Columbia Kermit/kermit.zip/archives/ck9197.zip/ckubwr.txt

Text File | 2000-02-20 | 173KB | 3,514 lines

CKUBWR.TXT         "Beware File" for C-Kermit Version 7.0         -*- text -*-

                  C-KERMIT FOR UNIX


As of C-Kermit version:  7.0.197
This file last updated:  8 February 2000


Authors: Frank da Cruz and Christine M. Gianone, Columbia University.

  Copyright (C) 1985, 2000,
    Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
    All rights reserved.  See the C-Kermit COPYING.TXT file or the
    copyright text in the ckcmai.c module for disclaimer and permissions.

WHAT IS IN THIS FILE

This is the "beware file" for the UNIX version of C-Kermit.  It contains hints
and tips, frequently asked questions (and answers), troubleshooting advice,
limitations and restrictions, known bugs, unresolved reports, etc, that apply
to all UNIX variations, as well as to specific ones like HP-UX, AIX, Solaris,
SunOS, Unixware, NeXTSTEP, etc etc.

This file should be read in conjunction with the system-independent C-Kermit
beware file, ckcbwr.txt, which contains similar information, but applying to
all versions of C-Kermit (VMS, OS/2, AOS/VS, VOS, etc, as well as to UNIX).


CONTENTS

  (0)  DOCUMENTATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT
  (0.1)  THE C-KERMIT USER MANUAL
  (0.2)  TECHNICAL SUPPORT
  (0.3)  THE YEAR 2000
  (0.4)  THE EURO SYMBOL
  (1)  IMPORTANT FILES
  (2)  BINARIES
  (3)  NOTES ON SPECIFIC UNIX VERSIONS
  (3.0)  C-KERMIT ON PC-BASED UNIXES
  (3.1)  C-KERMIT AND AIX
  (3.2)  C-KERMIT AND HP-UX
     3.2.0. Common Problems
     3.2.1. Building C-Kermit on HP-UX
     3.2.2. Performance
     3.2.3. Dialing Out and UUCP Lockfiles in HP-UX
     3.2.4. HP-UX 5.00
     3.2.5. HP-UX 8.00
     3.2.6. HP-UX 9.00 AND LATER
     3.2.7. HP-UX 10.10 AND LATER
     3.2.8. HP-UX and X.25
  (3.3)  C-KERMIT AND LINUX
     3.3.1. Problems Building C-Kermit for Linux
     3.3.2. Problems with Serial Devices in Linux
     3.3.3. Terminal Emulation in Linux
     3.3.4. Dates and Times
         3.3.5. Startup Errors
  (3.4)  C-KERMIT AND NEXTSTEP
  (3.5)  C-KERMIT AND QNX
  (3.6)  C-KERMIT AND SCO UNIX, XENIX, ODT, AND OPENSERVER
  (3.7)  C-KERMIT AND SOLARIS
  (3.8)  C-KERMIT AND SUNOS
  (3.9)  C-KERMIT AND ULTRIX
  (3.10) C-KERMIT AND UNIXWARE
  (3.11) C-KERMIT AND APOLLO SR10
  (3.12) C-KERMIT AND TANDY XENIX 3.0
  (3.13) C-KERMIT AND OSF/1 (DIGITAL UNIX)
  (3.14) C-KERMIT AND SGI IRIX
  (3.15) C-KERMIT AND THE BEBOX
  (3.16) C-KERMIT AND DG/UX
  (3.17) C-KERMIT AND SEQUENT DYNIX
  (3.18) C-KERMIT AND {FREE,OPEN,NET}BSD
  (4)  GENERAL UNIX-SPECIFIC LIMITATIONS AND BUGS
  (5)  INITIALIZATION AND COMMAND FILES
  (6)  COMMUNICATION SPEED SELECTION
  (7)  COMMUNICATIONS AND DIALING
  (8)  HARDWARE FLOW CONTROL
  (9)  TERMINAL CONNECTION AND KEY MAPPING
  (10) FILE TRANSFER
  (11) EXTERNAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS
  (11.1) C-KERMIT AS AN EXTERNAL PROTOCOL
  (11.2) INVOKING EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS FROM C-KERMIT
  (11.3) USING C-KERMIT WITH TERM
  (12) SECURITY
  (13) MISCELLANEOUS USER REPORTS
  (14) THIRD-PARTY DRIVERS


(0) DOCUMENTATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT

(0.1) THE C-KERMIT USER MANUAL

C-Kermit is documented in the book "Using C-Kermit" by Frank da Cruz and
Christine M. Gianone, Digital Press, Burlington, MA, USA, ISBN 1-55558-164-1.
Price: US $44.95.  To order, call Columbia University, New York City, at
[phone], or Digital Press / Butterworth-Heinemann at:

  [phone]  (Massachusetts office for USA & Canada)
  [phone] (Rushden, England office for Europe)
  [phone]   (Chatswood, NSW, office for Australia & New Zealand)
  [phone]     (Singapore office for Asia)

Or visit the Kermit website at http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/.

A German edition is available from Verlag Heinz Heise in Hannover, Germany,
Tel. [phone], Fax. [phone].

If you do not have the manual, please purchase it.  It explains how to use
C-Kermit, from getting started through advanced use and scripting, and sales
of the manual are the primary source of funding for C-Kermit development and
support.

New features added since "Using C-Kermit", 2nd Ed, was published are
documented in the ckermit2.txt file, which should be used as a supplement to
the manual until the 3rd edition is published.

(0.2) TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Please consult the manual, plus the ckcbwr.txt file and this file itself,
before submitting questions, reporting problems, etc, to:

  E-Mail: [e-mail]

    Web:  http://www.columbia.edu/kermit/support.html

    News: comp.protocols.kermit.misc

    Post: The Kermit Project
          Columbia University
          612 West 115th Street
          New York NY  10025-7799
          USA

    Fax: [phone]

Telephone support is also available:

  [phone], cost: $25.00 per call, payable via Visa or MC.

(0.3) THE YEAR 2000

The UNIX version of C-Kermit, release 6.0 and later, is "Year 2000 compliant",
but only if the underlying operating system is too.  Contact your UNIX
operating system vendor to find out which operating system versions, patches,
hardware, and/or updates are required.

As of C-Kermit 6.0, post-millenium file dates are recognized, transmitted,
received, and reproduced correctly during the file transfer process in
C-Kermit's File Attribute packets.  If post-millenium dates are not processed
correctly on the other end, file transfer will still take place, but the
modification or creation date of the received file might be incorrect.  The
only exception would be if the "file collision update" feature is being used
to prevent unnecessary transfer of files that have not changed since the last
time a transfer took place; in this case, a file might be transferred
unnecessarily, or it might not be transferred when it should have been.
Correct operation of the update feature depends on both Kermit programs having
the correct date and time.

Of secondary importance are the time stamps in the transaction and/or debug
logs, and the date-related script programming constructs, such as \v(date),
\v(ndate), \v(day), \v(nday), and perhaps also the time-related ones, \v(time)
and \v(ntime), insofar as they might be affected by the date.  The \v(ndate)
is a numeric-format date of the form yyyymmdd, suitable for both lexical and
numeric comparison and sorting: e.g. 19970208 or 20011231.  If the underlying
operating system returns the correct date information, these variables will
have the proper values.  If not, then scripts that make decisions based on
these variables might not operate correctly.

Most date-related code is based upon the C Library asctime() string, which
always has a four-digit year.  In UNIX, the one bit of code in C-Kermit that
is an exception to this rule is several calls to localtime(), which returns a
pointer to a tm struct, in which the year is presumed to be expressed as
"years since 1900".  The code depends on this assumption.  Any platforms that
violate it will need special coding.  As of this writing, no such platforms
are known.

Command and script programming functions that deal with dates use C-Kermit
specific code that always uses full years.

(0.4) THE EURO SYMBOL

C-Kermit 7.0 and later support Unicode (ISO 10646), ISO 8859-15 Latin Alphabet
9, PC Code Page 858, Windows Code Pages 1250 and 1251, and perhaps other
character sets, that encode the Euro symbol, and can translate among them
as long as no intermediate character-set is involved that does not include
the Euro.


(1) IMPORTANT FILES

In addition to the published documentation, the following files are useful
in troubleshooting:

    ckaaaa.txt:     Overview, file naming conventions, list of files, etc.
    ckuins.txt:     Installation instructions for UNIX C-Kermit.
    ckccfg.txt:     C-Kermit program configuration information.
    ckcbwr.txt:     C-Kermit "beware file" for all platforms.
    ckubwr.txt:     C-Kermit "beware file" for UNIX (this file).
    ckcplm.txt:     C-Kermit program logic manual.
    ckermit2.txt:   User documentation for features added since 6.0.192, and
                    since the 2nd Edition of "Using C-Kermit" was published.
    ckcXXX.txt:     Program edit history for edit XXX, e.g. ckc196.txt.
    ckuker.mak:     (or makefile) Makefile for UNIX C-Kermit.
    ck[cuw]*.[chw]: Source code for UNIX C-Kermit.

Note that all of the *.txt files are renamed from their pre-7.0 names due
to Microsoft's usurpation of traditional text filetypes like .hlp and .doc
for its own purposes.


(2) BINARIES

It is often dangerous to run a binary C-Kermit (or any other) program built
on a different computer.  Particularly if that computer had a different C
compiler, libraries, operating system version, processor features, etc, and
especially if the program was built with shared libraries, because as soon as
you update the libraries on your system, they no longer match the ones
referenced in the binary, and the binary refuses to load when you run it,
in which case you'll see error messages similar to:

  Could not load program kermit
  Member shr4.o not found or file not an archive
  Could not load library libcurses.a[shr4.o]
  Error was: No such file or directory

(These samples are from AIX.)  To avoid this problem, we try to build C-Kermit
with statically linked libraries whenever we can, but many of the binaries are
contributed from elsewhere (after all, we don't have several hundred different
machines in-house to build them on), and in any case some platforms do not
even offer the option of static linking.

It is often OK to run a binary built on an earlier OS version, but it is
rarely possible (or safe) to run a binary built on a later one, for example
to run a binary built under SunOS 4.1.2 on a SunOS 4.1.1 system.  Sometimes
even the system-or-library patch/ECO level makes a difference.

A particularly insidious problem occurs when a binary was built on a version
of the OS that has patches from the vendor (e.g. to libraries); in most cases
you won't be able to run such a binary on an unpatched version of the same
platform.

When in doubt, build C-Kermit from the source code on the system where it is
to be run (if possible!).  If not, ask us for a binary specific to your
configuration.  We might have one, and if we don't, we might be able to find
somebody who will build one for you.


(3) NOTES ON SPECIFIC UNIX VERSIONS

The following sections apply to specific UNIX versions.

One thread that runs through many of them, and implicitly perhaps through all,
concerns the problems that occur when trying to dial out on a serial device
that is (also) enabled for dialing in.  The "solutions" to this problem are
many, varied, diverse, and usually gross, involving configuring the device for
bidirectional use.  This is done in a highly system-dependent and often
obscure manner, and the effects (good or evil) are also highly system-
dependent.  Many examples are given in the system-specific sections below.

An important point to keep in mind is that C-Kermit is a CROSS-PLATFORM,
PORTABLE program.  It was not designed specifically and only for your
particular UNIX version, or for that matter, for UNIX in particular at all.
It also runs on VMS, AOS/VS, VOS, and many other non-UNIX platforms.  All
the UNIX versions of C-Kermit share common i/o modules, with compile-time
#ifdef constructions used to account for the differences among the many UNIX
products and releases.  If you think that C-Kermit is behaving badly, or
missing something, on your particular UNIX version, you might be right -- we
can't claim to be expert in 700+ different platforms.  If you're a programmer,
take a look at the source code and send us your suggested fixes or changes.
Or else just send us a report about what seems to be wrong (see the TECHNICAL
SUPPORT section above for details).

(3.0) C-KERMIT ON PC-BASED UNIXES

PCs are not the best platform for real operating systems like UNIX.  The
architecture suffers from numerous deficiencies, not the least of which is the
stiflingly small number of hardware interrupts (either 7 or 15, most of which
are preallocated).  Thus adding devices, using multiple serial ports, etc, is
always a challenge and usually a nightmare.  The free-for-all nature of the PC
market and the lack of standards combined with the diversity of UNIX OS
versions makes it difficult to find drivers for any particular device on any
particular version of UNIX.

Of special interest to Kermit users is the fact that there is no standard
provision in the PC architecture for more than 2 communication (serial) ports.
COM3 and COM4 (or higher) will not work unless you (a) find out the hardware
address and interrupt for each, (b) find out how to provide your UNIX version
with this information, and (c) actually set up the configuration in the UNIX
startup files (or whatever other method is used).  Watch out for interrupt
conflicts, and don't expect to be able to use more than two serial ports at
the same time.

Here is a typical tale from a Linux user (Fred Smith) about installing a third
serial port: "...problems can come from a number of causes. The one I fought
with for some time, and finally conquered, was that my modem is on an add-in
serial port, cua3/IRQ5.  By default IRQ5 has a very low priority, and does not
get enough service in times when the system is busy to prevent losing
data. This in turn causes many resends. There are two 'fixes' that I know of,
one is to relax hard disk interrupt hogging by using the correct parameter to
hdparm, but I don't like that one because the hdparm man page indicates it is
risky to use. The other one, the one I used, was to get 'irqtune' and use it
to give IRQ5 the highest priority instead of nearly the lowest. Completely
cured the problem."

To complicate matters, the PC platform is becoming increasingly and inexorably
Windows-oriented.  More and more add-on devices are "Windows only" -- meaning
they are incomplete and rely on proprietary Windows-based software drivers to
do the jobs that you would expect the device itself to do.  PCMCIA or
"Plug-n-Play" devices are rarely supported on PC-based UNIX versions such as
SCO; Winmodems, Winprinters, and the like are not supported at all on any UNIX
to our knowledge (except Lucent has released a Linux-only driver for one of
its PCI "software" modems).  The self-proclaimed Microsoft PC 97 (or later)
standard will probably only make matters worse since its only purpose to
ensure that PCs are "optimized to run Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 and future
versions of these operating systems".

With the exception noted (the Lucent modem), drivers for "Win" devices are
available only for Windows, since the Windows market dwarfs that of any
particular UNIX brand, and for that matter all UNIXes (or for that matter, all
non-Windows operating systems) combined.  If your version of UNIX (SCO, Linux,
BSDI, FreeBSD, etc) does not support a particular device, then C-Kermit can't
use it either.  C-Kermit, like any UNIX application, must access all devices
through drivers and not directly.

Don't waste time thinking that you, or anybody else, could write a Linux (or
other UNIX) driver for a Winmodem or other "Win" device.  First of all, these
devices generally require realtime control, but since UNIX (unlike Windows) is
a true multitasking system, realtime device control is not possible outside
the kernel.  Second, the specifications for these devices are secret and
proprietary, and each one (and each version of each one) is potentially
different.  Third, a Winmodem driver would be enormously complex; it would
take years to write and debug, by which time it would be obsolete.

Before you buy a new PC or add-on equipment, especially serial ports, internal
modems, or printers, make sure they are compatible with your version of UNIX.
This is becoming an ever-greater challenge; only a huge company like Microsoft
can afford to be constantly cranking out and/or verifying drivers for the
thousands of video boards, sound cards, network adapters, SCSI adapters,
buses, etc, that spew forth in an uncontrolled manner from all corners of the
world on a daily basis.  With very few exceptions, makers of PCs assemble the
various components and then verify them only with Windows, which they must do
since they are, no doubt, preloading the PC with Windows.  To find a modern PC
that is capable of running a variety of non-Windows operating systems
(e.g. Linux, SCO OpenServer, Unixware, and Solaris) is a formidable challenge
requiring careful study of each vendor's "compatibility lists" and precise
attention to exact component model numbers and revision levels.

Modems: External modems are recommended.  Internal PC modems (even when they
are not Winmodems, which is increasingly unlikely in new PCs) are always
trouble, especially in UNIX.  Even when they work for dialing out, they might
not work for dialing in, etc.  Problems that occur when using an internal
modem can almost always be eliminated by switching to an external one.  Even
when an internal modem is not a Winmodem or Plug-n-Play, it is often a no-name
model of unknown quality -- not the sort of thing you want sitting directly on
your computer's bus.  (Even if it does not cause hardware problems, it
probably came without a command list, so no UNIX software will know how to
control it.)  For more about UNIX compatible modems, see:

  http://www.o2.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html

Multiple modems: Remember that PCs, even now -- 2 decades after the PC was
first introduced -- are not (in general) capable of supporting more than 2
serial devices.  Here's a short success story from a recent newsgroup posting:
"I have a Diamond SupraSonic II dual modem in my machine. What I had to end up
doing is buying a PS/2 mouse and port and install it. Had to get rid of my
serial mouse. I also had to disable PnP in my computer bios. I was having IRQ
conflicts between my serial mouse and "com 3". Both modems work fine for me.
My first modem is ttyS0 and my second is ttyS1."  Special third-party
multiport boards such as DigiBoard are available for certain UNIX platforms
(typically SCO, maybe Linux) that come with special platform-specific drivers.

Character sets: PCs generally have PC code pages such as CP437 or CP850, and
these are often used by PC-based UNIX operating systems, particularly on the
console.  These are supported directly by C-Kermit's SET FILE CHARACTER-SET
and SET TERMINAL CHARACTER-SET commands.  Some PC-based UNIX versions, such as
recent Red Hat Linux releases, might also support Microsoft Windows code pages
such as CP1252, or even Latin Alphabet 1 itself (perhaps displayed with CP437
glyphs).

Certain Windows code pages are not supported directly by C-Kermit, but since
they are ISO Latin Alphabets with nonstandard "extensions" in the C1 control
range, you can substitute the corresponding Latin alphabet (or other character
set) in any C-Kermit character-set related commands:

  Windows Code Page    Substitution
   CP 1004              Latin-1
   CP 1051              HP Roman-8

Other Windows code pages are mostly (or totally) incompatible with their
Latin Alphabet counterparts (e.g. CP1250 and Latin-2), but several of these
are supported by C-Kermit 7.0 (1250, 1251, and 1252).

Finally, note that as a real operating system, UNIX (unlike Windows) does not
provide the intimate connection to the PC keyboard, screen, and mouse that you
might expect.  UNIX applications can not "see" the keyboard, and therefore can
not be programmed to understand F-keys, Editing keys, Alt-key combinations,
and the like.  This is because (a) UNIX is a portable operating system, not
only for PCs; and (b) UNIX sessions can come from anywhere, not just the PC's
keyboard and screen.

(3.1) C-KERMIT AND AIX

For additional information see the AIX FAQ:

  http://www.emerson.emory.edu/services/aix-faq/
  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/by-newsgroup/comp/comp.unix.aix.html
  http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/aix-faq/top.html
  http://aixpdslib.seas.ucla.edu/
  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/aix-faq/part1
  ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/rtfm/usenet-by-hierarchy/comp/unix/aix

and/or read the comp.unix.aix newsgroup.

C-Kermit won't be able to "set line /dev/tty0" (or any other dialout device)
if you haven't installed "cu" or "uucp" on your system, because installing
these is what creates the UUCP lockfile directory.  If SET LINE commands
always result in "Sorry, access to lock denied", even when C-Kermit has been
given the same owner, group, and permissions as cu:

  -r-sr-xr-x   1 uucp     uucp       67216 Jul 27 1999  cu

and even when you run it as root, then you must go back and install "cu" from
your AIX installation media.

Streaming transfers into AIX 4.2 or 4.3 (through the AIX Telnet server) have
been observed to fail, when exactly the same kind of transfers into AIX 4.1
work without incident.  The error reported by AIX is "interrupted system
call".  Streaming transfers work perfectly, however, if the AIX Telnet server
is removed from the picture (e.g, by using "set host * 3000" on AIX, or by
using Rlogin instead of Telnet).  They also work perfectly if the Telnet
connection is forced into binary mode (C-Kermit command "set telopt requested
requested").  In case of file-transfer failure on a Telnet connection to AIX
4.2 or 4.3, tell AIX C-Kermit to "set streaming off" and/or tell the file
sender to prefix all control characters ("set prefixing all").  Also be sure
that the AIX C-Kermit on the remote end has "set flow none" (which is the
default).

