ShareTheNet 2.1.3
July 1999

Contents:
- Mailing list
- New Features for ShareTheNet Version 2.1
- Notes for ShareTheNet 1.0.7 Users
- Supported Ethernet Combinations
- Ethernet Driver Diskette Websites
- Client Software
- Known Problems
- Change Log

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   ShareTheNet Mailing list
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
We've set up a mailing list for general
support.  Please stop by
http://sharethenet.webserv.com and check it
out.

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   New Features for ShareTheNet Version 2.1
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
ShareTheNet version 2.1 is almost a complete
re-write of version 2.0.  Many many new
features have been added.  Chief among thes
are:
o  The Administration Web Server has been
   completely re-written to provide a more
   comprehensive and navigable interface.
o  It's now easy to send services to internal
   servers.  For example, you can run a web
   server on a machine behind ShareTheNet and
   users on the Internet can get to it.
   Only those services that you specifically
   open are available to the outside world,
   so your network is still safe from Internet
   hackers.
o  You can even set up these inbound services
   if you're on a dynamic connection, such as
   a modem.  In fact, you can contract with
   a third party service that will give you a
   name on the Internet that your friends and
   family can connect to your web server by
   name.
o  You can use ShareTheNet as a regular
   router without Network Address translation.
o  Many new Network Interface Cards have been
   tested, including some 100MB cards.

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      Notes for ShareTheNet 1.0.7 Users
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- ShareTheNet 1.0 required a floppy diskette
  formatted WITH the MS/DOS system files on
  it.  ShareTheNet 2.1 requires a floppy
  diskette formatted WITHOUT the system files
  on it.
- The file format has changed between STN 1.0
  and 2.1.  You will need to build your new
  STN disk from scratch.  We suggest you keep
  your old diskette just in case.

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      Supported Ethernet Combinations
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If you're having trouble getting your card
combination to work, please email us with
your exact card type (brand, model number,
etc) and we'll try to come up with some
suggestions for getting them to work together.

    MAX
BUS SPD CARD TYPE                   SNGL CMBO Installation Notes
--- --- --------------------------- ---- ---- --------------------------
ISA  10 3com 3c503 (8 and 16 bit)   Yes  Yes  Make sure your STN settings
                                              agree with the jumpers.
                                              Also make sure to use the
                                              memory window and make them
                                              different for 2 cards.
                                              Suggested settings:
                                              Single/Card1:
                                              BASE: 0x300  window: C8000
                                              Card2:
                                              BASE: 0x310  window: CC000
ISA  10 3com 3c509 & 3c509b         Yes  Yes  Single: Set Intrnl Base to
                                              blank and Intrnl IRQ to Auto
                                              Dual: Set up both base addrs
                                              to blank and IRQs to Auto
                                              Both: turn PNP off with util
                                              from 3COM site:3c5x9cfg.exe
ISA 100 3com 3c515                  Yes  ???  I only have one to test.  I
                                              tested it with a ne2000 pci
                                              clone and it worked w/o a
                                              hitch at 100mb.
PCI 100 3c905B Cyclone 100baseTx    Yes  Yes  These worked out of the box.
                                              They wouldn't connect to my
                                              D-Link hub at 100MB though.
ISA  10 Intel EtherExpress          Yes  No   The driver is limited to a
                                              single card.  If you're
                                              connecting with a modem,
                                              this is not a problem for
                                              you.  If you're connecting
                                              with a cable modem, you'll
                                              have to mix this with
                                              another type of card.
ISA  10 Intel EtherExpress Pro/10+  No   No   May be fixed in STN 2.2
ISA  10 Lance/HP Vectra N2 on-board Yes  No   HP Vectra N2 on-board tested
ISA  10 NE2000 (ISA) & clones       Yes  Yes
PCI  10 NE2000 (8029 chipset)       Yes  Yes  These cards work great.
ISA  10 SMC9194 based cards         Yes  Yes
PCI 100 VIA Rhine/D-Link DFE-530TX  Yes  Yes  The D-Link DFE-530TX is picky
                                              about which slot it's in if
                                              you have two of them.  Other
                                              than that they work great!

