Pointers to Personal TCP/IP Resources

The Internet Adapter (TIA) (tm) provides one of the pieces to the complex
puzzle of getting dial-up TCP/IP connectivity.  The other crucial piece
of the puzzle involves the software you must load and configure on your
PC or Macintosh.  Because this task can be daunting if you haven't done
it before, we are offering pointers to a number of excellent resources 
in this document. We're confident that at least one of these resources 
will have the answers to your questions or individual problems. 

For those of you who would like to leave the details to the experts,
SoftAware offers a choice of several Internet connectivity
kits.  Each of these kits include TIA, a selection of TCP/IP tools
for your PC or Mac, and varying degrees of technical support and
custom consulting. Contact SoftAware at (310) 314-1466 or eroth@netcom.com.
You may also browse their gopher brochure at marketplace.com or their
Web Brochure at http://marketplace.com.

           ***Internet Resources for Personal TCP/IP Connectivity***
                               
1.  The Charm Net Personal IP page is an astonishing assortment of
Web pages, ftp sites, gopher sites, and newsgroups.  It includes such
valuable references as
- MacTCP and related Macintosh software FAQ
- TCP/IP for DOS/Windows FAQs and Listings
- Winsock Beginner's Guide
- Netmanage Chameleon 30 Day Demo Software
and over 40 others.  This is a "must have" in your library of Web sites.

URL - http://www.charm.net/ppp.html

2. Personal Internet Access Using SLIP or PPP by Frank Hecker is
available from the aformentioned Charm Net Personal IP page.  For those
of you who don't have access to a Web client (such as lynx or Mosaic),
we are including the FTP site for this comprehensive, useful resource.

Here are the steps to retrieve the file via FTP:

ftp ftp.digex.net 
type `anonymous` when prompted for your login 
type your complete email address when prompted for your password
cd pub/access/hecker/civic-nets
ascii (make sure your ftp is transferring in ASCII mode)                       
get personal-internet.txt
bye

Or, if you do have a Web client, use the URL

ftp://ftp.digex.net/pub/access/hecker/civic-nets/personal-internet.txt

3. Adam Engst, author of the Internet Starter Kit series and editor
of the TidBITS newsletter, maintains an excellent FTP site of 
documents and software.

ftp ftp.tidbits.com
type `anonymous` when prompted for your login 
type your complete email address when prompted for your password
cd pub/slip
<At this point you may cd to any of the directories, such as
chameleon, winsock, ftp, news, telnet, etc. and peruse the offerings>
ascii (make sure your ftp is transferring in ASCII mode)   
get <your desired file(s)>
bye

Or, use the URL

ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/slip/

4. The Arts & Farces Internet Services are available through a number
of access methods and offer the Internet Tour Guides.

Email - almanac@farces.com - send a message with `send catalog`
in the body of the message.

Gopher - gopher farces.com

URL - http://www.farces.com/farces/farces-home.html

FTP - ftp ftp.farces.com - use the procedure described in number 2
and cd to pub/visitors-center.

5. We don't want to forget Amiga users!  Here are two newsgroups
where you question may be answered:

comp.sys.amiga.datacomm
comp.sys.amiga.networking

6. M'Lou Voss has written instructions for setting up your Windows
machine to use TIA on Netcom.  You can access them via anonymous FTP at

ftp ftp.netcom.com
login: anonymous
password: <your full account name>
ftp>cd pub/mlou
ftp>ascii
ftp>get tia.setup
ftp>bye

Or, use the URL

ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/mlou/tia.setup

7. Email support addresses for a number of the popular Internet
software programs (Eudora, InterSLIP, Chameleon Sampler, etc.)
can be found at the following URL:

http://www.farces.com/farces/IMPORTANT-read-me.html

8. To discuss your Winsock issues, try following the newsgroup:

alt.winsock


            ***TCP/IP Connectivity Frequently Asked Questions***

We are also including a "mini-FAQ" on TCP/IP connectivity problems.
You may find your question answered below before browsing the previous
resources.

         
Q:  COULD MY FAX SOFTWARE BE CAUSING PROBLEMS?
     
Fax extensions will indeed interfere with the MacTCP/InterSLIP
software.  One user reported the following behavior:
"InterSLIP Setup dies instantly upon launch with a lot of 
garbage characters in the window."

So far, we have had no reports of fax software, such as
WinFAX Pro, interfering with the Trumpet Winsock or Chameleon
tools.

Q.  WHAT OTHER MISC. TIPS FOR WINSOCK USERS CAN YOU OFFER?

* Remember to hit the ESC key after starting TIA from Winsock.
The last line you should see in the login buffer is "Slip Enabled".

* There have been reports that Winsock Beta 11 doesn't work; try
Winsock beta 6 instead.