About AIX version numbers:  "uname -a" tells the two-digit version number,
such as 3.2 or 4.1.  The three-digit form can be seen with the "oslevel"
command (this information is unavailable at the API level and is reportedly
obtained by scanning the installed patch list).  Supposedly all three-digit
versions within the same two-digit version (e.g. 4.3.1, 4.3.2) are binary
compatible; i.e. a binary built on any one of them should run on all others,
but this is not verified.

IMPORTANT: Do NOT try to run AIX 3.x C-Kermit binaries on AIX 4.x (or vice
versa).  Obtain -- or build -- the C-Kermit binary that is appropriate for
your AIX version.  In general, it is always better to build from source code.

According to IBM's "From Strength to Strength" document (21 April 1998),
in AIX 4.2 and later "Async supports speeds on native serial ports up to
115.2kbps".  However, no API is documented to achieve serial speeds higher
than 38400 bps.  Apparently the way to do this -- which might or might not
work only on the IBM 128-port multiplexer -- is:

  cxma-stty fastbaud /dev/tty0

which, according to "man cxma-stty":

  fastbaud Alters the baud rate table, so 50 baud becomes 57600 baud.
  -fastbaud Restores the baud rate table, so 57600 baud becomes 50 baud.

Presumably (but not certainly) this extrapolates to 110 "baud" becomes
76800 bps, and 150 becomes 115200 bps.  So to use high serial speeds in AIX
4.2 or 4.3, the trick would be to give the "cxma-stty fastbaud" command for
the desired tty device before starting Kermit, and then use "set speed 50",
"set speed 110", or "set speed 150" to select 56700, 76800, or 115200 bps.
It is not known whether cxma-stty requires privilege.

According to one report, "Further investigation with IBM seems to indicate
that the only hardware capable of doing this is the 128-port multiplexor with
one (or more) of the 16 port breakout cables (Enhanced Remote Async Node
16-Port EIA-232). We are looking at about CDN$4,000 in hardware just to hang a
56kb modem on there. Of course, we can then hang 15 more, if we want. This
hardware combo is described to be good to 230.4kbps."

Another report says (quote from AIX newsgroup, March 1999):

  The machine type and the adapter determine the speed that one can actually
  run at.  The older microchannel machines have much slower crystal
  frequencies and may not go beyond 76,800.  A feature put into AIX 421
  allows one to key in non-POSIX baud rates and if the uart can support that
  speed, it will get set. this applies also to 43p's and beyond.  115200 is
  the max for the 43P's native serial port.  As crytal frequencies continue
  to increase, the built-in serial ports speeds will improve.  To use 'uucp'
  or 'ate' at the higher baud rates, configure the port for the desired
  speed, but set the speed of uucp or ate to 50.  Any non-POSIX speeds set
  in the ttys configuration will the be used.  In the case of the 128-port
  adapters or the ISA 8-port or PCI 8-port adapter, there are only a few
  higher baud rates.

   a. Change the port  to enable high baud rates:

      B50 for 57600
      B75 for 76800
      B110 for 115200
      B200 for 230000

   b. chdev -l ttyX -a fastbaud=enable

  For the 128 ports original style rans, only 57600 bps is supported.
  For the new enhanced RANs, up to 230Kbps is supported.

(end quote)

Note that some RS/6000s (e.g. the IBM PowerServer 320) have nonstandard
rectangular 10-pin serial ports; the DB-25 connector is NOT a serial port;
it is a parallel printer port.  IBM cables are required for the serial ports,
(The IBM RT PC also had rectangular serial ports -- perhaps the same as these,
perhaps different.)

If you dial in to AIX through a modem that is connected directly to an AIX
port (e.g. on the 128-port multiplexer) and find that data is lost, especially
when uploading files to the AIX system (and system error logs report buffer
overruns on the port):

 1. Make sure the port and modem are BOTH configured for hardware (RTS/CTS)
    flow control.  The port is configured somewhere in the system
    configuration, outside of Kermit.

 2. Tell C-Kermit to "set flow keep"; experimentation shows that SET FLOW
    RTS/CTS has no effect when used in remote mode (i.e. on /dev/tty, as
    opposed to a specify port device).

Several people have reported that C-Kermit (version unspecified) causes
AIX 4.2 (or later) to "freeze" or "hang" or "halt".  No further details are
known at this time.  However:

 1. No user-mode application should ever be able to make AIX or any other
    version of UNIX freeze, hang, or halt; if it does, this indicates a
    serious bug in AIX, which should be reported immediately to IBM.

 2. Fixes for bugs in the original AIX 4.2 tty (serial i/o) support
    and other AIX bugs are available from IBM at:

      http://service.software.ibm.com/rs6000/

    Downloads -> Software Fixes -> Download FixDist gets an application
    for looking up known problems.

Other people have reported that after upgrading AIX from 4.1 to 4.2, the "ttys
hang" when they try to use Kermit.  Again, so far no further details are
available.  However, others report that C-Kermit 6.0 works fine on both AIX
4.2 and 4.3 if it is rebuilt from source code.  Still others report that the
original C-Kermit 6.0 binaries, built under AIX 4.1, work perfectly in AIX
4.2 and 4.3.

More recently, people have reported various kinds of problems running a
C-Kermit binary built under AIX 4.1 or 4.2 on AIX 4.3.  There has been some
speculation on the newsgroups about a new round binary incompatibility between
AIX 4.3 and earlier versions -- some even suggest renumbered syscalls, but
that seems unlikely.  Example: a user in Germany reported that the C-Kermit
6.0 AIX 4.1 binary would crash during file transfer when run on AIX 4.2, but
the problems disappeared when running a binary that was built on AIX 4.2.

C-Kermit 6.0.192 and earlier were built by default without "BIGBUFOK" defined
for AIX, and this limits the maximum size of macros, etc.  In particular, it
affects the alphanumeric page macro (TAPMSG) distributed with C-Kermit 6.0.
BIGBUFOK should be defined, and it is in C-Kermit 6.1 and later.  In the
meantime use:

  make clean ; make aix???  KFLAGS=-DBIGBUFOK

Reportedly, telnet from AIX 4.1-point-something to non-Telnet ports does not
work unless the port number is in the /etc/services file; it's not clear from
the report whether this is a problem with AIX Telnet (in which case it would
not affect Kermit), or with the sockets library (in which case it would).  The
purported fix is IBM APAR IX61523.

Many problems reported with bidirectional terminal lines on AIX 3.2.x on the
RS/6000.  Workaround: don't use bidirectional terminal lines, or write a
shell-script wrapper for Kermit that turns getty off on the line before
starting Kermit, or before Kermit attempts to do the SET LINE.  (But note:
These problems MIGHT be fixed in C-Kermit 6.0 and later.)  The commands for
turning getty off and on (respectively) are /usr/sbin/pdisable and
/usr/sbin/penable.

Reportedly, all versions of IBM AIX use the same (undocumented) lockfile
conventions as RTAIX.  If this is true, the "makes" for PS/2 AIX and AIX/370
will have to be changed to use the RTAIX convention (it may be sufficient to
simply add -DRTAIX to the make entry).  This should not be an issue in
C-Kermit 7.0 or later, which now calls the AIX ttlock() family of library
functions to create, check, and remove lockfiles.  (But it is not known
which versions of AIX prior to 4.1 have working ttlock() functions; for
example, the functions are present in AIX 3.2 but do not seem to work).

C-Kermit SET HOST or TELNET from one AIX 3.1 (or earlier) system to another
won't work right unless you set your local terminal type to something other
than AIXTERM.  When your terminal type is AIXTERM, AIX TELNET sends two
escapes whenever you type one, and the AIX telnet server swallows one of them.
This has something to do with the "hft" device.  This behavior seems to be
removed in AIX 3.2 and later.

Transfer of binary -- and maybe even text -- files can fail on AIX 3.x.  The
problem was traced to a facility in AIX whereby a particular port can have
character-set translation done for it by the tty driver.  The following
advice from a knowledgeable AIX user:

  (begin quote...)  [This feature] has to be checked (and set/cleared) with
  a separate command, unfortunately stty doesn't handle this.  To check:

    $ setmaps
    input map: none installed
    output map: none installed

  If it says anything other than "none installed" for either one, it is likely
  to cause a problem with kermit.  To get rid of installed maps:

    $ setmaps -t NOMAP

  However, I seem to recall that with some versions of AIX before 3.2.5, only
  root could change the setting.  I'm not sure what versions - it might have
  only been under AIX 3.1 that this was true.  At least with AIX 3.2.5 an
  ordinary user can set or clear the maps.  (...end quote) And this would
  imply that Kermit itself cannot be coded to take care of this, because it
  would have to run as root.  On the same problem, another knowledgeable AIX
  user says:

  The way to get information on the NLS mapping under AIX (3.2.5 anyway) is
  as follows.  From the command line type:

    lsattr -l tty# -a imap -a omap -E -H

  Replace the tty number for the number sign above. This will give a human
  readable output of the settings that looks like this;

    # lsattr -l tty2 -a imap -a omap -E -H
    attribute value description     user_settable

    imap      none  INPUT map file  True
    omap      none  OUTPUT map file True

  If you change the -H to a -O, you get output that can easily be processed
  by another program or a shell script, for example:

    # lsattr -l tty2 -a imap -a omap -E -O
    #imap:omap
    none:none

  To change the settings from the command line, the chdev command is used
  with the following syntax.

    chdev -l tty# -a imap='none' -a omap='none'

  Again substituting the appropriate tty port number for the number sign,
  "none" being the value we want for C-Kermit.  Of course, the above can also
  be changed by using the SMIT utility and selecting devices - tty.
  (...end quote)

About AIX versions and hardware platforms (from the AIX FAQ):

  If you are using IBM's xlc (cc) compiler, the default is to use the common
  instruction set, so the same binary will run on both RS/6000 and PowerPC.

  The option -mcpu=common makes GCC use the common instruction set.  Please
  note that (unlike xlc) this is *not* the default with GCC on AIX.

A couple of other gotcha's:

  Use shared libraries.  The C runtime can and does change as IBM introduces
  patches.  Also this avoids "Netscape syndrome."  They bound AIX 3 libraries
  into their browser.  Although AIX 3 binaries will run on AIX 4, the AIX 3
  libraries aren't totally compatible.

  AIX 4.2 changed the C runtime radically.  AIX 4.2 binaries won't run on AIX
  4.1 or 3.anything.  AIX 3 binaries run on AIX 4.1 and AIX 4.2.

Of course, the moment you take any of this as gospel,  you'll get into big
trouble, but my own experience has pretty much jibed with the above.

(end quote)

"Is AIX Year 2000 Compliant?"  According to a comp.unix.aix newsgroup posting
from IBM Austin, version 4.2 is; earlier versions such as 4.1.x and 3.2.5
require PTFs (which, as of Jan 1997, have not yet been issued).

Here is a sample configuration for setting up an xterm keyboard for VT220 or
higher terminal emulation on AIX, courtesy of Bruce Momjian, Drexel Hill, PA.
Xterm can be started like this:

xterm $XTERMFLAGS +rw +sb +ls $@ -tm 'erase ^? intr ^c' -name vt220 \
        -title vt220 -tn xterm-220 "$@" &

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
XTerm*VT100.Translations: #override \n\
    <Key>Home: string(0x1b) string("[3~") \n \
    <Key>End: string(0x1b) string("[4~") \n
vt220*VT100.Translations: #override \n\
Shift    <Key>F1: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F2: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F3: string("~") \n \
Shift     <Key>F4: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F5: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F6: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F7: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F8: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F9: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F10: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F11: string("~") \n \
Shift    <Key>F12: string("~") \n \
    <Key>Print: string(0x1b) string("[32~") \n\
    <Key>Cancel: string(0x1b) string("[33~") \n\
    <Key>Pause: string(0x1b) string("[34~") \n\
    <Key>Insert: string(0x1b) string("[2~") \n\
    <Key>Delete: string(0x1b) string("[3~") \n\
    <Key>Home: string(0x1b) string("[1~") \n\
    <Key>End: string(0x1b) string("[4~") \n\
    <Key>Prior: string(0x1b) string("[5~") \n\
    <Key>Next: string(0x1b) string("[6~") \n\
    <Key>BackSpace: string(0x7f) \n\
    <Key>Num_Lock: string(0x1b) string("OP") \n\
    <Key>KP_Divide: string(0x1b) string("Ol") \n\
    <Key>KP_Multiply: string(0x1b) string("Om") \n\
    <Key>KP_Subtract: string(0x1b) string("OS") \n\
    <Key>KP_Add: string(0x1b) string("OM") \n\
    <Key>KP_Enter: string(0x1b) string("OM") \n\
    <Key>KP_Decimal: string(0x1b) string("On") \n\
    <Key>KP_0: string(0x1b) string("Op") \n\
    <Key>KP_1: string(0x1b) string("Oq") \n\
    <Key>KP_2: string(0x1b) string("Or") \n\
    <Key>KP_3: string(0x1b) string("Os") \n\
    <Key>KP_4: string(0x1b) string("Ot") \n\
    <Key>KP_5: string(0x1b) string("Ou") \n\
    <Key>KP_6: string(0x1b) string("Ov") \n\
    <Key>KP_7: string(0x1b) string("Ow") \n\
    <Key>KP_8: string(0x1b) string("Ox") \n\
    <Key>KP_9: string(0x1b) string("Oy") \n

!    <Key>Up: string(0x1b) string("[A") \n\
!    <Key>Down: string(0x1b) string("[B") \n\
!    <Key>Right: string(0x1b) string("[C") \n\
!    <Key>Left: string(0x1b) string("[D") \n\

*visualBell:    true
*saveLines:    1000
*cursesemul:    true
*scrollKey:    true
*scrollBar:    true

(3.2) C-KERMIT AND HP-UX

For further information, read the comp.sys.hp.hpux newsgroup.

3.2.0. Common Problems

The following sequence:

  set line /dev/cua0p0 ; or other device
  set speed 19200      ; or other normal speed

produces the message "?Unsupported line speed".  This means the port is not
configured for dialout.  Go into SAM and configure the port for dialout.

Some HP workstations have a BREAK/RESET key.  If you hit this key while
C-Kermit is running, it might kill or suspend the C-Kermit process.  C-Kermit
arms itself against these signals, but evidently the BREAK/RESET key is -- at
least in some circumstances, on certain HP-UX versions -- too powerful to be
caught.  (Some report that the first BREAK/RESET shows up as SIGINT and is
caught by C-Kermit's *former* SIGINT handler even when SIGINT is currently set
to SIG_IGN; the second kills Kermit; other reports suggest the first
BREAK/RESET sends a SIGTSTP (suspend) signal to Kermit, which it catches and
suspends itself.)  You can tell C-Kermit to ignore suspend signals with SET
SUSPEND OFF.  You can tell C-Kermit to ignore SIGINT with SET COMMAND
INTERRUPTION OFF.  It is not known whether these commands also grant immunity
to the BREAK/RESET key (one report states that with SET SUSPEND OFF, the
BREAK/RESET key is ignored the first four times, but kills Kermit the 5th
time).  In any case:

 1. If this key is mapped to SIGINT or SIGTSTP, C-Kermit catches or ignores
    it, depending on which mode (CONNECT, command, etc) Kermit is in.

 2. If it causes HP-UX to kill C-Kermit, there is nothing C-Kermit can do to
    prevent it.

When HP-UX is on the remote end of the connection, it is essential that HP-UX
C-Kermit be configured for Xon/Xoff flow control (this is the default, but in
case you change it and then experience file-transfer failures, this is a
likely reason).

3.2.1. Building C-Kermit on HP-UX

During the C-Kermit 6.0 Beta cycle, something happened to ckcpro.w (or, more
precisely, the ckcpro.c file that is generated from it) which causes HP
optimizing compilers under HP-UX versions 7.0 and 8.0 (apparently on all
platforms) as well as under HP-UX 9.0 on Motorola platforms only, to blow up.
In versions 6.1 and 7.0 the problem has spread to other modules.

The symptoms vary from the system grinding to a halt, to the compiler
crashing, to the compilation of the ckcpro.c module taking very long periods
of time, like 9 hours.  This problem is handled by compiling the modules
that tickle it without optimization; the new C-Kermit makefile takes care of
this, and shows how to do it in case the same thing begins happening with
other modules.

On HP-UX 9.0, a kernel parameter, maxdsiz (maximum process data segment size),
seems to be important.  On Motorola systems, it is 16MB by default, whereas on
RISC systems the default is much bigger.  Increasing maxdsiz to about 80MB
seems to make the problem go away, but only if the system also has a lot of
physical memory -- otherwise it swaps itself to death.

The optimizing compiler might complain about "some optimizations skipped" on
certain modules, due to lack of space available to the optimizer.  You can
increase the space (the incantation depends on the particular compiler version
-- see the makefile), but doing so tends to make the compilations take a much
longer time.  For example, the "hpux100o+" makefile entry adds the "+Onolimit"
compiler flag, and about an hour to the compile time on an HP-9000/730.  But
it *does* produce an executable that is about 10K smaller :-)

In the C-Kermit 7.0 makefile, all HP-UX entries automatically skip
optimization of problematic modules.

3.2.2. Performance

An unexpected slowness has been noted when transferring files over local
Ethernet connections when an HP-UX system (9.0 or later, perhaps also earlier
versions) is on the remote end.   The following experiment was conducted to
determine the cause.  C-Kermit 6.0 was used; the situation is slightly better
using C-Kermit 7.0's streaming feature.

The systems were HP-UX 10.00 (on 715/33) and SunOS 4.1.3 (on Sparc-20), both
on the same local 10Mbps Ethernet, packet length 4096, parity none, control
prefixing "cautious", using only local disks on each machine -- no NFS.  In
the C-Kermit 6.0 (ACK/NAK) case, the window size was 20; in the streaming case
there is no window size.  The test file was C-Kermit executable, transferred
in binary mode.  Conditions were relatively poor: the Sun and the local net
heavily loaded; the HP system is old, slow, and memory-constrained.

                   C-Kermit 6.0...    C-Kermit 7.0...
 Local    Remote   ACK/NAK........    Streaming......
 Client   Server   Send    Receive    Send    Receive
  Sun      HP       36       18        64       18
  HP       HP       25       15        37       16
  HP       Sun      77       83       118       92
  Sun      Sun      60       60       153      158

So whenever HP is the remote we have poor performance.  Why?

 . Changing file display to CRT has no effect (so it's not the curses
   library on the client side).

 . Changing TCP RECV-BUFFER or SEND-BUFFER has little effect.

 . Telling the client to make a binary-mode connection (SET TELNET BINARY
   REQUESTED, which successfully negotiates a binary connection) has no
   effect on throughput.

BUT...  If I start C-Kermit as a TCP server:

  set host * 3000
  server

and then from the client "set host blah 3000", I get:

                   C-Kermit 6.0...    C-Kermit 7.0...
 Local    Remote   ACK/NAK........    Streaming......
 Client   Server   Send    Receive    Send    Receive
  Sun      HP       77       67       106      139
  HP       HP       50       50        64       62
  HP       Sun      57       85       155      105
  Sun      Sun      57       50       321      314

Therefore the HP-UX telnet server or pty driver seems to be adding more
overhead than the SunOS one, and most others.  When going through this type of
connection (a remote telnet server) there is little Kermit can do improve
matters, since the telnet server and pty driver are between the two Kermits,
and neither Kermit program can have any influence over them (except putting
the Telnet connection in binary mode, but that doesn't help).

(The numbers for the HP-HP transfers are lower than the others since both
Kermit processes are running on the same slow CPU.)

