Network Setup for Win95/98/NT and SDR

Contents:

Introduction: Below is the information you need to setup two computer systems, one running SDR and the other running Windows 95/98 or NT. This configuration will allow SDR to write PSN format event files to your main Windows system eliminating the need to transfer files using a floppy disk. For this to work, you must keep both systems running 24 hours a day. With the release of WinQuake version 2.5, users can create event files by using the new Replay feature. See the WinQuake documentation for more information.
Network Card: Be sure and get the type with a BNC connector. If you get a card that only has the RJ type telephone connector on it you will need to get a hub box or a special crossover RJ45 cable. With the crossover cable you can only connect up two systems. The card should be NE2000 compatible. Set the interrupt to IRQ 11, 12 or 15 and the port address should be 300hex (usually the default). The card should not cost more then $20.00. The ones I buy only cost around $15.00. Other network cards will work including the newer PCI type. You will most likely need a driver from the board manufacturer to run under Win95 or Win98. Once you have properly have configured your systems you should be able to map a remote drive on the SDR system under Windows. When you have this working you should be able to map the drive under the DOS only mode of Win95/98. Remember that SDR will not work correctly in a DOS box in Windows. You must boot to DOS to run SDR.

Connect the two cards using RG-58 50-ohm coax cable. You must terminate both ends with a 50-ohm termination resistor. You should get a T connector with the network card but you will have to buy the two 50-ohm BNC termination resistors.

Setup: The next thing to do is load Windows 95 (SDR will not work under NT or Win2000) on the system that will be running SDR. During the setup Win95 should see your network cards. At some point I think you will be asked for a computer and workgroup name. The computer name needs to be different but the workgroup name needs to be the same for both systems. If you are not asked (it's been a while since I load 95) for a computer name or workgroup name select the My Computer icon then the Control Panel. In the Control Panel you should see Network icon. Click on it and then the Identification Panel. There you can enter the computer and workgroup names. When setting up your two systems use the same User Name and Password for both systems.

On the system that will be running WinQuake you need to enable the disk drive for sharing. Select the My Computer icon. Now click on the C: (or the drive letter you want to share) drive icon and then click on the File Menu item (use the file menu item for the My Computer dialog box). Select the Share menu item. Click on the Share As: button. Enter a Share name for the drive (I use the drive letter) and select the Full Access button. Under the Full Password enter the same password you use for logging onto the system. Then click on OK. The next thing to do is create a directory (like c:\events) that SDR will place event files into. SDR will create sub-directories based on the year and month like 9808 or 9809 under this root directory you create.

Now on the SDR system, start up Win95. Make sure you have the Workgroup name the same as the other system and that the computer name is different. Now select the Network Neighborhood icon. If everything is working you should see the name of both systems in the dialog box. If you see the name of the other system then you have your network working properly!

Now select the other system by double clicking on the name of the other system. You should see the shared name for the drive on the other system. Now click on the drive name and then the File menu item. Now select the Map Network Drive. Use this dialog to select a drive letter for the mapped drive. If very thing is working you should see the directories and files on the other system.

The next thing to do is shutdown Win95. In the shutdown dialog box select "Start the Computer in MS-DOS Mode? option and then Yes. When the system restarts it will be in a DOS only mode that SDR can run in. Now you will be using the net command to start the network and map to a drive to the other system in the DOS only mode. For a complete list of commands type NET at the DOS prompt.

The first command to do is start the network and map a drive. Type "net logon" at the DOS prompt. Answer Yes to the first prompt and then enter the User and Password you are using for both systems. If very thing is working you should see "The command was completed successfully" message. Now map a drive letter to the remote disk on the other system. Use the following command to do this:

net use drive_letter: \\system_name\shared_drive_name
Example: net use E: \\sys1\c

This will map drive letter E to the drive C on the system sys1.

If the net command worked, you should be able to do a dir on the new drive letter and see all of the files on the other system. Note: you can not map a drive the other way. Meaning that the system that is running the pure DOS mode can only map to a drive running Windows. The Windows system can not map to a drive on the DOS only system.

You can now run SDR. Under the F5 settings set the Event File Path to the mapped drive and directory on the other system. Example: E:\EVENTS SDR will now save event files on the other system where WinQuake can easily see them.

One more thing you need to do. This is to force your data logging system to boot right to the pure DOS mode and map to the other system without having to shutdown Win95 first. See the SDRWIN95.TXT file on how to make Win95 boot directly to DOS. The starting of the network and mapping of the drive will be done in the autoexec.bat file.

The last thing to do is edit your autoexec.bat file on the SDR system and add the network startup commands to map your drive to the other system.

Here is my autoexec.bat file:

@ECHO OFF
c:\win95\net start
c:\win95\net logon system_name your_password /yes
prompt $p$g
set copycmd=/y
path c:\win95;c:\win95\command;c:\dos;c:\bat;c:\;c:\bin set temp=c:\tmp
set tmp=c:\tmp
c:\win95\command\doskey
c:\win95\net use e: \\sys1\c
cd \sdr
sdr

And here is my config.sys file:

device=c:\win95\setver.exe
device=c:\win95\himem.sys
dos=high

 Problems: If you are having problems getting the network card working you can try the following:
Use the SYSTEM tab under the CONTROL PANEL to verify that the proper interrupt number and address is selected for the card. You may need to change the address and interrupt to match the IRQ=11,12, or 15 and ADDR of300(hex). Also, make sure that the changes don't have a conflict with other cards in the system. The DOS mode driver for the network card will not work if these values are not adhered to.

If you need any help getting this working please feel free to contact me.

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Larry Cochrane - www.seismicnet.com/contact.html