Q:  PERHAPS AN EXAMPLE OF THE PARAMETERS FOR TCP/IP CONNECTIVITY
SOFTWARE WOULD HELP ME FIGURE OUT MY SETTINGS.  CAN YOU SHARE A FEW ?

Some of the specific data will, of course, be different for your
particular situation, but we can offer a few examples.  

-----

Example configuration settings for Trumpet Winsock (Netcom):

IP: 192.0.2.1          <-- Should work for all users - See TIA FAQs 
Netmask: 255.255.255.0 <-- Default
Gateway: 128.138.213.21 <-- See TIA FAQs for info on how to get these IPs
DNS (Nameserver): 128.138.213.21 <-- See TIA FAQs
Domain suffix: blank
Time server: blank
Packet vector: blank
MTU: 1500  <-- Must be at least 1500
RWIN: 4096 <-- Default
MSS: 1460
Slip-Enabled: 1 <-- On or Yes (1)
Slip-Port: <-- Your Com port  
Baudrate: 19200 <-- 14400 may not work!
Hardware Handshaking: 1 <-- Depends on the setup of your modem
Compressed SLIP: 0 <-- Off or No - Very Important!
------
Another example of config. settings for Trumpet Winsock (Netcom):
offered by M'Lou Voss (mlou@netcom.com)

ip      = 192.0.2.1
netmask = 255.255.255.0
gateway = 192.100.81.101
dns     = 192.100.81.101
time    =
domain  = netcomsv.netcom.com ns.netcom.com
vector  = 00
mtu     = 1500
rwin    = 4096
mss     = 1460
slip-enabled    = 1
slip-port       = 2
slip-baudrate   = 38400
slip-handshake  = 1
slip-compressed = 0
dial-option     = 0
online-check    = 0
inactivity-timeout = 5
slip-timeout    = 150
registration-name = ""
registration-password = "h[G?"Rgl"

-------
Example InterSLIP gateway script (Netcom):
offered by Bill Arnett -- billa@netcom.com

@originate
matchclr
matchstr 1 1 "ogin:"       ! match the "login:" prompt
matchread 50
note "no login prompt; trying again"
write "\13"
matchclr
matchstr 1 1 "ogin:"       ! match the "login:" prompt
matchread 50
note "no login prompt"
pause 60
exit -1
!
@label 1
note "Sending user name"
write "^5\10"
matchclr
matchstr 1 2 "ord:"        ! match the "password:" prompt
matchread 50
note "no password prompt"
pause 60
exit -1
!
@label 2
note "Sending password"
write "^6\10"
note "Awaiting prompt"
matchclr
matchstr 1 5 "% "       ! match the shell prompt
matchread 120
note "No prompt; trying again"
write "\13"
matchclr
matchstr 1 5 "% "       ! match the shell prompt
matchread 120
note "No prompt; giving up"
exit -1
!
@label 5
note "Starting TIA"
write "tia\13"          ! start The Internet Adapter
matchclr
matchstr 1 6 "Ready"
matchread 200
note "tia not responding"
exit -1
!
@label 6
note "OK"
exit 0

This script can also be accessed at 

   ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/mealiffe/netcom/tia-interslip-script   
-----

Anyone who would like to try Chameleon wiht TIA can find a 30 day
working demo at ftp.netmanage.com, cd to pub/demos/chameleon.
------
Example of Chameleon Sampler TCP/IP settings and Script (Netcom):

Interface: NetCom  <-- See script - make sure the name is correct
IP Address: 192.0.2.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Hostname: kmgerman   <-- Your account name
Domain Name: netcom.com
Port Settings: 8 Data Bits, 1 Stop Bit, No Parity, Hardware Flow Control
Startup Command: tia
Domain Servers: 192.100.81.101, 191.100.81.105  <-- See TIA FAQs
                                                 on how to find these
                                                 numbers for your host
Corresponding script in slip.ini file:

[NetCom]
SCRIPT=login: $u$r word: $p$r {netcom $c$r switch
TYPE=SLIP
------

InterSLIP Dial Script for logging out correctly:
another offering from Bill Arnett (billa@netcom.com)

! InterSLIP dial script for Hayes compatible modems and The Internet Adapter

! Original script by Fred Morris
! Modifications by Adam C. Engst, Paul Ediger
! Modified for The Internet Adapter (TIA) by Bill Arnett
!   other users may have to modify the lines marked with "<-------- "

@originate
! Initialize modem from string in InterSLIP configuration
note "Initializing modem"
write "^4\13"
pause 10
SetTries 0

@label 8
! Dial modem from number in InterSLIP configuration
note "Dialing ^1"
write "ATdt^1\13"
pause 30                                ! just so he can see the phone #

! Check only for BUSY or CONNECT
matchstr 1 10 "BUSY"
matchstr 2 20 "CONNECT"
note "Waiting for CONNECT"
matchread 500

