Question : Installing a new network adapter (3Com or Realtek) in a Novell 4.11 server

I have a netware server that need the network card replaced.  What are the steps neccessary to install the new network adapter and where do I look to configure the IP settings, subnet, etc.  

Answer : Installing a new network adapter (3Com or Realtek) in a Novell 4.11 server

Just so you know, NetWare v4.11 is a VERY OLD version of NetWare. Something like 8 years old or so. It is no longer supported by Novell.

Also, there's not much point loading IP on NetWare v4.11. While that old version of NetWare can support TCP/IP for use by applications such as GroupWise or the NetWare Web Server, it does not support NCP (NetWare Core Protocol, the protocol that provides file and print services) over TCP/IP. So unless you're running GroupWise or the NetWare Web Server on this machine, TCP/IP is not going to do you much good.

NetWare started supporting NCP over TCP/IP with version 5.0 in 1999. The current version of NetWare is v6.5. Have you considered upgrading?

So, assuming that you're replacing an existing card and that we're dealing only with IPX, let's take a look at this. First, you have to identify WHERE the NIC configuration statements are located. They could be in SYS:SYSTEM\AUTOEXEC.NCF, so look in there. You're looking for statements which may look *like* this:

LOAD 3C50X.LAN SLOT=4 FRAME=ETHERNET_II NAME=ENET10IPX
BIND IPX TO ENET10IPX NET=12345656

Now, if you find those statements, and they are preceeded by a "#", and there are no other statements in there that look like that and aren't preceeded by a "#", then what's happened is someone has used the INETCFG tool to manage the server's network configuration. Let me know if that is the case.

Assuming it is not, you merely have to replace the existing NIC driver load (the first line) with the proper statement for the new NIC. Don't forget to copy the new NIC's drivers to SYS:SYSTEM, and make sure that the new NIC actually supports this very old version of NetWare. The exact details of the driver LOAD statement will vary depending on the NIC and its driver software - refer to the product documentation.

If you use the same logical NAME for the new driver, then you do not have to alter the IPX binding statement.

Without more detailed information regarding your situation, its hard to be more specific than this.