Re: LYNX-DEV lynx - tcp/ip

[David Woolley]

>                                                          We get our=20
> TCP/IP-protocolstack within Novell Client32 and it works fine. Out=20
> of the house we have a permanent open connection, so that we don=B4t=20
> need to dial up. We can ping any computer in the hole world. But=20

You are pinging using the ping that came with the protocol stack - even
with Winsock, there is no such thing as a generic ping program as Winsock
(1.1 at least) doesn't support ping and it has to go in underneath the
standardised interface and access the proprietory parts.

> Lynx.exe does not function. It tells us, that there is no=20
> ppacketdriver loaded, Which sounds strange.

You are using a DOS version of Lynx.  There is no standard TCP interface for
DOS, unlike Windows, with Winsock.  The only DOS mode TCP/IP programs you
will be able to use are those designed for the Novell stack (you might be
using kermit, which has support for many different telnet interfaces).

The DOS version of Lynx solves the problem by assuming that you are have
no networking software and providing its own TCP/IP protocol stack, which
interfaces with a publically documented interface for which free (GPL mainly)
software is available for most network cards and for SLIP and PPP.

If the Winsock version of Lynx is acceptable, use it; it will be much easier
from the networking point of view than any of the following.

If you have an ODI based stack, and you don't need TCP/IP for anything
except Lynx, you may be able to unbind it from the Netware stuff and use
the ODIPKT, packet driver over ODI, shim.  Note that TCP is not designed
to be split at this level so you will lose TCP/IP support for non-packet
driver applications (kermit will be OK, as long as you don't try to run it
at the same time** as Lynx, as it has an internal, packet driver based
stack as well).

If can you meet the no other TCP/IP applications condition, you may be
able to convert to an ODI stack or even to a packet driver stack.

If you must coexist with Netware (or Winsock) TCP/IP applications, the next
solution is to install a second ethernet card and use that just for packet
driver applications (you will need a second IP address).

If none of the above are acceptable, you are demonstrating why a standard like
Winsock was needed and should go to the newsgroup comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
for further help.  However don't expect to get anything better than the above
(there may be mention of pktmux, but note that this comes with a warning that
the way it works is essentially unreliable).

** Some people have reported success in running other integral stack packet
driver applications whilst Lynx is between connections, but these stacks
aren't designed to be used like that, and this is still only one stack with
open connections at any one time.