NetBEUI May Hang When Using Arcnet Under Heavy Network Traffic

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

SYMPTOMS

When using NetBEUI on an Arcnet network, the NetBEUI protocol may stop responding (hang) after a period of high network activity occurs. The computer has to be restarted to recover from this condition.

CAUSE

NetBEUI keeps a cache of NDIS packets. This means that NetBEUI can send the same packet multiple times. The problem is that NDIS is not clearing out the timeout status bit in the packet descriptor. NDIS maintains a counter that runs about every two seconds. The first pass of the timer, it will set this timeout status on the first packet in the packet queue. The second time the timer runs, it checks to see if this bit is set. If it is, NDIS will reset the adapter. Because NDIS is not resetting the timeout status, a reset of the adapter could occur. There is also a problem with reset recovery that would cause the protocol to stop responding.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Keywords : NT4SP4Fix kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp4
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug