NdisMIndicateStatus

  • Article

This function indicates changes in the status of an NIC to higher-level NDIS drivers.

VOID NdisMIndicateStatus(
  NDIS_HANDLE MiniportAdapterHandle,
  NDIS_STATUS GeneralStatus,
  PVOID StatusBuffer,
  UINT StatusBufferSize
);

Parameters

  • MiniportAdapterHandle
    [in] Handle originally input to the MiniportInitialize function.
  • GeneralStatus
    [in] Specifies the NDIS_STATUS_XXX value that indicates the general change in status for the NIC.
  • StatusBuffer
    [in] Pointer to a caller-allocated buffer containing data that is medium-specific and dependent on the value of GeneralStatus. It indicates detailed information about the change in status.
  • StatusBufferSize
    [in] Specifies the size, in bytes, of the buffer at StatusBuffer.

Return Values

None.

Remarks

When a miniport calls NdisMIndicateStatus, NDIS calls each bound protocol's ProtocolStatus function. This allows a bound protocol driver or, possibly, the configuration manager to log the change in status of an underlying NIC or to take corrective action. For example, a protocol might call the NdisReset function, depending on the NDIS_STATUS_XXX indicated.

When a miniport calls NdisMIndicateStatus to report a change in NIC status, NDIS can call the MiniportReset function to try to restore the NIC to a working condition. In these circumstances, NDIS can call bound protocols only with NDIS_STATUS_RESET_START and later with NDIS_STATUS_RESET_END, rather than with the GeneralStatus indicated by the miniport.

NdisMIndicateStatus provides two pieces of information:

  • An overall status value indicating the general change in status.
  • A specific reason for the general change, which can be network-specific. For example, ring-insertion failures are particular to Token Ring (802.5) networks, but are irrelevant to Ethernet (802.3) NICs and their drivers.

A miniport can also call NdisMIndicateStatus to indicate problems, such as cables that have been accidentally removed and then reinserted, or a ring that has temporarily failed. For example, both the following conditions might occur:

  • The miniport calls this function with NDIS_STATUS_RING_STATUS.
  • The StatusBuffer contains one of the following status values:
    • NDIS_RING_LOBE_WIRE_FAULT
    • NDIS_RING_HARD_ERROR
    • NDIS_RING_SIGNAL_LOSS

After such a change in status has been signaled with an indication, any associated thresholds or statistics counters remain unchanged.

Most WAN NIC drivers indicate status with some special status codes and buffer contents. WAN NIC drivers generate these status indications, and NDIS protocol drivers bound to such a miniport can ignore these indications. However, processing these indications correctly usually results in improved performance for protocols and for WAN NIC drivers.

The following four types of WAN-specific indications can be sent to bound protocol drivers with NdisMIndicateStatus:

  • Line up
  • Line down
  • Fragment
  • TAPI line event

A WAN miniport makes a line-up indication whenever a new link becomes active. Until this occurs, the NIC accepts frames and lets them succeed or fail, but it is unlikely that they are received by any remote.

The WAN miniport makes this indication with NdisMIndicateStatus before it returns from a OID_TAPI_GET_ID request.

The status code for the line-up indication is NDIS_STATUS_WAN_LINE_UP. The buffer at StatusBuffer is formatted as an NDIS_MAC_LINE_UP structure.

A WAN miniport makes a line-down indication whenever a link goes down. When this occurs, bound protocols should reduce their timer and retry counts until the next line-up indication.

The status code for the line-down indication is NDIS_STATUS_WAN_LINE_DOWN. The buffer at StatusBuffer is formatted as an NDIS_MAC_LINE_DOWN structure.

A WAN miniport makes a fragment indication whenever it receives a partial packet from the remote node. When this occurs, a bound protocol sends frames to the remote that notify it of this situation, rather than waiting for a time-out to occur.

The status code for the fragment indication is NDIS_STATUS_WAN_FRAGMENT. The buffer at StatusBuffer is formatted as an NDIS_MAC_FRAGMENT structure.

NDISWAN monitors drop packets by counting the number of fragment indications on each link.

A WAN miniport must use a GeneralStatus value of NDIS_STATUS_TAPI_INDICATION for TAPI status indications*.* The buffer at StatusBuffer is formatted as an NDIS_TAPI_EVENT structure.

Requirements

OS Versions: Windows CE .NET 4.0 and later.
Header: Ndis.h.
Link Library: Ndis.dll.

See Also

MiniportInitialize | MiniportReset | NdisMIndicateStatusComplete | NDIS_MAC_FRAGMENT | NDIS_MAC_LINE_UP | NDIS_MAC_LINE_DOWN | NDIS_TAPI_EVENT | NdisReset | ProtocolStatus

 Last updated on Tuesday, May 18, 2004

© 1992-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.