Winserve

Peter Karrer Announces SLIP for WFW

[NEW 03-22-95)

Hello,

I've discovered a way to run WfW's TCP/IP-32 over a SLIP packet driver. This allows WfW users to do Windows networking over dialup lines just like it is possible with NT and the Windows 95 beta!

For instance, you can mount Microsoft's FTP server as a network drive in File Manager or connect to an MS Mail post office over the Internet. Of course, the usual Internet stuff works as well. Another interesting site is WINSERVE.001; check out www.winserve.com.

This method should work with any class 1 (Ethernet II) packet driver. However, I'm not in a position to try anything else than SLIPPER/CSLIPPER.

Files you need:

WFWT32.EXE: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/msclient/wfw/wfwt32.exe

Microsoft's free TCP/IP for WfW. It's a self-extracting archive which should be executed in an empty directory.

SLIPPER.EXE: ftp://biocserver.bioc.cwru.edu/pub/dos/slipper/slippr15.zip

Peter Tattam's SLIP packet driver. CSLIPPER.EXE is a variant which supports VJ header compression.

PDETHER.EXE: ftp://sjf-lwp.idz.sjf.novell.com/odi/pdether/pde105.zip

Don Provan's ODI-over-Packet Driver shim. This *must* be version 1.05 (or above).

LSL.COM:

Novell's LAN Support Layer. If you're an owner of Windows 3.10, you'll have it on one of your install disks. Use "expand a:lsl.co_ lsl.com" to expand it. Microsoft has stopped bundling LSL.COM with WfW 3.11, though. The newest version of LSL.COM can be downloaded as part of ftp://ftp.novell.com/pub/netware/nwos/dosclnt12/vlms/vlmup2.exe. However, it's not clear if this one may be legally used outside Netware environments.

NET.CFG:

A configuration file for LSL and PDETHER. It should contain the following text:

Link Support
        Buffers 8 1600
Link Driver PDETHER
        Int 60
        Frame Ethernet_II
        Protocol IP   800  Ethernet_II
        Protocol ARP  806  Ethernet_II
        Protocol RARP 8035 Ethernet_II

DISCOMX.COM:

A little hack of mine to disable the COM port used by the SLIP packet driver. Usage is e.g. "discomx 2" to disable COM2. This should be run before starting WfW, otherwise you'll get "device conflict" messages. Here it is:

begin 644 discomx.com
F,=N)V8H.@`"P(+^!`/.N3XH="=MT!DN`XP/1XS')!R:)CP`$S2``
`
end

(Save this text to disk as filename, then run "uudecode filename". uudecode can be found, for instance, at ftp://ftp.switch.ch/mirror/simtel/msdos/starter/uudecode.com )

LMHOSTS:

An optional file which should be stored in your Windows subdirectory. It is used to map NetBIOS computer names to IP addresses. Example:

198.105.232.1   ftp             #PRE  # ftp.microsoft.com
204.118.34.11   winserve.001    #PRE  # Winserve

How to install it:

Put the files mentioned above into a directory, e.g. C:\SLIP.
Put the following lines into AUTOEXEC.BAT:
```
  cd \slip
  slipper com1 vec=60 baud=57600 ether	(may vary with your modem setup)
  lsl
  pdether
  discomx 1				(must correspond to SLIPPER's COM port)
```
(If you use another vec= setting, you must update that in NET.CFG as well.) Use CSLIPPER instead of SLIPPER if your SLIP provider supports VJC.
Start WfW.
- Under Windows Setup, choose "Change Network Settings".
- Select "Install Microsoft Windows Network".
- In "Drivers...", choose "Add Adapter" and install the "IPXODI Support driver (Ethernet) [ODI/NDIS3]".
- In "Add Protocols...", select "Unlisted or Updated Protocol". When asked for a driver disk, enter the directory where you expanded WFWT32.EXE.
- Configure TCP/IP (IP address, enable LMHOSTS lookup, try 204.118.34.11 as primary WINS server). Remove all other protocols (NetBEUI, IPX/SPX).
Windows will probably update the first lines of AUTOEXEC.BAT with
```
  c:\windows\net start
  c:\windows\odihlp.exe.
```
The "odihlp" line must be moved behind the "pdether" line.
Windows will also update NET.CFG with some "Frame" lines. These must be removed (except "Frame Ethernet_II").
Somehow, you will have to dial in to your SLIP provider. I do it manually before slipper (or cslipper) gets loaded, using a DOS-based terminal program. But there are some automatic dialers around. I've seen recommendations for ftp://mvmpc9.ciw.uni-karlsruhe.de/x-slip/slip_it.exe.
To connect to Microsoft's FTP server (or Winserve) go into File Manager, choose "Connect Network drive" and enter "\\ftp" or "\\winserve.001" into the "Path:" field.

How it works:

Microsoft's TCP/IP-32 requires an NDIS3 interface. NDIS is Microsoft's way to interface with a network.

WfW also contains an NDIS3-over-ODI "shim", whose real mode component is ODIHLP.EXE. ODI is Novell's way to interface with a network.

SLIPPER is a Packet Driver (PD) for use over serial lines. PDs are everybody else's way to interface with a network. SLIPPER's "ether" option makes it look like an Ethernet PD to applications using it.

A "shim" is a program which simulates a network application programming interface on top of another.

There is no NDIS SLIP driver which would work with WfW.

There is no NDIS-over-PD shim.

However, there's an ODI-over-PD shim (PDETHER) and an NDIS-over-ODI shim (ODIHLP etc.)

OK, so let's do NDIS-over-ODI-over-PD!

This should have worked all the time; however, a non-feature in PDETHER versions < 1.05 has prevented the method from functioning until now.

Questions, suggestions etc. please to

Peter Karrer pkarrer@ife.ee.ethz.ch