Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!jaytee!bodleian!geoff
From: geoff@bodleian.East.Sun.COM (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.nfs
Subject: Re: Clarkson Packet Drivers & PC-NFS ?
Message-ID: <2954@jaytee.East.Sun.COM>
Date: 17 Oct 90 13:17:23 GMT
References: <1280@travis.csd.harris.com>
Sender: news@jaytee.East.Sun.COM
Reply-To: geoff@east.sun.com (Geoff Arnold @ Sun BOS - R.H. coast near the top)
Distribution: na
Organization: Sun Microsystems PC-NFS Engineering
Lines: 31

Quoth leoh@hardy.hdw.csd.harris.com () (in <1280@travis.csd.harris.com>):
#Additional question: (wrong newsgroup?)
#Pc-nfs (or FTP software) drivers are loaded as device= while the CPD are 
#loaded in the autoexec ... how can the packet driver "get the packet first"?

Can't speak for FTP, but I will for PC-NFS.

PKTD.SYS, the PC-NFS packet driver interface, is loaded first (from
CONFIG.SYS) but doesn't actualy do much at this time.  Your chosen
packet driver is then started from AUTOEXEC.BAT.  When you run the
first PC-NFS "NET" command, NET.EXE locates the PCNFS.SYS driver and
tells it to begin operation. (The successful conclusion of this is
signalled by the "[PC-NFS Installed]" message.)

As part of starting up, PCNFS.SYS scans the device chain looking for
the LLDK driver "NFSLINK1". (In the next release it will also accept a
driver named "NFSLINK$", which is a slightly more kosher name; a driver
so named is assumed to support certain extra features, including some
expanded logging for SNMP.) It records the address of the LLDK driver's
dispatch table, and then calls the driver initialization code. PKTD.SYS
then uses the standard algorithm described in the Packet Driver spec to
locate and hook in to the packet driver.  If no packet driver is
installed, PKTD.SYS installation fails, and so forth.

The compatibility kit includes almost all of the source code for
this stuff, so you can browse/hack it to your heart's content. 

-- Geoff Arnold, PC-NFS architect, Sun Microsystems. (geoff@East.Sun.COM)   --
   *** "Now is no time to speculate or hypothecate, but rather a time ***
   *** for action, or at least not a time to rule it out, though not  ***
   *** necessarily a time to rule it in, either." - George Bush       ***