PC Card upgrade information. This upgrade utility contains files to upgrade 56K PC Cards to V.90. Please read the relevant section of this document before proceeding. Document contents: 1. 56K PC Cards - V.90 upgrade information: 1.1. V.90 Questions & Answers 1.2. V.90 Upgrade Instructions 1.3. V.90 Upgrade Troubleshooting 1. 56K PC Cards - V.90 upgrade information: 1.1. V.90 Questions & Answers What is V.90? V.90 is the new 56,000 bits per second (bps) standard for modems. It was developed by a consortium of the worldÆs top modem manufacturers and modem chip makers under the guidance of the ITU. The ITU is part of the United Nations and is responsible for developing standards (protocols) for global communications. You may have already heard of some ITU protocols - V.34, V.32bis and V42bis are standards relating to analogue communication devices û modems to you and me. There are other ITU standards which relate to digital devices e.g. X.25, X.75 etc What protocol does my 56k PC Card use at the moment? 56K PC Cards currently use the proprietary standard K56Flex developed by Rockwell and Lucent. There is another 56,000 bps proprietary standard called X2 which was developed by US Robotics and is used on 3Com/US Robotics modems. K56Flex and X2 are different standards and therefore cannot æunderstandÆ each other. This means that when a K56Flex modem tries to talk to an X2 modem they have to communicate at the next common protocol, which is V.34 - a standard for 33,600 bps connections. Once I change to V.90, which modems will I be able to communicate with? A V.90 modem will connect at speeds up to 56,000bps only with a Service Provider that supports V.90. This means that a V.90 modem will not connect to Service Providers using X2, K56Flex or slower modems at V.90 speeds but will fall-back to V.34, or the appropriate speed. Can I upgrade a GSM only or V.34 PC Card modem to V.90? No. The GSM only and V. 34 and the 56k PC Cards have different chipsets. Only the 56k PC Cards are able to operate at such high data transfer rates. Will the current EasySwitch work with the V.90 Upgraded PC Card? No. You must install a new version of EasySwitch to work with the V.90 upgrade. Download the new version of EasySwitch from our website. Is it the right time to upgrade to V.90? That depends on whether your ISP (Internet Service Provider) has also made the switch to V.90. If they havenÆt done so itÆs pointless because the modems will fall-back to V.34 at 33,600bps û the common standard they both share. Sooner or later V.90 will be the defacto standard throughout the modem world - itÆs just a question of time. What are the main points to consider before changing to V.90? 1. You must make sure you use the correct firmware to reprogram your PC Card modem û especially if it has the GSM and / or ISDN upgrade. 2. You will need to reconfigure Dialup Networking (software commonly used to connect to the Internet) and your comms and fax software. 3. After upgrading to V.90, the old (pre V.90) firmware upgrades will no longer work û this includes GSM and ISDN code. 4. Does your ISP (Internet Service Provider) support V.90? If it doesnÆt you will get slower connections at 33,600 bps or worse. 5. V.90 will eventually become the defacto standard and your ISP will stop supporting K56Flex and move to V.90 only. 6. Extensive testing and development has been done on V.90 so you can be sure it will work reliably. Which operating systems does the V.90 upgrade work on? The V.90 upgrade utility will run on: À Windows 95 À Windows 98 À Windows 3.x À Windows NT 4.0 What about Apple Macintosh, and other platforms? Currently we do not have an upgrade solution for other operating systems. We will be happy to upgrade your PC Card modem free of charge should you require it. How does V.90 affect my Windows 95 / 98 / NT4 modem set-up? After a V.90 upgrade, your 56K PC Card modem will be re-born as a V.90 56K PC Card modem. It will be necessary to shutdown and restart the computer following the upgrade. This means your communications software will need resetting to use the new modem. If you do not do this your software will respond with error messages, such as, æDialup networking cannot find the specified modemÆ or æNo communication with modemÆ How does V.90 affect my Internet connections? Dialup Networking will need re-configuring to communicate with the new V.90 56K PC Card modem. Once this has been done your Internet connections should work as before when you connect to your ISPÆs V.90 number How does V.90 affect my