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From cmg Thu Jan 14 11:57:46 1993
Return-Path: <cmg>
Received: by watsun.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB/jba)
id AA26555; Thu, 14 Jan 93 11:57:46 EST
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 11:57:43 EST
From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V17 #1
Reply-To: Info-Kermit@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Queries-To: Info-Kermit-Request@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
Errors-To: Info-Kermit-Request@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Message-Id: <CMM.0.90.4.727030663.cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Info-Kermit Digest Thu, 14 Jan 1993 Volume 17 : Number 1
Today's Topics:
StarGROUP Patch for MS-DOS Kermit 3.12
MS-DOS Kermit, COM3, COM4, and Internal Modems
Digest submissions may be sent to Info-Kermit@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU or
KERMIT@CUVMA.BITNET. Requests for addition to or deletion from the
Info-Kermit subscriber list should be sent to LISTSERV@CUVMA.BITNET or
LISTSERV@CUVMA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU. These messages must be of the form:
SUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT <your-personal-name> (To start a subscription)
UNSUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT (To cancel a subscription)
REGISTER I$KERMIT <your-personal-name> (To correct your name)
Kermit files may be obtained over networks and by mail order. On the
Internetwork, use FTP to log in to host WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU, a SUN-4/280
running UNIX (SUNOS 4.1), IP host number 128.59.39.2. Login as user anonymous
(note, lower case), any password, and GET or MGET (MULTIPLE GET) the desired
files. The file kermit/read.me is a general guide to where things are. The
Kermit files are in directories kermit/a, kermit/b, kermit/c, kermit/d, and
kermit/e. Test versions are in kermit/test. All files in these directories
should be transferred in text (ASCII) mode. Binaries are in kermit/bin (use
ftp in binary mode). All files on watsun have lowercase names, and case is
significant.
You can also get Kermit files over the BITNET/EARN network; to get started
send a message with text HELP to KERMSRV, the Kermit file server, at host
CUVMA. For detailed instructions, read the file kermit/a/aanetw.hlp
(AANETW.HLP on KERMSRV). To order by mail, request a complete list of Kermit
versions and an order form from Kermit Distribution, Columbia University
Center for Computing Activities, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025
USA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 11:30:00 EST
>From: Christine M. Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: StarGROUP Patch for MS-DOS Kermit 3.12
Keywords: StarGROUP, MS-DOS Kermit 3.12, Patches for MS-DOS Kermit
>From Joe Doupnik, author of MS-DOS Kermit: Patches 11 and 12 to cure a bug
that caused AT&T StarGROUP network connections to be lost after shelling to
DOS (RUN, PUSH, etc). The updated patch file is in kermit/a/mskermit.pch on
watsun, MSKERMIT PCH on KERMSRV. Copy it to the same directory where you
keep your MSKERMIT.INI file, and make sure there is a PATCH command at the
top of your MSKERMIT.INI file.
Remember, MS-DOS Kermit patch files only work with the binary KERMIT.EXE
(MSVIBM.EXE) distributed by Columbia University; they will not work with
versions that you have built yourself from source code, or that have been
modified in any manner.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 11:40:00 EST
>From: Frank da Cruz <fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: MS-DOS Kermit, COM3, COM4, and Internal Modems
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit and COM3 and COM4
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit and Internal Modems
Keywords: Modems and MS-DOS Kermit, COM3/COM4 and MS-DOS Kermit
With the arrival of the new breed of low-cost high-speed internal modems have
come ever-increasing numbers of queries about how to use them with MS-DOS
Kermit, especially on COM3 or COM4. With the help of Joe Doupnik (author of
MS-DOS Kermit) and John Klensin at MIT, we have put together what I hope will
be a useful guide to this complicated topic. This text has also been added
to the MSKERM.BWR file.
TROUBLESHOOTING MS-DOS KERMIT SERIAL PORT AND MODEM PROBLEMS
"Why can't MS-DOS Kermit find my COM3 or COM4 port?"
"Why can Kermit send characters to my COM port, but not read them?"
"Why doesn't Kermit work with my internal modem?"
First, rule out the obvious: Is everything connected and turned on? Did you
give a SET PORT command for the right device, and did you give it BEFORE any
other device-related commands, such as SET SPEED and SET PARITY? Remember,
port-related settings apply to the port that was selected in the most recent
SET PORT command, so a proper sequence would be, for example:
SET PORT COM2 ; First select the port you want to use.
SET SPEED 19200 ; Then set the desired speed on the selected port,
SET PARITY EVEN ; and other parameters for this port, such as parity,
SET FLOW RTS/CTS ; flow control,
SET LOCAL-ECHO OFF ; and CONNECT-mode echoing.
Each of these parameters is remembered for each port, so switching ports (e.g.
SET PORT COM1 after you have given the above sequence of commands) switches
all of these parameters to their previous (or default) values for the port you
have switched to.
To see the current port-related parameters, type the MS-DOS Kermit command:
SHOW COMMUNICATIONS
This displays all the relevant information about your currently selected
communication device, which is COM1 by default. Check the settings carefully
to be sure they are what you intended.
* * * *
The following discussion, which applies to MS-DOS Kermit versions 3.11 and
3.12, is detailed and technical, but most of it boils down to (a) installing
a patch; (b) telling Kermit two numbers, the port address and IRQ value; and
(c) fiddling with your modem. Keep that in mind as you read more about PC
hardware than you ever wanted to know.
HOW A PHYSICAL COMMUNICATION PORT IS ASSOCIATED WITH A DOS COMn DEVICE
DOS PCs come with full support for two communication ports, COM1 and COM2, but
with provisions for at least two more, COM3 and COM4. The basic problem with
COM3 and COM4 is that they are not well (or consistently) supported in most
types of PCs, as are COM1 and COM2 which rarely (by themselves) cause any
problems. This discussion considers only COM1-COM4, since higher-numbered COM
ports are rare, and in any case are not presently supported by MS-DOS Kermit.
The digit in the port name is an index into an area in memory that contains
the address of the serial port hardware. The BIOS (the PC's Basic Input/Ouput
System) has four words reserved starting at segment 40 (hexadecimal), word 0,
to hold the addresses of the first four COM ports. Word 0 defines COM1, word
2 (two bytes per word) defines COM2, word 4 COM3, and word 6 COM4. To view
these addresses:
C:\> debug (start the debug program)
-d 40:0 (display segment 40)
-q (quit the debug program)
("C:\>" is the DOS prompt, "-" is the debug prompt.) Here are the results
of this operation on a PS/2 with 3 COM ports:
0040:0000 F8 03 F8 02 20 32 00 00-BC 03 00 00 00 00 60 03 .... 2........`.
0040:0010 65 46 00 80 02 00 00 20-00 00 38 00 38 00 3E 34 eF..... ..8.8.>4
0040:0020 20 39 78 2D 2E 34 78 2D-0D 1C 64 20 20 39 34 05 9x-.4x-..d 94.
0040:0030 30 0B 3A 27 30 0B 0D 1C-75 16 67 22 20 39 00 00 0.:'0...u.g" 9..
0040:0040 0A 00 C3 00 00 00 00 00-00 03 50 00 00 10 00 00 ..........P.....
0040:0050 00 18 00 00 00 00 00 00-00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
0040:0060 0E 0D 00 D4 03 29 22 76-07 35 18 FF F9 C8 0F 00 .....)"v.5......
0040:0070 00 00 34 12 00 01 00 00-14 14 14 20 01 01 01 01 ..4........ ....
The first line contains the COM port information (ignore the other lines, as
well as the funny characters on the right). "F8 03" is the 2-byte COM1
address, expressed in hexadecimal (base 16) with the low byte shown first.
Thus the actual COM1 address is 03F8 hex, which is expressed in Kermit
commands as \x03f8. The COM2 address is 02F8, the COM3 address is 3220, and
(since there is no COM4) the COM4 address is 0000. That is how both DOS and
the BIOS (and hence many communication programs, including Kermit) understand
which ports are defined, and where to find them.
When your PC is powered up, the BIOS startup code checks for serial port
hardware (that is, a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter, or UART) at
the two port addresses 03F8 and 02F8. If it finds a UART at the first address
then that address is placed in word 40:0 and declared to be COM1. Then the
BIOS tries the second address and if successful this address goes into the
first available word at that time, typically 40:2 as the address of COM2.
Thus if you remove a COM1 device then a previously COM2 device will appear in
the COM1 Bios storage area and become COM1 to DOS and Kermit. What happens to
the other two words depends on the PC model and BIOS. The IBM PS/2 BIOS fills
in all four words on startup, but most others (there are exceptions) handle
only the first two because that's how IBM did it with the original PCs.
So... just setting switches or jumpers on a serial port board or
internal modem does NOT define the board to be a particular COM port.
Why, then, do some communication programs work with COM3 and COM4 without any
special fiddling? The answer is that these programs ASSUME that COM3 and COM4
are found at certain addresses, even when there are no entries in segment 40,
the BIOS communication-port area. Some of these programs show you their
assumptions in a menu (and might allow you to change them), others do not.
The assumed values are usually as follows:
Port Assumed Address (hexadecimal)
COM1 03F8
COM2 02F8
COM3 03E8
COM4 02E8
NOTE: PS/2s use different addresses for COM3 and COM4 -- 3220 and 3228,
respectively, but these addresses are installed by the BIOS into segment 40
when the PS/2 is started, so well-behaved communication software (like
Kermit) will use these addresses rather than the defaults listed above.
Ill-behaved software will ignore the segment-40 addresses and erroneously
attempt to use its own values, which, with luck, might be correct but, more
likely, will not work, or at worst, can disrupt normal operation of your PC.
