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How Norsk Data actually shipped TCP/IP on SINTRAN - documentary evidence (2026-07-26)

Date: 2026-07-26 Scope: what ND's own product sheets, manuals and user guides say about running TCP/IP on ND-100 / ND-500 / ND-5000 systems, and specifically over the ND Ethernet II controller (ND 110063 / PCB 3094).

Companion to ETHERNET-II-FEASIBILITY-AND-MODE-WORD-RE-2026-07-25.md, which is the firmware reverse engineering. This document is documentary evidence only - it is what ND wrote, not what we decoded. Where the two agree it is noted.

Convention: [V] quoted from an ND document (file cited). [I] inferred. [OPEN] not stated in any document present in this repo.

TL;DR

  1. ND had TWO different TCP/IP products, on TWO different controllers. [V]
    • COSMOS TCP/IP Gateway for Ethernet (211185) - runs on the Ethernet II card, ND 110063, the same board whose COSMOS firmware we carved.
    • TCP/IP Basic Module/III (211327) - runs on the Ethernet III card, ND 110513, MF-bus, ND-5000 only. A completely different Domino-based software stack.
  2. The layer split is TCP on the ND-100, IP on the controller. [V] Not "the whole BSD stack on the card".
  3. ND's own Ethernet II hardware manual documents the framing split we found in the firmware: the COSMOS stack is LLC over 802.3 MAC, the ARPA stack is over DIX. [V]
  4. Protocol selection is by which image you download into the controller. Proven for Ethernet III (PMA-ETH3-TCPI vs PMA-ETH3-COSM vs PMA-ETH3-SIBR) [V]; strongly implied for Ethernet II [I].
  5. Whether one Ethernet II card can carry COSMOS and TCP/IP at the same time is nowhere stated. [OPEN] Everything that touches the question points at one protocol per card.
  6. No distribution media for any TCP/IP product exists in this repo - paper only. [V]

1. The product family (as documented here)

Product Name Versions documented Sheet
211185 COSMOS TCP/IP Gateway for Ethernet C07 (90.02.20), D02 (92.01.23); a version B existed ND-895070-1A-EN.md, ND-895070-2-EN.md
211327 TCP/IP Basic Module/III A (1988), B05 (90.03.29), D00 (91.11.21) ND-895061-1A-EN.md, ND-895061-2-EN.md
211154 COSMOS TELNET/FTP Client B05 (88.07.06), C, D01 (90.06.19), E02 ND-895071-2-EN.md, ND-895071-3-EN.md, ND0106.PDF
211566 SINTRAN Socket Library (SLlib) A00 ND-895175-S1-EN.md (summary only)
211324 OpenLAN TCP/IP Access Module/III (bundle of 211325 + 211327 + 211154) A00 ND-895087-S1-EN.md
211325 OWS / CMS Access Server for ND-500/5000 A, B ND-895060-2-EN.md
211299 SINTRAN NFS Support (NFS server) A (90.03.29) ND-895520-1-EN.md
211998 X Window System for ND-500/5000 (X11R3) A ND-895566-1-EN.md

All sheets are under ..\..\..\..\Installation\Installation-Description\ unless noted; ND0106.PDF and the product-info sheet ND-211154-A1-EN.md are under ..\..\..\..\Installation\Communication\TCP\ and ..\..\..\..\Installation\Product-Info\ respectively.

2. The critical distinction: two IP products, two boards

211185 - Gateway, on OUR board [V]

"Norsk Data has implemented the IP protocol of the COSMOS TCP/IP Gateway as a separate controller with its own processor (Motorola 68000) and its own memory (1/2 Mbyte). This relieves the main CPU of much of the overhead from the communication protocol handling. The controller is the same as for COSMOS over Ethernet (ND-110063 Ethernet II Controller)." - Installation\Product-Info\ND-211154-A1-EN.md p.2

Its documented protocol set, same sheet p.3:

Layer Standard
Application Telnet RFC 854; FTP RFC 959, RFC 765
Transport TCP RFC 793
Network IP RFC 791; ICMP RFC 792; ARP RFC 826; IP Reassembly RFC 815
Data Link Baseband Ethernet: DIX 2.0
Physical Ethernet Accessories: IS 802.3

"ND's TCP/IP implementation for SINTRAN is based on the UNIX 4.2 BBN implementation."

