LANtastic Network Operating System Compatibility Bulletin Product Reviewed: Microsoft Windows version 3.1 Classification: Multi-tasking/Windowing Environments Date: 3/15/93 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Compatibility Statement: Microsoft Windows 3.1 is compatible with LANtastic NOS v4.xx. Product Overview: Windows 3.1 builds upon Microsoft's popular graphical user interface in many ways. It includes faster overall performance, enhanced Program Manager and File Manager functionalities, sound and multi-media capabilities, and better support for diverse LAN environments. Product Installation Notes: 1. The Windows 3.1 SETUP program is now able to detect the LANtastic network environment during installation. For this to work correctly, LANtastic must be running and the LANtastic directory (normally C:\LANTASTI) must be in your DOS PATH when you start SETUP (type PATH with no arguments at the DOS prompt to check the current setting). The steps below detail the two ways you can install or upgrade Windows 3.1 on a LANtastic network. -> IMPORTANT: Never run SETUP from within a Windows DOS prompt Window, -> you must exit completely from Windows first. A. Local SETUP, installing from the Windows diskettes at each workstation: When performing a local SETUP, follow the same process as if you were installing Windows 3.1 on a stand-alone machine. For most PCs this is as easy as inserting SETUP Disk 1 into the floppy drive, changing to that drive, and typing the SETUP command. From there, follow the on-screen instructions for installation. If LANtastic is detected, SETUP will display "LANtastic Network Operating System version 4.xx" in the "Network:" selection on the System Configuration screen. If no network is detected, exit SETUP and ensure that the LANtastic software is running before continuing with the Windows 3.1 installation. B. Network SETUP, Windows 3.1 Multi-User Installation Microsoft designed the Multi-User installation of Windows so that all the workstations on a network could share a single copy of Windows located on a central server. This type of installation would typically be used on networks that either contain diskless workstations or on workstations where there is not enough hard drive space to install Windows on each PC. We recommend that you install Windows to your local hard disk if there is enough space to do so, as Windows will run much faster from a local drive versus a network drive. The steps below detail how to create a Windows "shared directory," or Administrative Setup, on the server that will contain all of the files from Windows diskettes. These files will be accessed by each user who runs Windows from a network drive. Once you have finished the Administrative Setup, you will create an individual "user" directory for each workstation to use when running Windows. Please read the Multi-User installation section in your Windows manual before proceeding with these directions. 1. Before running SETUP on the machine that will be the shared server, delete any existing Windows installation from that machine and remove the Windows directory from the DOS PATH. Then, at the server, run "SETUP/A" from the floppy disk labeled "Windows disk #1." This process unpacks all the necessary files from the diskette to a single directory on your server's hard disk. During the Administrative Setup, these files are marked as "read-only" so they can be shared between all users. 2. If the server itself will be used as a Windows workstation, then you will need to create a "user" directory for it. First, ensure that the network software is running and that the LANtastic directory (normally C:\LANTASTI) is in your PATH. Then, change to the Windows shared directory, (designated in step #1) and type "SETUP/N". SETUP will prompt you for the name of the user directory that you want to create. For example, enter "C:\WINSERV" as the server's user directory and then complete the setup answering all prompts accordingly. Once you're finished, reboot the server (be sure that no one is actively using the server before rebooting). When the machine is back on line, run "WIN" from the "WINSERV" directory. 3. On the workstation, start the network and NET USE an available drive letter to the server's resource which contains the Windows shared directory. Note that you will need to NET USE this same drive letter to that resource each time you bring up the workstation so that Windows will be able to access the files it needs from the server. Check your PATH to make sure that it includes the LANtastic directory. Then, switch to the network drive, change to the directory you created with the Administrative Setup and run "SETUP/N." You will be prompted for the user directory name, which must be a unique name. This directory may be stored on either the redirected drive or the workstation's local drive. Reboot the workstation once SETUP is finished and run Windows from the user directory on the server. 