Tips, Tricks and Configuration Hints

This topic contains helpful tips, tricks, and configuration recommendations for RT-TCP/IP.

Developing NIC Drivers

RT-TCP/IP supports several RTDLL network card drivers. By using the Network Driver Wizard Template files and the provided source code for all the supported NICs as samples, users can build drivers for currently unsupported cards. Detailed instructions for building a NIC driver can be found in the RTX SDK Reference section.

Using Multiple Same-Type NICs

If you have multiple Network Interface Cards (NICs) of the same type, all configured to use the same subnet:

Traffic to any of the cards is routed through the first interface which has the best-matching network ID entry in the routing table. The best-matching ID has the longest subnet mask that matches the destination IP address.
If the connection to the best-matching interface fails, connection to all of the NIC cards on that subnet will also fail. To determine what the best-matching interface in the routing table is, use the RtssRoute utility.

When configuring a network card for use by RTX, and leaving a same-type network card for use by Windows, the card to be used by RTX will be determined by the RtxTcpip.ini file line:

EA=MAC Address

RTSS Shutdown Handlers

The RtxTcpIp protocol stack continues to operate after a Windows system shutdown, and the WinSock API may be used by RTSS Shutdown Handlers.

Sample source code on how to use a Shutdown Handler is included within the server.c source code.

As is the case for all RTSS Shutdown Handlers, shutdown handlers that use the WinSock API are not permitted to allocate memory or create new threads or other objects. Refer to RTX documentation for details.

Packet Schedule Mini Port Drivers

When you convert a NIC driver from Windows control to RTX control, multiple instances of that device may appear in the Windows Device Manager – one for the NIC driver and one for the Packet Schedule mini port driver associated with it. You do not need to convert the associated Packet Schedule mini port driver.

NOTE: A warning indicator may appear for the mini port driver associated with the NIC you converted. This is intended behavior that requires no further action.

Port IO Conflicts

Conflicts may occur when an RTX device and a Windows device utilize the same IO space address range. If the IO space is not a required resource for the RTX device, you can filter out the IO port resource for the RTX device. This procedure can be done after Converting a windows Device to an RTX Device.

To filter out IO port resources:

Open the RTX Properties Control Panel by clicking

Start > All Programs > IntervalZero > RTX 2016 > RTX Properties

Under Devices in the Hardware tab, click the Settings button.
Right-click on the name of the device that was converted from Windows to RTX under the RTX tree and select Properties from the pop-up menu.
Check the radio button Filter out IO Port Resource and then click OK.
If you get a message saying the driver must be updated or the system must be restarted, click OK.
The driver in the Windows Device Manager will now need to be updated.

Delays in Stack Response

When the stack is started, initialization procedures occur before the stack is online. You will experience a delayed response from the stack if you begin calling the stack before the initialization has completed. To check the online status of the stack, call the API function RtnIsStackOnline. To check the status of the device, call the API function RtnIsDeviceOnline.

Run in Verbose Mode

You can run the RT-TCP/IP stack in verbose mode to enable verbose logging, which can be helpful in determining issues with the stack.

To enable verbose mode:

Open the RTX Properties Control Panel by clicking

Start > All Programs > IntervalZero > RTX 2016 > RTX Properties

In the TCP/IP tab, click Enable RT-TCP/IP support.
Click Run in verbose mode.

NOTE: Enabling verbose mode will effect performance of the stack.

Multiple OEM Files

On Windows 7 systems, when a device is installed, Windows makes a copy of manufacturer-provided driver configuration files. For RTX, copies of RtxPnpNet.inf and RtxPnpNet.inf are made. The copies are then associated with the device, and the following files are created:

oem<SEQ>.inf
oem<SEQ>.PNP

Where <SEQ> could be any random number. Typically, it is the next sequence number.

This can become confusing when the same device is installed multiple times, as it results in several OEM entries and multiple driver options are displayed in the Windows Driver Wizard. To avoid confusion, you can remove the unnecessary OEM entries that have been created (by repeated device conversions to and from RTX control) from the %windir%\inf directory.

NOTE: If an OEM inf file is in use when it is removed, you may encounter errors when you attempt to uninstall the associated device.