3.2.3. Dialing Out and UUCP Lockfiles in HP-UX

Before you can use serial ports on the HP-9000, you must configure them as
either "terminals" or "modems" with SAM ("peripheral devices"..."terminals and
modems"), as described in the HP manual, "Configuring HP-UX for Peripherals:
HP 9000".  If you attempt to use a serial device before it has been configured
this way, it will not work properly; typical symptoms are (a) no communication
at all; (b) nonfunctional modem signals; and/or (c) massive amounts of
character loss in both directions.

In HP-UX 9.0, serial device names began to change.  The older names looked
like "/dev/cua00", "/dev/tty01", etc (sometimes with only one digit).
The newer names have two digits with the letter "p" in between.  HP-UX 8.xx
and earlier have the older form, HP-UX 10.00 and later have the newer form.
HP-UX 9.xx has the newer form on Series 800 machines, and the older form on
other hardware models.  The situation is summarized in the following table:

  Converged HP-UX Serial I/O Filenames : TTY Mux Naming
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  General meaning      Old Form     S800 9.0           Convio 10.0
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  tty* hardwired ports  tty<YY>     tty<X>p<Y>         tty<D>p<p>
                            diag:mux<X>        diag:mux<D>
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  ttyd* dial-in modems  ttyd<YY>    ttyd<X>p<Y>        ttyd<D>p<p>
                            diag:ttyd<X>p<Y>   diag:ttyd<D>p<p>
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  cua* auto-dial out    cua<YY>     cua<X>p<Y>         cua<D>p<p>
                            diag:cua<X>p<Y>
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  cul* dial-out         cul<YY>     cul<X>p<Y>         cul<D>p<p>
                            diag:cul<X>p<Y>
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
   <X>= LU (Logical Unit)  <D>= Devspec (decimal card instance)
   <Y> or <YY> = Port      <p>= Port

For dialing out, you should use the cua or cul devices.  When C-Kermit's
CARRIER setting is AUTO or ON, C-Kermit should pop back to its prompt
automatically if the carrier signal drops, e.g. when you log out from the
remote computer or service.  If you use the tty<D>p<d> (e.g. tty0p0) device,
the carrier signal should be ignored.  The tty<D>p<d> device should be used
for direct connections where the carrier signal does not follow RS-232
conventions (use the cul device for hardwired connections through a true null
modem).  Do not use the ttyd<D>p<d> device for dialing out.

Kermit's access to serial devices is controlled by "UUCP lockfiles", which are
intended to prevent different users using different software programs (Kermit,
cu, etc, and UUCP itself) from accessing the same serial device at the same
time.  When a device is in use by a particular user, a file with a special
name is created in:

  /var/spool/locks  (HP-UX 10.00 and later)
  /usr/spool/uucp   (HP-UX 9.xx and earlier)

The file's name indicates the device that is in use, and its contents
indicates the process ID (pid) of the process that is using the device.  Since
serial devices and the locks directory are not both publicly readable and
writable, Kermit and other communication software must be installed setuid to
the owner (bin) of the serial device and setgid to the group (daemon) of the
/var/spool/locks directory.  Kermit's setuid and setgid privileges are enabled
only when opening the device and accessing the lockfiles.

Let's say "unit" means a string of decimal digits (the interface instance
number) followed (in HP-UX 10.00 and later) by the letter "p" (lowercase),
followed by another string of decimal digits (the port number on the
interface), e.g.:

  "0p0", "0p1", "1p0", etc       (HP-UX 10.00 and later)
  "0p0", "0p1", "1p0", etc       (HP-UX 9.xx on Series 800)
  "00",  "01",  "10",  "0", etc  (HP-UX 9.xx not on Series 800)
  "00",  "01",  "10",  "0", etc  (HP-UX 8.xx and earlier)

Then a normal serial device (driver) name consists of a prefix ("tty", "ttyd",
"cua", "cul", or possibly "cuad" or "culd") followed by a unit, e.g. "cua0p0".
Kermit's treatment of UUCP lockfiles is as close as possible to that of the
HP-UX "cu" program.  Here is a table of the lockfiles that Kermit creates for
unit 0p0:

  Selection      Lockfile 1     Lockfile 2
  ------------   ------------   ------------
  /dev/tty0p0    LCK..tty0p0    (none)
* /dev/ttyd0p0   LCK..ttyd0p0   (none)
  /dev/cua0p0    LCK..cua0p0    LCK..ttyd0p0
  /dev/cul0p0    LCK..cul0p0    LCK..ttyd0p0
  /dev/cuad0p0   LCK..cuad0p0   LCK..ttyd0p0
  /dev/culd0p0   LCK..culd0p0   LCK..ttyd0p0
  <other>        LCK..<other>   (none)

(* = Dialin device, should not be used.)

In other words, if the device name begins with "cu", a second lockfile for
the "ttyd" device, same unit, is created, which should prevent dialin access
on that device.

The <other> case allows for symbolic links, etc, but of course it is not
foolproof since we have no way of telling which device is really being used.

When C-Kermit tries to open a dialout device whose name ends with a "unit", it
searches the lockfile directory for all possible names for the same unit.  For
example, if user selects /dev/cul2p3, Kermit looks for lockfiles named:

  LCK..tty2p3
  LCK..ttyd2p3
  LCK..cua2p3
  LCK..cul2p3
  LCK..cuad2p3
  LCK..culd2p3

If any of these files are found, Kermit opens them to find out the ID (pid) of
the process that created them; if the pid is still valid, the process is still
active, and so the SET LINE command fails and the user is informed of the pid
so s/he can use "ps" to find out who is using the device.

If the pid is not valid, the file is deleted.  If all such files (i.e. with
same "unit" designation) are successfully removed, then the SET LINE command
succeeds; up to six messages are printed telling the user which "stale
lockfiles" are being removed.

When the "set line" command succeeds in HP-UX 10.00 and later, C-Kermit also
creates a UNIX System V R4 "advisory lock" as a further precaution (but not
guarantee) against any other process obtaining access to the device while
you are using it.

If the selected device was in use by "cu", Kermit can't open it, because "cu"
has changed its ownership, so we never get as far as looking at the lockfiles.
In the normal case, we can't even look at the device to see who the owner is
because it is visible only to its (present) owner.  In this case, Kermit says
(for example):

  /dev/cua0p0: Permission denied

When Kermit releases a device it has successfully opened, it removes all the
lockfiles that it created.  This also happens whenever Kermit exits "under its
own power".

If Kermit is killed with a device open, the lockfile(s) are left behind.  The
next Kermit program that tries to assign the device, under any of its various
names, will automatically clean up the stale lockfiles because the pids they
contain are invalid.  The behavior of cu and other communication programs
under these conditions should be the same.

3.2.4. HP-UX 5.00

The HP-UX 5.00 version of C-Kermit does not include the fullscreen
file-transfer because of problems with the curses library.

If HP-UX 5.21 with Wollongong TCP/IP is on the remote end of a Telnet
connection, streaming transfers to HP-UX invariably fail.  Workaround:
SET STREAMING OFF.  Packets longer than about 1000 should not be used.
Transfers from these systems, however, can use streaming and/or longer
packets.

Reportedly, "[there is] a bug in C-Kermit using HP-UX version 5.21 on the
HP-9000 series 500 computers.  It only occurs when the controlling terminal
is using an HP-27140 six-port modem mux.  The problem is not present if the
controlling terminal is logged into an HP-27130 eight-port mux.  The symptom
is that just after dialing successfully and connecting Kermit locks up and
the port is unusable until both forks of Kermit and the login shell are
killed."  (This report predates C-Kermit 6.0 and might no longer apply.)

3.2.5. HP-UX 8.00

To make C-Kermit work on HP-UX 8.05 on a model 720, obtain and install HP-UX
patch PHNE_0899.  This patch deals with a lot of driver issues, particularly
related to communication at higher speeds.

And this report just in:

"On HP-UX 8 DON'T install 'tty patch' PHKL_4656, install PHKL_3047 instead!
Yesterday I tried this latest tty patch PHKL_4656 and had terrible problems.
This patch should fix RTS/CTS problems. With text transver all looks nice.
But when I switched over to binary files the serial interface returned only
rubish to C-Kermit. All sorts of protocol, CRC and packed errors I had. After
several tests and after uninstalling that patch, all transvers worked fine.
MB's of data without any errors.  So keep your fingers away from that patch.
If anybody needs the PHKL_3047 patch I have it here. It is no longer availabel
from HP's patch base."

3.2.6. HP-UX 9.00 AND LATER

HP-UX 9.00 and 9.01 need patch PHNE_10572 (note: this replaces PHNE_3641)
for hptt0.o, asio0.o, and ttycomn.o in libhp-ux.a.  Contact Hewlett Packard
if you need this patch.  Without it, the dialout device (tty) will be hung
after first use; subsequent attempts to use will return an error like "device
busy".  (There are also equivalent patches for s700 9.03 9.05 9.07
(PHNE_10573) and s800 9.00 9.04 (PHNE_10416).

When C-Kermit is in server mode, it might have trouble executing REMOTE HOST
commands.  This problem happens under HP-UX 9.00 (Motorola) and HP-UX 9.01
(RISC) IF the C-Shell is the login shell AND with the C-Shell Revision 70.15.
Best thing is to install HP's Patch PHCO_4919 for Series 300/400 and PHCO_5015
for the Series 700/800.  PHCO_5015 is called "s700_800 9.X cumulative csh(1)
patch with memory leak fix" which works for HP-UX 9.00, 9.01, 9.03, 9.04, 9.05
and 9.07.  At least you need C-Shell Revision 72.12!

C-Kermit works fine -- including its curses-based file-transfer display -- on
the console terminal, in a remote session (e.g. when logged in to the HP 9000
on a terminal port or when telnetted or rlogin'd), and in an HP-VUE hpterm
window or an xterm window.

3.2.7. HP-UX 10.10 AND LATER

C-Kermit is included as part of the HP-UX operating system by contract between
Hewlett Packard and Columbia University for all HP-UX releases 10.00 and
later.  Each level of HP-UX includes a freshly built C-Kermit binary in
/bin/kermit, which should work correctly.  However, if you are building your
own or downloading from Columbia, you should be aware that you can only use a
binary that was built under the same OS level as you are running.  As of
C-Kermit version 6.0, HP-UX 10.xx / 11.xx binaries announce, in the startup
herald and the VERSION command, the explicit HP-UX version they were built
for: HP-UX 10.00, 10.01, 10.10, 10.20, 10.30, or 11.00.  If there is a version
mismatch, HP-UX (not Kermit) is very likely to do something like "Invalid
version for shared lib /usr/lib/libc.1, IOT trap (core dumped)" during program
load.

Beginning in 10.10, libcurses is linked to libxcurses, the new UNIX95 (X/Open)
version of curses, which has some serious bugs; some routines, when called,
would hang and never return, some would dump core.  Evidently libxcurses
contains a select() routine, and whenever C-Kermit calls what it thinks is the
regular (sockets) select(), it gets the curses one, causing a segmentation
fault.  There is a patch for this from HP, PHCO_8086, "s700_800 10.10
libcurses patch", "shared lib curses program hangs on 10.10", "10.10 enhanced
X/Open curses core dumps due to using wrong select call", 96/08/02 (you can
tell if the patch is installed with "what /usr/lib/libxcurses.1"; the unpatched
version is 76.20, the patched one is 76.20.1.2).  It has been verified that
C-Kermit works OK with the patched library, but results are not definite for
HP-UX 10.20 or higher.

To ensure that C-Kermit works even on non-patched HP-UX 10.10 systems,
separate makefile entries are provided for HP-UX 10.00/10.01, 10.10, 10.20,
etc, in which the entries for 10.10 and above link with libHcurses, which is
"HP curses", the one that was used in 10.00/10.01.

3.2.8. HP-UX and X.25

Although C-Kermit presently does not include built-in support for HP-UX X.25
(as it does for the Sun and IBM X.25 products), it can still be used to make
X.25 connections as follows: start Kermit and then telnet to localhost.  After
logging back in, start padem as you would normally do to connect over X.25.
Padem acts as a pipe between Kermit and X.25.  In C-Kermit 7.0, you might also
be able to avoid the "telnet localhost" step by using:

  C-Kermit> pty padem <address>

This will work if padem uses standard i/o (see Section 2.7 of ckermit2.txt).

(3.3) C-KERMIT AND LINUX

For further information, read the comp.os.linux.misc, comp.os.linux.answers,
and other Linux-oriented newsgroups, and:

 The Linux Document Project (LDP):
  . http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/

 The Linux FAQ:
  . http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/FAQ/Linux-FAQ.html

 The Linux HOWTOs (especially the Serial HOWTO):
  . http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Serial-HOWTO.html
  . ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO
  . ftp://tsx-11.mit.edu/pub/linux/docs/HOWTO
  . http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/
  . http://sunsite.unc.edu/LDP/hmirrors.html

Also see general comments on PC-based UNIXes in Section 3.0.

Did you know: DECnet is available for Linux?  See:

  http://linux.dreamtime.org/decnet/

(But there is no support for it in C-Kermit -- anybody interested in adding
it, please let me know.)

Before proceeding, let's handle the two most frequently asked question in
the Linux newsgroups:

 1. Neither C-Kermit not any other Linux application can use Winmodems
    (with one exception).  See section 3.0 for details.

 2. "Why does it take such a long time to make a telnet connection to (or
    from) my Linux PC?" (this applies to C-Kermit or to regular Telnet).
    Most telnet servers these days perform reverse DNS lookups on the client
    (for security and/or logging reasons).  If the Telnet client cannot be
    found by the local DNS server, the DNS request goes out to the Internet
    at large, and this can take quite some time.  The solution to this
    problem is to make sure that both client and host are registered in DNS.
    C-Kermit itself performs reverse DNS lookups unless you tell it not to.
    This is to allow C-Kermit to let you know which host it is actually
    connected to in case you have made a connection to a "host pool"
    (multihomed host).  You can disable C-Kermit's reverse DNS lookup with
    SET TCP REVERSE-DNS-LOOKUP OFF.

3.3.1.  Problems Building C-Kermit for Linux

Modern Linux distributions like Red Hat give you a choice at installation
whether to include "developer tools".  Obviously, you can't build C-Kermit or
any other C program from source code if you have not installed the developer
tools.  Note that you might also have to choose (separately) to install the
"curses" or "ncurses" terminal control library -- it is possible to install
the C compiler and linker, but omit the (n)curses library and headers.  If
curses is not installed, you will not be able to build a version of C-Kermit
that supports the fullscreen file-transfer display, in which case you'll need
to use the "linuxnc" makefile target (nc = No Curses) or else install ncurses
before building.

Be sure to read the comments in the "linux:" makefile entry.  There are all
sorts of confusing issues caused by the many and varied Linux distributions.
Some of the worst involve the curses library and header files: where are they,
what are they called, which ones are they really?  Other vexing questions
involve libc5 vs libc6 vs glibc vs glibc2 (C libraries), gcc vs egcs vs lcc
(compilers), plus using or avoiding features that were added in a certain
version of Linux or a library or a distribution, and are not available in
others.

Linux C-Kermit, like all other UNIX C-Kermit versions, was built traditionally
with curses.h and the curses library.  However, this library was evidently so
buggy (users reported that, after doing a file transfer using the fullscreen
display, "screen scrolling locks up" and the cursor "is stuck on the bottom of
the screen", etc), that a new curses library, called ncurses, was developed to
replace it.  C-Kermit, as of version 6.1, uses ncurses rather than curses.

After modern practice, ncurses is dynamically linked, rather than linked into
the executable.  This means a certain relationship must obtain between the
version number referenced in the executable and the version number of the
library.  But there are evidently several different numbering systems for
libncurses.so -- e.g. 1.9.9e is another "name" for 3.0 -- but the program
loader doesn't know that and so won't run the program.  Also the library
and/or terminfo database might be in a different place on the target system
(e.g. /usr/share/terminfo) than it was on the build system (e.g.
/usr/lib/terminfo).  Solution: Create the appropriate symbolic links and/or
rebuild C-Kermit yourself from source code, and if you have additional
trouble, come back and read the rest of this section.

Of course static linking is also a possibility, but this makes the executable
MUCH bigger and introduces new problems of its own.

From the March 1999 Kermit newsgroup traffic:
  : When I start Kermit (under Redhat Linux 5.2), it complains about not
  : being able to recognise my terminal type - I've tried all the obvious
  : terminal types - which ones can I use?  Or can I get it to recognise
  : xterm?
  :
  Assuming that you can use full screen programs, this looks identical to the
  problem introduced by RedHat with 5.1.  They moved the curses library, and
  didn't [ leave a link from the old location to the new one ]:

  To fix: cd /usr/share; ln -s terminfo ../lib

The termcap library is no longer referenced in the Linux target in the
makefile, since its functions are supposedly incorporated into the ncurses and
curses libraries.  However, should any termcap-related entry points come up
undefined at link time (_tgetent, _tgoto, _tputs, etc), it might be necessary
to add -ltermcap back to LIBS.  But then you might find that the termcap
library is not in /usr/lib after all, but has been moved to /usr/lib/termcap/,
in which case you'll need to make a symlink, or do something like:

  "LIBS = -L/usr/lib/curses -lcurses -L/usr/lib/termcap -ltermcap"

Different UUCP lockfile conventions are used by different Linux versions
and/or distributions.  In C-Kermit 6.0 and later, "make linux" uses
/var/lock/LCK..name, decimal ASCII 10-byte PID string with leading spaces
because -DLINUXFSSTND ("Linux File System Standard") is included in the
compilation CFLAGS.  If you remove this definition, C-Kermit will use the
earlier arrangement of integer PID, /usr/spool/uucp/LCK..name.  The leading
spaces are required by FSSTND 1.2, but FSSTND 1.0 required leading zeros; to
get the leading zeros, also include -DFSSTND10.  Use whichever option agrees
with your uucp, cu, tip, etc, programs.

One user reported problems building C-Kermit under Linux 2.0.30/Slackware 96,
errors like:

  /usr/include/linux/socket.h:77: warning: `PF_AAL5' redefined
  /usr/local/include/socketbits.h:68: warning: this is the location of the
  previous definition
  ckutio.c:4679: `TIOCGSERIAL' undeclared (first use this function)
  ckutio.c:4685: `TIOCSSERIAL' undeclared (first use this function)
  ckutio.c:6092: warning: passing arg 3 of `select' from incompatible
  pointer type

etc etc.  Diagnosis: These were caused by installing some other package, which
created files in /usr/local/include.  Cure: rm -rf /usr/local/include, and
start over.

Reportedly, building C-Kermit 6.0 on Linux 1.1.33 and 1.1.34 gets fatal
compilation errors due to inconsistencies in the Linux header files.  Linux
kernel versions prior to 1.1.33 and later than 1.1.34 should be OK.  (Also,
C-Kermit 6.1 and later should be OK since we no longer include kernel header
files.)

Reportedly there is a bug in gcc 2.5.8 with signed to unsigned compares
that can wreak havoc when Kermit (or most any other program) is compiled with
this version of gcc; reportedly this can be worked around, at least in part,
by adding "-fno-unroll-loops" to the gcc compilation options.  (This problem
is evidently fixed in more recent gcc releases.)

Reportedly, if you have the iBCS2 (Intel Binary Compatibility Standard 2)
module installed, you can also run SCO Xenix and UNIX binaries under Linux,
including the SCO C-Kermit binaries, shareable libraries and all.
(iCBS2 is available via anonymous ftp from tsx-11.mit.edu, along with an
SCO libc_s compatibility module for Linux).

There is evidently a minor problem with GCC (version unknown) on (64-bit)
Alpha platforms, in which it complains:

  warning: cast to pointer from integer of different size

whenever it encounters a legitimate trinary expression like:

  integer ? "string1" : "string2"

(The "integer" can also be an integer-valued expression.)  These warnings
appear to be harmless.

3.3.2. Problems with Serial Devices in Linux

  Also see: "man setserial", "man irqtune".
  And: Sections 3.0, 6, 7, and 8 of this document.

Don't expect it to be easy.  Queries like the following are posted to the
Linux newsgroups almost daily:

  Problem of a major kind with my Compaq Presario 1805 in the sense that
  the pnpdump doesn't find the modem and the configuration tells me that
  the modem is busy when I set everything by hand!