Unchecked use of an assumed port address is DANGEROUS if the device is not
really where the software expects, but the software goes ahead and uses the
address anyway, in particular if some other type of device, say a network
adapter, is at the given address. It can also produce unwanted conflicts
under Windows, OS/2, and DesqView, whose drivers often set the port's
segment-40 word to zero when they want to use the port exclusively and without
interference, and then restore the real address when they are done, and
similar unwanted interference with Int 14H redirectors that allow serial-port
communication software to be used on network connections.
Unlike most other PC communication software, Kermit will NOT attempt to use a
communications port unless:
(a) It finds its address in the BIOS comm-port area, segment 40, or:
(b) You specify the address yourself
AND:
The device at the given address passes certain tests, in which registers
(addresses related to the port's base address) contain certain values that
are legitimate for a UART.
In other words, KERMIT IS MORE CAREFUL than most other communication software,
because does not want to chance disrupting normal operation of (or damaging)
your PC.
SPECIFYING THE PORT ADDRESS
If you tell MS-DOS Kermit to SET PORT COMn (where n is 1, 2, 3, or 4), and
Kermit responds:
Warning, no hardware for this serial port.
This port will be operated through the BIOS as BIOSn
it means that Kermit did not find an address for the port in the BIOS area or
it did find one but the hardware at that address did not look like an IBM-PC
compatible UART. If the cause of the message is a missing address, you can
tell MS-DOS Kermit the address of the port by issuing the following command:
SET COMn \xhhhh
where n is 1, 2, 3, or 4, and hhhh are four hexadecimal digits (0-9, A-F)
representing the 16-bit address. This command not only informs Kermit of the
address, but also inserts the address into the appropriate word in segment 40
so other programs can find the port (assuming they follow the rules), and so
you don't have to give this command to Kermit again until after the next time
you reboot.
After giving the SET COMn command, give a SET PORT COMn command for the same
port. The SET COMn command must come first, then the SET PORT COMn command,
as in this example for COM3:
set com3 \x3f8 ; Specify the address of COM3
set port com3 ; Select COM3
How do you know what addresses to give? Suppose you have purchased an
internal modem or an add-on serial port and you want to install it as a
particular COM port, say COM3. The installation instructions for your device
will tell you how to do this. The device must be configured -- generally by
setting little switches or installing or removing jumpers. The manual should
tell you the address for each COM port. You have to make sure that the
address that you have configured for the device agrees with the address that
Kermit will use.
Although it is not recommended that you guess at address values, sometimes it
is the only way (as often with inherited equipment), for which occasions here
is a list of the addresses commonly used for serial ports and internal modems:
Port Likely Addresses (hexadecimal)
COM1 03F8
COM2 02F8
COM3 03E8, 3220
COM4 02E8, 3228, 02E0
It is relatively unlikely that you will find a serial port at any address not
listed above, but you might find a port at another port's expected address.
The use of these addresses in SET COMn commands should be relatively harmless
(provided you don't also specify an interrupt, explained later); if there is
no error message, Kermit found a possibly usable port. If there is an error
message, no harm should have been done.
Now let's look at the other cause for the "This port will be operated through
the BIOS" message, namely that an address was found in segment 40, but the
device at that address does not appear to be a genuine serial port. Why would
this happen? There are several possible explanations, including:
1. The device is at a different address. Check your device's configuration
again, or else your SET COMn command.
2. Your device is indeed at the given address, but its registers do not
contain values expected of a true PC serial port. In that case, BIOS
operation is the only alternative.
3. Your device is at the given address, but there is a conflict with another
device at that address or the machine's bus speed (not CPU speed) is set
so high that the hardware test gave confusing results.
When Kermit operates a port through the BIOS, rather than directly, it will
be MUCH slower and might not work at all because the BIOS requires the CD,
CTS, and DSR modem signals to be asserted by the device connected to the port
(and the CD signal is normally and by default NOT asserted by a modem before
it has made a connection to another modem). In that case, you will have to
configure the device (e.g. modem) to assert DSR, CTS, and CD always, or wire
your modem cable to fake these signals (e.g. by cross-connecting them to DTR).
Assuming you have found the right address for your COM3 or COM4 port (or
nonstandard address for COM1 or COM2), and you want these addresses to be set
correctly for Kermit at all times, even if it doesn't read its initialization
file, you can put a command like the following in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
set kermit=com3 \x3e8; com4 \x2e8;
If you want the addresses to be set correctly in the BIOS communications area,
so all applications (not just Kermit), can find the ports, put a line like
this in your AUTOEXEC.BAT (substituting the appropriate ports and addresses):
kermit -f nul, set com3 \x3e8, set com4 \x2e8
INTERRUPTS
"I can send characters to the modem, but I never see any on my screen."
This common complaint (often arising from the user's observation of the modem
lights and speaker), also known as "can-talk-but-not-listen syndrome",
usually means that the communication device was found at the expected address,
but Kermit's idea of its interrupt is wrong. What's an interrupt?
To achieve high-speed communication without interfering with other
applications, Kermit reads characters from a serial device using "interrupts".
Whenever a character arrives at the serial device, the device sends a signal,
called an interrupt, that may be "caught" by application software such as
Kermit, leaving the application free to do other work in the meantime without
having to constantly look at the serial port to see if any characters have
arrived (an operation called "polling", which is used by some of the other
communications programs). Communications programs that use polling are not
sensitive to interrupts being set properly and may therefore work with
improperly-configured machines where Kermit will not (unless you give it the
required information), but they also tend to take over the entire computer.
In contrast to polling programs, Kermit is normally waiting for input from the
keyboard, and is therefore idle if you are not typing and no characters are
arriving at the communication port. In multi-tasking environments such as
Windows or OS/2, this allows other applications the largest possible share of
the CPU while Kermit is running.
When a character arrives at the port, an interrupt signals Kermit to wake up
from its keyboard-wait state and read the character from the port. But Kermit
needs a way of knowing which device the interrupt came from, so it will not
erroneously read characters from the wrong one. The device is identified by
an Interrupt Request (IRQ) number, a small integer like 3 or 4. The BIOS does
not record the IRQ number used by a serial port because the BIOS uses polling
rather than interrupts for serial port input and output. Thus the
communications software has to know which IRQ to use. By convention from the
original IBM PC, COM1 uses IRQ 4 and COM2 uses IRQ 3. There is no standard
for COM3 and above, but certain conventions are normally followed:
Port PS/2 Others
COM3 IRQ3 IRQ4
COM4 IRQ3 IRQ3
WARNING: Certain serial port cards and internal modems allow
themselves to be configured with different IRQ numbers (such as 9),
even on COM1 or COM2. Check your device's installation instructions.
Some types of PCs (PS/2s, for example) allow sharing of IRQ numbers,
provided each application has its own interrupt service routine and each such
routine is built to chain interrupts properly (i.e. pass them along to other
applications if they have arrived at the wrong place). This works, for
example, with Kermit on a PS/2; you can run two copies of Kermit under
Microsoft Windows, one using COM2/IRQ3 and the other using COM3/IRQ3 (i.e. two
ports, same IRQ), both doing input and output simultaneously with no
confusion. On most types of PCs, however, IRQs can NOT be shared, and
therefore each device must have a unique IRQ number. This caution applies
especially when you have a serial mouse on IRQ 3 or 4.
Once Kermit knows the address of a COM port, it tests to see which IRQ number,
3 or 4, the device uses. This is a safe test and does not cause any modem
signaling or communication to take place. The PC architecture has a limited
range of IRQ numbers available, and so (usually) there can not be a unique IRQ
number for each serial port when there are more than two. This results in the
common limitation that no more than two serial ports can be active at once.
MS-DOS Kermit 3.12 and earlier test first for IRQ4, and then if there is no
response, IRQ3. If both tests fail, a default value is used (on PS/2s, the
default is IRQ4 for COM1 and IRQ3 for COM2-4; on others is it is IRQ4 for
COM1 and COM3, IRQ3 for COM2 and COM4). No error message is given in this
case, but "can-talk-but-not-listen syndrome" is a likely result.
Some add-on communication boards or internal modems are set up to use IRQ
numbers other than 3 or 4 in order to avoid conflicts with COM1 or COM2 and/or
to allow more than two COM ports to be active at once. But this can be
dangerous -- for example, IRQ 5 (which is sometimes used for this purpose) is
also used by the hard disk controller on the PC/XT. IRQ 7 is often used by
network boards. For this reason, Kermit does not automatically test any IRQ
numbers other than 3 or 4, and does not use any other IRQ number by default.
But it is sometimes necessary, particularly on ISA (Industry Standard
Architecture) bus machines (PC/ATs and compatibles) and earlier (such as PCs
and XTs) to use an IRQ other than 3 or 4, for example when when an internal
modem is installed as COM3 on IRQ4, and then use of COM1 prevents COM3 from
working, and vice versa. This problem can often be solved by reconfiguring
the board to use an otherwise unused unique IRQ number. Ideally this would be
a normally free IRQ such as 10 or 11, but unfortunately most communication
boards are not configurable for IRQs higher than 7. Here is a brief, and
definitely not comprehensive, guide to the low IRQ numbers (with IRQ numbers
expressed in decimal):
2 Normally available, but some video boards use it to obey an obsolete
standard for indicating vertical refresh. Adjust video board jumpers
to not do this. On 286's and above IRQ 2 is also known as IRQ 9:
same IRQ, alternate number. Windows 3.0 had difficulty with devices
using IRQ 2, but Windows 3.1 is better.
