[comp.sys.mac.comm] MacTCP and Cabletron E6000

pst@dschub.dsc.com (Paul Tatarsky) (03/15/91)

Does anyone know of a fix for an incompatibility between MacTCP
and a Cabletron E6000 NuBus Card. Here's a summary of the problem:

MacIIcx, Cabletron E600 Card, MacTCP Drivers installed and properly
configured.

Applications: MacX and Intercon's TCP/Connect II-A (MacTCP version)

Problem: the E6000 card seems to jam up whenever a large ammount of data
starts being shipped back to the mac. (For example a ps -aex on a 60+ user
machine)

Tech Support: Intercon claims MacTCP and the E6000 don't work together.
Said that Cabletron is working on it. Cabletron tech support has never heard
of MacTCP but did offer a revision of the drivers numbered 2.1 (when I 
bought the card a month ago, it was on rev 1.09, which is a pretty big jump.)

Any information you may have will be greatly appreciated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

   |\/\/\/|         Paul Tatarsky
   |      |         Digital Sound Corp. `Makers of That VoiceMail Stuff`
   |      |         Internet:  pst%dschub@hub.ucsb.edu
   | (o)(o)         Uucp:  pyramid!ucsbcsl!dschub!pst
   (      _)        VMail: (805) 566-2255 x2234
   |  ,___| --
   |    /     Matt Groenig Was Cooler When He Was Poor
   /    \         Work is Hell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

resnick@cogsci.uiuc.edu (Pete Resnick) (03/15/91)

When an TCP connection hangs when sending large amounts of data using
MacTCP on an Ethernet card, chances are it is one of those Ethernet
cards that mishandles the maximum segment size (MSS). MSS is a number
that MacTCP communicates to the remote host to tell it how big a piece
of data can be sent. Some Ethernet cards (e.g. some Cabletron and Dove
cards) are not communicating it correctly to MacTCP. There is a fix:

In MacTCP 1.0, MacTCP did not figure out the MSS correctly for DDP-IP
gateways, so Steve Dorner here at UIUC came up with a fix. This same
fix still works on the newer versions of MacTCP and fixes the problem
for Ethernet card. It seems to just tell MacTCP not to advertise any
MSS to the remote host, which leaves it at a reasonable default. The
fix is peformed with ResEdit as follows:

1. Open the MacTCP file with ResEdit.
2. Open the DRVR resources picker.
3. Open the one DRVR resource that is there. In older version of ResEdit,
   you must use the "Open General" choice.
4. Find the hexadecimal string "337c02040014" and change it to read
   "337c01010014".
5. Save and close the file.

Now MacTCP should work properly.

pr
--
Pete Resnick             (...so what is a mojo, and why would one be rising?)
Graduate assistant - Philosophy Department, Gregory Hall, UIUC
System manager - Cognitive Science Group, Beckman Institute, UIUC
Internet/ARPAnet/EDUnet  : resnick@cogsci.uiuc.edu
BITNET (if no other way) : FREE0285@UIUCVMD

ziff@zip.eecs.umich.edu (Brian Moore) (03/16/91)

I'm having the same problem with the NuBus Card and MacTCP.  When I run 
NCSA Telnet I can't FTP a file greater than 1024 bytes.  If I do, the 
session will hang and the file will be zero bytes.  But this is the strange
part, if I use HyperFTP I can FTP any size file I want.  Figure that one out!

Brian Moore
DCO Macintosh Consultant
ziff@eecs.umich.edu

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, it's only speak for myself, blah, blah, blah, ...

dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner) (03/17/91)

>I'm having the same problem with the NuBus Card and MacTCP.  When I run 
>NCSA Telnet I can't FTP a file greater than 1024 bytes.  If I do, the 
>session will hang and the file will be zero bytes.  But this is the strange
>part, if I use HyperFTP I can FTP any size file I want.  Figure that one out!

If indeed the problem is MSS related, I can give you a possible explanation.

Oversimplifications follow.

The MSS (Maximum Segment Size) is the largest packet that can
be send on the networks between point a and point b.  If this is
malnegotiated, you may wind up with packets too large to be transmitted
on your network (bad).

However, there is also the issue of TCP window size, which is the max amt
of data that a host is willing to receive.  The MacTCP xcmds may keep
the window size down so low that the MSS is not an issue.  That would
be horribly inefficient, but might be convenient for HyperCard anyway.

For those of you with glazed eyes, think of it another way.  Imagine you
and a friend each have a pool, and you want to fill yours from his.  Further
imagine you have a 2 gallon bucket (that's your MSS).  Now, suppose the
two of you decide that it 'looks' like a 5 gallon bucket (bug).

If you say "Give me 5 gallons of water now" (window size), and he pours
5 gallons in the bucket, your shoes are wet (mind, since you both think
the bucket holds 5 gallons, it's not an unreasonable request).

If, on the other hand, you say "Give me a cup of water", your delusion
about the size of the bucket isn't going to do any harm.  (Of course,
it's also going to take a while to fill your pool.)
--
Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office
Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu  UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner