Remote booting DOS workstations

There are 2 recommended configurations for booting DOS:

• For maximum network driver performance, use an NDIS interface (the MDGND.DOS driver).

• For DOS memory savings, use the Smart software (Smart NetBIOS interface and if required a Smart LLC interface).

  Remote booting DOS workstations with NDIS

  1. Create the directory: C:\IBMLAN\RPL\DOS\TOKENRNG\MADGE and copy the files MDGND.DOS and MDGND30.BIN from the release disk, and C:\IBMLAN\RPL\DOS\TOKENRNG\PROTOCOL.INI into it.

  2. Modify C:\IBMLAN\RPL\DOS\TOKENRNG\MADGE\PROTOCOL.INI to change each bindings section to:

  bindings = mdgnd

  and add the following section at the end of the file:

  [mdgnd]

  drivername = mdgnd$

  3. In the directory C:\IBMLAN\RPL copy DOSNDTR.CNF to DOSNDMDG.CNF.

  4. Edit DOSNDMDG.CNF as follows:

  Change the line referring to PROTOCOL.INI to refer to the new MADGE\PROTOCOL.INI file created above.

  Comment out the line referring to IBMTOK.DOS with a ";" character and insert the following line immediately after it: DRV DOS\TOKENRNG\MADGE\MDGND.DOS ~ ~ ~ Add the line DAT DOS\TOKENRING\MADGE\MDGND30.BIN

  Ensure that the last parameter on the line referring to PROTMAN.DOS is ~ (not M).

  5. Create a server record for the NDIS boot block with identifier R_DMDG_NDIS (All DOS server record IDs must start with "R_D"). To do this add the following line to C:\IBMLAN\RPL\RPL.MAP:

  yyyyyyyyyyyy DOSNDMDG.CNF 3 10 N IBMLAN$ DOS~TOKEN~RING~NDIS~~ ,,, Z R_DMDG_NDIS~~

  6. Select LAN Services File and Print > LAN Server Administration > Local Workstation ???????? > DOS Image Definitions. Double click on an image similar to the one you wish to use and select Selected > Create another.... Edit the definition as required and save under a suitable name, for example, DOSMDG1.
  Select Selected > Make image and select the RPL server name. This creates a DOS boot image (.IMG) file from the .DEF file.

  7. Go back to the Local Workstation window and select Remote IPL Requesters. Double click on Remote IPL Requester Template and select Object > Create another....
  Set the status to Enable DOS requester. Enter a Machine ID e.g. MACHINE1, a Description e.g. Madge Smart Ringnode MACHINE 1 and the node address of the Ringnode in the RPL workstation. Select Parameters and select the R_DMDG_NDIS server record identifier and the DOS boot image created above. Click the Create button which will add a workstation record line to the RPL.MAP file.

  8. You can now start the RPL service via Local Workstation ???????? > Services. Highlight REMOTEBOOT and select Selected > Start....

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  Remote booting DOS workstations with Smart software

  1. Use the SMTLINK.EXE utility to link SMART.EXE, SMART.CFG, NETB.SMT to make the file SMTNETB.EXE. Note that there is a maximum limit on the size of the boot block and if the SMTLINKed SMART driver is greater than about 280Kb it may fail to boot. SMART.CFG must contain the SRPL30 option in the [HOST] section.

  2. Copy SMTNETB.EXE into the directory C:\IBMLAN\DOSLAN\LSP.

  3. In the directory C:\IBMLAN\RPL copy DOSBBTR.CNF to DOSBBMDG.CNF.

  4. Edit DOSBBMDG.CNF as follows:

  Comment out the 4 lines referring to the IBM drivers and .MSG file with a ";" character. (They all start with "DXM").

  Insert the following line immediately after the commented lines:

  DRV C:\IBMLAN\DOSLAN\LSP\SMTNETB.EXE ~ ~ ~

  5. Copy the file TERMRPL.EXE from the release disk to the directory C:\IBMLAN\DOSLAN\NET and modify the line referring to RPLTERM in C:\IBMLAN\DOSLAN\NET\RIPL.BAT to:

  %1:\DOSLAN\NET\TERMRPL S3.0

  6. Create a server record for the NetBIOS boot block with identifier R_DMDG_NETB (All DOS server record IDs should start "R_D"). This is done by adding the following line to C:\IBMLAN\RPL\RPL.MAP:

  yyyyyyyyyyyy DOSBBMDG.CNF 3 10 N IBMLAN$ DOS~TOKEN~RING~NETB~~ ,,, Z R_DMDG_NETB~~

  7. Select LAN Services File and Print > LAN Server Administration > Local Workstation ???????? > DOS Image Definitions. Double click on an image similar to the one you wish to use and select Selected > Create another.... Edit the definition as required (See "Creating DOS images") and save under a suitable name e.g. DOSMDG1. Select Selected > Make image > To server... and select the RPL server name. This creates a DOS boot image (.IMG) file from the .DEF file.

