Whql addrechange test case failing

NTDEV
1

Hi All,

I’m facing failures in a few HLK network test cases using:

  • HLK Server: Windows Server 2022

  • Client systems: Windows Server 2025 / Windows 11

Issue Summary

The failures seem to be related to IPX packets being dropped, as observed via pktmon.

Observations

  • HLK is generating packets with:

802.3 + LLC/SNAP + IPX (0x8137) + payload

  • My network driver does not modify packets, it only parses LLC/SNAP headers.

  • In debugging (NdisProtocolTest.cpp):

    • The test checks packet type at offset 0x14, which aligns with IPX after LLC/SNAP.

  • If I truncate LLC/SNAP and pass:

802.3 + IPX + payload

  • → The warning in ndistest.cpp disappears
    → But upper layers still drop the packet as “corrupted”

Questions

  1. Why is HLK still sending IPX traffic, given that IPX is deprecated in modern Windows?

  2. Is HLK expecting drivers to fully preserve and pass LLC/SNAP encapsulation, even for legacy protocols?

  3. Are there any specific alignment, padding, or MDL requirements that HLK enforces for these packets?

  4. Could this be related to known HLK test behavior or errata in recent versions?