Network Enhanced Operating System - Version 1.51 R E A D M E Read this file before installing NeOS 1.51, Peer-to-Peer LAN for DOS based PC-s. LICENCE AGREEMENT NeOS 1.x is distributed as a POSTCARDWARE (i.e. FREEWARE). With this copy of NeOS you can connect 5 computers, which is, I believe, enough for personal use. Fell free to experiment and evaluate NeOS, and if you find it usable, instead of sending me some money (which I know you wouldn't) send me a postcard and become a registered NeOS user. FILES After unpacking 'neos-151.zip', there must be 8 files: readme - this file neos.man - ASCII manual for installing and using NeOS v1.x neosh.hlp - NeOS help file install.exe - program for installing NeOS network config.exe - NeOS configuration program net.exe - logins, logouts, mail, message, ... neos.com - resident part of NeOS network ne2000.com - packet driver for NE2000 adapter HARDWARE & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS - 286 or higher microprocessor (*) - DOS 5.0 or higher - 256KB RAM - 350KB disk space (C:) (**) - NE2000 compatible card (or any other ethernet card with packet or NDIS driver) (*) File "neos-xt.zip" contains 8088/8086 binaries and can be downloaded from this ftp site: CARNet.hr//pub/pc/networking/NeOS/neos-xt.zip (**) File "neos-dl.zip" ("dl" stands for "DiskLess") contains modified binaries that can be installed on drive A:. This is a known NeOS limitation, and future versions will allow you to select target drive, i.e., drive C: will no longer be hardcoded. Both files can be downloaded from ftp site: CARNet.hr//pub/pc/networking/NeOS HOW TO INSTALL NeOS - Make a temporary subdirectory and unzip "neos-151.zip" in it. Example (assuming "neos-151.zip" file is on floppy A:) c:\>md tmp c:\>cd tmp c:\tmp>pkunzip a:neos-151.zip - Type INSTALL to install NeOS and follow the instructions (they are self explanatory) - Remove the temporary subdirectory because it is no longer needed and read the file NEOS.MAN located in C:\NEOS.NET. It is rather long (cca. 40 KB), and can be viewed with any text editor. - Run program CONFIG to share resources (must be started on each station that will share it's resources), and program NET to log on the network, etc... - Remember that each time you share new resource with program CONFIG, you must restart NeOS in order to make it visible for the network users. NeOS configure itself at boot time. You don't have to reboot but simply unload NeOS with parameter minus ("neos -") and load it again by typing "startnet" or "neos" - If you have network adapter other then NE2000, manually change startup file STARTNET.BAT in C:\NEOS.NET directory. Note that packet driver vector must be 0x60 ! - In case you experience problems with NeOS when used with plain packet driver (immediate hangups), try with NDIS. You must have NDIS driver for your network adapter, and additional files that you can download from our ftp site: Host//dir : CARNet.hr//pub/pc/networking/NeOS Files : ndis.zip, protm11.zip, protm21.zip File "ndis.zip" contains files for setting up NDIS protocol stack for NeOS: 1) PROTMAN.DOS - protocol manager for DOS 2) DIS_PKT9.DOS - packet driver protocol driver for NDIS (DOS version) 3) NetBIND.EXE - netbind utility --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) PROTOCOL.INI - sample configuration file 5) AUTOEXEC.BAT - sample autoexec.bat file 6) CONFIG.SYS - sample config.sys file Some packet driver implementations slightly differ from original specs (particularly packet drivers for 3COM EtherLink III adapters). DIS_PKT9.DOS assures nothing is wrong with protocol stacks, and will function on wide range of ethernet network adapters, virtually all of them, the same way. If you ever receive error "can not bind to ." after the NETBIND command, simply change protocol manager (and netbind) with files from PROTM11.ZIP. Also note, PROTMAN.DOS in NDIS version 2.1 is PROTMAN.SYS in version 1.1. - If installing "neos-dl.zip" (diskless version), installation procedure is slightly different. First unpack "neos-dl.zip" in