@label 10
! got BUSY or no response
IncTries
IfTries 10 15

! hang up and reinitialize modem from string in InterSLIP configuration
note "Reinitializing modem"
write "+++"
pause 60
write "ATh\13"
write "^4\13"
jump 8

@label 15
! ask the user if he wants to continue dialing
ask 0 "enter anything to stop"
SetTries 0
ifstr 1 8 "^*^1"        ! checks for empty input

! he wants to stop
SetTries 123            ! indicate that dialing failed
exit -1

@label 20
! got CONNECT, indicate success and proceed to the Gateway script
exit 0


@hangup
! check whether user manually clicked the Disconnect button or dialing failed
IfTries 123 99

pause 1
note "Killing TIA"
write "\03\03\03"                       ! <-------- kill character
pause 21
write "\03\03"                          ! <-------- kill character
matchclr
matchstr 1 30 "% "                      ! <-------- shell prompt
matchread 30
! if we fail to kill TIA, just drop the line anyway
jump 50

@label 30
! issue logout command to logout normally
note "Logging out"
write "logout\13"                       ! <-------- logout command
matchclr
! the modem should notice that the host dropped the line
matchstr 1 98 "NO CARRIER"
matchread 400
! if the host doesn't drop the line, we hang up locally

@label 50
! Hang up the modem
note "Hanging up modem"
write "+++"
pause 60
write "ATh\13"

@label 98
! Reinitialize the modem from string in InterSLIP configuration
write "^4\13"

@label 99
! we're outta here!
note "Off"
exit 0

-------
Brian Kendig offered the following newsgroup post:

                How to TIA (revision of 19 August 1994)
                 by Brian Kendig (bskendig@netcom.com)
                 [comments by Bill Arnett (billa@netcom.com)]

I've seen a lot (and I mean, a LOT) of posts recently from Mac users who
are completely baffled as to how to get TIA working with their Macs.
Until recently, I was one of those baffled users.  I spent some long
hours puzzling over it before I finally got it working, so I put
together this information to help other people avoid the same problems I
stumbled through.  It's really not a difficult process, but it can be
confusing if you haven't done it before.

Here are some steps you can do before you register for your fourteen-day
TIA evaluation copy.  These are things you'll need to do anyway before
you can use TIA at all, so it makes sense not to start the evaluation
period until after you've done them.

Get a copy of MacTCP.  This is the ONLY commercial software you'll need
for any of this.  MacTCP will come with System 7.5. but until then
you'll have to find it through other means (it's not available on the
net), or purchase it from Apple. [Get a copy of "Internet Starter Kit" by
Adam Engst.  It comes with a floppy containing MacTCP, InterSLIP, and some
other useful stuff.]

Get a copy of InterSLIP.  InterSLIP is a free product from Intercon
Systems; it basically lets you run TCP/IP over your phone lines.  You
can download InterSLIP from any of the usual Mac ftp sites; it's
info-mac/comm/tcp/inter-slip-installer-101.hqx on the sumex mirrors (my
favorite mirror is ftp.hawaii.edu because it's quick). [see above or ftp
it directly from InterCon at
   ftp://ftp.intercon.com/InterCon/sales/InterSLIP/InterSLIPInstaller1.0.1.hqx
]

Get a copy of NCSA Telnet 2.6.  This is available from
zaphod.ncsa.uiuc.edu in Mac/Telnet/Telnet2.6/Telnet2.6.sit.hqx.  Telnet
is a good TCP/IP program to use to test whether your connection has worked.

On your Unix system, find out what your name server addresses are.
There will be probably one, two, or three computers set up to figure out
what the real IP addresses are of any host names you use, and you'll
need to give the numeric IP addresses of those computers to MacTCP and
InterSLIP.  Contact your Unix administrator if you need help with this.
Also, find out the numeric IP address of the computer you normally log
into, so you can tell NCSA Telnet where to find it later if it can't get
to the name servers for some reason.  (For example, here on Netcom, the
nameservers are netcomsv.netcom.com at 192.100.81.101 and ns.netcom.com
at 192.100.81.105, and I also jotted down the address of netcom7.netcom.com,
which is 192.100.81.115.)

Install InterSLIP by running the installer you've downloaded, reboot,
then go into the "InterSLIP Setup" program.  Select "New" from the File
menu, enter any name for your new config, then double-click on the name
when it appears in the main window.  In the ensuing modal dialog, you'll
probably only need to set a few things:

- Your baud rate.  For a 14.4kbaud modem, try setting this to 19200 (it
  worked for me); if that doesn't work you can always try 9600 later.