Prerequisites [V], ND-895070-1A-EN.md p.2 (C07) / ND-895070-2-EN.md p.2 (D02): CPU 100 CX / 110 CX / 120 CX / 500 / 5000; "Ethernet II controller | ND 110063"; SINTRAN III L06 PatchFile >= 2000B; BACKUP-SYSTEM >= H (210337); D02 adds USER ENVIRONMENT >= D03 (210518). Cost scales per controller: "Number of segments (ND-100) | 3+4NbOfControllers", "Space required on segment files | 120+256NbOfControllers pages", "you will have to assign an Internet address for each controller".

[OPEN] Neither 211185 sheet names the on-card image, its banks, or a firmware version - unlike 210580, whose Program Description lists ENCOS-SER-B0..B3-B<rev>:BPUN explicitly.

[I] But the cost table gives the image away by arithmetic (added 2026-07-30). Read the two per-controller terms together:

Number of segments (ND-100)      3 + 4 * NbOfControllers
Space required on segment files  120 + 256 * NbOfControllers pages
  • Four segments per controller is the same shape as ENCOS's four BPUNs, B0..B3.
  • 256 pages x 1KW = 512 KB, which is exactly the ND 110063's DRAM - the same half-megabyte the 211154 sheet names ("its own memory (1/2 Mbyte)").

So the per-controller segment cost is, near-certainly, the downloaded card image itself, staged in four segments and loaded the same four-bank way as COSMOS - just a different image. This is inference from arithmetic, not a quotation; no sheet says it. Its practical value: recovered 211185 media would drop straight into the existing four-bank download path rather than needing a new mechanism.

211327 - Basic Module, on a DIFFERENT board [V]

hardware prerequisites: "CPU type (any of the following): 5000"; "Other hardware: | Ethernet III controller | ND 110513" - ND-895061-1A-EN.md p.2, identical in ND-895061-2-EN.md

It is a Domino controller product: "To reboot the domino controller(s), run the mode job: @MODE (TCP-IP)TCP-BA-REBO:M,,," (p.7); "Improved performance in the Tcp-Ip domino processes" (D00 reasons); "the Eth-III controller ... was active on a wrong level" (p.10).

Neither 211327 sheet mentions Ethernet II (110063) or PCB 3094 at all. [V negative]

Board-number note: the product sheets consistently say ND 110513 for Ethernet III. The number 324232 appears only in this repo's own schematic index (..\..\..\..\Installation\Communication\Ethernet\Schema\README.md) and is the PCB number. ND-895566-1-EN.md p.2 gives the bus: "Ethernet III controller (MF-BUS) (ND-5000 series only) | 110513".

And ND had a preference between the two:

"In order to run the X Window System with maximum performance it is necessary to have a TCP/IP Basic Module/III running in an Ethernet III controller. Although it is possible to use an Ethernet II controller with the COSMOS TCP/IP Gateway, this is not recommended." - ND-895566-1-EN.md p.2

3. Where each layer runs [V]

"The TCP software is implemented in ND-100 and the IP software is implemented in a separate controller. The COSMOS TCP/IP software runs under SINTRAN III/VSX." - ..\..\..\..\Operations\Cosmos\ND-860284-1-EN COSMOS TELNET-FTP Client User Guide.md sec 1.3

The SINTRAN error-code ranges make the stack explicit [V] (ND-895230-1A-EN.md line 880, ND-895230-1G-EN.md line 725):

006000B - 006077B   Domino Operating System
044600B - 044677B   Ethernet Media Access
047200B - 047277B   AIP - ARPA Internet Protocol
047300B - 047377B   TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol
047400B - 047477B   SLIB - Socket Library
047600B - 047677B   Telnet Server
101500B - 101577B   MF-bus Controller

AIP = ARPA Internet Protocol [V], confirmed independently by the range table above and by ND-860284-1 Appendix D ("This section gives an explanation of AIP (ARPA Internet Protocol) error messages"). Its error texts say where it sits: AIPpiocError : PIOCOS error, AIPportError : fatal in IOC port message system, AIPxmsgError : XMSG error, AIPBADmaBuffer : BAD address of MA(Media Access) buffer, AIPdeadMA : medium access dead, reload system - i.e. the IP layer runs on the controller, over PIOCOS ports (AIPportError : fatal in IOC port message system) and XMSG, above the MA (media access) layer. Same transport ENNS0 uses.

