Part 1 (of 2)--Troubleshooting RAS on an OS/2 1.x Server

ID: Q98518

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft LAN Manager, versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.1a
Microsoft Remote Access Service, versions 1.0, 1.1

SUMMARY

This is part 1 of a two-part article meant to supplement (not replace) information provided in the "Remote Access Administrator's Guide," chapter 4, "System Requirements." It will help you troubleshoot problems by verifying that basic requirements are met.

To ensure proper operation of RAS 1.0 or 1.1 on an OS/2 1.21 or 1.3 server (OS/2 2.0 is currently not supported), verify that the following elements are present--preferably BEFORE you run the RAS Setup program:

Serial Ports/Device Drivers

One or more serial ports.
One or more OS/2 serial port device drivers.

Part 1 (the rest of this article) provides information on item 1: serial drivers and boards for ISA, EISA, MCA, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and 3Com computers, Digiboards, AST 4 port boards, and X.25 configurations. Part 2 of this article provides information on items 2-6 below:

Modems
- One or more modems.
- All supported modems are listed in the RAS 1.1 MODEMS.INF file. Unsupported modems may also work.

Serial Cable
- External modems require properly wired serial cables.

LAN Manager
- LAN Manager 2.1 or later with one protocol/network in addition to AsyBEUI. LAN Manager 2.1 or later must be installed with at least one network (for example, a loopback driver, or NetBEUI plus a MAC driver) in addition to the RAS AsyBEUI. This is because RAS 1.0 and 1.1 function as a gateway and expect another network to be present.

User-Level Security
- RAS MUST have user-level security--it does not support share-level security.

PDC, BDC, Member Server or Standalone Status
- A RAS server can be configured as a primary or backup domain controller, a member-server, or a standalone.
Note: For details on topics other than SERIAL PORTS/DEVICE DRIVERS, refer to part 2 of this article, or query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Part 2 (of 2)--Troubleshooting RAS on an OS/2 1.x Server

MORE INFORMATION

Serial Ports and OS/2 Serial Port Device Drivers

Under OS/2 1.3, serial ports cannot be accessed without serial device drivers. Each serial driver/COM-port combination has its own hardware requirements and limitations, so they are discussed separately below.

At least one serial port must be available and properly configured, but remember that COM ports have specific and sometimes unique OS/2 serial device driver requirements. Third party serial boards or proprietary built-in ports usually require their own device drivers. For example: Digiboards require XALL.SYS.

You must install an OS/2 serial port device driver through the CONFIG.SYS file. Depending on the serial port hardware, you may also have to install proprietary device drivers.

Serial Port/Driver Combinations

1.1 ISA and EISA (but not certain HP machines and 3COM 3Servers) machines: use COM01.SYS.

COM01.SYS must be loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. It supports ONLY serial ports COM1 and COM2 on ISA and EISA machines, NOT COM3 and COM4.


   SERIAL 1   COM1:  I/O Address = 3F8h   IRQ = 4
   SERIAL 2   COM2:  I/O Address = 2F8h   IRQ = 3

Note: RAS requires that the serial port in use be configured as above. COM01.SYS does not perform a DosOpen call to the serial port until the serial port is actually used, so COM01.SYS loads during CONFIG.SYS time even if the port is misconfigured or there is an IRQ or I/O conflict between one of the COM ports and another device. For example: if a network card is configured for IRQ3, COM01.SYS loads but a system error "SYS 1620" occurs when a MODE COM2: command is issued.

1.2 Hewlett-Packard EISA machines: use COMHP01.SYS. (Note: Find out your HP model number--this may NOT apply to all models.)

COMHP01.SYS supports COM1-COM4 with COM1 and COM2 configured as above, but you need to set up COM3 and COM4 with the following I/O addresses and IRQ settings:


   SERIAL 3   COM3 I/O Address = 3E8h,  IRQ = 10
   SERIAL 4   COM4 I/O Address = 2E8h,  IRQ = 11

These are discussed (as is COMHP01.SYS) in the README.TXT file in C:\OS2\SUPPORT.

1.3 MCA machines: use COM02.SYS (COM01.SYS CANNOT be used):

COM02.SYS must be used on Micro Channel machines and loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. COM02.SYS supports serial ports COM1, COM2, and COM3. IRQ3 is shared by COM2 and COM3.


   COM1:  I/O Address = 3F8h   IRQ = 4
   COM2:  I/O Address = 2F8h   IRQ = 3
   COM3:  I/O Address = 2F8h,  IRQ = 3

On Micro Channel machines, COM2-8 are shared at IRQ3, and I/O ports 2F8, 3220 (hex), 3228, 4220, 4228, 5220, and 5228. In OS/2 1.3, however, COM02.SYS can support only COM1-COM3.

Some add-in serial boards are supported so that you can get ports COM2 and/or COM3 on, for example, an IBM PS/2 Model 80. One supported add-in board is the IBM DUAL ASYNC adapter, which has two 9-pin serial ports built into it.

