anderer@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (David G Anderer) (08/16/89)
I've got an ethernet with a number of PCs connected to a Novell file server. There are also Sun workstations (Sun OS 4.0) on the ethernet. It doesn't matter, but the ethernet is also connected to a ProNet-80 backbone. I want the PCs to simultaneously access the Novell server and our IP hosts. In the past we bought Excelan ethernet cards specifically beacuse they had this ability. However, the combination of packet drivers, a Novell configuration that supports packet drivers, and NCSA telnet which supports packet drivers is a good (and less expensive!) solution. Except for one thing: NCSA telnet support getting the IP address for the PC via RARP. That works fine if you use an NCSA direct-hardware definition. However, if you tell NCSA to use a packet driver, the RARP attempt fails. Before I dive into this (and it will be a dive - this is a new corner of things for me), let me ask a few questions: 1. Does anyone have a solution for this problem? 2. If there isn't a solution, is a solution even possible, or is there some complex reason for the status quo that can't be overcome? Thanks for any help. -- Dave Anderer Academic Computing and Instructional Technology University of Delaware
dixon@gumby.paradyne.com (0000-Tom Dixon(0000)) (08/17/89)
In article <4172@udccvax1.acs.udel.EDU> anderer@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (David G Anderer) writes: > >... There are also Sun workstations (Sun OS 4.0) on the ethernet. Good. >Except for one thing: NCSA telnet support getting the IP address for the >PC via RARP. That works fine if you use an NCSA direct-hardware definition. >However, if you tell NCSA to use a packet driver, the RARP attempt fails. >-- >Dave Anderer >Academic Computing and Instructional Technology >University of Delaware Well, Well, Well. This is scary. That posting looks like one I posted about 3 months ago. Just about word for word. Since then, I have learned all about something neat called bootp. Seems that the packet drivers have a known bug that has to do with RARP. It doesn't work. You need to setup a bootp server on your sun and run bootp instead. It actually is an improvement. It will download IP addresses, netmasks, along with gateway and domain nameserver information. It is pretty slick. Send me mail if you want the bootpd sun sources. Tom Dixon AT&T Paradyne uunet!pdn!dixon