4. Note that the SETUP program may automatically add SMARTDrive disk cache to your AUTOEXEC.BAT (and possibly to CONFIG.SYS also). If you are running Artisoft's LANCache utility, you must disable one of the caches or risk data corruption. To disable SMARTDrive, locate the following line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file and REMark it or delete it: C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE Also, check in CONFIG.SYS and delete any references to SMARTDrive it contains. Refer to the "Using LANCache with Microsoft Windows" section in the LANtastic NOS Reference Manual for more information on configuring LANCache for use with Windows. To disable LANCache utility, open your STARTNET.BAT (or other batch file that starts the network) and REMark delete the line that looks similar to: C:\LANTASTI\LANCACHE See the Microsoft Windows User's Guide for more information on running SMARTDrive. Product Execution Notes: 1. Your DOS PATH= statement in the AUTOEXEC.BAT should not include any redirected drives that loop back to your local server. For example, if your server name is WIN_SERVER, then the following NET USE statement is an example of a loopback redirection: NET USE F: \\WIN_SERVER\C-DRIVE If your PC locks up at the Windows logo screen when Windows is starting up, this is the most likely reason. To resolve this, you should remove any loopback paths from your PATH= statement or cancel the redirection before starting Windows and reconnect the drive once Windows is running. 2. If you are running Windows 3.1 on a machine that also functions as a print server, perform the following steps to speed up printing: a. At DOS, run the NET_MGR program and select "Shared Resource Management" from the Main Functions menu. b. Select the printer resource (e.g. @PRINTER), select the Chars/Second field and change it to 10000. c. Hit the ESC key twice to return to the Main Functions menu, then choose the "Server Startup Parameters" selection. Set Printer Tasks to 1, even if you have more than one printer physically attached to this machine. Exit from NET_MGR and reboot if you changed the Printer Tasks setting. 3. With Windows 3.1, you can send print jobs to any of the standard print devices (e.g. LPT1-3, COM1,2) when running over LANtastic. However, if the printer you are sending jobs to is a network printer, carry out the following steps to streamline printing: a. From the Main Group in Windows, select Control Panel and then Printers. If the "Use Print Manager" box is checked, click on the box to turn it off. This will eliminate double spooling of jobs, since both Windows and LANtastic have print spoolers. b. From that same window, click on the "Connect" button and uncheck the "Fast Printing Direct to Port" box that appears in the Connect window. c. Also in the Connect window, put the value 900 in the "Device Not Selected" box, and change the "Transmission Retry Timeout" to 950. Compatibility Notes: 1. If Windows 3.1 replaces a Windows 3.0 installation and you run Windows in Standard mode, you may receive an error message regarding NetHeapSize. Windows will display an informative message on startup requesting that you reduce this setting. Generally, this is because the [standard] section of the SYSTEM.INI file contains this line: NetHeapSize=64 Change this value to 63 to eliminate the informative message. 2. SETUP will not be able to configure a permanent swap file if the LANtastic SERVER program is running. To remedy this, have all users log out of your server and remove SERVER from memory. You can then run SETUP or change the virtual memory settings from the 386 Enhanced option within Control Panel. Remove SERVER by running the command below at the DOS prompt (NOT within a Windows DOS prompt window). SERVER /REMOVE Note that this command will shut down your server and log out any active users. No other users may log in or use your system until you re-run the server program. If the above command returns the message "ERROR: not safe to REMOVE, Interrupts re-hooked," you must temporarily comment out the SERVER command from your STARTNET.BAT file and reboot the machine before configuring the swap file. 3. SETUP inserts the following line in the [386Enh] section of the SYSTEM.INI file during the configuration process when it detects it is installing on a LANtastic network: EMMExclude=D800-DFFF This prevents Windows from using the default RAMBASE address of the Artisoft Enhanced 2Mbps (E2Mbps) adapter. You may remove this line if you are using Artisoft AE-2, AE-2/T, AE-3, or AE-1 adapters since they do not use a RAMBASE address. If you do have the E2Mbps adapter, verify the address it uses and change the values on the EMMExclude line to match them if necessary. On 386 and higher machines, you should also confirm that the E2Mbps adapter range is excluded from access by your 386 expanded memory manager (e.g. EMM386.EXE). If you are using adapter cards other than Artisoft's, check the adapter documentation to confirm whether the card uses a RAMBASE address. Troubleshooting: The following information is provided to assist you in solving the most common problems that LANtastic users encounter. The symptom of a particular situation is presented with its solution immediately following. Symptom: Printer prints slowly when print server is running Windows. Solution: Change the "Characters Per Second" for the printer resource to 10000. To do this, start NET_MGR and select "Shared Resource Management" from the main functions menu. Choose the printer name from the resource list and change the "Characters Per Second" setting. After changing this setting, press ESC to return to the main functions menu and select "Server Startup Parameters" from that menu. Make sure the "Printer Tasks" setting is 1, then press ESC until you