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     Ethernet Driver Diskette Websites
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Most new ISA Ethernet cards are plug-and-play
compatible, but ShareTheNet requires that
plug-and-play be turned off.  Normally you
will do this with either a jumper or a DOS
based driver diskette.  Below are the URLs
for several driver diskettes:

3com NICs
---------
http://support.3com.com/infodeli/tools/nic/
 
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               Client Software
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ShareTheNet has been tested with a wide range
of client software.  The following is a
partial list of software that is either known
to work or works to the best of the Author's
ability to test.

Software                   Status
-------------------------- -------------------------------------------------
Active Worlds Browsers     Works
FTP Client                 Works
ICQ                        Works  Requires proxy setup
PPTP                       Works partially.  Multiple clients behind STN. No
                                  server support
Kali                       Works  Uses Kali proxy server
Web Browser                Works
H.323 VOIP (IE NetMeeting) Does not work.  We're working on a solution for
                           this software.

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               Known problems
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
- You cannot restart an internet connection 
  if you stop it with the web administration
  tool if you've connected to the ISP using
  the dhcp client.  You must reboot the
  system.
- When creating the ShareTheNet diskette
  using Windows NT, you may get a dialog box
  that states the following even though you
  are not using drive A:
 -------------------------------------------
 | Drive A: . Unable to lock for exclusive |
 | access. Another application may be      |
 | using the drive.  When the other        |
 | application has finished using the      |
 | drive you may retry the operation.      |
 |                                         |
 |  [ Terminate ]  [ Retry ]    [Ignore]   |
 -------------------------------------------
  We have found that if you are absolutely
  sure that none of the other programs
  running on the system are using drive A:,
  then it is safe to simply press the retry
  button and the process will continue.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
               Change Log
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2.1.3 (Since 2.1.2)
- Upgraded to bind 4.9.7 to avoid multiple
  vulnerabilities.

2.1.2 (Since 2.1.1)
- Fixed problem where PPP would hang for up
  to a minute on bootup.
- Re-compiled kernel for IP Accounting.
- Small fixes to identd server for IRC users.
  Still experimental until more feedback, but
  now it seems to work.
- ShareTheNet has been fixed so that browsers
  out on the Internet can now use an FTP
  server behind the firewall.
- The ShareTheNet Installation software has
  changed so that it will correctly install,
  even on very old versions of Windows 95.

2.1.1 (Since 2.1.0)
- PPP issue where the remote host picked up
  the wrong IP address resolved.
- PPP upgraded to 2.3.7 version
- New option to disable screen blanking if
  you have a monitor attached.
- New status screens for DHCP and free disk
  space.
- The user name used to log into the web
  based administrator is now configurable.

2.1.0 (Since 2.1.0 pre6)
- RealTek 8139 driver support fixed.  Now the
  correct driver name is used (rtl8139.o).

2.1.0 pre6 (Since 2.1.0 pre5)
- Readme edited (thanks Jeff!)
- "Inbound Services" admin page broken into
  "Inbound Services" and "User Specified
  Inbound Services".  The side-by-side
  columns were too confusing.
- "Inbound Services" admin page documented.
- "User Specified Inbound Services" admin page
  documented.
- DHCP client startup no longer waits 60
  seconds for the IP address, it waits only
  as long as necessary.
- Limited RoadRunner support re-instated.
  Currently only Columbus, OH is tested.
- Kernel recompiled to allow for >1 IP addr
  for the external interface.
- ShareTheNet Setup Wizard now remembers the
  new file name when you use Save As instead
  of using the old file name next time you
  Save after a Save As.
- Security hole in web administration closed.
- If DNS used and IP address given for a name
  server, DNS will now forward requests to
  the name server instead of going to the top
  level domain servers.

2.1.0 pre5 (Since 2.1.0 pre4)
- Upgrade from syslinux 1.40 to 1.42
- Experimental IDENT relay server included
  for IRC users.
- Network Address Translation (IP Masq) is
  now optional.  This means STN can work like
  a regular router.
- You can now view the modem connect string.
  This is useful if you want to know what
  baud rate you're really running at and
  what compression was negotiated.
- Put the RealTek 8139 on the "untested" list
- Several bugs fixed in the web admin server.

