HP JetAdmin 2.33 may cause ARP Storm on Network

Last reviewed: February 10, 1998
Article ID: Q164609
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51 and 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51 and 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows 95

SUMMARY

When you diagnose network traffic using a network analyzer, a large series of address resolution protocols (ARPs) in sequential order may be detected. This problem can cause network access and traffic to and from all hosts to become temporarily disrupted. One of the possible causes of this behavior is the result of Hewlett Packard's JetAdmin JetDirect discovery tool, which is silently installed when a Hewlett Packard published driver is installed in Windows from a disk. One of Hewlett Packard's JetAdmin 2.33 methods to discover all JetDirect devices (printers) running TCP/IP requires that a ping be sent to every address in the subnet. Although this may provide a very thorough list of devices, it can also generate a huge amount of network traffic. Take, for example, a Class A network address. If JetAdmin were to run, approximately 7 million packets, in succession, will be transmitted upon startup of this utility.

WORKAROUND

There are two possible resolutions to this issue:

  • Download JetAdmin version 2.40 from Hewlett Packard’s Web site. Hewlett Packard’s JetAdmin version 2.40 also provides discovery of printers through broadcasts, as well as the ping method described above. Additionally, the ping method has been modified in version 2.40 so that it will, by default, not send pings to more than 2000 addresses without modifying the registry.

    -or-

  • Hewlett Packard's JetAdmin Tool version 2.33 is designed to work in the manner described. On the majority of networks where Class C subnets are used, this behavior will not be a problem because of the small number of broadcasts generated. However, if you have a subnetted class B or class A network, Microsoft recommends that you contact Hewlett Packard for further support. To disable this feature, a change in the Registry must be made. To make this change, perform the following steps:

    WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system- wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT or Windows 95 to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

    1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe for Windows NT and

          Regedit.exe for Windows 95).
    

    2. Change the following key located under:

             HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hewlett-Packard\HPJetAdmin\TCPIP
    
       3. Change the Value for NoSubnetSearch to 1.
    
       In addition, if you run the JetAdmin application, the following option
       can be selected and disabled or enabled:
    
             Options\Preferences\TCPIP Discovery\Broadcast
    
    
The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.


Additional query words: crash hang storm
Keywords : NTSrvWkst nttcp kb3rdparty kbinterop kbnetwork kbusage
Version : WinNT:3.51,4.0;Windows:95
Platform : WINDOWS


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Last reviewed: February 10, 1998
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