  I have <some recent SuSE distribution>, kernel 2.0.35. Using the Compaq
  tells me that the modem (which is internal) is on COM2, with the usual
  IRQ and port numbers. Running various Windows diagnostics show me
  AT-style commands exchanged so I have no reason to beleive that it is a
  Winmodem. Also, the diagnostics under Win98 tell me that I am talking to
  an NS 16550AN.

[Editor's note: This does not necessarily mean it isn't a Winmodem.]

  Under Linux, no joy trying to talk to the modem on /dev/cua1 whether
  via. minicom, kppp, or chat. kppp at least tells me that tcgetattr()
  failed.

  Usage of setserial ("setserial /dev/cua1 port 0x2F8 irq 3 autoconfig"
  followed by "setserial -g /dev/cua1") tells me that the uart is
  'unknown'. I have tried setting the UART manullay via. setserial to
  16550A, 16550, and the other one (8550?) (I didn't try 16540). None of
  these manual settings resulted in any success.

  A look at past articles leads me to investigate PNP issues by calling
  pnpdump but pnpdump returns "no boards found". I have looked around on
  my BIOS (Phoenix) and there is not much evidence of it being PNP aware.
  However for what it calls "Serial port A", it offers a choice of Auto,
  Disabled or Manual settings (currently set to Auto), but using the BIOS
  interface I tried to change to 'manual' and saw the default settings
  offered to be were 0x3F8 and IRQ 4 (COM1). The BIOS menus did not give
  me any chance to configure COM2 or any "modem". I ended up not saving
  any BIOS changes in the course of my investigations.

  Can anybody suggest something else for me to try?

(end quotes)

Watch out for PCI, PCMCIA and Plug-n-Play devices, Winmodems, and the like
(see cautions in Section 3.0).  Linux supports Plug-n-Play devices to some
degree via the isapnp and pnpdump programs; read the man pages for them.  (If
you don't have them, look on your installation CD for isapnptool or download
it from sunsite or a sunsite mirror or other politically correct location).

Even when you have a real serial port, always be wary of interrupt conflicts
and similar PC hardware configuration issues: a PC is not a real computer like
other UNIX workstations -- it is generally pieced together from whatever
random components were the best bargain on the commodity market the week it
was built.  Once it's assembled and boxed, not even the manufacturer will
remember what it's made of or how it was put together because they've moved on
to a new model.  Their job is to get it (barely) working with Windows; for
Linux and other OS's you are on your own.

"set line /dev/modem" or "set line /dev/ttyS2", etc, results in an error,
"/dev/modem is not a tty".  Cause unknown, but obviously a driver issue, not a
Kermit one (Kermit uses "isatty()" to check that the device is a tty, so it
knows it will be able to issue all the tty-related ioctl's on it, like setting
the speed & flow control).  Try a different name (i.e. driver) for the same
port, e.g.  "set line /dev/cua2" or whatever.

"set modem type xxx" (where xxx is the name of a modem) followed by
"set line /dev/modem" or "set line /dev/ttyS2", etc, hangs (but can be
interrupted with Ctrl-C).  Experimentation shows that if the modem is
configured to always assert carrier (&C0) the same command does not hang.
Again, a driver issue.  Use /dev/cua2 (or whatever) instead.  (Or not --
hopefully none of these symptoms occur in C-Kermit 7.0.)

"set line /dev/cua0" reports "Device is busy", but "set line /dev/ttyS0"
works OK.

In short: If the cua device doesn't work, try the corresponding ttyS device.
If the ttyS device doesn't work, try the corresponding cua device -- but note
that Linux developers do not recommend this, and are phasing out the cua
devices.  From /usr/doc/faq/howto/Serial-HOWTO:

  12.4. What's The Real Difference Between The /dev/cuaN And /dev/ttySN
        Devices?
  The only difference is the way that the devices are opened.  The
  dialin devices /dev/ttySN are opened in blocking mode, until CD is
  asserted (ie someone connects).  So, when someone wants to use the
  /dev/cuaN device, there is no conflict with a program watching the
  /dev/ttySN device (unless someone is connected of course).
  The multiple /dev entries, allow operation of the same physical device
  with different operating characteristics.  It also allows standard
  getty programs to coexist with any other serial program, without the
  getty being retrofitted with locking of some sort.  It's especially
  useful since standard Unix kernel file locking, and UUCP locking are
  both advisory and not mandatory.

It was discovered during development of C-Kermit 6.1 that rebuilding C-Kermit
with -DNOCOTFMC (No Close/Open To Force Mode Change) made the aforementioned
problem with /dev/ttyS0 go away.  It is not yet clear, however, what its
affect might be on the /dev/cua* devices.  As of 19 March 1998, this option
has been added to the CFLAGS in the makefile entries for Linux ("make linux").

Note that the cua device is now "deprecated", and new editions of Linux will
phase it out in favor of the ttyS device.  See:

  http://linuxwww.db.erau.edu/mail_archives/linux-kernel/Mar_98/1441.html

One user reported that C-Kermit 7.0, when built with egcs 1.1.2 and run on
Linux 2.2.6 with glibc 2.1 (hardware unknown but probably a PC) dumps core
when given a "set line /dev/ttyS1" command.  When rebuilt with gcc, it works
fine.

3.3.3. Terminal Emulation in Linux

Run C-Kermit in the regular console screen, which provides Linux Console
"emulation" via the "console" termcap entry, or under X-Windows in an xterm
window, which gives VTxxx emulation.  An xterm that includes color ANSI and
VT220 emulation is available with Xfree86:

  http://www.clark.net/pub/dickey/xterm/xterm.faq.html

Before starting C-Kermit in an xterm window, you might need to tell the xterm
window's shell to "stty sane".

To set up your PC console keyboard to send VT220 key sequences when using
C-Kermit as your communications program in an X terminal window (if it doesn't
already), create a file somewhere (e.g. in /root/) called .xmodmaprc,
containing something like the following:

  keycode 77  = KP_F1       ! Num Lock     => DEC Gold (PF1)
  keycode 112 = KP_F2       ! Keypad /     => DEC PF1
  keycode 63  = KP_F3       ! Keypad *     => DEC PF3
  keycode 82  = KP_F4       ! Keypad -     => DEC PF4
  keycode 111 = Help        ! Print Screen => DEC Help
  keycode 78  = F16         ! Scroll Lock  => DEC Do
  keycode 110 = F16         ! Pause        => DEC Do
  keycode 106 = Find        ! Insert       => DEC Find
  keycode 97  = Insert      ! Home         => DEC Insert
  keycode 99  = 0x1000ff00  ! Page Up      => DEC Remove
  keycode 107 = Select      ! Delete       => DEC Select
  keycode 103 = Page_Up     ! End          => DEC Prev Screen
  keycode 22  = Delete      ! Backspace sends Delete (127)

Then put "xmodmap <filename>" in your .xinitrc file (in your login
directory), e.g.

  xmodmap /root/.xmodmaprc

Of course you can move things around.  Use the xev program to find
out key codes.

Console-mode keys are mapped separately using loadkeys, and different
keycodes are used.  Find out what they are with showkey.


3.3.4. Dates and Times

If C-Kermit's date-time (e.g. as shown by its DATE command) differs from
the system's date and time:

 a. Make sure the libc to which Kermit is linked is set to GMT or is not
    set to any time zone.  Watch out for mixed libc5/libc6 systems; each
    must be set indpendently.

 b. If you have changed your TZ environment variable, make sure it is
    exported.  This is normally done in /etc/profile or /etc/TZ.

3.3.5. Startup Errors

C-Kermit 7.0 should work on all versions of Linux current through December
1999, provided it was built on the same version you have (just get the
source code and "make linux").  This is no guarantee that binaries built
for 7.0 release will not stop working at a later date, since Linux tends
to change out from under its applications, just as it did under C-Kermit 6.0
(libc/glibc, curses/ncurses, etc).

Since the Red Hat 5.1 release (circa August 1998), there have been numerous
reports of prebuilt Linux executables, and particularly the Kermit RPM for
Red Hat Linux, not working; either it won't start at all, or it gives error
messages about "terminal type unknown" and refuses to initialize its curses
support.  The following is from the Kermit newsgroup:

From: [e-mail] ()
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kermit.misc
Subject: Red Hat Linux/Intel 5.1 and ncurses: suggestions
Date: 22 Aug 1998 15:54:46 GMT
Organization: Verio New York
Keywords: RedHat RPM 5.1

Several factors can influence whether "linux" is recognized as a
terminal type on many Linux systems.

1.) Your program, or the libraries it linked with (if statically
  linked), or the libraries it dynamically links with at runtime, are
  looking for an entry in /etc/termcap that isn't there.  (not likely,
  but possible...I believe but am not certain that this is a very old
  practice in very old [n]curses library implementations to use a
  single file for all terminal descriptions.)

2.) Your program, or the libraries...are looking for a terminfo file
  that just plain isn't there.  (also not so likely, since many people
  in other recent message threads said that other programs work OK).

3.) Your program, or the libraries...are looking for a terminfo file
  that is stored at a pathname that isn't expected by your program,
  the libraries--and so on.  I forgot if I read this in the errata Web
  page or where exactly I discovered this (Netscape install?  Acrobat
  install?), but it may just be that one libc (let's say for sake of
  argument, libc5, but I don't know this to be true) expects your
  terminfo to be in /usr/share/terminfo, and the other (let's say
  libc6/glibc) expects /usr/lib/terminfo.  I remember that the
  specific instructions in this bugfix/workaround were to do the
  following or equivalent:

      cd /usr/lib
      ln -s ../share/terminfo ./terminfo

     - or -

      ln -s /usr/share/terminfo /usr/lib/terminfo

  So what this says is that the terminfo database/directory structure
  can be accessed by either path.  When something goes to reference
  /usr/lib/terminfo, the symlink redirects it to essentially
  /usr/share/terminfo, which is where it really resides on your
  system.  I personally prefer wherever possible to use relative
  symlinks, because they still hold, more often than break, across
  mount points, particularly NFS mounts, where the directory structure
  may be different on the different systems.

(end quote) Evidently the terminfo file moved between Red Hat 5.0 and 5.1, but
Red Hat did not include a link to let applications built prior to 5.1 find it.
Users report that installing the link fixes the problem.

(3.4) C-KERMIT AND NEXTSTEP

Run C-Kermit in a Terminal, Stuart, or xterm window, or when logged in
remotely through a serial port or TELNET connection.  C-Kermit does not work
correctly when invoked directly from the NeXTSTEP File Viewer or Dock.  This
is because the terminal-oriented gtty, stty, & ioctl calls don't work on the
little window that NeXTSTEP pops up for non-NeXTSTEP applications like Kermit.
CBREAK and No-ECHO settings do not take effect in the command parser --
commands are parsed strictly line at a time.  "set line /dev/cua" works.
During CONNECT mode, the console stays in cooked mode, so characters are not
transmitted until carriage return or linefeed is typed, and you can't escape
back.  If you want to run Kermit directly from the File Viewer, then launch it
from a shell script that puts it in the desired kind of window, something like
this (for "Terminal"):

  Terminal -Lines 24 -Columns 80 -WinLocX 100 -WinLocY 100 $FONT $FONTSIZE \
  -SourceDotLogin -Shell /usr/local/bin/kermit &

C-Kermit does not work correctly on a NeXT with NeXTSTEP 3.0 to which you have
established an rlogin connection, due to a bug in NeXTSTEP 3.0, which has been
reported to NeXT.

The SET CARRIER command has no effect on the NeXT -- this is a limitation of
the tty device drivers.

Hardware flow control on the NeXT is selected not by "set flow rts/cts" in
Kermit (since NeXTSTEP offers no API for this), but rather, by using a
specially-named driver for the serial device: /dev/cufa instead /dev/cua;
/dev/cufb instead of /dev/cub.  This is available only on 68040-based NeXT
models (the situation for Intel NeXTSTEP implementations is unknown).

NeXT-built 68030 and 68040 models have different kinds of serial interfaces;
the 68030 has a Macintosh-like RS-422 interface, which lacks RTS and CTS
signals; the 68040 has an RS-423 (RS-232 compatible) interface, which
supports the commonly-used modem signals.  WARNING: the connectors look
exactly the same, but the pins are used in completely DIFFERENT ways --
different cables are required for the two kinds of interfaces.

  IF YOU GET LOTS OF RETRANSMISSIONS during file transfer, even when
  using a /dev/cuf* device and the modem is correctly configured for
  RTS/CTS flow control, YOU PROBABLY HAVE THE WRONG KIND OF CABLE.

On the NeXT, Kermit reportedly (by TimeMon) causes the kernel to use a lot of
CPU time when using a "set line" connection.  That's because there is no DMA
channel for the NeXT serial port, so the port must interrupt the kernel for
each character in or out.

One user reported trouble running C-Kermit on a NeXT from within NeXT's
Subprocess class under NeXTstep 3.0, and/or when rlogin'd from one NeXT to
another: Error opening /dev/tty:, congm: No such device or address.
Diagnosis: Bug in NeXTSTEP 3.0, cure unknown.

(3.5) C-KERMIT AND QNX

See also: The comp.os.qnx newsgroup.

Support for QNX 4.x was added in C-Kermit 5A(190).  This is a full-function
implementation, thoroughly tested on QNX 4.21 and later, and verified to work
in both 16-bit and 32-bit versions.  The 16-bit version was dropped in
C-Kermit 7.0 since it can no longer be built successfully (after stripping
most most features, I succeeded in getting it to compile and link without
complaint, but the executable just beeps when you run it); for 16-bit QNX
4.2x, use C-Kermit 6.0 or earlier.

The 32-bit version (and the 16-bit version prior to C-Kermit 7.0) support most
of C-Kermit's advanced features including TCP/IP, high serial speeds, hardware
flow-control, modem-signal awareness, curses support, etc.

BUG: In C-Kermit 6.0 and earlier on QNX 4.22 and earlier, the fullscreen file
transfer display worked fine the first time, but was fractured on subsequent
file transfers.  Cause and cure unknown.  In C-Kermit 7.0 and QNX 4.25, this
no longer occurs.  It is not known if it would occur in C-Kermit 7.0 on
earlier QNX versions.

Dialout devices are normally /dev/ser1, /dev/ser2, ..., and can be opened
explicitly with SET LINE.  Reportedly, "/dev/ser" (no unit number) opens the
first available /dev/ser<n> device.

Like all other UNIX C-Kermit implementations, QNX C-Kermit does not provide
any kind of terminal emulation.  Terminal specific functions are provided by
your terminal, terminal window (e.g. QNX Terminal or xterm), or emulator.

QNX C-Kermit, as distributed, does not include support for UUCP line-locking;
the QNX makefile entries (qnx32 and qnx16) include the -DNOUUCP switch.  This
is because QNX, as distributed, does not include UUCP, and its own
communications software (e.g. qterm) does not use UUCP line locking.  If you
have a UUCP product installed on your QNX system, remove the -DNOUUCP switch
from the makefile entry and rebuild.  Then check to see that Kermit's UUCP
lockfile conventions are the same as those of your UUCP package; if not, read
the UUCP lockfile section ckuins.txt and make the necessary changes to the
makefile entry (e.g. add -DHDBUUCP).

QNX does, however, allow a program to get the device open count.  This can
not be a reliable form of locking unless all applications do it, so by
default, Kermit uses this information only for printing a warning message
such as:

  C-Kermit>set line /dev/ser1
  WARNING - "/dev/ser1" looks busy...

However, if you want to use it as a lock, you can do so with:

  SET QNX-PORT-LOCK { ON, OFF }

This is OFF by default; if you set in ON, C-Kermit will fail to open any
dialout device when its open count indicates that another process has it
open.  SHOW COMM (in QNX only) displays the setting, and if you have a port
open, it also shows the open count.

(3.6) C-KERMIT AND SCO UNIX, XENIX, ODT, AND OPENSERVER

See also:

 . The comp.unix.sco.* newsgroups.
 . http://www.sco.com/Support/ssl.html
 . Section 3.10 below for Unixware
 . The FAQ at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/sco/newsgroups-faq
   (which only covers newsgroups and mailing lists).

There is a general SCO FAQ, but I'm not sure where to find it.  It is posted
to the newsgroups from time to time.

Also see general comments on PC-based UNIXes in Section 3.0.

Old Xenix versions... Did you know: Xenix 3.0 is *older* than Xenix 2.0?

There is all sorts of confusion among SCO versions, particularly when third-
party communications boards and drivers are installed, regarding lockfile
naming conventions, as well as basic functionality.  As far as lockfiles go,
all bets are off if you are using a third-party multiport board.  At least you
have the source code.  Hopefully you also have a C compiler :-)

On the other hand, certain functions that might not (do not) work right or
at all when using SCO drivers (e.g. high serial speeds, hardware flow control,
and/or reading of modem signals) might work right when using third-party
drivers.  (Example: hardware flow control works, reportedly, only on uppercase
device like tty1A -- not tty1a -- and only when CLOCAL is clear when using the
SCO sio driver, but there are no such restrictions in, e.g., Digiboard
drivers).

SCO OpenServer (all versions up to and included 5.0.5) do not support the
reading of modem signals.  Thus "show comm" does not list modem signals, and
C-Kermit does not automatically pop back to its prompt when the modem hangs
up the connection (drops CD).  The ioctl() call for this is simply not
implmented, at least not in the standard drivers.

One user reports that he can't transfer large files with C-Kermit under SCO
OSR5.0.0 and 5.0.4 -- after the first 5K, everything falls apart.  Same thing
without Kermit -- e.g. with ftp over a PPP connection.  Later, he said that
replacing SCO's SIO driver with FAS, an alternative communications driver,
made the problem go away:

  ftp://ftp.fu-berlin.de/pub/unix/driver/fas

Other users often make similar observations regarding Digi and other 3rd
party drivers.

With regard to bidirectional serial ports on OpenServer 5.0.4, the following
advice appeared on an SCO related newsgroup : "No amount of configuration
information is going to help you on 5.0.4 unless it includes the kludge for
the primary problem.  With almost every modem, the 5.0.4 getty will barf
messages and may or may not connect.  There are 2 solutions and only one works
on 5.0.4.  Get the atdialer binary from a 5.0.0 system and substitute it for
the native 5.0.4 atdialer.  The other solution is to upgrade to 5.0.5.  And,
most of all, on any OpenServer products, do NOT run the badly broken Modem
Manager.  Configure the modems in the time honored way that dates back to
Xenix."

Hardware flow control is available in C-Kermit when the underlying SCO version
supports it.  Note that Xenix 2.3.0 and later claims to support RTSFLOW and
CTSFLOW, but this is not modern bidirectional hardware flow control; rather it
implements the original RS-232 meanings of these signals for unidirectional
half-duplex line access: If both RTSFLOW and CTSFLOW bits are set, Xenix
asserts RTS when it wants to send data and waits for CTS assertion before it
actually starts sending data (also, reportedly, even this is broken in Xenix
2.3.0 and 2.3.1).

Use SCO-provided utilities for switching the directionality of a modem line,
such as "enable" and "disable" commands.  For example, to dial out on tty1a,
which is normally set up for logins:

  disable tty1a
  kermit -l /dev/tty1a
  enable tty1a

If a tty device is listed as an ACU in /usr/lib/uucp/Devices and is enabled,
getty resets the ownership and permissions to uucp.uucp 640 every time the
device is released.  If you want to use the device only for dialout, and you
want to specify other owners or permissions, you should disable it in
/usr/lib/uucp/Devices; this will prevent getty from doing things to it.  You
should also changes the device's file modes in /etc/conf/node.d/sio by
changing fields 5-7 for the desired device(s); this determines how the devices
are set if you relink the kernel.