This AIPpiocError : PIOCOS error text is also the documentary confirmation that the Ethernet II controller OS is PIOCOS - see the RTOS reverse-engineering hub ../../../../Installation/Communication/Ethernet/RE/PIOCOS/README.md.

The AIP-*:SYMB files are ND's UNIX config equivalents [V] (ND0106.PDF p.2): AIP-HOSTS = Internet hosts file, AIP-SERVICES = services, AIP-NETWORKS = networks, AIP-PROTOCOL = protocols. AIP-CONFIG:SYMB "contains information on all the local Ethernet-controllers running TCP/IP" (ND-895628-1-EN.md).

Applications reach the stack either through the bundled Telnet/FTP servers or through the separate SINTRAN Socket Library (211566 / SLlib). ND-20034-1 EN describes "S-LIB ... Super Kernel Library - common interface to XMSG, IP and Nucleus", and gives max message sizes: Ethernet 1500, TCP/IP 1024, XMSG 2500.

4. ND's own hardware manual documents the framing split

..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\Devices\ND-12.055.1 EN Ethernet II Controller.md - the manual for our exact card - Appendix C, "OSI Model and ND's Implementation" [V]:

Layer COSMOS stack ISO stack ARPA stack
7 COSMOS ISO Applications FTP, Telnet
5 XMSG nil
4 ISO TC.4 ARPA TCP*
3 LNCN ISO CNLSNL ARPA IP
2 LLC1 / MAC LLC1 / DIX

Footnote: "* to be implemented late 1987 by Ethernet II". Glossary: "DIX: Digital-Intel-Xerox specified protocol".

Also in that manual: - Appendix B prints the 802.3 and Ethernet frame formats side by side: 802.3 has SFD 10101011 + length + pad, Ethernet has sync 11 + type. "An IEEE 802.3 and Ethernet frame should be identical. Each protocol divides the frame into fields with different names." - Section 2/1 conformance: "IEEE 802.3, ECMA 80/81/82, ISO/DIS 8802/3" - DIX is deliberately not in that list, consistent with the shipped COSMOS firmware. - Figure 1 shows the shipped layer 2 as IEEE 802.2 LLC over IEEE 802.3 MAC.

This is direct documentary corroboration of the firmware carve: the COSMOS path we decoded (LLC DSAP/SSAP 0xA8, control 0x03, 802.3 length field) is the "COSMOS stack" column; TCP/IP needs the "ARPA stack" column, which is DIX - exactly what g_mode8023LengthField = 0 produces.

Note the ARPA layer-2 cell reads "LLC1 / DIX", so ND may have supported either encapsulation there; the 211185 sheet's Data Link line says DIX 2.0. [OPEN] whether LLC/SNAP was also offered.

5. Protocol selection = which image you download

Proven for Ethernet III [V], ..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\500\ND-820026.1 EN DOMINO and NUCLEUS Software Guide.md (module 22B = ETH3), where PROMAN downloads one of:

PMA-ETH3-TCPI:IMAG   % for communication TCP/IP
PMA-ETH3-COSM:IMAG   % for communication COSMOS
PMA-ETH3-SIBR:IMAG   % for SIBAS

described as "Necessary when more than one type of product runs on processors with the same module number. Examples are TCP/IP, COSMOS and SIBAS-communication, all running on Ethernet-III." A live LIST-CONFIGURATION sample shows a slot booted with (UTILITY)PMA-ETH3-TCPI.

Corroborating file evidence [V]: ND-895061-2-EN.md p.7 tells the installer to save '(UTILITY)PMA-ETH3-TCP*:IMAG' before upgrading; ND-896058-2-EN.md lists PMA-ETH3-TCIPNFS:IMAG at 164 pages (sibling PMA-SCSI-B010:IMAG at 249 pages - so PMA-*:IMAG is ND's Domino controller-image family).

