Slow network performance on Windows CE when you use the NE2000-compatible NDIS miniport (290330)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows CE Operating System, Versions 2.12
  • Microsoft Windows CE Operating System, Versions 2.11
  • Microsoft Windows CE Operating System, Versions 2.0
  • Microsoft Windows CE Operating System, Versions 1.0
  • Microsoft Windows CE Operating System, Versions 3.0
This article was previously published under Q290330
This article also applies to the following:
  • All Microsoft Windows CE-based devices that have PC-Card or Compact Flash (CF) slots.
  • All versions of Microsoft Windows CE up to and including version 3.0.

SYMPTOMS

Slow network throughput occurs when you use a NE2000-compatible network card with the default NE2000 device driver.

Although typical network performance is almost 8 Megabits-per-second (Mbps) on a 10-Mbps Ethernet, when this problem occurs, only 2.5-Mbps performance can be maintained.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because the network driver interface specification (NDIS) miniport driver for NE2000-compatible network adapters does not use 16-bit I/O in all cases where it is available. On PCMCIA and PCI buses, the driver selects only 8-bit I/O.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, implement selection of 16-bit I/O when it is available.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who use any one of the following products can modify the sources for the NE2000.dll file to enable selection of 16-bit I/O when it is available:
  • Platform Builder: version 2.1, version 2.11, or version 3.0
  • Embedded Toolkit (ETK): version 2.0 or version 2.10
  • OEM Adaptation Kit for Windows CE-based operating systems, such as HPC, PsPC, Pocket PC, and others
To implement selection of 16-bit I/O, you have to change the following source file:

Public\Common\Oak\Drivers\Netcard\Ne2000\Card.c

A version of the Card.c source file that contains the corrected code is available for download from Microsoft.

Note This version of the Card.c file may show other differences that are unrelated to 16-bit I/O when compared with the Card.c version in the development kit that you currently use.The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:
DownloadDownload the Card.exe package now. Release Date: December 8, 2003

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

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Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/10/2004
Keywords:kbdownload kbdownload kbNDIS kbNetworkCard kbnetwork kbbug kbfile kbfix KB290330 kbAudOEM
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