SSV - CP/386LN

THE CP/386LN IN NOVELL NETWORKS

Novell Inc.愀 NetWare product line is the most successfull LAN client / server product line in today愀 network computing business. NetWare愀 various releases have historically provided their users with a variety of continually improving PC DOS extensions, as well as file sharing, printer sharing, accounting, and many other services.

NetWare愀 primary communication protocol is called Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX). IPX is a derivative of the Xerox Network Standard (XNS) communication protocol. IPX is a datagram- oriented protocol. Later NetWare versions contains another protocol called Sequenced Packet Exchange (SPX). Unlike IPX, SPX is a connection- oriented session protocol.

Probably the most common medium over which Novell NetWare based networks operate is Ethernet. The CP/386LN with the on-board Crystal CS8900 IEEE 802.3 Ethernet controller is ready for the integration into Ethernet based Novell NetWare networks. For using the CP/386LN in Novell NetWare networks, you need Novell NetWare network drivers.

If you running the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system on the CP/386LN, the CP/386LN will be a NetWare DOS client in the Novell NetWare network. In this case, please install the NetWare DOS client software to the CP/386LN hard disk drive or to the CP/386LN FLASH memory solid state disk (SSD). For a NetWare DOS client, you need 4 files:

File	Function
LSL.COM	NetWare DOS Link Support Layer driver.
EODIISA.COM	CS8900 Ethernet ODI Link Driver for DOS.
IPXODI.COM	NetWare IPX ODI DOS driver.
VLM.EXE	NetWare DOS Requester.

The CS8900 Novell NetWare ODI driver EODIISA.COM is on the CS8900 LAN CONTROLLER SUPPORT DISK. The NetWare ODI DOS client support files LSL.COM, IPXODI.COM and VLM.EXE are not provided by the CS8900 LAN CONTROLLER SUPPORT DISK. You will find this files on the NOVELL WORKSTATION INSTALLATION DISK愀. Contact your Novell Network Administrator for get this files. For the installation of the files follow these steps in this order.

1. Step: Create a new directory on the CP/386LN hard disk drive or on the CP/386LN FLASH memory solid state disk (SSD). Use the name \NWCLIENT for this new directory. Move to this new directory. The next installation steps assumes, that the new directory is C:\NWCLIENT (target directory).

2. Step: Copy the file EODIISA.COM from the \DOS directory of the CS8900 LAN CONTROLLER SUPPORT DISK to the target directory (i. e. C:\NWCLIENT). Please use the MS-DOS INTERLNK / INTERSVR connection for copy the EODIISA.COM file. The Support Disk is in your desktop PC, running INTERSVR.EXE. The CP/386LN uses the program INTERLNK.EXE for remote access to the Support Disk. Also copy LSL.COM, IPXODI.COM and VLM.EXE to the target directory. This DOS ODI Client support files are not provided with the CS8900 LAN CONTROLLER SUPPORT DISK.

3. Step: If you are using the NetWare DOS Requester VLM.EXE, make sure the CONFIG.SYS file contains the statement: "LASTDRIVE=Z". Add the target directory to the end of the path statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For example: "PATH=C:\;C:\ DOS;C:\NWCLIENT".

4. Step: The NetWare DOS ODI Client support files are using an configuration file NET.CFG. Use an ASCII text editor to edit (or create) the NET.CFG file in the target directory (i. e. C:\NWCLIENT). If you are editing an existing NET.CFG file, change only the LINK DRIVER statement to LINK DRIVER EODIISA and remove any configuration statements such as PORT, IRQ, MEMORY, etc. The only keywords supported under the LINK DRIVER statement for the EODIISA driver are FRAME and NODE ADDRESS.

Following is a sample NET.CFG suitable for most NetWare 3.12 and 4.x networks. Please note: Lines preceded by a semicolon are comments and are ignored by the driver. Statements in the NET.CFG file are position sensitive. Indent as shown below.

; SAMPLE NET.CFG File for EODIISA.COM Driver

Link Driver EODIISA
    Frame ETHERNET_802.2
;   Node Address 200000000200 (Optional Node Address)

NetWare DOS Requester
    FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F

;--- End of file ----

In the NET.CFG file, you can define multiple frame types. Please talk to your Novell Network Administrator to determine the frame types supported by your Novell NetWare server. Up to a maximum of four frame types are supported. The four valid frame types are:

Frame Typ
Ethernet_802.2 (default)
Ethernet_802.3
Ethernet_II
Ethernet_SNAP

If multiple frame types are specified, the first frame type must be one used by the IPX protocol on the NetWare server to which you wish to connect. Ethernet_802.2 is the default frame type used by NetWare 3.12 and 4.x servers.

An optional Node Address can be assigned if desired. Only assign a local Node Address in accordance with IEEE 802.2 specifications. A universally administered address is assigned at the factory and is used by default.

5. Step: Reboot the system. At a DOS prompt, change to the target directory and load the driver and support file manually in the order shown. The example assumes that target directory is \NWCLIENT:

CD C:\NWCLIENT LSL EODIISA IPXODI VLM

If no errors are reported, you may create a batch file (or place the commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file) to execute the above commands and load the driver automatically. Check the AUTOEXEC.BAT file for other network drivers and remove any existing commands that load other Novell NetWare drivers.