----------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Windows 95 README for ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack August 1996 ---------------------------------------------------------- (c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1996 HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT ======================== To view Readme.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window. To print Readme.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, then use the Print command on the File menu. CONTENTS ======== ABOUT ISDN 1.1 ACCELERATOR PACK SUPPORT INFORMATION INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING ISDN ACCELERATOR PACK MAKING A CONNECTION WITH YOUR ISDN ADAPTER CHANGING SETTINGS FOR YOUR ISDN ADAPTER USING MULTILINK KNOWN PROBLEMS SUPPORT INFORMATION =================== Microsoft AnswerPoint does not support the installation or configuration of ISDN drivers. Support for installation comes from the Independent Hardware Vendors for the adapter obtained by the customer. Microsoft AnswerPoint provides support for the installation of the ISDN Accelerator Pack, as well as any related Dial-Up Networking issues. Support for Dial-Up Networking will follow the Windows 95 Connectivity Support which is Paid Support Only. In the United States, call (206) 635-7123 between 6:00 A.M and 6:00 P.M. Pacific time. In Canada, call (905) 568-3503 between 8:00 A.M and 8:00 P.M. Eastern time. Both of these services are available Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Note: If your Microsoft product was pre-installed or distributed with your PC or ISDN adapter or provided by an Internet Service Provider, the PC or adapter manufacturer or the Internet Service Provider is responsible for providing your product support. Microsoft's fee-based Priority Support Information Services are available regardless of how you obtained ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack. ABOUT ISDN 1.1 ACCELERATOR PACK =============================== ISDN 1.1 adds Wide Area Networking capability to Windows 95, enabling MSN and Internet access at speeds up to 128 kbps when using supported ISDN adapter hardware. ISDN 1.1 is an upgrade to ISDN 1.0 and increases user speed from single channel 64 kbps up to dual channel 128 kbps performance. Additional information about ISDN is available from Microsoft's "Get ISDN" web page at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/getisdn/ The MSISDN11.EXE file is a self installing archive for the new software components of ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack. After MSISDN11.EXE runs all the new system components will be in their proper install directories on the system, ready for installation of the ISDN adapter driver. ISDN 1.1 ACCELERATOR PACK FUNCTIONALITY ======================================= The ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack includes the support necessary for making remote access connections over an ISDN line. Although it is already possible to use ISDN on a PC, special ISDN programs are required to take advantage of ISDN. The addition to the operating system of support for ISDN dramatically broadens the range of programs available. Instead of requiring specialized programs that work only with ISDN, users can run any networked Windows-based program over ISDN. This release provides all the support needed for a program to initiate remote connections exactly as would be done by using a modem. This release works with drivers for some specific ISDN adapters; in addition, many other drivers are being developed and will be available soon. For information about when additional drivers will be available, contact your ISDN hardware vendor. This release can be used only for data transmission. Microsoft does not currently support voice or other types of ISDN access. INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING ISDN 1.1 ACCELERATOR PACK ==================================================== TO INSTALL, REFER TO THE HARDWARE MANUFACTURER'S INSTALL.TXT FILE, OR RUN THE HARDWARE MANUFACTURER'S SETUP PROGRAM. Before you install, make sure you have the following: 1. A supported ISDN adapter. 2. An ISDN line installed. 3. Your switch type, SPIDs, and phone numbers from your telephone company. If you do not have this information, get it from your telephone company before continuing. 4. ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack software and a driver for your specific hardware. 5. A PC running the released version of Microsoft® Windows® 95. 6. Dial-Up Networking installed. If you do not have it installed, you can install it by using Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel as follows: * In Control Panel, double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. * Click the Windows Setup tab. * Click the Communications check box, and then click Details. * Click the Dial-Up Networking checkbox, and then click OK. * To finish installing Dial-up Networking, click OK. Note that you may be asked to insert your Windows 95 floppy disks or CD. MAKING A CONNECTION WITH YOUR ISDN ADAPTER ========================================== After you have successfully installed the adapter and restarted your computer without any error messages, you are ready to create a Dial-Up Networking ISDN connection. Make sure that you have installed the cables provided with your adapter, that the line indicators are good on the NT-1 (if an NT-1 is required with your adapter), and that the line is active. Dial-up Networking should already be installed on your computer. To create a connection: * Start Dial-Up Networking as follows: * Click Start, and then point to Programs. * Point to Accessories, and then click Dial-Up Networking. * If the Make New Connection wizard does not automatically start, double-click the Make New Connection icon. * On the first screen, fill in the name of your new connection. In the Select A Modem list, choose your ISDN adapter, and then click Next. * Fill in the area code, phone number, and country code for the computer you want to call, and then click Next. * Click Finish. * You can now make a connection over your ISDN line by double-clicking the icon you just created, entering your account name and password, and then clicking Connect. CHANGING SETTINGS FOR YOUR ISDN ADAPTER ======================================= After you have successfully configured your ISDN adapter, you may want to change your configuration settings. To change settings, carry out the following procedure: * Right-click any Dial-Up Networking ISDN connection icon, such as the one created in the previous procedure. * Click Properties, and then click Configure. * Click Advanced and then change the configuration settings. To configure networking protocols or unusual TCP/IP settings, carry out the following procedure: * Right-click any Dial-Up Networking connection icon, such as the one created in the previous procedure. * Click Properties, click the Server Type button, and then click TCP/IP Settings. USING MULTILINK =============== Microsoft ISDN 1.1 includes updates to Microsoft Windows® 95 Dial-Up-Networking to support the combining of two 64 kbps data channels into the equivalent of a single 128 kbps line. The technique of combining multiple lines together into a single dial up connection is known by several names including "multilink", "dual channel access", and the more technical "MLPPP" or "PPP Multilink." Multilink is available when you have more than one dial up device in your system such as two "B" channels of an ISDN connection. If you have only one device configured, then you will not be able to use multilink. Multilink depends upon the capabilities of the service or corporate network that you are dialing. To use multilink, the answering Internet service provider, online service or corporate LAN must provide multilink capabilities. Configuring Multilink --------------------- To configure multilink support in Windows 95, double click on the My Computer icon on your Windows 95 Desktop, then double click on the Dial Up Networking (DUN) folder. The DUN folder displays an icon labelled "Make New Connection", plus icons for each of the connections that you have already created. If you have not yet created a connection, double click on "Make New Connection" to define a connection to the dial up service you wish to use. When you have created your connection, or if the connection you wish to use for multilink access already exists in the folder, use the mouse to right click on the connection icon. Choose the "Properties" option. This displays a dialog box with several category tabs at the top. At the bottom of the "General" properties page, you will see a section labelled "Set Additional Devices". Within this section, click on the "Settings" button to display the "Set Additional Devices" dialog. On the "Set Additional Devices" dialog, click on the "Use Additional Devices" radio button. Use this dialog to specify the devices to be bundled together to form the "multilink" connection. Use the "Add", "Remove", and "Edit" buttons to change the list of additional devices. You may enter a different phone number for each device, and both phone numbers will be stored. If you subsequently change the phone number for the connection icon, the phone numbers associated with additional devices on this page will not change. Multilink Operation ------------------- After your additional devices are configured using the procedure outlined in the previous section, you are ready to dial your multilink connection. When you dial the connection, Dial Up Networking dials the primary number of the primary device specified for the connection. Once the first connection is established, Dial Up Networking will then dial the other devices specified in the Additional Devices list. Once the connections are established, you can view status information about the link by double clicking on the "communicating computers" icon displayed in the taskbar, or you may disconnect the connection. The status information includes the number of bytes sent and received, the network protocols negotiated for use on the connection, and a list box showing each of the additional devices. As you highlight a device in the list box, a "Suspend" or "Resume" button is displayed. If a Suspend button is displayed, then the device is now in use and "bundled" into the multilink connection. Clicking on the "Suspend" button disconnects that line and removes the line from the bundled connections. If the "Resume" button is displayed, then click on "Resume" to dial that connection and add that line to the bundle. You may suspend and resume individual links without dropping the connection. KNOWN PROBLEMS AND WORKAROUNDS ============================== 1. The ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack adds Windows 95 support for ISDN Wide Area Networking. To use ISDN 1.1 you must have a supported ISDN 1.1 hardware adapter and an appropriate ISDN driver provided by the ISDN adapter manufacturer. 