Pin point where the problem lies:
- In the PC - possible network card configuration problem, address conflict, etc.
- Cabling problem / termination.
- In the hub.
- Problem with the rest of the network - too busy / incompatible protocol.
- In the MSIU - hardware or software problem.
To pin point the problem we must simplify as much as possible.
Step 1 Test Peer to Peer Networking
Check network card configuration problem, address conflict, etc by testing peer to peer communication between PCs. Use the Windows Explorer to examine the directories on another PC using Network Neighbourhood.
Install Chat from the Windows 95 CD-ROM in the \other\chat folder and use this to communicate with another PC.
Note, however, that this only checks the 32 bit ( protected mode ) components of your network so it is not conclusive proof that the network card is set correctly.
Step 2 Test network connection. PC to MSIU only.
If at all possible test a coax link from the MSIU direct to the PC using the cable and terminators supplied by Hiden. You may be able to this if the network card on any of your PCs has a BNC as well as UTP conector. You may need to configure the card to use the BNC port ( NOTE using Autodetect often fails ).
If communications fails at this stage the problem must lie the network card, drivers or MSIU.
Test the connection by using the HideNet utility in the Hiden Aplications group in the Start Menu.
From the File menu select Configure. The Configure DLC dialogue is displayed:
Replace XXXXX with your instruments 5 digit WR number. If your instrument has a 4 digit WR number then add a leading 0.Click on OK
From the File menu select File Open then File Connect.
When connection is established HideNet should display a Ready> prompt.
type HELP
The MSIU should respond with a command summary.
To perform a continuous select Echo Back in the Test menu and click on Yes in the DLC Test dialogue to Enable echo back
At the command prompt type:
TEST ASCII
If you get *C001* repeating it means that you have typed the command "TEST ASCII" incorrectly. The MSIU sends the error *C001* to HideNet, HideNet sends *C001* back to the MSIU. *C001* is not a valid command so the MSIU sends *C001* back again... To get out of this select Echo Back in the Test menu and click on No.. Press return at the command prompt. Then turn Echo Back on again and try again.
This test will test the communication between your PC and MASsoft by sending the message back and forth, checking that no characters are lost or currupted, until stopped. If an error occurs the test stops automatically; please note the cycle number. This test is independant of the version of MASsoft.
If there is an error communication will stop, then after a delay you will get a DLC Network Error dialogue box e.g.
Click on Abort to close the link.
You are unlikely to get a line that begins : “ASCII mismatch in cycle” .because of the error checking on network messages. There will not be any embeded error codes, these apply to RS232 only.
To stop the test select Echo Back in the Test menu and click on No.
Step 3 Test via a hub
Once you have checked that connecting via BNC works then introduce the hub.( if applicable)
Do not connect the hub to the network or any other PCs at this stage.
Repeat the TEST ASCII test as in step 2
Step 4 Connect to the rest of the network
Finally connect the hub or BNC to the rest of network. If communication fails at this stage then observe the collision LEDs on the hub.
If the network is very busy HideNet may fail to connect.
If you find that the ability to connect varies with time of day, perhaps being better eary in the morning, later in the day or at weekends this would suggest that the problem is a busy network and that your network is nearing saturation. This will result in the DLC protocol timing out. These timeouts can be increased to some extent by changing them in the Network section of the Control Panel.
In the Configuration section select Microsoft DLC and click on Properties.
Select the Advanced tab and scroll down the list to t1_tick_one, t1_tick_two, t2_tick_one, t2_tick_two, ti_tick_one and ti_tick_two. Try increasing these to 25, 125, 5, 50, 125, 255 respectively.
However it is possible that even if this works the available network bandwidth will not be enough to keep up with the data rate of the MSIU. In this case the only answer is to reduce the traffic on your branch of the network. To do this it would be necessary to introduce a bridge or router upstream of your PCs and MSIUs ( DLC packets do not contain routing information and will not generally traverse routers ).
Alternatively install a second network card and run the MSIU on a separate LAN. This solution is known to work well on Windows NT.
Is the Ethernet cable correctly terminated? Each end of the cable must end with a 50 Ohm terminator.
The cable must only have two ends, do not create branches using tees.
