[Winpcap-users] Wpcap.lib on 64bits Platform

[Ryan Fowler]

> Besides, I believe the 100:1 rule of thumb probably applies: if one
> person asks for something (or complains about something) chances are
> there are 99 more feeling the same way but haven't bothered to voice
> their opinion (i.e. they're basically lurkers -- gradually losing
> patience lurkers but lurkers nonetheless). <shrug>

Hear, hear! (Here, here?)

We are planning on using this in a 64-bit environment and would also
like to see the user libraries available for that.  By my count that
would make around 200 people now interested (or am I just a reformed
lurker?)

If it does make it into the plans for future versions, please let me
know.

In the meantime be prepared for lots of questions from us trying to get
it compiled.

Ryan

-----Original Message-----
From: Fish [mailto:fish at infidels.org] 
Sent: 24 June 2008 20:41
To: winpcap-users at winpcap.org
Subject: RE: [Winpcap-users] Wpcap.lib on 64bits Platform

 
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Gianluca Varenni wrote:

> raymond lim  wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> >  
> > Would like to check whether there wpcap.lib is avaliable
> > on 64bits platform. Currently, we could compile wpcap.lib
> > using Visual Studio 2005 on 64 bits Vista.
> 
> At the moment the user level components of WinPcap are 32bit 
> only. This means that on a x64 machine, the driver is 64bit,
> but the user DLLs are 32bit only.

Which is definitely not good since it makes it virtually[1]
impossible for people to develop/market 64-bit products that happen
to use/need WinPcap.


> We have definitely thought of providing both x86 and x64 user
> level DLLs (hence x64 LIB files) but mainly due to lack of 
> resources

What resources are you lacking? Programming help? Hardware? What??


> and the very low number of requests for it, we have never
> actually worked on it.

Perhaps the majority of people/companies needing it have not bothered
to ask for it as they (perhaps naively but that's beside the point)
presumed it would be provided in due time.[2]

Besides, I believe the 100:1 rule of thumb probably applies: if one
person asks for something (or complains about something) chances are
there are 99 more feeling the same way but haven't bothered to voice
their opinion (i.e. they're basically lurkers -- gradually losing
patience lurkers but lurkers nonetheless). <shrug>

It's just a theory mind you. :)


> The main tasks in porting the user level DLLs to x64 are
> 
> - migrate the compilation environment to VS2005 (previous
> do not easily support x64 compilation).
> 
> - compile packet.dll under x64 and understand if we need 
> different packet.dll for XP and Vista.
> 
> - compile wpcap.dll under x64. This can be a lil tricky as
> this library is mostly a port of libpcap under Windows, and
> contains several conditional compilation definitions.
> 
> - modify the installer to install the right DLLs on all the
> various supported OSes.
> 
> - make sure that all the current samples in the devpack
> compile for x64 as well.

Yep. Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt.

So if *I* can do it what's *your* excuse?  :)


> Have a nice day

You too Gianluca. :)

- -- 
"Fish" (David B. Trout) - fish(at)infidels.org
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[1] I say "virtually" [impossible] because, even though no 64-bit
packet.dll is currently provided, it *is* nonetheless still possible
to write a 64-bit program that uses WinPcap by simply having it
(marshall? thunk? not sure of the correct terminology here) all
WinPcap requests through a 32-bit child process via some means of
Inter-Process Communication (which I hope you'll agree is a pain in
the you-know-what).

[2] Since you *do* after all provide a 64-bit device driver and
besides, what good is a 64-bit operating system if you can't run
64-bit programs on it?!

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