iMekugi

replacement for wnaspi32.dll for modern systems, and remote (TCP) communication

1. What

• For regular users:
  • wnaspi32.dll replacement for modern systems
• For advanced users:
  • can expose devices as if they were linked to another host adapter
    • This is particularly useful for old SCSI programs that only support host adapter id 0
  • you can now launch your legacy SCSI program from a pc/laptop without SCSI card, and communicate with a SCSI device connected to another computer (running Windows or Linux) that has a SCSI card.
• For Virtual Machine users:
  • can forward SCSI calls made to wnaspi32.dll from a VM to the host pc or another pc, via TCP
    • the host or other pc can be running Windows or Linux
• For developers:
  • SCSI calls can be logged to a file, allowing to reverse-engineer custom protocols

2. ! WARNINGS !

• Use at your own risk. No guarantees made.
• No security is provided for the packets going via TCP, so this is not secure whatsoever.
• If you expose your SCSI device to somebody else via TCP, be aware that this other person could ruin your hardware/software/data/anything in your life and more.

3. How To Use - As a wnaspi32.dll replacement

• Copy the iMekugi wnaspi32.dll to the folder of your SCSI program
• Run your SCSI program a first time - AS ADMINISTRATOR:
  • your SCSI program will say something like "no device detected", that's normal.
  • wnaspi32.dll will create a config file (wnaspi32.cfg) & a log file (wnaspi32.log)
• Run your SCSI program a 2nd time - AS ADMINISTRATOR, this time it should work
  • if you still have problems, check the wnaspi32.log file.
    • the detail level of the logging can be increased by changing the last 2 parameters in the wnaspi32.cfg file:
      • enable_logging: 1=core, 2=low, 3=full detail
      • logging_file_max_MB_size: maximum file size for the log file (default = 50 MB)

4. How To Use - To expose a device as if it were linked to another host adapter id

• Copy the iMekugi wnaspi32.dll to the folder of your SCSI program
• Run your SCSI program a first time:
  • your SCSI program will say something like "no device detected", that's normal.
  • wnaspi32.dll will create a config file (wnaspi32.cfg) & a log file (wnaspi32.log)
• Edit wnaspi32.cfg, and change the first 2 parameters:
  • tcp_enabled: set to 1
  • target_ip: set to 127.0.0.1
• Run the iMekugi SCSI server application (scsiserv32.exe, scsiserv64.exe or scsiserv) a first time - AS ADMINISTRATOR
  • This will create a configuration file scsiserv.cfg, and exit, this is normal.
    • This will be prefilled with devices found on the system. If you forgot to connect your SCSI device at this point, just delete scsiserv.cfg, and try again.
      • Under Windows, you need to connect the SCSI devices when the pc boots, so you'll have to reboot
      • Under Linux, a rescan of the SCSI bus can be launched via: sudo rescan-scsi-bus
        • Note that "lsscsi" is needed on your system (eg: sudo apt-get install -y lsscsi)
        • You might also want the "rescan-scsi-bus" script (eg: sudo apt-get install -y scsitools)
        • eg to launch it with detailed max 50MB log, listening on port 7032: sudo ./scsiserv 7032 3 50
        • You might need to do a chmod to change the device access rights, eg:
          • lsscsi -g
          • ls -al /dev/sg*
          • sudo chmod 777 /dev/sg*
          • ls -al /dev/sg*
  • Edit scsiserv.cfg to map the detected SCSI devices to the desired host adapter id/target id/lun id
  • "AS ADMINISTRATOR" is needed, because we're doing low-level access to the SCSI device
• Run the iMekugi SCSI server application (scsiserv32.exe, scsiserv64.exe or scsiserv) a 2nd time - AS ADMINISTRATOR
  • This time the iMekugi SCSI server application should be waiting for a connection
  • "AS ADMINISTRATOR" is needed, because we're doing low-level access to the SCSI device
• Run your SCSI program a 2nd time, this time it should work
  • if you still have problems, check the wnaspi32.log file.
    • the detail level of the logging can be increased by changing the last 2 parameters in the wnaspi32.cfg file:
      • enable_logging: 1=core, 2=low, 3=full detail
      • logging_file_max_MB_size: maximum file size for the log file (default = 50 MB)

5. How To Use - From within a Virtual Machine

• Same as "4. How To Use - To expose a device as if it were linked to another host adapter id", but:
  • wnaspi32.cfg: set the target ip of the pc where the iMekugi server will be running
  • launch the iMekugi SCSI server application (scsiserv32.exe, scsiserv64.exe or scsiserv) on your host pc, or any pc that the Virtual Machine can connect to via TCP
    • don't forget to launch the iMekugi SCSI server application AS ADMINISTRATOR

6. How to build

• wnaspi32.dll, scsiserv32.exe & scsiserv64.exe:
  • you can find them pre-compiled in the zip file in the /binaries folder
• scsiserv (Linux version of the iMekugi SCSI server:
  • make clean
  • make
  • To send it to a target device: make sendx86 (adapt the makefile to your needs for this)