Domain/PCI Personal Computer Interconnect Software Release Notes
Release 5.0
Part No. 008011-A01
This release document tells you which
manuals to read for information about
DPCI client hardware installation, client
and server software installation and
configuration, and server software
administration. It also describes
compatibility considerations, bugs, fixed
bugs, and product limitations.
Throughout this document, the term "DPCI
Release 5.0" is used to refer to both
version 5.0 and version 5.0.p, except
where explicit differentiation is made.
APOLLO COMPUTER INC.
330 Billerica Road
Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01824
Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 1989 All Rights Reserved. Reproduction,
adaptation, or translation without prior written permission is prohibited,
except as allowed under the copyright laws. Printed in USA.
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Second Printing: October 1988
Latest Printing: December 1989
UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T in the USA and other countries.
WHILE THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE,
HEWLETT-PACKARD MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND WITH REGARD TO THIS MATERIAL,
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FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for
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Information in this publication is subject to change without notice.
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Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 52.227-7013.
Hewlett-Packard Company, 3000 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304
Reader_Notice
This document resides online in the /install/doc/apollo directory. To print
a copy of this document, use the prf command with the -pr and -npag options,
as follows:
prf /install/doc/apollo/dpci.v.5.0notes -pr <printer_name> -npag
If you only ordered DPCI 5.0.p, which runs on the Series 10000, specify the
pathname as follows:
prf /install/doc/apollo/dpci.v.5.0.pnotes -pr <printer_name> -npag
Contents
Section Page
CHAPTER 1 HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
1.1 What PC Users Should Read. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
1.2 What System Administrators Should Read . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
1.3 Notes on Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
CHAPTER 2 DPCI SERVER INSTALLATION INFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
CHAPTER 3 DOCUMENTATION
3.1 Version 5.0 Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
3.2 Domain Network Documentation for System Administrators. . . 3-1
CHAPTER 4 INSTALLING DPCI CLIENT SOFTWARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
CHAPTER 5 STATUS OF BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
5.1 Fixed Bugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
5.2 Version 5.0 Bugs and Workarounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3
5.3 Status of Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
CHAPTER 1
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
The Domain/PCI Personal Computer Interconnect (DPCI) product consists of the
following two software modules that communicate with each other:
o Server software, which is installed on an Apollo node
o Client software corresponding to various DPCI products, which is
installed on a personal computer
This document
o Refers you to the appropriate documentation for client and server
software installation
o Provides a list of bugs and fixed bugs
o Describes special compatibility issues and considerations
1.1 What PC Users Should Read
If you are a PC user,
o Read the section, "Notes on Compatibility," in this chapter.
o Read Chapter 3 for information on DPCI documentation.
o Read Chapter 4 for information about DPCI client software
installation.
o Read Chapter 5 for information about bugs and limitations that may
affect your work environments.
1-1 DPCI, Release 5.0
1.2 What System Administrators Should Read
If you are a system administrator, read this entire document. If you are
setting up DPCI for the first time, first read Chapter 3 for information on
the documentation you need to install and use DPCI.
1.3 Notes on Compatibility
Before updating your software from DPCI Version 4.0 to 5.0, please note the
following:
o DPCI Version 4.0 Ethernet clients stored files in the \dpci\dpcienet
directory. Installing the DPCI 5.0 client renames this directory
dpci503 (for the 3Com 3C503 board that it supports).
o The use of the DPCI Version 4.0 enetdiag utility (on the PC) to
create the dpcienet.cfg configuration file utility has been
discontinued in Version 5.0. Users can now edit the configuration
file directly to enter their node IDs and change board defaults. The
configuration files are in \dpci\dpcixxx\dpcixxx.cfg where xxx = 501,
503, 523, or 603.
o PAUSE and CONTINUE in the PC's net PAUSE and net CONTINUE commands
must now be entered in upper case.
o The sample startup files which were called dpciring.bat, dpci1.bat,
and dpcienet.bat are now replaced by a combined startup file
startpci, which takes an argument defining the client type. Thus,
the new command
startpci dpciring 14808
is equivalent to the old command
dpciring 14808
o On the server, the process names for the daemons which handled the
NetBIOS protocol stacks have been changed from dpcinet_session to
dpcinetd, from dpci1_session_siox to dpci1d, and from dpci8_session
to dpci8d.
o There is a new daemon process on the server which just handles
spawning of new DPCI servers. This process is named dpci_spawn_xxxx
where xxxx = dpcinet, dpci1, dpci8, or nb1002. In DPCI Version 4.0,
this spawning logic used to be part of dpcixxx_session.