[I] for Ethernet II. No document in this repo names an Ethernet II TCP/IP image file. But 211185 must load something: its cold-start includes @MODE (TCP-IP)TCP-IP-LO:MODE,,, (C07) / TCP-IP-LOAD:MODE (D02), diskette 2 carries a PIOC-MONITOR "meant for use by ND service personnel only", and the product's data link is DIX 2.0 with ARP - all impossible under the ENCOS server we carved. The words "firmware", "PROM" and "BPUN" appear nowhere in the 211185/211327/211154 sheets. [V negative]

The only Ethernet II downloadables present in this repo remain the COSMOS ENCOS set (ENCOS-SER-B0..B3-B01:BPUN). [V]

6. Coexistence: what is and is not stated

[OPEN] - no document in this repo says whether one ND 110063 can carry COSMOS and TCP/IP at the same time. Both sweeps searched for "dedicated", "separate controller", "may not be shared", "simultaneously", "at the same time" across Installation\, Operations\ and Reference-Manuals\.

What exists, all pointing the same way but none decisive:

  • [V] "COSMOS and TCP/IP protocols on the same physical Ethernet." (ND-211154-A1-EN.md, Benefits). That is a statement about the cable, not the card.
  • [V] The requirements lists attach the qualifier to the board: "One ND 110063 Ethernet II Controller for TCP/IP" (ND-211154-A1-EN.md); "Ethernet II controller for TCP/IP ... | 110063" (ND-895566-1-EN.md).
  • [V] Multi-controller language is always about multiple TCP/IP controllers, never coexistence: "Possibility of running TCP/IP in several Ethernet III controllers simultaneously" (ND-895061-1A-EN.md); "All controllers with TCP-device number >= 4 are running the TCP/IP Basic Module/III" (ND-895628-1-EN.md).
  • [V] The COSMOS Ethernet II Option installation description (..\..\..\..\Installation\Communication\Ethernet\ND-210580-02-EN.md) contains zero occurrences of "TCP".
  • [V] ..\..\..\..\Installation\Product-Info\ND-110587-A1-EN.md lists "incompatible high-level protocols such as XNS, TCP/IP, DECnet, OSI, and COSMOS" - ND treated them as distinct, mutually incompatible link-borne protocol families.
  • [V] Ethernet III proves one image per protocol per slot (section 5).

[I] Conclusion: one protocol per controller. Dual stack needs two cards. Well supported, not quoted.

UPDATE 2026-07-30 - two new pieces of evidence, still not decisive:

  • [V] The recovered AIP layer decodes a DIX-attach response of BAD - other user attached alongside DIX attach status ok. Attaching to media access in DIX mode can fail because someone else holds it. That is an exclusivity mechanism, though the document does not define "user".
  • [V] The Tingo production system has COSMOS Basic installed but no encos-ser-*.bpun anywhere on the disk - the COSMOS Ethernet Option was never installed. Its one Ethernet II card carried the TCP/IP image and nothing else. A single real system running the predicted way.

7. The clients are pure XMSG clients - a practical shortcut

[V] ND0106.PDF p.6-7: "The presence of the COSMOS TCP/IP software is necessary to run the FTP-CLIENT and TELNET-CLIENT. Check it by doing the LIST-NAMES command in the XMSG-COMMAND processor. If installed, the TCP/IP port names are present." The two cases are literally:

  • local stack -> XMSG name *TCP. ("=> TCP port name")
  • remote stack -> XMSG name *TCPGATE ("=> TCP port name for remote clients")

[V] ND-895071-2-EN.md: "If TCP/IP is on a remote computer ... then define *TCPGATE in XMSG where the servers are installed. (Note that TCP/IP can only be on a remote computer if you are using the COSMOS TCP/IP Gateway product)."

[V] The clients are ordinary dumped-reentrant user programs (FTP-CLIENT-D:PROG, TELNET-CLIENT-D:PROG, RSH-CLIENT-D:PROG), requiring 0 segments and 0 RT descriptions.

Consequence for emulation [I]: a high-level-emulated controller does not have to satisfy the ND Telnet/FTP clients at the MAC level at all. It has to register and serve the right XMSG port names. That is a far smaller target than a faithful DIX MAC path.

[V] One hard ND limitation, ND-860284-1 p.14: "an ND host cannot be an IP (Internet) gateway, a feature that is standard in the BSD 4.2 version." No IP routing. Real BSD sockets and routing existed only under NDIX on ND-500.

