NwDsk 3.40: NetWare Boot Disk (IP/IPX)

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In Brief

A menu-driven plug 'n play DOS boot disk for accessing NetWare servers by IP/IPX.

Vitals

Updated:	3 Sep 2006
File Size:	7.65MB
License:	Free
Download:	/coolsolutions/tools/downloads/nwdsk340.exe
Screenshot:	/coolsolutions/tools/screenshots/nwdskcln.gif
Home Page:	http://www.veder.com/nwdsk/
Publisher:	Erwin Veermans

Disclaimer

Please read the note from our friends in legal before using this file.

Details

An automated menu-driven plug 'n play DOS boot disk for accessing NetWare servers by IP/IPX.

The boot disk can be constructed using Novell's 32-bit client (NLM) or the 16-bit client (VLM) or even both. Choices for protocols (TCPIP or IPX or both), frame types, topology (ethernet, token-ring, fddi), TCPIP-settings, nic driver detection, packet-driver support, connect-information, and more can be made using menus and saved to user-profiles on diskette to prepare for fully automated sessions.

When PXE and WinPE/BartPE (see NwDskPe) are not applicable an NwDsk diskette can be used for processing images between workstations and NetWare servers using Deploy Center or Ghost (even Multicast), or server to server using Storage Manager. It can also serve as the starting point for launching a pre-configured unattended installation of your client OS like XP, W2K, NT or W98 from a NetWare server. Next to that NwDsk is being used as a sole TCP/IP stack (Novell's 32-bit TCPIP or by packet driver on 16/32-bit ODI layer) to serve Citrix's DOS ICA client, VNC's DOS viewer, the Arachne browser, DOSRDP (Terminal Services for DOS), and the IP DOS print server PPRD.

New with version 3.40:

• Added support for LZ-DOS and 4DOS
• Added support for TinyHost (DOS-Host Remote Access by Java-client over NetWare-TCPIP)
• Updated all FreeDOS components matching FreeDOS 1.0 release
• Many updated components, many updated drivers (ODI16, ODI32, NDIS2)

Recent improvements:

• Added Step-by-step-mode (hold down [SHIFT] when starting MODBOOT).
• Added AutoVir to UBCD images (auto AntiVirus-Suite update using Wget).
• Added JNOS2 image (TCP-Suite: HTTP/FTP/SMTP/FTP-server, etc.).
• Added images for Bart's Network Boot Disk à la NwDsk (see fdmsrrc).
(IP Print-server, Client AND Server for Microsoft resources (SMB/Samba), Remote Recover, new/updated drivers).
• Added support for general UBCD FreeDOS Boot Disk (also in MsDOS and OpenDOS flavors).
• Added RDP (DOS Remote Desktop Connection client) image.
• Added improved MsDOS 7.10 image (more room for utilities after removing embedded logo).
• Added Arachne (DOS Browser/Email) image.
• Added USB support (facilitating imaging to/from your USB flash-disk).
• On Dell GX280 with USB-keyboard/mouse this is supposed to work when ONLY EHCI is selected.
• Added support for multiple NICs (option to ignore certain NICs when multiple NICs detected).
• Added FdNwd288.img Ultimate NwDsk (2.88 image for bootable CDROM).
• Added support for Citrix ICA Client for DOS.
• Added option to skip ramdisk when booting NwDsk from a harddisk.
• Added utility What1632 to check available PCI Nic drivers.
• Added (improved) plug 'n play support for PCI PCMCIA/CardBus cards like Intel PRO/100 CardBusII (see FAQ 9).
• VNCviewer for DOS available.
• Complete unloading and reloading of 16- and 32-bit Client (thanks to Pavel Novy) without needing to reboot.
  Use this to connect to different trees using different protocols or to debug your SLP configuration by multiple reloading of the Client without rebooting.
• NwDsk can act as a Pure IP Print Server to replace the old IPX-based NPRINTER.EXE (see SFX-images to download FD1632LP.EXE).

Introduction

The original NwDsk is a professional network boot disk for connecting to Novell NetWare servers. The boot disk can be constructed using Novell's 32-bit client (NLM) or the 16-bit client (VLM) or even both. Choices for protocols (TCPIP or IPX or both), frame types, topology (ethernet, token-ring, fddi), TCPIP-settings, nic driver detection, packet-driver support, connect-information, and more can be made using menus and saved to user-profiles on diskette to prepare for fully automated sessions.

Next to the NetWare core business, there are now also general network boot disks (packet driver based) and Microsoft network boot disks (enhanced and up-to-date versions of Bart's) available under the hood of NwDsk.

Feature list:

