Build 1805 Frequently Asked Questions
Does Build 1805 include NDIS 6.0 protocol drivers?
No, this release does not include Rawether NDIS 6
protocol drivers.
Although Windows Vista introduces the new NDIS 6
kernel-mode networking architecture, Vista also provides ongoing support for
pre-Vista NDIS 5.X protocol drivers.
The Rawether NDIS 5.X protocol drivers, including
x64 drivers, are signed for Windows Vista installation. They can be installed on
Windows versions from Windows 2000 through Windows Vista.
Why aren't NDIS 6.0 protocol drivers included in Build 1805?
One of the primary goals of this release was to
make it as easy as possible to adapt existing Rawether-based applications to
install and operate on Windows Vista, as well as prior Windows versions.
Going further, many Rawether customers do not
actually need any of the new performance and functionality offered by NDIS 6.0
protocol drivers. They simply want the product that works on Windows XP to work
on Windows Vista.
It was decided to defer the additional complexity
of installing NDIS 6.0 protocol drivers until the release of Rawether V6.0.
What is behavior when user upgrades from Windows XP to Windows Vista?
The Rawether Build 1805 NDIS 5 protocol drivers are
signed using the methods needed to sign NDIS protocol drivers for Vista.
This means that if your pre-Vista applications are
using signed Rawether Build 1805 NDIS protocol drivers, then the user's upgrade
from Windows XP to Windows Vista will be seamless. Your Rawether-based
application will be intact and fully functional on Vista after the upgrade.
This behavior was tested at PCAUSA for upgrades
from Windows XP SP2 to Windows Vista RTM.
If your
Rawether-based application is using drivers from a prior Rawether release, then
they are not signed for Windows Vista. Your application will not be functional
after the upgrade to Windows Vista.
Of course, there may be reasons unrelated to
Rawether that could prevent your application from running on Windows Vista.
Does this Rawether release include any NDIS 6.0 awareness?
Rawether Build 1805 includes only trivial NDIS 6.0
awareness. This is limited to:
Rawether Build 1805 does not include any NDIS
6.0-specific data structure definitions.
Does this version support NDIS requests of Type NdisRequestMethod?
No. NDIS requests using NDIS request type
NdisRequestMethod are only supported
under NDIS 6.0. This Rawether release employs NDIS 5.0 drivers that do not
support this request type.
How difficult will it be to upgrade my application to use Rawether Build 1805?
The key goal of this release is to minimize this
effort.
If you are already using a Rawether V5.5 product,
then the main effort is simply to rebuild existing applications using the Build
1805 header files and import libraries.
You will have to expend some effort in revising
your product's installer to accommodate the new Windows Vista security
behaviors.
Finally, you must test your product sufficiently
well. Include testing on each supported Windows version. Also test behavior when
user upgrades to Windows Vista from prior Windows versions.
Why is VS 2005 used to build and install the downloadable Rawether sample
executables?
Visual Studio 2003 is not 64-bit aware. In
addition, Windows Installer 2.0 setup projects created using Visual Studio 2003
are not 64-bit aware. It is impractical to make a simple Rawether installer that
will install on Windows x64 Editions using Visual Studio 2003.
On the other hand, Visual Studio 2005 is 64-bit
aware. It can be used to build both 64-bit applications and, in conjunction with
Windows Installer 3.1, it can be used to create simple Rawether installer that
will install on Windows x64 Editions.
Visual Studio 2005 was chosen as the tool to build
Rawether sample executables and the companion Windows Installers.
In addition, the Rawether sample executables
user-mode components are 32-bit on 32-bit systems and 64-bit on 64-bit systems.
Does this mean that VS 2005 must be used to build applications for this Rawether
release?
No. Visual Studio 2003 can be used to build 32-bit
applications using this version of Rawether for Windows.
Is it necessary to use VS 2005 Windows Installer projects to install Rawether on
Windows x64 editions?
No, you can use whatever installer technology you
choose as long as you install the Rawether components in the specified locations
and create the necessary registry settings (as illustrated in the PCANUser
installation support application...).
Can Rawether 32-bit applications be used on Windows x64 editions?
Rawether 32-bit applications can run successfully
on both Windows 32-bit editions and Windows 64-bit editions.
On Windows x64 editions only the Rawether NDIS
protocol driver must be a 64-bit executables.
Why are there so many warnings when Rawether sample code is built under VS 2005?
In this release the Rawether sample code and source
code to the companion DLL must be compatible with VS 2003. As a result, when the
VS 2003-compatible code is built under VS 2005 there are a lot of deprecated
function warnings.
Rawether V6.0 user-mode components will be strictly
VS 2005. At that point the deprecated functions will be replaced with newer
technology.