cc:Mail, Lotus Notes or MSMail connections? The V.90 setup program automatically scans your computer for installations of cc:Mail, Lotus Notes and MSMail. Old modem scripts will be overwritten and replaced by new V.90 scripts. Following the upgrade you may need to check the modem configuration within the application to ensure that the correct modem type / comm port is set. Your mail software will then work as before. Does V.90 Affect my Ethernet Settings on combined modem / Ethernet cards? The V.90 upgrade does not affect the Ethernet part of the card so your network connections will work as before after the V.90 upgrade. Can I undo the V.90 upgrade and revert back to K56Flex? Yes, but you must use the new K56Flex firmware available from the web page. Old pre-V.90 firmware upgrades will no longer work. The new K56Flex code also includes the GSM upgrade so be careful to choose the K56Flex firmware appropriate for your GSM phone. How does V.90 affect my GSM upgrade? GSM code is now integrated into V.90 firmware. This means that there are many different flavours of V.90 code, one for each GSM handset. Provided you reprogram your 56K PC Card modem with the correct V.90 firmware and follow the instructions concerning re-configuring your comms software, GSM communications will work as before. How does V.90 affect my ISDN upgrade? ISDN code is incorporated into V.90 code so provided you follow the instructions concerning re-configuring your comms software, ISDN communications using the PC Card ISDN adapter will work as before. Is upgrading to V.90 going to cost me anything? No. The upgrade is free. 1.2 56K PC Cards - V.90 Upgrade instructions The PC Card modem must be installed correctly on your PC before the upgrade can take place. Part I û Prepare for Upgrade 1. Make sure your PC has a mains power supply connected. 2. Download the new V.90 version of EasySwitch from our web site. You may also wish to check the web site for later versions of this upgrade. 3. Close other programs, particularly fax or other comms software. 4. Remove any cables from your PC Card modem 5. NT4 Users û Logon to NT with æAdministratorÆ privileges. Part II û Reprogram the 56K PC Card modem with V.90 Firmware 1. Run the setup program to start the upgrade procedure. The program will run from either your local hard drive or a floppy disk. (If you have downloaded this upgrade utility run the EasyUpgrade program in the EasyTools program group) 2. InstallShield« wizard will automatically start and will: À Install new Windows modem drivers À Scan your drives for cc:Mail, Lotus Notes and MSMail applications and install scripts À Create a new program group called EasyTools À Automatically launch the EasyUpgrade program ready for you to reprogram your card. 3. In EasyUpgrade choose the appropriate firmware code and click the Upgrade button to start the upgrade. Notice too there is a K56Flex option should you decide to go back to this standard. 4. After the upgrade your 56K PC Card modem will be completely reprogrammed and will have a new name (Note: 56K + Ethernet card names will not change). Windows will therefore need resetting to use the new modem and your 32-bit comms applications will need resetting too. 5. Shutdown and restart the computer. On restart, Windows will detect the new modem and automatically install new drivers. Part III û Configure Dialup Networking (Windows 95, 98 & NT4 only) 1. Double-click My Computer and double-click Dialup Networking. 2. Right-click on your Dialup Networking icon and choose Properties from the menu. At this point you may see the following error message æDialup Networking cannot find the specified modemàÆ. This is normal, so click OK. 3. In the Dialup Networking box that appears set the æConnect usingÆ box to the new V.90 56K PC Card modem 4. Click OK. 5. Repeat this procedure for all other Dialup Networking icons that use the 56K PC Card modem. Part IV û Install EasySwitch. 1. Double-click the downloaded EasySwitch file to decompress the files. 2. Follow the on screen instructions. 3. EasySwitch will be automatically be installed, overriding any existing EasySwitch program icons and creating a new shortcut in the new æEasyToolsÆ program group. Part V û Configure Fax and Comms Software 1. 32-bit Fax and comms software that use TAPI drivers eg WinFax Pro 8 will need reconfiguring to use the new 56K PC Card modem. 2. You should consult your softwareÆs manual for instructions on how to change the modem driver. 