Read1st.txt - this file


The Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Installation and Configuration Guide for MS-DOS (Text Part Number: OL-1744-01) describes the three drivers and defines the four utility programs. That document and the four utilities are included in the zip file named 'util'. A fifth file is needed for those customers using LEAP client authentication. The needed file is AWCLEAP.EXE. Your CISCO SE can download that file from the internal Cisco WNBU site. Partners with Cisco assigned passwords can down the AWCLEAP.EXE program from Cisco site for partners.

The packet driver and supporting files are included in the zip file named 'pkt'. The NDIS driver and supporting files are included in the zip file named 'ndis'. The Novell driver and the supporting files are included in the zip file named 'odi'.

There is no step-by-step guide for the installation of these drivers. There are far too many variations of DOS, hardware platforms, card and socket services and networking protocols to write an accurate guide. The MS-DOS operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft. The MS-DOS drivers are being provided as a convenience.  This does not imply that Cisco will support MS-DOS, NDIS, or Open Datalink Interface. 

At a minimum, the requirements are 64 consecutive 16-bit I/O ports, one non-sharable Interrupt, and one PC Card Type II slot.

If card and socket services are being used, the resources will be assigned by card resources. However, the card and socket services resource assignments may be overridden if the PortBase and/or Int/Irq keywords are included in the appropriate configuration file.

If card and socket services are not being used, the host computer must have an Intel 82365 or compatible PC Card controller chip. The radio driver will then configure the PC Card controller chip directly and each of the following parameters should be specified in the appropriate configuration file.

On some computers, 16-bit ports are only available within a restricted range of I/O addresses. Check the documentation for your computer. 

The Cisco MS-DOS drivers for Aironet WLAN cards are the CSCPKT driver for the IP protocol, the CSCODI driver for the Novell protocol, the CSCNDIS2 driver for the IBM NetBeui protocol. All three of these drivers support the LM4800, PC4800, PCM340, LMC340, PCM350, and the LMC350. This makes the cards interchangeable as far as the driver is concerned. New to the current drivers is support for LEAP, World Mode, and the 350 series client cards. The PC/LM4800, because of hardware limitations, would not be able to do LEAP. It is recommended that the firmware on the client radios be upgraded to the latest because LEAP and World Mode are both firmware dependent. Two utility programs are provided for the purpose of supporting LEAP and WEP. The program 'WEPDOS.EXE' sets the WEP KEY value and the WEP transmit key. The program 'AWCLEAP.EXE' sets the username and password. It is important to note these programs will not update the cards' flash memory when a driver is loaded.

These drivers function, as would the MS-DOS drivers for wired NIC's, but have the need for additional radio parameters. Those additional radio parameters define the WLAN parameters that the radio card must match before being able to associate with an access point. The IP packet driver gets its WLAN information from the file 'cscpkt.ini'. The ODI driver gets its WLAN information from the file 'NET.CFG'. The NDIS2 driver gets its WLAN information from the 'protocol.ini'. Samples of additional WLAN parameters for each of those files is provided with each driver.

These drivers do not know the status of the network connection. They do not know if the card is associated. In the case of LEAP clients, they do not know if the client was authenticated. It is assumed that the users online application, informs the user about their connection status.

It is assumed that customers will take applications that are working with wired NIC's and update those applications with the appropriate driver for the Cisco wireless NIC. That means to remove the driver of the wired card and in its place put the Cisco driver. And then update the configuration file to include the WLAN parameters that match the definitions of the access point. In many cases that means setting only the SSID parameter.
 
The green light on the card will blink once every two seconds when the card is associated with the access point. The Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Software Configuration Guide, Quick Start Guide and Hardware Installation Guide have a lot of information that is useful for MS-DOS clients. But those manuals have no information directed at MS-DOS. These Wireless LAN adapter documents can be found on the Cisco WEB site. At http://www.cisco.com. Take the Software Center link, then the Wireless Software link, and then the Documentation link.

If the computer has the correct configuration for PCMCIA cards (again a working wired PCMCIA card), when the driver program is started the following information should show on the computer screen, indicating the driver has loaded.

For NDIS2 with the driver loaded from the 'config.sys' file:

MS DOS LAN Manager Protocol Manager v2.0
Cisco Wireless NDIS 2.0 Driver for DOS Version 2.04
(c) Copyright 2001 Cisco Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Card Recognized as a Radio in Socket xx
Driver Resources ---> IO Ports: xxxx-xxx IRQ: xx
PCM350 Firmware Version x.xx
MAC Address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

For Open Datalink Interface:

CISCO MLID 2.04
(c) Copyright 2001, Cisco Systems, Inc.
All rights reserved.

Card Recognized as a Radio in Socket xx 
Driver Resources ----> IO Ports: xxxx-xxxx IRQ: xx 
PCM350 Firmware Version x.xx
MAC Address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
And then other data depending on what is in the NET.CFG file.


For the IP packet driver:

Cisco Wireless Packet Driver  2.04
(c) Copyright 2000 Cisco Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

Card Recognized as a Radio in Socket 00 (could be 01)
Driver Resources ---> IO Ports: xxxx-xxxx IRQ: xx
PC350 Firmware Version x.xx
MAC Address xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx


If the driver does not load, first check for resource conflicts. Then check the parameters in the appropriate configuration file. If WEP and LEAP configurations do not work, the reason may be that the card was not sold with the level of encryption support that matches the parameters of the configuration file. The utility WEPDOS with the command line string " -365 -d", will display the enabled encryption level. 

To improve battery life at the expense of throughput, review the setting for 'PowerSaveMode' in the LANAdaptSoftwareConfig manual. Other
field values and variables that are in the MS-DOS configuration files can be found in the Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Software Configuration Guide.
