[comp.os.os2] NetBIOS and PS/2

rla@media01.UUCP (Raymond van der Laan) (06/06/90)

I wrote network software on a PC AT, using the NetBIOS interface.
In the near future, this software will be ported to PS/2 machines.
In this light, I have two questions. I hope someone can answer them.

-Is there in existence a NetBIOS interface for OS/2? (I heard something
 about a product called Novell386...)

-Will the NetBIOS interface (I'm using Intel's PCLink2 now) be 100%
 compatible if I use MsDOS on the PS/2 machines?

Thanks in advance.


+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Raymond van der Laan          |       'The nice thing about standards is     |
| Mediasystemen BV              |        that you have so many to choose from' |
| Holland                       |        A. S. Tanenbaum                       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

meyer@suna1.cs.uiuc.edu (06/07/90)

>-Is there in existence a NetBIOS interface for OS/2? (I heard something
> about a product called Novell386...)

Yes, OS/2 Extended Editions provide a netbios API, I believe through the 
communications manager.  And it looks like a dream to work with compared
to the DOS method with those infernal interrupts and posts.


>-Will the NetBIOS interface (I'm using Intel's PCLink2 now) be 100%
> compatible if I use MsDOS on the PS/2 machines?

This I don't know -
  1st, I don't know your definition of compatible - with what?
  2nd, I only have Standard Edition, the Extended Edition won't be here for
       a couple months, yet.

___
	Don Meyer		internet:	dlmeyer@uiuc.edu

"He who restricts another's right to self-defense is accomplice to
 any crime committed because of the lack of self defense." -- me, 1990

oleg@ibm.com (06/09/90)

> Raymond van der Laan writes:
>
> -Is there in existence a NetBIOS interface for OS/2? (I heard something
>  about a product called Novell386...)

IBM Communication Manager has NETBIOS API.

Oleg Vishnepolsky
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center

erik@tvcent.uucp (Eirk Peterson) (06/13/90)

In article <29900004@suna1> meyer@suna1.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>
>
>>-Is there in existence a NetBIOS interface for OS/2? (I heard something
>> about a product called Novell386...)
>
>Yes, OS/2 Extended Editions provide a netbios API, I believe through the 
>communications manager.  And it looks like a dream to work with compared
>to the DOS method with those infernal interrupts and posts.
>
It's called Microsoft LAN Manager.  3+Open runs on this.
>
>>-Will the NetBIOS interface (I'm using Intel's PCLink2 now) be 100%
>> compatible if I use MsDOS on the PS/2 machines?
>
>This I don't know -
>  1st, I don't know your definition of compatible - with what?
>  2nd, I only have Standard Edition, the Extended Edition won't be here for
>       a couple months, yet.
>
Erik Petersen
Canadian Vertical systems

backman@interlan.Interlan.COM (Larry Backman) (06/14/90)

>>
>>
>>>-Is there in existence a NetBIOS interface for OS/2? (I heard something
>>> about a product called Novell386...)
>>
>>
>>>-Will the NetBIOS interface (I'm using Intel's PCLink2 now) be 100%
>>> compatible if I use MsDOS on the PS/2 machines?
>>

Whoa....here are some facts regarding NETBIOS OS/2 interfaces.  Anyone from
Microsoft or IBM speak up where I am wrong.

1. NETBIOS under OS/2 provides a mechanism of submitting and receiving
   NCB's to and from the network.  There are three NETBIOS implementations
   under OS/2 that I am currently aware of:

	a:  Microsoft/LAN Manager

	    An appication uses LAN Manager API's to look at and open
		NetBiosEnum, NetBiosOpen, NetBiosGetInfo
	    the NETBIOS driver.  Once opened NCB's are handed to NETBIOS
	    via a NetBiosSubmit ( xx,yy,&NCB) function call.

	b.  IBM Lan Server
 
	    an app. has two choices; it can get at the NETBIOS interface
	    from a devie driver via direct Ring 0 --> Ring 0 calls.  Choice
	    2 is the DLL interface. DLL interface has the following doc.

		1. push NCB's selector value on stack
		2. push NCB's offset value on stack.
		3. call far 'NETBIOS'

	    I guess (IBM comments??) that means that somewhere in IBM DLL's
	    lies a NETBIOS API

	c.  Novell

	    I don't have the doc. in front of me but as I recall...
	    An application does a DosOpen of NETBIOS and then uses the
            same NETBIOSSubmit API as LAN manager to send NCB's back &
	    forth.


	There is a major difference in the contents of the NCB's also.
	Microsoft & Novell use the Post field within the NCB to hold a
	system semaphore.  IBM uses the post field for a function address 
	(as in DOS).

	To the poor programmer trying to write a portable NETBIOS program...
	Have fun!


					Larry Backman
					backman@interlan.com
					uunet!interlan!backman
.

manoj@excelan.COM (manoj @ Prod Mktg) (06/15/90)

> Yes, OS/2 Extended Editions provide a netbios API, I believe through the 
> communications manager.  And it looks like a dream to work with compared
> to the DOS method with those infernal interrupts and posts.
> 
> >-Will the NetBIOS interface (I'm using Intel's PCLink2 now) be 100%
> > compatible if I use MsDOS on the PS/2 machines?

as far as we know through our IBM contacts,
the netbios shipped with IBM EE 1.2 is not RFC spec 1001, 1002 compliant,
which means that it can only talk to other IBM netbios machines..

in other words, if you are looking for compatibility between different
netbios vendors, look for a standard RFC compliant Netbios.. such as that 
offered by Ungerman-Bass, FTP software, Novell's LAN WorkPlace, 3COM etc..


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backman@interlan.Interlan.COM (Larry Backman) (06/15/90)

>as far as we know through our IBM contacts,
>the netbios shipped with IBM EE 1.2 is not RFC spec 1001, 1002 compliant,
>which means that it can only talk to other IBM netbios machines..
>
>in other words, if you are looking for compatibility between different
>netbios vendors, look for a standard RFC compliant Netbios.. such as that 
>offered by Ungerman-Bass, FTP software, Novell's LAN WorkPlace, 3COM etc..
>

Apples & oranges here... what Manoj is referring to is that IBM does not use
a NETBIOS protocol designed to run over TCP.  However, IBM EE also does not
use TCP for its transport layer, instead it uses NETBEUI transports for
EE to EE links.

Your NETBIOS app will work with any NETBIOS that presents a standard (whatever
that means) interface.  However, your app will only communicate with other machines
that are running the same protocol stack under that NETBIOS interface.

Thus, a NETBIOS app running on IBM EE machines will only talk to other
NETBIOS pieces of that app if they are running the same protocol suite as
the firsat machine.  In real life this means that as Manoj indicates, if
you want inter-vendor interoperability, look out!



					Larry Backman
					backman@interlan.com
.

meyer@suna1.cs.uiuc.edu (06/15/90)

>>Yes, OS/2 Extended Editions provide a netbios API, I believe through the 
>>communications manager.  And it looks like a dream to work with compared
>>to the DOS method with those infernal interrupts and posts.
>>
>It's called Microsoft LAN Manager.  3+Open runs on this.

I believe the LAN Manager does not truly _provide_ the NetBIOS system, I think
it merely provides access to it, as does the IBM Communication Manager, which is
included in OS/2 EE. 


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	Don Meyer		internet:	dlmeyer@uiuc.edu

"He who restricts another's right to self-defense is accomplice to
 any crime committed because of the lack of self defense."