CD ROM Paradise Collection 4

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 / CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso / comms / ho5jx.zip / quick.doc < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-09-28 | 19KB | 458 lines

HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 1 This Product is Shareware, if you continue to use it at all Please Register and legalise your usage. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| Member September, 1994 This is the first EASY UP AND RUNNING release for Hands On. It is significantly smaller and easier to "get going" than previous releases. Try it. 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 This is a 'fallback' from the full setup. Try the full setup first, either from the HOMENU.BAT menus or by typing in "1STHAND 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. Hey, I like to know "whats going on" in any case, so my guess is that other people will like the idea too. 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 HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 2 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. The product is designed to be very customizable to meet your specific needs. 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 need to peruse the HO.DOC manual and tailor the final part of the installation to meet your needs. You may have already used HOHOSTIN to configure the host or remote, and may prefer to bypass this paragraph. The first 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. The automatic setup includes about 50 modems in its database, so you might look there for something close enough. (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. Peruse and configure HOMODSET.DAT with your text editor, then run HOMODSET. This not only sets the modem into a reasonable state for HANDS ON, but in doing so it will confirm (if everything is OK) or deny (if it reports an ERROR) that you have indeed selected the right address and interrupt for your modem. There is no point in proceeding further until HOMODSET will run and report everything OK. You can tinker with the settings in HOMODSET.DAT to customise your arrangements. For example "ATS0=0" will tell your modem to NEVER answer the phone. "ATS0=3" will tell it to answer on the third ring. Reinstall, or reconfigure, to another COM port with hohostin if it continues to report ERRORs. This ensures that you have the correct COM port and the modem correctly setup. 2 Operation - initial test driving. You will quickly discover that Hands On's automatic menuing HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 3 dialing and the like are designed to be very open. There are two main reasons for this openness: A) many users only ever call one number and can include the number in the particular .HO file or with HODIAL (for the Host) 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 dialing. Many people use variously named .HO setup files. You can also use the TeleShare TSPHONE menu/database 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 - and HOHOST Either use HOMENU or directly run the HOHOST program. If the Remote computer is to originate the 'phone call, then this may be all that is necessary. Although, its often useful to include an ATtention command "ATA\r" in the connect string to get the modem's attention. If the Host will originate the call then you might start HOHOST with a .HO file (HOHOST.HO is the default name) that contains a 'phone number in the connect string so that number will be dialed automatically. Or you can use the HODIAL to dial numbers. Third, you can select 1STHAND'S PHONE menu entry and you will be given some helpful options with F1 context sensitive help. This last choice is best if you will want to call more than one other number. The 1sthand scheme is designed more for the remote to call the host, but both directions work with the differences outlined in the on-line help. The 1sthand dialing scheme actually creates a MAKECALL.BAT batch file that the homenu automatically runs. So if you directly tell it to dial and it just quits, look for the makecall.bat that has been created and run that. This scheme allows you to integrate this capability into other software. 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 HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 4 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, if you drive the machine's settings wonky while playing around. If you are using passwords, then ensure they are EXACTLY the same on both ends. Try to avoid such 'extras' until you get up and running. 7.2 Remote Computer You can use an HOMENU option to start the REMOTE or: Use the command: HO [will 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 you want to call "Mike's" machine you can create a MIKE.HO setup file that contains configuration information including the phone number and password for that specific connection. You would then use "HO MIKE" to call that machine. Use the PHONE menu selection for this kind of easy .HO file setup, and when you want to be able to call more than one other number. 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! (You might try just adding the "ATA\r" to the initialization string just to see what happens (the modem whines a lot).) A MUCH better way is to have a blank initialization string, and include a trigger string to respond to RING from the modem - A sample trigger string for the bottom of a .HO file follows: "RING" "ATA\r" "" 40000 This can be translated as follows: When the modem finds somebody calling it transmits a "RING" that the Hands On software detects and answers with the "ATA\r" string. The next "" is a blank follow-up response. The 40000 is a delay factor. For more information see scenario A7 in HO.DOC. HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 5 If the configuration file contains no modem initialization string, then the user at the remote computer can enter modem commands manually. (You would type in 'ATA' then tap Enter/Return) This is an alternate scheme for a consultant wishing to dial many different clients. (Before carrier is detected, HANDS ON behaves 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. Once again, run HOMODSET, as described above, then consider if: 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 HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 6 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. 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. Try another COM 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 HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 7 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. 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. HANDS ON Quick Start and Quick Fixes Page 8 vic Vic Williams P. C. Softsmith ASP member/author 606 - 6455 Willingdon Ave (604) 433 - 5189 Burnaby, B. C., Canada CIS 75020,2664 V5H 4E4 INTERNET:vic_williams@mindlink.bc.ca