3 Normally COM2 and COM4. PS/2's use IRQ 3 for all serial ports above
COM1. IRQ3 is also a favorite "factory default" of many local area
network (LAN) adapters.
4 Normally COM1 and informally COM3 (except on PS/2s).
5 Secondary parallel port. Parallel ports are rarely interrupt-driven
(except for Novell RPRINTER users) so this wire becomes free if
you unjumper the IRQ on the parallel port board. LAN adapters are
frequently placed on IRQ 5. PC/XTs use IRQ 5 for the hard disk. Be
careful with this one.
6 Floppy disk drives. Leave it alone!
7 Primary parallel port. Remove as described for IRQ 5. Be careful,
LAN adapters are frequently placed here.
9 Alias for IRQ 2.
10 Usually free.
11 Usually free.
12 Used by the IBM bus mouse, otherwise usually free.
13 QEMM traps math coprocessor errors here, otherwise frequently free.
14 Used by hard disk on 286 and above. Leave alone!
15 Some SCSI controllers use this. Usually free.
If your communication board uses an IRQ other than 3 or 4, you will experience
the "can talk but not listen" syndrome when using Kermit. To force Kermit to
both talk AND listen to the device, you must inform Kermit of the device's IRQ
number. This is done in the SET COMn command, after the address:
SET COMn <address> <irq>
for example:
SET COM3 \x03e8 5
When you include a number (like 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7) after the port address
(separated by a space), Kermit will skip its IRQ test and use the IRQ number
you have specified when you next give a SET PORT command for that port.
PLEASE NOTE that you MUST AVOID address and IRQ conflicts; these items
MUST NOT overlap existing equipment. SERIOUS DAMAGE can result if, for
example, the IRQ number you give is the same as the one used by your
disk controller or network adapter. Incorrect operation can result if
the interrupt is in use by a less critical device, such as a mouse.
It is necessary to specify the IRQ number in either of these two situations:
1. The communication device uses an IRQ number other than 3 or 4.
2. Kermit's IRQ test interferes with Windows or a similar environment,
and therefore must be skipped.
Check your PC's configuration carefully before specifying an IRQ number.
Before starting Kermit, you can use certain public domain or commercial
utilities, such as MAPMEM, Northgate QAPLUS, Quarterdeck MFT, or the MSD
utility shipped with Windows 3.1 to get an idea of which IRQ numbers are
already in use (these utilities are, of course, not foolproof -- for example,
they can't tell what IRQs are used by programs that are not presently loaded).
If, even after establishing the device's interrupt correctly, Kermit still
fails to operate correctly (or reliably), check to see whether:
1. Some other device (such as a mouse or LAN adapter) is generating the
same interrupt.
2. Some other software (such as a mouse driver) is catching the same
interrupt.
If you find a conflict, take whatever means are at your disposal to remove it:
remove the offending device driver or TSR from your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT
file, or turn it off temporarily (e.g. with the MOUSE OFF command for certain
mouse drivers); or reconfigure one of the conflicting devices to use a
different interrupt.
PROBLEMS WITH MODEMS
"I just bought and installed an XYZ V-Dot-Everything internal modem, and
it works with <name-deleted> and <name-deleted> communication packages,
but it doesn't work with Kermit".
This has long been a common complaint about internal modems. The same
complaint is also now being heard with alarming frequency about some of the
newer external modems.
With internal modems, particularly when they are installed on COM3 or COM4,
the most common problems are:
1. Kermit does not know the modem's address, or the device is using an IRQ
number other than 3 or 4. These problems can be fixed by giving the
appropriate SET COMn command to Kermit.
2. The internal modem is installed incorrectly, with an address or IRQ that
conflicts with one already in use on your PC.
3. The internal modem does not correctly emulate a real IBM PC serial port,
and therefore fails Kermit's hardware test, and therefore can only be
used through the BIOS.
4. The device is in a laptop, notebook, or palmtop computer, and power to
the internal modem or serial port has been disabled in the CMOS setup,
or has been turned off automatically when the cover is closed or the
machine shut down.
In recent months (beginning about mid-1992) a new generation of low-cost,
high-speed modems, both internal and external, began to appear on the market.
These modems typically offer a wide range of features: V.32 and V.32bis
modulation, V.42 and MNP error correction, V.42bis and MNP data compression,
etc. Unfortunately, many of these modems suffer from bugs not found in
earlier (and usually more expensive) modems. The problems are generally
related to initialization of the modem and interaction with its command
processor. Some common complaints:
1. An internal modem does not work at all; the modem becomes nonoperational
as soon as Kermit attempts to access it. The cause has been traced to the
fact that Kermit's initialization of the modem's UART is "too fast" for
some of these new modems. (This same initialization sequence has been
used for nearly a decade with no problems, and still works on the
well-known and reputable brands of internal modems.)
2. "Kermit won't dial or respond to modem commands". The modem ignores
dialing or other commands from Kermit. Or the modem ignores commands when
Kermit's PARITY is set to a particular value, like EVEN. Or commands are
not processed correctly above a certain interface speed.
3. "I can dial successfully, and in general send characters to and through
the modem, but I never get any characters back." This looks suspiciously
like the "talk-but-not-listen" problem, but in some cases it is a bug in,
or a configuration problem with, the modem, having nothing to do with
Kermit: the modem is simply not sending any characters to the PC.
4. "After using the modem with <name-omitted> communication software, it
also works with Kermit, but it won't work with Kermit unless I run
<name-omitted> first."
And so on. All of these are modem, not Kermit, problems. Here are some
suggestions for overcoming them:
1. Slow the UART-initialization sequence. This is accomplished by patch #11
to MS-DOS Kermit 3.11 and patch #10 to version 3.12. These patches have
been tested successfully on several of the misbehaving modems. Get the
patch file for your version of Kermit (3.11 or 3.12). The patch files are
in kermit/a/msr311.pch and kermit/a/msr312.pch on watsun.cc.columbia.edu
on the Internet, available via anonymous FTP. Rename the file to
MSKERMIT.PCH and put in the same directory as your MSKERMIT.INI file, and
start Kermit again. At the MS-Kermit> prompt, give a VERSION command to
make sure the patches were installed. If not, give a PATCH command (or,
better still, make sure that PATCH is the first command in your
MSKERMIT.INI file, and that your MSKERMIT.INI file is in your DOS PATH so
Kermit will always execute it).
2. External modems only: Check that your modem cable has wires for (at least)
the TD, RD, SG, CTS, RTS, DSR, CD, and DTR RS-232 signals. If it does
not, replace the cable with a real modem cable, or (temporarily) configure
your modem to compensate for the missing signals.
3. Read your modem manual and check your modem's configuration. Perhaps its
interface speed is locked to a different speed than the one Kermit is
using. Perhaps it is set to use hardware flow control, but Kermit is not.
Also, check its factory and/or saved settings, and under what conditions
they are restored (for example, are they restored when the PC drops DTR?).
How are you selecting saved settings -- read your modem manual about (for
example) the difference between AT&F and AT&F2. Be aware that the AT&Fn
commands might not restore all S-registers, so double check them. Be
particularly sensitive to the registers that control interface speed,
modulation technique, error correction, data compression, negotiation, and
fallback, and note that each modem maker probably uses different registers
and commands to control each of these features.
4. Try the following sequence to initialize the port (using COM3 in this
example):
SET COM3 <address> <irq> ; (if necessary)
SET PORT 3 ; Select port 3
HANGUP ; Drop DTR on port 3
SET PORT 3 ; Re-initialize port 3
5. SET PARITY NONE when talking to the modem, and then set parity to
whatever the remote host or service requires after making the connection.
(WARNING: MS-DOS Kermit might set its parity to some other value
automatically as a result of automatic parity detection during file
transfer.)
6. Ensure that your PC bus speed is 8MHz. Some PCs (not PS/2s) come with
a BIOS SETUP facility that lets you change the PC's bus speed, memory wait
states, etc. In general, it is dangerous to deviate from the defaults,
particularly from the 8MHz bus speed, which is a standard for add-on
devices, and might be required by your communication board or internal
modem.
7. Modify HAYES.SCR, or whatever dialing script you are using, to take
extraordinary measures to ensure the modem is in command mode, and to send
its initialization commands very slowly and to try them repeatedly. For
example, change "output ATQ0V1X1\13" to something like this (note: the
modem-related commands shown here are all relatively portable -- you might
also need additional modem-specific commands, such as AT&F2 to load a
particular configuration, or specific S-register settings affecting speed,
flow control, modulation, fallback, etc.):
WAIT 1 DSR ; See if modem is asserting Data Set Ready
IF FAIL FATAL -
{No DSR signal: Is your modem connected and turned on\63}
SET PARITY NONE ; Use no parity
SET COUNT 5 ; Try 5 times to initialize
:INIT
HANGUP ; Modem is connected - hang up on it.
CLEAR ; Clear Kermit's input buffer.
OUTPUT \B ; Send a BREAK.
PAUSE ; Wait a second.
OUTPUT \17 ; Send a Ctrl-Q in case modem is Xoff'd.
PAUSE 2 ; Wait two seconds.
OUTPUT + ; Send the most likely escape sequence,
OUTPUT + ; which is "+++" with at least a second of
OUTPUT + ; "silence" before and after.
PAUSE 2 ; ...
OUTPUT \13 ; Send a carriage return.
PAUSE ; Wait a second.
OUTPUT A ; Send an A.
PAUSE ; Wait another second.
OUTPUT T ; Send a T.
PAUSE ; Wait another second.
