Einige Bemerkungen zur lokalisierten Version von FreePPP:
Da sich die Dokumentation von FreePPP noch sehr stark ändern wird, habe ich zur Zeit auf eine Uebersetzung verzichtet. Das Kontrollfeld 'Config PPP' wurde in der deutschen Version in 'PPP Verbindung' umbenannt.
Sollten Sie Fragen oder Anregungen speziell zur deutschen Version haben oder des Englischen nicht mächtig sein, wenden Sie sich bitte an:
Andreas Würtz
Im Tiergarten 6a
CH-8055 Zürich
Schweiz
email: awuertz@access.ch oder wuertz@tik.ee.ethz.ch
Ansonsten viel Spass beim Surfen!
FreePPP 1.0.5
(Please review this entire file - many things have changed since the last release)
Table of Contents:
•What is it?
•Warnings and Known Problems
•FreePPP and Virtual Memory/RAM Doubler
•What's Next?
•Where can I find the latest version of FrePPP?
•What's New in 1.0.5?
•What's Fixed in 1.0.5?
• What's New & What's Fixed for 1.0.4 - 1.0
• MacPPP 2.1.2SD Features
• History of SD versons of MacPPP
•Copyright & Credits
•Any Questions?
•What is it?•
First off, FreePPP is not the work of one individual. It's a group effort, by the not so coincidentally named FreePPP Group, to enhance to work done at Merit Network by Larry J. Blunk and others that produced MacPPP. The folks in the FreePPP Group that have contributed to this version of FreePPP are, in alphabetical order: Yan Arrouye, Steve Brecher, Jim Browne, Alec Carlson, Steve Dagley, Tom Evans, Joe Husk, Cliff McCollum, Edward Moy, Richard Reynolds and John Stephen.
FreePPP is a Link Access Protocol module (aka MDEV) for MacTCP or Open Transport. In plain English, it allows you to establish a dial-up PPP connection with a TCP/IP network like the Internet from your Macintosh.
This is the 'official' successor to the SD releases of MacPPP. It's still based on Merit's MacPPP 2.0.1 release but there have been several bugs fixed and features added. The new name is intended to differentiate FreePPP from MacPPP and eliminate the confusion over what version of MacPPP does what.
Since I hate to write (Dammit Jim, I'm a programmer, not a writer!) and FreePPP 2.5 will have extensive documentation changes this document is mainly a change history for each release of FreePPP and the earlier SD versions of MacPPP. The accompanying FAQ answers many of the commonly asked questions about FreePPP. Be sure to read it before sending me e-mail asking questions as, if it's covered in the FAQ I may just delete your message. If you don't know the capabilities of the original MacPPP, or how it should be configured, the original MacPPP 2.0.1 docs are included in this distribution. You may also find the book "The Internet Starter Kit, 3rd Edition" by Adam Engst a very helpful guide to Mac Internet connectivity. There is a WWW version of the book available at: <http://www.mcp.com/hayden/iskm/mac.html>.
•Warnings and Known Problems•
FreePPP currently requires Color QuickDraw which limits it's use to 68020 or better processors (this may be addressed in a future release). It also requires System 7.1 or later.
Make sure to re-boot after installing FreePPP 1.0.5 - especially if you have a previous version of FreePPP or MacPPP installed. Re-check your settings in Config PPP after re-booting.
Do not keep more that one copy of the PPP extension (be it FreePPP's or one of the MacPPP derivatives) on your boot volume. This is because the PPP extension needs to find itself by it's file signature when opening a connection but all MacPPP derivatives currently share the same file signature. If FreePPP mistakenly opens the wrong file bad things will happen.
PowerBook 500 models with internal Global Village Mercury modems will lose modem feedback on connection attempts after the first one. Even though there's no modem audio and the GV menu doesn't appear the connection will be made. Re-booting between connections will restore modem feedback. The probable cause of this problem has been identified and should be fixed in FreePPP 2.5.
Both Aaron 1.1.1 (the faux Copeland look extension) and Aladdin's Magic Menu extensions may conflict with FreePPP. If you have them installed and FreePPP crashes while opening a connection, try disabling these extensions first when trying to determine what the conflict is.
The combination of the GeoPort Telecom Adapter/Express Modem software and FreePPP may be unstable on machines with Virtual Memory turned on. If you encounter this problem turn off Virtual Memory.
