Mail Archives: opendos/1997/11/06/04:42:06
Hi John,
>Anyway, I tried to modify a different file called "INS.OEM" and
>copied it to "3C5X9.INS" in the "C:\NWCLIENT" directory, and
>now when I boot up, it asks if I want to load the Network Software -
>I say "Yes" and it seems to go through the motions - until near
>the end, it says it is looking for a "Workgroup" and whirs around
>for a bit and says eventually that it found no Workgroups.
>
>I've also tried running "NET ADMIN" and when I try to Login to
>a network it just says "Please Wait" and whirs around indefinitely.
First you should check that the hardware configuration is ok. This
can be done with PNWDIAGS, but it is best to have at least to PNW
machines on the network. From Novell you can get a tool named
COMCHK, which can be used to analyze the network traffic. If you have
a second PNW machine, you can also try to run NETWARS as a
networking game on both machines. If the hardware configuration is
correct, NETWARS should allow to play it over the net, even if PNWs
account configuration is still invalid.
>If anyone could help steer me to a proper configuration of an *.INS
>file for my system that would be great.
To find a valid .INS file you should have a look at the disk provided with your network adapter (or download the proper drivers from 3COM). If you
cannot find such a file editing INS.OEM is the correct solution.
>Are there any other important steps I should know about in trying
>to connect my computer to our Network? This is how I am going to
>be able to print (I hope) documents and so it is an important part
>of configuring the system.
Before configuring printer queues etc. you should establish a working
connection to other machines. This can be done with LOGIN scripts
using NET parameters, but you can also use NET (without parameters)
to start the menu system to choose from.
As far as I can imagine on your description, you are not trying to connect
several PNW machines together, but you are trying to connect to a
NetWare 3.x or 4.x server on the LAN. In this case you do not need the
NETWARE PROTOCOL = PNW
in the NETWARE DOS REQUESTER section of NET.CFG, but you need to set it to BIND for a NetWare 3.xx server, and to NDS for a NetWare 4.xx server. You can use all of the simultanously, e.g.
NETWARE PROTOCOL = NDS, BIND, PNW
but this unnecessary costs much memory.
In the LINK DRIVER 3Cxxxx section there is an entry like
FRAME = ETHERNET_802.2
Usually, this is correct for PNW, and current installations of NetWare 3.x
and 4.x. For older NetWare 3.xx systems you need to change this to
FRAME = ETHERNET_802.3.
(Sometimes) the problem of not finding a workgroup is resolved by
inserting PREFERRED WORKGROUP = xxxx in the NETWARE DOS
REQUESTER section. There are similar directives for PREFERRED
TREE = and PREFERRED CONTEXT = for NetWare 4.xx, and
PREFERRED SERVER = for NetWare 3.xx.
Your NET.CFG could look like this (see above for details):
LINK DRIVER 3C5X9
; INT =
; PORT =
FRAME = ETHERNET_802.2
; FRAME = ETHERNET_802.3
; FRAME = ETHERNET_II
NETWARE DOS REQUESTER
PREFERRED WORKGROUP = xxxx
PREFERRED SERVER = xxxx
AVERAGE NAME LENGTH = 16
FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = f
LOAD CONN TABLE LOW = off
LOAD LOW CON = off
LOAD LOW FIO = off
LOAD LOW IPXNCP = off
LOAD LOW NETX = off
LOAD LOW REDIR = off
MESSAGE LEVEL =4
MESSAGE TIMEOUT = 10000
;See above for details concerning protocols
NETWARE PROTOCOL = NDS, BIND, PNW
SHOW DOTS = on
USE DEFAULTS = on
VLM = AUTO.VLM
VLM = NMR.VLM
There is much more to play with, but you need some background info
(start with the Netware section of DOSBOOK).
Hope this helps,
Matthias
------------------------------------------------------------
Matthias Paul
eMail: <Matthias DOT Paul AT post DOT rwth-aachen DOT de>
Web: http://www.rhrz.uni-bonn.de/~uzs180/mpdokeng.html
- Raw text -