The Dos Internet Kit

Packaged by:

Dean Pentcheff ( dean@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu)

What is this?

This is a collection of public domain programs that enable Ethernet or serially-connected PCs to access Internet services. It is packaged as a relatively easy to install kit to help people get started.

In this (and the following) documentation are instructions on downloading the Internet Kit, installing it on a PC, and configuring all the software.

Revision history for the Kit

March 2, 1994: Updated Windows Mosaic to version 2.0 alpha 2.
February 26, 1994: Updated Winsock to Release 1.0, added Winsock's winapps, updated packet driver Version 11 with 12/14/93 updates, updated Windows Mosaic to Release 2.0alpha1, updated NCSA telnet to 2.3.07b.
December 19, 1993: Really updated Winsock to Alpha 18 (last time, I mistakenly left Alpha 17 in place), fixed bug on Winsock line in install.002 script.
December 12, 1993: Updated Winsock to Alpha 18 (SLIP scripting), updated packet drivers to Version 11, and fixed a bug in install script that prevented installation of the 3c503.com driver.
November 19-20, 1993: Fixed wrong ftp filename in 3c503 document (thanks Russ Nelson!) and switched to new 3c503.com that doesn't require shared memory.
November 13, 1993: Added the full set of Crynwr packet drivers. Updated Trumpet Winsock to alpha 17 (with SLIP support), NCSA Windows Mosaic to 1.0, and LView to 3.1.
November 8, 1993: First release. Included 3c503 driver from Crynwr 1.0, NCSA Telnet 2.3.06 (with added tn3270 program), Telnet documentation, PC Gopher III 1.1.2, Trumpet Winsock alpha 16, NCSA Windows Mosaic beta 0.7b, and LView 3.0.

This is the documentation for a set of two floppy disks that contain a kit of programs for connecting PCs to the Internet. A plain-text version of the documentation is in the file readme.doc on Disk 1 of the Kit. The rationale behind the Kit is described at the end of this document.

This kit is available using the Internet World Wide Web at the site tbone.biol.scarolina.edu Use a WWW browser to connect to the HTTP server at that site and check the Home Page (index.html) for the "PC Internet Kit" entry. At that site are also the hypertext versions of the installation hints included below.

If you experience difficulty downloading files using a hypertext browser, you can also fetch them by anonymous FTP from the server tbone.biol.scarolina.edu in directory /pub/kit. See the file 00README.DOC in that directory for instructions on which files to grab and how to unpack them onto floppy disks.

If you are reading this document using a hypertext browser (like NCSA Mosaic) then you can follow highlighted passages (like the previous parenthesized statement) through the network to their location. A highlighted filename will fetch the file, a highlighted directory name will display a menu of the files in the directory. If you're reading this on paper or in plain text from the floppy disk readme.doc file, then it's time you used it to set yourself up with a hypertext browser so that you can use this document properly! Onwards...

Fetching and Arranging The Floppy Disk Files

The Kit is designed to fit onto two 1.44 Mb floppy disks. Hence, (if you are reading this as hypertext) this document has hyperlinks to two binary files, each holding the files intended for one floppy disk.

If you are reading this as plain text and you already have the files on floppies, skip to the section below on Installing the Files.

If you are reading this text using a hypertext browser, links to the two self-extracting disk files follow this paragraph. Each disk's files are in a self-extracting zip file. Arrange your browser to load these files to your local disk, then click on them one by one to fetch them. NOTE:You only need one pair of the following disk images. There are two pairs presented here for two alternative methods of downloading. Just get one disk1.exe and one disk2.exe using whichever method (anonymous FTP or HTTP) works for you.

If anonymous FTP works for you, click on these disks:
disk1.exe disk2.exe.

If HTTP works for you, click on these disks:
disk1.exe disk2.exe.

