plipbox: Amiga Setup

0. Changes

2011-08-05 38.1a plip2slip support
2012-06-03 38.1b plipbox support
2013-04-06 0.3 introduced own plipbox.device ethernet device
2013-05-19 0.3 converted to markdown. added more stacks

1. Supported Network Stacks

The following network stacks have been successfully tested with plipbox:

AmiTCP 3.0b2
Genesis (OS3.9)
MiamiDX (from Classic Workbench)
Roadshow 1.9

2. Setup Hints

2.1 Common Setup

All network stacks expect the plipbox device driver in devs:networks on your system volume. So copy this file first before proceeding.
Copy plipbox.device from this release in the amiga/bin directory to your Amiga installation. Select the suitable m680x0 version for your hardware platform and copy the plipbox.device file without the .000 or .020 extension:
```
copy plipbox.device.000 devs:networks/plipbox.device
```

2.2 AmiTCP

For a very simple setup you can use the Network Boot Disk for Amiga and start with this one. You have to modify the vanilla disk as it does not contain the plipdox drivers, yet.
Insert this disk into your favorite Amiga emulator and perform the following steps to prepare the disk.
Copy plipbox.device on the disk (see section 2.1)

Edit the file AmiTCP/db/interfaces and add:

plipbox dev=devs:networks/plipbox.device

Adjust your AmiTCP:bin/startnet and rename the interface to plipbox0. On the network boot disk: Edit df0:s/Prefs/Env-Archive/nbddriver (EnvARC:) and set plipbox0
In EnvARC:sana2 (Network Boot Disk: df0:s/Prefs/Env-Archive) you can place an optional configuration file called plipbox.config. For options see the plipbox documentation. A sample file is available in directory amiga/src of this release.
Correctly set your Amiga's IP to match your network environment. In the network boot disk use EnvARC:nbdip to set the Amiga's IP and use EnvARC:nbdgw to set the gateway of your network.
Do not forget to configure the correct DNS server otherwise you won't be able to resolve non-numeric IP addresses. Have a look at the file AmiTCP:db/netdb-myhost and adapt the NAMESERVER entry accordingly. Use the DNS server of your local network here. (in my setup 192.168.2.1). The network boot disk uses the IP address stored in the EnvARC:nbdns file.

2.3 Genesis

Genesis is very similar to the AmiTCP setup (its more or less a UI for AmiTCP and uses its core for the network stuff)
Copy the plibpox.device to your system (see section 2.1)
Open the GenesisPrefs
In Interfaces select New
- In Interface Tab enter:
  - Enter the interface Name: plipbox0
  - Enter IP Address, Gateway, Netmask to match your local network
- In SANA II Tab enter:
  - Specify SANA II device: devs:networks/plipbox.device
- Confirm interface creation with Okay
- In Resolve Tab do not forget to name your DNS servers and set your domain name(s)
Note: dynamic setup does not work with plipbox. You must either use static or an external DHCP client suitable for AmiTCP/Genesis.
Now you can start Genesis and enable your new plipbox0 interface

2.4 MiamiDX

Launch MiamiDX
Select Hardware Tab and click New:
- In Select Hardware Type pick Ethernet
- Enter a name for the hardware, e.g. Name: plipbox
- Keep Type: SANA II
- Pick plipbox.device: Driver: devs:networks/plipbox.device
- Confirm with Ok
Select Interfaces Tab and click New:
- Pick Interface Type: Ethernet
- Pick Interface connection: LAN
- Select your hardware: plipbox
- You can either configure your Amiga statically or with DHCP: Select static or dynamic in IP Type, Netmask Type, Gateway Type. Enter your network parameters in static mode.
- Note: multicast is not supported in plipbox. Therefore, keep Multicast: disabled.
- Note: Configure DHCP in TCP/IP Settings... to fetch DNS servers, too.
In Databases Tab select Table DNS servers and add your static DNS server IPs (if you don't use dynamic DNS via DHCP)
Do not forget to save your settings with Amiga+S or Menu: Settings -> Save
Now you can go online with your new interface plipbox

2.5 Roadshow

Begin with copying the plipbox device driver (see section 2.1)
Then you need an interface configuration file for the plipbox device. Simply copy a template from Storage/NetInterface and modify this one:
```
copy sys:Storage/NetInterfaces/cnet devs:NetInterfaces/plipbox
```

Now adjust the following values in the file (use either static or DHCP section!):

device=plipbox.device
# -- DHCP --
configure=dhcp
# -- static --
address=<your ip>
netmask=<your mask>

Have a look in devs:internet/name_resolution to set your DNS servers and your domain name.
After a reboot the interface will be brought up automatically in the User-Startup section of Roadshow

For testing you can activate/de-activate the interface with:

> addnetinterface devs:netinterfaces/plipbox
> ... use network ...
> netshutdown

3. Build plipbox.device from Source

Only for advanced users! All others can use the supplied binaries! You really need to recompile the binaries only if you want to modify or enhance them.
I cross-compile the binaries here with vamos running the SAS C V6.58 compiler
Install vamos on your Mac or PC
Copy the following Amiga Directories either from a real machine or an emulator to a directory on your Mac. The directory is named $HOME/amiga/shared here but you can use another directory as well but need to adjust AMIGA_DIR in amiga/src/makefile!
```
~/amiga/shared:
  wb310             system root of a Workbench 3.1 HD Installation
  sc                complete installation directory of SAS C 6.58
  AmiTCP-SDK-4.3    AmiTCP SDK
```
The AmiTCP-SDK-4.3 is available on Aminet
Enter directory amiga/src of this release

Build on your Mac or PC shell with:

> make dist       build release files
> make all        build without optimization
> make all_opt    build with optimization
> make clean      remove all built files

The resulting files can then be found in amiga/bin

EOF