The Novell NetWare Program

 Document 1402

Novell Netware

Initials:

        11/26/91

DRDOS 6.0

Keywords:

         NOVELL

         NETWARE

         NETWORK

         TASKMAX

         MEMORYMAX

Description:

 The Novell NetWare Program

The DR DOS 6.0 operating system has been thoroughly tested on the  

Novell NetWare program from version 2.15 and above.

The vast majority of questions about the NetWare program deal with:

*Installation/Compatibility considerations of the DR DOS  

6.0 operating system on a Novell network.

*Using TaskMAX with NetWare.

*Using MemoryMAX with NetWare, or maximizing the amount of  

conventional memory for applications.

*Installation/Compatibility Considerations

The DR DOS 6.0 operating system is internally compatible with DOS  

3.31 data structures.  As a result, when programs like the Novell  

NetWare shell programs ask the DR DOS 6.0 operating system for a version  

number, the DR DOS 6.0 operating system reports 3.31.  It is important 

to understand this when installing the DR DOS 6.0 operating  

system onto NetWare workstations and onto NetWare servers.  If you  

have a mix of different DOS versions, follow the manufacturer's suggestions  

in regard to configuring the network for COMPAQ DOS 3.31 workstations.

 Server Installation

If you choose to install the DR DOS 6.0 operating system onto a non-dedicated  

server, consult the Novell NetWare reference manuals or your network  

administrator for information on installing and configuring a non-dedicated  

server.  The DR DOS 6.0 operating system requires no unique consideration  

in this case.

When configuring a network so that all the system utilities are loaded  

on the server, the NetWare server should contain copies of all the  

required DOS files used at each workstation.  If certain workstations  

are running DOS 4.x, then a particular directory on the server will  

hold a copy of the set of all DOS 4.x system files used by the workstation  

when it is running independent of the network.  When a DR DOS 6.0  

workstation is logged onto the network, at least one of the workstation's  

network drives will be mapped to the directory on the server  

holding the DR DOS 6.0 system files. 

Refer to the DR DOS 6.0 User Guide, Appendix F, for information  

on configuring a NetWare server to properly load the DR DOS 6.0 operating  

system on remote diskless workstations.

 Workstation Installation

When installing the DR DOS 6.0 operating system on a network workstation  

that is part of an existing network, you will usually not have to  

make any changes to the workstation; simply install the DR DOS 6.0  

operating system once the NetWare server has been updated  

with the DR DOS 6.0 operating system.  If you are upgrading from DOS  

3.x to the DR DOS 6.0 operating system, it should not be necessary  

to upgrade your existing NetWare shells.  However, if you are upgrading  

from DOS 4.x or MS-DOS 5, you will have to use NetWare shells intended  

for use with DOS 3.x.  You can use the proper set of NetWare shell  

programs obtained from your network administrator or Novell, or you  

can use the set provided in the NETWARE directory on the DR DOS 6.0  

ViewMAX installation diskette.

If you have to change shell programs, you might need to generate a  

new IPX.COM program to accompany the new shell version.  Consult the  

Novell NetWare reference manuals or your network administrator for  

information on how to accomplish this.

 Using TaskMAX with NetWare

Before using TaskMAX on a NetWare workstation, you must update your  

NetWare shell programs.  The necessary files are provided in the NETWARE  

directory on the last DR DOS 6.0 operating system diskette (typically  

labelled ViewMAX).  This update should be done by your Network System  

Administrator.

Under most circumstances, no further adjustments will be necessary  

to run TaskMAX on a NetWare workstation.

Load the NetWare shell programs and all drives and printers mapped  

before loading TaskMAX.  If NetWare utilities like MAP, LOGIN, and  

SESSION are run from more than one DR DOS command prompt via TaskMAX,  

the resulting drive and printer mappings might not work as expected.

If within one or more tasks under TaskMAX, you choose to run an application  

that makes direct calls to the Novell IPX or SPX TSR program (sometimes  

called a peer-to-peer application), you might need to load the IPX  

data buffering program called TBMI2.COM before loading TaskMAX.  This  

program will handle the buffering of information from IPX or SPX so  

that data is not lost after switching away from one of these peer-to-peer  

applications.  Further information on TBMI2.COM can be found in a  

file called TBMI2.DOC on the DR DOS 6.0 ViewMAX diskette.

 Using MemoryMAX with NetWare

When using the DR DOS 6.0 operating system on a NetWare workstation  

that supports upper memory, you can move both of the required NetWare  

programs outside conventional memory and into upper memory to maximize  

the amount of memory available to applications running after the NetWare  

programs have been loaded.  (See Appendix C in the DR DOS 6.0  

User Guide for a description of the various regions of memory within  

a computer, and Chapter 12 for information on what regions will be  

available on your particular computer.)

When upper memory is available, the NetWare programs IPX.COM and NETX.COM  

or NET3.COM (NETX is hereafter used to describe either program), can  

be loaded into upper memory using the HILOAD command from the autoexec.bat  

file or from the DR DOS command line.

 Memory Usage

To determine if IPX and NETX programs will fit into upper memory, do the 

following:

1.Determine the memory size requirements of these programs  

by examining the output of the MEM /A /P command after the programs  

have been loaded into conventional memory or loaded without MemoryMAX. (See  

the DR DOS 6.0 User Guide, Chapter 10, for more information on the MEM 

command.)

2.Disable any and all upper memory used by device drivers, TSRs, and/or 

applications by inserting a REM statement or a "?" command at the beginning 

of each line containing HIDEVICE, HIINSTALL, and HILOAD commands in your 

config.sys and autoexec.bat files. Use the DR DOS Editor program.

3.Make upper memory available on your machine by inserting  

the appropriate MemoryMAX device driver line into your config.sys  

file or by running SETUP, and then reboot your computer by typing  

Ctrl-Alt-Del.

4.Without having loaded any of the NetWare programs, examine  

the size of areas in upper memory that are marked as FREE in the TYPE  

column of the MEM /U /P command output.

As a general rule, when the size of one or more of these upper memory  

areas marked as FREE exceeds the size of a program that is loaded  

into conventional memory, it will be possible to relocate that program  

into upper memory.  It is important to note that the size of total  

FREE upper memory is not as important as the size of the individual  

FREE areas of upper memory, because applications require contiguous  

free memory to load.

 Using HILOAD

When upper memory is available and when FREE areas exist large enough  

to contain the NetWare programs, the HILOAD command can be used to  

move the NetWare programs into upper memory.  Upper memory is made  

available by loading the appropriate MemoryMAX driver at boot time  

and executing the MEMMAX +U command to "open" upper memory  

so that it will accept programs loaded by HILOAD.  The following four  

lines describe one way you can load the NetWare programs using HILOAD:

MEMMAX +U<R> 

HILOAD IPX.COM 

HILOAD NETX.COM 

MEMMAX -U

These lines can be appended to your autoexec.bat file or they can  

be executed from the DR DOS command line.  Note that the DR DOS INSTALL  

program will automatically insert the command, MEMMAX -U >NUL, into  

your autoexec.bat file, so you must insert MEMMAX +U to override  

it.  (The >NUL portion of the command instructs the DR DOS 6.0 operating  

system not to display the output of the MEMMAX command on the screen.)

In addition, please note the following about the HILOAD command:

*HILOAD will work only with the DR DOS MemoryMAX drivers,  

and not with third party memory managers such as QEMM386.SYS and 386MAX.SYS.

*HILOAD will not run after NET3.COM has been loaded.  This  

is because Novell replaces the DOS routines (INT 21 functions) that  

handle HILOADs under the DR DOS 6.0 operating system with their own  

routines, which cannot place programs into upper memory.

 Troubleshooting

*NetWare shell programs won't load into upper memory.*

Make sure that upper memory is available and that the size of one  

or more upper memory areas marked as FREE exceeds the size of the  

NetWare shell program that is loaded into conventional memory instead  

of upper memory.  (See the DR DOS 6.0 User Guide, Chapter 10,  

for more information on the MEMMAX and MEM commands and how they can  

be used to determine if the above conditions are met.)  Also, consider  

the following.

For EMM386.SYS users:

*You can append the /LOWEMM switch to the EMM386.SYS device  

driver line in your config.sys file. The EMM386.SYS device driver  

leaves its program code in conventional memory, which should give  

you an additional 28K of upper memory.

*If LIM (Expanded memory) is not really necessary, you might  

consider disabling it: change the /FRAME switch on the EMM386.SYS  

device driver line so that it reads /F=NONE.

*If LIM is necessary, you might consider using another NetWare  

shell instead of NETX.COM.  (Refer to your Novell reference manuals  

for information on how EMSNETX.COM and XMSNETX.COM work.)  

*With both EMSNETX.COM and XMSNETX.COM, do not use the  

HILOAD command.

*With XMSNETX.COM, the /BDOS switch on the EMM386.SYS  

device driver line should be changed so that it reads /B=AUTO or /B=NONE.

*Try changing the line that reads HIDOS=ON in your config.sys  

file so that it reads HIDOS=OFF.  This prevents the DR DOS 6.0 operating  

system from automatically relocating certain portions of the operating  

system into upper memory.

*If only text-based applications will be run at this workstation,  

use the /VIDEO switch on the EMM386.SYS device driver line along with  

the MEMMAX +V command to enable the use of video RAM for extending  

conventional memory.  This relieves the need to relocate the NetWare  

shell programs into upper memory.

For HIDOS.SYS users:

*Make sure that your machine will support upper memory.  (See  

the DR DOS 6.0 User Guide, Chapter 12, for information on what  

regions are available on your particular computer.)

*Consider using XMSNETX.COM instead of NETX.COM.  With XMSNETX.COM,  

change the /BDOS switch on the HIDOS.SYS device driver line so that  

it reads /B=AUTO or /B=NONE.

*If you are using HIDOS.SYS with the /CHIPSET option set  

to EMSUMB, consider disabling the LIM (Expanded memory) support provided  

by your LIM 4.0 driver by using the /CHIPSET=EMSALL option instead.  EMSALL  

will disable the LIM 4.0 page frame and make available a larger region  

of upper memory for mappable RAM.

*If your machine is equipped with at least 64K of extended  

memory above one megabyte, make sure that the /BDOS switch on the  

HIDOS.SYS device driver line reads /B=FFFF.

*Try changing the line that reads HIDOS=ON in your config.sys  

file so that it reads HIDOS=OFF.  This prevents the DR DOS 6.0 operating  

system from automatically relocating certain portions of the operating  

system into upper memory.

*Use the /VIDEO switch on the HIDOS.SYS device driver line  

along with the MEMMAX +V command to enable the use of video RAM for  

extending conventional memory.  This relieves the need to relocate  

the NetWare shell programs into upper memory.

*Machine locks up when trying to load NetWare shell programs.*

Some network cards maintain ROM addresses in the upper memory region.  

It is possible that the MemoryMAX driver (EMM386.SYS or HIDOS.SYS)  

is not able to recognize such areas as being already in use by the  

network card.  If the DR DOS 6.0 operating system has written some  

portion of the operating system to a region of upper memory, which  

later gets used by the network card's ROM, the system might hang 

unpredictably.  To correct this problem, you can append an /EXCLUDE switch 

to the MemoryMAX device driver line in your config.sys file to prevent the 

MemoryMAX driver from attempting to use an area known to be used by the 

network card.  Refer to your documentation on the network card for information  

on areas used in upper memory and follow the instructions for using  

the /EXCLUDE switch on those areas as shown in the HIDOS.SYS and EMM386.SYS  

sections of Chapter 11 in the DR DOS 6.0 User Guide.

