Fix To Provide Support For
802.3 wireless Adapters

Knowledge Base ID	KB01290101
Category	CLOSED BUG
Effected Product	Rawether/WINDIS32 - Win32 NDIS Framework
Effected Versions	Prior to V5.00.13.50
Effected Platforms	All

Symptoms

The Rawether for Windows packet monitoring sample application (HookPeek) does not collect packets on 802.3 Wireless Adapters.

Cause

These adapters do not support setting the NDIS packet filter to NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_PROMISCUOUS. In the current HP_StartPromiscuousReception function, the call to set the NDIS packet filter to NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_PROMISCUOUS simply fails and the HookPeek application subsequently exits.

Discussion

The fix for this is to simply fallback to a different NDIS packet filter setting appropriate for Wireless. For example, setting the filter to NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_ALL_LOCAL will succeed.

Interim Fix

If you have the Rawether for Windows Software Development Kit prior to V5.00.13.50, then you can make a simple modification to provide support for 802.3 Wireless Adapters.

Modify the HP_StartPromiscuousReception function, found in the HPCtrl.c module in App\Common directory, as shown in Bold below:

   switch( pAdapter->m_nMedium )
   {
      case NdisMedium802_3:   // Ethernet
      case NdisMediumDix:      // Also Ethernet
         bResult = HP_SetPacketFilter(
                     pAdapter,
                     NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_DIRECTED | NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_PROMISCUOUS
                     );

         //
         // Some 802.3 Adapters (e.g., Wireless) Don't Support Promiscuous Operation
         //
         if( !bResult )
         {
            bResult = HP_SetPacketFilter(
                        pAdapter,
                        NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_ALL_LOCAL
                        );

            if( !bResult )
            {
               bResult = HP_SetPacketFilter(
                           pAdapter,
                           NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_DIRECTED
                           );
            }
         }
         break;

If the attempt to set the NDIS packet filter to NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_PROMISCUOUS fails, then the code will attempt to set the NDIS packet filter to NDIS_PACKET_TYPE_ALL_LOCAL instead.

This fix has been tested on the LinkSys WPC11 Wireless PC Card and the 3Com AirConnect Wireless LAN PC Card..

Status

April 16, 2001	Fix included in V5.00.13.50.
January 29, 2001	The fix to this bug is planned for the next major Rawether release.

Keywords	RAWETHER,WINDIS32, BUG
Created	January 29, 2001
Last Reviewed	April 16, 2001

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Last modified: December 31, 2007

Fix To Provide Support For 802.3 wireless Adapters