Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!ucbvax!FTP.COM!jbvb
From: jbvb@FTP.COM ("James B. Van Bokkelen")
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: PC LAN Support Program and Packet Drivers
Message-ID: <9009191629.AA14037@ftp.com>
Date: 19 Sep 90 16:29:09 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: jbvb@ftp.com
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 22


    Does anybody know if it is possible to run IBM's PC LAN Support
    Program (for Token Ring) over a packet driver?

The IBM ASI spec is conceptually similar to the Packet Driver spec;
it allows multiple protocol stacks to share one piece of hardware,
and it lets them be independent of specific hardware implementations.
There is a freeware Packet Driver which makes ASI 802.5 look like
Ethernet, but it contains a lot of code to change Ethernet packet
formats into 802.5 packet formats (which are not the same), and this
code can get into trouble with some upper-layer functionality (ARP
caches).  What you propose is possible, but a lot of work, and hasn't
been done to my knowlege.

If the result you want is to run IP on 802.5, alongside other 802.5
software, this is much simpler.  You need one of the IP packages that
supports ASI (they're all commercial: PC/TCP, IBM's, WIN/PC), or one
of the Ethernet freeware packages on top of the adapter I mentioned
above, which is in the Clarkson collection.

James B. VanBokkelen		26 Princess St., Wakefield, MA  01880
FTP Software Inc.		voice: (617) 246-0900  fax: (617) 246-0901