Miscellaneous Questions on NetBIOS Compatibility

ID Number: Q67323

2.00

OS/2

buglist2.00 docerr

Summary:

The following are some miscellaneous questions about NetBIOS

compatibility with various products:

1. Q. Is the NetBIOS implementation included in OS/2 LAN Manager

version 2.00 (that is, NetBEUI) capable of full peer-to-peer

operation?

A. Yes, NetBEUI is IBM NetBIOS 3.0 compliant (some of our own

extensions have also been added to OS/2 LAN Manager).

2. Q. Is NetBEUI compatible with the IBM Local Area Network Technical

Reference SC30-3383-2?

A. As stated above, NetBEUI is compatible with IBM NetBIOS 3.0.

NetBEUI is compliant to the NetBIOS 2.0 specification, with the

following noted exceptions:

a. Trace (0x79) is not supported.

b. Alert Ring (0xf3) is not supported.

Microsoft has confirmed that these commands are missing. Support

for these commands is being considered for inclusion in a future

release as a part of the continuing convergence process of OS/2

LAN Manager and IBM LAN Server.

Also, there is one NCB (Network Control Block), NCB.FIND.NAME

(0x78), that is documented incorrectly in the NCB.H file as

NCBRCVPKT. This command does return a buffer that complies to

the IBM NetBIOS 2.0 specification for the NCB.FIND.NAME. The

only difference from the specification is that the buffer

described in the documentation is an 802.5 (Token Ring) link

layer header rather than the 802.2 (Ethernet) link layer header

of the frame that is actually received.

3. Q. Do the same answers to questions 1 and 2 also apply to UNIX LAN

Manager/X?

If the specific UNIX LAN Manager/X implementation adapted by a

particular OEM supports a NetBIOS API, then yes, this

information also applies to the OEM's implementation.