1.4 Computers with Digiboards (Micro Channel, ISA, or EISA): use XALL.SYS. For older products, use DGX.SYS.

The information in the rest of this section was verified in April 1993:

The OS/2 XALL.SYS device driver supports the entire line of Digichannel intelligent asynchronous serial communication controllers and must be loaded in the OS/2 Config.sys file. You can adjust its functionality with device line parameters.

The OS/2 DGX.SYS device driver supports older non-intelligent serial Digiboards such as the PC4 board, and is also configured with the help of device line parameters.

Note: Digiboard does NOT ship the XALL.SYS OS/2 driver with their hardware. You must order it by calling (612) 943-9020 or obtain it from their BBS at (612) 943-0812.

(Communication settings: N,8,1; baud 300, 1200, 2400, 9600; V.32, V.42 and V.42bis standards are supported.)

Note: On EISA bus machines with EISA Digiboards you must verify that the XALL.SYS parameter: /p:xxxx has a 4-digit I/O address, the first digit of which is the EISA Digiboard card's bus slot number. This first digit is often forgotten, which prevents the driver from loading properly.

1.5 AST 4-port serial board: use COM01A.SYS.

This board is NOT supported by Microsoft, but no problems have been reported with it and we provide this information as a convenience. The driver is available on the Microsoft BBS at (425) 936-MSDL in the LAN Manager area. Load it just as you would COM01.SYS. Microsoft has not tested this driver with OS/2 1.3 and therefore does NOT guarantee proper performance.

1.6 3COM 3Servers:

3S400 servers: use COM01S.400

3S500 AND 3S600 servers: use COM01S.500

The CONFIG.SYS file loaded by the LAN Manager installation tape has the appropriate 3COM serial port driver already referenced but still REMarked out so that it does NOT allow the serial port to be used. To make it usable, simply remove the REM on that line, save the file, shutdown and reboot your server.

Note: On 3COM servers, only COM1 and COM3 are available--the COM2 port is reserved for the built-in Localtalk port. A 3Com RAS server can use only COM1 and COM3 unless a third party driver and serial port hardware (such as Digiboard) is installed to make COM ports above COM3 available.

COM01S.400 and COM01S.500 expect the serial ports to be configured as follows (these are the defaults):


   COM1:  I/O Address = 3F8h,  IRQ = 4
   COM3:  I/O Address = 2F8h,  IRQ = 3

Note: The 3Com upgrade toolkits for LAN Manager 2.1 and 2.2 contain a disk for installing RAS on 3servers. For 2.1, insert this disk once you start RemSetup (Remote Setup for 3 Servers--located in the LAN Manager directory on the 3server).

Follow the same procedure for the 3COM upgrade toolkit for LAN Manager 2.2, but when you install RAS, insert the disk labeled "Services for Macintosh Remote Installation for 3Server"--the labels for the RAS and the Macintosh services are mixed up.

Note: The "LAN Manager Installation and Configuration Guide" for 3Servers incorrectly assumes that a REMarked outline in the STARTUP.CMD file exists for the RAS. Please add the following line to the STARTUP.CMD file just below the group of similar lines:


   Call c:\lanman\3startms.cmd remoteaccess remoteaccess

Note: If you configure RAS for more ports than are physically present (for example, you request a COM4 on a standard 3s500 system where only COM1 and COM3 exist) then the 3Server might hang when RAS is initialized. To cure such a problem, you must edit the STARTUP.CMD file and REMark out the RAS "Call" line. For information on how to do this, refer to the LAN Manager for 3Com servers documentation explaining the CONSOLE mode of 3Servers.

1.7 X.25 drivers and cards: use the vendor's X.25 card and driver.

If your server is running RAS over an X.25 network, then in addition to the X.25 card driver RAS needs a COM01.SYS or other driver in order to function and recognize COM ports present on the server. For example: the X.25 card from Eicon, Inc. emulates a maximum of 13 COM ports (COM4- COM16) if there are three regular serial ports on the server already.

Note: If more than 13 COM ports are configured, the RAS service terminates upon startup with a TRAP D during NET START REMOTEACCESS. The number of COM ports configurable also depends on other programs running simultaneously and competing for the same resources needed by the Eicon driver software, so if software of this type is running, RAS probably has to be configured for fewer ports before it can start successfully. Start out with 9 or 10 ports configured and then work your way up towards 13. Eicon software version 2 release 2 (v2r2) is out of date as of April

Please upgrade to the latest version: version 3 release 1 (v3r1).

For support with the Eicon driver installation or to upgrade to the latest version, please contact Eicon Customer Support Services at (514) 631-2592 (EST).

For more information on debugging X.25 problems with RAS, refer to the RAS 1.1 Release Notes in the RAS retail package.

For details on RAS requirements other than serial ports and device drivers, please see "Part 2 (of 2)-- Troubleshooting RAS on an OS/2 1.x Server."

End of Part 1 of 2.

REFERENCES

RAS 1.1 Release Notes

LAN Manager "Installation and Configuration Guide"

"Remote Access Administrator's Guide," chapter 4, System Requirements

Additional query words: sfm 2.10 2.1 2.10a 2.1a 2.20 2.2

Keywords : kbnetwork
Version : :1.0,1.1,2.0,2.1,2.1a
Platform :
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