Ensure that the tee pieces are connected directly to the network card and MSIU. Do not run a cable between the MSIU or PC BNC connector and the tee.
If you have bought or made up your own cable is the cable made up correctly? The cable and connectors must have an impedance of 50 Ohms.
Is the cable too short? The minimum length is 1.5m between nodes.
Is the cable too long ? The maximum length is 185m.
Is the DLC swap parameter set to 0? If you have loaded MS DLC after installing MASsoft, or if you are running Windows NT, the parameter must be set by hand. If you have changed any setting in the Network section of the Control Panel this may also have caused MS DLC to be reloaded, and may have altered the value of swap.
Under Windows 95 and 98 swap can be set from the Control Panel. Double click on Network and select the Configuration tab. In the list of installed components select Microsoft DLC. Click on the Properties button. In the Microsoft DLC Properties dialogue select the Advanced tab.
In the list of Properties select swap and change its value to 0.
Also check the following properties: Maxin should be 1, Maxout 4, Adaptrate 0, and UseDix should be 0.
Click on OK to exit each dialogue.
Under Windows NT these values must be entered in the Registry. In the Start menu Run... dialogue enter Regedit. Find the key
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DLC\Parameters\<netcard>
Where <netcard> identifies the network card that you are using.
Click on the swap entry and change its value to 0
Click on UseDixOverEthernet and change its value to 0
See “Installing Microsoft Data Link Control on Windows NT Workstation 4.0” in the MASsoft or ESPsoft User Manual for more information.
is there an interrupt conflict in the PC? Another device may be using the same interrupt as your network card. Use the device manager to check for conflicts: From the Control Panel double click on System. In the System Properties dialogue select the Device Manager tab. Click on + by Network Adapters to expand the tree and select your network card. Click on the Properties button ( or right click and select Properties in the pop-up menu )
Select the Resources tab. The Conflicting device list should say “No conflicts”.
is there an memory address conflict in the PC? The network card may require to use an address range, if this range is not reserved it may be used by Windows for other purposes. This should not be a problem with modern Plug And Play ( PNP ) Network cards.
To test this boot to the DOS prompt ( or boot from a start up disk ) and use EDIT to add the line EMMExclude = A000-EFFF to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI .
The same address range needs to be excluded by EMM386
In your CONFIG.SYS file you will find lines similar to:
device=c:\windows\himem.sys
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems
If these lines do not exist then add them.
To the emm386 line add x=a000-efff . The above example would become:
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems x=a000-efff
Re-boot your PC. If it now works correctly then the problem is a memory conflict. You now need to identify the conflicting address range. Refer to the documentation for your network card. Older network cards may require to use memory addresses D000-D7FF or D800-DFFF . The address range may be set by a jumper or by a configuration program. The configuration program, if required, will be supplied on disk with the network card. It may require to be run from DOS without any network drivers being loaded.
Video and sound cards can also cause memory conflicts. VGA video cards may use A000-BFFF, SVGA cards C000 to C7FF.
Change the excluded address to exclude potentially conflicting devices. To exclude more than one address range add an EMMExclude= line for each range and add x= range arguments to EMM386 e.g.
device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems x=c000-c7FF x=d000-d7ff
EMMExclude=C000-C7FF
EMMExclude=D000-D7FF
Loading buffers and drivers into high memory releases memory in the first 640K of memory ( “Conventional” memory ). This is useful if you are using the MS DLC network protocol to communicate with your instrument because MS DLC requires buffer space in conventional memory.
The loadhigh command can be used to load MSDLC into high memory:
loadhigh c:\windows\net initialize
loadhigh c:\windows\msdlc.exe
loadhigh c:\windows\net start
To use loadhigh you must have loaded EMM386.EXE in your CONFIG.SYS file, and must have the dos=umb command in there too. See “”.
With non-PNP cards Windows may not be able to determine what resources are used. The Interrupt Request (IRQ) may be set by a jumper or by a configuration program. The configuration program, if required, will be supplied on disk with the network card. It may require to be run from DOS without any network drivers being loaded. . Refer to the documentation for your network card. You will then have to determine that IRQ, Memory ( Address ) Range and Input/Output Range do not conflict with any other device.
