NOVELL TECHNICAL INFORMATION DOCUMENT TITLE: Creating a Floppy-Drive-Only Workstation DOCUMENT ID: 014931 DOCUMENT REVISION: A DATE: 23MAR94 ALERT STATUS: Yellow INFORMATION TYPE: Issue README FOR: NA NOVELL PRODUCT and VERSION: PERSONAL NetWare 1.0 ABSTRACT: This document describes two ways of creating a floppy-drive-only PERSONAL NetWare (PNW) workstation. This function, however, is not officially supported by Novell. ------------------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER THE ORIGIN OF THIS INFORMATION MAY BE INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL TO NOVELL. NOVELL MAKES EVERY EFFORT WITHIN ITS MEANS TO VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. HOWEVER, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY. NOVELL MAKES NO EXPLICIT OR IMPLIED CLAIMS TO THE VALIDITY OF THIS INFORMATION. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ISSUE System Requirements The PERSONAL NetWare system requirements (printed on the PERSONAL NetWare and Novell DOS 7 box side panel) state that a hard drive is required. A hard drive is required for a computer to act as a PERSONAL NetWare server and is strongly recommended for a workstation computer as well, because this provides the best performance and functionality. General Support Statement Some users have asked Novell for information on configuring a floppy-drive-only PERSONAL NetWare workstation. As a courtesy, Novell, Inc. has provided the following two configurations (options A and B) that appear to work in a test environment. Users who follow one of the two sample configurations should be able to successfully install and configure PERSONAL NetWare on a computer with no hard drive. This is a "read and try at your own risk" document. No telephone, written, or online support will be provided by Novell for the information contained in this document. If you are unfamiliar with some of the steps required, such as creating batch files, you should obtain assistance from a more experienced computer user who can perform the necessary steps. Options Descriptions The following information describes two ways of creating a floppy-drive-only PERSONAL NetWare (PNW) workstation: OPTION A is designed to take as little disk space as possible thereby making the installation fit on a bootable low-density diskette. The installation creates a LOGIN directory on a server's hard drive where the floppy-drive-only workstation will get the files necessary to run the bulk of the PERSONAL NetWare software. OPTION B contains the basic PERSONAL NetWare software needed to login to the network and map drives and capture printers. The installation requires a high density diskette. GENERAL STEPS For either option, do the following steps first: 1. Install the networking hardware (including the network board, cabling, and associated t-connectors, and terminators). 2. Verify the network hardware is communicating properly. 3. Install PERSONAL NetWare on a server node. 4. Define the workgroup and define any shared network directories and printers. ______________________________________________________ OPTION A STEPS Included in Appendix A of this document are listings of two batch files and several configuration files. These files will facilitate the installation. Create these batch and configuration files first. On the PERSONAL NetWare Server, do the following steps: 1. Run MDLOGIN.BAT (or type the commands one at a time as listed in the appendix). 2. Run MAKEDISK.BAT (or type the commands one at a time as listed in the appendix). a. When prompted to insert the diskette in the A: drive, insert the diskette that will become the boot-floppy diskette for starting the workstation. b. When prompted to enter a Volume Name, enter a name for the diskette and press or press for no name. c. When prompted to format another diskette, answer No. d. Copy the network board driver to the boot-floppy diskette. Example: If your driver is a NE2000 that is on the C: drive in the \NWCLIENT directory, you would type the following command: COPY C:\NWCLIENT\NE2000.COM A:\ e. If the network board in the workstation is not the same as the network board in the server or it requires a different driver, you must copy the network board driver for the workstation to the boot-floppy diskette. 3. Edit the A:\NET.CFG file and configure it to link the network board driver. a. Set the interrupt, port, and shared memory area (if used). b. Also, set the Preferred Workgroup. c. If you also wish to connect to native NetWare, the NETWARE PROTOCOL line needs to be change to the following: BIND,NDS,PNW d. Assuming you are using the NE2000 network board driver and the interrupt is set to 5, the port is set to 340, and the Ethernet frame needs to be set to 802.2, then change the NET.CFG to be similar to the following: link driver NE2000 int 5 port 340 frame ethernet_802.2 (if using ethernet) NetWare DOS Requestor Preferred Workgroup = (enter workgroup name here) NetWare Protocol = BIND,NDS,PNW - - 4. Edit the STARTNET.BAT file to add the network board driver. a. Assuming you are using the NE2000 network board driver, change the STARTNET.BAT to be to the following: @echo off LSL NE2000 IPXODI VLM b. At this point, the boot-floppy diskette has been created. It will start the workstation, load the network drivers and TSRs, then go into the PNW NET Utility. c. If the network drivers do not load, then something is wrong with the network communications. Refer back to the hardware configurations and reverify that the machines are able to communicate with each other. ------------------------------------------------------------ OPTION B On the PERSONAL NetWare Server, do the following steps: 1. Format a high density (1.44 MB, 3.5-inch or 1.2 MB, 5.25-inch) floppy diskette to boot from the workstation's A: drive. 