The extension 'ASFU Fixer' apparently reverts the serial driver to a pre-DMA version thereby breaking support for 115K and 230K port speeds. See the FreePPP FAQ on replacing ASFU Fixer with Serial DMA 2.0.2.
It seems Wacom has a similar 'fix' for their serial port connected graphics tablets. I don't know what the name of the offending extension is however. It is also unclear if Serial DMA 2.0.2 addresses the problem.
Using the Terminal Window mode on an 840AV running System 7.1 and MacTCP with Display Enabler 1.2 installed may crash. Removing the Display Enabler extension solves the problem. This problem might also exist on other Macs but I don't know for sure. If you really want the functionality of the Display Enabler and you have to use the Terminal Window mode I suggest you upgrade to System 7.5 which has the functionality built-in but not the problem.
If you try to establish a connection with the Terminal Window mode and hit the OK button without actually starting a PPP session FreePPP can get confused and you'll have to restart your Mac before you can try connecting again. Clicking the Cancel button works as you'd expect and is what you should use to cancel a connection attempt anyway.
Be sure to look at the accompanying FreePPP FAQ for additional information.
•FreePPP and Virtual Memory/RAM Doubler•
On some systems FreePPP does not function well if Virtual Memory (and RAM Doubler is just another form of VM) is turned on. If you have VM turned on and are experiencing crashes while using or opening a PPP session, turn off VM. Despite what you might have heard VM does not make your Mac run any faster. What it does is allow PowerPC native apps to run in a smaller memory partition. If you must use VM you might investigate RAM Doubler 1.6 which has been reported as working with FreePPP.
•What's Next?•
FreePPP 2.5 will be out when it is ready which will hopefully be sometime in early March. The 2.5 release was originally going to be version 1.1 but Apple asked for the change to make it evident that FreePPP was newer than any of the other MacPPP variants. Major changes for this release include compatability with: VM (on all machines), After Dark and Faceless Background Apps. It will also have a completely revised and much more friendly user interface for Config PPP (which will probably be renamed). For folks that seem to think it's an important feature, 2.5 will also have color icons (we already have the icons - please don't send me any more).
•Where can I find the latest version of FrePPP?•
Check your favorite InfoMac ftp mirror site. All new versions of FreePPP will be uploaded to the /comm/tcp/conn/ directory. Also watch the comp.sys.mac.comm newsgroup for announcments.
•What's New in 1.0.5?•
The password entered in the Authentication dialog box in Config PPP is now saved in a non plain text format. Note that it is not encrypted but simply scrambled. To scramble the password in your current prefs file simply open the Authentication dialog and click the OK button. This is not required to use FreePPP 1.0.5 however as it still recognizes unscrambled passwords.
Now support the use of the control calls for 115K and 230K DTE rates (introduced in Apple's SerialDMA 2.0 serial driver) on any serial port. This means an add on serial board that supports 115K or 230K DTE rates and the new calls will automatically be supported. This was actually done in 1.0.2 but I forgot to document it.
Put back resource based strings for the tone and pulse dial commands. This is intended for folks that need to modify the command for compatability with ISDN terminal adapters. See the FreePPP FAQ on how to change the strings.
•What's Fixed in 1.0.5?•
Now properly reports a disconnect due to an echo failure as an echo failure instead of the idel timeout error reported in previous versions of FreePPP.
Put in a test for an obscure situation where it was possible for the code to initiate a connection could be called while it was already initiating a connection. This could happen if you switched to another app while FreePPP was initiating a connection.
•What's New in 1.0.4?•
FreePPP no longer supports opening a PPP session at boot time. This is related to the fix mentioned below which assumes we have a valid graphics environment in which to display the Connection Status dialog. As of this writing there are no plans to restore boot time connection capability. If this is a problem for you please send me e-mail detailing why this is important to you.
•What's Fixed in 1.0.4?•
Fixed the fix from 1.0.3 regarding problems when opening connections. While 1.0.3 wouldn't disturb register A5 it could seriously munge an application's drawing environment causing strange font changes and constantly re-drawing windows (or just crash). We now use the application's A5 and graphics environment when displaying the Connection Status dialog.
NOTE - Initiating a session from a Faceless Background App will still crash. This will be addressed in FreePPP 2.5 (see the What's Next? section below for some info on FreePPP 2.5)
•What's New in 1.0.3?•
Name and password prompting originally planned for FreePPP 1.1 is now implemented. See the accompanying 'FreePPP 1.0.3 Script Additions' document for details.