Once you have both of those files on your local hard disk you need to create the installation floppy disks from them. Put a blank, formatted, 1.44 Mb floppy disk into your floppy drive (I'll assume your hard disk is C: and your floppy drive is A:. If not, modify the following instructions appropriately). Change to that drive and then run disk1.exe (the first self-extracting file). For example:

C> a:
A> c:disk1

The files will be unpacked onto the floppy disk. Repeat (with another floppy disk) for the second self-extracting file (disk2.exe).

The files on disk 1 are:

README.DOC      Documentation file
3C503.COM       Packet driver for the 3Com 3c503 Ethernet board
3C503.DOC       Documentation note for 3c503.com and other packet drivers
CONFIG.TEL      Configuration file for NCSA Telnet
TEL2307B.ZIP    NCSA Telnet archive file
INSTALL.001     Installation program script for the first disk
INSTALL.EXE     Installation program
PKUNZIP.EXE     Installation program for unpacking archive files
CHDRIVE.EXE     Installation program used to change current drive/directory
YORN.EXE        Installation program for getting a Y or N from the user
NEW_PKT.BAT     Installation batch file for installing 3c503.com
NEW_TEL.BAT     Installation batch file for installing config.tel
UNPACK.BAT      Installation batch file for running pkunzip.exe appropriately

The files on disk 2 are:

PKTD11.ZIP      The complete set of Clarkson/Crynwr packet drivers
PCGOPH3.ZIP     DOS Gopher III archive file
LVIEW31.ZIP     Windows image viewing and manipulation program archive file
WINSOCK.ZIP     Trumpet Winsock archive file
WINAPPS.ZIP     Some applications using Trumpet Winsock
WMOS20A2.ZIP    Windows version of NCSA Mosaic
INSTALL.002     Installation program script for the second disk
PKUNZIP.EXE     Installation program for unpacking archive files
CHDRIVE.EXE     Installation program used to change current drive/directory
UNPACK.BAT      Installation batch file for running pkunzip.exe appropriately

Installing the Files

The files are installed from the floppies using an installation scripting program that I got from the net (Jeff Dunlop's Install-Pro 1.64, available by FTP from oak.oakland.edu and other fine SIMTEL FTP mirror sites). If you want to be able to use that script, you must arrange the files as they are given, on two floppies. Otherwise, you'll have to unzip and copy the files manually.

Insert Disk 1 into your PC's floppy drive, then switch your current drive to that drive, and run "install" (do this under DOS, not under Windows). For example, if the floppy disk was put into drive A:, then you would do the following:

        C:\> a:
        A:\> install

Do not try to run the install program on the floppy while your current drive is still the hard drive - make sure to switch to the floppy drive first.

The installation program will ask you which parts of the whole set to install, and will give you a chance to set your own destination directories on your hard drive.

What to install

Here's a little outline of my suggestions on what to install, followed by a few words of rationalization for each of the choices. Once you've installed files, follow the specific configuration instructions below. The software will not work without proper configuration. Furthermore, you should install the software in the order presented. And, just to make sure I get it across: read the installation documents I've provided to install the software properly, or it will not work.

Do you have a 3Com 3c503 Ethernet board?

Yes:: Install "New 3c503.com Packet Driver"; Don't install "All Packet Drivers"
No:: Install "All Packet Drivers"; Don't install "New 3c503.com Packet Driver"

Do you want DOS (character-mode) telnet, ftp, etc.?

Yes:

Install "DOS NCSA Telnet"

Was NCSA Telnet previously installed on your computer?

Yes:: Don't install "New NCSA Config File"
No:: Install "New NCSA Config File"

No:

Don't install "DOS NCSA Telnet"

Don't install "New NCSA Config File"

Do you run Windows 3.1 on your computer?

