Protocol priority change?

[JoeFrat]

Greetings All. I found this site through one of your mods(Bah) and I have a unique situation that I need help with.

The software company I work for uses a dos based point of sale program that needs to have the netbeui protocol set as the default @ lana 0. In win9x all I had to do was check the 'set this protocol to be the default' in network properties. In Win2k I had to use a tool called lanaconfig_wu.exe and change the priority from a command prompt.

Herein lies my problem. I need to make this program run on WinXP until our new software is released. Since netbeui is not officially supported in XP, I am having a problem trying to find a tool to change the priority. The tool I mentioned above allows me to view the settings but I cannot modify them in any way. Does anyone know of a tool or a way to set netbeui as the default on lana 0? If necessary I can send you the existing tool that I have if that will help at all.

TIA.

[JoeFrat]

I have some more info. looking at the settings on my laptop:

c:\lanacfg showlanapaths

Lana:

0-->NetBEUI Protocol-->3Com 10/100 Mini PCI Ethernet Adapter

Lana:

8-->NetBEUI Protocol-->WAN Miniport (NetBEUI, Dial Out)

Lana:

6-->NetBEUI Protocol-->WAN Miniport (NetBEUI, Dial Out) #2

Lana:

7-->NetBEUI Protocol-->WAN Miniport (NetBEUI, Dial Out) #3

Lana:

2-->WINS Client(TCP/IP) Protocol-->Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)-->3Com 10/100 Mini PCI Ethernet Adapter

You can see that netbeui is bound to lana 0, which is where our software does its communicating with the file server. I also found this on MS's website

NetBIOS uses the concept of a LANA (LAN adapter number) that allows you to write transport-independent NetBIOS applications. This article describes what a LANA is and recommends an approach to writing NetBIOS applications.

More Information

A LANA is a field of the NetBIOS NCB structure. In IBM's NetBIOS 3.0 specification, a LANA was used to specify a particular network adapter, as NetBIOS then supported up to two network adapters in one PC computer. Specifying a LANA of zero directed a request to the first adapter, and specifying a LANA of one directed a request to the second adapter.

Originally, IBM sent NetBIOS packets over the NETBEUI protocol, also known as the NetBIOS Frames protocol. This was the only transport NetBIOS could use to send data across the network. In other words, each network adapter had only one protocol to send and receive NetBIOS packets.

Because most computers have only one network adapter, many MS-DOS-based applications send all their requests to a LANA value of zero (also called simply 'LANA zero'). If a second network adapter is installed, some programs allow the user to configure the application to use LANA one instead. As a result, LANA zero became a default setting, though it was never intended to be a default.

Today's network technology allows NetBIOS to use transports other than NETBEUI. Microsoft has extended the meaning of LANA to indicate a specific transport on a specific adapter. For example, if you have two network adapters, and have IPX/SPX and NETBEUI transports installed, you have four LANAs. The LANAs may or may not be sequential, and there is no systematic way to identify which transport maps to which LANA.

In addition to extending the meaning of a LANA, Microsoft also added an NCB command (NCBENUM) that returns an array of available LANA numbers. As an example, the LANA_ENUM structure filled by NCBENUM might hold an array with values 0, 3, 5, and 6. Zero might map to IPX/SPX on the first adapter, three might map to NETBEUI on a second adapter, and so on.

In Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 98, and Windows 95, network adapters consist of physical adapters (like a 3Com Etherlink II) and software adapters (like the Dial Up Adapter). In addition, a user may have TCP/IP, NETBEUI, IPX/SPX, and other transports installed, all of which have NetBIOS support.

For Windows NT, LANAs are configurable through the control panel. Choose the Network applet, choose the NetBIOS Interface component, then choose Configure. A dialog appears that allows you to edit the LANAs.

For Windows 2000, there is no user interface element to configure LANA numbers; the system assigns the LANAs automatically.

The LANACFG.EXE command line utility is used to view and configure LANA's.