SCO systems tend to use different names (i.e. drivers) for the same device.
In Xenix, /dev/tty1a refers to a terminal device that has no modem control;
open, read, write, and close operations do not depend on carrier.  On the
other hand, /dev/tty1A (same name, but with final letter upper case), is the
same device with modem control, in which carrier is required (the SET LINE
command does not complete until carrier appears, read/write operations fail if
there is no carrier, etc).  In the SCO case, C-Kermit always uses the
lowercase name when creating the UUCP lockfile (this is, according to SCO
experts, the proper behavior, but reportedly not all other communications
applications found on SCO systems follow this rule).

In SCO Xenix, you must use SET CARRIER ON *and* use the upper-case tty device
name in order to have carrier detection.  SET CARRIER OFF should work with
either upper or lowercase tty devices.  SET CARRIER AUTO is the same as OFF.

One SCO user of C-Kermit 5A(190) reported that only one copy of Kermit can run
at a time when a Stallion Technologies multiport boards are installed.  Cause,
cure, and present status unknown (see Section 14 of this file for more info
regarding Stallion).

Prior to SCO OpenServer 5.0.4, the highest serial port speed supported by SCO
was 38400.  However, in some SCO versions (e.g. OSR5) it is possible to map
rarely-used lower speeds (like 600 and 1800) to higher ones like 57600 and
115200.  To find out how, go to http://www.sco.com/ and search for "115200".
In OSR5.0.4, serial speeds up to 921600 are supported through the POSIX
interface; C-Kermit 6.1.193 or later, when built for OSR5.0.4, supports these
speeds, but you might be able to run this binary on earlier releases to get
the high serial speeds, depending on various factors, described by Bela Lubkin
of SCO:

  Serial speeds under SCO Unix / Open Desktop / OpenServer
  ========================================================
  Third party drivers (intelligent serial boards) may provide any speeds
  they desire; most support up to 115.2Kbps.

  SCO's "sio" driver, which is used to drive standard serial ports with
  8250/16450/16550 and similar UARTs, was limited to 38400bps in older
  releases.  Support for rates through 115.2Kbps was added in the
  following releases:

    SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.0 (requires supplement "rs40b")
    SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.2 (requires supplement "rs40a" or "rs40b")
    SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.4 or later
    SCO Internet FastStart Release 1.0.0 or later

    SCO supplements are at ftp://ftp.sco.com/; the "rs40" series are
    under directory /Supplements/internet

(end quote)

Reportedly, if you have a script that makes a TCP/IP SET HOST (e.g. Telnet)
connection to SCO 3.2v4.2 with TCP/IP 1.2.1, and then does the following:

  script $ exit
  hangup

this causes a pseudoterminal (pty) to be consumed on the SCO system; if you do
it enough times, it will run out of ptys.  An "exit" command is being sent to
the SCO shell, and a HANGUP command is executed locally, so the chances are
good that both sides are trying to close the connection at once, perhaps
inducing a race condition in which the remote pty is not released.  It was
speculated that this would be fixed by applying SLS net382e, but it did not.
Meanwhile, the workaround is to insert a "pause" between the SCRIPT and HANGUP
commands.  (The situation with later SCO releases is not known.)

SCO UNIX and OpenServer allow their console and/or terminal drivers to be
configured to translate character sets for you.  DON'T DO THIS WHEN USING
KERMIT!  First of all, you don't need it -- Kermit itself already does this
for you.  And second, it will (a) probably ruin the formatting of your screens
(depending on which emulation you are using); and (b) interfere with all sorts
of other things -- legibility of non-ASCII text on the terminal screen, file
transfer, etc.  Use:

  mapchan -n

to turn off this feature.

Note that there is a multitude of SCO entries in the makefile, many of them
exhibiting an unusually large number of compiler options.  Some people
actually understand all of this.  Reportedly, things are settling down with
SCO OpenServer 5.x and Unixware 7 -- the SCO UDK compiler is said to generate
binaries that will run on either platform, by default, automatically.  When
using gcc or egcs, on the other hand, differences persist, plus issues
regarding the type of binary that is generated (COFF, ELF, etc), and where
and how it can run.  All of this could stand further clarification by SCO
experts.

(3.7) C-KERMIT AND SOLARIS

See also:
  The comp.unix.solaris newsgroup
  http://access1.sun.com/
  http://docs.sun.com/
  http://www.sunhelp.com/
  http://www.wins.uva.nl/pub/solaris/solaris2/
  http://www.wins.uva.nl/cgi-bin/sfaq.cgi
  ftp://ftp.wins.uva.nl/pub/solaris

And about serial communications in particular, see "Celeste's Tutorial on
Solaris 2.x Modems and Terminals":

  http://www.stokely.com/

In particular:

  http://www.stokely.com/unix.sysadm.resources/faqs.sun.html

For PC-based Solaris, also see general comments on PC-based UNIXes in
Section 3.0.  Don't expect Solaris or any other kind of UNIX to work right
on a PC until you resolve all interrupt conflicts.  Don't expect to be able
to use COM3 or COM4 (or even COM2) until you have configured their addresses
and interrupts.

Even then your serial port can't be used -- or at least won't work right --
until it is enabled in Solaris.  For example, you get a message like "SERIAL:
Operation would block" when attempting to dial.  This probably indicates that
the serial port has not been enabled for use with modems.  You'll need to
follow the instructions in your system setup or management manual, such as
(e.g.) the Desktop SPARC Sun System & Network Manager's Guide, which should
contain a section "Setting up Modem Software"; read it and follow the
instructions.  These might (or might not) include running a program called
"eeprom", editing some system configuration file (such as, for example:

  /platform/i86pc/kernel/drv/asy.conf

and then doing a configuration reboot, or running some other programs like
drvconfig and devlinks.  "man eeprom" for details.

Also, on certain Sun models like IPC, the serial port hardware might need to
have a jumper changed to make it an RS-232 port rather than RS-423.

Some users report difficulties dialing out with C-Kermit on serial port when
using the /dev/cua/a name -- session seems to become stuck, can't escape back,
etc -- but when using the /dev/term/a name for the *same* device, everything
works fine.  Explanation: unknown, but probably due to improper configuration
of the port; again, see the materials referenced above.

Reportedly, if you start C-Kermit and "set line" to a port that has a modem
connected to it that is not turned on, and then "set flow rts/cts", there
might be some (unspecified) difficulties closing the device (Solaris version
not specified).

The built-in SunLink X.25 support for Solaris 2.3/2.4./25 and SunLink 8.01 or
9.00 works OK provided the X.25 system has been installed and initialized
properly.  Packet sizes might need to be reduced to 256, maybe even less,
depending on the configuration of the X.25 installation.  On one connection
where C-Kermit 6.0 was tested, very large packets and window sizes could be
used in one direction, but only very small ones would work in the other.

In any case, according to Sun, C-Kermit's X.25 support is superfluous with
SunLink 8.x / Solaris 2.3.  Quoting an anonymous Sun engineer:

  ... there is now no need to include any X.25 code within kermit.  As of
  X.25 8.0.1 we support the use of kermit, uucp and similar protocols over
  devices of type /dev/xty.  This facility was there in 8.0, and should
  also work on the 8.0 release if patch 101524 is applied, but I'm not 100%
  sure it will work in all cases, which is why we only claim support from
  8.0.1 onwards.

  When configuring X.25, on the "Advanced Configuration->Parameters" screen
  of the x25tool you can select a number of XTY devices.  If you set this
  to be > 1, press Apply, and reboot, you will get a number of /dev/xty
  entries created.

  Ignore /dev/xty0, it is a special case.  All the others can be used exactly
  as if they were a serial line (e.g. /dev/tty) connected to a modem, except
  that instead of using Hayes-style commands, you use PAD commands.

  From kermit you can do a 'set line' command to, say, /dev/xty1, then set
  your dialing command to be "CALL 12345678", etc.  All the usual PAD
  commands will work (SET, PAR, etc).

  I know of one customer in Australia who is successfully using this, with
  kermit scripts, to manage some X.25-connected switches. He used standard
  kermit, compiled for Solaris 2, with X.25 8.0 xty devices.

C-Kermit can't be compiled successfully under Solaris 2.3 using SUNWspro cc
2.0.1 unless at least some of the following patches are applied to cc (it is
not known which one(s), if any, fix the problem):

  100935-01 SparcCompiler C 2.0.1: bad code generated when addresses
    of two double arguments are involved
  100961-05 SPARCcompilers C 2.0.1: conditional expression with
    function returning structure gives wrong value
  100974-01 SparcWorks 2.0.1: dbx jumbo patch
  101424-01 SPARCworks 2.0.1 maketool SEGV's instantly on Solaris 2.3

With unpatched cc 2.0.1, the symptom is that certain modules generate
truncated object files, resulting in many unresolved references at link time.

Using a Sun workstation keyboard for VT emulation when accessing VMS:

From: Jerry Leichter <[e-mail]>
Newsgroups: comp.os.vms
Subject: Re: VT100 keyboard mapping to Sun X server
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 1996 12:44:21 -0400

> I am stuck right now using a Sun keyboard (type 5) on systems running SunOS
> and Solaris.  I would like to use EVE on an OpenVMS box with display back to
> the Sun.  Does anyone know of a keyboard mapping (or some other procedure)
> which will allow the Sun keyboard to approximate a VT100/VT220?

You can't get it exactly - because the keypad has one fewer key - but
you can come pretty close.  Here's a set of keydefs I use:

keycode 101=KP_0
keycode 119=KP_1
keycode 120=KP_2
keycode 121=KP_3
keycode 98=KP_4
keycode 99=KP_5
keycode 100=KP_6
keycode 75=KP_7
keycode 76=KP_8
keycode 77=KP_9
keycode 52=KP_F1
keycode 53=KP_F2
keycode 54=KP_F3
keycode 57=KP_Decimal
keycode 28=Left
keycode 29=Right
keycode 30=KP_Separator
keycode 105=KP_F4
keycode 78=KP_Subtract
keycode 8=Left
keycode 10=Right
keycode 32=Up
keycode 33=Down
keycode 97=KP_Enter

Put this in a file - I use "keydefs" in my home directory and feed it
into xmodmap:

  xmodmap - <$HOME/keydefs

This takes care of the arrow keys and the "calculator" key cluster.  The
"+" key will play the role of the DEC "," key.    The Sun "-" key will be
like the DEC "-" key, though it's in a physically different position -
where the DEC PF4 key is.  The PF4 key is ... damn, I'm not sure where
"key 105" is.  I *think* it may be on the leftmost key of the group of
four just above the "calculator" key cluster.

I also execute the following (this is all in my xinitrc file):

xmodmap -e 'keysym KP_Decimal = KP_Decimal'
xmodmap -e 'keysym BackSpace = Delete BackSpace' \
        -e 'keysym Delete = BackSpace Delete'
xmodmap -e 'keysym KP_Decimal = Delete Delete KP_Decimal'
xmodmap -e 'add mod1 = Meta_R'
xmodmap -e 'add mod1 = Meta_L'

Beware of one thing about xmodmap:  Keymap changes are applied to the
*whole workstation*, not just to individual windows.  There is, in fact,
no way I know of to apply them to individual windows.  These definitions
*may* confuse some Unix programs (and/or some Unix users).

If you're using Motif, you may also need to apply bindings at the Motif
level.  If just using xmodmap doesn't work, I can try and dig that stuff
up for you.

(end quote)

  NOTE: The rest of the problems in this section have to do with bidirectional
  tty lines and the Solaris Port Monitor.  Hopefully these were all fixed in
  C-Kermit 6.0.

Reportedly, "C-Kermit ... causes a SPARCstation running Solaris 2.3
to panic after the modem connects.  I have tried compiling C-Kermit with Sun's
unbundled C compiler, with GCC Versions 2.4.5 and 2.5.3, with make targets
'sunos51', 'sunos51tcp', 'sunos51gcc', and even 'sys5r4', and each time it
compiles and starts up cleanly, but without fail, as soon as I dial the number
and get a 'CONNECT' message from the modem, I get:

  BAD TRAP
  kermit: Data fault
  kernel read fault at addr=0x45c, pme=0x0
  Sync Error Reg 80 <INVALID>
  ...
  panic: Data Fault.
  ...
  Rebooting...

The same modem works fine for UUCP/tip calling."  Also (reportedly), this only
happens if the dialout port is configured as in/out via admintool.  If it is
configured as out-only, no problem.  This is the same dialing code that works
on hundreds of other System-V based UNIX OS's.  Since it should be impossible
for a user program to crash the operating system, this problem must be chalked
up to a Solaris bug.  Even if you SET CARRIER OFF, CONNECT, and dial manually
by typing ATDTnnnnnnn, the system panics as soon as the modem issues its
CONNECT message.  (Clearly, when you are dialing manually, C-Kermit does not
know a thing about the CONNECT message, and so the panic is almost certainly
caused by the transition of the Carrier Detect (CD) line from off to on.)
This problem was reported by many users, all of whom say that C-Kermit worked
fine on Solaris 2.1 and 2.2.  If the speculation about CD is true, then a
possible workaround might be to configure the modem to leave CD on (or off)
all the time.  Perhaps by the time you read this, a patch will have been
issued for Solaris 2.3.

The following is from Karl S. Marsh, Systems & Networks Administrator,
AMBIX Systems Corp, Rochester, NY (begin quote):

"Environment:
  Solaris 2.3 Patch 101318-45
  C-Kermit 5A(189) (and presumably this applies to 188 and 190 also)
  eeprom setting:
    ttya-rts-dtr-off=false
    ttya-ignore-cd=false
    ttya-mode=19200,8,n,8,-

"To use C-Kermit on a bidirectional port in this environment, do not use
admintool to configure the port.  Use admintool to delete any services running
on the port and then quit admintool and issue the following command:

  pmadm -a -p zsmon -s ttyb -i root -fu -v 1 -m "`ttyadm -b -d /dev/term/b \
  -l conttyH -m ldterm,ttcompat -s /usr/bin/login -S n`"

[NOTE: This was copied from a fax, so please check it carefully]  where:

  -a = Add service
  -p = pmtag (zsmon)
  -s = service tag (ttyb)
  -i = id to be associated with service tag (root)
  -fu = create utmp entry
  -v = version of ttyadm
  -m = port monitor-specific portion of the port monitor administrative file
       entry for the service
  -b = set up port for bidirectional use
  -d = full path name of device
  -l = which ttylabel in the /etc/ttydefs file to use
  -m = a list of pushable STREAMS modules
  -s = pathname of service to be invoked when connection request received
  -S = software carrier detect on or off (n = off)

"This is exactly how I was able to get Kermit to work on a bi-directional
port without crashing the system."  (End quote)

On the Solaris problem, also see SunSolve Bug ID 1150457 ("Using C-Kermit, get
Bad Trap on receiving prompt from remote system").  Another user reported "So,
I have communicated with the Sun tech support person that submitted this bug
report [1150457].  Apparently, this bug was fixed under one of the jumbo
kernel patches.  It would seem that the fix did not live on into 101318-45, as
this is EXACTLY the error that I see when I attempt to use kermit on my
system."

Later (Aug 94)...  C-Kermit dialout successfully tested on a Sun4m with a
heavily patched Solaris 2.3.  The patches most likely to have been relevant:

101318-50: SunOS 5.3: Jumbo patch for kernel (includes libc, lockd)
101720-01: SunOS 5.3: ttymon - prompt not always visible on a modem connection
101815-01: SunOS 5.3: Data fault in put() NULL queue passed from
                      ttycommon_qfull()
101328-01: SunOS 5.3: Automation script to properly setup tty ports prior to
                      PCTS execution

Still later (Nov 94): another user (Bo Kullmar in Sweden) reports that after
using C-Kermit to dial out on a bidirectional port, the port might not answer
subsequent incoming calls, and says "the problem is easy enough to fix with
the Serial Port Manager; I just delete the service and install it again using
the graphical interface, which underneath uses commands like sacadm and
pmadm."  Later Bo reports, "I have found that if I run Kermit with the
following script then it works.  This script is for /dev/cua/a, -s a is the
last a in /dev/cua/a

  #! /bin/sh
  kermit
  sleep 2
  surun pmadm -e -p zsmon -s a

(end quote)

(3.8) C-KERMIT AND SUNOS

For additional information, see "Celeste's Tutorial on SunOS 4.1.3+ Modems
and Terminals":

  http://www.stokely.com/

For FAQs, etc, from Sun, see:
  http://access1.sun.com/

Sun SPARCstation users should read the section "Setting up Modem Software" in
the Desktop SPARC Sun System & Network Manager's Guide.  If you don't set up
your serial ports correctly, Kermit (and other communications software) won't
work right.

Also, on certain Sun models like IPC, the serial port hardware might need to
have a jumper changed to make it an RS-232 port rather than RS-423.

Reportedly, C-Kermit does not work correctly on a Sun SPARCstation in an Open
Windows window with scrolling enabled.  Disable scrolling, or else invoke
Kermit in a terminal emulation window (xterm, crttool, vttool) under SunView
(this might be fixed in later SunOS releases).

On the Sun with Open Windows, an additional symptom has been reported:
outbound SunLink X.25 connections "magically" translate CR typed at the
keyboard into LF before transmission to the remote host.  This doesn't happen
under SunView.

SET CARRIER ON, when used on the SunOS 4.1 version of C-Kermit (compiled in
the BSD universe), causes the program to hang uninterruptibly when SET LINE
is issued for a device that is not asserting carrier.  When Kermit is built
in the Sys V universe on the same computer, there is no problem (it can be
interrupted with Ctrl-C).  This is apparently a limitation of the BSD-style
tty driver.

SunOS 4.1 C-Kermit has been observed to dump core when running a complicated
script program under cron.  The dump invariably occurs in ttoc(), while trying
to output a character to a TCP/IP TELNET connection.  ttoc() contains a
write() call, and when the system or the network is very busy, the write()
call can get stuck for long periods of time.  To break out of deadlocks caused
by stuck write() calls, there is an alarm around the write().  It is possible
that the core dump occurs when this alarm signal is caught.  (This one has
not been observed recently -- possibly fixed in edit 190.)

On Sun computers with SunOS 4.0 or 4.1, SET FLOW RTS/CTS works only if the
carrier signal is present from the communication device at the time when
C-Kermit enters packet mode or CONNECT mode.  If carrier is not sensed (e.g.
when dialing), C-Kermit does not attempt to turn on RTS/CTS flow control.
This is because the SunOS serial device driver does not allow characters to
be output if RTS/CTS is set (CRTSCTS) but carrier (and DSR) are not present.
Workaround (maybe):  SET CARRIER OFF before giving the SET LINE command,
establish the connection, then SET FLOW RTS/CTS

It has also been reported that RTS/CTS flow control under SunOS 4.1 through
4.1.3 works only on INPUT, not on output, and that there is a patch from Sun
to correct this problem: Patch-ID# T100513-04, 20 July 1993 (this patch might
apply only to SunOS 4.1.3).  It might also be necessary to configure the
eeprom parameters of the serial port; e.g. do the following as root at the
shell prompt:

  eeprom  ttya-ignore-cd=false
  eeprom  ttya-rts-dtr-off=true

There have been reports of file transfer failures on Sun-3 systems when using
long packets and/or large window sizes.  One user says that when this happens,
the console issues many copies of this message:

  chaos vmunix: zs1: ring buffer overflow

This means that SunOS is not scheduling Kermit frequently enough to service
interrupts from the zs serial device (Zilog 8350 SCC serial communication
port) before its input silo overflows.  Workaround: use smaller packets
and/or a smaller window size, or use "nice" to increase Kermit's priority.
Use hardware flow control if available, or remove other active processes
before running Kermit.

SunLink X.25 support in C-Kermit 5A(190) has been built and tested
successfully under SunOS 4.1.3b and SunLink X.25 7.00.

(3.9) C-KERMIT AND ULTRIX

See also: The comp.unix.ultrix and comp.sys.dec newsgroups.

There is no hardware flow control in Ultrix.  That's not a Kermit deficiency,
but an Ultrix one.

When sending files to C-Kermit on a Telnet connection to a remote Ultrix
system, you must SET PREFIXING ALL (or at least prefix more control characters
than are selected by SET PREFIXING CAUTIOUS).