2. Perform the following COPY commands: COPY C:\NWCLIENT\NET.EXE A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\NETU.OVL A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\NET.CFG A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\VLM.EXE A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\IBM_RUN.OVL A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\*.VLM A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\LSL.COM A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\IPXODI.COM A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\NLS\ENGLISH\NETC.MSG A:\ COPY C:\NWCLIENT\STARTNET.BAT A:\ Assuming you are using the NE2000.COM network board driver, copy the network board driver by performing the following copy command: COPY C:\NWCLIENT\NE2000.COM A:\ 3. The boot floppy needs a CONFIG.SYS file that includes the following lines: Files=50 Buffers=20 Lastdrive=Z 4. Edit the STARTNET.BAT file to make sure it includes lines similar to the following: LSL NE2000 (or replace NE2000 with your network board driver) IPXODI VLM These drivers can be loaded into upper memory. DPMS could also be used. The drivers listed are the minimum required to gain access to the network. 5. Check the NET.CFG file to make sure it contains commands that do the following: a. Links the correct driver for the workstation. b. Correctly sets the INTerrupt, PORT, MEM (if used), and FRAME (if ethernet) for the workstation's network board configuration. The boot floppy is now created. 6. Boot the workstation. 7. Run the STARTNET.BAT to load the network. You will not be able to run the NET or NET ADMIN utilities from the workstation. You will be able to issue NET LOGIN, NET MAP, and NET CAPTURE commands from the DOS prompt. 8. Create a login batch file. 9. At the bottom of the STARTNET.BAT file, add the command to execute the login batch file. ------------------------------------------------------------ APPENDIX A MDLOGIN.BAT @echo off cls echo ----------- echo This batch file creates a Personal NetWare LOGIN echo directory. After created, when a client loads the echo VLMs, its first network drive will be mapped echo here automatically. This batch file also copies echo the files necessary for running the NET utility for echo DOS into this LOGIN directory. echo echo This batch file makes the following assumptions: echo You are running it on the server where you want echo LOGIN to reside. echo You are logged in as a user with workgroup echo administrator rights. echo You have SERVER configured for enough directories echo that you can add one. echo You have PNW installed on this machine's echo C:\NWCLIENT directory. echo This machine currently does not have a C:\LOGIN echo directory. echo This workgroup currently does not have a LOGIN echo directory resource. echo echo To quit this batch file, press Ctrl+Break echo or Ctrl+C now. pause cls echo MDLOGIN.BAT echo ----------- echo Creating C:\LOGIN directory. md c:\login echo echo Copying NET.EXE. copy c:\nwclient\ne?.exe c:\login echo echo Copying overlay files. copy c:\nwclient\ibm_run?.ovl c:\login copy c:\nwclient\net*.ovl c:\login echo echo Copying help files. copy c:\nwclient\net*.hlp c:\login echo echo Copying English version of NETC.MSG. copy c:\nwclient\nls\english\netc?.msg c:\login echo echo Creating LOGIN network directory. net share c:\login login echo MAKEDISK.BAT @echo off echo ------------ echo This batch file creates a client diskette for booting echo floppy-drive-only machines to the network. Before echo this diskette can be used, the LOGIN directory must echo have been created (MDLOGIN). echo echo This batch file makes the following assumptions: echo The following files exist in the current directory: echo CONFIG.EG, AUTOEXEC.EG, STARTNET.EG, and NET.EG. echo These are example files that correspond to the echo following boot files: echo CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, STARTNET.BAT, and NET.CFG. echo The A: drive will be used to generate the floppy. echo There is a diskette in A: that can be re-formatted. echo The C:\NWCLIENT directory contains the installed echo Personal NetWare drivers. echo echo To exit this batch file, press Ctrl+Break or echo Ctrl+C now. pause cls echo MAKEDISK.BAT echo ------------ echo Formatting floppy disk. format a: /s echo echo Copying CONFIG.SYS. copy CONFIG.EG? a:\config.sys echo echo Copying AUTOEXEC.BAT. copy AUTOEXEC.EG? a:\autoexec.bat echo echo Copying STARTNET.BAT. copy STARTNET.EG? a:\startnet.bat echo echo Copying NET.CFG. copy NET.EG? a:\net.cfg echo echo Copying ODI drivers. copy c:\nwclient\ls?.com a: copy c:\nwclient\ipxod?.com a: echo echo Copying VLM drivers. copy c:\nwclient\vl?.exe a: copy c:\nwclient\auto.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\conn.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\fio.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\general.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\ipxncp.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\nmr.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\nwp.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\pnw.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\print.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\redir.?lm a: copy c:\nwclient\tran.?lm a: echo echo ****IMPORTANT*** echo The boot floppy is now created. Don't forget, echo you MUST... echo 1. Copy the correct MLID driver onto the floppy echo diskette. echo 2. Edit the NET.CFG file with the correct MLID name, echo hardware settings, and workgroup. echo 3. Edit the STARTNET.BAT to load the MLID after LSL. AUTOEXEC.EG @echo off CALL STARTNET.BAT PATH A:\;F: NET CONFIG.EG FILES=50 BUFFERS=20 LASTDRIVE=Z STARTNET.EG @echo off LSL rem The MLID driver (eg. NE2000.COM) should go here. IPXODI VLM NET.EG # Edit the Link Driver heading with the proper MLID title. # For example, if you are loading the NE2000 driver, the # heading should read: # LINK DRIVER NE2000 # # Also, edit the hardware settings appropriately. # # Enter the name of your workgroup on the preferred # workgroup line. # # Remember, headings start in the left most column, and # parameters under headings are spaced over with spaces # or tabs. Link Driver int port mem (If no upper memory address is used, remove this line) frame ethernet_802.2 (If not using Ethernet, remove this line) NetWare DOS Requester first network drive = f message level = 2 netware protocol = pnw preferred workgroup = signature level = 0 vlm = auto.vlm vlm = nmr.vlm ---------------------------------------------------------------- Any trademarks referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners. Consult your product manuals for complete trademark information. ----------------------------------------------------------------