DPCI, Release 5.0 1-2
o The pcinstl.bat file now assumes three 5-1/2 inch floppies or two
3-1/2 inch floppies. These floppies
contain transports for all DPCI products for client media software
installation.
o DPCI help files are optionally installed when the destination media
is a floppy disk.
o The net use command is supported only for backwards compatibility
with DPCI Versions 1.0 and 2.0.
o DPCI Version 4.0 used the product names DPCI-Ring, DPCI-Enet, DPCI-1,
and DPCI-8. Version 5.0 uses the product names DPCI-Apollo Token
Ring, DPCI-IBM Token Ring, DPCI-Ethernet, and DPCI-1. DPCI-8 is
supported only for backwards compatibility.
1-3 DPCI, Release 5.0
CHAPTER 2
DPCI SERVER INSTALLATION INFORMATION
You can install DPCI Release 5.0 server software on a user node (one
equipped with monitor and keyboard) or a Domain Server Processor (DSP) that
is running the SR9.7 or a more recent version of the Domain/OS operating
system. DPCI Release 5.0.p may be installed on any Series 10000 machine.
The media contains the following product(s):
Product Version Selection File(s) Override File(s)
DPCI 5.0 aa.dpci ov.dpci
DPCI 5.0.p aa.dpci ov.dpci
Selection and override files reside in the directory
//<authorized_area>/install/templates/apollo/<product_name>.v.<version>
where <authorized_area> is your authorized area, <product_name> is the
product name (as listed in the first column of the table above), and
<version> is the version number (as listed in the second column of the table
above).
For directions about how to install this product and about the use of
selection and override files, see the manual Installing_Software_with
Apollo's_Release_and_Installation_Tools, Order No. 008860-A02.
NOTE: The user node or DSP must have approximately 1700 1024-byte blocks
of available disk space for a successful installation of this
software. The exact number of blocks varies depending on the
specific DPCI product that you install.
2-1 DPCI, Release 5.0
CHAPTER 3
DOCUMENTATION
3.1 Version 5.0 Documentation
Two manuals accompany DPCI Version 5.0:
o Domain/PCI_Personal_Computer_Interconnect_Installation_and
Administration (Order No. 007457-A00) explains how to install and
configure DPCI hardware, client software, and server software. It
also describes how to manage server software after installation.
o Using_the_Domain/PCI_Personal_Computer_Interconnect (Order No.
007460-A01) explains how to use DPCI client software.
3.2 Domain Network Documentation for System Administrators
If you are setting up DPCI at your site for the first time, consult the
manuals listed below.
o If you're running only 802.3 (Ethernet), read Installing_the_802.3
Network_Controller-AT (010614), Managing_Aegis_System_Software
(010852), Managing_BSD_System_Software (010853), and Managing_SysV
System_Software (010851).
Please note that DPCI-Ethernet is designed for 802.3 (Ethernet)
running native on a Domain network; it is not designed for a Domain
Server Processor running an Ethernet gateway, or similar non-native
Ethernet environments. The following Apollo Workstation model
families support native 802.3: Series DN500, Series DN3000, Series
DN400, and the DN10000.
3-1 DPCI, Release 5.0
o If you're running only the Apollo Token Ring network, read Installing
the_Apollo_Token_Ring_Network_Controller-AT (010616), Managing_Aegis
System_Software (010852), Managing_BSD_System_Software (010853), and
Managing_SysV_System_Software (010851).
o If you're running an Internet (Token Ring to 802.3, Token Ring to
Token Ring, or 802.3 to 802.3), read Installing_the_802.3_Network
Controller-AT (010614), Installing_the_Apollo_Token_Ring_Network
Controller-AT (010616), Managing_Domain/OS_and_Domain_Routing_in_an
Internet (005694-A00) [see, in particular, information about rtsvc
(routing_service)], Managing_Aegis_System_Software (010852), Managing
BSD_System_Software (010853), and Managing_SysV_System_Software
(010851).
DPCI, Release 5.0 3-2
CHAPTER 4
INSTALLING DPCI CLIENT SOFTWARE
For information about how to install the DPCI client software on your PC,
refer to the Domain/PCI_Personal_Computer_Interconnect_Installation_and
Administration_ manual (Order No. 007457-A00).
When upgrading from DPCI Version 4.0 to 5.0, make sure the working (current)
directory of the destination drive is not dpcienet before installing your
DPCI client software. Otherwise, pcinstl.bat will not delete the obsolete
directory dpcienet. For example, if your working directory is
C>dpci\dpcienet, enter
cd \
to change your working directory to C>dpci before installing your software.