OUTPUT \13 ; Send a carriage return.
PAUSE ; Wait a second.
CLEAR ; Clear away echo and response.
OUTPUT A ; Send initialization command.
OUTPUT T ; One character at a time...
PAUSE
OUTPUT Q ; Q0 = Result codes enabled
OUTPUT 0
OUTPUT V ; V1 = Word result codes
OUTPUT 1
OUTPUT X ; X1 = Dial response level
OUTPUT 1
OUTPUT \13 ; Carriage return terminates the command
PAUSE
INPUT 3 OK ; Wait for OK response.
IF SUCCESS GOTO INITOK ; Got one.
IF COUNT GOTO INIT ; Didn't, try again.
ECHO Failure to initialize modem. ; No more tries.
STOP 1 ; Fail.
:INITOK
If this doesn't work, insert a PAUSE command after each OUTPUT command
or run the script at a lower speed.
8. Dial at a lower speed. Make your interface speed match the modulation
speed -- e.g. use 9600 for V.32, 2400 for V.22bis, etc. Turn off fancy
modem options like error correction and compression. etc etc. NOTE:
connection problems between the two modems have nothing to do with Kermit
and are beyond the scope of this document. If a modem appears to dial
correctly, gets connection tones, and then hangs up, it is undoubtedly a
problem between the two modems (involving one modem, both modems, and/or
the phone company), and indicates a modem configuration problem, a bug,
or a basic incompatibility between the calling and answering modems.
9. Call your modem maker's technical support number. Ask if they have
replacement chips to fix bugs in your modem.
------------------------------
End of Info-Kermit Digest
*************************
From cmg Thu Feb 25 15:22:07 1993
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Received: by watsun.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB/jba)
id AA25183; Thu, 25 Feb 93 15:22:07 EST
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 93 15:22:02 EST
From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V17 #2
Reply-To: Info-Kermit@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Queries-To: Info-Kermit-Request@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
Errors-To: Info-Kermit-Request@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Message-Id: <CMM.0.90.4.730671722.cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Info-Kermit Digest Thu, 25 Feb 1993 Volume 17 : Number 2
Today's Topics:
New Kermit Books
C-Kermit 5A News
A New Release of Kermit for CTOS and BTOS
Pitfall of FULLSCREEN mode for Kermit-370 under TSO and CICS
New Packet Drivers
Gold Key Utility for MS-DOS Kermit
Kermit Download versus Append
Query: Using MS-DOS Kermit with PC Anywhere
Digest submissions may be sent to Info-Kermit@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU or
KERMIT@CUVMA.BITNET. Requests for addition to or deletion from the
Info-Kermit subscriber list should be sent to LISTSERV@CUVMA.BITNET or
LISTSERV@CUVMA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU. These messages must be of the form:
SUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT <your-personal-name> (To start a subscription)
UNSUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT (To cancel a subscription)
REGISTER I$KERMIT <your-personal-name> (To correct your name)
Kermit files may be obtained over networks and by mail order. On the
Internetwork, use FTP to log in to host WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU, a SUN-4/280
running UNIX (SUNOS 4.1), IP host number 128.59.39.2. Login as user anonymous
(note, lower case), any password, and GET or MGET (MULTIPLE GET) the desired
files. The file kermit/read.me is a general guide to where things are. The
Kermit files are in directories kermit/a, kermit/b, kermit/c, kermit/d, and
kermit/e. Test versions are in kermit/test. All files in these directories
should be transferred in text (ASCII) mode. Binaries are in kermit/bin (use
ftp in binary mode). All files on watsun have lowercase names, and case is
significant.
You can also get Kermit files over the BITNET/EARN network; to get started
send a message with text HELP to KERMSRV, the Kermit file server, at host
CUVMA. For detailed instructions, read the file kermit/a/aanetw.hlp
(AANETW.HLP on KERMSRV). To order by mail, request a complete list of Kermit
versions and an order form from Kermit Distribution, Columbia University
Academic Information Systems, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025
USA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 93 12:00:00 EST
>From: Frank da Cruz <fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: New Kermit Books
Keywords: Kermit Books, "Books, Kermit", MS-DOS Kermit Book, C-Kermit Book
Keywords: German Kermit Book, French Kermit Book, Japanese Kermit Book
Publication of "Using C-Kermit" is now complete. All back orders, whether
to DECdirect or Columbia University, will be filled as quickly as
possible. Once again, the C-Kermit book -- for UNIX, (Open)VMS, OS/2,
AOS/VS, OS-9, the Commodore Amiga, and the Atari ST -- is:
Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, "Using C-Kermit", Digital Press,
Burlington, MA, 1993, 514 pages.
Order Number: EY-J896E-DP
Digital Press ISBN: 1-55558-108-0
Prentice Hall ISBN: 0-13-037490-3
To order (in the USA) call DECdirect toll-free 1-800-344-4825;
major credit cards accepted. Overseas, order through your bookstore, your
local Digital Equipment Corporation branch, or from Columbia University
(send e-mail to kermit@columbia.edu for further info).
And in other news...
"Using MS-DOS Kermit" has been translated to French by Jean Dutertre and
published in France:
Christine M. Gianone, "Kermit MS-DOS Mode d'Emploi", Heinz Schiefer &
Cie., Versailles (1993), 406 pages. Packaged with version 3.11 of MS-DOS
Kermit for the IBM PC, PS/2, and compatibles on a 5.25-inch diskette.
ISBN 2-901143-20-2. Heinz Schiefer & Cie., 45 rue Henri de Regnier,
F-78000 Versailles. Tel. +33 13 021 55 05, Fax. +33 13 902 3971.
The French edition joins the German translation by Gisbert W. Selke, and
published by Verlag Heinz Heise, Hannover, in 1991 (and recently reprinted),
listed here again for completeness:
Christine M. Gianone, "MS-DOS Kermit, das universelle
Kommunikationsprogramm", Verlag Heinz Heise, Hannover, Germany (1991), 414
pages. Packaged with version 3.11 of MS-DOS Kermit for the IBM PC, PS/2,
and compatibles on a 5.25-inch diskette, including German-language help
files. Price: DM 69,00. ISBN 3-88229-006-4. Verlag Heinz Heise GmbH &
Co. KG, Helstorfer Strasse 7, D-3000 Hannover. Tel. +49 (05 11) 53 52-0,
Fax. +49 (05 11) 53 53-1 29.
And in Japan, Hirofumi Fujii has co-authored a new book on MS-DOS Kermit:
Dr. Hirofumi Fujii and Mrs. Fukuko Yuasa, "MS-Kermit Nyumon", Computer
Today, Saiensu-Sha Co., Ltd., publishers (1993), 160 pages.
Publisher's address: 2-6, Kanda Suda-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101, Japan.
ISBN 4-7819-0669-9 C3355 P1854E. Tel. +813 256-1091.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 93 12:00:00 EST
>From: Frank da Cruz <fdc@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: C-Kermit 5A News
Keywords: C-Kermit 5A, OS/2 Kermit, AOS/VS Kermit, SIO.SYS, QNX
Keywords: OS-9 Kermit, Altos, Cray, Fortune, Harris Night Hawk, AIX, ICL
Keywords: Intergraph, Clipper, Linux, SCO, SunOS, Solaris
New binaries have been installed for Data General AOS/VS C-Kermit and
IBM OS/2 C-Kermit. Minor (but different) changes were made in the
system-dependent i/o support routines for each version to speed them up.
The AOS/VS speedup occurs during command mode: the output of messages, help
text, menus, and so forth. The OS/2 speedup occurs during terminal emulation
and file transfer. OS/2 C-Kermit was also modified to be able to use the new
SIO.SYS serial communications driver. New files:
watsun.cc.columbia.edu kermsrv@cuvma
kermit/b/ckdker.uue CKDKER UUE UUencoded AOS/VS C-Kermit dumpfile
kermit/b/ckoker16.boo CKOKER16 BOO BOO-encoded OS/2 16-bit executable
kermit/b/ckoker32.boo CKOKER32 BOO BOO-encoded OS/2 32-bit executable
kermit/bin/ckoker16.exe (none) Binary OS/2 16-bit executable
kermit/bin/ckoker32.exe (none) Binary OS/2 32-bit executable
The changes are also reflected in the source files in kermit/b/ck*.*.
Binaries are also available for various VMS and OpenVMS configurations
(some of these are new, marked by *):
watsun.cc.columbia.edu kermsrv@cuvma
* kermit/b/ckvker.hex CKVKER HEX VAX, no network support
kermit/b/ckvaxp.hex CKVAXP HEX Alpha AXP, no network support
* kermit/b/ckvvtgv.hex CKVVTGV HEX VAX, TGV Multinet support
* kermit/b/ckvvucx.hex CKVVUCX HEX VAX, DEC TCP/IP support
kermit/b/ckvvwin.hex CKVVWIN HEX VAX, Wollongong WIN/TCP support
These are to be decoded back into executable .EXE files with the CKVDEH.MAR
program (which only runs on the VAX, so, for now, you must convert the hex
file for the Alpha AXP on the VAX).
