Simtel MSDOS - Coast to Coast/simteldosarchivecoasttocoast2.iso/windows3/pcucp15.zip/faq.doc

Text File | 1993-10-11 | 6KB | 172 lines

Pcucp 1.10
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Consulting local Pcucp users (if any) is usually the best thing
to do to.

Check out the file pcucp.log in the PCUCPDIR of your unix-host.
It might be a good idea to make a copy of it, since the file
is overwritten in the beginning of a new session.

In this document the words in uppercase (such as PACKETSIZE)
usually refer to a configuration keyword. (See config.doc for
details.)


Some frequent questions/problems and answers/possible solutions
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Q: Compiling the unix-executable fails. What to do ?

- Make sure that you have used the right make target to compose the
set of sources for you system. (see READ.ME w. unix-sources) If you
don't know on which kind of system you are, try the command uname -a.
If this doesn't help, you can always ask the system administrator
and/or try other targets.

- Use gcc instead of your default compiler, if available. (Change
the CC and CCL definitions in the Makefile.)

- If you have an old c-compiler, which does not understand void
pointers, you should get Pcucp compiled (with some extra warnings)
by inserting

#define void char

as the first line of system.h.


Q: How to set environment variables in dos/unix ?

To set the PCUCPDIR environment variable to the Pcucp directory

in dos, use the command

set PCUCPDIR=\my\pcucp\dir

in unix, use the command

setenv PCUCPDIR /my/pcucp/dir

if you use (t)csh. If you use sh then use the commands :

PCUCPDIR=/my/pcucp/dir
export PCUCPDIR

Note that while the environment variable names in dos are not case
sensitive, they are that in unix. In dos, it is convenient to add
the command in autoexec.bat. In unix you can place it in your .login
or .cshrc (or .profile for sh).


Q: I run out of environment space when trying to set PCUCPDIR.
   How do I specify a bigger environmet space ?

Add/modify a line like the following into your CONFIG.SYS :

SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /e:1024

The above sets the size reserved fot environment settings to 1024
bytes. (It is assumed that you use MS-DOS's default shell COMMAND.COM.
If you use some other program as your shell, check its documentation
for its method of specifying the environment size.)


Q: Pcucp seems not to work at all. What to do ?

If the initial terminal window seems not be able to handle
the login, make sure that LINEPARAMS are correct.

Make sure that the PACKETSIZE and BITCODE definitions in both
ends agree.

Try BITCODE BIT5 BIT7. If this works, you might want to try either
BITCODE BIT5 or BITCODE BIT7 for better performance.

Make sure you used the right make target. (Try other targets.)

Try using PADSTR. (PADSTR \r might be a good guess.)


Q: I get the connect message, but no further success.
   The program seems to hang after a while.
   The program hangs when I start file transfer.
   What to do ?

Try BITCODE BIT5 BIT7. If this works, you might want to try either
BITCODE BIT5 or BITCODE BIT7 for better performance.

If the program seems to hang at random, try SALVSTR.


Q: The performance in file transfer is poor. Can it be improved ?

In the ideal case Pcucp should be able to use > 90 % of the line
capasity. In my case a typical speed is 190-195 bytes/s with a
2400 bps modem, BITCODE BIT5 (effective line speed 210 bytes/s)
and no other activity than downloading files. There is some
mysterious protocol / program feature which causes the upload
speed to be slower than that with download (typ. 170 bytes/s
in the previous case).

Common causes for poor performance are :

  - heavy load on the unix-host
  - heavy load on the local network (in case Pcucp packets
    in are transfered trough it)

Setting PACKETSIZE to a bigger value increases performance (but
may compromise interactivity ..).

Using the BSD-version of the module sleep.c usually gives a slight
performance boost and even improves interactivity. (see READ.ME w.
unix sources).

With higher line speeds (>=9600) it may be that the serial
interrupt overhead is simply too high - in this case you should
consider replacing the standard UART with a 16550.


Q: Creating a new shell window sometimes fails. Why ?

This is usually due to too many users on your unix-host, which
results in all the pseudo terminal devices to be allocated.
Consult the administrator, it may be possible to add device
entries.


Q : How to make talk work with Pcucp ?

Some programs (such as talk) use getlogin() to figure out the
account name of the user. Getlogin() bases its idea of user's
identity on the information recorded in the file /etc/utmp.
By default Pcucp does not update this file, since it is usually
not writeable to the ordinary user and the file format may vary.
If, however, your /etc/utmp is writeable and has BSD- or SysV(?)-
format, this can be changed. (see READ.ME w. unix sources)

If /etc/utmp is not writeable or the format is not supported
you can try rlogin to the same machine before using a program
like talk. (Be careful with this though : this typically creates
three extra processes and allocates one extra pseudo-terminal.)


Q : My system uses a Alt-Ctrl-combination that conflicts with
those needed for menu selections in the plain-dos version of
pcucp. Can I change the key combinations used by Pcucp ?

The only case (so far) of this I have heard of is a system which
uses Alt-Ctrl-S to summon the setup program. In this case you
can do the following :

Use a file editor (such as norton de, pctools, debug) to locate
the string &Start in the .exe file. Change this to e.g. S&tart and
you should be able to start file transfer with Alt-Ctrl-O-F-T
instead of the usual Alt-Ctrl-O-F-S.

The above procedure can be used to change other key combinations as
well. The general idea is to locate the menu string and change the
position of the '&' in it so that it is before the character you want
to use to select the menu entry.