NWLink IPX Frame Corruption in Token Ring Network

 Last reviewed: September 3, 1996
Article ID: Q127815
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5

SYMPTOMS

When you use the Windows NT IPX/SPX Compatible Transport protocol (NWLink) in a token ring network, frame corruption occurs. This results in a lost connection between a client and a server. A network trace reveals that the IPX header becomes corrupted, thus the client does not receive the data.

If an SNA Server client is connecting to the SNA Server over IPX/SPX, this problem causes the SNA client to lose its LAN session to the server, leading to the loss of the user's SNA session.

The following conditions must exist to encounter the problem:

  • Windows NT server running NWLink IPX.
  • Token Ring network with Source Routing Bridges.
  • Client sends request to Windows NT Server and the Server responds.
  • Original Frame gets lost on the net for some reason.
  • When the server retransmits the frame, the Token Ring source routing information will be copied twice in the frame. It will overwrite the IPX header.

A slow WAN may be more prone to encounter this problem because they often drop frames. The problem only occurs during frame retransmission.

RESOLUTION

Upgrade to Windows NT version 3.51 or the latest U.S. Service Pack for Windows NT version 3.50.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.5. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Windows NT version 3.5 and in Windows NT 3.51. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces): 

   S E R V P A C K

KBCategory: kbnetwork kbbug3.50 kbfix3.50.sp3 kbfix3.51
KBSubcategory: ntprotocol NTSrvWkst
Additional reference words: prodnt 3.50 Novell SPX Sockets

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Last reviewed: September 3, 1996
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