Several other minor changes have also been made since C-Kermit 5A(188) was
first announced:
File transfer display now shows character-set conversion, if any
Minor TELNET protocol option negotiation fix
Corrected recovery from SET BUFFERS command failure
Improved speed of the CONNECT command in the UNIX version
Improved setuid/setgid operation on NeXT computers
SET KEY support for Num Lock key in OS/2 version
New command SET TERM ANSWERBACK { ON, OFF } for OS/2 version
Support for arbitrarily-named serial communication devices in OS/2 version
Minor fix to the OS-9 version to prevent exceeding open-file limit
Various minor bug fixes
Various new or improved UNIX makefile entries, including:
. Altos ACS68000 AT&T System III R2
. Cray UNICOS, various versions
. Fortune For:Pro 2.1
. Harris Night Hawk
. IBM 370 mainframe AIX/370 1.2
. IBM 370 mainframe AIX/ESA 2.1
. IBM PS/2 AIX 1.2
. ICL DRS3000 System V R4
. Interactive System III (PC/IX)
. Intergraph Clipper / CLIX
. Integrated Solutions VS8
. Linux
. Nixdorf Targon/31 M15 TOS 4.0
. QNX 4.1
. SCO Xenix, UNIX, ODT
. SunOS 5.0/Solaris 2.0
. SunOS 5.1/Solaris 2.1
. Tektronix XD88 System V R3
The changes are explained in detail in the file kermit/b/ckcker.upd, and many
of the ck?ker.bwr and ck?ins.doc files have also been updated. The UNIX
source files collected into the binary compressed tar archive,
kermit/bin/cku188.tar.Z, have also been updated, and a new uuencoded version
of the tar archive is now available in kermit/b/cku188.uue and also from
KERMSRV@CUVMA as CKU188 UUE. The main program version number and date have
not been changed, but the SHOW VERSIONS command reveals the per-module
updates; these are keyed to the update history given in the ckcker.upd file.
Thanks to the users and developers who sent in reports, contributions, and
fixes; all are listed in the ckcker.upd file.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 93 12:00:00 EST
>From: Christine M. Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: A New Release of Kermit for CTOS and BTOS
Keywords: CTOS, BTOS, Convergent, Burroughs B20
>From Evan Arnerich and Doug Drury of ITT Federal Services Corporation, Santa
Maria, CA: version 2.00 of CT-Kermit for the Burroughs B20/BTOS and Convergent
NGEN/CTOS systems. This new version adds many of the capabilities of MS-DOS
Kermit 3.x and C-Kermit 5A, particularly script programming features (INPUT,
OUTPUT, IF, ASK, GOTO, variables, etc), and includes a built-in VT101 terminal
emulator.
Version 2.00 of CT-Kermit replaces version 1.07 of July 1988, which was
contributed by Joel Dunn of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The new files replace the old ones in kermit/c/ct*.* on
watsun.cc.columbia.edu. The old version has been moved to kermit/old on
watsun. The new version is also available from KERMSRV at CUVMA as CT* *.
Many thanks to Evan and Doug for their contribution!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1993 Jan 25 12:42 EST
>From: "John F. Chandler" <JCHBN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Pitfall of FULLSCREEN mode for Kermit-370 under TSO and CICS
Keywords: IBM Mainframe Kermit
Kermit-370 in FULLSCREEN mode can be at the mercy of clever efforts toward
screen "optimization" by the protocol converter. One possible symptom is
the suppression of the last outbound packet in a transfer if the screen is
cleared just afterwards. This may happen after an upload or upon leaving
server mode. To avoid this possibility, Kermit-370 can simply wait a few
seconds to give the protocol converter less excuse for suppressing the last
packet. An update has been added to the four "beware" files, IKCKER.BWR,
IKTKER.BWR, IKMKER.BWR, and IKXKER.BWR, to institute a 4-second pause, but
the optimum time may be more or less, depending on the system.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 93 09:56:39 EST
>From: Christine M. Gianone <cmg@columbia.edu>
Subject: New Packet Drivers
Keywords: Packet Drivers, Etherlink III, 3Com 3C509
>From Russ Nelson of Crynwr Software, a new packet driver for the 3Com 3C509
Ethernet board (Etherlink III), plus updated drivers for the 3C503, the D-Link
Pocket LAN Adapter, the Digital Equipment Corporation DECPA, and the Eagle
Technologies NE2100. The new files are available are available via anonymous
ftp from watsun.cc.columbia.edu, binary mode, in packet-drivers/new/3c509a.zip
(3C509 packet driver) and in packet-drivers/new/drivers3.zip (other updates).
A copy of the COM file is also available in packet-drivers/bin/3c509.com,
and the short documentation page is in packet-drivers/bin/3c509.doc.
Thanks again to Russ for all his work.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 93 12:00:00 EST
>From: Christine M. Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Subject: Gold Key Utility for MS-DOS Kermit
Keywords: Num Lock Key, GOLD Key
By popular demand, we are now including Bob Eager's GOLD TSR with MS-DOS
Kermit. This small program (a few hundred bytes) makes your Num Lock key
behave exactly like the PC's F1 key, so that you can make SET KEY assignments
to it, e.g.
SET KEY \315 \Kgold
(which is the default assignment for F1 anyway). Num Lock is the position
where you would expect to find a VT terminal's Gold key (PF1) on the numeric
keypad. With the GOLD TSR active, Num Lock no longer functions as Num Lock.
The files are:
kermit/a/msugold.boo - BOO-encoded GOLD.COM
kermit/a/msugold.asm - Source code
kermit/a/msugold.doc - Instructions for using
kermit/a/msugold.mak - Batch file for building from source
kermit/bin/msugold.com - Binary executable program
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 93 15:14:42 EST
>From: John Hretz <hretzj%ccmail@tacom-emh1.army.mil>
Subject: Kermit Download versus Append
Is there a way to append when you download using Kermit?
[Ed. - There is a command, SET FILE COLLISION. One of its options in
C-Kermit, but not in MS-DOS Kermit, is APPEND. So there is no
straightforward way to do this in MS-DOS Kermit, but keep reading.]
A friend of mine uses Kermit to download a file from her reader. She would
like to be able to append to the same file name each time she scans
("reads") a document. Perhaps there is a version of Kermit out there that
can do this or someone else has done this before.
The software that she uses will produce a voice rendition of the document
after she downloads it.
[Ed. - You could define a macro to do it, like this:
define fatal if defined \%1 echo \%1, stop 1
define append,-
if not defined \%1 fatal {Usage: append filename}
receive kermit.tmp,-
if fail stop 1,-
if exist \%1 run copy \%1+kermit.tmp kermit2.tmp,-
if not exist \%1 copy kermit.tmp kermit2.tmp,-
if exist \%1 delete \%1,-
run rename kermit2.tmp \%1,-
delete kermit.tmp
Put this macro definition in the user's MSCUSTOM.INI file, and then tell her
to use the command:
APPEND MYFILE.TXT
instead of RECEIVE when downloading files to MS-DOS Kermit. MYFILE.TXT
is the name of the file she wants to append to. If it doesn't exist, it
will be created. If it does exist, the arriving file will be appended to
the end of it.]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 93 12:04:35 GMT
>From: mike@childsoc.demon.co.uk (Michael Bernardi)
To: Info-Kermit@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Subject: Query: Using MS-DOS Kermit with PC Anywhere
I'm currently using PC Anywhere IV as a host to allow remote access
to a network and I am using MS-Kermit as the Terminal program. Has anyone
written a SCRipt/INI file to redefine the function keys in Kermit for
this? I.e. allowing all the PCAnywhere ESC codes to be automatically
sent when the correct key is pressed. I don't want to have to
reinvent the wheel :-)
Michael Bernardi mike@childsoc.demon.co.uk (Internet) | Making lives
The Children's Society, Edward Rudolf House, Margery Street, | worth living
London, WC1X 0JL, UK Voice: +44 71 837 4299 Charity Reg. No. 221124
------------------------------
End of Info-Kermit Digest
*************************
From cmg Wed Jun 30 13:33:12 1993
Return-Path: <cmg>
Received: by watsun.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB/jba)
id AA05896; Wed, 30 Jun 93 13:33:12 EDT
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 93 13:33:11 EDT
From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
To: Info-Kermit
Subject: Info-Kermit Digest V17 #3
Reply-To: Info-Kermit@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Queries-To: Info-Kermit-Request@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU
Errors-To: Info-Kermit-Request@watsun.cc.columbia.edu
Message-Id: <CMM.0.90.4.741461591.cmg@watsun.cc.columbia.edu>
Info-Kermit Digest Wed, 30 Jun 1993 Volume 17 : Number 3
Today's Topics:
Kermit News #5
New Option to Speed Up File Transfers
MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 Available for Beta Testing
MS-DOS Kermit versus DECforms V1.4
Announcing C-Kermit 5A(189)
Announcing a New Kermit Program for the HP3000
Acorn Archimedes Kermit
New Manuals for Kermit-370
Tentative update for Kermit-CICS
Digest submissions may be sent to Info-Kermit@WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU or
KERMIT@CUVMA.BITNET. Requests for addition to or deletion from the
Info-Kermit subscriber list should be sent to LISTSERV@CUVMA.BITNET or
LISTSERV@CUVMA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU. These messages must be of the form:
SUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT <your-personal-name> (To start a subscription)
UNSUBSCRIBE I$KERMIT (To cancel a subscription)
REGISTER I$KERMIT <your-personal-name> (To correct your name)
Kermit files may be obtained over networks and by mail order. On the
Internetwork, use FTP to log in to host WATSUN.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU, a SUN-4/280
running UNIX (SUNOS 4.1), IP host number 128.59.39.2. Login as user anonymous
(note, lower case), any password, and GET or MGET (MULTIPLE GET) the desired
files. The file kermit/read.me is a general guide to where things are. The
Kermit files are in directories kermit/a, kermit/b, kermit/c, kermit/d, and
kermit/e. Test versions are in kermit/test. All files in these directories
should be transferred in text (ASCII) mode. Binaries are in kermit/bin (use
ftp in binary mode). All files on watsun have lowercase names, and case is
significant.
