Windows 2003 Server/DECNET/Pathworks 7.4 Issues

[Christopher Rogers_2]

I am having a problem getting Windows 2003 Server to work with DECNET. It looks as if DECNET is not binding to the adapter. I am getting the following error messages:

"SktSocket fails with error 50 Network is down"

"Datalink's current address is 00-14-22-11-C0-5B"

"Cannot start DECnet: adapter's network address is not set to AA-00-04-00-F0-04"

"Opening the adapter \\Device\41D1E3-D769-421C-ADBE-6B05E512B48E failed"


Any suggestions? I need to get this working as soon as possible to replace a production system.

[Andy Bustamante · Accepted solution]

DECnet requires the adapter support a programmable MAC address. Although this is part of the ethernet spec, not all vendors support this in the PC world.

In the Pathworks 32 install if you have mutlitple adapters you were asked which one to select. The MAC address is configured in this step. You can manually configure this in the adapter properties under LAN connections in the control panel.

If your NIC doesn't support changing the hardware address you can't use Pathworks over DECnet. Either replace the NIC or consider Pathworks over TCP/IP.

Side note I had a problem with the stock 7.4 kit. In the Pathworks event log "mumble mumble expanding to xxx mumble mumble" when xxx hit 512 all DECnet connections dropped. In my case about 6 hours. The PW support team can provide the fix for this.

Andy

[Christopher Rogers_2]

Should a 3com 905C work ok? I put one in the server and it didn't work either. Both of the other cards are disabled.

[Andy Bustamante]

The 905c does work with Pathworks over DECnet. 3Com is my NIC vendor of choice for add on PC NICs.

You'll need to update the NIC locally administered address. If you have additional NICs make sure the PW32 setup didn't configure the same MAC address on another card which can can issues even if disabled.

Andy