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Environment

Novell Client for Windows Vista

Novell Client 2 for Windows Vista/2008

Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows Vista 

Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows Server 2008 

Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows 7

Novell Client 2 SP1 for Windows Server 2008 R2

Situation

When accessing files on file server volumes, the Windows Vista or Windows 7 workstation will lock up / freeze / blue screen of death / crash without any apparent cause.  This has been seen when transferring files with various applications such as Lotus Notes and Novell GroupWise.  It can also happen when opening Microsoft Word, Excel, Access or PowerPoint files.

The blue screen dump may mention nccache.sys and/or ncpl.sys.

Resolution

Workaround:  This symptom is known to be caused by a bug in the Novell Client for Windows Vista caching code. This can be worked around by disabling file caching (set the "File Caching" parameter on the Advanced tab in the Novell Client properties page to "Off") or by renaming the \Program Files\Novell\Client\XTier\Drivers\nccache.sys module.

The corresponding registry setting is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Novell\Client\Parameters\Enable Cache

Set this DWord value as follows:

       0 = disable file caching

       1 = enable file caching

If it is not possible or acceptable to use the workaround contact Novell Technical Services.

Status

Reported to Engineering

Additional Information

There are no known problems caused by disabling the cache, although the speed of file transfers may be slower than with the cache enabled.

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for NetIQ/Novell/SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.