reach the DOS prompt. If you changed these settings, reboot your server so the changes can go into effect. Once the server is back on-line, start Windows and make sure that "Print Manager" and "Fast Printing Direct to Port" are both disabled. (These are both located under "CONTROL PANEL, PRINTERS".) * * * Symptom: Computer locks up and starts "bleeping" when I load Windows in Enhanced mode on a server. Solution: Remove all loopback drive redirections from this server. For example, if your server is called SERVER1 a loopback redirection would be: NET USE C: \\SERVER1\C-DRIVE, or NET USE F: \\SERVER1\C-DRIVE * * * Symptom: Frequent LAN disconnects from all servers or disconnects when you try to start a DOS application on a network drive from within Windows. Solution: Make a new entry in the SYSTEM.INI file that looks like this: [lantastic] network_irq=15 The network_irq setting must be set to the hardware interrupt request (IRQ) number that your network adapter is using. For Artisoft adapters, the defaults are IRQ 15 if you are using the AEX.EXE driver, IRQ 3 if you are using the AE2.EXE driver, and also IRQ 3 if your are using the LANBIOSx.EXE drivers. Check the driver command line in your STARTNET.BAT or other batch file that brings up the LAN to see if you are using an IRQ other than the default. You may also use the Microsoft Diagnostics (MSD.EXE) program's IRQ Status option to discover which IRQ your adapter is using. You should exit Windows before running MSD so that it will be able to collect correct information about your computer. See the Windows 3.1 User's Guide for more information on MSD.EXE. * * * Symptom: I can't print from Windows, it gives me the error "Printer not ready or out of paper." Solution: Open the Windows Control Panel, select the Printers icon and make sure that the Print Manager box is not checked. Click on the "Connect" button and uncheck the Fast Printing Direct To Port box if it is checked. * * * Symptom: With Windows loaded in Enhanced 386 mode, the network becomes inaccessible. My machine either bleeps or locks up when accessing a network resource. Possible solutions: 1. Exit Windows and run SETUP at the DOS prompt in the Windows directory. Make sure the NETWORK selection has been set to "LANtastic". 2. Edit the SYSTEM.INI file in the Windows directory. In the "[386enh]" section, make sure the "Network=" line is written as follows: NETWORK=*VNETBIOS, C:\LANTASTI\LANTASTI.386 3. If you're using the 2Mbps adapter, or a 3rd party network adapter that requires a shared RAM address, check to make sure you have a line in the SYSTEM.INI file [386Enh] section that excludes the RAMBASE address for the adapter. For example: EMMEXCLUDE=xxxx-yyyy where xxxx-yyyy designates the RAMBASE address range for your network adapter. 4. Make sure there are no other adapters in the system that use same IRQ as your network card. For example, If you have your network card on IRQ 3, then it will conflict with your COM2 port. This symptom is usually more apparent when you are running Windows than when you are in DOS. * * * Symptom: Computer locks up with the screen blank while loading Windows. Possible Solutions: 1. Add this line to the SYSTEM.INI file, in the "[386enh]" section. EMMEXCLUDE=A000-FFFF 2. If you installed a 3rd party video driver for Windows, change it back to "VGA". This will allow you to check for a possible software or hardware conflict. * * * Symptom: During installation of LANtastic For Windows, I get the error message: "Call to undefined dynalink." Solution: You are using LANtastic for Windows version 4.0. You will need to download the "WINSTZIP.EXE" file from our Bulletin Board System (602-293-0065) or from our CompuServe Forum (GO ARTISOFT). This is a self-extracting compressed file that will give you a new WINSTALL.EXE program to replace the one from your original LANtastic for Windows disk. Alternately, you can contact Artisoft customer service for an upgrade to LANtastic for Windows version 4.1. (LANtastic For Windows version 4.0 was designed for use with Windows 3.0) * * * Symptom: I receive: "Error incorrect DOS version" while trying to load Windows. Solution: Edit or type out your CONFIG.SYS file and check the setting on the "FILES= " line. If it is 25 or less, edit CONFIG.SYS and set it to a higher value. We recommend a minimum of 50. Also check the value of the BUFFERS setting, it should be at least 16. * * * Symptom: When trying to load Windows in 386 Enhanced mode on machine running "DR DOS" version 6.00, I get the error: "Insufficient memory to initialize Windows in Enhanced mode". Solution: Download the file "DRDOS600.EXE" from our BBS or CompuServe. Copy it to the LANTASTI subdirectory and run it to create a new "LANTASTI.386" file. Once it is done, copy the new file to the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. * * * Version History: 12/16/92: Windows 3.1 tested for compatibility with LANtastic v4.0. 3/15/93: Windows 3.1 tested for compatibility with LANtastic v5.0. Vendor Information: Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond WA 98052-6399 Phone: 206/882-8080 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTISOFT, Inc. Makes no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this document. LANtastic is a trademark of ARTISOFT, Inc. Brand names, company names, and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------