You can also get Kermit files over the BITNET/EARN network; to get started
send a message with text HELP to KERMSRV, the Kermit file server, at host
CUVMA. For detailed instructions, read the file kermit/a/aanetw.hlp
(AANETW.HLP on KERMSRV). To order by mail, request a complete list of Kermit
versions and an order form from Kermit Distribution, Columbia University
Academic Information Systems, 612 West 115th Street, New York, NY 10025
USA.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 June 1993 12:00:00 EDT
>From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@columbia.edu>
Subject: Kermit News #5
Keywords: Kermit News #5
Kermit News #5, our printed journal, will be mailed out shortly. If you have
ever ordered Kermit material from Columbia University, or if you received
earlier issues of Kermit News (the last one was in June 1990), you are already
on our subscriber list. If you are not on the subscriber list or if your
address has changed, please send email to:
kermit@columbia.edu
requesting your address to be added or changed. Include your complete postal
mailing address and don't forget your Zip or postal code.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1993 12:01:00
>From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@columbia.edu>
Subject: New Option to Speed Up File Transfers
Keywords: Efficiency, Performance, Control-Character Prefixing
Keywords: Prefixing of Control Characters
This issue of the Kermit Digest announces several new Kermit versions, among
them MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 and C-Kermit 5A(189). A significant new feature in
these two versions is a new method for increasing file transfer efficiency by
letting you specify a "safe set" of control characters that do not need to be
prefixed in file-transfer packets. This feature, when used together with
long packets and sliding windows, makes Kermit transfers just as fast as (and
usally faster than) ZMODEM.
By default, all control characters (8-bit bytes with values 0-31, 127-159, and
255) are converted into printable characters and prefixed by another printable
character, usually #. So, for example, the carriage-return linefeed
combination (Control-M and Control-J) that occurs at end of text lines is
transmitted as #M#J (four characters). This done to prevent control
characters from setting off unwanted actions during file transfer:
interrupting the host Kermit process, escaping back to a terminal server,
spuriously engaging a flow control mechanism, etc. For ordinary text files,
the overhead penalty of control prefixing is only a few percent, but it's
higher for binary files, and especially for precompressed files (like ZIP
files).
If you know that a particular control character can be sent "bare" from one
Kermit program to the other with no ill effects, you can now configure the
Kermit program that is sending to file to "unprefix" that character. In fact,
you can unprefix almost all of the 66 possible control characters EXCEPT the
ones which the Kermit program knows cannot be sent safely, such as Xon and
Xoff characters when Xon/Xoff flow control is in effect, or character 255 on a
TELNET connection. The new commands are:
SET CONTROL-CHARACTER { PREFIXED, UNPREFIXED } <list>
SHOW CONTROL-PREFIXING
where <list> is the numeric value of a control character, a list of numeric
values (separated by spaces), or the word ALL.
CAUTION:
If you unprefix a control character that is unsafe, any of several things
might happen:
1. Transfer of any file containing these characters will fail.
2. The receiving Kermit program might be interrupted or halted.
3. Your connection might become hung, stuck, or broken. This includes the
situation where a control character causes a PAD, terminal server, or
similar device to change modes -- e.g. to go from online mode to command
mode.
The set of safe control characters depends on the two Kermit programs, their
settings, the host operating systems and their settings, the communication and
flow control methods, and all the devices, drivers, and protocols that lie
between the two Kermit programs. The Kermit programs themselves cannot
possibly know, or negotiate, which control characters are safe to send, and
therefore assume that none are safe and prefix them all. You must be willing
to experiment in order to achieve the optimal safe set for a particular
connection.
Under ideal conditions (a totally transparent serial connection with no
Xon/Xoff), the minimum set of control characters that needs to be prefixed is:
SENDER RECEIVER PREFIXED CONTROLS
MS-DOS Kermit MS-DOS Kermit 1, 129
MS-DOS Kermit C-Kermit 0, 3, 131
C-Kermit MS-DOS Kermit 0, 1, 129
C-Kermit C-Kermit 0, 3, 131
For example, to set up MS-DOS Kermit to unprefix the maximum set of control
characters for sending files to C-Kermit, tell MS-DOS Kermit to:
SET FLOW NONE (or SET FLOW RTS/CTS)
SET CONTROL UNPREFIX ALL
SET CONTROL PREFIX 0 3 131
Using these minimum sets, even ZIP files can be transferred at 90-95%
efficiency or more, rather than the customary 65-75%, on a straight
connection, and somewhat higher when data-compressing modems are involved.
For further details, see the release notes for MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 and C-Kermit
5A(189), and be sure to read the article on Kermit file transfer performance
in Kermit News #5 when it arrives.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 93 16:00:00 EDT
>From: Christine M Gianone <cmg@columbia.edu>
Subject: MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 Available for Beta Testing
Keywords: MS-DOS Kermit 3.13, Hebrew, Data General Terminal Emulation
Keywords: East European Languages, Latin-2 Character-Set
Keywords: 132-Column Mode, Horizontal Scrolling
Keywords: Sliding Windows, Dynamic Packet Length, Icelandic
Keywords: IBM Mainframe File Transfer
Keywords: "TCP/IP, Multiple Sessions"
This is to announce a brief beta testing period for MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 for the
IBM PC, PS/2, and compatibles with DOS or Windows, and also for "generic DOS",
the Victor 9000, and the Heath/Zenith 100. The new MS-DOS Kermit release was
prepared, as always, by Professor Joe R. Doupnik of Utah State University and
includes the following major new features (most of which apply to the IBM PC
version only):
1. Up to six simultaneous TCP/IP sessions, with instantaneous switching
among them, using Kermit's own built-in TCP/IP protocol stack.
2. Emulation of Data General DASHER D463 and D470 terminals in both text and
graphics mode, and including support for up to 207 columns of compressed
text, and for the mouse when in graphics mode (e.g. when using CEO Draw).
3. Support for compressed text for VT 132-column emulation on EGA and VGA.
If you don't have a video adapter that supports 132 columns in text mode,
MS-DOS Kermit can now put your EGA or VGA into graphics mode to produce
the same effect. Also, addition of Tseng ET4000 (and all VESA) graphics
chips to those that can be commanded in to 132-column text mode.
4. Horizontal scrolling in DG and VT terminal emulation.
5. Support for the Icelandic code page CP861 in terminal emulation and
file transfer.
6. Support for East European languages (Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian,
etc) via translation between PC Code Page 852 and ISO 8859-2 Latin
Alphabet 2 during both terminal emulation and file transfer.
7. Support for Hebrew and Yiddish via translation between PC Code Page 862
and the ISO 8859-8 Latin/Hebrew Alphabet in both terminal emulation and
file transfer. In terminal emulation, the 7-bit Hebrew alphabet is also
supported, as are DEC VT420 Hebrew terminal features including
host-controlled screen writing direction, character-set selection, and
keyboard mode.
8. Implementation of "Doomsday Kermit" (DDK) techniques for transferring
files with IBM mainframes through 3270 protocol converters that do NOT
support transparent mode, to be used in conjunction with IBM Mainframe
Kermit's SET CONTROLLER FULLSCREEN command on VM/CMS, MVS/TSO, or CICS.
IBM Mainframe Kermit 4.2.4 or later required.
9. Greater control over terminal emulation rollback screens. Now you can
elect to keep them in expanded memory (EMS), if available, and if so,
you can have lots more of them -- thousands, even. You can also change
the rollback buffer size at runtime. Also, graphics screens can also be
kept in EMS rather than in the video adapter's on-board memory, to allow
restoration of graphics screens when switching back to them from text
mode, even under Windows or when your memory manager has "stealth-mapped"
your graphics memory away.
10. Network connections are now supported over Novell's SLIP_PPP ODI driver
and Beame & Whiteside's TCP/IP product. The Beame & Whiteside protocol
stack must, of course, already be loaded.
11. Faster transfer of all types of files, particularly binary files and
precompressed (e.g. ZIP) files, by allowing the user to specify the set
of control characters that will not be prefixed.
12. Many other file transfer performance improvements, including allowance for
longer packets (up to 9K) and more window slots (up to 31). In other
words, the 2K packet-buffer limitation has been increased to about 280K
(or available memory, whichever is less). Packet lengths now adapt
dynamically to the noise conditions on the communication channel. Sliding
windows operation is smoother, error recovery is quicker. The file
transfer display screen shows more information, including a "thermometer"
and transfer statistics. The SET DEBUG PACKETS display no longer scrolls
the file transfer window when long packets are used.
13. Serial-port handling code improved in many ways to allow for buggy and
substandard internal modems, buggy PC-clone BIOS's, noisy PC busses, and
spurious interrupts. Improved operation with COM3 and COM4 devices using
shared or nonstandard interrupts.
14. New support of Application Program Command (APC) escape sequences from the
host during emulation of VT220 or 320, which may contain any MS-DOS Kermit
commands at all. APC sequences can be used to configure MS-DOS Kermit
automatically for use with a particular host, to initiate file transfers
automatically, or any other purpose you can imagine. The old TERMINALR /
TERMINALS macro mechanism has been discontinued because DEC took over the
associated escape sequence for use with Hebrew VT terminals (see Item 6
above and the next message, plus more about this below).
15. New command, SET TERMINAL VIDEO-WRITING { BIOS, DIRECT }. DIRECT is
the default, BIOS forces all text-mode screen writing during CONNECT mode
to be through the (slower) BIOS, to enable TSRs (e.g. for speech devices)
to sense what is being written to the screen.
