FactoryPMI Gateway on a disconnected laptop

If you have a laptop running FactoryPMI that doesn’t work when it’s disconnected from the network, there is hope. This is a common setup for demonstrations.

Windows XP has a feature called Media Sensing that disables the TCP/IP stack when it thinks that the computer isn’t connected to the network. Disabling this feature should allow FactoryPMI to run.

Details on disabling Media Sensing can be found here.

In a nutshell:

  1. In the registry go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

  2. Add the following registry entry to the Parameters subkey:
    Name: DisableDHCPMediaSense
    Data type: REG_DWORD (Boolean)
    Value: 1

  3. Reboot