- An IP address.  You can enter anything here, since TIA doesn't set up
  an individual IP address for you.  This field usually gets ignored.  I
  set it to 1.1.1.1; if that gives you trouble since some apps try to use
  it directly, then set it to 192.0.2.1 which is officially defined to be
  "nothing".

- The numeric IP address of one of your name servers (prefreably your
  "primary" name server), which you found a few paragraphs ago.

- The "MTU Size".  TIA documentation recommends setting this to 1500.

Leave the "Dial Script" and "Gateway" set to "Direct Connection".

Now, install MacTCP, reboot, and open its control panel.  Click on the
InterSLIP icon that appears there, then click on "More".

- Set the radio buttons under "Obtain Address" to "Manual".  I don't
  think this matters, but this is what has worked for me.

- Set the "Class" under "IP Address" to "C".

- Under "Domain Name Server Information", enter the names of your name
  servers in the "Domain" fields and their corresponding IP addresses
  beside them in the "IP Address" fields.  Click the "Default" radio
  button by the first entry in your list.

Click "OK", then reboot to apply thee changes.

Now your Mac should be all set!  After it reboots, you can go about
setting up TIA on your Unix shell account.  The TIA documentation is
very thorough and helpful about how to do this.  Register for your
fourteen-day evaluation license, and get to the point where you can run
"tia" from your Unix prompt and have it reply "Ready to start your SLIP
software."  Note that if you ever want to stop TIA and get back to a
Unix prompt, just type Control-C slowly five times, such that more than
two seconds go by between the first Control-C and the last one.

Oh, and make sure that your terminal program isn't set to automatically
hang up when you quit out of it; you will need to be able to quit out of
your terminal program without killing your dial-in connection to your
Unix host.  Right now, quit out of your terminal program then run it
again, and if you find yourself still going as if you had never quit,
then you should be okay.

Okay.  Now for the moment of truth.

At a Unix prompt, run "tia" (or whatever the executable is named).  It
should reply "Ready to start your SLIP software."

Quit out of your terminal program, open "InterSLIP Setup", make sure the
name of the configuration you created earlier is selected, and click the
"Connect" button.  If all goes well, then the word "Connected" should
appear at the top of the window.  Note that as long as this says
"Connected", you will not be able to run your terminal program, since
InterSLIP has grabbed the serial port.  My copy of Zterm will hang if I
try to run it while InterSLIP has the serial port.

Now run NCSA Telnet.  Try to open a connection to the Unix host you
usually connect to.  If it fails to connect, then try again, this time
giving the numeric IP address of the Unix host; if it fails with the
name but works with the number then this means that you haven't set your
name servers correctly in the MacTCP control panel or in InterSLIP.

If you've run into problems before this point (InterSLIP doesn't
connect, or NCSA Telnet gives you errors), and you can't figure out what
the problem is, then post on comp.sys.mac.comm to ask for help.
Describe exactly what step of the installation you got up to before
things started happening funny.

On the other hand, if things work for you, then you're all set!
Dicsonnect from InterSLIP and go back into your shell account to
download a copy of Dartmouth's "FTP" program from a Mac ftp site, and
try to use that to download a copy of NCSA Mosaic.  Being able to
finally run Mosaic on your Mac is a fitting reward for getting all of
this to work successfully.

You might also want to set up InterSLIP to dial in automatically for
you.  FTP to ftp.netcom.com, and get the file
/pub/mealiffe/netcom/tia-interslip-script.  Put it into the folder
"System Folder:Preferences:InterSLIP Folder:Gateway Scripts" on your
Mac.  You might have to change its type/creator to CNFG/ISLP.  It's a
text file, so you can edit it if necessary.  Make any necessary changes
to your Unix .login file so that you will always automatically get to a
Unix prompt when you log in.  If your prompt does not end in a percent
('%') character, then use a text editor to edit the script you just
downloaded to put the correct character there (it tells you where to
make the change).  I also had to add an extra zero to the number after
every "matchread" statement in the script (for example, where it said
"matchread 50" I made it "matchread 500") to prevent my connections from
timing out so easily before they had finished connecting.  Also, make
sure that the TIA application on your Unix account is named just "tia",
since that's what the script will try to automatically run for you
(unless you change the script).

Go back into the InterSLIP Setup application and edit your
configuration: set the Dial Script to "Hayes Compatible" and enter the
Unix dial-in phone number, and set the Gateway Script to the script you
just downloaded and edited.  If all went well, then whenever you try to
run any TCP/IP application on your Mac when you're not already
connected, InterSLIP will automatically dial in for you and establish
the connection.  Easy as that.  :-)

Don't forget to post to comp.sys.mac.comm for help if you can't get this
to work.  Good luck, and happy SLIPping!

-------

We will continue to update this document as we discover more sites.
If you know of one that you believe would be of interest, please send
email to office@marketplace.com.

Good Luck!