16. Improved TCP/IP BOOTP support. New RFC1395 support for downloading of
PC's domain name from BOOTP server (requires upgraded BOOTP server); new
ability to make BOOTP requests over SLIP and PPP connections; display of
IP address of BOOTP server in SHOW COMMUNICATIONS display. An updated
BOOTP server for UNIX is available in the bootp directory on
watsun.cc.columbia.edu, via anonymous ftp.
17. TCP/IP TELNET options negotiation display now available.
18. Compose-key sequences for entering accented letters in the Latin-1, DEC
MCS, and DG International West European character sets during VT and DG
terminal emulation.
19. DIALing scripts for additional modem types:
Hayes Ultra 144
Penril Alliance V.32
Practical Peripherals 14400
Rolm CBX DCM
SupraFAXmodem V.32bis
Telebit QBlazer V.32
Telebit T3000 V.32bis
Vadic VA2400PA
20. Many smaller changes and bug fixes were also made and all patches to
version 3.12 are incorporated into version 3.13.
Special thanks to Data General Corporation for a grant to support development
of the Data General terminal emulation (and for detailed validation thereof)
and TCP/IP multisession support; to Novell for assistance with SLIP_PPP and
LWP/DOS, and particularly to Brian Meek of Novell for assistance with SLIP_PPP
debugging work; to Microsoft for donating a Windows Software Developers Kit;
to Beame and Whiteside, Inc, for contributions permitting Kermit to operate
over their TCP/IP suite; to Interconnections, Inc, for contributions
permitting Kermit to operate over all release levels of TES; to Moshe Solow
and Shalom Mitz at the Hebrew University in Israel for help with the Hebrew
features; to Gudmundur Bjarni Josepsson at the University of Iceland for help
with Icelandic; to Hirofumi Fujii of the Japan National Laboratory for High
Energy Physics for help with adaption to DOS/V; to John Klensin of MIT for
some of the new modem scripts and much help in other areas; to John Chandler
of the Harvard/Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory for much help with DDK; to
Lawrence Kirby and William Glass for encouragement with, and testing of, the
new unprefixing option; to James Sturdevant for contributions in many areas;
and to many others who sent in bug reports, suggestions, etc, based on earlier
releases.
THE APC COMMAND
As noted previously, there is a major incompatibility between MS-DOS Kermit
3.13 and earlier releases, namely the handling of the CSI ? 34 h / l escape
sequences by the VT220 and VT320 terminal emulators. This change is forced by
a change in DEC terminal design and DEC software such as DECforms (see next
message).
Old way: CSI ? 34 h / l invoked the TERMINALR and TERMINALS macros, if you
had them defined. This required each Kermit user to define them, for example
in their MSCUSTOM.INI files, a big management problem for large user
communities.
New way: CSI ? 34 h / l controls screen-writing direction, left-to-right or
right-to-left (for Hebrew and Arabic).
To replace the TERMINALR/TERMINALS function, MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 now supports
the Application Program Command (APC) escape sequence:
APC string ST
In the 7-bit environment, APC is ESC _ and ST (string terminator) is ESC \.
In the 8-bit environment, APC is decimal 159 and and ST is 156 decimal. The
"string" can be any MS-DOS Kermit command or list of commands, separated by
commas, and can be up to 1024 bytes in length. Upon receipt of this escape
sequence, MS-DOS Kermit executes the command(s) in the string and
automatically resumes CONNECT mode.
For safetly, the APC mechanism cannot be used to invoke certain MS-DOS Kermit
commands that might do damage. For example, your enemies can't take advantage
of this feature to delete all your files or format your disk. Included in
this category is the RUN command, which provides access to DOS and to other
applications. The following new MS-DOS Kermit command regulates the APC
mechanism:
SET TERMINAL APC { ON, OFF, UNCHECKED }
ON (the default) means that Kermit will execute only safe commands. OFF means
Kermit will not execute any commands and will ignore APCs. UNCHECKED means
Kermit will execute ANY commands sent via APC. Use UNCHECKED at your own
risk!
APC is much more flexible than the old TERMINALS/TERMINALR mechanism, and
can be used for any purpose at all. For example, it can be used to configure
MS-DOS Kermit for use with a particular host or application by sending the
appropriate list of SET commands: communication parameters like parity,
protocol parameters like packet-length and window size, key mappings, etc.
It can also be used to initiate file transfers automatically from the host
without having to escape back to MS-DOS Kermit. Here's an example you can use
with C-Kermit 5A(189), which has a new APC command for sending commands to
MS-DOS Kermit. In your C-Kermit 5A customization file (.mykermrc or
CKERMOD.INI), add commands like this:
define autosend set delay 0, apc receive, send \%1 \%2, statistics
define autoreceive apc {send \%1 \%2}, statistics
Try it! Nothing special is required on the PC side.
You can expand these commands to handle text and binary mode if you want to:
; Text transfers
define tsend set del 0, set file type text, apc receive, send \%1, stat
define treceive apc {set fil typ text, send \%1 \%2}, stat
;
; Binary transfers
define bsend set del 0, set file type binary, apc receive, send \%1, stat
define breceive apc {set fil typ binary, send \%1 \%2}, stat
Use your imagination, the possibilities are endless!
NEW FILES
MS-DOS Kermit 3.13 Beta is being released only in binary form. Sources will
be made available after the testing period is over.
Internet anonymous ftp EARN/BITNET
watsun.cc.columbia.edu KERMSRV@CUVMA Description
kermit/bin/mstibm.exe (none) Binary executable for IBM PC
kermit/bin/mstibm.pif (none) Windows Program Information File
kermit/bin/mstgen.exe (none) Binary executable, generic DOS
kermit/bin/mstv90.exe (none) Binary executable, Victor 9000
kermit/bin/mstz10.exe (none) Binary executable, Heath/Zenith 100
kermit/test/mstibm.boo MSTIBM BOO BOO-encoded executable for IBM PC
kermit/test/mstgen.boo MSTGEN BOO BOO-encoded executable, generic DOS
kermit/test/mstv90.boo MSTV90 BOO BOO-encoded executable, Victor 9000
kermit/test/mstz10.boo MSTZ10 BOO BOO-encoded executable, H/Z-100
kermit/test/msr313.upd MSR313 UPD List of changes since version 3.12
kermit/test/mskerm.upd MSKERM UPD Supplement to "Using MS-DOS Kermit"
kermit/test/mskerm.hlp MSKERM HLP Updated help file
kermit/test/mskerm.bwr MSKERM BWR Updated "beware file"
kermit/test/mstibm.vt MSTIBM VT Updated terminal emulator summary
kermit/test/msm*.scr MSM* SCR New modem-dialing scripts
kermit/test/msm*.doc MSM* DOC Docs for new modem-dialing scripts
The ".boo" files are .EXE files encoded in a printable ASCII format, suitable
for BITNET, e-mail, and other nontransparent modes of transmission. You can
decode the boo-files back into .EXE files using any of the MSBPCT.* programs
available in kermit/a/msbpct.* or MSBPCT * from KERMSRV. See
kermit/a/msbaaa.hlp (MSBAAA HLP) for details.
The usual thanks to Joe from all MS-DOS Kermit users everywhere. Please give
this beta release a good workout and send questions, bug reports, and comments
to kermit@columbia.edu on the Internet or to KERMIT@CUVMA on BITNET/EARN/CREN.
Final release is scheduled for July 8, 1993.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 93 13:21:17 -0500
>From: raxco!galaxy.dnet!gleeve@uunet.UU.NET
Subject: MS-DOS Kermit versus DECforms V1.4
MS-DOS Kermit chokes whenever a DECforms application starts up. DECforms V1.4
introduced support for Hebrew terminals, which operate right to left. When
you enable a form, it sends a whole bunch of escape sequences to reset the
numeric keypad, 80/132 column mode, cursor position, etc. One of those escape
sequences, CSI ?34l, turns off right-to-left mode. Most non-Hebrew terminals
simply ignore it, but MS-DOS Kermit goes nuts. Instead of ignoring it, MS-DOS
Kermit gets a CSI ?34l and goes into receive file mode.
[Ed. - As documented in "Using MS-DOS Kermit", this sequence invokes the
TERMINALR macro, which the user can define to do whatever s/he wants. The
default definition for TERMINALR is made in the MSKERMIT.INI file:
define terminalr receive, connect
This behavior can be defeated by simply "undefining" these macros. To do
this, include the following commands in your MSCUSTOM.INI file:
define terminals
define terminalr
Alternatively, if you actually want to use Hebrew or Arabic screen writing,
use these definitions:
define terminals set term direction left-to-right, connect
define terminalr set term direction right-to-left, connect
This problem, which was reported numerous times, has been corrected in
version 3.13 of MS-DOS Kermit -- see previous message.]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 93 16:30:00 EDT
>From: Frank da Cruz <fdc@columbia.edu>
Subject: Announcing C-Kermit 5A(189)
Keywords: C-Kermit 5A, Hebrew
Keywords: Efficiency, Performance, Control-Character Prefixing
Keywords: Prefixing of Control Characters, TCP/IP, OS/2
This is to announce C-Kermit 5A(189) for UNIX, VMS, OS/2, AOS/VS, and some
other operating systems. This is a minor update of C-Kermit 5A(188). The
major new features are:
. Control-character unprefixing.
. Hebrew character-set translation.
. New APC command for use with MS-DOS Kermit.
. TCP/IP support for OS/2 systems equipped with IBM TCP/IP.
. Terminal emulation scrollback improvements for OS/2.