8. What this means for the Ethernet II TCP/IP question

  • The firmware finding is confirmed, not contradicted. ND's answer to "we need DIX on the wire" was a different software load (211185 on Ethernet II) or a different board entirely (211327 on Ethernet III). The ENCOS server speaking only 802.3+LLC A8/A8/03 is by design, not a defect.
  • g_mode8023LengthField = 0 is very likely the exact configuration the 211185 on-card image uses. [I] - the documents state the DIX 2.0 result, never the mechanism.
  • The ND-100 never sees a raw MAC frame in any shipped ND product. Every path crosses to the controller as XMSG / PIOCOS port messages.
  • Dual-stack on one card is unsupported as far as any ND document here shows.

9. Artifacts worth hunting, in priority order

UPDATE 2026-07-30 - THE TOP ITEM IS FOUND. A 211185 B05 installation, complete with the four on-card BPUNs, both servers, both clients and the load mode files, was recovered from the Tingo MFM hard-disk dump under user TCP-IP. All four BPUNs pass the documented BPUN checksum. The per-controller arithmetic inferred in section 2 is confirmed by the artifact. See TCPIP-211185-B05-MEDIA-RECOVERED-2026-07-30.md. Several [OPEN] items below are now answerable and are marked inline.

Want Why
~~211185 distribution media~~ FOUND 2026-07-30 - not the diskettes, but an installed B05 on the Tingo disk A working DIX-2.0 image for OUR card. It names a set DIX mode media-access command and prints attached to MEDIA ACCESS in DIX mode. The PIOC-MONITOR from diskette 2 is still missing.
ND-60.197 EN Ethernet Basic Software Programmer Guide (product 210582A, Feb 85, ~100pp) Catalogued in ND-40.004.7 EN; its entry says the reader "should be familiar with ... DIX 2.0 and IEEE 802.3". The programmer-level spec for exactly this seam.
ND-830107.01 / .03 EN OpenLAN Network Supervisor Guide Shipped free with 211185 and 211327; the authoritative controller-configuration guide. Likely settles coexistence.
ND-860284.02 EN COSMOS TELNET/FTP User Guide 2nd ed. Repo has only the 1st ed.
ND-895175-1 EN PI for SINTRAN Socket Library 211566 The socket API surface; repo has only the summary sheet
211327 media (211327B-XX-1D, 211327D-XX-01D...) PMA-ETH3-TCP*:IMAG - a complete ND IP stack image, even if for the other board
ND-250253B Named as "ND-no. for Source" for 211154 - client source listing

[V] No distribution media for any TCP/IP product exists anywhere in this repo - verified by independent sweeps for *211327*, *211154*, *211185*, *211299*, *.img, *.IMAG, *BPUN*, *AIP-*. Only COSMOS media is present.

Sources

Product sheets under ..\..\..\..\Installation\Installation-Description\: ND-895070-1A-EN.md, ND-895070-2-EN.md, ND-895061-1A-EN.md, ND-895061-2-EN.md, ND-895071-2-EN.md, ND-895071-3-EN.md, ND-895060-2-EN.md, ND-895087-S1-EN.md, ND-895520-1-EN.md, ND-895566-1-EN.md, ND-895628-1-EN.md, ND-895230-1A-EN.md, ND-895230-1G-EN.md, ND-896058-2-EN.md, ND-210580-02-EN.md. Product info: ..\..\..\..\Installation\Product-Info\ND-211154-A1-EN.md, ND-110587-A1-EN.md. Media listing: ..\..\..\..\Installation\Communication\TCP\ND0106.PDF. Manuals: ..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\Devices\ND-12.055.1 EN Ethernet II Controller.md, ..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\500\ND-820026.1 EN DOMINO and NUCLEUS Software Guide.md, ..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\ND-40.004.7 EN Documentation Catalogue.md, ..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\ND-20034-1-EN ND-Specific Programming & Advanced PLANC.md, ..\..\..\..\SINTRAN\Release-Documentation\ND-860230-7A-EN SINTRAN III - Release Information - M-Version.md. User guide: ..\..\..\..\Operations\Cosmos\ND-860284-1-EN COSMOS TELNET-FTP Client User Guide.md.

Hard negative worth recording: ..\..\..\..\Reference-Manuals\ND-60.134.2 EN SINTRAN III Communication Guide.md (ND-60.134.02) is dated November 1981, predates ND Ethernet entirely, and greps to zero hits for tcp / telnet / ftp / ethernet / ENNS / 802 across all 5740 lines. It is not a source for any of this, despite the name.