home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
DP Tool Club 17
/
CD_ASCQ_17_101194.iso
/
vrac
/
ho51.zip
/
HO51.ZIP
/
quick.doc
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-06-17
|
15KB
|
352 lines
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 1
This Product is Shareware, if you continue to use it
Please Legalise your usage through Registration.
_______
____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| Member
Quick Start
Getting the System Up and Running in three parts:
1 Setup - configuring to your hardware.
2 Operation - initial test driving.
3 Quick Fixes - when the d**n thing doesn't work. Yikes!
1 Setup
The installation and setup automatically guides you through
the process described here. But if you have problems then you
will want to know more about whats going on. Therefore both
the easy menuing description and the lower level description
are provided in most cases. Please, there are often some
alternate ways to get from 'A' to 'B', and only one or two are
suggested here. Some people will immediately see better
routes than those suggested here. Please use whatever does
the job best for you in your situation.
Run the 1sthand.exe program first. It is designed to help you
get going. For a directed setup use "1STHAND SETUP" and it
will guide you through the setup. The SETUP option in the
HOMENU does this for you automatically.
You may have already used HOHOSTIN to configure the host or
remote, and may prefer to bypass this paragraph. The first
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 2
thing is to ensure that the modem works with the software that
came with the modem. They are basically guaranteed to be
compatible. If/Once you know that they work together, steal
the settings from the original software (write them down or
print screen them) and transfer the values to HANDS ON. Start
up hohostin.exe and set it to match your recorded values.
(If you call your own number, hang up after the dialing is
completed so the phone company can call the phone.) If it
fails consider changing from port 1 to 2 or vice versa. If it
still fails after that check out the quick fixes below. If
you have arrived here during the HANDS ON installation
process, you can simply try dialing, and change the port
setting with hohostin if the call fails. Use hohostc.exe to
change the settings of software that is already running.
2 Operation - initial test driving.
This section 2 material is directly cut and pasted from the
HO.DOC manual. It CAN become outdated due to changes in
HO.DOC that are not repasted here. You will quickly discover
that Hands On's automatic menuing dialling and the like are
designed to be very open. For example, you normally use a
text editor to manage phone numbers, but you can use other
ways to dial numbers. There are two main reasons for this
openness:
A) many users only ever call one number and can include the
number with HODIAL and completely automate the entire
connection.
B) consultants have their own databases by client and phone
number that are likely to be used with a batch file to
automate dialling. Many people use variously named .HO setup
files. You can also use the TeleShare TSPHONE program for
this purpose.
Hands On requires more initial setup, and then provides a more
productive, and easier, low memory, usage than conventional
retail competitors.
7.1 Host Computer
First run the HOHOST program. If the Remote computer is to
originate the 'phone call, then this may be all that is
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 3
necessary. The HOMENU menu set has an option for this
startup.
If the host computer is to originate the call, then use the
command:
HODIAL or HODIAL number
depending on how the dialling format string was installed.
Again the HOMENU set allows you to dial via a menu choice,
once you have inserted your target phone numbers in the
PHONE.TEL file. The HOMENU provides an option for such phone
number editing.
Once HOHOST is resident and the call is established, the host
computer can be used normally. The only difference is that
everything that appears on the screen is also being repeated
on the Remote computer's screen.
The best way to remove HOHOST from memory is to run HOREMOVE.
The HOMENU set includes this option. It is also possible to
use utilities such as marknet/relnet. Note that some common
mark/release utilities can NOT be used, because they do not
restore the interrupt mask register. You will find the
RS232OFF.EXE program in the distribution, which can be used to
reset your machine's com ports.
7.2 Remote Computer
You can use an HOMENU option to start the REMOTE or:
Use the command: HO [use HO.HO configuration file]
or HO filename [use filename.HO configuration file]
If the Remote computer was to originate the call, then the
modem initialization string in the configuration file will
usually include a dial command to call the host computer.
If the host computer was to originate the call, then the
initialization string may contain an answer 'phone command.
Note that in this case it is important that the HANDS ON
program not be run until after the 'phone starts ringing!
(Alternatively, there may be no initialization string, but
instead there may be a trigger string to respond to RING from
the modem - see scenario A7.)
If the configuration file contains no modem initialization
string, then the user at the remote computer can enter modem
commands manually. This may be convenient for a consultant
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 4
wishing to dial many different clients. (Before carrier is
detected, HANDS ON will behave much like a normal
communications program.)
Once both HANDS ON and HOHOST are running and connected to
each other, they will automatically adjust the host computer's
"baud" rate (if this feature is enabled) and the host computer
will check the password provided by the Remote computer.
Provided the password is correct, the Remote computer will
effectively be able to take over the host computer, or
alternatively to observe whatever the host computer is doing.
Any key typed on the Remote computer will be acted upon by the
host computer, and anything that appears on the host
computer's screen will also appear on the Remote computer's
screen.