To do this select Computer in the Device Manager:
Click properties
Examine the IRQ, I/O and Memory lists for conflicts. If there are no conflicts use the Reserve Resource tab to reserve the resources for your network card, this will prevent Windows from think these resources are free and automatically assigning them to another device.
This feature depends on the version of Windows and your PC’s support for PNP. You may have to use your BIOS setup or a DOS program ( e.g. Dell’s ISA Config A04 disk ) to perform this function.
is VDLCD.386 loading? When Windows initialises, you should see a DOS text screen appear with the banner
VDLCD.386 - Virtual DLC interrupt handler'
By Steve Doughton. Copyright Hiden Analytical 1995
Release X.XX'
If this does not appear, the VDLC driver is not being loaded when Windows initialises, and MASsoft or ESPsoft will not launch correctly.
The VDLCD.386 VxD is required even if you are running via the serial port, but is not required when running Windows NT.
In Windows 95 and 98 the VDLCD.386 is loaded in the registry. The registry keys for VDLCD.386 are at
MyComputer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VxD\VDLCD
and should look like this:
The path in the key StaticVxD should match the location of the file
If these keys are missing then try re-installing the Hiden software.
In the 3.5 inch disk based versions of the Hiden Software VDLCD.386 is loaded in the SYSTEM.INI file. If you have upgraded from MASsoft 3.5.3 or earlier or from ESPsoft 4.1.2 or earlier this line may still be present.
netmisc=PATH\vdlcd.386
where PATH is the path to the MASsoft home folder (default c:\hiden).
In Windows 95 or 98 you should NOT have an entry in SYSTEM.INI as well as an entry in the registry; if you have both then delete the entry in SYSTEM.INI
are the “Real Mode” network drivers loading? To step through the loading process press the F8 key as Windows 95 boots up. ( the easy way to do this is to insert a blank floppy in the drive and re-booted. When prompted for a boot disc remove the floppy and press F8 twice ).
From the menu displayed select 4 Step by Step Confirmation or the equivalent.
To each step press Y ( Yes ) or Enter to confirm. Watch for the line :
Process your startup command file (AUTOEXEC.BAT) [Enter=Y,Esc=N]?
When Autoexec.bat starts to load note the responses to the following lines:
c:\windows\net initialize
c:\windows\net start
You should see something like:
c:\windows\net initialize [Enter=Y.Esc=N]?
3Com Fast Etherlink XL/Etherlink XL DOS NDIS driver v3.1.2
Found 3C900 Etherlink XL PCI Adapter
In PCI Slot 10 Using IOBase E400h, Interrupt 10
The command was completed successfully.
c:\windows\msdlc.exe [Enter=Y.Esc=N]?
Microsoft Data Link Control for Windows for Workgroup v1.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1993
c:\windows\net start [Enter=Y.Esc=N]?
The command was completed successfully.
If the real mode driver is missing you will get an error
c:\windows\net initialize [Enter=Y.Esc=N]?
Error loading device driver EL90X.DOS.
Error 7308: The driver file could not be found. The driver file may not be
installed on your computer or it is not located in the folder specified in
the registry. To delete the driver and then add it again, double-click the
Network icon in Control Panel. For more information, type NET HELP 7308 at
the command prompt.
EL90X.DOS was not loaded.Error 7321: Network-card drivers failed to load.
c:\windows\msdlc.exe [Enter=Y.Esc=N]?
Microsoft Data Link Control for Windows for Workgroup v1.0
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation 1993
Protocol Manager would not supply config image.
DLC load failure.
The error messages vary with the version of Windows ( and NET.EXE ). In earlier versions they were shorter and more cryptic. You may see the folowing error when MS DLC loads.
Failed to bind
This may indicate that the network card did not support NDIS II or its driver is missing.
If you see these errors then try installing an updated version of the drivers for the network card. If Windows detected the network card and installed drivers from the Windows CD ( or from the CAB files in \Windows\Options on your hard disk ) then remove the device in the Control Panel and re-install it using the drivers supplied by the manufacturer by using the “Have disk” option.
If the network card is manufactured by 3COM see below.
disable any power saving features that might power down the network card. This is most likely to be a possible problem on Notebooks but some Energy Star compliant desktop PCs have these features too. You will probably have to invoke the BIOS setup program to do this - refer to your PC manufacturer's hardware manuals.
