FDDI MAC Address Issue with Windows NT 3.5

 Last reviewed: September 3, 1996
Article ID: Q126652
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.5

SYMPTOMS

Unlike the Ethernet standard, FDDI and TokenRing are capable of using non-canonical or canonical formatting for the MAC Address. If the MAC address for a FDDI node is 800000000000 through FFFFFFFFFFFF, and TCP/IP is being used as the transport protocol, you lose connectivity.

CAUSE

Windows NT reads the MAC addresses in canonical format and does not properly translate the most significant bit (MSB).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.5. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. Service Pack for Windows NT version 3.5. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces): 

   S E R V P A C K

KBCategory: kbnetwork kbbug3.50 kbfix3.50.sp3
KBSubcategory: ntnetserv nttcp NTSrvWkst
Additional reference words: 3.50 prodnt token ring

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Last reviewed: September 3, 1996
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