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Ethernet Connection Options

Other versions of this page are also available for the following:

Windows Mobile Not SupportedWindows Embedded CE Supported

8/27/2008

With an Ethernet card, you can download and debug your run-time image on a target device, such as a CEPC, through a wired Ethernet connection.

If your standard development board (SDB) only has one wired Ethernet connection, and you are using it for download, debug, and the kernel independent transport layer (KITL), then you may want to use the virtual network miniport (VMINI) Ethernet debug-to-NDIS bridge, which enables a miniport and product Ethernet connection.

Platform Builder enables the VMINI Ethernet sharing library by default. The VMINI Ethernet sharing library is located in %_WINCEROOT%\Public\Common\Oak\Drivers\Ethdbg\VMINI.

To disable the VMINI Ethernet sharing library, set the KERNELNOSHAREETH and BSP_NOSHAREETH environment variables to 1.

If you disable the VMINI Ethernet sharing library, you will need one Ethernet card for debugging and downloading, and another Ethernet card for product Ethernet.

The following table shows the types of Ethernet connections for your target device.

Type Description

Download

The boot loader establishes this connection to the desktop and it is used for downloading a run-time image to the target CEPC.

KITL and debug

The run-time image optionally establishes a KITL connection to Platform Builder.

The KITL connection sets up a target-host communications channel for remote applications, remote tools, and so on. It also serves as the transport used by the kernel debugger, which enables Platform Builder to debug a running run-time image on the target device.

In addition, VMINI can run over this transport to support a product Ethernet connection over a single KITL and debug connection.

Product Ethernet

Used for network connectivity and the Internet on consumer target devices. If you use product Ethernet on your target device, you can only use it for downloading a run-time image, and then subsequently as a product Ethernet connection.

See Also

Tasks

How to Set Up a CEPC
Choosing an Ethernet Card for a CEPC

Concepts

Kernel Independent Transport Layer

Other Resources

Bringing Up a Hardware Platform
Setting or Clearing an Environment Variable (Visual Studio)