Xref: utzoo comp.windows.ms:4746 comp.protocols.nfs:1224 comp.dcom.lans:5793
Path: utzoo!attcan!lsuc!maccs!beame
From: beame@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca (Carl Beame)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.protocols.nfs,comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Re: Windows 3.0 and PC-NFS?????
Keywords: Software for pcnfs
Message-ID: <26DC8A1E.18344@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca>
Date: 30 Aug 90 03:38:05 GMT
References: <926@massey.ac.nz> <1990Aug28.141149.2618@technet.uucp> <1990Aug30.001504.21331@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us>
Organization: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Lines: 45

In article <1990Aug30.001504.21331@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us> steve@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Steve Mitchell) writes:
>
>We're also trying to run Windows 3.0 on an AT/386.  The PC has only
>NFS-networked disks, file served off a Sun 3/60 by Beame & Whiteside's
>NFS running on top of Excelan's LAN Workplace for DOS.  We load the
>network software into real memory, and things seem to work -- at least
>for a while.  But eventually when an application (even Notepad) goes
>looking for a file, or tries to save a file, Windows gets lost in
>space: the little hourglass icon comes up, and stays there as long as
>anyone is willing to wait.  Alternatively, a message box comes up
>announcing a System Error: Attempting to write to Drive A with Retry
>and Cancel buttons.  Of course, there is no activity on drive A when
>this happens, and if you're lucky hitting the cancel button crashes
>Windows.  If you're unlucky, hitting either button does nothing, and
>you have to reboot the machine.  In either case, Windows is corrupted
>and we have to reinstall it from floppies.
>
>Anybody have an idea of what is happening here, and  what we can do
>about it?
>-- 
>		-  Steve Mitchell	steve@cps.altadena.ca.us
>					grian!steve@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov
>					ames!elroy!grian!steve
>"God is licht, an in him there is nae mirkness ava." -- 1 John 1:5

	There are several generic "fixes" which need to be looked at 
when running any network under windows.

	1) Many ethernet adaptors use shared memory. This memory MUST be
	   listed in the EMMexclude line in system.ini. (The Excelan card
	   uses shared memory).

	2) When running windows in protected mode, hardware interrupts to
	   real code are delayed and the PC is not as fast in removing 
	   packets from the adaptors. With BWNFS, it is sometimes required
	   to reduce the read size when running Windows 3.0 to 2048 from
	   4096 (or 8192 for the Excelan Card).

	3) This is not generic, but you should be running BWNFS V2.10 for
	   windows support. Set the network to 100 % MS-NET compatible.

- Carl Beame
Beame & Whiteside Software Ltd.
(416) 648-6556
Beame@McMaster.CA