3. Lotus Notes, cc:Mail and MSMail - Old modem scripts will be overwritten and replaced by new V.90 scripts. You may need to check the modem configuration within the application to ensure that the correct modem type / comm port is set. Your mail software will then work as before. 4. Windows 3.x comms and fax software use initialisation strings and should work without any setup changes, however you may also need to ensure that the correct modem type / comm port is set. 1.3 V.90 Upgrade Troubleshooting Help! û Since the V.90 upgrade EasySwitch cannot find my 56K PC Card modem 1. You must install a new version of EasySwitch to work with the V.90 upgrade. 2. Download the new version of EasySwitch from our website. Help! û The V.90 GSM Upgrade DidnÆt Work The V.90 upgrade program has been extensively tested across a whole range of laptops and configurations. The main reasons for failures are: À The 56K PC Card modem wasnÆt installed correctly to start with À There was a power failure during upgrade (see below) À The card was removed during upgrade (see below) Help! û My 56K PC Card modem is no longer recognised by my computer À Have you followed all the V.90 Upgrade Instruction especially the instructions concerning configuring your Dialup Networking and comms and fax software? À Did the upgrade program fully complete? Try restarting the computer and running the upgrade again. À Have you tried restarting your PC? Help! û I had a power failure during the V.90 upgrade The upgrade utility has been designed to provide a recovery method for most cases of failure. In this event restart the computer and if prompted re-install the modem using a standard modem driver and re-run the upgrade utility. If this still fails, unfortunately the 56K PC Card modem is probably unusable now and will need reprogramming at our factory. You should return your card immediately to us for reprogramming. Help! û I accidentally removed the card during the V.90 upgrade The upgrade utility has been designed to provide a recovery method for most cases of failure. In this event restart the computer and if prompted re-install the modem using a standard modem driver and re-run the upgrade utility. If this still fails, unfortunately the 56K PC Card modem is probably unusable now and will need reprogramming at our factory. You should return your card immediately to us for reprogramming. Help! - I reprogrammed with the wrong firmware. Can I do the upgrade again? You can reprogram the 56K PC Card modem with the correct firmware at any time but you must use the new firmware files from the web pages. Older upgrade utilities will no longer work on the new V.90 Card since the new V.90 and 56Kflex code changes the memory mapping of the EPROM. The upgrade utility is designed to only use compatible firmware so the card should not be damaged. Help! û After the V.90 upgrade IÆm only connecting at V.34 û 33,600bps This will happen if you are connecting to a modem that doesnÆt support V.90. Ask your ISP (Internet Service Provider) for a V.90 connection number. If your ISP doesnÆt support V.90 yet then you may want to revert back to K56Flex - until your ISP decides to swap over to the new standard. Help! - Since the V.90 upgrade my GSM phone doesnÆt work the 56K PC Card modem GSM code is now integrated into V.90 firmware. This means that there are now many different flavours of V.90 code. One for each GSM handset. You must upgrade with V.90 code including your GSM handset. Check out the web site to make sure you have reprogrammed your 56K PC Card modem with the correct V.90 upgrade. Help! - My Dialup Networking program now says it canÆt find my modem After a V.90 upgrade, your 56K PC Card modem will be re-born as a V.90 56K PC Card modem. This means that your computer will need resetting to use the new V.90 56K PC Card modem. If you do not do this, your software will respond with error messages, such as æDialup Networking cannot find the specified modemÆ. You should reconfigure DUN to use new V.90 56K PC Card modem. Help! û Since the V.90 upgrade my fax software no longer works After a V.90 upgrade, your 56K PC Card modem will be re-born as a V.90 56K PC Card modem. This means that your fax and comms software will need resetting to use the new V.90 56K PC Card modem. You will need to follow your softwareÆs setup instructions for help on doing this. Help! - Since installing the V.90 56K PC Card modem I now have 2 56K PC Card modems installed. After a V.90 upgrade, your 56K PC Card modem will be re-born as a V.90 56K PC Card modem The old 56K PC Card modem can be removed from Control Panel | Modems.