  8. Go back to the Local Workstation window and select Remote IPL Requesters. Double click on Remote IPL Requester Template and select Object > Create another....
  Set the status to Enable DOS requester. Enter a Machine ID e.g. MACHINE2, a Description e.g. Madge Smart Ringnode MACHINE 2 and the node address of the Ringnode in the RPL workstation. Select Parameters and select the R_DMDG_NETB server record identifier and the DOS boot image created above. Click the Create button which will add a workstation record line to the RPL.MAP file.

  9. You can now start the RPL service via Local Workstation ???????? > Services. Highlight REMOTEBOOT and select Selected > Start....

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  Creating DOS images

  Several example DOS image definitions are supplied with LAN Server 4.0. To maximise the amount of available DOS memory one that uses both HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE may be used e.g. STD3HUMB.

  To use upper memory blocks the noems parameter should be used for EMM386.EXE. The 8K block in upper memory used by the Smartrom can be freed for use by EMM386 by using the i= command. e.g. If the Ringnode on the workstation has a Smartrom at CC00 then the 8K block can be included for use by EMM386 with the parameter i=CC00-CDFF. This can result in savings in DOS memory of more than just the 8K as it reduces the fragmentation of upper memory. It is recommended that this option is used with caution as the Ringnode can be reconfigured to have the Smartrom at a different location.

  Devices loaded after EMM386.EXE (e.g. DLSHELP.SYS) can be loaded into high memory using the DEVICEHIGH command. Other programs (e.g. NLSFUNC.EXE, KEYB.COM) can be loaded high in the .BAT file that gets mapped to AUTOEXEC.BAT using the LOADHIGH command.

  Other devices in the PC that have ROMs fitted such as video controllers and hard drive controllers may affect the amount and fragmentation of upper memory.

  When running Smart software with a memory manager such as EMM386 that uses upper memory, it is necessary to specify either the PIO or the LOMEM option in SMART.CFG or on the command line to the Smart driver in the .CNF file. Normally Smart Software would detect a memory manager and use PIO automatically, but because of the order imposed by the LAN Server boot procedure, the Smart driver is run before the memory manager and therefore is unable to detect it.

  You can use 2 possible network redirectors. Which one gets loaded depends on the line in the image definition file that maps a file to the filename NETWORK.INI. This can be either FULL_NET.INI (loads REDIR) or BASICNET.INI (loads NETWKSTA).

  Using all these methods the following amounts of conventional DOS memory were left available after booting:

  Network driver	Free conventional DOS memory
  MDGND.DOS	428Kb
  Smart NETB	580Kb
  Smart NETB and LLC	551Kb

  Booting a Smart 16/4 PCMCIA Ringnode from a MadgeBoot diskette via RPL

  To RPL a Smart 16/4 PCMCIA Ringnode, run card and socket services before running the network driver. Use the Madge card services emulator to do this. In addition to the above procedure you should:

  1. Copy the file MADGECS.EXE from the release disk into the same directory as the network driver you copied (e.g. C:\IBMLAN\DOSLAN\DOS\TOKENRNG\MADGE).

  2. Create a file MADGECS.CFG in the same directory consisting of:

  emulate_socket_services=yes

  3. Insert the following lines immediately after the DRV line containing the Madge network driver in the boot block configuration (.CNF) file.

  DRV DOS\TOKENRNG\MADGE\MADGECS.EXE

  DAT DOS\TOKENRNG\MADGE\MADGECS.CFG

  (The order is important since drivers are loaded from the .CNF file in reverse order and MADGECS.EXE must be run first.)

  4. After starting the RPL service, you should be able to boot the PCMCIA RPL workstation by booting from a MadgeBoot diskette and selecting Remote boot by Remote Program Load, Load the Madge PCMCIA Card Services Emulator, Remote Boot. Note that this process can be automated by creating the file MDGBOOT.CFG on the MadgeBoot diskette with the following 2 lines:

  boot_direct = rpl

  card_services = yes

  Note that MADGECS requires there to be 4Kb plus 4Kb per PCMCIA Ringnode free in upper memory. If you are running EMM386 then this memory can be reserved by using x=CC00-CDFF on the DEVICE=EMM386 line in CONFIG.SYS. See the MADGECS documentation for more information on configuring the Madge card services emulator.

  Note also that MADGECS.EXE version 1.09 or later must be used for RPL from LAN Server.

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  Troubleshooting

  If you are using a memory manager and Smart software and CONNECT.EXE fails with the error "Cannot reconnect drives Y: and Z: (error 55)" then ensure that the either PIO or the LOMEM option was specified either in the SMART.CFG or on the command line of the Smart driver.

  If a parameter substitution error is reported when booting then this may be due to the parameter space allocated (with "" characters) in the files in the boot image being too short. This may happen if you have a domain name of more than 8 characters as the domain=~~~~~~~6 line in both FULL_NET.INI and BASICNET.INI only has space for an 8 character domain name. If this causes a problem then change this line to domain=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~6.

  If you are trying to boot using Smart software with a large number of .SMT modules and it is failing, try reducing the number of modules.

  If you are testing a particular boot configuration and when making the DOS image to the server you get the error "NET8076: An error occurred while creating the image." this may be due to the DOS image file still being open because the workstation failed at some point in the boot process. Try switching off the workstation and waiting a few moments for it to time out.