It is sometimes necessary to execute a command on the Remote
computer, rather than transmitting the keystroke to the host
computer. This is achieved by holding down some combination
of left shift, right shift, ctrl and alt all at the same time
(the exact combination is specified in the .HO file currently
in use). When you do this a list of all the possible commands
will be displayed, and you can then type the required command
key:
3 Quick Fixes - when the d**n thing doesn't work.
The most basic and common problems that you are likely to bump
into are related to the modem. The following advice should be
considered like a sandwich, with general advice like this
above and below and various likely materials in between.
Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications has a list of the most
common problems, which has been interpreted and amplified
below. Remember that modems are NOT completely standardized
and do NOT provide useful clues to less experienced users.
1) Call waiting has not been cancelled. You can often dial
70# or *70 or try setting both modems to ATS10=255 for a long
wait to bypass call waiting. Try such long delays if you are
using a cellular phone.
2) An external modem cable is bad or loose. Symptoms vary but
include behaviour that may lead you to check that ANSI.SYS is
installed.
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 5
3) The phone line is disconnected at the wall or the modem.
Test push the connections together. We know someone who took
days to realise that putting new insulation into the
building's walls wrecked the phone line extension.
4) The communications software is incorrectly setup. Try
N81. It has to be trying to work with the correct port,
preferably COM1 or COM2. Try changing ports. A fair number
of P.C.s cannot use COM3 or COM4 for communications (or
anything else that matters). See 10) below.
5) Modem switches or jumpers are incorrectly setup. Is the
modem switched on? (Our most common problem is leaving the
external modem turned off for the first call of the day).
6) The modem is competing with another device for a COM port.
No you cannot physically attach a mouse and a modem to the
same port, but you can do so with software. Test by
deactivating the mouse, or scanner, or whatever software it
might be. Look at the back of the machine to see what is
attached to which port.
7) Its the wrong type of cable. Sorry you cannot tell
visually. Direct connection and modem cables look alike, but
are wired differently. We're experts because we also use the
Little Big Lan network with serial connections (highly
recommended for basic networking).
8) Switches inside the computer are set incorrectly.
Conflicting computer interrupts can cause significant hair
loss in people trying to solve the problem. We supply the
RS232OFF.EXE to reset interrupts that have gone nuts (You just
type in "RS232OFF"). Yes, the original settings can all be
fine, but some other software zonks the interrupts. A common
example is Procomm which apparently resets more ports than
just the one it is using. Microsoft's MSD.exe program is
commonly available for interrupt checking.
9) There is a BIOS problem. AMI bios's have problems with
16550 chips. P. C. Softsmith has found common problems with
16550 chips user inserted into cards. Many cards are really
designed to work with older chips and do not let a 16550 chip
activate properly. Normal diagnostics (and technicians) will
pass everything, but a separate test will find the 16550
acting like an older chip. If you buy the card with a factory
inserted 16550, they should match and work fine. We can
supply, or you can download, software from a BBS that 'fixes'
the AMI bios to 16550 problem.
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 6
10) The software is incompatible with the modem. Their two
features sets fail to overlap in some crucial area. Try some
other software, even a simple dialer, to make sure you have
correctly isolated the problem. We find this problem when
people upgrade from something like a 2400 baud modem to a
14400, or return to using their spare 2400 baud modem. Change
the settings to match the modem.
11) The modem is broken or defective. We have found some
modems that overheat then gradually fail are very good tools
for detecting problems with telephone lines. Voice checking a
phone line does not indicate its condition for a modem, but
your 'phone company can likely check it remotely from their
office.
12) There are missing portions on the screen when running the
remote access software over 19200 baud. Use a tool like MSD
to check if the COM chips are 8250's, and upgrade to 16550's
if they are. Or slow down. Other software can also
interfere, so check your crop or fleet of resident or TSR
software and prune it judiciously. We generally find that we
can use Hands On at 38400 over any direct link including XT's
to 386's, but your situation will be different. We use 115200
baud daily between two development machines.
13) There are some manuals of various kinds included in the
default HANDS ON distribution. Some judicious grubbing about
will drag out a range of other tests and tools.
Try to get anything working, then steal its
settings/information for the other things that you want to get
running. If you have the system basically working, then keep
changing small portions out from the working core until they
work. As an example, we often just erase the setup file and
restart when a problem continues, then rebuild with
HOHOSTIN.EXE (which is available via 1sthand.exe if you
wish). Many problems disappear once everything is reset to
original defaults.
Above all smile and keep trying. Its a challenge not a
problem.
vic
Vic Williams
P. C. Softsmith ASP member/author
606 - 6455 Willingdon Ave (604) 433 - 5189
HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 7
Burnaby, B. C., Canada CIS 75020 2664
V5H 4E4 INTERNET:vic_williams@mindlink.bc.ca