• Features 32-bit (NLM) and 16-bit (VLM) NetWare client
• Supports TCP/IP (NLM) and IPX/SPX (NLM & VLM) protocol (even simultaneously)
• Supports 32-bit ODI Nic drivers (NLM) and 16-bit ODI Nic drivers (NLM & VLM)
• PCI Nic auto-detection (uses pre-saved list to speed up detection)
• ISA Nic auto-selection (selects single ISA Nic upon PCI Nic auto-detection failure)
• Multiple Nic detection support (option to exclude certain Nics)
• Supports multiple Frame types (including SLOT auto-detection with 32-bit ODI drivers)
• Autodetects Ethernet, Token-Ring (LSB/MSB/SROUTE), FDDI (SROUTE) topologies
• TCP/IP and SLP fully configurable by dialogs (SLP-diagnostics by SlpInfo.bat)
• Client fully unloadable and reloadable without rebooting (both 16- and 32-bit client)
• Packet Driver support on IPX (VLM & NLM) available (Wattcp, Ghost Multicast)
• Supports USB (facilitating imaging to/from your USB pen-drive/flash-drive)
• IP LPD print server module available (NDPS aware NPRINTER alternative)
• Minimum hardware requirements: 386, 16 MB Ram, Nic, 1.44 MB floppy drive
• Can be made to boot (without user intervention) from a bootable CDROM
• Fully automated by (timed) dialog boxes, choices can be saved to profiles on diskette
• All dialog boxes can be hidden from end-user
• Modular design (add/drop components as you wish)
• Very easy driver plugin support (user can build and add own driver modules)
• IP-address and/or MAC-address are captured into ENV-vars (IPADDR, MACADDR)
• Also in 8-char format (IPADDR8, MACADDR8) for conditional (short-name) mappings
• User can add NetWare login-scripts and/or batch-files which autorun after login
• Already-run detection available (NwDsk will not run twice in a row on same PC)
• User may allow/deny login per MAC/IP-address (in exception to the rule above)
• Integrity check available (immediate abort when diskette has been compromised)
• Scroll back console screens (press SCROLL-LOCK and ARROWS to scroll the screen)
• Supporting >64MB memory (Himem)
• UDMA IDE hard disk support (FreeDOS)
• Can also be used to boot from hard disk (skipping ramdrive)
• Fits on one diskette inluding Nic drivers and various add-ons
• Default diskette supports: Mouse, Cdrom, Ntfs-readonly, int.-Keyboard, NC-clone, ...
• Extra available modules: Linux-EXT2, Long File Name, FdAPM (suspends CPU), ...
• FreeDOS supported and included (much lighter & faster, but less compatible: try it!)
• OpenDOS (DrDOS) supported and included
• Absolutely free!

Visit NwDsk for documentation, FAQ, and more downloads.
Any comments, questions, bug-reports, new drivers to nwdsk@TAKETHISOUTveder.com.

Novell Cool Solutions (corporate web communities) are produced by WebWise Solutions. www.webwiseone.com

Reader Comments

• Great product, very easy to use and very customiseable!
• I LOVE it.....PS by the way did anyone did a boot from USB disk ??
• Wielu kolegów obsługuje sieci NN 4.11 i stacje pracujące z DOS-em. Działają o.k., więc czemu nie??
• Very good tool !
• Very useful. Thanks!
• Thanks, works great !
• This disk is a great time saver!! I would suggest it to anyone in the Novell enviroment.
• Only one disk, that autodetect your PCI adapter, and allows to configure everything on the fly !
• thanks, a must have
• Must have for Novell environ.
• very good
• Exellent! He even put together a driver for my PCMCIA card.
• A very good tool specially in a pure IP environment.
• Awesome bootdisk utility that solves all the headaches of network drivers; especially on in particular: Netgear FA311TX PCI which doesn't have .com Dos ODI driver. Simply the best, enough said!
• Erwin is a Novell God!!! What an awesome utility/bootdisk!
• Extremely useful stuff - thanks to Erwin for answering my questions about TCP DELAYED ACKNOWLEDGEMENT settings.-Gary
• Excellent piece of software. Be sure to check out http://www.veder.com/nwdsk/ for 16b (VLM) versions as well.
• Well done!
• Great tool this.
• Quality
• Nice work!
• I've sucessfully created network bootable disks before for network builds, however Network card selection has always been a manual process :-(  Not to mention compressing files to make room on the floppy. This disk is a well constructed piece of work. Thanks for supplying the Novell community with a great tool!
• This is incredible. I have been using nwdsk for a couple days, and it brings back my DOS geek days.
• This boot disk was a great starting point for me to create our network boot disk. We have a mixed topology from site to site and with this disk I was able to create one disk that would work on token ring as well as ethernet and autodetect the cards. Also keeping it simple enough that our users would just have to put the boot disk in and watch it run. Thanks again for all your help.
• Excellent tool!
• A lifesaver!
• This is an awesome solution for very diverse environments. We use it every day in our 600+ workstation education department, no matter their age or hardware specifications. It has saved us innumerable hours from crating boot disks for all the NIC cards and chipsets we have. I highly recommend this utility to anyone with a need to boot into IP or IPX NetWare servers.
• Very good tool
• This is an AMAZING Tool! Can't believe what it can do! HUGE time saver!
• One of the best things I have ever downloaded from here.
• Great stuff!
• This is a MUST have diskette. I haven't found any other boot disk that works as well in our convoluted environment. Thanks very much.
• This worked great. Thanks
• Great work. Thanks
• A very useful product indeed
• great utility. works great. thanks Erwin. you are the best !!!
• Excellent versatile config - and author very responsive to inquiries!
• I feel great with that tool, absolutly fantastic. But for FDDI you need the three folling files too: Nw3232f.cab, Nw32pktf.cab and SKFPNW.CAB.
• The best I've ever seen
• Small but powerful
• Great Program, but get the 2.40 or newer version, 2.32 cause some problem on my machine
• This is the definitive NW boot disk. Outstanding job and THANK YOU for sharing !
• I was so pleased to discover that someone had brought the flexibility and modularity of Bart's Boot Disk to Netware users. Well done Erwin, a great job.
• Splendid, ingenious solution that worked in an instant for me, even with PCMCIA.
• Absolutely essential.
• Just what i need, thanks
• Works great as a TCPIP printserver with NW7 and iprint!
• A must have tool that is great!
• Respect! Great work, thanx!
• A superb, absolutely essential tool. Just keeps getting better and better. With version 3.4, now includes the tiny "Tiny" DOS remote control program.
• saved me a lot of time, thanks! :)