. Sliding window protocol error-recovery improvements
. Support for Process Software TCPware for VMS
. Many new and/or improved UNIX makefile entries, especially for SCO
. OUTPUT command improvements: buffering, pacing control
. POSIX improvements: file timestamps, access to hostname
. RS/6000 AIX improvements, primarily RTS/CTS flow control
. VMS improvements, including GNU CC support, better operation under VAX PSI
. Numerous minor bug fixes
The two major new features -- control-character unprefixing and Hebrew
character-set translation, are described in the announcements above, and also
in the new "update" file, CKCKER.UPD, which serves as a new supplement to
the book "Using C-Kermit". See the CKC189.UPD file for full details of all
the changes.
The OUTPUT command improvements increase the speed of the OUTPUT command,
which is important on X.25 networks and for I/O-intensive script programs, and
they also allow you to slow OUTPUTs down, for example when interacting with
devices that can't accept characters at the full transmission speed.
OS/2 C-Kermit now supports TCP/IP connections, just like the UNIX, (Open)VMS,
and AOS/VS versions do, with all the same features, for OS/2 2.x systems
equipped with IBM TCP/IP. The new TCP/IP support requires a small but
important change in the C-Kermit installation procedure for OS/2 systems that
are NOT equipped with TCP/IP. Be sure to read the READ.ME file for details.
Or, better still, run the new automatic installation procedure contributed by
Jeffrey Altman. Files needed for the OS/2 version:
OS/2 Name watsun.cc.columbia.edu KERMSRV@CUVMA Remarks
READ.ME kermit/b/ckoaaa.hlp CKOAAA DSK READ-ME file (read it!)
INSTALL.CMD kermit/b/ckoins.cmd CKOINS CMD Install procedure
CKOKER32.EXE kermit/bin/ckoker32.exe (none) 32-bit binary
(none) kermit/b/ckoker32.boo CKOKER32 BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKOSYSL.CK2 kermit/bin/ckosysl.ck2 (none) 32-bit SYSLEVEL info
(none) kermit/b/ckosys32.boo CKOSYS32 BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKOTCP32.DLL kermit/bin/ckotcp32.dll (none) 32-bit dummy TCP/IP DLL
(none) kermit/b/ckotcp32.boo CKOTCP32 BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKOKER16.EXE kermit/bin/ckoker16.exe (none) 16-bit binary
(none) kermit/b/ckoker16.boo CKOKER16 BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKOSYSL.CK1 kermit/bin/ckosysl.ck2 (none) 16-bit SYSLEVEL info
(none) kermit/b/ckosys16.boo CKOSYS16 BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKOTCP16.DLL kermit/bin/ckotcp16.dll (none) 16-bit dummy TCP/IP DLL
(none) kermit/b/ckotcp16.boo CKOTCP32 BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKERMIT.CMD kermit/b/ckermit.cmd CKERMIT CMD Sample startup file
CKERMIT.ICO kermit/bin/ckoker.ico (none) Desktop Icon
(none) kermit/b/ckoicon.boo CKOICON BOO Same, BOO-encoded
CKERMIT.INI kermit/b/ckermit.ini CKERMIT INI Standard init file
CKERMOD.INI kermit/b/ckermod.ini CKERMOD INI Sample customizations
CKERMIT.KDD kermit/b/ckermit.kdd CKERMIT KDD Sample dial directory
CKERMIT.KSD kermit/b/ckermit.ksd CKERMIT KSD Sample service dir.
CKCKER.UPD kermit/b/ckcker.upd CKCKER UPD Updates documentation
CKCKER.BWR kermit/b/ckcker.bwr CKCKER BWR C-Kermit "beware" file
CKOKER.BWR kermit/b/ckoker.bwr CKOKER BWR "beware" file for OS/2
CKOVTK.INI kermit/b/ckovtk.ini CKOVTK INI VT102 keypad map
For convenience, all these files have been collected together into a ZIP file:
CKOKER.ZIP kermit/bin/ckoker.zip (none) All OS/2 C-Kermit files
(none) kermit/b/ckozip.boo CKOZIP BOO Same, boo-encoded
For other versions, some of the binaries are available, others might not have
come in yet. Binaries are located in kermit/bin/ck*. See kermit/bin/READ.ME
(text). VMS binaries are available for VAX/VMS (no TCP/IP), VAX/VMS (TGV
MultiNet), VAX/VMS (DEC UCX), AXP/VMS (no networks) as ckv*.exe, and also in
kermit/b/ckv*.hex (to be decoded with VMSDEH or CKVDEH -- same thing). The
Data General AOS/VS binary is in kermit/bin/ckdker.pr, also available as a
uuencoded dumpfile in kermit/b/ckdker.uue. Various UNIX binaries are in
kermit/bin/cku*.*; additional ones will be added as they arrive, space
permitting.
The complete source files and online documentation are in kermit/b. Begin by
getting the file ckaaaa.hlp and reading it for a guide to which files you
need. All files in kermit/b are also available on BITNET via KERMSRV at CUVMA
with the same names, but converted to uppercase.
Thanks to Jeffrey Altman, William Bader, Stefaan Eeckels, William Glass,
Hunter Goatley, Michael Godfrey, Terry Kennedy, Lawrence Kirby, Tom Kloos,
Fulvio Marino, Kai Uwe Rommel, Warren Tucker, Eduard Vopicka, and many others
for their help with this release.
------------------------------
>From: Christine M. Gianone <cmg@columbia.edu>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 93
Subject: Announcing a New Kermit Program for the HP3000
Keywords: HP3000
>From Tony Appelget of General Mills in Minneapolis, MN, a new version of
Kermit for the HP-3000 900 Series with the MPE operating system, written in C.
Mostly a hand translation of the SPL version originally from Ed Eldridge of
Polaris, Inc., and upgraded by Tony. Remote mode only. Includes send/receive
and server modes, executes various REMOTE commands when in server mode,
supports long packets, repeat-count compression, 8th-bit prefixing, and 16-bit
CRC error-checking. There is only one file: kermit/d/hp3000.c on watsun,
HP3000 C on CUVMA.
------------------------------
>From: "Andrew Brooks" <arb@computing.lancaster.ac.uk>
Date: Sun Sep 20 15:10:45 BST 1992
Subject: Acorn Archimedes Kermit
Keywords: Acorn Archimedes, Arthur, RISC_OS
Here is Kermit for Acorn Archimedes with RISC_OS. Please note that files have
been renamed and MUST be changed back to their original names for use on the
Archimedes. A unix script to do this is supplied in araaaa.sh. After this
has been done the BASIC program settypes will restore the original file types
and dates. The original release notes are arkerm.ann arkerm.bwr.
The files are in kermit/c/ar*.* on watsun, and AR* * on CUVMA.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1993 Jun 23 22:12 EST
>From: "John F. Chandler" <JCHBN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: New Manuals for Kermit-370
New user manuals are now available for IBM Mainframe Kermit-370, incorporating
all the latest information about front ends, protocol converters, character
sets, plus expanded troubleshooting troubleshooting information. New files:
Internet anonymous ftp EARN/BITNET
watsun.cc.columbia.edu KERMSRV@CUVMA Description
kermit/b/ikcker.doc IKCKER DOC VM/CMS, plain text
kermit/b/ikcker.lpt IKCKER LPT VM/CMS, line-printer format
kermit/b/ikcker.ps IKCKER PS VM/CMS, PostScript
kermit/b/iktker.doc IKTKER DOC MVS/TSO, plain text
kermit/b/iktker.lpt IKTKER LPT MVS/TSO, line-printer format
kermit/b/iktker.ps IKTKER PS MVS/TSO, PostScript
kermit/b/ikxker.doc IKXKER DOC CICS, plain text
kermit/b/ikxker.lpt IKXKER LPT CICS, line-printer format
kermit/b/ikxker.ps IKXKER PS CICS, PostScript
kermit/b/ikmker.doc IKXKER DOC MUSIC, plain text
kermit/b/ikmker.lpt IKXKER LPT MUSIC, line-printer format
kermit/b/ikmker.ps IKXKER PS MUSIC, PostScript
You will also find brand new installation instructions for the four major
IBM mainframe operating systems (ik?ker.ins), and a new program (a CMS EXEC),
ikcfix.exec, for correcting mistranslations in these files when they pass
through ASCII/EBCDIC translators, such as e-mail gateways.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 1993 May 7 17:59 EST
>From: "John F. Chandler" <JCHBN@CUVMB.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU>
Subject: Tentative update for Kermit-CICS
Keywords: CICS Kermit-370, IBM Mainframe Kermit
Kermit-CICS sometimes has trouble synchronizing read and write commands on
GRAPHICS-type protocol converters. The symptom is a lost packet when the
micro sends before the mainframe is ready. There is a cure, but it can't be
applied generally because it may kill transfers on terminals defined with the
automatic up-casing option. For some reason, the ASIS option is not permitted
for the CICS CONVERSE command, which is the centerpiece of the update (at
least, that's what the CICS docs seem to say). Does anyone know if (A) the
ASIS option *is* permitted or (B) upcasing is bypassed on the CONVERSE
command?
CICS users, especially those who may be trying the update (which is included
in the newest version of ikxker.bwr), are urged to look into questions (A) and
(B) above by trying two experiments with the update:
1) moving the comma from before to after the word "ASIS" on the line
marked with "???". If the assembler doesn't complain, that partly
answers question (A).
2) trying the updated Kermit on terminals set for automatic upcasing.
If transfers don't consistently trigger the "missing start-of-
packet" error, that mostly answers question (B).
Thanks.
John
------------------------------
End of Info-Kermit Digest
*************************