Reportedly, DEC ULTRIX 4.3 is immune to C-Kermit's disabling of SIGQUIT,
which is the signal that is generated when the user types Ctrl-\, which kills
the current process (i.e. C-Kermit) and dumps core.  Diagnosis and cure
unknown.  Workaround: before starting C-Kermit -- or for that matter, when you
first log in because this applies to all processes, not just Kermit -- give
the following UNIX command:

  stty quit undef

Certain operations driven by RS-232 modem signal do not work on DECstations or
other DEC platforms whose serial interfaces use MMP connectors (DEC version of
RJ45 telephone jack with offset tab).  These connectors convey only the DSR
and DTR modem signals, but not carrier (CD), RTS, CTS, or RI.  Use SET CARRIER
OFF to enable communication, or "hotwire" DSR to CD.

The maximum serial speed on the DECstation 5000 is normally 19200, but various
tricks are available (outside Kermit) to enable higher rates.  For example, on
the 5000/200, 19200 can be remapped (somehow, something to do with "a bit in
the SIR", whatever that is) to 38400, but in software you must still refer to
this speed as 19200; you can't have 19200 and 38400 available at the same time.

19200, reportedly, is also the highest speed supported by Ultrix, but NetBSD
reportedly supports speeds up to 57600 on the DECstation, although whether and
how well this works is another question.

In any case, given the lack of hardware flow control in Ultrix, high serial
speeds are problematic at best.

(3.10) C-KERMIT AND UNIXWARE

See also:
  comp.unix.unixware.misc
  comp.unix.sco.misc

Also see general comments on PC-based UNIXes in Section 3.0.

Note that in Unixware 2.0 and later, the preferred serial device names
(drivers) are /dev/term/00 (etc), rather than /dev/tty00 (etc).

Also note the following correspondence of device names and driver
characteristics:

  New name       Old name     Description
  /dev/term/00   /dev/tty00   ???
  /dev/term/00h  /dev/tty00h  Modem signals and hardware flow control
  /dev/term/00m  /dev/tty00m  Modem signals(?)
  /dev/term/00s  /dev/tty00s  Modem signals and software flow control
  /dev/term/00t  /dev/tty00t  ???

Lockfile names use device inode.major.minor numbers, e.g.:

  /var/spool/locks/LK.7679.003.005

The minor number varies according to the device name suffix (none, h, m, s,
or t).  Only the inode and major number are compared, and thus all of
the different names for the same physical device (e.g. all of those shown
in the table above) interlock effectively.

Prior to UnixWare 7, serial speeds higher than 38400 are not supported.  In
UnixWare 7, we also support 57600 and 115200, plus some unexpected ones like
14400, 28800, and 76800, by virtue of a strange new interface, evidently
peculiar to UnixWare 7, discovered while digging through the header files:
tcsetspeed().  Access to this interface is allowed only in POSIX builds, and
thus the UnixWare 7 version of C-Kermit is POSIX-based, unlike C-Kermit for
Unixware 1.x and 2.x (since the earlier UnixWare versions did not support high
serial speeds, period).

HOWEVER, turning on POSIX features engages all of the "#if (!_POSIX_SOURCE)"
clauses in the UnixWare header files, which in turn prevent us from having
modem signals, access to the hardware flow control APIs, select(), etc -- in
short, all the other things we need in communications software, especially
when high speeds are used.  Oh the irony.  And so C-Kermit must be shamelessly
butchered -- as it has been so many times before -- to allow us to have the
needed features from the POSIX and non-POSIX worlds.  See the UNIXWAREPOSIX
sections of ckutio.c.

Meanwhile the tcsetspeed() function allows any number at all (any long, 0 or
positive) as an argument and succeeds if the number is a legal bit rate for
the serial device, and fails otherwise.  There is no list anywhere of legal
speeds.  Thus the SET SPEED keyword table ("set speed ?" to see it) is
hardwired based on trial and error with all known serial speeds, the maximum
being 115200.  However, to allow for the possibility that other speeds might
be allowed in the future (or with different port drivers), the SET SPEED
command for UnixWare 7 only allows you to specify any number at all; a warning
is printed if the number is not in the list, but the number is accepted
anyway; the command succeeds if tcsetspeed() accepts the number, and fails
otherwise.

Old business:

Using C-Kermit 6.0 on the UnixWare 1.1 Application Server, one user reported
a system panic when the following script program is executed:

  set line /dev/tty4
  set speed 9600
  output \13
  connect

The panic does not happen if a PAUSE is inserted:

  set line /dev/tty4
  set speed 9600
  pause 1
  output \13
  connect

This is using a Stallion EasyIO card installed as board 0 on IRQ 12 on
a Gateway 386 with the Stallion-supplied driver.  The problem was reported
to Novell and Stallion and (reportedly) is now fixed.

(3.11) C-KERMIT AND APOLLO SR10

Reportedly, version 5A(190), when built under Apollo SR10 using "make
sr10-bsd", compiles, links, and executes OK, but leaves the terminal unusable
after it exits -- the "cs7" or "cs8" (character size) parameter has become
cs5.  The terminal must be reset from another terminal.  Cause and cure
unknown.  Suggested workaround: Wrap Kermit in a shell script something like:

  kermit @*
  stty sane

(3.12) C-KERMIT AND TANDY XENIX 3.0

C-Kermit 7.0 is too big to be built on Tandy Xenix, even in a minimum
configuration; version 6.0 is the last one that fits.  In C-Kermit 6.0:

Reportedly, if you type lots of Ctrl-C's during execution of the
initialization file, ghost Kermit processes will be created, and will compete
for the keyboard.  They can only be removed via "kill -9" from another
terminal, or by rebooting.  Diagnosis -- something strange happening with
the SIGINT handler while the process is reading the directory (it seems to
occur during the SET PROMPT [\v(dir)] ... sequence).  Cure: unknown.
Workaround: don't interrupt C-Kermit while it is executing its init file on
the Tandy 16/6000.

(3.13) C-KERMIT AND OSF/1 (DIGITAL UNIX)

Before you can use a serial port on a new Digital Unix system, you must run
uucpsetup to enable or configure the port.  Evidently the /dev/tty00 and 01
devices that appear in the configuration are not usable; uucpsetup turns them
into /dev/ttyd00 and 01, which are.  Note that uucpsetup and other uucp-family
programs are quite primitive -- they only know about speeds up to 9600 bps and
their selection of modems dates from the early 1980s.  None of this affects
Kermit, though -- with C-Kermit, you can use speeds up to 115200 bps (at least
in DU4.0 and later) and modern modems with hardware flow control and all the
rest.

Reportedly, if a modem is set for &S0 (assert DSR at all times), the system
resets or drops DTR every 30 seconds; reportedly DEC says to set &S1.

Digital UNIX 3.2 evidently wants to believe your terminal is one line longer
than you say it is, e.g. when a "more" or "man" command is given.  This is has
nothing to do with C-Kermit, but tends to annoy those who use Kermit or other
terminal emulators to access Digital UNIX systems.  Workaround: tell UNIX
to "stty rows 23" (or whatever).

Reportedly, there is some bizarre behavior when trying to use a version of
C-Kermit built on Digital Unix 4.0 on another, possibly due to differing
OS or library revision levels; for example, the inability to connect to
certain TCP/IP hosts.  Solution: rebuild C-Kermit from source code on the
system where you will be using it.

Digital UNIX tgetstr() causes a segmentation fault.  C-Kermit 7.0 includes
#ifdefs to avoid calling this routine in Digital UNIX.  As a result, the
SCREEN commands always send ANSI escape sequences -- even though curses knows
your actual terminal type.

(3.14) C-KERMIT AND SGI IRIX

See also:
  The comp.sys.sgi.misc and .admin newsgroups.
  The SGI FAQ:
    http://www-viz.tamu.edu/~sgi-faq/
    ftp://viz.tamu.edu/pub/sgi/faq/

About IRIX version numbers: "uname -a" tells the "two-digit" version number,
such as "5.3" or "6.5".  The three-digit form can be seen with "uname -R".
(this information is unavailable at the simple API level).  Supposedly all
three-digit versions within the same two-digit version (e.g. 6.5.2, 6.5.3) are
binary compatible; i.e. a binary built on any one of them should run on all
others.  The "m" suffix denotes just patches; the "f" suffix indicates that
features were added.

SGI did not supply an API for hardware flow control prior to IRIX 5.2.
C-Kermit 6.1 and higher for IRIX 5.2 and higher supports hardware flow control
in the normal way, via "set flow rts/cts".

For hardware flow control on earlier IRIX and/or C-Kermit versions, use the
ttyf* (modem control AND hardware flow control) devices and not the ttyd*
(direct) or ttym* (modem control but no hardware flow control) ones, and
obtain the proper "hardware handshaking" cable from SGI, which is incompatible
with the ones for the Macintosh and NeXT even though they look the same.  "man
serial" for further info.

Serial speeds higher than 38400 are available in IRIX 6.2 and later, on
O-class machines (e.g. Origin, Octane) only, and are supported by C-Kermit 6.1
and later.  Commands such as "set speed 115200" may be given on other models
(e.g. Iris, Indy, Indigo) but will fail because the OS reports an invalid
speed for the device.

Experimentation with both IRIX 5.3 and 6.2 shows that when logged in to IRIX
via Telnet, that remote-mode C-Kermit can't send files if the packet length is
greater than 4096; the Telnet server evidently has this restriction (or bug),
since there is no problem sending long packets on serial or rlogin
connections.  However, it can receive files with no problem if the packet
length is greater than 4096.  As a workaround, the FAST macro for IRIX
includes "set send packet-length 4000".  IRIX 6.5.1 does not have this
problem, so evidently it was fixed some time after IRIX 6.2.  Tests show
file-transfer speeds are better (not worse) with 8K packets than with 4K
packets from IRIX 6.5.1.

Reportedly some Indys have bad serial port hardware.  IRIX 5.2, for example,
needs patch 151 to work around this; or upgrade to a later release.
Similarly, IRIX 5.2 has several problems with serial i/o, flow control, etc.
Again, patch or upgrade.

Reportedly on Silicon Graphics (SGI) machines with IRIX 4.0, Kermit cannot be
suspended by typing the suspend ("swtch") character if it was started from
csh, even though other programs can be suspended this way, and even though the
Z and SUSPEND commands still work correctly.  This is evidently because IRIX's
csh does not deliver the SIGTSTP signal to Kermit.  The reason other programs
can be suspended in the same environment is probably that they do not trap
SIGTSTP themselves, so the shell is doing the suspending rather than the
application.

Also see notes about IRIX 3.x in ckcuins.txt.

(3.15) C-KERMIT AND THE BEBOX

See also: The comp.sys.be newsgroup.

The BeBox has been discontinued and BeOS repositioned for PC platforms.
The POSIX parts of BeOS are not finished, nor is the sockets library,
therefore a fully functional version of C-Kermit is not possible.
In version 6.0 of C-Kermit, written for BeOS DR7, it was possible to:

  - set line /dev/serial2 (and probably the other serial ports)
  - set speed 115200 (and at least some of the lower baud rates)
  - connect
  - set modem type hayes (and likely others, too)
  - dial [phone number]
  - set send packet length 2048 (other lengths for both send and receive)
  - set receive packet length 2048
  - set file type binary (text mode works, too)
    (with remote kermit session in server mode)
  - put bedrop.jpg
  - get bedrop.jpg
  - get bedrop.jpg bedrop.jpg2
  - finish, bye

The following do not work:
  - kermit does not detect modem hangup
  - !/RUN/PUSH [commandline command]
  - running kermit in remote mode
  - using other protocols (x/y/zmodem)
  - TCP networking interface (Be's TCP/IP API has a ways to go, still)

C-Kermit does not work on BeOS DR8 because of changes in the underlying APIs.
Unfortunately not enough changes were made to allow the regular POSIX-based
C-Kermit to work either.  Note: the lack of a fork() service requires the
select()-based CONNECT module, but there is no select().  There is a select()
in DR8, but it doesn't work.

C-Kermit 7.0 has been built for BeOS 4.5 and it works in remote mode.
It does not include networking support since the APIs are still not there.
It is not known if dialing out works, but probably not.

(3.16) C-KERMIT AND DG/UX

Somebody downloaded the C-Kermit 6.0 binary built under DG/UX 5.40 and ran it
under DG/UX 5.4R3.10 -- it worked OK except that file dates for incoming files
were all written as 1 Jan 1970.  Cause and cure unknown.  Workaround: SET
ATTRIBUTE DATE OFF.  Better: Use a version of C-Kermit built under and for
DG/UX 5.4R3.10.

(3.17) C-KERMIT AND SEQUENT DYNIX

Reportedly, when coming into a Sequent UNIX (DYNIX) system through an X.25
connection, Kermit doesn't work right because the Sequent's FIONREAD ioctl
returns incorrect data.  To work around, use the 1-character-at-a-time version
of myread() in ckutio.c (i.e. undefine MYREAD in ckutio.c and rebuild the
program).  This is unsatisfying because two versions of the program would be
needed -- one for use over X.25, and the other for serial and TCP/IP
connections.

(3.18) C-KERMIT AND {FREE,OPEN,NET}BSD

Some NebBSD users have reported difficulty escaping back from CONNECT mode,
usually when running NetBSD on non-PC hardware.  Probably a keyboard issue.

NetBSD users have also reported that C-Kermit doesn't pop back to the prompt
if the modem drops carrier.  This needs to be checked out & fixed if possible.

(All of this seems to work properly in C-Kermit 7.0.)

(4) GENERAL UNIX-SPECIFIC HINTS, LIMITATIONS, AND BUGS

In version 6.0, the default C-Kermit prompt includes your current (working)
directory; for example:

  [/usr/olga] C-Kermit>

If that directory is on an NFS-mounted disk, and NFS stops working or the
disk becomes unavailable, C-Kermit will hang waiting for NFS and/or the disk
to come back.  Whether you can interrupt C-Kermit when it is hung this way
depends on the specific OS.  Kermit has called the operating systems's
getcwd() function, and is waiting for it to return.  Some versions of UNIX
(e.g. HP-UX 9.x) allow this function to be interrupted with SIGINT (Ctrl-C),
others (such as HP-UX 8.x) do not.  To avoid this effect, you can always
use SET PROMPT change your prompt to something that does not involve calling
getcwd(), but if NFS is not responding, C-Kermit will still hang any time you
give a command that refers to an NFS-mounted directory.  Also note that in some
cases, the uninterruptibility of NFS-dependent system or library calls is
considered a bug, and sometimes there are patches.  For HP-UX, for example:

                                                        replaced by:
  HP-UX 10.20     libc    PHCO_8764                     PHCO_14891/PHCO_16723
  HP-UX 10.10     libc    PHCO_8763                     PHCO_14254/PHCO_16722
  HP-UX 9.x       libc    PHCO_7747       S700          PHCO_13095
  HP-UX 9.x       libc    PHCO_6779       S800          PHCO_11162

You might have reason to make C-Kermit the login shell for a specific user,
by entering the pathname of Kermit (possibly with command-line switches, such
as -x to put it in server mode) into the shell field of the /etc/passwd file.
This works pretty well.  In some cases, for "ultimate security", you might
want to use a version built with -DNOPUSH (see ckccfg.txt) for this, but even
if you don't, then PUSHing or shelling out from C-Kermit just brings up a
new copy of C-Kermit (but warning: this does not prevent the user from
explicitly running a shell; e.g. "run /bin/sh"; use NOPUSH to prevent this).

C-Kermit will not work as expected on a remote UNIX system, when used through
the "splitvt" or GNU "screen" programs.  In this case, terminal connections to
the remote UNIX system work, but attempts to transfer files fail because the
screen optimization (or at least, line wrapping, control-character absorption)
done by this package interferes with Kermit's packets.

The same can apply to any other environment in which the user's session is
captured, monitored, recorded, or manipulated.  Examples include the 'script'
program (for making a typescript of a session), the Computronics PEEK package
and pksh (at least versions of it prior to 1.9K), and so on.

You might try the following -- what we call "doomsday Kermit" -- settings to
push packets through even the densest and most obstructive connections, such
as "screen" and "splitvt" (and certain kinds of 3270 protocol emulators):
Give these commands to BOTH Kermit programs:

  SET FLOW NONE
  SET CONTROL PREFIX ALL
  SET RECEIVE PACKET-LENGTH 70
  SET RECEIVE START 62
  SET SEND START 62
  SET SEND PAUSE 100
  SET BLOCK B

If it works, it will be slow.

On UNIX workstations equipped with DOS emulators like SoftPC, watch out for
what these emulators do to the serial port drivers.  After using a DOS
emulator, particularly if you use it to run DOS communications software, you
might have to reconfigure the serial ports for use by UNIX.

On AT&T 7300 (3B1) machines, you might have to "stty nl1" before starting
C-Kermit.  Do this if characters are lost during communications operations.

Under the bash shell (versions prior to 1.07 from CWRU), "pushing" to an
inferior shell and then exiting back to Kermit leaves Kermit in the background
such that it must be explicitly fg'd.  This is reportedly fixed in version
1.07 of bash.

Interruption by Ctrl-Z makes UNIX C-Kermit try to suspend itself with
kill(0,SIGSTOP), but only on systems that support job control, as determined
by whether the symbol SIGTSTP is defined (or on POSIX or SVR4 systems, if
syconf(_SC_JOB_CONTROL) or _POSIX_JOB_CONTROL in addition to SIGTSTP).
However, if Kermit is running under a login shell (such as the original Bourne
shell) that does not support job control, the user's session hangs and must be
logged out from another terminal, or hung up on.  There is no way Kermit can
defend itself against this.  If you use a non-job control shell on a computer
that supports job control, give a command like "stty susp undef" to fix it so
the suspend signal is not attached to any particular key, or give the command
SET SUSPEND OFF to C-Kermit, or build C-Kermit with -DNOJC.

Reportedly, the UNIX C-Kermit server, under some conditions, on certain
particular systems, fails to log out its login session upon receipt of a
BYE command.  Before relying on the BYE command working, test it a few times
to make sure it works on your system: there might be system configuration or
security mechanisms to prevent an inferior process (like Kermit) from
killing a superior one (like the login shell).

(5) INITIALIZATION AND COMMAND FILES

C-Kermit's initialization file for UNIX is .kermrc (lowercase, starts with
period) in your home directory, unless Kermit was built with the system-wide
initialization-file option (see ckuins.txt).

C-Kermit identifies your home directory based on the environment variable,
HOME.  Most UNIX systems set this variable automatically when you log in.  If
C-Kermit can't find your initialization file, check your HOME variable:

  echo $HOME      (at the UNIX prompt)

or:

  echo \$(HOME)   (at the C-Kermit prompt)

If HOME is not defined, or is defined incorrectly, add the appropriate
definition to your UNIX .profile or .login file, depending on your shell:

  setenv HOME full-pathname-of-your-home-directory  (C-Shell, .login file)
or:
  HOME=full-pathname-of-your-home-directory         (sh, ksh, .profile file)
  export HOME

NOTE: Various other operations depend on the correct definition of HOME.
These include the "tilde-expansion" feature, which allows you to refer to
your home directory as "~" in filenames used in C-Kermit commands, e.g.

  send ~/.kermrc

as well as the \v(home) variable.

Prior to version 5A(190), C-Kermit would look for its initialization file in
the current directory if it was not found in the home directory.  This feature
was removed from 5A(190) because it was a security risk.  Some people, however,
liked this behavior and had .kermrc files in all their directories that would
set up things appropriately for the files therein.  If you want this behavior,
you can accomplish it in various ways, for example:

 . Create a shell alias, for example:
   alias kd="kermit -Y ./.kermrc"

 . Create a .kermrc file in your home directory, whose contents are:
   take ./.kermrc

The TAKE command does not search your UNIX PATH for command files.  If a
command file is not in the current directory, you must give a full path
specification for it.  This poses a problem for TAKE commands that are
themselves in TAKE files.  See the trick used in CKETEST.INI...

