Novell NetWare 286 Hanging with Windows

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11

SUMMARY

This article discusses why Novell NetWare 286 servers may stop responding (hang) when Windows is run on multiple workstations connected to the server.

NetWare 286 servers have a 16K dynamic memory pool that's shared by all workstations that are connected to the server. Each workstation logged on to the server uses 200 bytes of this 16K. In addition, each MS-DOS-based application started from a workstation running Windows uses 200 bytes of the 16K if the workstation is logged onto the server. When the 16K is depleted, the server stops responding (hangs).

This problem does not occur with NetWare 386 servers; the use of the 16K dynamic memory pool is a limitation in NetWare 286.

WORKAROUND

To workaround this limitation, add the following line to the [NETWARE] section of the SYSTEM.INI file.

   NWShareHandles=Yes

MORE INFORMATION

NetWare 286 servers store 200-byte entries for each user that is logged on. These entries are kept in Dynamic Memory Pool #1 (DMP1). You can view the Dynamic Memory Pools by running the FCONSOLE command, choosing STATISTICS, and then SUMMARY. The DMP1 is limited to about 16K in size. The server stops responding (hangs) if this space is used up. NetWare 386 does not share this limitation because it can dynamically allocate more memory to the pool.

Normally, it take about 83 users to exhaust this memory pool. However, Windows is capable of running multiple MS-DOS-based applications, on one computer. Each MS-DOS-based application is considered a separate logon for the purposes of memory pool allocation, an uses another 200 bytes from the 16K memory pool. Therefore, it is possible to hang the server with only 17 workstations running 5 MS-DOS-based applications each.

The Novell products included here are manufactured by Novell; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.