries can be
      store to non-volatile memory from either the boot console
      or from bootp/dhcp.  Previously, only one entry could be
      stored.

04/01/2000 - v7.7
    - Beta release of EL-160 and EL-162 virtual port firmware.
      This firmware assigns two virtual ttys or com ports to
      one physical port.  In other words, the unit appears
      to have 32 ports.  Ports 1 and 17 map to the first physical
      serial port.  Ports 2 and 18 to the second port, etc.  Both
      ports can be opened simultaneously.  Data incoming from the
      port is duplicated and sent to both virtual ports.  Outgoing
      data from the host(s) is combined and sent out the one
      physical port.  The purpose of this firmware is for console
      monitoring.  It allows two different hosts to monitor a single
      console.

03/13/2000 - v7.6

    - EtherLite products, a low latency version of the firmware
      was added to the .tar and .zip upgrade packages.  It runs
      at a 500 packet-per-second muxing rate instead of the normal
      60 packet-per-second rate.  Its use is not recommended over
      WANs or in any application where there is a high volume of
      data.  Average latency on small bursts of data is reduced
      from 30ms to 4ms.  The low latency version of the firmware
      has a "_ll" appended to the base name.  For instance, the
      "el16_ll.prm" file is the low latency firmware for the el16.
      
    - All Products, corrected a problem where the units could
      return more input data than was requested by the driver.

    - EtherLite products, the stored IP configuration now
      includes a boothost IP address.  If set, the unit will
      attempt to TFTP a bootfile from the boothost.

    - EtherLite products, during DHCP the units will now request
      the subnet mask and router in the options list.

    - EtherLite products, gratuitous arp test will check for
      arp proxy responses.

    - SCSI products, the break timing was incorrect on units
      where the tick rate is changed by the driver.  The unit
      will now compensate break timing for the tick rate change.

11/13/1999 - v7.5

    - ST-1032 only.  The ST-1032 hardware is being modified to 
      use a Qlogic 216 SCSI controller running from a 40mhz clock.
      The firmware was modified to detect the hardware change
      and to configure the SCSI controller accordingly.

09/07/1999 - v7.4

    - The firmware was not correctly reporting multiple command
      errors on the FAS_RECV command.  This was corrected.

    - The firmware was modified to validate the Max_Buf field
      in the FAS_FLOW_CTRL command and to return a parameter
      error if it is out of range.

    - Corrected a problem with the low and high watermark checks
      which prevented the drivers from setting the Max_Buf field
      to the maximum size.

      (Note to users: The above changes are primarily for driver
       development and debugging.)

    - ST-1032 only.  Increased the number of SCSI buffers from 6 to
      12.  When pushing a large amount of data through the unit, we
      were seeing SCSI_BUSY errors, which is caused by the unit not
      having enough buffers.

08/24/1999 - v7.3

    - EL-2 and EL-2.2 only.  Increased the max number of host
      connections from 2 to 6.


08/09/1999 - v7.2

    - Added support for ST Micro and Micronix flash EPROM
      devices.  (All products)

    - Corrected a problem with TCP error recovery.  The unit
      would recover, but after a possibly long delay.
      (All EtherLite products)

    - Corrected a problem with network retry limit error
      handling.  Garbage packets may be sent, or in rare
      cases, the Ethernet controller may lock up.  
      (EL-2, EL-8+, EL-16, EL-32)

07/01/1999 - v7.1

    - Added support for new the EL-2-EIA485 product.

    - Firmware was modified to disable automatic flow control
      modes when the host disables a port.  (EL-2, EL-160, EL-162
      ST-1002S, ST-1008S, ST-1400B, ST1800B, ST-1616B)

10/30/1998 - v7.0

    - Initial Digi International Release.