Suppose you need to pass a password from the UNIX command line to a C-Kermit
script program, in such a way that it does not show up in "ps" or "w" listings.
Here is a method (not guaranteed to be 100% secure, but definitely more secure
than the more obvious methods):

  echo mypassword | kermit myscript

The "myscript" file contains all the commands that need to be executed during
the Kermit session, up to and including EXIT, and also includes an ASK or ASKQ
command to read the password from standard input, which has been piped in from
the UNIX 'echo' command, but it must not include a CONNECT command.  Only
"kermit myscript" shows up in the ps listing.

(6) COMMUNICATION SPEED SELECTION

Version-7 based UNIX implementations, including 4.3 BSD and earlier and UNIX
systems based upon BSD, use a 4-bit field to record a serial device's terminal
speed.  This leaves room for 16 speeds, of which the first 14 are normally:

  0, 50, 75, 110, 134.5, 150, 200, 300, 600, 1200, 1800, 2400, 4800, and 9600

The remaining two are usually called EXTA and EXTB, and are defined by the
particular UNIX implementation.  C-Kermit determines which speeds are
available on your system based on whether symbols for them are defined in your
terminal device header files.  EXTA is generally assumed to be 19200 and EXTB
38400, but these assumptions might be wrong, or they might not apply to a
particular device that does not support these speeds.  Presumably, if you try
to set a speed that is not legal on a particular device, the driver will
return an error, but this can not be guaranteed.

On these systems, it is usually not possible to select a speed of 14400 bps
for use with V.32bis modems.  In that case, use 19200 or 38400 bps, configure
your modem to lock its interface speed and to use RTS/CTS flow control, and
tell C-Kermit to SET FLOW RTS/CTS and SET DIAL SPEED-MATCHING OFF.

The situation is similar, but different, in System V.  SVID Third Edition
lists the same speeds, 0 through 38400.

Some versions of UNIX, and/or terminal device drivers that come with
certain third-party add-in high-speed serial communication interfaces, use the
low "baud rates" to stand for higher ones.  For example, SET SPEED 50 gets you
57600 bps; SET SPEED 75 gets you 76800; SET SPEED 110 gets 115200.

SCO ODT 3.0 is an example where a "baud-rate-table patch" can be applied that
can rotate the tty driver baud rate table such that 600=57600 and 1800=115k
baud.   Similarly for Digiboard multiport/portservers, which have a
"fastbaud" setting that does this.  Linux has a "setserial" command that can
do it, etc.

More modern UNIXes support POSIX-based speed setting, in which the selection
of speeds is not limited by a 4-bit field.  C-Kermit 6.1 incorporates a new
mechanism for finding out (at compile time) which serial speeds are supported
by the operating system that does not involve editing of source code by hand;
on systems like Solaris 5.1, IRIX 6.2, and SCO OSR5.0.4, "set speed ?" will
list speeds up to 460800 or 921600.  In C-Kermit 7.0:

 1. If a symbol for a particular speed (say B230400 for 230400 bps) appears
    in whatever header file defines acceptable serial speeds (e.g. <termbits.h>
    or <sys/termios.h> or <sys/ttydev.h>, etc), the corresponding speed will
    appear in C-Kermit's "set speed ?" list.

 2. The fact that a given speed is listed in the header files and appears in
    C-Kermit's list does not mean the driver will accept it.  For example,
    a computer might have some standard serial ports plus some add-on ones
    with different drivers that accept a different repertoire of speeds.

 3. The fact that a given speed is accepted by the driver does not guarantee
    the underlying hardware can accept it.

When Kermit is given a "set speed" command for a particular device, the
underlying system service is called to set the speed; its return code is
checked and the SET SPEED command fails if the return code indicates failure.
Regardless of the system service return status, the device's speed is then
read back and if it does not match the speed that was requested, an error
message is printed and the command fails.

Even when the command succeeds, this does not guarantee successful operation
at a particular speed, especially a high one.  That depends on electricity,
information theory, etc.  How long is the cable, what is its capacitance, how
well is it shielded, etc, not to mention that every connection has two ends
and its success depends on both of them.  (With the obvious caveats about
internal modems, is the cable really connected, interrupt conflicts, etc etc
etc).

Note, in particular, that there is a certain threshold above which modems can
not "autobaud" -- i.e. detect the serial interface speed when you type AT (or
whatever else the modem's recognition sequence might be).  Such modems need to
be engaged at a lower speed (say 2400 or 9600 or even 115200 -- any speed
below their autobaud threshold) and then must be given a modem-specific
command (which can be found in the modem manual) to change their interface
speed to the desired higher speed, and then the software must also be told to
change to the new, higher speed.

For additional information, read the section TERMINAL SPEEDS in ckuins.txt,
plus any platform-specific notes in Section (3) above.

(7) COMMUNICATIONS AND DIALING

If you SET LINE to a serial port modem-control device that has nothing plugged
in to it, or has a modem connected that is powered off, and you have not given
a prior SET MODEM TYPE or SET CARRIER-WATCH OFF command, the SET LINE command
is likely to hang.  In most cases, you can Ctrl-C out.  If not, you'll have to
kill C-Kermit from another terminal.

Similarly, if you give a SET MODEM TYPE HAYES (or USR, or any other modem type
besides DIRECT, NONE, or UNKNOWN) and then SET LINE to an empty port, the
subsequent close (implicit or explicit) is liable to hang or even crash
(through no fault of Kermit's -- the hanging or crashing is inside a system
call such as cfsetospeed() or close()).

The SET CARRIER-WATCH command works as advertised only if the underlying
operating system and device drivers support this feature; in particular only
if a read() operation returns immediately with an error code if the carrier
signal goes away or, failing that, if C-Kermit can obtain the modem signals
from the device driver (you can tell by giving a "set line" command to a
serial device, and then a "show communications" command -- if modem signals
are not listed, C-Kermit won't be able to detect carrier loss, the WAIT
command will not work, etc).  Of course, the device itself (e.g. modem) must
be configured appropriately and the cables convey the carrier and other needed
signals, etc.

If you dial out from UNIX system, but then notice a lot of weird character
strings being stuck into your session at random times (especially if they look
like +++ATQ0H0 or login banners or prompts), that means that getty is also
trying to control the same device.  You'll need to dial out on a device that
is not waiting for a login, or else disable getty on the device.

In version 7.0, C-Kermit makes a lot of explicit checks for the Carrier Detect
signal, and so catches hung-up connections much better than 6.0 and earlier.
However, it still can not be guaranteed to catch every ever CD on-to-off
transition.  For example, when the HP-UX version of C-Kermit is in CONNECT
mode on a dialed connection and CARRIER-WATCH ON or AUTO, and you turn off
the modem, HP-UX is stuck in a read() that never returns.  (C-Kermit does not
pop back to its prompt automatically, but you can still escape back.)

If, on the other hand, you log out from the remote system, and it hangs up,
and CD drops on the local modem, C-Kermit detects this and pops back to the
prompt as it should.  (Evidently there can be a difference between CD and DSR
turning off at the same time, versus CD turning off while DSR stays on;
experimentation with &S0/&S1/&S2 on your modem might produce the desired
results).

When UNIX C-Kermit exits, it closes (and must close) the communications
device.  If you were dialed out, this will most likely hang up the connection.
If you want to get out of Kermit and still use Kermit's communication device,
you have several choices:

 1. Shell out from Kermit or suspend Kermit, and refer to the device literally
    (as in "term -blah -blah < /dev/cua > /dev/cua").

 2. Shell out from Kermit and use the device's file descriptor which Kermit
    makes available to you in the \v(ttyfd) variable.

 3. Use C-Kermit's REDIRECT command.  See the ckermit2.txt file about this.

 4. Use C-Kermit new EXEC /REDIRECT command, also described in ckermit2.txt.

If you are having trouble dialing:

 1. Make sure the dialout line is configured correctly.  More
    about this below.

 2. Make sure all necessary patches are installed for your operating
    system.

 3. If you can't dial on a "bidirectional" line, then configure it for
    outbound-only (remove the getty) and try again.  (The mechanisms -- if
    any -- for grabbing bidirectional lines for dialout vary wildly
    among UNIX implementations and releases, and C-Kermit -- which runs on
    well over 300 different UNIX variations -- makes no effort to keep up
    with them; the recommended method for coping with this situation is to
    wrap C-Kermit in a shell script that takes the appropriate actions.)

 4. Make sure C-Kermit's SET DIAL and SET MODEM parameters agree with the
    modem you are actually using -- pay particular attention to SET DIAL
    SPEED-MATCHING.

 5. Try SET DIAL HANGUP OFF before the DIAL command.  Also, SET DIAL DISPLAY
    ON to watch what's happening.  See section 8 of ckuins.txt.

 6. Read pages 50-67 of "Using C-Kermit".

 7. As a last resort, don't use the DIAL command at all; SET CARRIER OFF and
    CONNECT to the modem and dial interactively, or write a script program to
    dial the modem.

Make sure your dialout line is correctly configured for dialing out (as
opposed to login).  The method for doing this is different for each kind of
UNIX system.  Consult your system documentation for configuring lines for
dialing out (for example, SUN SparcStation IPC users should read the section
"Setting up Modem Software" in the Desktop SPARC Sun System & Network
Manager's Guide; HP-9000 workstation users should consult the manual
"Configuring HP-UX for Peripherals", etc).

Symptom: DIAL works, but a subsequent CONNECT command does not.  Diagnosis:
the modem is not asserting Carrier Detect (CD) after the connection is made,
or the cable does not convey the CD signal.  Cure: Reconfigure the modem,
replace the cable.  Workaround: SET CARRIER OFF (at least in System-V based
UNIX versions).

C-Kermit tries to use the 8th bit for data when parity is NONE, and this
generally works on real UNIX terminal (tty) devices, but it often does not
work when the UNIX system is accessed over a network via telnet or rlogin
protocols, including (in many cases) through terminal servers.  For example,
an Encore computer with Annex terminal servers only gives a 7-bit path if
the rlogin protocol is selected in the terminal server but it gives the full
8 bits if the proprietary RDP protocol is used.

If file transfer does not work through a host to which you have rlogin'd,
use "rlogin -8" rather than "rlogin".  If that doesn't work, tell both Kermit
programs to "set parity space".

The Encore TELNET server does not allow long bursts of input.  When you have
a TELNET connection to an Encore, tell C-Kermit on the Encore to SET RECEIVE
PACKET-LENGTH 200 or thereabouts.

For Berkeley-UNIX-based systems (4.3BSD and earlier), Kermit includes code to
use LPASS8 mode when parity is none, which is supposed to allow 8-bit data and
Xon/Xoff flow control at the same time.  However, as of edit 174, this code is
entirely disabled because it is unreliable: even though the host operating
system might (or might not) support LPASS8 mode correctly, the host access
protocols (terminal servers, telnet, rlogin, etc) generally have no way of
finding out about it and therefore render it ineffective, causing file
transfer failures.  So as of edit 174, Kermit once again uses rawmode for
8-bit data, and so there is no Xon/Xoff flow control during file transfer or
terminal emulation in the Berkeley-based versions (4.3 and earlier, not 4.4).

Also on Berkeley-based systems (4.3 and earlier), there is apparently no way
to configure a dialout line for proper carrier handling, i.e. ignore carrier
during dialing, require carrier thereafter, get a fatal error on any attempt
to read from the device after carrier drops (this is handled nicely in System
V by manipulation of the CLOCAL flag).  The symptom is that carrier loss does
not make C-Kermit pop back to the prompt automatically.  This is evident on
the NeXT, for example, but not on SunOS, which supports the CLOCAL flag.  This
is not a Kermit problem, but a limitation of the underlying operating system.
For example, the cu program on the NeXT doesn't notice carrier loss either,
whereas cu on the Sun does.

On certain AT&T UNIX systems equipped with AT&T modems, DIAL and HANGUP don't
work right.  Workarounds: (1) SET DIAL HANGUP OFF before attempting to dial;
(2) If HANGUP doesn't work, SET LINE, and then SET LINE <device> to totally
close and reopen the device.  If all else fails, SET CARRIER OFF.

C-Kermit does not contain any particular support for AT&T DataKit devices.
You can use Kermit software to dial in to a DataKit line, but C-Kermit does
not contain the specialized code required to dial out from a DataKit line.  If
the UNIX system is connected to DataKit via serial ports, dialout should work
normally (e.g. set line /dev/ttym1, set speed 19200, connect, and then see the
DESTINATION: prompt, from which you can connect to another computer on the
DataKit network or to an outgoing modem pool, etc).  But if the UNIX system
is connected to the DataKit network through the special DataKit interface
board, then SET LINE to a DataKit pseudodevice (such as /dev/dk031t) will not
work (you must use the DataKit "dk" or "dkcu" program instead).

In some BSD-based UNIX C-Kermit versions, SET LINE to a port that has nothing
plugged in to it with SET CARRIER ON will hang the program (as it should), but
it can't be interrupted with Ctrl-C.  The interrupt trap is correctly armed,
but apparently the UNIX open() call cannot be interrupted in this case.  When
SET CARRIER is OFF or AUTO, the SET LINE will eventually return, but then the
program hangs (uninterruptibly) when the EXIT or QUIT command (or, presumably,
another SET LINE command) is given.  The latter is probably because of the
attempt to hang up the modem.  (In edit 169, a timeout alarm was placed around
this operation.)

With SET DIAL HANGUP OFF in effect, the DIAL command might work only once,
but not again on the same device.  In that case, give a SET LINE command
with no arguments to close the device, and then another SET LINE command for
the desired device.  Or rebuild your version of Kermit with the -DCLSOPN
compile-time switch (see ckuins.txt).

The DIAL command says "To cancel: Type your interrupt character (normally
Ctrl-C)."  This is just one example of where program messages and
documentation assume your interrupt character is Ctrl-C.  But it might be
something else.  In most (but not necessarily all) cases, the character
referred to is the one that generates the SIGINT signal.  If Ctrl-C doesn't
act as an interrupt character for you, type the Unix command "stty -a" or
"stty all" or "stty everything" to see what your interrupt character is.
(Kermit could be made to find out what the interrupt character is, but this
would require a lot of system-dependent coding and #ifdefs, and a new routine
and interface between the system-dependent and system-independent parts of the
program.)

In general, the hangup operation on a serial communication device is prone
to failure.  C-Kermit tries to support many, many different kinds of
computers, and there seems to be no portable method for hanging up a modem
connection (i.e. turning off the RS-232 DTR signal and then turning it back on
again).  If HANGUP, DIAL, and/or Ctrl-\H do not work for you, and you are a
programmer, look at the tthang() function in ckutio.c and see if you can add
code to make it work correctly for your system, and send the code to the
address above.  (NOTE: This problem has been largely sidestepped as of edit
188, in which Kermit first attempts to hang up the modem by "escaping back"
via +++ and then giving the modem's hangup command, e.g. ATH0, when DIAL
MODEM-HANGUP is ON, which is the default setting.)

Even when Kermit's modem-control software is configured correctly for your
computer, it can only work right if your modem is also configured to assert
the CD signal when it is connected to the remote modem and to hang up the
connection when your computer drops the DTR signal.  So before deciding Kermit
doesn't work with your modem, check your modem configuration AND the cable (if
any) connecting your modem to the computer -- it should be a straight-through
modem cable conducting the signals FG, SG, TD, RD, RTS, CTS, DSR, DTR, CD,
and RI.

Many UNIX systems keep aliases for dialout devices; for example, /dev/acu
might be an alias for /dev/tty00.  But most of these UNIX systems also use
UUCP lockfile conventions that do not take this aliasing into account, so if
one user assigns (e.g.) /dev/acu, then another user can still assign the same
device by referring to its other name.  This is not a Kermit problem --
Kermit must follow the lockfile conventions used by the vendor-supplied
software (cu, tip, uucp).

The SET FLOW-CONTROL KEEP option should be given *before* any communication
(dialing, terminal emulation, file transfer, INPUT/OUTPUT/TRANSMIT, etc) is
attempted, if you want C-Kermit to use all of the device's preexisting
flow-control related settings.  The default flow-control setting is XON/XOFF,
and it will take effect when the first communication-related command is given,
and a subsequent SET FLOW KEEP command will not necessarily know how to
restore *all* of the device's original flow-control settings.

(8) HARDWARE FLOW CONTROL

SET FLOW RTS/CTS is available in UNIX C-Kermit only when the underlying
operating system provides an Application Program Interface (API) for turning
this feature on and off under program control, which turns out to be a rather
rare feature among UNIX systems.  To see if your UNIX C-Kermit version
supports hardware flow control, type "set flow ?" at the C-Kermit prompt, and
look for "rts/cts" among the options.  Other common situations include:

 1. The API is available, so "set flow rts/cts" appears as a valid C-Kermit
    command, but it doesn't do anything because the device driver (part of
    the operating system) was never coded to do hardware flow control.  This
    is common among System V R4 implementations (details below).

 2. The API is not available, so "set flow rts/cts" does NOT appear as a valid
    C-Kermit command, but you can still get RTS/CTS flow control by selecting
    a specially named device in your SET LINE command.  Examples:

      NeXTSTEP: /dev/cufa instead of /dev/cua, /dev/cufb instead of /dev/cub
      (68040 only; "man zs" for further info).

      IRIX: /dev/ttyf2 instead of /dev/ttyd2 or /dev/ttym2 ("man 7 serial").

 3. The API is available, doesn't work, but a workaround as in (2) can be used.

 4. The API is available, but Kermit doesn't know about it.  In these cases,
    you can usually use an stty command to enable RTS/CTS on the device, e.g.
    "stty crtscts" or "stty ctsflow", "stty rtsflow", before starting Kermit,
    and then tell Kermit to SET FLOW KEEP.

 5. No API and no special device drivers.  Hardware flow control is completely
    unavailable.

System V R4 based UNIXes are supposed to supply a <termiox.h> file, which
gives Kermit the necessary interface to command the terminal driver to
enable/disable hardware flow control.  Unfortunately, but predictably, many
implementations of SVR4 whimsically place this file in /usr/include/sys rather
than /usr/include (where SVID clearly specifies it should be; see SVID, Third
Edition, V1, termiox(BA_DEV).  Thus if you build C-Kermit with any of the
makefile entries that contain -DTERMIOX or -DSTERMIOX (the latter to select
<sys/termiox.h>), C-Kermit will have "set flow rts/cts" and possibly other
hardware flow-control related commands.  BUT...  That does not necessarily
mean that they will work.  In some cases, the underlying functions are simply
not coded into the operating system.

(9) TERMINAL CONNECTION AND KEY MAPPING

UNIX C-Kermit is not a terminal emulator.  Refer to page 147 of "Using
C-Kermit", 2nd Edition: "Most versions of C-Kermit -- UNIX, VMS, AOS/VS, VOS,
etc -- provide terminal connection without emulation.  These versions act as a
'semitransparent pipe' between the remote computer and your terminal, terminal
emulator, console driver, or window, which in turn emulates (or is) a specific
kind of terminal."  The environment in which you run C-Kermit is up to you.

If you are an X Windows user, you should be aware of an alternative to xterm
that supports VT220 emulation, from Thomas E. Dickey:

  http://www.clark.net/pub/dickey/xterm/xterm.faq.html

UNIX C-Kermit's SET KEY command currently can not be used with keys that
generate "wide" scan codes or multibyte sequences, such as workstation
function or arrow keys, because UNIX C-Kermit does not have direct access to
the keyboard.

However, many UNIX workstations and/or console drivers provide their own key
mapping feature.  With xterm, for example, you can use 'xmodmap' ("man
xmodmap" for details); here is an xterm mapping to map the Sun keyboard to DEC
VT200 values for use with VT-terminal oriented applications like VMS EVE:

  keycode 101=KP_0
  keycode 119=KP_1
  keycode 120=KP_2
  keycode 121=KP_3
  keycode 98=KP_4
  keycode 99=KP_5
  keycode 100=KP_6
  keycode 75=KP_7
  keycode 76=KP_8
  keycode 77=KP_9
  keycode 52=KP_F1
  keycode 53=KP_F2
  keycode 54=KP_F3
  keycode 57=KP_Decimal
  keycode 28=Left
  keycode 29=Right
  keycode 30=KP_Separator
  keycode 105=KP_F4
  keycode 78=KP_Subtract
  keycode 8=Left
  keycode 10=Right
  keycode 32=Up
  keycode 33=Down
  keycode 97=KP_Enter

Users of Linux consoles can use loadkeys ("man dumpkeys loadkeys keytables"
for details.  The format used by loadkeys is compatible with that used by
Xmodmap, although it is not definitely certain that the keycodes are
compatible for different keyboard types (e.g. Sun vs HP vs PC, etc).