NOTE - the name and password prompting feature replaces the simple name and password substitution feature introduced in FreePPP 1.0.2. You will need to revise your connect script to be compatible with 1.0.3 is you used the \u and \p commands from 1.0.2.
The Echo Interval menu values have been changed in this release to ones that should be less likely to cause bogus echo failure reports when the Mac gets real busy. If you had the Echo Interval value set to something other than Off you will need to re-select an interval.
Now include Adam Engst's list of recommended modem init strings from his excellent book - 'The Internet Starter Kit, 3rd Edition'. Thanks Adam!
•What's Fixed in 1.0.3?•
No longer change the value of register A5 when opening a session. This solves the problem of apps, especially those with dialogs being displayed, crashing while opening a PPP connection.
Worked around a compiler 'feature' that caused the connect timeout timer to never timeout.
Corrected some 1 pixel misalignment and size problems with buttons in Config PPP (yes, someone actually reported it).
•What's New in 1.0.2?•
New script substitution strings: \u substitutes the string from the Auth. ID field in the Authentication dialog, \p substitutes the string from the Password field in the Authentication dialog. This allows building a script that does not display the login name and password. For example (assuming the login name and password have been entered in the Authentication dialog):
WAIT ogin:
SEND \u (<CR> box checked)
WAIT ord:
SEND \p (<CR> box checked)
is what my connect script looks like. Note that even though the password is not displayed in the Authentication dialog it is still saved in plain text in the PPP Preferences file and is not a secure method of stroing a password - it will keep casual observers in the dark however.
NOTE - As of FreePPP 1.0.3 the \u is no longer supported and the \p has a different meaning so you will need to update your connect scripts if you used them.
Now displays name of selected PPP server in connection status dialog.
Port speeds of 1200 and 2400 are back. Due to this change you will probably need to re-select your port speed, especially if you were using 115K or 230K.
•What's Fixed in 1.0.2?•
Now compatible with Cyber Finder from Aladdin. This was related to FreePPP re-initializing the Mac toolbox everytime a connection was opened. We now only init the toolbox if we're loading at Startup.
FreePPP Connection Status dialog now allows switching layers during a connect while running Open Transport.
VM stability is better but still not 100% for some folks.
Disable Auto Connect option no longer prevents recognition of connection closing.
Fixed the 230K port speed mode - you could select it in 1.0.1 but it would fail to open.
•What's Fixed in 1.0.1?•
Failure to establish communication problem - John Stephen
The problem with FreePPP 1.0 (and MacPPP 2.1.2SD) where it would get to the "Establishing Communications" phase and then drop the connection for some folks has been fixed.
Password display during connection - Steve Dagley
Due to popular request the text being sent by the connect script is no longer displayed in the FreePPP status window. This should make the folks that got upset seeing their password flashing on the screen happy.
•What's New (since 2.1.2SD)?•
CHAP authentication support - Jim Browne
For service providers that require CHAP authentication for dial-up PPP connections, such as internetMCI. This feature is enabled by setting the Authentication want/will flags in the LCP Options dialog when setting up your PPP Server configuration in the Config PPP control panel.
New Connection Status window - Rick Reynolds
The Connection Status window is now moveable and allows switching to another application while opening a connection.
Improved Virtual Memory compatability - Alec Carlson, Yan Arrouye, Steve Dagley
FreePPP should be much more stable when Virtual Memory is turned on.
Disable Automatic Connect - Steve Dagley
There is now an option in the Config PPP control panel that prevents automatic connections when a TCP/IP packet is detected. This is analogous to the Hard Close command but it's persistant across re-starts. This change also resulted in the elimination of seperate Hard and Soft close buttons. If this option is on then a Close acts as a Hard Close, off and it acts like a Soft Close. This feature still needs some work but should solve >90% of the 'ghost' dialing complaints. If you are using one of the 3rd party utilities to open and close PPP sessions they will probably require an update before they will be able to open a connection with this feature turned on. If you leave it turned off, the utilities should work as before.
Long Re-dial Delay - Steve Dagley
For countries where the phone system requires a delay between re-dials there is now an option in the Config PPP control panel that sets the re-dial delay to 1 minute instead of the default 3 seconds.