a temporary subdir, insert a blank diskette in drive A: and execute SETUP and then INSTALL. You can optionally insert a boot diskette in drive A:, and you'll have everything you need to boot and run your network from a diskette. Next version will solve this mess with destination drive. NeOS FEATURES - NeOS is probably the first real peer-to-peer network in a DOS world. You will never see terms like "SERVER" or "CLIENT" (like in real distributed environments). Network resources are distributed across the network and this shouldn't bother you. Lots of actions are performed in the background without special notice - logins, logouts, resource mounting and unmounting, ... - NeOS is probably the only DOS network in which you can, for instance, access 250 CD-ROM drives with only one login. NeOS is not limited with 23 available disk letters (it's really neat when you actually use it) - NeOS is very efficient. Some benchmarks showed 30% better results then NetWare Lite 1.10 (or Personal NetWare in Novell DOS 7.0). It's even faster then Lantastic 3.0. What benchmarks? XCOPY-ing large files from machine to machine simultaneously. Please, use COMMAND.COM with DOSKEY installed, because this speeds things when DOS is waiting on a command line. - NeOS uses standard disk-caching programs (SMARTDRV, NCACHE or SCPLUS). Probably the best of them is shareware HYPERDKX. You can pay the HyperWare 25$ after a 30 day period and use it instead of SMARTDRV. It's really, really fast and very robust. - NeOS is compact, requires very small amount of memory (typically less then 40KB) and can be loaded high (you must use QEMM386 or something similar) - And other unique features (bugs, undocumented interrupts, ...) CURRENT STATUS NeOS is an official EUREKA project under project number EU-1317, supported by Slovenian Ministry of Science and Technology. Contact member is DMS d.o.o., Slovenia (holding 80% of the project), participating member is ND&C, Belgium (holding 20% of the project) and main contact person for the project is Igor Bujanovic. Additional information about NeOS, other EUREKA projects and EUREKA itself can be found in the EUREKA database on the ECHO (EUROPEAN COMMISSION HOST ORGANISATION) server in Luxembourg with the public password ECHO using Internet (telnet echo.lu), telephone network (++352.42.03.47), or other services (packet switching networks X.25 and X.28, TELETEL network or academic and research networks RARE/COSINE connected to EUROPANET). FUTURE You may expect new DOS/WIN 3.1 full version and OS/2 and Linux workable beta by the end of 1995. In 1996, you may expect WIN 95, WIN NT and NetWare version. We have plans for OS/2 for PowerPC (and other PowerPC operating systems) and maybe for MAC OS, but for now, this is a science fiction. Although almost all popular operating systems (except DOS) offer good peer-to-peer networking capabilities, I hope NeOS will offer a little more. NeOS is extremely compact and capable, suitable for embedded applications. NeOS LIST We are also maintaining NeOS mailing list at NeOS@CARNet.hr. The main purpose of the list is to monitor the development of the NeOS v2 for DOS, Win3.x/4.x, WinNT, OS/2, Linux/Minix. To join the list, send a request to listproc@carnet.hr with one line message: subscribe NeOS YourFirstName YourLastName (Note: the subject line is irrelevant). You may send other requests about the list to the listproc@carnet.hr (HELP, INFORMATION NeOS, REVIEW NeOS). Igor Bujanovic e-mail: igor@srce.hr Address for POSTCARDWARE: SRCE (for Igor Bujanovic) J. Marohnica bb 41000 Zagreb CROATIA Modifications: November '94 (version 1.5): --------------------------- - Fixed Int24 (critical error) and problems with appending shared file. - Optimized writing to and reading from a network resource which results in up to 30% faster network file access. WARNING: NeOS 1.0 and 1.5 can't be run simultaneously on the same cable! February '95 (version 1.51): ---------------------------- - Modifications in November '94 caused problems with network printing. Fixed.