4-1 DPCI, Release 5.0
CHAPTER 5
STATUS OF BUGS AND LIMITATIONS
5.1 Fixed Bugs
The following Version 4.0 bugs have been corrected in Version 5.0:
o Some applications that opened a file more than once did not work
correctly if the target file was in an NFS directory. For example,
the DOS COMP utility didn't work when one of the files was in an NFS
directory.
o Trying to rename a file on a Domain drive did not return an error if
the file did not exist.
o If an Ethernet server returned the error 2f0006 - "adapter hardware
error (OS/IEEE802.3)" - the dpcinet_session would crash while trying
to log the error.
o The net login command returned a "path not found" error message if
the home directory was a /.
o The inability to use the Domain print server for both Domain/OS and
DOS printers was fixed with a feature that allows you to set up and
reset printer options in the offers file.
o If you attempted to overwrite an existing non-ASCII file in a Domain
directory, the end result was still a non-ASCII file, even if the
file's extension was in pci_cvrt.dat.
o The DPCI-Ring xport command used to take over interrupt 7 in addition
to its configured interrupt, preventing other devices from using
IRQ7.
o Scrolling while in DTERM was not possible.
5-1 DPCI, Release 5.0
o DTERM accepts command line arguments when you use the -program
option. Previously, the command line dterm -program "ld -a" would
not work unless the -a portion was dropped.
o The inability to use the pre-SR10 SysV cat command while in DTERM is
fixed by using the catx command that is located in the sys/dpci
directory. You should copy the catx command into /bin/cat.
o The inability to use the pre-SR10 crp command for any OS environment
while in DTERM is fixed by using the crpx command that is located in
the /sys/dpci directory. You should copy the crpx command into
/com/crp.
o The invoked lpr command assumed the default printer lp rather than
the specified printer. This happened because the scan routine in the
server converted all offer strings to lowercase, and the lpr command
takes an uppercase P for the printer name.
o The net login command did not have a buffer size large enough to
accommodate the full login (user.group.org).
o Read-only attributes for files on network drives were not supported.
You can now use attrib +r to take away write privileges from
owner.group.world (&=0555) and attrib -r to add write privileges for
the owner (|=0700).
o The files pcibckup.exe and pcixcopy.exe each used up 13K of disk
space. They have been consolidated into one file, pciload.exe, that
uses less disk space.
o The pci_assist command did not work in a case-sensitive shell. It
also had problems with extensions if pci_cvrt.dat was an hdru (header
undefined) type file.
o DPCI did not have the appropriate redirector for compatibility with
DOS 4.0.
o The mapped files created for ASCII conversion files were not getting
unmapped. This was a problem when running MS/Make to build PC files
that were stored on a node.
o If you ran DTERM in DPCI Version 4.0 while logged in to a VAX, the
delete key on your PC did not work. To delete, you can now press
CTL-BACKSPACE.
DPCI, Release 5.0 5-2
o After you created a shell from DTERM, the lvar (list variables)
command reported the variable systype as BSD4.2. You can now create
a file called systype in the ~/user_data or `node_data directories
and enter the desired systype variable string. The next time you
invoke DTERM, the systype variable will be set correctly.
o The net connect command didn't accept mixed-case names.
o Login to an Apollo node was denied if the node could not access the
network's master registry. Typically, this problem occurred when a
network was partitioned. You can now log in to a node without
access to the master registry provided the local registry cache
contains the necessary information for your user account. This fix
applies to every release after and including SR9.7 -- except SR10.0.
5.2 Version 5.0 Bugs and Workarounds
The following bugs exist in DPCI Version 5.0. We have supplied ways to work
around the bugs, wherever possible.
o On some PCs, you cannot reset the network board by pressing
<Ctrl><Alt><Del>. You must do a hard reboot to reconnect the PC to
the network.
o The DPCI-IBM Token Ring product encounters infrequent and
intermittent problems when running on 8-bit bus slots of IBM PC and
PC/XT class machines. When these problems occur, you see the error
"Adapter Check Interrupt". You must reboot the PC to continue using
the network. You might avoid this problem by specifying "0" for the
DMA channel option in the dpci603.cfg file located in the
\dpci\dpci603 directory.
o If you are using BINET and network software other than DPCI loaded
the redirector program, then the command net start binet dpcixxx
produces the error "redirector already loaded" but fails to load the
binet.exe file. You need to manually load binet.exe by entering
\dpci\binet.exe at your DOS prompt.
o DTERM intermittently conflicts with the PC utility Sidekick. There
is no workaround.
o If your DOS path variable specifies unreachable directories, then
invoking a net command from anywhere other than the c:\dpci directory
produces an error. You should remove references to unreachable
directories from your path variable.
o The net logout operation sometimes takes a long time to complete.