Support for Apple's new SerialDMA 2.0 serial driver - Steve Dagley
Now use the new control codes introduced in Apple's SerialDMA 2.0 driver that adds official support for the 115K and 230K DTE rates on Macs with the GeoPort Serial Architecture.
Port Speed selection changes - Since most modems don't support a DTE rate (the connection rate between the modem and the computer) of 14400 or 28800 these speeds have been removed from the Port Speed popup. You should always set the DTE rate to at least twice the modem's DCE rate (the connection rate between modems) to allow the modem's data compression feature room to operate. This assumes of course you have a modem that supports data compression but I doubt you'd be surfing the Internet if you didn't.
• MacPPP 2.1.2SD Features •
• Supports DTE rates of 115Kbps and 230Kbps on Macs w/GeoPort serial architecture.
This can be useful for folks with 28.8 modems or serial ISDN Terminal Adapters.
• Compatible with Apple's new Open Transport TCP/IP replacement for MacTCP.
See below for OT configuration instructions.
• Compatible with PSI's implementation of ISDN PPP service courtesy of John Stephen.
• Timing change for modems that can't respond to commands quickly.
Also by John Stephen.
• Displays modem connect info in MacPPP Status dialog courtesy of Steve Brecher.
• Fixes problem with Config PPP not being able to access it's prefs file if the Finder
closed the control panel on a low memory error. Code contributed by Alec Carlson.
• Terminal window is larger and scrolling of text off the top is a little cleaner.
Code contributed by Tom Evans.
• Fixes problem with older terminal servers and header compression requests.
Also by Tom Evans.
• Now holds RTS for a full second after sending the modem a hang up command to solve
a problem with USR Mac&Fax modems getting confused because they couldn't tell the
Mac they had hung up. Mod suggested by Tim Steele.
• Finally fixed problem with waking up Supra and PSI PowerBook internal modems
before dialing.
• The history of the SD versions of MacPPP •
2.1.2SD - 08/05/95
• Public release of MacPPP 2.1.2SD.
Hurricane Erin - 08/02/95
2.1.2SDb4 - 07/24/95 - A non-public Beta
• Added Tom Evans' larger term window resources.
2.1.2SDb3 - 07/23/95 - A non-public Beta
• Added Tom Evans' VJ header compression fix for older term servers.
• Implemented Tim Steele's suggestion to extend hang up delay for compatability with USR Sportster modems.
• Took another shot at fixing the Supra and PSI modem wakeup problem - I think I got it this time (not having one of my own makes it a little difficult to test).
2.1.2SDb2 - 07/??/95 - In-house Beta
• Fiddled with term window code based on Tom Evans' suggestions.
2.1.2SDb1 - 07/06/95 - A not too public Beta
• Incorporated Alec Carson's code for the busy prefs file fix.
2.1.1SD - 06/24/95
• Public release of MacPPP 2.1.1SD
2.1.1SDb3 - 06/22/95 - A not too public Beta
• One more minor tweak to the startup delay code to give internal PowerBook modems a chance to power up.
2.1.1SDb2 - 06/17/95 - A not too public Beta
• Several minor changes in the code trying to work around the problem with the Display Enabler extension but no luck. See the warning above in 'Known Problems'.
2.1.1SDb1 - 06/16/95 - A not too public Beta
• Now Open Transport compatible.
• Incorporates John Stephen's mods for slowing the command timing down for the Motorola BitSurfr ISDN modem and setting the control character escape mask for compatibility for PSI's PPP service.
• Incorporates Steve Brecher's mods to display modem connect rate info.
• Fixes long standing problem with rates other than 115K and 230K occasionally not working.
2.1SD - 12/11/94
First public release.
2.1SDb3 - 12/10/94
Third semi-public beta.
Due to popular demand I have now updated the Config PPP control panel to show the 115K and 230K rates in the Port Speed popup.
2.1SDb2 - 12/08/94
Second semi-public beta.
Oops - left in a modified version of the modem init code that occasionally caused timeouts when trying to establish communications with the modem.
2.1SDb1 - 12/06/94
First semi-public beta
Cleaned up the code somewhat and actually check for a suitable serial driver before making the calls.
2.1SDa3 - July 1994
Never publicly released.
Made sure selected port was modem or printer for 115K and 230K port speeds.
2.1SDa1 - July 1994
Never publicly released.
First build with support for 115K and 230K port speeds.
