Networking recon: map WATTCP/NetNub pod stack + emulator bring-up plan
The pods do TCP/IP over Ethernet (WATTCP + NetNub real-mode server; ops console is master, pushes mission eggs to pods over TCP). Pod is a static host on an isolated 200.0.0.0/24 LAN (200.0.0.113, console 200.0.0.1); -egg is the dev bypass of this path. Fork already has NE2000 + pcap/slirp backends; since the emulated card is NE2000 not PCI Lance we skip the Novell ODI chain and load a Crynwr NE2000 packet driver directly. NET-NOTES.md has the full architecture + milestone plan (headline goal: host-side stand-in console pushes an egg over the wire, no -egg bypass). Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Claude Fable 5
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# Networking subsystem — recon & bring-up plan
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Goal: bring the pod network up under the emulator so a pod boots the
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production way (`netnub -f BTL4OPT`, mission egg delivered **over the
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wire**) instead of the `-egg test.egg` dev bypass. This is also the
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substrate the ops-console port will plug into.
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## What the pod network actually is (recon 2026-07-04)
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The stack, bottom to top:
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1. **Ethernet NIC + Novell ODI** (AUTOEXEC.BAT): `lsl` (Link Support
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Layer) → `lnepci` (Lance/PCnet PCI ODI driver) → **`odipkt`** (Dan
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Lanciani's ODI→Packet-Driver shim). The ODI/Netware login side
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(IPXODI/VLM/NET LOGIN in STARTNET.BAT) is for file-server access; the
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game itself only needs the **packet-driver interface** odipkt exposes.
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`NET.CFG`: LNEPCI, FRAME Ethernet_II + 802.2.
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2. **WATTCP** — the TCP/IP stack. Confirmed by `WATTCP.CFG` in
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`REL410/BT`, `REL410/RP`, and per-pod `VGL_LABS/THISPOD`:
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```
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my_ip = 200.0.0.113 netmask = 255.255.255.0
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gateway = 200.0.0.1 nameserver = 200.0.0.1
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```
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So each pod is a static host on an isolated **200.0.0.0/24** LAN; the
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ops console is almost certainly **200.0.0.1**.
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3. **NetNub** (`netnub.exe`, real-mode) — launches the game as a child
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(`netnub -f BTL4OPT`) and is the network server for the
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protected-mode game. Interface (`NetNub/NETNUB.HPP`): a shared `Netcom`
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struct (version 11, 64KB buffer) + a software interrupt. The game sets
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a Function code (TCP_OPEN=3, TCP_LISTEN=4, TCP_CLOSE=5,
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RESOLVE_ADDRESS=6, CHECK_SOCKET=7, UDP_*, plus remote file
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OPEN/READ/WRITE/SEEK/CLOSE 12-19), copies the marked fields to real
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mode, INTs, copies back. `tcp_Socket` is ~4300 bytes = classic WATTCP.
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4. **L4NetworkManager** (`L4NET.HPP/.TCP`) — the game's net brick. The
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**console is master and connects to the pods**; the pod receives
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`ReceiveEggFileMessage` (the mission egg), replies
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`AcknowledgeEggFileMessage` ("connected, ready, send the next host"),
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and tracks `HostConnected/HostDisconnected`. If the console drops, the
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pod is built to auto-start anyway.
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Topology to replicate:
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```
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[ops console 200.0.0.1] --TCP--> [pod 200.0.0.113] (+ more pods .114..)
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(master, egg source) (listens, ACKs, runs mission)
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```
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## Emulator enablers (already in the fork)
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- **NE2000** ISA NIC emulated (`hardware/ne2000.cpp`, Bochs-derived);
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config `[ne2000] ne2000=true, nicbase=, nicirq=, macaddr=, backend=`.
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- **Two Ethernet backends** built: `misc/ethernet_pcap.cpp` (bridge to a
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host NIC via npcap) and `misc/ethernet_slirp.cpp` (user-mode virtual
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net / NAT). Plus `ethernet_nothing`.
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Key simplification: the emulated card is an **NE2000, not a PCI Lance**, so
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`lnepci` won't bind. We don't need the Novell ODI chain at all — WATTCP
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finds a packet driver by scanning INT 0x60-0x80 for the `PKT DRVR`
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signature, so we load a generic **NE2000 packet driver** (Crynwr
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`NE2000.COM`) directly against the emulated card's base/IRQ. That drops
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lsl/lnepci/odipkt/VLM entirely and hands NetNub/WATTCP the packet
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interface they expect.
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## Bring-up plan
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**Backend choice.** Two viable paths:
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- *pcap + host-only adapter (recommended, matches real topology):* bridge
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the NE2000 to a host virtual switch; run the pod at 200.0.0.113 and the
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stand-in console at 200.0.0.1 on that segment. WATTCP's static IP + LAN
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assumptions hold exactly; the console connects inbound to the pod with
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no NAT. Cost: npcap + a host-only/loopback adapter + admin.
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- *slirp (fallback, self-contained):* no host NIC/admin, but it's NAT and
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defaults to 10.0.2.0/24 — the pod LISTENS, so inbound needs slirp
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host-forwarding and a guest-network/IP reconciliation with WATTCP's
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hard-coded 200.0.0.113. Investigate whether DOSBox-X slirp allows the
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custom net + static guest IP + inbound forward cleanly.
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**Milestones**
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1. **NIC up**: `[ne2000]` on, NE2000.COM packet driver loaded, WATTCP/
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NetNub start clean; pod boots via `netnub -f BTL4OPT` (no `-egg`) and
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sits waiting for the console. Verify NetNub reports net address
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200.0.0.113 and a TCP_LISTEN is queued. (New scratch conf, mirror the
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RIO/sound conf pattern.)
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2. **L3/L4 reachability**: from the host segment, confirm the pod answers
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ARP/ping at 200.0.0.113 and a raw TCP connect to its listen port
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completes (proves NE2000↔backend↔host path end-to-end).
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3. **Decode the console→pod egg protocol**: `NetworkPacketHeader` +
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message framing from `network.hpp`/`hostmgr.hpp` + the
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ReceiveEggFileMessage layout, cross-checked with a live capture of the
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pod's listen/ACK. (Pin the listen port here — not yet found in source;
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grep NETNUB.EXE strings / capture.)
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4. **Eggs over the wire**: a minimal host-side **stand-in console**
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(Python) connects to the pod, pushes a mission egg, handles the ACK →
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pod runs the mission with no `-egg` bypass. **This is the headline
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goal.**
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5. *(later, joins the console-port workstream):* replace the stand-in
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with the ported/emulated Mac ops console; multi-pod coordination
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(HostConnected/Disconnected, mission review, camera ship).
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## Open questions / notes
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- Exact TCP listen port(s) — not in the source grep; get from NETNUB.EXE
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or a capture at milestone 3.
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- Does WATTCP need a real ARP peer for the gateway at boot, or does it
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proceed with a static IP and only ARP on connect? Affects whether the
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stand-in console must answer ARP for 200.0.0.1.
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- `NETCLIENT=PNW` (PARAMETR.bat) selects Personal NetWare — file-server
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side, not the game's TCP path; likely irrelevant to egg delivery and
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can stay unloaded under emulation.
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- RP uses the identical MUNGA net brick + its own WATTCP.CFG — everything
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here carries over to Red Planet.
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