If you installed Novell NetWare, or you installed additional hardware  

in your computer after you installed the DR DOS 6.0 operating system,  

it is possible that the IRQ or DMA settings on the new hardware might  

be conflicting with existing hardware.  In this case, it is best to  

resolve hardware conflicts by changing the configuration of one or  

more installed boards before changing the configuration of the DR  

DOS 6.0 operating system.

*Machine locks or generates "Packed file corrupt" error message

when executing Novell NetWare utility programs.*

This situation might occur in older versions of the NetWare utilities.  The  

error message does not reflect the true cause of the problem. Use  

the MEMMAX -L command before executing the problematic NetWare utility,  

and then use the MEMMAX +L command after.  The following is an example  

of how this might look in your autoexec.bat or login file:

MEMMAX -L 

LOGIN 

MEMMAX +L

ISSUE/PROBLEM

COMPAQ DOS 3.31/DR DOS clients mapping same directories

When setting up a Novell NetWare Network Server machine, it is normal

for a Network Administrator to actually create a directory structure

on the server's hard drive which contains all the various DOS operating 

system files for all the various DOS operating systems being used by 

network's DOS clients.  This is often done to accomodate clients to the

server who do not have their own hard drive.  That is, such clients can

use the server to access their DOS files and programs instead of their

local floppy drive.

For instance, a network server serving five clients using two different 

operating systems, say MS DOS 3.30 and COMPAQ DOS 3.31, will have two 

directories which contain all the operating system files contained in 

the clients' DOS directories.  These directories might have paths on the 

server like SYS:PUBLIC/MSDOS/V3.30 and SYS:PUBLIC/COMPAQ/V3.31.

When a client running MS DOS 3.30 attaches to the server and logs in to

this environment, it is important that the client's DOS PATH and COMSPEC

variables be adjusted to "point" (or MAP) to the server's copy of the 

client's DOS files.  This is normally accomplished by the Network 

Administrator who makes some changes and adjustments to one of the 

server's files called the System Login Script.  This Login Script is the 

NetWare Operating System's DOS operating system batch file equivalent.  

Using a few basic commands in this System Login Script, the Network 

Administrator can determine which DOS operating system the server client

is currently using and then map that client in the right direction.

If a user is using DR DOS as the client operating system on a Novell 

Network, it may not be immediately apparent as to how a DR DOS client

can be properly identified and mapped from within the System Login 

Script.

Normally, a line like MAP INS S2:=SYS:PUBLIC/%OS/%OS_VERSION in the

System Login Script will handle the mapping properly.  When DR DOS is 

the DOS client's operating system, however, the %OS and %OS_VERSION

variables actually return MSDOS and V3.31 respectively.  It is obvious

how this can cause confusion.  The DR DOS operating system is most

compatible with MS DOS/COMPAQ DOS version 3.3X.  It is for this reason

that DR DOS appears to the NetWare operating system to be MS DOS 3.31.  

As a result, both COMPAQ DOS 3.31 and DR DOS versions 5.0 and 6.0 will 

end up being mapped to the same sub-directory on the NetWare server's 

hard drive.

In order to prevent such conflicts, a little extra work is required

when writing the System Login Script.  Because the DR DOS client 

operating system actually maintains two environment variables called

OS and VER which equal DRDOS and 5.0 or 6.0 respectively, it is actually

possible to test the DOS client operating system in the System Login

Script to determine if the DOS client is running COMPAQ DOS 3.31, DR 

DOS 5.0 or DR DOS 6.0.

This sample System Login Script explains and implements such a 

technique:

REM  The following lines establish environment variables OS and VER

REM  if the DOS client is NOT running DRDOS (any version.)  That is,

REM  any DOS client operating system other that DRDOS does not already

REM  maintain the environment variables OS and VER, and as a result,

REM  they need to be set.

IF <OS> <> "DRDOS" THEN  

BEGIN  

DOS SET OS="%OS"

DOS SET VER="%OS_VERSION" 

END

REM  All that's left to be done is to map the DOS client using the 

REM  DOS environment variables <OS> and <VER>.

MAP INS S2:=%FILE_SERVER/SYS:PUBLIC/%<OS>/%<VER>