home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Libris Britannia 4
/
science library(b).zip
/
science library(b)
/
COMMUNIC
/
1321.ZIP
/
BACKMAIL.ARC
/
MODEMS.TXT
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1988-11-11
|
16KB
|
353 lines
Customizing BackMail for your Modem
***************************************
The default values in Backmail should enable it to operate with any
truly Hayes Compatible 1200 or 2400 baud modem.
Apart from insuring that your DIP switches are set correctly, we
recommend that you use BackMail for a bit before undertaking any
customization. The default values the program uses have been chosen with
great care and work with a wide variety of modems.
However, should you encounter problems or if your modem is non-
standard, don't despair. We have designed BackMail to allow you to alter
virtually all of the parameters that control the modems operations. So
even if you have a modem that does not conform to industry standards it
should be possible to configure the program to drive your modem.
DIP SWITCHES
************
Your Modem may or may not have DIP switches which may control some or
all of these functions.
SWITCH SETTING
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Carrier Detect Should be set so that Carrier is NOT always on.
Data Terminal Ready Should be set so that DTR is NOT always on; i.e. is
controlled by the computer.
Verbose Should be set so that modem produces numeric responses
Echo Should be set so the modem does NOT echo commands
Auto Answer Should be off so modem does not automatically answer
phone
It is most important that you have Carrier and DTR detect enabled. If your
modem does not have DIP switches for these functions then they will be set
by command strings. Check the Setting for Tech 3 to make sure that it is
the appropriate string to enable carrier and DTR. Setting of Tech settings
is described below.
MODEM RESPONSE CODES
********************
Your modem responds to commands by sending "response codes" to your
computer. BackMail sets your modem to respond with numeric responses. These
are numbers (usually between 0-10, though we have provided up to 20) that
tell the program about the state of your modem. Responses 1-4 are standard
but, above 4, modems can mean different things by these numbers. To bring
BackMail fully en rapport with your modem you should tell the program what
these response codes mean to your modem.
You do this by altering +---------------------------------+
TECH SETTINGS under the | ** Technician Settings ** |
CHANGE SETUP menu. When | See User's Manual for details |
you select this function | Enter number of item to change |
BackMail will display this | Esc when done (0-150): |
prompt. | _ |
+---------------------------------+
You change TECH SETTINGS by entering the number of the tech setting you
want to change and entering an appropriate string or number.
For modem response codes you will be entering numbers. Tech Settings
50-60 correspond to modem responses from 0-20. Each Tech Setting in this
range has associated with it a number which indicates its meaning to
BackMail.
These numbers indicate the interpretation that BackMail will place
upon the corresponding modem responses and dictate what action BackMail
will take.
Here are the BackMail Numbers and their meaning.
| Setting | Interpretation
| Value |
----------|--------------------------------------------------------
| 0 | 'OK': Modem has accepted a command
| 1 | Modem has detected a Carrier at 300 Baud
| 2 | Modem has detected a Carrier at 1200 Baud
| 3 | Modem has detected a Carrier at 2400 Baud
| 4 | Modem has detected your phone is ringing
| 5 | Modem has lost or failed to detect a carrier
| 6 | Modem has detected a Busy signal at the number you are calling
| 7 | Modem detects a ring at the number you are calling
| 8 | Modem has failed to detect a dial tone
| 9 | This response code is undefined for this modem
| 10 | Modem has found an error in some command sent to it
Here are the default settings which backmail uses to interpret Modem
responses 0-20.
+--------+-----------+------------------+
| Tech | Modem | Default BackMail |
| Number | Response | Setting |
+--------+-----------+------------------+
| 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | 1 | 1 |
| 52 | 2 | 4 |
| 53 | 3 | 5 |
| 54 | 4 | 10 |
| 55 | 5 | 2 |
| 56 | 6 | 9 |
| 57 | 7 | 9 |
| 58 | 8 | 9 |
| 59 | 9 | 9 |
| 60 | 10 | 3 |
| 61 | 11 | 9 |
| 62 | 12 | 9 |
| 63 | 13 | 9 |
| 64 | 14 | 9 |
| 65 | 15 | 9 |
| 66 | 16 | 9 |
| 67 | 17 | 9 |
| 68 | 18 | 9 |
| 69 | 19 | 9 |
| 70 | 20 | 9 |
+--------+-----------+------------------+
As you will see, by default, all of the modem responses from 6-20 have a
default BackMail setting of '9' which means that BackMail will do nothing
if it receives these responses. If these extended codes do mean something
to your modem then you will want to fill BackMail in by setting the
appropriate interpretation beside the tech setting that corresponds to that
tech setting.
For example
***********
Suppose that your modem manual tells you that your modem issues
response code "6" when it receives no dial tone and "7" when it
detects a busy signal.
In that case you should alter Tech settings "56" and "67" to the
Backmail settings for these responses.
Modem Response Tech Setting BackMail Interpretation
-----------------------------------------------------------------
6 56 8
7 57 6
Sorry if all this sounds complicated. Indeed we aren't out of the woods yet
for now we have to talk about "X" settings...
X SETTINGS CONTROLLING EXTENDED RESPONSES
*****************************************
The meaning of modem response codes above "5" are not wholly
standardized and any modem that uses these extended responses will have a
command to tell your modem which responses it will issue. These are usually
the "X1-X4" command strings.
If your modem supports these features you will want it to wait for
dial tone before dialing and busy signals at the far end. You won't want it
to do either of those things when it answers the phone; when answering you
just want it to play its tone music and start generating a carrier.
To accomplish this BackMail includes an X command in its command
string when it is dialing or answering. It uses different commands
depending upon which it is doing. These "X" commands are recorded in TECH
SETTINGS 4 and 21.