(10) FILE TRANSFER

Suppose you start C-Kermit with a command-line argument to send or receive a
file (e.g. "kermit -r") and then type Ctrl-\c immediately afterwards to escape
back and initiate the other end of the transfer, BUT your local Kermit's
escape character is not Ctrl-\.  In this case, the local Kermit passes the
Ctrl-\ to the remote system, and if this is UNIX, Ctrl-\ is likely to be its
SIGQUIT character, which causes the current program to halt and dump core.
Well, just about the first thing C-Kermit does when it starts is to disable
the SIGQUIT signal.  However, it is still possible for SIGQUIT to cause Kermit
to quit and dump core if it is delivered while Kermit is being loaded or
started, before the signal can be disabled.  There's nothing Kermit itself can
do about this, but you can prevent it from happening by disabling SIGQUIT in
your UNIX session.  The command is usually something like:

  stty quit undef

UNIX C-Kermit does not reject incoming files on the basis of size.  There
appears to be no good (reliable, portable) way to determine in advance how
much disk space is available, either on the device, or (when quotas or other
limits are involved) to the user.

File transfer can fail if the incoming file is bigger than your "ulimit".
Use the UNIX ulimit command to examine or change your ulimit (the number is
in 512-byte blocks, i.e. 0.5K).  The exact effect of the ulimit depends on
the particular UNIX version, and to some extent probably also on the shell.
"man ulimit" for details, or read the man page for the shell you are using.

UNIX C-Kermit discards all carriage returns from incoming files when in text
mode.

If C-Kermit has problems creating files in writable directories when it is
installed setuid or setgid on BSD-based versions of UNIX such as NeXTSTEP 3.0,
it probably needs to be rebuilt with the -DSW_ACC_ID compilation switch (see
ckuins.txt).

If C-Kermit is receiving a file on a dialup connection and the connection
hangs up, the SIGHUP signal is delivered to the top-level shell, which kills
all processes (including Kermit and any of its subforks) and closes all open
files, including the file that was being received.  Even if you have told
Kermit to SET FILE INCOMPLETE DISCARD, the partially received file is kept.
See comments in ckutio.c (search for SIGHUP) for details.

If you SET FILE DISPLAY FULLSCREEN, and C-Kermit complains "Sorry, terminal
type not supported", it means that the terminal library (termcap or termlib)
that C-Kermit was built with does not know about a terminal whose name is the
current value of your TERM environment variable.  If this happens, but you
want to have the fullscreen file transfer display, EXIT from C-Kermit and set
a UNIX terminal type from among the supported values that is also supported by
your terminal emulator, or else have an entry for your terminal type added to
the system termcap and/or terminfo database.

If you attempt to suspend C-Kermit during local-mode file transfer and then
continue it in the background (via bg), it will block for "tty output" if
you are using the FULLSCREEN file transfer display.  This is apparently
a problem with curses.  Moving a local-mode file transfer back and forth
between foreground and background works correctly, however, with the SERIAL,
CRT, BRIEF, or NONE file transfer displays.

If C-Kermit's command parser no longer echoes, or otherwise acts strangely,
after returning from a file transfer with the fullscreen (curses) display, and
the curses library for your version of UNIX includes the newterm() function,
then try rebuilding your version of C-Kermit with -DCK_NEWTERM.  Similarly if
it echoes doubly, which might even happen during a subsequent CONNECT session.
If rebuilding with -DCK_NEWTERM doesn't fix it, then there is something very
strange about your system's curses library, and you should probably not use
it.  Tell C-Kermit to SET FILE DISPLAY CRT or anything else other than
FULLSCREEN, and/or rebuild without -DCK_CURSES, and without linking with
(termlib and) curses.  Note: In C-Kermit 7.0 this problem seems to have
escalated, and -DCK_NEWTERM had to be added to many builds that previously
worked without it: Linux, AIX 4.1, DG/UX, etc.  In the Linux case, it is
obviously because of changes in the (n)curses library; the cause in the other
cases is not known.

Reportedly, when using "MSEND *" from a 14-character filename UNIX system to
another system (e.g. BSD) that allows longer names, with SET FILE NAMES
LITERAL, any files with 14-character names will have a space added to the end
of the name on the receiving machine (this *should* be fixed in 6.0).

C-Kermit creates backup-file names (such as "oofa.txt.~1~") based on its
knowledge of the maximum filename length on the platform where it is running,
which is learned at compile time, based on MAXNAMLEN or equivalent symbols
from the system header files.  But suppose C-Kermit is receiving files on a
UNIX platform that supports long filenames, but the incoming files are being
stored on an NFS-mounted file system that supports only short names.  NFS maps
the external system to the local APIs, so C-Kermit has no way of knowing that
long names will be truncated.  Or that C-Kermit is running on a version of
UNIX that supports both long-name and short-name file systems simultaneously
(such as HP-UX 7.00).  This can cause unexpected behavior when creating backup
files, or worse.  For example, you are sending a group of files whose names
are differentiated only by characters past the point at which they would be
truncated, each file will overwrite the previous one upon arrival.

Optimum file transfer performance is a matter of tuning parameters like packet
length, window size, control-character unprefixing, and on serial connections,
ensuring there is an effective flow control method, preferably hardware (such
as RTS/CTS).

However, a fully-configured C-Kermit program can be slower than a minimally
configured one simply because of its size.  A command-line-only version that
is stripped of every conceivable feature not affecting file transfer (such as
"sunos41m" for the Sun or "dellsys5r4m" for Dell) can move files faster than a
full-featured one.  Thus, it might make sense to keep a minimal version
available as well as a full-featured one.  See the files ckuins.txt and
ckccfg.txt as well as the makefile for how to do this.

A fairly substantial reduction in size and a noticeable improvement in speed
can be obtained simply by rebuilding C-Kermit without the debugging feature:

  make <entryname> KFLAGS=-DNODEBUG

See ckccfg.txt for more detailed information about configuration.

(11) EXTERNAL FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOLS

UNIX C-Kermit can be used in conjunction with other communications software
in various ways.  C-Kermit can be invoked from another communications program
as an "external protocol", and C-Kermit can also invoke other communication
software to perform external protocols.

This sort of operation makes sense only when you are dialing out from your
UNIX system.  If the UNIX system is the one you have dialed in to, you don't
need any of these tricks.  Just run the desired software on your UNIX system
instead of Kermit.  When dialing out from a UNIX system, the difficulty is
getting two programs to share the same communication device in spite of the
UNIX UUCP lockfile mechanism, which would normally prevent any sharing, and
preventing the external protocol from closing (and therefore hanging up) the
device when it exits back to the program that invoked it.

(This section deleted; see "Using C-Kermit", 2nd Ed, Chapter 14.)

"pcomm" is a general-purpose terminal program that provides file transfer
capabilities itself (X- and YMODEM variations) and the ability to call on
external programs to do file transfers (ZMODEM and Kermit, for example).  You
can tell pcomm the command to send or receive a file with an external
protocol:
            send                receive
    ZMODEM        sz <filename>            rz
    Kermit        kermit -s <filename>        kermit -r

pcomm runs external programs for file transfer by making stdin and stdout
point to the modem port, and then exec-ing "/bin/sh -c xxx" (where xxx is the
appropriate command).  However, C-Kermit does not treat stdin and stdout as
the communication device unless you instruct it:

            send                receive
    Kermit        kermit -l 0 -s <filename>    kermit -l 0 -r

The "-l 0" option means to use file descriptor 0 for the communication device.

In general, any program can pass any open file descriptor to C-Kermit for the
communication device in the "-l" command-line option.  When Kermit is given
a number as the argument to the "-l" option, it simply uses it as a file
descriptor, and it does not attempt to close it upon exit.

Here's another example, for Seyon (a Linux communication program).  First try
the technique above.  If that works, fine; otherwise...  If Seyon does not
give you a way to access and pass along the file descriptor, but it starts up
the Kermit program with its standard i/o redirected to its (Seyon's)
communications file descriptor, you can also experiment with the following
method, which worked here in brief tests on SunOS.  Instead of having Seyon
use "kermit -r" or "kermit -s filename" as its Kermit protocol commands, use
something like this (examples assume C-Kermit 6.0):

  For serial connections:

    kermit -YqQl 0 -r                     <-- to receive
    kermit -YqQl 0 -s filename(s)         <-- to send one or more files

  For Telnet connections:

    kermit -YqQF 0 -r                     <-- to receive
    kermit -YqQF 0 -s filename(s)         <-- to send one or more files

Command line options:

  Y    - skip executing the init file
  Q    - use fast file transfer settings
  l 0  - transfer files using file descriptor 0 for a serial connection
  F 0  - transfer files using file descriptor 0 for a Telnet connection
  q    - quiet - no messages
  r    - receive
  s    - send

(11.2) INVOKING EXTERNAL PROTOCOLS FROM C-KERMIT

   (This section is obsolete, but not totally useless.
    See Chapter 14 of "Using C-Kermit", 2nd Edition).

After you have opened a communication link with C-Kermit's SET LINE (SET PORT)
or SET HOST (TELNET) command, C-Kermit makes its file descriptor available to
you in the \v(ttyfd) variable so you can make it available to other programs
that you RUN from C-Kermit.  Here, for example, C-Kermit runs itself as an
external protocol:

  C-Kermit>set modem type hayes
  C-Kermit>set line /dev/acu
  C-Kermit>set speed 2400
  C-Kermit>dial 7654321
   Call complete.
  C-Kermit>echo \v(ttyfd)
   3
  C-Kermit>run kermit -l \v(ttyfd)

Other programs that accept open file descriptors on the command line can be
started in the same way.

You can also use your shell's i/o redirection facilities to assign C-Kermit's
open file descriptor (ttyfd) to stdin or stdout.  For example, old versions of
the UNIX ZMODEM programs, sz and rz, when invoked as external protocols,
expect to find the communication device assigned to stdin and stdout with no
option for specifying any other file descriptor on the sz or rz command line.
However, you can still invoke sz and rz as exterior protocols from C-Kermit if
your current shell ($SHELL variable) is ksh (the Korn shell) or bash (the
Bourne-Again shell), which allows assignment of arbitrary file descriptors to
stdin and stdout:

  C-Kermit> run rz <&\v(ttyfd) >&\v(ttyfd)

or:

  C-Kermit> run sz oofa.zip <&\v(ttyfd) >&\v(ttyfd)

In version 5A(190) and later, you can use C-Kermit's REDIRECT command, if it
is available in your version of C-Kermit, to accomplish the same thing without
going through the shell:

  C-Kermit> redirect rz

or:

  C-Kermit> redirect sz oofa.zip

A complete set of rz,sz,rb,sb,rx,sx macros for UNIX C-Kermit is defined in
the file ckurzsz.ini.  It automatically chooses the best redirection method.

(11.3) USING C-KERMIT WITH TERM

  Note: the following section dates from circa 1994.  Since then,
  evidently, "slirp" has supplanted "term", and reportedly, unlike
  term, slirp can be used transparently to the application:
    http://blitzen.canberra.edu.au/resources

The "term" program provides an error-corrected, multiplexed connection
between two UNIX systems, allowing you to run multiple applications over a
single connection, for example several terminal windows and a file transfer
simultaneously.  Term depends on a communications application (such as
C-Kermit) to make the connection and then redirect it to term's standard i/o.
The advantages of using C-Kermit rather than other communication programs for
this include:

 . C-Kermit's script language lets you automate the entire process.

 . With C-Kermit's REDIRECT command, term sessions are not limited to serial
   connections, but can work over network connections (TCP/IP, X.25) too.

Here is an example showing how to set up a term session between two UNIX
systems with C-Kermit (assuming the connection has already been made by
C-Kermit, e.g. by dialing up):

  C-Kermit> connect
  login: xxx
  Password: xxx
  $ exec term -r -s 38400 -A
  ^\c (escape back)
  C-Kermit>redirect term -s 38400 -A &
  C-Kermit>push  ; or "suspend"
  $

Now you can run term clients such as trsh and tupload at the local shell
prompt.

(12) SECURITY

We receive constant requests for versions of C-Kermit that use all sorts of
security mechanisms: SOCKS, SSL, SSH, SSLeay, TSL, PCT, SRP, etc etc.  Well...

 (a) C-Kermit can be linked with a SOCKS library if you have one; see
     ckccfg.txt, section 8.1.1.

 (b) Most of the others require export or import licenses, carry source-code
     restrictions, and/or are patented.

HOWEVER...

 (c) C-Kermit 7.0 includes support for Kerberos; see kerberos.txt for details.

 (d) It also has a new feature to let it be used "over" secure clients like
     SSL Telnet, SRP Telnet, etc.  See ckermit2.txt Sections 2.7 and 2.14
     for details.


(13) MISCELLANEOUS USER REPORTS

Date: Thu, 12 Mar 92 1:59:25 MEZ
From: Walter Mecky <[e-mail]>
Subject: Help.Unix.sw
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]

PRODUCT:    Unix
RELEASE:    Dell SVR4 V2.1 (is USL V3.0)
MACHINE:    AT-386
PATHNAME:    /usr/lib/libc.so.1
        /usr/ccs/lib/libc.a
ABSTRACT:    Function ttyname() does not close its file descriptor
DESCRIPTION:
    ttyname(3C) opens /dev but never closes it. So if it is called
    often enough the open(2) in ttyname() fails. Because the broken
    ttyname() is in the shared lib too all programs using it can
    fail if they call it often enough. One important program is
    uucico which calls ttyname for every file it transfers.

Here is a little test program if your system has the bug:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
    int i = 0;
    while (ttyname(0) != NULL)
      i++;
    perror("ttyname");
    printf("i=%d\n", i);
}

If this program runs longer than some seconds you don't have the bug.

WORKAROUND:
    None
FIX:
    Very easy if you have source code.

Another user reports some more explicit symptoms and recoveries:

> What happens is when invoking ckermit we get one of the following
> error messages:
>   You must set line
>   Not a tty
>   No more processes.
> One of the following three actions clears the peoblem:
>   shutdown -y -g0 -i6
>   kill -9 the ttymon with the highest PID
>   Invoke sysadm and disable then enable the line you want to use.
> Turning off respawn of sac -t 300 and going to getty's and uugetty's
> does not help.
>
> Also C-Kermit reports "?timed out closing /dev/ttyxx".
> If this happens all is well.

------------------------------

(Note: the following problem also occurs on SGI and probably many other
UNIX systems):

From: James Spath <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 20:20:28 -0400
Subject: C-Kermit vs uugetty (or init) on Sperry 5000

We have successfully compiled the above release on a Unisys/Sperry 5000/95.  We
used the sys5r3 option, rather than sys5r2 since we have VR3 running on our
system.  In order to allow dialout access to non-superusers, we had to do
"chmod 666 /dev/tty###", where it had been -rw--w--w- (owned by uucp), and to
do "chmod +w /usr/spool/locks".  We have done text and binary file transfers
through local and remote connections.

The problem concerning uucp ownership and permissions is worse than I thought
at first.  Apparently init or uugetty changes the file permissions after each
session.  So I wrote the following C program to open a set of requested tty
lines.  I run this for any required outgoing line prior to a Kermit session.

   ------ cut here -------
/* opentty.c -- force allow read on tty lines for modem i/o */
/* idea from: restrict.c -- System 5 Admin book Thomas/Farrow p. 605 */
/* /jes jim spath {[e-mail] } */
/* 08-Sep-92 NO COPYRIGHT. */
/* this must be suid to open other tty lines */

/* #define DEBUG */
#define TTY "/dev/tty"
#define LOK "/usr/spool/locks/LCK..tty"
#include <stdio.h>

/* allowable lines: */
#define TOTAL_LINES 3
static char allowable[TOTAL_LINES][4] = { "200", "201", "300" };
static int total=TOTAL_LINES;
int allow;

/* states: */
#define TTY_UNDEF 0
#define TTY_LOCK  1
#define TTY_OKAY  2

main(argc, argv)
int argc; char *argv[]; {
    char device[512];
    char lockdev[512];
    int i;
    if (argc == 1) {
    fprintf(stderr, "usage: open 200 [...]\n");
    }
    while (--argc > 0 && (*++argv) != NULL ) {
#ifdef DEBUG
    fprintf(stderr, "TRYING: %s%s\n", TTY, *argv);
#endif
    sprintf(device, "%s%s", TTY, *argv);
    sprintf(lockdev, "%s%s", LOK, *argv);
    allow = TTY_UNDEF; i = 0;
    while (i <= total) { /* look at all defined lines */
#ifdef DEBUG
        fprintf(stderr, "LOCKFILE? %s?\n", lockdev);
#endif
        if (access(lockdev, 00) == 0) {
        allow=TTY_LOCK;
        break;
        }
#ifdef DEBUG
        fprintf(stderr, "DOES:%s==%s?\n", allowable[i], *argv);
#endif
        if (strcmp(allowable[i], *argv) == 0)
          allow=TTY_OKAY;
        i++;
    }
#ifdef DEBUG
    fprintf(stderr, "allow=%d\n", allow);
#endif
    switch (allow) {
      case TTY_UNDEF:
        fprintf (stderr, "open: not allowed on %s\n", *argv);
        break;
      case TTY_LOCK:
        fprintf (stderr, "open: device locked: %s\n", lockdev);
        break;
      case TTY_OKAY:
        /* attempt to change mode on device */
        if (chmod (device, 00666) < 0)
          fprintf (stderr, "open: cannot chmod on %s\n", device);
        break;
      default:
        fprintf (stderr, "open: FAULT\n");
    }
    }
    exit (0);
}

------------------------------

(14) THIRD-PARTY DRIVERS

UNIX versions, especially those for PCs (SCO, Unixware, etc) might be
augmented by third-party communication-board drivers from Digiboard, Stallion,
etc.  These can sometimes complicate matters for Kermit considerably since
Kermit has no way of knowing that it is going through a possibly nonstandard
driver.  Various examples are listed in the earlier sections of this file;
search for Stallion, Digiboard, etc.  Additionally:

 . The Stallion Technologies EasyConnection serial board driver does not
   always report the state of DSR as low.  From Stallion (October 1997):
   "Unfortunately, this is a bug in our driver. We have implemented all of the
   other TIOMC functions, eg DTR, DCD, RTS and CTS, but not DSR. Our driver
   should report the actual state of DSR on those of our cards that have a DSR
   signal. That the driver always reports DSR as not asserted (0), is a bug in
   the driver. The driver should be either reporting the state of DSR
   correctly on those cards that support DSR or as always asserted (1) on
   those cards that do not have a DSR signal. This will be fixed in a future
   version of our drivers; at this time I cannot say when this will be."  And
   later, "As far as I can tell, we don't support the termios/termiox ioctls
   that relate specifically to DSR and RI; all the rest are supported.  This
   will, as I mentioned earlier, be fixed in the next release of our ATA
   software."  - World Wide Escalation Support, Stallion Technologies,
   Toowong QLD, [e-mail].

Later (December 1997, from the same source):

 . We have now released a new version of the ATA software, version 5.4.0.
   This version fixes the problem with the states of the DSR and RI
   signals and how they were being reported by the driver. This is the
   problem that you reported in October. The DSR signal is reported
   correctly on those cards that support the DSR signal, such as the early
   revision of the EasyIO card and the EasyConnection 8D4 panel, and as
   always asserted on those cards that do not support the DSR signal in
   the hardware.   The new driver is available from our Web site,
   www.stallion.com, in the  /drivers/ata5/UnixWare directory.

(End of CKUBWR.TXT)