NetWare Client32 v2.71 for DOS 5.0-6.22 on a 386
NetWare Client32 requires at least MS-DOS 5.0 and a 386 processor. Lets give that a go!
I'm doing this testing using 86Box emulating a generic PC clone using an AMI BIOS. The PC has a 33MHz 386 DX processor, 8MB of RAM, VGA graphics, a 1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive and a 120MB IDE hard disk.
The emulated network interface is a 3Com Etherlink II (3C503) at address 0x300, IRQ3, DMA 3 and BIOS address CC00. I'm using this ancient card because I'm doing this for the purpose comparing NETX, VLM and Client32 memory requirements plus I've trouble with the NE2000 in 86Box.
This page will quickly cover installing the client under MS-DOS 6.0 and logging in followed by testing it out on DOS 6.22 and 5.0. The purpose here is really just to quickly confirm it works and see what its memory usage is like. Nothing interesting to look at.
Contents
Installing
A PC Clone with 8MB of RAM and a 386DX-33 processor running MS-DOS 6.0
I used WinImage to copy the install files into C:\temp in the hard disk image.
Installer version - this is the client for NetWare 5.
Press enter to continue
I'm just going with the default options. No windows on this machine and I don't
want any of the rest as I'm trying to see how little RAM this thing uses.
The 3C503 NIC I've used for testing the other clients only has a 16bit driver available.
Which is not included with Client32 because its an ancient garbage card.
I've copied the driver that came with VLM 1.20 onto a floppy disk (3C503.COM, 3C503.INS).
This option works fine with 86Box.
Defaults are correct - press F10
All this looks good - press F10
Files are copied
Then reboot!
Client started
Run login.exe from the server
NetWare 4.11 login screen
Logged in!
And this is how much Conventional memory it took to do it: only 49KB including DOS 6.0.
Basically nothing (and it would probably even less if we were using a 32bit driver)
MS-DOS 6.22 login
Client started
Run login from NetWare 4.11 server
NetWare 4.11 login screen. The odd character in the username prompt is a result of the screenshot shortcut key also getting passed through to DOS.
Logged in!
598K free conventional memory. Would be better if I was using a 32bit driver.
MS-DOS 5.0 login
Client startup
Run login from NetWare 4.11 server
NetWare 4.11 login on MS-DOS 5
Login success
Memory usage: 590KB free conventional memory.
Disclaimer & Comments
I'm not a netware expert, don't have any of those fancy novell certifications and have never administred a netware network; I've just played with it at home occasionally since 2004 or so. Email me if you've got any suggestions or corrections for this page or any extra information you think is worth including here. My address is david at this websites domain name (without the www bit of course).