There is no workaround.
5-3 DPCI, Release 5.0
o The utility Referee, which shows loaded TSR (terminated, stay
resident) programs and may activate or deactivate them, does not work
with DPCI. There is no workaround.
o On Compaq Plus PCs, the type of memory transfer must be changed from
the default for DPCI-Ethernet to work properly (the default value
for the device statement parameter M is 3, DMA demand mode). You
need to edit the file c:\dpci\dpci503\dpci503.cfg and add
/M:2
at the end of the "Configuration Options" line. For detailed
information, refer to Chapter 5 of Etherlink__II__Installation__Guide.
In that chapter, Table 5-2 lists device statement parameters
(including M, the memory transfer parameter), values for these
parameters, and their meanings.
o The attempt to print a file created using SQCpac or Personal
Publisher through the printer emulator and PostScript conversion can
cause PostScript errors, and sometimes crash the printer. There is
no workaround for this bug.
o Hot-keying out of DTERM does not restore the screen display properly
if it was displaying graphics. Hot-keying into DTERM from graphics
mode sometimes causes the mouse cursor to be lost. Avoid these
problems by not using the DTERM hot key feature when using graphic
applications, or refer to the documentation for your application for
information on refreshing the display.
o If you are using DPCI-Apollo Token Ring and the QNC is not physically
connected to the network, then your PC performance will be poor after
you invoke net start dpciring. You need to make sure QNC is
connected before entering net start dpciring.
o The catalog-node command, used with the -update option (ctnode
-update), does not catalog a PC running any DPCI product. There is
no workaround.
o If DPCI server node crashes result in locked objects that prevent
DPCI from being restarted, you can explicitly unlock the locked
objects by entering ulkob `nodedata/dpci?* -f.
o In the PC application AutoCAD, the EXIT feature (which implicitly
saves an open drawing and terminates AutoCAD) results in the error
"Network error on Drive x" or false "Disk full" errors. You need to
save the drawing explicitly and then quit out of AutoCAD, rather than
using the EXIT feature.
DPCI, Release 5.0 5-4
o Version 5.0 DPCI server software contains changes to the file open
mode handling which may cause errors when using applications that do
not properly support these modes in a network environment. For
example, when using AutoCAD, you may receive a "FATAL ERROR: disk
full" error when accessing a drawing on a network drive.
applications, such as AutoCAD, that do not contain the correct
attributes for network operations.
o Using a mixed case printer name in an offer yields a lower case
printer name when a print command is invoked. The offers and
printer names in the offers file must be in lower case.
o If you lose your network connection (e.g., "NET 805: Network device
no longer exists"), the net use command may return out-of-date
information about what connections are active. There is no
workaround.
o Windows 386 is incompatible with all DPCI products. There is no
workaround.
5.3 Status of Limitations
If you are using client software that is a NetBIOS implementation over
TCP/IP, you cannot connect your PC to DPCI server software running on a
DN10000 machine.
The -netbios nb1002 option does not work on DN10000 servers.
DPCI-Ethernet Version 5.0 does not support AT&T Model 6300 PCs.
Before running DPCI, make sure you have a cable connection between the PC and
the node. If your PC is not connected to the network when you enter net
start dpci603, net start does not return control and no error message is
generated.
There is a limit of 23 user-level sockets per server node for pre_SR10.2.
You will get an error stating ``OUT OF SOCKETS IPC/MGR'' for any function
that requires a socket (such as the crp command or another DPCI session).
Certain dpci501 boards have restrictions for setting interrupts. See your
3Com documentation for details.
5-5 DPCI, Release 5.0
DPCI record-locking capabilities have the following limitations:
o Only hdru (header undefined) type files are candidates for MS-DOS
record locking. If you created a file from your PC and its extension
was not in your pci_cvrt.dat file, it will be a hdru type file. If
you attempt a record-locking operation on a non-hdru file, a lock
violation error (DOS error 33) is returned.
o Only hdru type files support the correct MS-DOS semantics for files
opened in one of the DOS sharing modes (deny-read, deny-write,
deny-all, or deny-none). For non-hdru files, an open in deny-all
mode is equivalent to deny-write, and an open in deny-read mode is
equivalent to deny-none. In other words, for non-hdru files, denial
of writing is enforced but denial of reading is not.
DPCI, Release 5.0 5-6