Yes:: Don't install "DOS Gopher"; Install "Winsock (for Mosaic)"; Install "Winapps (with Winsock)"; Install "Windows Mosaic"; Install "GIF Viewer (for Mosaic)"
No:: Install "DOS Gopher"; Don't install "Winsock (for Mosaic)"; Don't install "Winapps (with Winsock)"; Don't install "Windows Mosaic"; Don't install "GIF Viewer (for Mosaic)"

A few details on why to install various parts

New 3c503 Packet Driver:: Because nearly everyone in the department here (at USC in Columbia, SC) has a PC with a 3Com 3C503 Ethenet board, this is the packet driver I've included. If you have an older 3C503.com packet driver, load this new one. If you have a different Ethernet board, then do not load this packet driver, but load the All Packet Drivers selection.
All Packet Drivers:: This is the entire kit of packet drivers for many different Ethernet boards. Load this if you don't have a 3C503 Ethernet board. Following the software installation, search through these drivers and their accompanying documentation to find the one appropriate for your Ethernet board. Install it in the C:\NCSA directory, just as the 3C503 driver would have been installed. The specifics of the driver command line and configuration will be different from the 3C503 instructions, but you can use them as a guide for how to configure and load your packet driver. Just modify the command arguments as appropriate for your driver. Of course, once you've selected and installed your packet driver, you can delete all the others from your hard drive.
DOS NCSA Telnet:: Load this package to get DOS character-mode programs that will allow you to log into a remote computer (telnet) and transfer files to and from remote computers (FTP).
New NCSA Config File:: Load this if you do not have a pre-existing version of NCSA telnet. If you already have a version of NCSA telnet, don't load this file, as your old configuration information will get overwritten.
DOS Gopher:: Load this if you do not run Windows and do not plan to load Mosaic. If you will be running Mosaic, then there's little reason to run a DOS Gopher program as well. You can access Gopher servers using Windows Mosaic.
Winsock (for Mosaic):: Load this if you plan to run Windows Mosaic. To run Mosaic, you'll need to load a packet driver for your Ethernet board and the Winsock driver. If you will be using a SLIP connection for Mosaic (that is, you'll be dialing in using a modem and connecting with a serial line networking server), then you can use Winsock without a packet driver - it now has a builtin SLIP capability.
Winapps (with Winsock):: Load this if you've loaded Trumpet Winsock. It contains some TCP/IP programs (similar to ones in the NCSA Telnet package) that may be helpful to you.
Windows Mosaic:: If you run Windows, load this. It is the easiest interface program to the resources of the Internet.
GIF Viewer (for Mosaic):: Load this if you load Windows Mosaic. Mosaic will use this program to display image files from the Internet.

Specific Installation Hints

If you are reading this online as a hypertext document, follow the links below to the documents. If this is a plaintext copy, these documents are appended below.

Why This Internet Kit?

There are many DOS machines out there that already have an Ethernet (or equivalent) connection to the worldwide Internet. Recently, there has been an outpouring of new, very appealing ways to explore the resources available on the Internet. These include, most notably, Gopher and NCSA Mosaic. Both of these are available for PCs running DOS and Windows.

The problem for many people has been one of understanding how to get it all installed. Software X seems to require package Y before it will run, but where do I find Y? And then how do I configure X, since it seems to have no documentation?...

On the other hand, initial help can be hard to get: for those of us who have had the perversity to struggle through and figure it out (more or less), the time involved in setting up a new Internet-naut can be prohibitively large. Let's not even think about setting up a whole department or large office of people.

Hence, this DOS Internet Kit. I've tried to put together a (fairly) painless way to install the basic parts that will permit a PC which already has an Ethernet or similar connection to take advantage of some of the new software. I make all sorts of assumptions about local hardware - these will have to be modified on a per-site basis. I've included some locally useful information about gateways, nameservers, etc., and that will certainly need to be changed for folk elsewhere.

I hope this is useful to some folks out there - please let me know if it is. On the other hand, please send me suggestions on how I can improve this offering (bearing in mind that I've already spent far too much time doing this)! My email address is at the bottom of this document.

Dean Pentcheff, dean@tbone.biol.scarolina.edu (803) 777-3936

Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia SC 29208 USA