CSNW/GSNW Unable to Connect to NetWare Server (165737)

SYMPTOMS

When a computer running Windows NT Workstation or Server 3.51 or 4.0 tries to connect to a NetWare server with IPX checksum-enabled through a NET USE command, the following error message is displayed:

System Error 86 - the specified network password is not correct.

No connections can be made to the NetWare server.

CAUSE

The problem is caused when a NetWare server has the following setting in Startup.ncf :

   SET ENABLE IPX CHECKSUMS=2

Possible server settings:

   0= checksums are disabled
   1= checksums are used if enabled at the client (default)
   2= checksums are required

With the checksums value set at 2, Windows NT will try to establish a session with a NetWare server. It is after the session is set up that the NetWare server parses the IPX header for the checksum. At this point, the NetWare server will reject packets from the Windows NT client because the checksum value set in the IPX header is FFFF. Currently, Windows NT does not use the checksum field.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, make the following change in the Startup.ncf file on the NetWare server:

   ENABLE CHECKSUMS=1 or 0

It is important to note that "checksums only" does a check of the IPX header only, not the data or frame.

MORE INFORMATION

Windows NT does not implement the checksum feature as it adds unnecessary overhead and only checks the validity of the header. There are no plans for implementing this in the future.