2. You must install the ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack before installing ISDN drivers. If the Accelerator Pack is not installed and you attempt to install a driver, you'll receive a dialog saying that NDISWAN needs to be installed. This is a problem with PC Cards because Windows 95 will continually autodetect the device and attempt to install the drivers, but fail because NDISWAN hasn't been installed. To correct this problem, remove the PC Card and install ISDN 1.1. Then reinsert the card. 3. If you insert a PnP ISDN adapter (including PC Card adapters) before the ISDN 1.1 package has been installed, the system does not know what to do with the card. The drivers refer to software which has not been installed, so usually, the card ends up as an "Unknown Device" in the Configuration Manager list. To correct this problem: 1. Install the ISDN 1.1 Accelerator Pack, and then restart your computer. 2. Double-click the System icon in Control Panel, and then click the Device Manager tab. 3. Select the Unknown Device, and then click Remove. 4. When upgrading from ISDN 1.0 to ISDN 1.1, it is not always necessary to reinstall the drivers. If you do install a driver as part of upgrading from ISDN 1.0 to 1.1, it does not make any difference which you install first, ISDN 1.1 or the driver. It is important to have the newest possible driver installed or a driver that works with ISDN 1.1. If an older driver is used with ISDN 1.1, you will see the following dialog when a connection is attempted. "The Microsoft Dial-Up Adapter is not installed or not responding properly. In the Network section of control panel, remove the driver and then add it again." If this occurs, a driver that supports ISDN 1.1 must be installed and the old one removed. 5. In some cases (such as with the Eicon adapter), you will have reconfigure your Dial Up Connections to reflect the proper device name. 6. The Windows 95 Dial In Server feature (available in the Windows 95 Plus! Pack) does not support multilink connections. 7. MSN now supports dual channel ISDN access. Due to the way that incoming calls are routed into MSN, it is possible that a dual channel ISDN call will be split improperly when answered by MSN. When this occurs, you will be unable to complete your call. The solution is to disconnect and call again. 8. MSN's ISDN dual channel access requires that you use the latest MSN software. In some cases, problems that affect ISDN access can occur when upgrading from older MSN software to newer MSN software. These problems appear to be related to the ISDN adapter and ISDN driver software in use. The symptoms you will see are that you can select ISDN access numbers but you receive a message saying "error 87 in dial up networking". To work around this problem, you should open the Dial Up Networking folder (double click on "My Computer" and then double click on the Dial Up Networking folder). Choose 'Make New Connection' and create a connection named "The Microsoft Network". Enter your MSN access number. Open the 'Connection Settings' dialog, and select 'Connect using another dial-up Internet access provider.' Close the dialog and then use this connection icon to access MSN. 9. There is a problem with the Eicon Diva ISA ISDN adapter driver that prevents its use with MSN. In the 'Connection Settings' dialog, if the user sets the 'Connect Using' combo box to the Eicon ISDN device, the 'Access Numbers' and 'OK' buttons cease to function. You should press the 'Cancel' button to exit the dialog. This problem is due to the Eicon driver not supporting a feature used by MSN. To work around this problem, open the 'Connection Settings' dialog, and select 'Connect using another dial-up Internet access provider.' Click 'OK' to close the dialog box. Next, open the Dial-Up Networking folder and double click on 'Make New Connection' to create a dial up networking connection. Name the new connection "The Microsoft Network" and enter the MSN access number that you would have used within MSN. Once the dial up networking icon has been created inside the Dial Up Networking folder, right click on the icon and select 'Properties'. With the 'Properties' dialog open, select the 'Server Types' tab. Make sure that only the following checkboxes are checked: -'Enable software compression' -'TCP/IP'. All other options should be unchecked. Close the property dialog and then double click on the icon you just created. For your username, enter 'MSN/' plus your MSN username. So if your username was 'JoeSmith' use 'MSN/JoeSmith'. For your password, use your MSN password. Once you've connected, switch back to MSN. Enter your username and password again here. Click 'Connect' and you should connect to MSN.