Tech Setting 4 is the setting BackMail sends when it hangs up the
phone and readies itself to receive a call.
Tech Function
Number
----------------------------
4 "X" String to tell modem not wait for dial tone
21 "X" String to tell modem to listen for dial tone & busy signal
The default values for both these strings are "X1" which normally tells the
modem to do nothing except report the difference between 1200 and 2400 baud
carriers. For a typical fully featured modem the values might be:
Tech Recommended
Number Setting Function
---------------------------------------------------------
4 X3 Wait for Dial tone , 1200/2400 Detect,Busy Detect
21 X1 No wait for dial tone, 1200/2400 detect
Use the "X" settings that correspond to these values.
Do NOT use an "X" setting if your manual tells you that in that "X-
mode" Backmail will wait for silence before dialing. You do NOT want
BackMail to do that. Do NOT use an "X" setting in Tech Number 21 if that
setting enables ring detect.
TURNING ON BUSY DETECT AND WAIT FOR DIAL TONE
*********************************************
If you have entered in the right response codes and "X" modes then
busy detect will already be in effect. To turn on wait for dial tone just
bring up the CHANGE SETUP MENU and select WAIT FOR DIAL TONE.
Turning "WAIT FOR DIAL TONE" on will greatly enhance the ease with
which you can use BackMail for dialing out Voice calls. See the Manual for
details.
DIGIT MUSIC WARNING
*****************
To turn on Digit Music Warning just select this function under the
CHANGE SETUP MENU. After you have turned this function on you should test
it to make sure that it is working successfully with your modem.
To test it call your BackMail number or listen while BackMail answers
your phone. You should here BackMail pick up the phone, produce a tweedle
with phone touch tones and start a carrier signal shortly thereafter.
If you hear the tweedle but don't hear a carrier start up, then what
is likely going on is that your modem is waiting for a dial tone or ring
detect before it starts its carrier. You may be able to rectify this by
checking your "X" settings. But some modems will do ring-detect no matter
what you tell them. In that case you should be solve your problem by
altering the string at Tech setting 19 from "R" to ";ATA".
Tech 19: R (or ;ATA)
Tech 18 contains the numbers that make up the touch tone music you
modem will play. By default it is "909090". You can alter this to create
and tune you like up to a maximum of 15 digits.
WHICH RING TO ANSWER ON
************************
Tech setting 73 contains a number which corresponds to the number of
rings Backmail should wait for before it answers the phone. The default is
"1" so that BackMail will answer your phone on the first ring. If you want
to give an answering machine or other people on an extension a first shot
at answering the phone you might want to increase this number.
SLUGGISH MODEMS
****************
Tech setting 72 contains a number which indicates how long it takes
your modem to hang up after it receives an on/off transition in the DTR
line from the computer. The default is 1 second, but if your modem seems
not to be answering the phone, or failing to connect with calling
BackMailers, then try increasing this number to 2 seconds.
CAVEAT
*******
There are many different brands of modem on the market and they vary
widely in how well they perform. BackMail makes extensive use of all of the
features of standard modems and if the manufacturer has cut corners in
production they are more likely to show up with BackMail than with some
other less sophisticated communication programs.
We have done *hundreds* of hours of testing with BackMail with many
different kinds of modems. There are some real turkeys out there: modems
that claim to do things that they don't, modems designed to do things no
one in their right mind would ever want them to do, and modems so flaky
that they are not good for much more than autodialing. Unsurprisingly, we
have found that modem performance is more or less directly correlated with
price. We hope that your modem wasn't too much of a bargain.
Of particular note are some very inexpensivie, internal 2400 baud
modems. Some of these have very great difficulty connecting with other
modems at 2400 baud and you have to set your LAG TIME (See the manual for
an explanation) to a very high value (e.g. 30 seconds). To successfully
connect with these modems.
If you frequently get calls which BackMail identifies as voice calls
but which are really other BackMailers, or if other BackMailers have
trouble connecting with you we recommend that you use BMCONFIG.COM to set
your "ANSWER BAUD" rate to 1200 baud. If you have trouble connecting with
other modems at 2400 baud then you should reduce your "CALL BAUD" rate down
to 1200 baud. The trade off of reliability for speed is usually worth it.
MODEM COMMAND STRINGS
*********************
Tech Settings 0 -22 contain the strings that are used to control the modem.
If you encounter difficulties with BackMail controlling your modem you
may wish to change some of these after consulting your modem. Command
strings can be up to 15 characters long.
Tech Default
Number Value FUNCTION
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 AT Modem attention string. Precedes all commands
1 H0 Hang up the phone
2 S9=6 Time to wait to identify carrier
3 &C1&D2 Carrier Detect and hang up on DTR enabled.
4 X3 Mode to using in calling out
5 M1 Modem speaker on
6 M0 Modem speaker off
7 Q0E0V0 Send result codes, Don't Echo Commands, Numerical responses
8 S0=0 Do NOT auto-answer
9 S7=60 Time to wait for carrier
10 DT Touch tone dial out
11 DP Pulse tone dialing
12 A Answer with carrier
13 ; Return to command state
14 D Dial prefix
15 <CR> Terminator for Command lines
16 W Wait for dial tone
17 S6=2 Time to wait for dial tone
18 909090 Dial Music warning tones
19 R Initiate carrier after picking up the phone.
20 S11=70 Rate of tone dialing
21 X1 Mode to use when dialing out
22 +++ Modem escape sequence
ADVICE TO HACKERS
*****************
The strings associated with TECH 2 & 3 are sent to the modem every
time BackMail resets or hangs up the phone. If your modem requires special
command strings you may wish to include them here.
If your modem does not Accept "&" commands you may wish to blank out
tech setting 3 to speed the reset of your Modem.