2.1.0 pre4 (Since 2.1.0 pre3)
- You can now have more than one Microsoft
  PPTP client behind the firewall.
- Dialing into a Microsoft NT server using
  PAP and CHAP authentication is now
  supported.
- Using MSN as an ISP tested and works.  The
  trick is to prepend "MSN/" to your login
  name.  If your login name is "Fred", you
  should tell STN your login name is 
  "MSN/Fred".
- You can now set the port address and IRQ
  of your serial ports to non-standard
  values using web administration.  This
  feature remains untested at this time.
- Dynamic DNS providers TZO.com and TJNS.TJ
  are now supported.
- Web Admin modified to remove font control
  in the large frame.
- Road Runner support removed for the time
  being.  So far, we've been unable to
  stabilize support for it.
- Lance/HP Vectra N2 on-board tested.

2.1.0 pre3 (Since 2.1.0 pre2)
- Put the 3com 3c590b on the "tested" list
- Put the 3com 3c515 on the "tested" list
- Fixed dhcpcd so it now works.
- Added pre and post interface up/down
  processing to make TZO work

2.1.0 pre2 (Since 2.1.0 pre1)
- Broke NIC's into "Tested" and "Untested"
  categories.
- Road Runner cable modem support
- Admin password now settable from wizard
- Several network cards added to "Tested"
- Upgraded to 2.0.36 kernel.
- Optional PPP compression added

2.1.0 pre1 (Since 2.0.5)
- SMC 9194 now tested
- Numerous fixes and enhancements to Win95
  diskette builder
- Totally re-written web based administration
- Moved from diald/pppd combination to newer
  pppd that includes dial-on-demand.
- Added ipup/ipdown scripts to do special
  configuration when the interface comes up.
  and goes down.

2.0.5 (Since 2.0.4)
- Inactive unclosed TCP connections now
  timeout after 2 hours of inactivity.  The
  old timeout was just 10 minutes.  This is
  interesting for people who use telnet.
- Added support for IDE interface (used by
  STN hardware)
- Upgraded to Linux kernel 2.0.35
- Added support for multiple configurations
  on the diskette.  
- Client identifier ($DHCPCD_CLIENT) added to
  DHCP client
- New readme section "Client Software" added
- lynx added for on-box configuration
- several new commands added: sed, awk, etc
- eip command added -- outputs external ip
  address (either ppp0 or eth1)
- Single and dual 3c509B tested... works
- Intel EtherExpress PRO/10+ ISA... does NOT
  work.  Will address in a later rev.
- NIC Diskette Websites added to readme

2.0.4 (Since 2.0.3)
- Admin Tool tooltip cleanup.
- Documentation cleanup.
- Readme.txt re-formatted so it will fit in
  Installshield's teeny tiny readme viewer.
- Bug preventing Admin server from working
  when STN not registered now resolved.

2.0.3 (Since 2.0.2)
- ipautofw and ipportfw now included in base
  distribution.  No GUI to do anything with
  them yet, but adding them to a:/startup
  script will enable their magic.  DOX and
  GUI to come.
- Kernel patched and recompiled to support
  ipportfw
- Friendly message in blank dialog added to
  help new users figure out where to start.

2.0.2 (Since 2.0.1)
- Chat script aborts on "NO CARRIER" for
  faster redials on misdials.
- Don't stick a 0x in front of null base
  addresses
- Resetting admin server no longer breaks
  further config/control attempts.
- Re-instated some error checking logic
  accidentally disabled for debug of 2.0.1
- Don't import PPP_LOCALADDR and
  PPP_REMOTEADDR from 1.0.7.  The meaning of
  these have changed.
- You can no longer get into a strange state
  if you try to open a file that does not
  exist.
- CTL3D32.DLL no longer shipped with this
  product.  It is normally installed with
  Windows 95 or NT.  There are different
  versions of the file for NT and Windows 95
  (and 98), and this was causing confusion.

2.0.1 (Since 2.0.0)
- Fixed some bugs when choosing network card
  other than NE2000
- You must now change the config admin
  password for the admin web site to be
  visible outside your local network.
- In wizard mode, DHCP defaults change when
  the Internal IP addr changes

2.0.0 (Since 1.0.7)
- Almost a complete rewrite.  New features,
  new implementation style.
